When he made the move to Leeds United earlier this month, Georginio Rutter probably didn’t expect to be making his debut at Accrington Stanley’s intimate Wham Stadium. The record signing has been made to wait to make his first appearance in English football following his switch from Hoffenheim a fortnight ago.
Rutter was ineligible to feature in Leeds’ FA Cup third round replay against Cardiff a few days after moving to West Yorkshire and instead had to settle for a brief appearance in front of the crowd at the interval. He then watched Leeds United’s last Premier League clash with Brentford from the bench last week after being an unused substitute, with Marsch preferring not to throw the youngster into the action.
As a result, the 20-year-old was made to wait for another day to make his first appearance in a Leeds shirt in front of his new supporters and that day finally came against Accrington in the fourth round of the FA Cup. It wasn’t exactly a surprise to see him in the starting line-up in Lancashire, with Marsch revealing his excitement to unleash the forward in his pre-match press conference a couple of days prior, but Rutter didn’t waste the opportunity to make a solid first impression on the 2,616 supporters who had made the trip across the Pennines to cheer on their side.
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In truth, the Frenchman struggled to get a foothold in the game in the first 20 minutes or so. This was his first piece of competitive action since mid-November and it was clear that he wasn’t quite as sharp as he would like to be.
However, after riding a few meaty challenges and he grew in composure and confidence and settled nicely into the contest, particularly after seeing Leeds go 1-0 up through Jack Harrison’s piledriving effort from 25 yards out. Rutter showed some tidy footwork to create a chance in the closing minutes of the first half, turning a defender in his own half before bursting away, leaving the Stanley man in his wake and threading a great pass to Luis Sinisterra.
The chance eventually came to nothing as Patrick Bamford saw a tame effort saved by custodian Toby Savin, but it was a sign of things to come. The former Rennes man looked to advance more in the second half, finding joy as Accrington became stretched in their attempt to chase the game.
He combined well with Bamford on a couple of occasions, and he managed to get a host of shots away, one of which was very close to finding a home in the back of the net, just a couple of minutes before Junior Firpo and Sinisterra killed the game as a contest. Rutter was eventually replaced by Sonny Perkins with 15 minutes remaining and as he took his coat and sat down on the tight bench at the Wham Stadium, he will have been pleased with his efforts.
This was by no means a performance to revisit as he edges himself towards fitness and form, but he showed glimpses of real class and talent against the League One outfit.
“I thought for Luis, Patrick and Georgi in general, never playing together, that they were pretty good and some attacking moments,” he said when asked about the striker. “I thought even the first goal where they kind of put a few things together that led to Jack having a wonderful strike.
“They looked like they understood their roles, Georgi for sure. He was dangerous in some of the transition moments and a little bit unlucky not to come away the goal.”
He’ll be better for the 75 minutes he picked up in the North West drizzle, that is for certain, and Marsch will certainly be keen to hand him his Premier League bow next Sunday against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, but whether he starts him again remains to be seen.
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