Toronto FC of America youngster, Ayo Akinola has set his sight on achieving back-to-back wins for his club, following his hat-trick that helped them snatch a 4-3 win against former Arsenal of England star, Thierry Henry’s Montreal Impact in USA’s Major League Soccer (MLS).
Megasportsarena.com reports that it is another step forward for the former USA under-17 international, who was a member of the American team that made it to the quarter-finals of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India, before losing 4-1 to eventual champions England.
He went on trial with PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands after the tournament and it has been a rapid surge ever since for the five-foot-10 182-pounder, who turned 20 in January, was born in Detroit, USA, but moved with his family to Ontario at a young age and now makes his home in suburban Brampton.
He is the 15th player in Toronto FC’s history to sign for the first team from the club’s academy and described as a third product of the full player pathway designed at the Canada-based club, where he started from within the academy to playing for TFC II and now the first team
Akinola’s younger brother, Tom is in the Canadian youth system, where he started attending an under-15 camp when he was 14, and he is also a member of the TFC academy, but his older sibling is the one hugging all headlines for now.
He made hay for Toronto in the Back Tournament clash on Thursday, with the victory serving as a huge morale booster ahead of their next game team against New England Revolution FC on Tuesday, and a draw will be enough to cement their place in the next round.
It would be another opportunity for the Nigerian-born USA youth international to mace hay, five days after he joined Richie Laryea in helping the away side shock Henry’s squad, with his fellow-Toronto star putting their team in front just eight minutes into the encounter.
Ghanaian-born Laryea hit home after collecting a through ball from Alejandro Pozuelo and raced into the penalty area before firing home and, although Romell Quioto pulled Montreal level six minutes later, Toronto went back ahead in the 25th when Akinola tapped in an easy finish.
Eleven minutes later, Algerian winger, Taider leveled matters from the penalty mark after DR Congo star, Chris Mavinga brought down Quioto and, within the space of just another minute, Akinola made it 3-2 for The Reds after controlling a sublime Pozuelo pass and he outmuscled a defender before beating the Montreal’s Senegalese goalkeeper.
Akinola grabbed his third goal of the night in the 83rd minute, after racing free on the right side for an assurance finish that made Taider’s stoppage-time converted penalty for Montreal a mere consolation irrelevant and the hat-trick hero was replaced by Griffin Dorsey, while another lad of Nigerian descent, Ifunanyachi Achara was not listed for the encounter.
Incidentally, Chile 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Eaglets’ gold medal winning team member, Orji Okwonkwo, who is on loan from Bologna of Italy, was in action for Montreal, as he went on for Quioto after 79 minutes of play, but it was Akinola who had the last laugh.
He is now buoyed heading into his team’s next game on Tuesday, ahead of which they top the group with four points, followed by New England Revolution with three and DC United with one, while Okwonkwo’s Impact lie at the base of the log with no point from two games.
