England cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win over Costa Rica on Wednesday night, but Noni Madueke was guilty of a glaring miss, and Roy Keane gave his verdict on the former Chelsea man.
Declan Rice got the opening goal after wonderful play from new Barcelona star Anthony Gordon, and it was the former Newcastle winger who scored England’s second from the penalty spot in the second half.
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After a raft of substitutes, Ollie Watkins nodded in a third late on. A solid performance from England, even if it came against a poor side in Costa Rica. But it was not all positive for the Three Lions, either.
There have been concerns regarding Bukayo Saka’s fitness going into the tournament, and that showed in Thomas Tuchel’s starting line-up. Ex-Chelsea man Noni Madueke, now at Arsenal, started on the right.
Roy Keane criticises Noni Madueke after embarrassing miss
Since leaving Chelsea in the summer of 2025 after a two-year stint with the Blues, Madueke has made himself a villain of Chelsea fans largely thanks to his recent dig at his old club before the World Cup.
On Wednesday night, he started on the right over Saka. Played in by Jude Bellingham after Rice’s opener, Madueke rounded the Costa Rica goalkeeper but with the goal gaping, he managed to miss the target.
Perhaps going with the wrong foot, Madueke hit the post and it bounced back. Roy Keane criticised the former Chelsea man for his lack of end product during ITV Sport’s coverage of the game at half-time.
“I actually think his movement is pretty decent. But what you need on the back of that is an end product. What you’re looking for is a golden moment, like with Gordon. He gets himself an opportunity.
“You have to take it, really have to take it. His movement is good, stretching them, coming short, but the most important part of football is getting the ball in the back of the net. That’s where he has to improve.”
Chelsea fans are all too aware of Madueke’s end product
In his two years with the Blues, Madueke clocked up an impressive 92 appearances in all competitions. Readily available and rarely injured, it saw the former PSV Eindhoven star get plenty of opportunities.
Chelsea made a mistake getting rid of Noni Madueke! Do you agree?😠
But Chelsea fans would grow frustrated with Madueke at times. The winger left Chelsea with figures of 20 goals and nine assists in those 92 games, when it should have been a whole lot more before departing.
His XG during his stint at Chelsea was 21.4, and his XA was 9.8. Slightly underperforming, but Madueke often frustrated Chelsea fans more than he excited them and his miss for England proved just that.
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