PL2: Winger whose grandfather played for Nigeria comes back to haunt former club Chelsea

Former Blue Tudor Mendel-Idowu came back to haunt his old club on Saturday as Ipswich Town earned an impressive 4-2 away victory over Chelsea in a Premier League 2 encounter at Kingsmeadow.

Born in Slough, England, 20 years ago, Mendel-Idowu is eligible to represent Nigeria through his parents.

Tudor's grandfather on his mother's side, John Adeleye-Abai, played international football for Nigeria.

A left-footed winger, Mendel-Idowu is a graduate of Chelsea's academy, where he spent a decade honing his craft at Cobham before rejecting a new contract and joining Belgian side Anderlecht in the summer of 2023.

He returned to English football the following year, signing for Ipswich Town during their Premier League campaign.

The clash at Kingsmeadow had a strong Nigerian flavour, with six players of Nigerian descent on the pitch: Mendel-Idowu, former Flying Eagles invitee Abube Onuchukwu, Cobham product Somto Boniface, Lyon Ayinde, Landon Emenalo and Richard Olise.

Adding to the theme, the match was officiated by Nigerian referee Aji Ajibola.

On the pitch, Luca Fletcher opened the scoring for Chelsea before Shumaira Mheuka equalised.

Mendel-Idowu then struck in first-half stoppage time to restore Ipswich's lead heading into the interval.

After the restart, Ashley Boatswain extended the advantage with a goal created by Boniface, only for Chelsea's Murray-Campbell to pull one back.

Rio Oudnie-Morgan sealed the result late on, capping off a memorable performance for the Tractor Boys.

Mendel-Idowu's goal means he has now been directly involved in four goals across his opening four appearances in the Premier League 2 this season.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit: chelseafc.com

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