Ethan Nwaneri scores again for England youth teams
Following his recent exploits for the Arsenal first team, Ethan Nwaneri has dropped back to youth football with England.
The midfielder was named as captain for a friendly against Portugal on Wednesday, but the team made a poor start. By half-time, Portugal were winning 2-0 through goals from Joao Simoes of Sporting CP and Gil Pinto Martins of FC Porto B.
Nwaneri stepped up to take on the responsibility when England were awarded a penalty in the 71st minute, and he converted emphatically for 2-1.
But the Arsenal man was unable to help his team to an equaliser, largely because he was withdrawn for Chelsea’s Tyrique George three minutes later.
Despite England’s defeat, Nwaneri will be pleased with his personal form in the side. The 17-year-old has three goals and an assist in four games since being promoted to the u19s.
That hasn’t been against easy opposition either, with Nwaneri’s goals coming against Italy, Germany, and Portugal. The assist was against Croatia.
The pressure will ramp up in the u19 Euros qualifiers next month, so England will want to get back to winning ways in their final pre-qualifier friendlies against the Netherlands on Saturday at 18:00 BST and France on Tuesday at 11:00.
In other Arsenal academy news, Brayden Clarke made his debut for the Wales u19s against Italy in a 3-3 friendly draw, with Will Sweet coming off the bench for the side in the final 18 minutes.
Those two could get another chance to feature in another fixture against the same opponents on Sunday at 13:00 BST.
