Jonathan Nsangou, 16, scored a late equaliser to secure a 3-3 draw for Everton in their behind-closed-doors friendly against Blackburn Rovers at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Friday, October 2.
With 11 of David Moyes' squad away on international duty, the match offered an opportunity for younger players to impress, and Nsangou took it. Everton led 2-0 at half-time through a Charly Alcaraz penalty and a Thierno Barry strike, with home goalkeeper Mark Travers saving a spot-kick in between. Blackburn turned the game around after the break, going 3-2 ahead with goals from Todd Cantwell, Dapo Afolayan and Augustus Kargbo, before Nsangou calmly equalised after being played in by Jack Grealish.
Nsangou's goal in context
Nsangou's strike came the day after the 24th anniversary of Wayne Rooney scoring his first Everton goal, a brace in a 3-0 League Cup win at Wrexham that broke Tommy Lawton's record from 1937 to become the club's youngest goalscorer. That accolade has since been taken by James Vaughan, who scored in a 4-0 home win over Crystal Palace on April 10, 2005, aged 16 years and 270 days. Vaughan remained the Premier League's youngest goalscorer until Max Dowman registered for Arsenal in a 2-0 win at the Emirates against another Moyes Blues team on March 14 this year.
Nsangou, born in Poland on January 16, 2010, was about 10 days younger than Vaughan when he scored against Blackburn.
Background and career so far
Nsangou's mother is Polish and his father is retired Cameroon footballer Alirou Nsangou. He represented Poland at Under-15s level but has since won five caps for England Under-16s. According to transfermarkt, he has an elder half-brother, Junior Nsangou, 21, a former Blackburn youth player who is a centre-forward in the reserves of Slask Wroclaw, promoted to the Polish top flight at the end of last season.
Primarily a right winger, Nsangou has scored 10 times for Everton in the U18 Premier League. The club website states he produced nine goal contributions in 20 league games last season and made his U21 debut as a substitute against Aston Villa.
Personal aspirations
Nsangou considers his parents his personal heroes and describes his mentality as very attack-minded, always looking to score and assist. In a post by the Everton Academy account on X on September 25, he declared his football dream is to win the Ballon d'Or, named Blues team-mate Amari Moses as his best friend in football, and said his best skill outside football is sports in general, particularly basketball and table tennis. He cited Cristiano Ronaldo as his idol growing up. Ronaldo, who has won the Ballon d'Or five times but this week left the Portugal national team squad, declaring he will explain the reasons why "in time," had already completed his first stint at Manchester United and was midway through his first season at Real Madrid when Nsangou was born.
Everton also handed a debut to summer signing Christian Norgaard in the match.
