Slaven Bilic hails "world-class" Romelu Lukaku

West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic has admitted that his team struggled to contain "world-class" Romelu Lukaku in Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Everton in the Premier League.

Lukaku opened the scoring at Goodison Park before Ross Barkley scored a second as West Ham lost their sixth league game of the 2016-17 campaign.

Lukaku has now scored in each of his last seven Premier League appearances against the Hammers, and Bilic has claimed that the Belgian international was the difference between the two teams on Sunday.

"Of course he's a world-class player. On one hand it was enjoyable to see him live, especially when the game opens up and you see everything – skill, pace, physique, a plan in his head," Bilic told reporters.

"Until 2-0, we coped with him really good, but of course he is a world-class player. Unfortunately he is doing that always against us."

Lukaku, 23, has now scored seven times in 10 appearances for Everton this season.