The Esk
Player Valuation: £70m
Lukaku by a considerable distance in my opinion in what was a very good team performance (notwithstanding our defensive frailties).
As an attacker he did everything but score, despite playing effectively as a lone striker and gave Coloccini a torrid time, should have had a penalty in the first half. However the most impressive aspect of his play today was his ball retention and hold up play which in the last couple of months has advanced to levels which we probably did not think possible. Without that ball retention, Newcastle would have turned the ball over many times and created more chances as a result.
I'd still prefer him to have a genuine partner upfront - Mirallas cannot perform that role in my opinion, but today Lukaku was absolutely superb.
As an attacker he did everything but score, despite playing effectively as a lone striker and gave Coloccini a torrid time, should have had a penalty in the first half. However the most impressive aspect of his play today was his ball retention and hold up play which in the last couple of months has advanced to levels which we probably did not think possible. Without that ball retention, Newcastle would have turned the ball over many times and created more chances as a result.
I'd still prefer him to have a genuine partner upfront - Mirallas cannot perform that role in my opinion, but today Lukaku was absolutely superb.