Gary Lineker delivered his verdict on Noni Madueke’s England performance last night as the Chelsea star earned just his second senior international cap.
England suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat against Greece on Thursday night at Wembley Stadium, where there were three Chelsea players in action.
Blues duo Levi Colwill and Cole Palmer both completed the full 90 minutes for the Three Lions. Meanwhile, Chelsea winger Noni Madueke was substituted on early in the second half to replace an injured Bukayo Saka.
It’s a great reward to see the 22-year-old get more minutes for his country after an impressive start to the season, scoring five goals in eight club appearances so far. Incidentally, journalist Fabrizio Romano claimed via YouTube last month that Chelsea now consider Madueke as “untouchable”.
Gary Lineker impressed by Noni Madueke
Despite England’s disappointing loss at home to Greece, Gary Lineker did deliver some praise for Chelsea’s Madueke for his overall impact off the bench.
“I thought Madueke looked likely when he came on. He did well,” Lineker told The Rest Is Football.”
“He’s one of those players that can go past people and that’s quite important. There’s not that many players that can do that with his kind of pace.”
Noni Madueke catches the eye
There were a few positive moments from Madueke in his latest England display, although the overall feeling is that the team lacked a creative spark against a well-organised Greek outfit.
The Chelsea winger, who mostly plays on the right, entered the action in his favoured position. However, we did see him shift across to the left in a tactical change and he did alright out there.
Fotmob data has provided the individual statistics from Madueke’s performance versus Greece:
- Match rating – 6.2
- Minutes played – 39
- Total shots – 2
- Touches – 22
- Accurate passes – 11/12 (92%)
- Successful dribbles – 0/2 (0%)
- Touches in opposition box – 5
- Accurate crosses – 0/2 (0%)
- Tackles won – 1/1 (100%)
- Clearances – 1
Next, England travel to Finland on Sunday evening for their next Nations League game, so it’ll be interesting to see if Madueke starts.
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