Hot-shot Lukaku off to Reds flyer

ROMELU Lukaku hit the ground running with two goals as Manchester United made a flying start to their Premier League campaign by thrashing West Ham.

United's £75million record signing struck in each half at Old Trafford to set United on the way to a convincing 4-0 win which was wrapped up in the latter stages by Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba.

NETTING
After also netting against Real Madrid in the Super Cup last week, Lukaku has begun the season full of confidence and a poor West Ham side certainly had little answer.

"To play in front of such a crowd and for such a great club, it's a dream come true," Lukaku said.

Lukaku finished off a slick move to open the scoring with a powerful finish after 33 minutes and doubled the lead with a header early in the second half.

The Hammers, who were already being outplayed, could not respond and United spurned several more chances before finally adding two more goals in the last three minutes.

Lukaku was denied a hat-trick by a fine block by Pablo Zabaleta and fired another chance over.

Yet while it was former Everton striker Lukaku who grabbed most of the headlines, the platform for victory was laid by an outstanding performance from another new signing, Nemanja Matic.

The £40m midfielder controlled most of the game, leading United's defensive effort and prompting a lot of their attacks.

POSITIVE

He linked well with Pogba and the overall impression created by United was positive, justifying a lot of pre-season optimism.

"The team did a good job today, everybody was creative," a delighted Lukaku said.

"The most important thing is the win."