Lukaku escapes suspension for Bong clash

Dom Farrell

Lukaku escapes suspension for Bong clash image

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku will not face a ban following his clash with Brighton and Hove Albion defender Gaetan Bong on Saturday.

Video footage showed Lukaku appearing to kick out at Bong following a tussle between the pair at the 66th-minute corner from which Ashley Young scored United's deflected winner in the 1-0 victory.

Lukaku 13/5 to score 1st vs. Watford

But Goal and Omnisport  understand Lukaku will face no further action from the Football Association in relation to the incident after it was reviewed by three former match officials.

Romelu Lukaku Manchester United Chelsea

Each member of the panel would have had to agree the 24-year-old's actions were worthy of a sending off for further action to be taken and this was not the case.

If the Belgium international had been landed with a violent conduct charge, he would have been in line for a three-match ban to rule him out of the matches against Watford on Tuesday, Arsenal and Manchester City.

As it is, Lukaku is free to make his 200th Premier League appearance at Vicarage Road.

Lukaku has 12 goals for United in all competitions since joining from Everton for £75million in July but failed to find the net for the ninth time in 10 matches against Brighton.

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.