Goalscoring teenager making mark on loan
TEENAGE Leicester City midfielder Kamal Sowah is quickly rising to prominence on loan at OH Leuven, writes Jordan Blackwell.
The 19-year-old Ghanaian scored once and set up two as City’s sister club continued their fine start to the campaign with a 4-0 victory over Roeselare.
A central midfielder by trade but featuring on the right wing, Sowah prodded Leuven in front after 55 seconds after a winding run and one-two.
Another jinking dribble from Sowah saw the ball pop out to Mathieu Maertens to drive home the second, and then the City loanee crossed deep to assist Leuven’s third, Mertens heading in.
The win was sealed with a fourth goal in the second half, a fourth win from five taking Leuven to the top of Belgium’s second tier.
Sowah has played in every fixture this season, starting the last three, with his strike against Roeselare his third in all competitions.
“It is of course a great pleasure,” said Sowah. “Every player wants to score. It feels fantastic to be important to the team.
“I feel more and more confident and pick up a lot from the older players. As a result, I am doing better and can show myself more often.”
The form of the teenager, who joined City from Ghana in January 2018, has seen him receive praise from his team-mates.
Striker Thomas Henry said: “It is good that he is building up more and more confidence. He certainly has the right mentality.”
Elsewhere, centre-back Sam Hughes made his league debut, as an 89th-minute substitute in Salford City’s 2-2 draw at Morecambe.
It could have been better for the League Two newcomers, who missed two penalties.
Ryan Loft was also in action in League Two. Despite scoring the winner the previous weekend, the target man was back on the bench for Carlisle, coming on for the final 15 minutes in a 3-1 loss to tabletoppers Exeter.
Overseas, Rachid Ghezzal made his first outing in Fiorentina’s purple, coming on a substitute in a 1-0 friendly win over Perugia.
Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella said of the Algerian’s performance: “He has quality and he likes to play on the touchline. He has to improve his fitness a bit.”
The loan clubs of Islam Slimani, Adrien Silva (both Monaco), Andy King (Rangers), Fousseni Diabate (Amiens), Josh Knight (Peterborough) and Layton Ndukwu (Southend) were not in action.