Roberto Martinez and Youri Tielemans were full of praise for Crystal Palace striker Michy Batshuayi after his crucial brace in Belgium’s 2-1 friendly victory over Switzerland on Wednesday.
By his own admission, the £33 million Chelsea loanee has endured a bit of an ‘annoying’ start to life at Selhurst Park.
While Batshuayi has failed to find the net in six games for Palace, he seems to transform into a genuine match-winner whenever the international break rolls around.
The former Marseille starlet has scored five times in three games for Belgium this season and took his overall international tally to 21 in 32 caps against Switzerland this week.
Cutting inside to curl into the corner, Batshuayi cancelled out Ahmed Mehmedi’s early opener before turning on a sixpence and slamming home a ruthless second with just 20 minutes remaining.
Romelu Lukaku may be Belgium’s first-choice striker – and all-time record goal-scorer – but Batshuayi’s form has surely secured his place in Martinez’s Euro 2020 plans.
“Michy Batshuayi always brings us more, he’s a surgical goalscorer. He has developed a real understanding of the game. He is more mature today,” Martinez told L’Equipe.
“He deserves his two goals against Switzerland. He worked hard for the team. This is the level we want to see. His stats speak for themselves.”
£40 million Leicester City star Youri Tielemans created Batshuayi’s first with a typically pinpoint through ball, and he too only had positive words to say about a man who might have just sparked his season into life.
“Michy is a very realistic striker: when he has the ball in the box, he only sees the goal. Sometimes that is positive, sometimes a little less. But you know that he can always score, so you look (to pass) to him,” Tielemans told Sporza.
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