Arsenal youngster scores curler on England u21 debut | OneFootball

Ethan Nwaneri scored an excellent goal on his first England u21 start on Monday, curling in a shot from distance against Portugal.

Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Arsenal youngster Ethan Nwaneri made his first start for the England u21s on Monday, making the lineup for a friendly against Portugal.

It didn’t take long for the 18-year-old to have an impact, scoring his first goal for the side in the 10th minute.

Nwaneri picked up the ball in space in midfield, drove towards the penalty area, before cutting in on the edge of the box and curling a shot into the far corner. The match ultimately finished 4-2 to England.

View Tweet

Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images

It’s not the first time we’ve seen that exact finish from the Arsenal man, having scored a similar goal for the Gunners against Girona, Preston North End, and Manchester City.

England u21 boss Lee Carsley admitted it’s not an unusual way for Nwaneri to score.

“I think it’s definitely a finish that he’s got,” Carsley said. “So you know he’s gonna go, touch, finish and he took his goal so well.

“But what we have to keep remembering, [is that] he’s 18 [years old], like [it is] unbelievable. It’s important that we look after him and make sure that going to the tournament in the summer, is that the right thing.

“Obviously we’ll work with Arsenal and make sure that we’re on the same page.”

Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images

Carsley is referring to the u21 European Championships this summer, which kick off in June. England have qualified for the tournament, and they’ll face the Czech Republic (June 12th), Slovenia (June 15th), and Germany (June 18th) in the group stages.

Two teams qualify from each group, and there’s then a quarter-final, semi-final, and final going all the way to June 28th. So there’s certainly a conversation to have with Arsenal about whether that’s the best use of up to a month of Nwaneri’s summer.

For now, it’s just good to see the youngster finally getting a chance to start at a level he could’ve been playing at all season.