Arsenal teenager Ethan Nwaneri made his first appearance for Borussia Dortmund since joining on loan and made an instant impression in his new surroundings.
The 19-year-old has moved to the German giants for a season, with first team opportunities limited with the Premier League champions.
Nwaneri was on the bench for Dortmund at Hoffenheim on Saturday but got an early chance to impress, coming on in the first half for the injured Filippo Mane.
Things were not going well for the club as they fell 2-0 behind, but then came a stirring response as three goals came in the last half an hour, the last of which was an Albian Hajdari own goal, forced by some good work from Nwaneri on the left flank.
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Dortmund boss Nico Kovac said of Nwaneri’s influence, via AFP: ‘I liked what I saw.
‘That’s what we brought him in for… Maybe it wasn’t officially his goal, but he created it.’
Kovac added: ‘Nwaneri is physically fit. It’s very important when a player arrives having only trained twice that one can place one’s trust in him. If he hadn’t been fit, I wouldn’t have brought him on. Then the risk for me would have been too great.
‘He could solve problems on a man-for-man basis and radiate calmness on the ball. He had that little bit of luck [on the own goal], but he worked hard for it.
‘We signed him because we’re convinced he has top qualities. He proved that today and we hope he’ll continue to prove it in the coming weeks.’
Nwaneri is getting the fans on side early in his career with Dortmund and buttered them up a touch more after the dramatic victory.
‘It was a tough game. We felt the energy from the fans and the support from the fans the whole game,’ he said. ‘That pushed us to the end and gave us the motivation and energy needed to get the result.
‘They played very well for the first 60 minutes. They made it very, very tough for us. But as the game went on we got more rhythm and more momentum. It was a good turnover for us and I’m very happy with the result.’
Former Liverpool and Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamann is expecting big things of the youngster, who made his first Premier League appearance four years ago.
‘If you make your Premier League debut at the age of 15, you’re an incredible talent,’ said Hamann on Sky.
‘Nevertheless, he hasn’t yet been able to establish himself at Arsenal. Dortmund are capable of bringing out the best in the youngster.
‘I’m looking forward to Nwaneri in the Bundesliga and am convinced that he will be an excellent signing for BVB.’
Nwaneri has joined fellow Englishman Jobe Bellingham at Dortmund, revealing that his compatriot played a part in bringing him to Germany earlier this week.
‘I’ve been speaking to Jobe over the last few days,’ said Nwaneri when he arrived on transfer deadline day. ‘He asked, “What’s going on with you?” And I told him I can’t really say for sure yet either.
‘But we had a long chat. And he kept saying the whole time that I should come to BVB. I’m glad we’ll be playing side by side now.
‘I’m here and I’ll fight for my place in the team. I’ll give it my all – as much and as well as I possibly can – for the fans. We’ll see what comes of it. I’m ready to fight and to put the team first.’