Adrian Durham recalls ‘Incredible’ game when ex-West Brom ace ‘Mesmerised’ him at The Hawthorns
Adrian Durham was “mesmerised” by Romelu Lukaku’s final performance for West Brom when he scored a hat-trick in a 5-5 draw against Manchester United in 2013.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s final match in management before retirement was one of the most memorable in not only West Brom’s recent history but also the Premier League’s as Albion came from three goals down to earn a shock point.
Lukaku came off the bench to replace Liam Ridgewell at half-time and managed to score a second-half hat-trick before his loan spell at The Hawthorns ended and he returned to Chelsea.
The Belgium international has since played for Everton and Manchester United before joining current club Inter Milan last year after a spell at Old Trafford that saw the striker under-valued and unappreciated.
TalkSPORT host Durham has now shared his bemusement as to why Man United sold Lukaku to Inter Milan, suggesting he first knew there was something about the forward in that historic 5-5 at The Hawthorns.
“I remember when I watched him in Fergie’s last game for Man United when they were away at West Brom and Lukaku was up front for West Bromwich Albion,” said Durham, as shown in a clip on talkSPORT’s official Twitter account.
“He scored a hat-trick. It finished five-all if you remember. Incredible game.
“I was watching everything that Lukaku did at The Hawthorns that day and I was mesmerised. I thought it was fantastic.
“And when he went to Everton on loan, did really well in the first season. I thought ‘there’s no way he’s going to do all that at West Brom and then Everton on loan and Chelsea are going to let him go’. But they let him go. They let Everton sign him permanently.”
West Brom’s 5-5 with Manchester United has rightly gone down in Albion folklore.
If you were there, how could you forget the scenes around the stadium when Man United went ahead and scores of away supporters were booted out for sneaking into home sections of the crowd? How could you forget the atmosphere? How could forget the constant noise from United fans cheering on Ferguson? How could you forget the roar when Lukaku scored that fifth goal to earn a 5-5 draw?
It was remarkable and it will be a very, very long time before The Hawthorns sees anything quite like that again.
Lukaku was at his best in that game and it would be fair to say that second-half hat-trick played a large role in the career he has had since.
West Brom have had a lot of loanees in recent years but in our opinion, none of them quite compare to the ‘Fridge from Stamford Bridge’.
In other West Brom news, Kevin Phillips is surprised by this journalist’s update on a potential takeover at The Hawthorns.
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