Sunderland AFC youngster Joel Asoro, has said that he is "happy" with his performance in the 3-2 victory over Dijon FCO.
A night to remember
Asoro was the star man as Sunderland continued their excellent start to pre-season.
Asoro opened the scoring against the Ligue 1 side, Dylan Bahamboula equalised but Asoro's assist saw Whabi Khazri regain Sunderland's lead. Jérémie Bela equalised once again, but Fabio Borini secured the victory.
The 17-year-old was replaced in the 63rd minute, to a standing ovation, and the Swede shared his delight at his performance.
He told safc.com: "You don’t always get opportunities like this so I’m happy I took it and even happier I scored" and “I wasn't’t expecting it but like I said when you get the chance you have to do something special."
He continued: "I have to say thank you to the lads because they’ve helped me a lot in training and told me what to do" and believes it is "easy to come into the group because everyone talks to everyone and there is a real togetherness.”
Asoro concluded: “I was surprised and humbled by the fans [when they gave me a standing ovation]" so "I have a lot of love for them and I’m surprised they’ve come all the way over here to France" and made the statement “They probably hadn't heard of me before kick-off, but they have now.”
Reaping the rewards
It looks like David Moyes will continue what predecessor Sam Allardyce had started, and use the host of young talent at the Academy of Light to his advantage.
One that impressed Allardyce, before his departure to St George's Park was striker Josh Maja.
The youngster went to Austria with the first-team squad, and now has joined up with under-23 squad, and said he is looking to take his opportunity with his new side.
He said: "It’s a really important year for myself because I need to take the opportunities like I did last season" and hopefully "if I can do that then I can build on what I achieved last year and push on with the under-23s.”
Sunderland AFC will take on Montpellier HSC at the Stade Jacques Forestier on Saturday, July 30 with kick-off at 6pm BST.