- Man City had been leading 1-0 at half-time in their Premier League 2 match
- The introduction of a ex-England striker’s son lead to a crushing 5-0 victory
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Manchester City remained top of Premier League 2 – an Under-21 development league for academies – on Friday night by earning a crushing 5-0 win over Norwich.
The home side had been 1-0 up at half-time through Emilio Lawrence’s strike, but blew their opponents away in the second half.
The crushing scoreline had much to do with a former Premier League striker’s son, who was introduced at half-time for goalscorer Lawrence.
Within 20 minutes, the forward had netted a hat-trick to put Man City 4-0 up.
They then provided the assist to round off the victory to keep Man City top of the standings.
It capped a remarkable week for Reigan Heskey, one of the son’s of former Premier League and England striker Emile.
Reigan had earlier in the week scored a stunning curling effort in the EFL, before he and his brother Jaden helped Man City win the penalty shoot-out.
His impact was more devastating on Friday night, scoring his first goal with two minutes of his arrival by showing his poacher’s instincts to tap home from a cross from close range.
The goal marked the 16-year-old’s first at Premier League 2 level, as he continues to step up from the Under-18s, where he has six goals and assisted four in seven matches.
His second followed soon after with the composed finish in the 53rd minute, slotting calmly into the far corner.
The hat-trick was completed when Reigan’s curling right footed effort could only be helped into the net by Norwich’s goalkeeper.
A fine evening’s work was capped off by assisting a goal for Will Dickson in the last minute, as Man City wrapped up a seventh straight win in the competition.
Regian offered an understatement post-match, when he told a Man City’s club interview that it was a ‘good performance’.
‘I came on and made an impact which is what I try to do every time so it was a good performance,’ he said.
‘Every team wants to be top [of the table], you want to win every game week in, week out.
‘The pressure of having them [other teams] behind us gives us motivation to play well every week.’
His brother Jaden had also played the full match in midfield on Friday night.
Reigan will be looking to follow in the footsteps of his father Emile, who is a Premier League legend, having scored 110 goals in 516 matches for teams such as Leicester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa.
Heskey also overcame setback after setback to keep his place in the national team and eventually finished his career with 62 caps.
Having lost his spot after a disappointing Euro 2004 campaign, the forward impressed for his club sides to claw his way back into the England setup, making a shock return for Fabio Capello’s team in the 2010 World Cup.
During his spell at Newcastle Jets in Australia in 2012, Emile’s sons Jaden and Reigan, aged four and six at the time, could be seen stealing the show on the pitch after matches, kitted out in special ‘Heskey’ shirts.
Their father is now the head of football development for Leicester City Women, having previously had a spell as interim coach of the team.
Earlier this year Heskey was ordered to pay a bill for legal fees of almost £200,000 after a lengthy dispute with HMRC regarding an unpaid tax bill which dated back to 2019.
Reigan will be hoping his stunning form continues in midweek when Man City face Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Youth League.
