After scoring twice, including an incredible injury-time winner, Lyle Taylor has given clubs a timely reminder of his talent. His goals helped Montserrat defeat Barbados 3-2.
The 33-year-old, who was released by Nottingham Forest over the summer, hardly played at all during the previous season, and this was his first game of the new one.
But in his team’s inaugural 2023/2024 CONCACAF Nations League game, he demonstrated that he hasn’t lost any of his goal-scoring ability by opening the scoring with a close range volley after just six minutes and then, with the score knotted at 2-2, curling a magnificent free kick into the top corner.
Taylor, who has been linked to Millwall, Rotherham United, and Sheffield Wednesday, is still an unsigned free agent. He last appeared on a regular basis at Birmingham City in the final months of the 2021–2022 season while on loan from Nottingham Forest, where he scored some crucial goals and helped Lee Bowyer keep the team in the Championship.
Since the two had previously worked together at Charlton Athletic, it just so happened that Bowyer was also managing Montserrat for this match. In fact, Bowyer was in charge of the Addicks when Taylor decided not to participate in the last phase of the pandemic-affected season during which they were demoted.
He later relocated to the City Ground, where he scored eight goals for Forest in 61 appearances.