Oakley Cannonier has his first goals for Liverpool U21s. Coach Barry Lewtas labelled him ‘brilliant’ after the feat.
Liverpool Under 21s smashed Wolves 5-0 on Saturday, with Leighton Stewart rightly earning the headlines. The striker scored a hat-trick – a memorable one for a talented player who has battled a severe injury.
But it wasn’t just a day for Stewart to celebrate. Oakley Cannonier bagged his first two goals for the U21s after coming on for Stewart. In fact, the teenager took just 11 minutes against Wolves to find the two strikes.
That earned praise from Barry Lewtas, who coaches Cannonier at both U21 and U19 level. He’s seeing the youngster hit a high level.
“Oakley was brilliant as well [as Stewart], some great goals and he was unlucky not to get his hat-trick,” he said, per Liverpoolfc.com.
Oakley Cannonier gets first U21s goals
It’s great news for Cannonier and Liverpool that the youngster got his goals. He is, after all, the brightest goalscoring prospect at the club right now.
But it’s relatively easy to do that at U18 level – Liverpool have had several youngsters impress at that age. It’s being able to move up the youth levels and still show a knack for scoring that separates the truly gifted.
Cannonier has already shown some ability to step up a level this year. He bagged a hat-trick against Ajax U19s in the UEFA Youth League. That prompted Lewtas to say it’s ‘his turn’ to shine at that level.
But U21 is another level yet – and a bigger step up for youngsters. Cannonier is now off and running, though, with two goals in 11 minutes. This was his sixth appearance at that level, with only one coming from the start.
It’s safe to say there’s more to come, then. Liverpool appear to have a special one here and Cannonier keeps delivering every time he moves up.
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