"What an impression he's made" – Carsley latest to fall under Nwaneri spell
Yesterday at 10:35 AM
Ethan Nwaneri marked his first start for England under-21s with a trademark goal as Lee Carsley’s side beat Portugal 4-2 at the Hawthorns.
Looking to get back on track after last week’s 5-3 defeat to France, the Young Lions weathered early attacks by the visitors before racing to a two-goal advantage. Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney broke the deadlock in the 7th minute before Nwaneri, after cutting onto his left foot in familiar fashion, curled home from the edge of the box three minutes later.
Fabio Silva reduced the deficit midway through the first half and the Portuguese squandered a number of good chances to level before Omari Hutchinson’s header put the game out of reach with 14 minutes remaining. Tenacious play by Tiago Forbes closed the gap again until Jaden Philogene struck in stoppage time.
After the game, Carsley was full of warm words for Nwaneri, who has only just turned 18, saying:
“Everyone knows exactly what's gonna happen, but you just cannot stop it. So you know he's gonna go, touch, finish and he took his goal so well.
“But what we have to keep remembering – he's 18. Unbelievable.
“So we just have to encourage these guys, it's important the rest of the team support him as well because I'm not sure it's always gonna be as progressive as it is.”
Nwaneri’s performances for Arsenal mean he’s a prime candidate to feature for the under-21s at the European Championships in Slovakia this summer. It would be another stepping stone in his career although having played a lot for Arsenal this summer, Carsley admits he needs to consult his old Everton teammate Mikel Arteta to ensure it makes sense.
“God, what an impression he's made,” added Carsley. “It's important that we look after him and make sure that, going to the tournament in the summer, is that the right thing.
“We'll obviously we'll work with Arsenal and make sure that we're on the same page.”
At Wembley, Nwaneri’s academy pal Myles Lewis-Skelly made his second appearance for Thomas Tuchel’s England.
The left-back won the free-kick that Reece James converted as the home side eased to a 3-0 win. For the second time in a week, Declan Rice teed up Harry Kane before Eberechi Eze wrapped things up.
Here’s what everybody else was up to…
David Raya, Spain
2-2 vs Netherlands (A), UEFA Nations League
– unused sub
3-3 vs Netherlands (H), UEFA Nations League
– unused sub
Spain advanced to the semi-finals 5-4 on penalties.
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Mikel Merino, Spain
2-2 vs Netherlands (A), UEFA Nations League
– came off the bench to score a stoppage-time equaliser
3-3 vs Netherlands (H), UEFA Nations League
– came off the bench on 84 minutes, converted his spotkick in the shootout
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Jurrien Timber, Netherlands
2-2 vs Spain (H), UEFA Nations League
– didn't feature as he was ill
3-3 vs Netherlands (H), UEFA Nations League
– was still ill but is likely to be available for Fulham next week.
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William Saliba, France
0-2 vs Croatia (A), UEFA Nations League
– played the full 90 minutes
2-0 vs Croatia (H), UEFA Nations League
– played the full 120 minutes
France advanced 5-4 on penalties
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Riccardo Calafiori, Italy
1-2 vs Germany (H), UEFA Nations League
– forced off with an injury in the closing stages, now back at Arsenal
Riccardo returned to Arsenal with a knee injury so didn’t feature in the return leg as the two sides played out a 3-3 draw that meant Germany progressed.
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Kieran Tierney, Scotland
1-0 vs Greece (A), UEFA Nations League
– came on for the final 14 minutes
0-3 vs Greece (H), UEFA Nations League
– Kieran was a second half substitute but he couldn’t rescue anything for the Scots.
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Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ukraine
3-1 vs Belgium (N), UEFA Nations League
– played the full 90 in midfield and provided an assist for Ukraine's third goal
0-3 vs Belgium (A), UEFA Nations League
– Alex played the full 90 as Ukraine suffered a late collapse, conceding three times in the final 20 minutes to lose 4-3 on aggregate
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Leandro Trossard, Belgium
1-3 vs Ukraine (N), UEFA Nations League
– played 80 minutes on the left wing
3-0 vs Ukraine (H), UEFA Nations League
– went off after 69 minutes, at which point his teammates scored three goals. No doubt he has mixed feelings about that.
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Myles Lewis-Skelly, England
2-0 vs Albania (H), World Cup Qualifier
– scored the opener on his debut, substituted in stoppage time.
3-0 vs Latvia (H), World Cup qualifier
– featured for 79 minutes
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Declan Rice, England
2-0 vs Albania (H), World Cup Qualifier
– played 82 minutes and provided an assist for Harry Kane
3-0 vs Latvia (H), World Cup qualifier
– featured for 79 minutes, laid on his second assist of the Interlull for Harry Kane
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Jakub Kiwior, Poland
1-0 vs Lithuania (H), World Cup Qualifier
– played 90 minutes on the left side of a 3-man defence
2-0 vs Malta (H), World Cup Qualifier
– played 90 minutes as Poland grabbed a second clean sheet in a row
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Gabriel Magalhaes
2-1vs Colombia (H), World Cup Qualifier
– played the full 90 minutes but picked up a booking that ruled him out of tonight’s game with Argentina. We assume he travelled back to London early.
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Thomas Partey, Ghana
5-0 vs Chad (H), World Cup Qualifier
– played 83 minutes
3-0 vs Madagascar (A), World Cup Qualifier
– scored twice (!) – both set-up by Jordan Ayew – before Mohamed Kudus rounded off the scoring.
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Ethan Nwaneri, England under-21s
3-5 vs France under-21s (A), Friendly
– made his under-21 debut in the 89th minute
4-2 vs Portugal under-21s (H), Friendly
– Doubled England’s advantage on 10 minutes, subbed off after 71 minutes
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Tommy Setford, England under-19s
2-0 vs Wales under-19s (A), UEFA U19 EURO qualifier
– played the full 90 minutes
0-0 vs Turkey under-19s (H), UEFA U19 EURO qualifier
– unused sub
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Martin Odegaard, Norway
5-0 vs Moldova (A), World Cup qualifier
– Played 90 minutes and registered an assist for Alexander Sorloth
Our captain will also feature tonight against Israel in another WC qualifier.
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