Robin van Persie’s son, Shaqueel, proved he is a chip off the old block as he bagged his first two goals of his professional career in exquisite fashion.
Shaqueel, 19, is a burgeoning talent in Dutch football and spent two years at Manchester City’s academy before being snapped up by Feyenoord in 2017.
His father, Manchester United legend Robin, is currently the manager of the Eredivisie side and handed his son his senior debut in November last year, during a Europa League defeat by Celtic.
Shaqueel has largely made appearances from the substitutes’ bench and was summoned by his father for Sunday’s game at home to Sparta Rotterdam.
The 19-year-old made an impact for the Dutch side, netting two stunning strikes in the space of two minutes as Feyenoord looked to claw back a two-goal deficit.
In the 87th minute, Shaqueel launched himself into the air to meet a lofted hook into the box. With his back to goal, the youngster executed a sublime overhead kick into the back of the net to make the score 3-2.
Shaqueel van Persie, son of Premier League great Robin, scored his first two goals in professional football on Sunday
The 19-year-old’s inclusion in Robin’s Feyenoord team has been criticised, but the Man United legend insisted the decision was due to performances, not nepotism
Just one minute later, he showed eerily similar goalscoring traits to his father, with a deft finish – in which he flicked the ball between his legs, into the bottom corner to draw level.
While the goals will live long in the memory for Shaqueel’s personal journey, they were in vain as the visitors scored in the third minute of stoppage time through Joshua Kitolano to take all three points.
Sunday’s result means Feyenoord are winless in six matches, with pressure mounting on Van Persie.
They are second in the league table and a mammoth 16 points behind leaders PSV.
Robin has previously defended the decision to involve his son in the first team – insisting the call was down to performances, not nepotism.
‘I made that call as a coach, not as a dad, because we needed a goal,’ the former Arsenal and Manchester United forward said when he introduced Shaqueel against Celtic.
‘Shaqueel is a player who can score a goal from all angles. That was the reason I brought him on.’
