William Saliba scored the first goal of his OGC Nice loan spell and his first in senior football this weekend, a match-winning goal against Lyon.
Just like the Premier League, the Ligue 1 campaign came to an end on Sunday. As a result, it was William Saliba’s final game with OGC Nice. They faced tough opposition in Lyon, who were chasing a Champions League spot.
Lyon twice took the lead in the first half, but both times Nice rallied to equalise, before they finally got a lead of their own thanks to Saliba.
The 20-year-old hadn’t scored a goal in senior football before this weekend, either for Saint-Etienne or Nice. He’s obviously yet to make a competitive appearance for Arsenal, so he doesn’t have any goals for the Gunners either.
But the centre-back snuck in at the back post on a set-piece to head home confidently and celebrate like it was nothing new to him.
William Saliba at the back post! 😳
The Arsenal loanee gets his first goal for Nice to take the lead against Lyon! pic.twitter.com/MWaxu7W14F
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 23, 2021
Nice held on for the win, denying Lyon Champions League football. Saliba ends his spell back in France with 22 appearances under his belt, completing 90 minutes in all but one of them.
Mikel Arteta has already suggested he’s happy with the defender’s loan, telling the media “he’s had a run of games that he needed after the difficult year that he had in the previous season”. The suggestion is that he’ll now get an Arsenal chance in pre-season.