Lukaku lands Europa League award as tonic for final own-goal misery

Romelu Lukaku was named Europa League player of the season on Friday – even though it was the Belgian’s own goal that decided the 2019-20 final.

The Inter striker was out of luck in the Cologne showpiece against Sevilla when he deflected in an overhead kick from Diego Carlos in the 74th minute, giving the Spanish side a 3-2 win. 

The former Manchester United man netted seven goals – including a penalty in the final – in five starts and one substitute appearance over the course of the competition.

Lukaku told uefa.com: “I want to congratulate Sevilla personally. They won the competition so I congratulate them on having a great tournament.

“I want to thank Antonio Conte and his staff and everyone at the club – the board, the president – for their trust and for helping me through this season.

“My team-mates have been with me from day one. They’re like brothers to me, they’re real family members. Every day I come into training with a smile and it’s because of them.

“I hope that this year we’re going to do much better than we did last year and we’re going to have a lot of success together.”

 Lukaku in the 2019/20 #UEL:

#UEFAawards | #UELdraw pic.twitter.com/2tSfK5oIpB

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) October 2, 2020