Story by
Jean-Mattéo Bahoya reacts to Elland Road debut and squad welcome
- Story by
- Jean-Mattéo Bahoya reacts to Elland Road debut and squad welcome
Jean-Mattéo Bahoya reacts to Elland Road debut and squad welcome
It might only have been the briefest of Elland Road cameos but Jean-Mattéo Bahoya began to realise a childhood dream with his Leeds United debut against Crystal Palace .
The Frenchman got the call from the bench with a minute of regulation time remaining, but with the ball not going out of play for an extended period of time he was made to wait until the 91st minute to make his entrance.
Advertisement
Between coming on and the 93rd-minute full-time whistle Bahoya managed at least to contribute something. He twice applied pressure to Palace to help force a turnover, ran onto Anton Stach 's ball down the line and won a free-kick in an attacking position that led to a yellow card for Jefferson Lerma . When the set-piece was half cleared, Bahoya picked up the loose ball, beat a man and drew two others before finding Stach - just as the final whistle went.
As cameos go it was brief, but the deadline-day signing was delighted to get his first minutes at a sold-out Elland Road.
"There was a lot of emotion," he said. "I was proud because when I was young, it was one of my dreams to play in the Premier League. So now I'm happy to play in this stadium at home, with this atmosphere. A really good start. Not the best for the team because we had only one point, but it was a good point to keep going."
At 21 years of age Bahoya is one of the most junior members of Daniel Farke's senior squad. He signed for the club on the last day of the summer transfer window in a deal that was worked on right up until the deadline. But in the 20 days that have followed, he has found the transition to English football straightforward thanks to the presence of former Frankfurt team-mate Michael Zetterer and the way the squad have welcomed him.
Advertisement
"It was easy because I know Zetterer, he's a new player also, but he helped me a lot, and the team was really good with me. A lot of guys helped me outside the pitch and on the training pitch. So no, it was easy for me to join this club."
