Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez both score twice each in Shakhtar’s Europa League destruction

Romelu Lukaku continued his stellar form as he scored a brace late in Inter Milan’s 5-0 thrashing of Shakhtar Donetsk to set up a clash with Sevilla in the Europa League final.

Lautaro Martinez, had opened the scoring at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, heading home from Nicolo Barella’s cross in the 19th minute.

Junior Moraes fluffed a glorious chance to draw Shakhtar level midway through the second half.  Moments later, it was Danilo D’Ambrosio who extended Inter’s lead.

Martinez then added his second of the night after he nicked Lukaku’s pass to fire in a fine finish before Romelu Lukaku’s double in the 78th and 83rd extended the Belgian’s scoring run in the Europa League to 10 matches, as Antonio Conte’s side ran away with proceedings.

https://youtu.be/7SmUJNVa3gw

Inter are now primed to face five-time Europa League winners Sevilla, who beat Manchester United on Sunday evening, in Friday’s final in Cologne.

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Romelu Lukaku becomes the first player in UEFA Cup/Europa League history to score in 10 consecutive matches – a run stretching back to November 2014 when he was still an Everton Football Club player.

Lukaku and Martinez are also the first duo to score 20+ goals each in a single season for Italian outfit Inter Milan since Adriano and Obafemi Martins did it in the 2004-05 campaign.

He also became the first Serie A player this season to hit 50 appearances in all competitions. The Belgian is also the first Inter player to reach the milestone in a single campaign since Samuel Eto’o (53) and Javier Zanetti (52) in 2010-11.

The former Manchester United striker has now scored 33 goals this season and it’s difficult to back against him making it 34 in Friday’s final.

Stats and facts from the match (backed by Opta)

• Inter Milan’s 5-0 win was the biggest margin of victory ever in a single UEFA Cup/ Europa League semi-final game.
• Inter have won five consecutive matches in major European competition (excluding qualifiers) for the first time since April 2010 (a run of six starting in December 2009 on their way to the UEFA Champions League final).
• This was Shakhtar Donetsk’s biggest defeat in Europe since a 0-6 defeat by Manchester City in the Champions League in November 2018.
• D’Ambrosio has scored three goals in his last five games for Inter Milan in all competitions, as many as he had netted in his previous 58 appearances.