Pacifique Niyongabire marked his first Hyundai A-League appearance of the season with a stunning goal, three minutes after his introduction against Perth Glory.
Niyongabire had made it 5-1 to the Reds in the 63rd minute after evading his defender and clinically finishing past Liam Reddy before executing an acrobatic celebration to match.
The Reds ultimately held on to win 5-3 to defeat the Glory for the first time in more than two years on Thursday night.
It had been a long time coming for the 20-year-old, who made his Reds debut way back in January 2018.
Against the Glory, was just the winger’s second league outing and fourth overall in all competitions for the Club, after two substitute appearances in the FFA Cup 2019 campaign.
He proved to be an inspired substitution by interim boss, Carl Veart, injecting dynamism and exuberance off the bench.
“It’s an honour to score my first goal, I’ve been waiting a long time,” Niyongabire said to Fox Sports in a post-game interview.
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“The last three games I had been on the bench and I thought, ‘if I come on, I’m going to score’.”
Niyongabire added that the team worked extremely hard and warranted the three points.
“The boys did really well,” he said.
“They put in a lot of hard work and I think we definitely deserved it.”
Niyongabire said he has really enjoyed working under Veart as Head Coach and that training sessions are a lot of fun, particularly as a fellow attacker.
Veart scored 24 goals in three seasons for Adelaide between 2003 and 2007.
“As we all know, he used to play forward so we do a lot of finishing and a lot of possession,” he explained.
“So I really enjoy it because I’m an attacker of course.”
Adelaide United host Sydney FC in the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 season on Thursday, 6 August at ANZ Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACST. Live and Exclusive on Fox Sports, Kayo Sports and the MyFootball Live App.
