Lukaku closing in on Eto’o’s Inter Milan record with Europa League goal

Belgium international Romelu Lukaku is closing in on an Inter Milan record in European competition held by Cameroon great Samuel Eto’o.

The striker was on target in the Italians’ 2-1 defeat of Bayer Leverkusen in Monday’s Europa League quarter-final fixture.

With Nicolo Barella giving Antonio Conte’s men a 15th minute lead at Merkur Spielarena in Dusseldorf, Lukaku added the second six minutes later to send his team into the last-four of the competition.

Thanks to this, the Belgian star has now been directly involved in nine goals in European tournament for the San Siro giants this season – with six goals and three assists – excluding qualifiers.

African football icon Eto’o holds the record of the most involvement for Inter in a single season which he achieved during the 2010-11 campaign (eight goals and five assists).

9 – Romelu Lukaku has now scored in nine consecutive appearances in the Europa League; the longest goal-scoring run by a player in UEFA Cup/Europa League history. Dominant. #UEL pic.twitter.com/qWciZmAmWc

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 10, 2020

Apart from taking his tally in all competitions to 31 goals, the former Chelsea, Everton and Manchester United man broke two records against the Bundesliga outfit.

He became the first player to score in nine successive Europa League or Uefa Cup matches, breaking the record of eight he previously shared with Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer. Also, he is also the first player to score in six successive European matches for Inter Milan.

Having hit the 30-goal mark versus Getafe, Lukaku became the first Inter striker to score that many goals since Eto’o in 2010-11, when the four-time African Player of the Year famously netted 37 times just one season after Inter claimed an historic treble.

Conte’s team will face either Shakhtar Donetsk or FC Basel in the semi-finals as they look to end the campaign on a high after missing out on the Serie A title to Juventus.