Noni Madueke was playing up front for England U21 tonight and made the most of it, scoring a great goal. He got England back into the game at 2-0 down, and Charlie Cresswell equalised late on.
But Ukraine scored in the 94th minute to win the game.
It’s another positive international performance from Madueke, who can’t get a minute for Mauricio Pochettino in the first team at the moment. He’s one of the players who will be most happy about international breaks at the moment, while plenty of others are returning in the coming days and desperately trying to get ready for Saturday’s game.
Madueke got two goals against Serbia earlier in the break, and had spoken about getting goals from faster shots. He showed off that new philosophy again today.
You can see the goal in the clip embedded here:
Noni Madueke scores again for the England U21s 💥🏴
pic.twitter.com/V7DtSinjjg— Talk Chelsea (@talkchelsea) October 16, 2023
Madueke will hope that this strong form gets him a nod from Mauricio Pochettino in the first team, but with so many of our attacking players coming into form at once, it will not be an easy task.
Like Ethan Ampadu before him, in the short term, Madueke might end up being one of those players who looks forwards to international breaks more than most – but once he’s no longer eligible for the U21s, his options narrow considerably.
