Princess Ademiluyi came on as a second-half substitute to help England U19s claim a late 2-1 victory against Turkey U19s in Poland, to get the Young Lionesses’ quest for UEFA Women’s U19 Championship qualification off to the perfect start.
Alongside Turkey, England are in a group with Italy and Poland, who, as the host nation, have already qualified for next summer’s tournament - and the Lionesses are vying to finish in the top three spots in the four-team group to progress to the next round of qualification.
Ava Baker’s 89th-minute strike helped England snatch the three points after Lauren Smith’s side fell behind to Sara Temel’s opener just after the half-hour mark.
The game’s first goal came moments after England were presented with the perfect opportunity to break the deadlock, but Michelle Agyemang, on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion from Arsenal, saw her penalty saved by Turkey shot-stopper Defne Sarioglu.
Behind at half-time, England came out after the break fighting and restored parity ten minutes after the restart, as Agyemang made amends for her spot-kick miss by conjuring up the equaliser.
The goalscorer made way for Ademiluyi on 62 minutes, giving the striker, on loan at Charlton Athletic for the 2024/25 campaign, some more valuable minutes in an England shirt.
And Ademiluyi and her teammates were celebrating come full-time as Birmingham City’s Baker came up with the goods with one minute of normal time remaining.
The three points put Smith’s Lionesses second in the standings on goal difference with a test against Italy, who were also victorious in the first round of fixtures, to come on Saturday (12pm GMT).
England will then conclude their international window with a clash against Poland on Tuesday 3 December (12pm GMT).
For details of Ademiluyi’s and the rest of the Hammers internationals’ upcoming fixtures, click here.
