Not Zinedine Zidane, not Kylian Mbappe, not Thierry Henry… The return of domestic football brought the brightest debut that Ligue 1 has ever seen in its history.
Born in Saint Tropez in 2005, Eliesse Ben Seghir can boast being the youngest player (17 years, 10 months and 12 days) to have scored a brace on his debut in the French league.
He broke the record set by Jean Deloffre (18 years, 10 months and 12 days) with Lens in 1958. The Monaco no.44, who had already made his debut in the Europa League against Red Star (4-1), made his league bow against Auxerre in style.
Coach Philippe Clement brought him on for Wissam Ben Yedder at half-time, with the score at 1-1, and Ben Seghir made his mark immediately: Aleksandr Golovin left him one-on-one with Benoit Costil and he made it 1-2 in the 58th minute with a left-footed nutmeg of the keeper.
However, the France U18 international, who could also represent Morocco, saved his best for last.
In the 85th minute, he received on the left edge of the penalty area, faced right-back Zedadka, he cut inside and scored with a brilliant shot at the long post with his right foot. It was a goal to make the fans in the Principality dream.
It’s also worth noting that Thierry Henry, although not on his debut, scored a brace for Monaco when he was younger: 17 years and 255 days.
There are three other players who scored for Monaco in Ligue 1 when younger than Ben Seghir: Kylian Mbappe (17 years, 2 months and 1 day), didn’t score his first brace until he’d turned 18. Also on the list of babyfaced scorers are Pietro Pellegri (17 years, 5 months and 11 days), Benoit Badiashile (17 years, 9 months and 26 days) and Henry.
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