Arsenal’s Lucas Nygaard made his debut for Brabrand IF on Saturday, making eight saves but still ending up on the losing side for his loan team.
Lucas Nygaard moved on loan from Arsenal to Danish third-tier side Brabrand IF over the summer, but he had to wait a little while for his debut. The goalkeeper made his first appearance in the Brabrand squad at the start of this month, but he remained on the bench for the first couple of games.
That changed on Saturday, with Brabrand manager Michele Demontis naming Nygaard in his starting lineup for the first time for a game against Skive IK.
Nygaard played the full 90 minutes of the match and made eight saves, but he ended up on the losing side anyway.
Skive’s first goal came after one of those Nygaard saves, with the goalkeeper palming out a shot only for Anders Faester Jensen to turn it in on the rebound.
There was nothing Nygaard could do about the second, with Frederik Sloth getting a free run onto the ball in the centre of the penalty area with no defenders in position to make a block.
The Arsenal goalkeeper will perhaps feel more disappointed about Skive’s third goal, with the low shot from outside the box finding the net despite not quite being in the corner. But with Brabrand conceding so many shots, it was inevitable a few of them would go in.
Even before Nygaard’s debut, Brabrand went into Matchday 8 having conceded more goals than any other team in the league. They probably need more than just a good goalkeeper.
On a more positive note, Nygaard has now made his senior debut in professional football, and there should be more to come over the coming months.