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Maidstone United manager George Elokobi hopes Levi Amantchi’s wonder goal against Havant goes viral | ‘If that’s Messi, Mbappe, Bellingham or Ronaldo, everyone’s talking about it’

George Elokobi says Levi Amantchi’s wonder goal against Havant deserves to go viral.

Amantchi’s brilliant solo effort put the Stones 2-0 up at the Gallagher on Tuesday night.

Levi Amantchi's brilliant solo effort makes it 2-0. Picture: Steve Terrell
Levi Amantchi's brilliant solo effort makes it 2-0. Picture: Steve Terrell

He collected a pass from Harry Kyprianou out wide and worked his way into the box, beating several defenders before picking his spot.

Amantchi scored again in the second half, taking his tally for the season to 20, as United reclaimed second place in National League South with a 3-1 victory.

Everyone was talking about the striker’s first goal, which added to Matt Rush’s opener, and Stones boss Elokobi hopes it’s viewed far and wide.

“If that goal was scored by Lionel Messi or Kylian Mbappe or Jude Bellingham or Cristiano Ronaldo, everyone would be talking about it,” said Elokobi.

“So I hope we can replay that goal as much as we can and I hope it goes viral because it’s an excellent goal.

“It was a fantastic goal and I’m really, really pleased for him.”

Amantchi had been encouraged to express himself before the game and it was clear he’d taken those words on board when he embarked on the run.

“We spoke about it before the game and I said to him football is about being instinctive,” said Elokobi.

“Whatever comes in your mind is the right thing to do.

Report: Maidstone 3-1 Havant

“Be bold, be brave, try new things, be creative and Levi was very creative there.

“It felt like he was going in slow motion.

“It’s so hard for a man of his stature, you don’t think he’s got those technical abilities, the quick feet, but also how he wriggles his way through the defensive line.

“When he’s in those areas he’s very dangerous and it was about the composure, the calmness to actually pick his spot once he’s found that right moment.

“It was really, really good to see that.

“Our message to all the boys is to be bold, be brave.

“At times you might try things that don’t work but don’t stop, you have to try again.

“It’s about our group and making sure they’re confident in whatever they’re doing on the pitch.

“We give them tactical guidelines but the decisions are theirs on the pitch to make sure they are bold, they are creative and if they can do that, it changes games.”

Elokobi was pleased with the performance as Maidstone bounced back from Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at St Albans.

It was exactly what he was looking for against a Hawks side who have won just once all season.

He said: “We asked for a reaction from our group from Saturday and we got exactly that.

“On cold nights like this, it’s always going to go a long way when we look back at the end of the season.

“We gave them three principles to work from: run, react and make sure we recover, and it was important we did that excellently tonight.

“Everyone worked hard and did a job-and-a-half for the team.”

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