After drawing blanks in four consecutive U18 Premier League matches, 2025 Flying Eagles invitee Chizaram Ezenwata returned to the scoresheet on Saturday afternoon as Chelsea U18s recorded a comfortable 3–0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.

The England U18 international had begun the season in blistering form, scoring in six straight U18 Premier League games.

However, before the trip to Brighton, he had not found the net in the competition since January 31 when he scored in a 3–1 win away to Norwich City.

Ezenwata was one of five players of Nigerian descent involved in the fixture.

He started alongside Chelsea teammates Riley Ebho and Tayo Subuloye, while Sebastian Ademola and Ekene Anah were named in Brighton’s starting line-up.

The deadlock was broken in the 19th minute when Ezenwata calmly fired the ball into the bottom corner.

Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli doubled Chelsea’s advantage in the 61st minute, before Reggie Walsh added a third, tapping home after being set up by Ezenwata.

Despite the brief goal drought, the Nigeria-eligible forward has now registered 15 goals across all competitions this season — 12 in the U18 Premier League and one each in the Premier League International Cup, FA Youth Cup and Premier League 2.

Ezenwata received a call-up to a Flying Eagles training camp ahead of the 2025 Fifa U20 World Cup, but club commitments prevented him from travelling to Abuja.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel