Lukaku's incredible Inter record continues as he calls for the club to be 'mentally stronger'

Josh Thomas

Lukaku's incredible Inter record continues as he calls for the club to be 'mentally stronger' image

Romelu Lukaku has extended his own record for scoring in consecutive European matches for Inter. 

The 27-year-old scored twice on Wednesday as he helped his Serie A outfit claim a 2-2 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League. 

That brace means Lukaku has now scored in nine straight European matches for Inter having found form in the Europa League last season as Antonio Conte's side reached the final where they lost to Sevilla. 

Lukaku's first season with Inter after sealing a move from Manchester United saw him strike 34 times across all competitions and he already has six goals to his name this campaign. 

Against Gladbach, Inter had taken the lead through Lukaku in the 49th minute but needed the Belgium international to strike again in the 90th minute to salvage a point. 

Conte's side have now failed to win their past three matches and most recently lost 2-1 against fierce rivals AC Milan in Serie A. 

Those results have clearly frustrated Lukaku, who has called on Inter to improve their mental strength to ensure they live up to their full potential. 

“This is not a good result in my view, because we can do better. We must keep working and be stronger mentally, because it’s not an easy moment for us and we have to keep believing in our quality,” Lukaku told Sky Sport Italia post-match.

“Now we need to be stronger, above all mentally, and do better in defence, as we conceded two goals due to our errors. We made so many mistakes and wasted chances upfront too, so if we don’t take those, we are made to pay at this level.”

Conte was slightly more upbeat about the result and noted the difficulty of seeing Achraf Hakimi ruled out of the game after testing positive for Covid-19

"We have to concentrate on doing our best on the pitch," Conte told  Sky Sport Italia . "That's all we have to do. It wasn't easy today to receive the news at 5pm that Hakimi was positive. Up until this morning, he was training with us. He was meant to start, so we'd prepared all the tactical situations.

"I told the lads to face every situation with heads held high. It wasn't easy on a psychological level, but the lads showed they are good men as well as good players. Tonight we did well against a team with a great deal of potential, one that has technical quality as well as physicality."

Josh Thomas