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Internationals: Partey, Maitland-Niles, Nketiah

Thomas Partey
Thomas Partey

We had nine players in action over the international break, scroll down to find out how they got on.

Thomas Partey played his first competitive football since completing his deadline day move to us. Our new signing featured twice for Ghana in two international friendlies, losing 3-0 to Mali away before beating Qatar 5-1 on home soil.

Partey provided two assists against Qatar, firstly setting up Andre Ayew on the 63rd minute, then releasing Samuel Owusu down the right flank with an expertly guided long ball.  

 

It was also a big week for Ainsley Maitland-Niles who made his first start for England against Denmark. Our 23-year-old midfielder played just 35 minutes of the 1-0 defeat after a Harry Maguire’s red card forced Gareth Southgate into an early change. 

 

Maitland-Niles



 

Denmark sealed the win through a first-half penalty, duly converted by Inter Milan's Christian Eriksen.

 

Elsewhere, Eddie Nketiah became England Under-21s' all-time record goalscorer as the Young Lions booked their spot at Euro 2021. Our youngster bagged his 14th goal in just 12 games to move past Alan Shearer and Francis Jeffers on the list of the Three Lions’ top marksman at that level.

 

Nketiah completed the feat four minutes after missing a penalty in his side’s 2-1 victory over Turkey. The win leaves Aidy Boothroyd's side top of Group 3 and secures their place in Hungary and Slovenia next year with two matches remaining.

 

Eddie Nketiah



 

Alex Runarsson was an unused substitute in Iceland's 3-0 defeat against Denmark, but did feature in the 2-1 defeat against Belgium in the Nations League. A first-half brace from Romelu Lukaku was enough for the world’s top-ranked side to take all three points from the fixture.

 

Dani Ceballos came off the bench during Spain's 1-0 defeat against Ukraine. Our on-loan midfielder replaced Mikel Merino at half-time but was powerless to prevent Viktor Tsyhankov's late winner.

 

Despite the result, Spain remain top of Group 4 after picking up seven points from their opening four games.

 

Granit Xhaka was also in Nations League action this weekend. He played the full game in both of Switzerland's Group 4 matches. Switzerland lost 1-0 against Spain on Saturday before earning an unexpected point against Germany on the road.

 

Granit Xhaka



 

Xhaka's side went 2-0 up inside 25 minutes through Mario Gavranovic and Remo Freuler, before Timo Werner hit back before half-time. Kai Havertz then made it 2-2 shortly into the second half, but two minutes later, Gavranovic hit his second of the game to restore Switzerland's lead. Former Gunner Serge Gnabry then levelled proceedings on the hour mark to finish the scoring.

 

Nicolas Pepe played 78 minutes for Ivory Coast in their disappointing 1-0 friendly defeat to Japan. Our tricky winger was replaced by Max Gradel with 12 minutes to play before Naomichi Ueda's 91st-minute winner settled the game.

 

Sead Kolasinac played 45 minutes in Bosnia & Herzegovina's Nations League match against the Netherlands. Our left-back replaced Advan Kadusic at half-time during the 0-0 draw.

 

Kolasinac then played again just three days later, starting in the 3-0 loss to Poland. Two goals and an assist from Robert Lewandowski either side of the interval put the game out of reach for Bosnia & Herzegovina.

 

Daniel Ballard played the full game as Northern Ireland lost 1-0 to Norway in the Nations League on Wednesday. A Stuart Dallas own goal just after the hour mark settled the game and leaves Northern Ireland rooted to the bottom of Group 1.

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