Premier League Round 13: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

The Good

Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku

Everton have a promising young squad on their hands with Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku leading the charge this season.

When rumors emerged during the summer transfer window that Manchester United were interested in signing Lukaku it seemed to be straight out of left field. I thought it was a bit strange that the Red Devils were linked with him, but it sure seems as though they could use him now.

Lukaku has been spectacular this season and by scoring this weekend against Aston Villa he joined an elite group of players in the Premier League record books.

Big Rom, as Everton teammate Tim Howard calls him, scored his 50th career Premier League goal — which places him in a select group with Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players in Premier League history to do so before turning 23.

In fact, Lukaku does not turn 23 until May! Incredible.

Anyways, his link up play with Ross Barkley has been phenomenal and a huge reason why Everton’s attack has been so dangerous this season.

The Toffees have scored 24 goals this season and their young duo scored 14 of them. They assisted on a further eight.

Lukaku and Barkley were at their very best this past weekend against Aston Villa. Poor Villa, they’re just out of their depth at the moment.

Lukaku and Barkley each scored twice and the latter notched an assist also. Whoscored.com credited Lukaku with a match rating of 9.29 and a man of the match award, while Barkley earned a 9.16 rating.

Take a look at the first goal, it’s a thing of beauty (Lukaku’s flick to a teammate is brilliant). Barkley finished it off with a tap-in.

Big Rom and Barkley show no signs of slowing down, so I’m sure the big club sharks will be circling the Everton waters in attempts to prize away either of these two (and John Stones as well) in the summer.

For now, though, they will continue to tear apart Premier League defenses together.

I wonder if Jose Mourinho wishes he had given Lukaku more of a chance to make an impact at Chelsea? The Blues sure could use the big Belgian striker at this point.

Will Manchester United score? They always score.

That’s the famous call moments before Manchester United’s tying goal against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League Final. Sir Alex Ferugson’s side would then score the winner moments later.

Manchester United used to have that aura surrounding them. The thought that whenever they needed a goal the most that they would find it.

Of course, they did not always comeback like they did in 1999, but it happened often enough that the players donning the famous red kit always believed they would get that goal. The supporters believed it and it seemed like opposition sides believed it at times.

Since Ferguson’s retirement, though, the magical comebacks and late goals have dried up a bit. There have been a few moments — Daley Blind’s late tying goal in an away draw with West Brom last season, Ashley Young’s goal from nothing that gave Manchester United a 1-0 win against Newcastle last season — but those are hardly massive moments that will go down as truly memorable.

Louis van Gaal’s charges have had more than a few chances to score a late goal to find a winner, but have often times failed to deliver the goods late on.

Scoreless draws with Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Manchester City were begging for that magical Manchester United late goal — a late goal which never came.

The Red Devils hearkened back to the glory days, at least a little bit, when they found a way to win against Watford after the gut-punch that was Troy Deeney’s 86th minute game-tying penalty kick.

When Bastian Schweinsteiger pounced on a rebound to send the ball back across the face of goal it caused Deeney to panic an attempt to prevent that, thereby scoring an own-goal and giving Manchester United the desperately needed three points.

The Red Devils finished that match with an intensity, fight and will to win that has too often been lacking since van Gaal took over before the start of last season.

Will this moment give Manchester United the belief that if they give it their all and go for it, that they can find that goal in the big moment when they truly need it? Only time will tell.

For now, though, this was a pivotal moment in Manchester United’s Premier League season.

Next: The Bad