Lawrence nets a first senior goal at Kenilworth Road
On-loan Manchester City attacker Emilio Lawrence is thoroughly enjoying his maiden taste of first team football with the Hatters after netting his first senior goal during Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Stockport County.
The 20-year-old did so in wonderful fashion as well, thundering a brilliant right-footed drive from just outside the box into the corner of the net before celebrating with an impressive kneeslide in front of the Kenilworth Road faithful. When he first moved to Bedfordshire, Lawrence had enjoyed quite an extensive career in academy football, playing over 30 times in the Premier League 2 for his parent club, also featuring in the UEFA Youth League and making seven outings in the EFL Trophy for City’s U21s against Football League opposition.
Dipping his toe in the international as well when winning five caps for Scotland U21s, a move to Kenilworth Road instantly opened his eyes and broadened his horizons to men’s football, as he has now played 10 games in the league, with nine starts, earning two assists prior to opening his account at the weekend when setting up Nahki Wells and Nigel Lonwijk for goals against Port Vale and Reading.
Emilio Lawrence wheels away after scoring against Stockport County - pic: David Horn / PRiME Media Imagesplaceholder image
Emilio Lawrence wheels away after scoring against Stockport County - pic: David Horn / PRiME Media Images
Lawrence has had three more outings in the Vertu Trophy as well, but speaking about his strike on Saturday, he told the club’s official website: “Kal (Naismith) just started dribbling inside the pitch, so I came up the pitch with him to try and get on it. Thankfully it fell to me and as soon as I got it, I just knew to take it in the pitch and just swung it to that far post. The keeper’s a big guy, I saw his arm stretch out, but I’m just glad it went in.”
Having had a spell out of the side soon after joining from the Etihad, Lawrence has now begun the last six League One matches, starting to win over the club’s supporters with his efforts in an unnatural wingback position, and despite Town’s play-off hopes being hit, is clearly relishing his exposure to the third tier, adding: “It's something new with all the games, but there’s nothing better than being in front of the crowd and playing games, so I’m enjoying that.
"It’s another thing to learn, a new experience, but I think I’m handling it okay. There’s still areas to improve, but I’m glad I can just help the team. We're frustrated (with the result), we definitely think we could have come away with three points, but looking at the bigger picture, it's seven points out of nine from the week. We've got a little bit of a break now for internationals, so I’m sure when we get back we'll just keep the form running again and get back at it.”
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