Aston Villa of England’s Nigerian-born youngster, Carney Chukwuemeka got his debut in the English Premier League on a night his side pulled off a shock victory against UEFA Europa League chasing Tottenham Hotspur, megasportsarena.com reports.
Chukwuemeka was found in the highlights, as Villa romped from behind to register a 2-1 victory, with the youngster wearing jersey number 60 entering the game in the 89th minute to take the place of Marvelous Nakamba.
Steven Bergwijn fired a shot into the top scorer to open the scoring for Tottenham Hotspur in the eighth minute, Villa equalised when Sergio Reguilon deflected a cross past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, before Ollie Watkins bagged what proved to be the winning goal in the 39th minute.
While Chukwuemeka made history, Tottenham were booed off by their returning fans as Aston Villa fought back from a goal down to win 2-1 and dent Spurs’ European hopes, though they did briefly give their 10,000 fans something to cheer about after eight minutes when Bergwijn struck.
However, few moments after he fired home powerfully from just inside the box, it was downhill all the way for Spurs, as Sergio Reguilon’s shocking own goal from a sliced clearance brought Villa level in the 20th minute of play.
Spurs were woeful for much of the first half as Ollie Watkins capitalised on another Reguilon error for his 14th league goal of the season (39) as the hosts were booed off at half-time following several missed Villa chances.
Emi Martinez kept Villa ahead with several saves as Spurs upped the ante in the second half, and though Villa were put under pressure in spurts by the hosts, they had fine chances of their own and were good value for the three points, hitting the post through substitute Carney Chukwuemeka in stoppage time.
The defeat summed up the mood around manager-less Spurs, with Harry Kane looking to leave the club, and the hope of any European football next season now under threat as they sit seventh, which would earn them a place in the new Europa Conference League next season.
They must beat Leicester on the final day and hope West Ham lose at home to Southampton to move into sixth place and a Europa League spot. Villa stay 11th.
It was the sixth match that Chukwuemeka would be named by Villa in a match day squad for an EPL game, as he was previously a non-playing substitute against Leicester City, Manchester United, Manchester City, Everton and Crystal Palace.
At 17 years, 211 days old, Chukwuemeka became Villa’s third youngest player in the EPL, after Rushian Hepburn-Murphy (16 years, 198 days) and Gareth Barry (17 years, 68 days), with his debut just falling short of a milestone, as he was inches away from scoring when he hit the post.
Although Chukwuemeka could not get a goal, Villa’s coach, Dean Smith would be delighted with the lad’s performance, especially as top shots at Villa Park are keen to integrate young players like him into the first team, in a bid to fend off interest from bigger clubs.
