Tottenham loanee Clinton N’Jie found the back of the net against Bastia to hand over maximum points to Marseille in stoppage time.
When the match was inching towards a 1-1 stalemate, manager Rudi Garcia threw in the 23-year-old in need of a game changer and having only been on the pitch for two minutes, he got the winner in remarkable fashion. Resulting from a corner kick, the home side failed to clear off the danger and the ball deflected to the path of N’Jie and he made no mistake with his right foot. A hint of fortune tagging along but take nothing away from the clinical finish. Being the last match before Christmas, for a moment, everyone at the club, especially the manager, visualized him as Santa Claus.
The victory placed his current club in the 6th position in Ligue 1, only four points adrift of the Champions League spot. The French giants have now bagged maximum points in their last four games with the Spurs winger contributing two in the process. Overall, N’Jie has scored four goals out of 12 league appearances this season.
However, his loan spell at the south of France has been wonky and the dramatic winner is more than enough to lift his confidence and most importantly, return in the good books of the manager.
A similar fate was shackled to him at his parent club as injury and below par performances saw him moving to the Stade Velodrome on loan as a part of the deal that saw Georges-Kevin Nkoudou trading over to White Hart Lane on a permanent basis. Nkoudou himself is struggling to unseat any of the current starters despite showing flashes of brilliance in his five cameo appearances. Thus, the whole deal seems to be a pillar to post.
The Cameroon international came through the ranks of Lyon and made most of his name with the senior squad, notching 7 goals out of 37 matches, which caught the attention of the north London club back in 2015. His standout attributes of quick feet and immense pace allows him to be deployed over the flanks or lead the line himself. He was previously compared to his nation’s all-time leading scorer, Samuel Eto’o and has already tallied 6 goals in 15 matches for his country. Clearly, a diamond with rough edges to smooth off.
Both clubs will be hoping that N’Jie would upturn his form following the crucial winner at Stade Armand Cesari. The French side would be tempted to make his stay permanent if the young winger manages to hit the strap while Spurs will be more than happy to bring him back to London to even compete with Nkoudou for a place. An interesting second half of the season awaits N’Jie to amend his slow start.
Here are the reactions to the winger’s winning goal:
Nice to see Njie scoring a last minute winner for @OM_English
— Chris (@chrislh90_) December 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/lyswvg/status/811687681948348417
https://twitter.com/valqlhs/status/811690347491430400
the only clinton i care about is clinton n'jie
— Jake. (@YedIin) December 21, 2016
Clinton N'jie to the Rescue,
get hum back to Lane please.— Yusuf dadinho Kabuga 🗨️ (@yusufdadinho) December 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/charly_hy/status/811687914002378752
Clinton N'JIE scored a 91st minute winner for Marseille away at Bastia tonight having been on the pitch for less than 200 seconds. https://t.co/vG86L8iNxo
— Lilywhite Rose (@Lilywhite_Rose) December 21, 2016
