Ayase Ueda makes dream Lille debut with winner at Toulouse | OneFootball

Ayase Ueda struck the only goal as Lille won 1-0 at Toulouse on Thursday, his debut effort sending LOSC provisionally top of the table.

According to L'Équipe, the Japan striker, who arrived earlier in the week, replaced Olivier Giroud. He needed a shade over a quarter of an hour to score, showing sharp movement to meet a cross then heading in after the goalkeeper’s save.

Head coach Davide Ancelotti later praised his intelligence in the box and said he is very difficult to manage. He added that this is why Lille signed him, while admitting the victory came from almost nowhere. Those remarks echoed his pre-match view of Ueda as powerful, strong in the air and intense in the press, a complete forward who can complement Giroud or play alongside him.

Lille had tracked him for some time as a potential successor to Matias Fernandez-Pardo. President Olivier Létang said they required a high-level striker who could deliver immediately and add penalty-box presence and experience, but that a week earlier the asking price was beyond them. The sale of Fernandez-Pardo for 65 million euros accelerated the deal.

Ueda was Eredivisie top scorer last season with 25 league goals for Feyenoord, and at 28 he now has to show he can step up in a league considered more intense and physical, though Lille remain convinced. He is the first Japanese player in the club’s history, and said he felt happy, even relieved, and pleased to give something back straight away.

Source: L'Équipe

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