Former Sunderland striker Josh Maja becomes first Englishman to score in Ligue 1 since Joe Cole in 2012

By Jay Williams

Josh Maja has scored his first goal for Bordeaux three months after leaving Sunderland. The young striker found the net for his new club in his seventh outing for them.

Maja nipped in front of his marker to tap in from close-range to give Bordeaux an early lead away at Nimes.

He was later withdrawn at half-time with the scores level at 1-1 before Bordeaux ended up losing the game 2-1.

And according to Opta stats on Twitter, Maja’s goal ended a longstanding drought for Englishman in the French top division.

The last time an English player scored in Ligue 1 was back in April 2012 – seven years ago – when Joe Cole scored for Lille against Ajaccio.

(Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

Maja has ended the seven-year wait for a new English goalscorer in the French top tier and he will now be hoping to kick on.

Prior to his Sunderland exit, the 20-year-old had struck 15 league goals for the Black Cats and he was inspiring an automatic promotion bid.

Many Sunderland fans still feel aggrieved by the manner in which he forced a move rather than seeing out his project at The Stadium of Light.

Despite his young, Maja was the leading striker as Sunderland tried to get back to the Championship. But Bordeaux’s four-and-a-half year offer was too tempting with his Sunderland contract expiring this summer.

Maja is now playing top-flight football and will be hoping to score more goals as he continues his development.