While 2021/22 was a season of struggle for Everton, it proved a breakthrough year for Anthony Gordon. It was fitting, thenm that the Blues’ home-grown talent produced a goalscoring display that showcased yet another element of his rapidly-developing game as the campaign draws towards its close.
Gordon has been a bundle of energy and enterprise for both club and country this year and while he has yet to break through to Gareth Southgate’s senior national squad, he’s been a mainstay for England’s Under-21s under the watchful eye of head coach Lee Carsley, himself a former Goodison Park fans’ favourite.
Friday night’s trip to Kosovo was Gordon’s seventh appearance for the Young Lions this term and, having been man-of-the-match in the 3-0 win over Albania in Chesterfield three days earlier, a result that secured their place in the finals of next summer’s European Under-21s Championship in Romania and Georgia, Gordon was one of just three players who kept their place in the starting line-up as Carsley rang the changes.
