MUTV pundit raves over ‘hell of a strike’ by Man Utd wonderkid, he’s banging on Ruben Amorim’s first team door

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On Friday night, Manchester United’s U21 side were in action as the Premier League 2 entered the play-off phase with Everton arriving to the Leigh Sports Village.

It was the round of 16 stage for Travis Binnion’s side against the Toffees and things got off to the worst start imaginable for Manchester United.

Martin Sherif put Everton ahead in the first minute, which gave United an uphill task to claim the win, which the returning from loan Ethan Wheatley did as he scored just 10 minutes later.

Sherif then grabbed his second of the game to make it 2-1 in the 33rd minute, and this was how things stood heading into the second half – before, in typical United fashion, a comeback was staged.

Wheatley scored his second in the 51st minute, before Tyler Fletcher got United’s third, which turned out to be a deciding goal.

The game was put to bed in the 84th minute, as Sekou Kone scored the pick of the bunch with a looping effort from well outside the box, which landed into the top corner.

READ: Man Utd under-21s top scorers and assists in 2024/25, all results

Ben Thornley amazed by Sekou Kone goal for Manchester United

Watching Kone’s development over the course of this season, to the point where he now looks completely dominant at a U21 level, both physically and technically, which was not the case when he joined.

Friday was another standout performance for Kone, as he not only scored but also assisted the Fletcher goal in the game from holding midfield – all while doing everything else flawlessly.

Reacting to the Kone goal on MUTV, commentator Ben Thornley was amazed by the finish.

“It’s a hell of a strike!” Thornley emphatically declared.

“He can strike a ball, we’ve seen it numerous occasions this season, and that was another example of it.”

When signed, Kone was labelled as being a mix between N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba, with this moment certainly being more of the latter. More recently, Kone has been compared with Kobbie Mainoo with both well rounded and having an eye for goal as well.

Last summer, United pounced to beat Barcelona to the Kone signing and now we are beginning to see the payoff from this as he is pushing for his debut.

• READ: Sekou Kone officially unveiled as Manchester United confirm their first deadline day signing

Sekou Kone is becoming undeniable for Ruben Amorim

Signing Kone was always done with the first team in mind, as he was expected to be fast-tracked after a period of settling in. The 2024/25 season was all about this, with United giving him time to adjust to England before a debut was expected.

This summer, Casemiro is a player the club could be looking to sell, with his wages being far too much for the new structure of the club. Therefore, Kone could be the ready-made Casemiro and the best part is he cost just £1m.

Now, with the Premier League campaign in its dying moments and little to play for outside of the Europa League, Amorim has admitted he will use the youth at United, and so Kone’s chance could be just around the corner.

Having already been on the bench a handful of times, Kone has been knocking on the door for a while now. But this performance should be enough to push it over the line, and if we had to predict, next Sunday against Brentford could be his big chance to follow Tyler Fredricson as the next debutant.