Everton forward Romelu Lukaku destroyed
Newcastle as the Belgian marked his home
debut with a double-strike in a 3-2 win at
Goodison Park on Monday.
Toffees boss Roberto Martinez snapped up
Lukaku on loan from Chelsea on transfer
deadline day and the powerful 20-year-old
looks set to be a big hit on Merseyside.
He netted on his Everton debut in a win at
West Ham last weekend and followed that with
a pair of clinical finishes to kill off Newcastle.
Lukaku's goals came either side of Ross
Barkley's strike, which the Belgian also set up
as Everton raced into a 3-0 lead before the
break.
Yohan Cabaye and Loic Remy scored for
Newcastle in the second half, but Alan
Pardew's side had left it too late to complete a
remarkable revival.
Everton remain unbeaten after six matches and
their third win of the season lifts them into
fourth place.
"I loved it, I had waited to make my home
debut for a long time," Lukaku said. "My
teammates really helped me and from minute
one I was focused."
Martinez saluted his striker's sublime display,
saying: "For a No 9 to have that awareness of
what was going on around him was
tremendous. Romelu was unplayable.
"He is going to get stronger and the players
around him will learn how to play with him.
"The first half was so dominant that sometimes
unconsciously you drop the tempo, but overall
I was pleased we controlled it for long periods.
It's been a good start to the season."
Lukaku wasted little time making an impression
as he showed great strength to hold off
Mathieu Debuchy and slot past Tim Krul, only
to see his strike disallowed for offside.
The Belgian didn't have to wait long for his
first goal in an Everton shirt at Goodison
however as he opened the scoring in the fifth
minute.
He showed his aerial prowess by glancing a
long punt upfield towards Kevin Mirallas, who
surged clear down the right flank before
whipping over a low cross that Lukaku, having
raced in the penalty area, met with a cool
close-range finish at the near post.
Lukaku then teed up England midfielder
Barkley for a ferocious drive that flashed just
the wrong side of the woodwork.
Newcastle's defence was creaking alarmingly as
Everton pressed for a second goal and they
were at full stretch to scramble the ball away
after James McCarthy's shot was parried by
Krul.
With Lukaku proving such a handful, Martinez's
men were carving through the Newcastle back-
four at will and it was no surprise when the
hosts doubled their lead in the 25th minute.
Lukaku was the provider this time as he slipped
a perfectly-weighted pass through to Barkley,
who ran through the gaping hole in the
Newcastle defence before steering his shot
past Krul.
Pardew looked stunned on the touchline and
his expression turned to one of fury as
Newcastle conceded a comical third goal in the
37th minute.
A long kick downfield by Everton goalkeeper
Tim Howard should have been dealt with by
the visitors, but Krul allowed it to bounce past
him and Lukaku pounced on the gift, tricking
his way past Fabricio Coloccini before firing
into the empty net.
Lukaku almost completed his hat-trick before
halftime but his strike from Leon Osman's pass
was ruled out for offside.
To their credit, Newcastle came out with more
verve after the break despite the seemingly
impossible task facing them and French
midfielder Cabaye reduced the deficit in the
51st minute with a fine strike into the top
corner from 20 yards out.
Gouffran went close to giving Newcastle even
more hope when his shot whistled just wide,
but by the time French forward Remy poked
home in the 89th minute it was too late for
Newcastle to avoid their third defeat of the
season.
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