FA Cup: Lukaku receives a barrage of punches from Pundits after stunning miss
Pundits turned on Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku after his miss in their FA Cup semi-final win against Crystal Palace.
The west London club reached their third straight FA Cup final on Sunday, with second-half goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount seeing off Patrick Vieira’s spirited Eagles at Wembley.
However, one of few sour notes for Thomas Tuchel’s side came when Lukaku spurned a glorious chance to end his month-long goal drought late on.
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Timo Werner pulled the ball across goal and the Belgian sent an effort straight onto the post from close range, meaning his wait to hit the back of the net again goes on.
Later, former Blue Joe Cole said on ITV Sport: “Lukaku has six weeks to save his Chelsea career. You look at Werner and he doesn’t give up. Lukaku wants to be that focal point but he missed a chance.
“When it’s not going for you, it’s not going for you.”
Cole’s co-pundit Ian Wright then added: “When you’re going through what Lukaku is going through, this is the type of chance you want. He’s left footed, take it with your left foot.”
Manchester United legend Roy Keane also chipped in by saying: “How badly do you really want to score? It’s obviously his mindset, it’s clearly not right.”
Cole then continued: “People saw Lukaku as the missing piece of the jigsaw [when he returned to Chelsea last summer], it didn’t happen, but it can come back as quickly as it goes. Football can change in one game.”
Before Keane asked again: “How badly does he want to save his Chelsea career?”