Newcastle United signing from Leganes scores twice in 4-1 Premier League Cup victory
Friday night saw Newcastle United Under 21s kick off their Premier League Cup campaign with a 4-1 victory against Luton Town. On 25 minutes United taking the lead thanks to a Dempsey Crace own goal which was forced by an excellent cross from Johnny Emerson's teasing.
A nice moment for Emerson as it was his first Under-21s in 18 months, after missing all the previous season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament which happened in April 2025. Eight minutes after the break and 18-year-old defender headed Newcastle 2-0 ahead with his first ever goal for the Under 21s, Johnson grateful to Johnny Emerson for a great cross to pick him out.
In this Premier League Cup group stage, Newcastle United are in Group D alongside Luton, Peterborough United and Nottingham Forest. Newcastle United then took the game totally away from Luton with two goals from Afner Ca (see below) in the space of five minutes.
The 6ft 4 left-footed attacking player, who plays centre-forward or right wing, smashed a powerful effort into the roof of the net. Then he profited from following up Sam Alabi's effort that struck the post, Afner Ca on hand to put the rebound into an empty net.
A late free-kick two minutes from time saw Lorentzen-Jones spoiled an otherwise perfect night for the Newcastle United Under 21s as Luton got a late consolation in this 4-1 defeat. Newcastle United Under-21s: Aidan Harris, Henry Johnson, Dylan Charlton, Miodrag Pivaš (Guy Bloomer 81), Logan Watts, Scott Bailey (c), Johnny Emerson (Kyran Thompson 62), Jayden Kouossu (Sam Alabi 69), Afner Cá, Matheos Ferreira (Alfie Seldon 69), Kyle Fitzgerald.
Afner Ca is one of many young players who have signed for Newcastle United in recent times as NUFC cast the net ever further as they look to bring in emerging talent. The 6ft 4 Guinea-Bissau forward Afner Ca moved to join the Newcastle United Academy this summer after he turned down a new contract from La Liga club Levante.
The striker turned 19 in July and media reports stated that he had signed a five-year contract with Newcastle United. After signing this summer, Afner Ca explained why he had signed for Newcastle United:"The project here, the lifestyle, and the club's ambition made this the right move for me.
I'm a forward who likes to find space, link play and work hard for the team. Scoring goals is a big part of my game, but my focus is always on contributing to the group, whatever helps the team win.
Ross Wilson, Newcastle United Sporting Director, said about the signing: We're pleased to see Afner join our Academy. He's an exciting profile who has shown real growth over the last couple of seasons, having developed well during this time in both Portugal and Spain."