Eliezer Mayenda put in another impressive performance as Sunderland beat Portsmouth 1-0 at the Stadium of Light on Sunday.
The 19-year-old did extremely well to set up Wilson Isidor’s goal which proved the difference between the two sides.
Outside of that, the Sunderland forward looked dangerous throughout the match and would have been a worthy winner of the Man of the Match award.
However, former Premier League striker Iain Dowie has explained where Mayenda must improve if he wants to reach the next level.
Iain Dowie says Eliezer Mayenda can become ‘real player’
Dowie was quick to praise Mayenda for his work in assisting Isidor but added the caveat that he should score more goals himself.
“Mayenda could do with some more goals but I’ve got to say, whenever he gets on the ball, he’s a real threat,” the ex-West Ham man said on commentary for Sky Sports.
“He’s pacey, skilful and has decent delivery. There’s a lot to like about him at 19 years old. Three caps for Spain at under-17.
“There’s certainly something there. Just add to that goal tally, get that up to 10 rather than three and he’ll be a real player.”
Dowie was alluding to the fact that Mayenda only has three goals in 17 league appearances for Sunderland this season.
The Spaniard is already a quality Championship player but an improvement to his finishing could make him Premier League-ready.
Eliezer Mayenda’s ‘really poor’ effort proved Iain Dowie right
Shortly after Dowie’s verdict on Mayenda, he had an excellent chance to put the Black Cats 2-0 up and effectively put the game to bed.
The youngster was running towards the right side of the goal and had two options to score: smash the ball past goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid at the near post or fire it across the goal into the far corner.
It was hard to decipher which idea Mayenda was going for as he sliced the ball high and wide. “It’s a really poor finish,” Dowie added after the squandered opportunity.