Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku admitted it had been his dream since childhood to score a goal at Stamford Bridge, finally achieving it during Saturday’s Premier League win over Aston Villa.
Lukaku was only a teenager during his first spell at Chelsea and never scored for the Blues across 15 appearances. He also failed to find the net as an away player at Stamford Bridge while at Everton and Manchester United in the years that followed.
But on his home debut for Chelsea following a £97.5m return to west London from Inter, the Belgian needed just 15 minutes to get his name on the score-sheet against Villa.
Giving Chelsea the lead, Lukaku raced onto a through ball from Mateo Kovacic. He shaped to shoot on his stronger left foot but cut back inside onto his right, confusing Villa defender Axel Tuanzebe, and rifling a shot underneath goalkeeper Jed Steer.
“I played with Tuanzebe back in the day, he knows I’m left-footed, so I felt like maybe he wouldn’t be expecting it,” the striker told Chelsea's official website.
“The contact was good, I hit it cleanly, and the touch was good, I got it out of my feet quickly. I think that’s just work. A lot of goals, they are good finishes and good touches, and that just comes from good training,” he added.
For Lukaku, it finally made a dream come true that was 17 years in the making, something he wanted to do even long before he joined Chelsea the first time.
“It was my dream, since I was 11,” he said. “I have waited for this moment and worked hard for this moment. I am very happy with the win, it was an important game for us. It was about focus and motivation and we showed the will to win from the first minute so I’m very happy with the result.
“It was great to score, as I said this was a childhood dream for me and I’m very happy to be in this situation, but I want us to win.”
Lukaku, who scored against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last month on his second Chelsea debut, went on to add a second goal in stoppage to seal the 3-0 win over Villa.
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Source : 90min