Sevilla manager Javier Garcia Pimienta produced a candid assessment of Chidera Ejuke's performance after handing both the former Standard Liege man his La Liga debuts on Friday.
The Nigeria international duo of Ejuke and Kelechi Iheanacho came off the bench in Sevilla’s 1-2 defeat to Villarreal at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium as the Andalusians continue to wait for their first win of the season.
Neither player featured in Sevilla’s 2-2 draw with Las Palmas on the opening day of the campaign, with the latter not making the match-day squad while the former was an unused substitute.
However, Pimienta finally gave them their debuts during Friday’s encounter with Villarreal, Ejuke coming on for Juanlu Sanchez in the 71st minute and Iheanacho also playing the final 13 minutes after replacing Isaac Romero.
Sevilla manager Pimienta rates Chidera Ejuke debut
While neither player enjoyed sufficient mintues, Chidera Ejuke was the more impactful of the two, making three ball recoveries, completing 86% of his dribbles and winning 78% of his duels but also lost possession nine times.
Pimienta had kind words for Ejuke’s debut performance but urged the winger to be more decisive in attack.
“Well, we wanted to give him a bit of fresh air and I think he's done very well, creating dangerous one-on-one situations.
“He has unbalanced plays, he can go outside and inside. He has to be much more consistent and finish the play, but he's a player we take into account and we've seen that he's done very well,” Pimienta said.
With their debuts now out of the way, both Iheanacho and Ejuke will be aiming to open their goal accounts when Sevilla travel to Real Mallorca on Tuesday.
