Ademola Lookman scores winner on RB Leipzig debut against Borussia Mönchengladbach
England Under-21 star Ademola Lookman scored 10 minutes into his RB Leipzig and Bundesliga debut to begin his career in Germany in style.
Lookman had been “adamant about choosing Germany,” according to his Everton coach Sam Allardyce, and it appears the 20-year-old forward’s decision could be vindicated rather quickly with Ralph Hasenhüttl already happy to throw him in against fellow European aspirants, Borussia Mönhchengladbach.
The forward was handed his Leipzig debut against Gladbach on Saturday, three days after signing on loan from English Premier League side Everton, and wasted little time in impressing, rattling home for 1-0 win a little more than 10 minutes after coming on.
The London-born striker collected the ball around 30 yards from goal and with plenty of space in front of him. Showing confidence and desire beyond his years and experience in the league, Lookman raced past as many as three defenders across the box before firing a perfect shot across Gladbach goalkeeper Tobias Sippel and into the bottom corner.
Watch: Lookman: "I wanted to make an impact"
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"It's amazing. I'm happy to make my debut and to top it off with a goal is fantastic," Lookman told bundesliga.com after the game. "The win and three points is the most important thing, so I'm happy."
His maiden Bundesliga goal means that Lookman is now the first Englishman to score in the Bundesliga since Owen Hargreaves for Bayern Munich on 5 August 2005.
"I think we played well as a team, kept possession well, played in between the lines. When I got the call to come on, I was just thinking of how I could make an impact, and thank God I did."
Leipzig head coach Hassenhüttl was also impressed with his new weapon in attack, even if the 20-year-old had only been able to take part in one full day of training before the match, he has left a good impression.
"I told him to get involved in attacks and make sure he didn’t slip too much with his boots," Hassenhüttl told bundesliga.com after the game.
"He wore them yesterday in training and was just sliding all over the place. He was slipping again today and I wanted to take him off just before he scored, but luckily we kept him out there. That’s football as he went on to score the winner. I thought he was great."