Limoges Tournament: Saka Nets Maiden Goal For England U18s; Chelsea's Anjorin Is Top Scorer

Published: September 09, 2018

England U18s have won the 12th edition of the Limoges Tournament after beating France 2-1 in their last game on Sunday, finishing with maximum nine points from three matches.

Five players of Nigerian descent were named in the starting lineup by manager Neil Dewsnip: West Ham's Ajibola Alese, Manchester City's Nathaniel Ogbeta, Chelsea midfielder Faustino Anjorin and Arsenal duo Bukayo Saka and Folarin Balogun.

Manchester United right back Ethan Laird headed home to give the Young Lions the lead in the 11th minute but the French equalized through AS Saint-étienne defender William Saliba on 37 minutes.

England's domination in the second half paid off when Saka converted a spot kick in the 75th minute, which proved to be the winning goal, his first for England U18s.

Anjorin, who scored in two matches against Netherlands and Russia, won the top scorer award with two goals, while
St Etienne's Bilal Benkhedim was named best player.

Four members of France's 2018 World Cup winning squad Thomas Lemar (Atlético Madrid), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Ousmane Dembélé (Barcelona) and Paul Pogba (Manchester United) represented France in previous editions of the Tournoi Lafarge Foot Avenir.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : lafargefootavenir.com