Romelu Lukaku shows Chelsea how NOT to finish

Carlo Garganese

• 2 Apr 2023 09:00 CDT
• 3 min read

Romelu Lukaku’s disastrous season went from bad to worse on Saturday as he was guilty of one of the worst misses of his career against Fiorentina.

Five minutes into the second half - with the scores tied at 0-0 - Alessandro Bastoni squared across the six yard box for what appeared to be a simple tap-in to an empty net for Lukaku.

Somehow, though, Lukaku mistimed his sidefooted finish to screw the ball wide.

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Lukaku was made to pay as just four minutes later Fiorentina broke the deadlock thanks to Giacomo Bonaventura.

Fiorentina held on for a 1-0 win, Inter’s third loss in a row and 10th defeat of the Serie A campaign. It leaves the Nerazzurri fighting for a top-four finish.

That was not the only bad miss of the game for Lukaku. He also missed a sitter in the first half when he overplayed with just the goalkeeper to beat. The Belgian also squandered two one-on-ones.

On a day when Lukaku’s parent club Chelsea again struggled in attack - having 28 shots without scoring in the 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa - Lukaku demonstrated that he is not the answer to their problems.

Inter Milan are looking increasingly likely to send Lukaku back to Chelsea at the end of the season.

Lukaku returned to Inter on a one-season loan this past summer from Chelsea, but has struggled horribly with his fitness and form.

He has played just 998 minutes of club football this season, starting 10 games. He has scored only five goals this campaign.

He also went into the World Cup unfit, scoring no goals and missing a host of big chances in the 0-0 draw with Croatia which eliminated Belgium from the group stages.

Lukaku struggles since Chelsea move

The 29-year-old initially rejoined Chelsea from Inter in a €115 million transfer in the summer of 2021.

However, he endured a disastrous 2021-22 season, scoring just eight goals and falling out publicly with manager Thomas Tuchel.

Lukaku hoped to reignite his career by returning to the team where he played the best club football of his career between 2019 and 2021.

However, it has not worked out for the Belgian. And it doesn’t appear that next season he can return to Chelsea and help them with their attacking woes.