Romelu Lukaku suggested he could still improve after a second “dominant” start at Chelsea in the 2-0 win at Arsenal.
Lukaku, appearing for the first time since his £ 97.5million (€ 115million) transfer from Inter, opened the scoring at Emirates Stadium, nine years and 360 days after his first bow of the Blues.
Reece James, the creator of the first, went on to fight in the second before half-time and Chelsea were in full control afterwards.
Lukaku couldn’t add to his strike in the 15th minute but finished with eight attempts worth a total of 1.41 expected goals – the highest of its kind without a penalty for a Premier League player in a game this season.
The 28-year-old also made 15 duels in an outstanding overall performance.
When asked if the day could have gone better, Lukaku told Sky Sports: “No, no, no. I’m very happy with the win. We played really well, we dominated, we could have. score more.
“To be honest, coming here with this performance is good, we have to continue like this.”
Describing his own performance, the forward added: “Dominant I would say. Dominant. I try to improve myself every time. I have a long way to go.
“But today was good, to win and to start well, and now we have to keep working, keep building, keep getting stronger.
“The Premier League is a very competitive league, but we are up to the challenge and I hope we can improve.”
Lukaku also created three chances for his teammates and also wanted to congratulate them.
“You want to work hard for the team,” he said. “You want to win, you want to score, you want to create chances.
“It’s something that I learned, that I worked really hard on, and I continue to work on it.
“This team is very, very talented – they are the European champions but they want to keep building and I want to keep winning. We have to keep fighting, keep working hard and keep delivering performances like this. . “
Lukaku transformed his reputation by leading Inter to the Serie A title after leaving Manchester United, but he believes there is more to his game than he was able to show on Sunday.
“I think you’ve seen parts,” he explained. “You’ve seen a lot of things, but not just me. The team has adapted very well.
“I asked the players a lot of questions and they helped me a lot, they made my life very comfortable.
“So I was not stressed when I entered the game, I was very focused and had one thing in mind: just to win the game. We did it today and I am very happy for the club, for the fans, and let’s keep building.
“It’s good to start like this. I worked hard throughout the week, the team worked hard throughout the week. We knew it was a big, big game for us, everything. everyone was watching us and we did well.
“As an individual I try to help the team. I said I wanted to add something different to the team – I hope I did – and I had to keep doing it. do to help the team win. That’s the most important thing. “
Coach Thomas Tuchel said of his new number nine: “I’m very happy with how he’s already fitted in. He’s a very smart guy. He’s a very democratic leader, he talks to everyone as a leader and is very humble and competitive.
“He gives our game something that we didn’t have because he protects the ball so we can play straight.
“You can’t start better than with a goal and you almost scored a second but it was a big save. [Bernd] Leno. It’s a good start but we have to improve from here.
“I wasn’t expecting much. I wanted to be open to watch him to see his strengths and his ability to adapt and connect with him. [Kai] Havertz and [Mason] Rise. Guys love to play with each other. “
