Former United captain Gary Neville has had his say on striker Romelu Lukaku’s performance in the Manchester derby, saying the Belgian ‘struggled’.

Lukaku failed to correctly deal with two City set-pieces, both of which led to goals from David Silva and Nicolas Otamendi who pounced on the error from the United man.

The forward then had a glorious opportunity to make amends in the closing moments of the game, but his shot was saved from 6 yards out by Ederson.

The result leaves City 11 points ahead at the top of the table, and a United forward with just two goals in his last 12 games.

“You look at him today and he struggled,” Neville said about the no.9.

“I’m not just talking about struggling in terms of missing a chance, he struggled at being in the game and being confident in the game.

“He’s got to get over that quickly as he’s Manchester United’s centre-forward. He’s a young lad but he needs to get to the point where he believes he should be out there – it’s like he doesn’t believe it in this period.”

However, fellow Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness puts the striker’s form down to the poor service provided by his teammates.

“When you come with a big price there’s always pressure but I wouldn’t be too critical of him,” he said.

“I think it’s the team he’s playing in. He’s not playing with a David Silva or Kevin De Bruyne – he’s feeding on poor passes. Sharing balls, balls that are hit at the wrong angle. I think the boy is running around but he’s getting no quality service.”
[Quotes via Sky Sports]