Ademola Lookman almost came off before RB Leipzig goal due to boots

Published on: 05 February 2018

Ademola Lookman scored RB Leipzig's winning goal in his debut for the Bundesliga side on Saturday.

Ademola Lookman nearly missed out on becoming the first English player to score in the Bundesliga in more than 12 years as RB Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhuttl said he was looking to substitute the forward early in the 1-0 victory away against Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday.

Lookman, 20, joined Leipzig from Everton last week on loan until the end of the season, and he scored the 89th-minute winner in his first appearance.

However, having arrived with just one pair of boots, Lookman's debut could have taken a different turn.

"We actually wanted to take him off after five minutes because he was slipping all the time," Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhuttl told reporters following the game.

But Lookman showed no signs of slipping when going on a solo run and then finishing from inside the box with just a minute remaining.

"He was fortunate -- and I was too -- that I kept him on the pitch," Hasenhuttl said to Sky Sports. "I hoped he would do exactly what he did ahead of the goal. He has his qualities in the one-on-one situations and showed them already today."

The last English player to score a Bundesliga goal was Owen Hargreaves, who hit the back of the net in Bayern Munich's 3-0 win over Gladbach on Aug. 5, 2005 -- the first day of the season.

Stephan Uersfeld is the Germany correspondent for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @uersfeld.

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Source: espn.co.uk

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