Phil Neville Attempts to Explain Romelu Lukaku's Subdued Celebrations Against Bournemouth

Manchester United forward Romelu Lukaku received something of a backlash on social media after giving only a muted celebration after his winning goal against Bournemouth in midweek.

The Belgian, who also shouldered a lot of the blame for the Red Devils' loss to Manchester City in the Manchester derby, simply waved to the club's fans following his strike.

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Former United defender Phil Neville has attempted to explain the striker's actions, or lack thereof, saying that there probably wasn't much of a reason to celebrate, given the hangover from losing the weekend's derby.

"The whole stadium hardly celebrated his goal." Neville told Sky Sports’ The Debate show

“I think there was a massive hangover from Sunday [United lost the Manchester derby.] I think there was disappointment from Romelu, who had a disappointing game.

“He was involved in the City goals and the chance he had at the end, so he did suffer a lot of criticism. Maybe it wasn’t a night to celebrate.

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“That hit Manchester United really hard on Sunday and there was a flatness around Old Trafford [against Bournemouth].”

United quickly returned to winning ways with the 1-0 victory over the Cherries, yet there's still an air of disappointment around Old Trafford, due to the magnitude of the derby. Despite the fact that there's lots of football left to play this season, City do seem home and dry.

And United's failure to beat them will leave the club's fans aggrieved with every step their rivals take from here on out.