Everton played out a 3-3 draw in their behind closed doors friendly against Blackburn Rovers at Hill Dickinson Stadium, with a goal from 16-year-old Jonathan Nsangou, who says his dream in football is to win the Ballon d’Or.
Six-goal thriller at Hill Dickinson Stadium
Charly Alcaraz, Thierno Barry and Nsangou were on the scoresheet as David Moyes’ men took part in a six-goal thriller with Tony Mowbray’s Championship side on Friday afternoon. Alcaraz’s confidently dispatched penalty opened the scoring inside eight minutes, before Mark Travers saved a Blackburn spot-kick midway through the opening period.
Alcaraz then turned provider on the stroke of half-time, producing an inviting cross for Barry to turn home from close range to double Everton’s advantage.
Nsangou strikes late
The visitors hit back with two quick goals after the restart and went ahead with three minutes remaining, via a third penalty of the match.
However, with Moyes – who is without 11 players away on international duty – handing minutes to a host of youngsters throughout the contest, including Joshua van Schoor, John Dodds, Ezra Carrington, Harvey Foster and Melvin Matos, it was Under-18s forward Nsangou, who calmly struck home a late equaliser after being played in by Jack Grealish.
Nsangou’s Ballon d’Or dream
In a post put out on X by the Everton Academy account on September 25, Nsangou, who was born in Poland to a Polish mother and Cameroon footballer Alirou Nsangou, made his Ballon d’Or claim while revealing that he believed his best attribute is shooting as he loves going forwards.
He cited Everton team-mate Amari Moses as his best friend in football, Cristiano Ronaldo as his idol growing up and his best skill outside of football being sports in general, particularly basketball and table tennis.
