Rasmus Kristensen wasted no time in making a positive impression in a Leeds United shirt following his summer switch from Red Bull Salzburg. The Denmark international was one of the club’s brightest performers on the pre-season tour of Australia as he caught the eye with his performances against Brisbane Roar, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.
He also impressed in his first appearance in West Yorkshire, getting forward well and playing his part in comfortable win over Cagliari in the Whites’ final warm-up game ahead of their Premier League opener against Wolves. As such, expectations were high as Kristensen approached his first competitive appearance on the right-hand side of Leeds’ backline.
It’s fair to say the 25-year-old announced himself to the Premier League on Saturday, too, by producing one of the moments of the match in the second half of United’s 2-1 win. The scores were level at one apiece when Rayan Ait-Nouri skipped beyond the challenge of Diego Llorente and charged into the box.
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A sharp intake of breath could be heard around Elland Road as the Frenchman pulled his left leg back and shaped to fire the ball beyond Illan Meslier and into the back of Leeds’ net. However, a millisecond before Ait-Nouri was able to make contact with the ball, Kristensen appeared with a perfectly-timed slide tackle to nick it away from the left-back.
It was a tackle worthy of winning any game of football and just six minutes after Ait-Nouri had been denied, he was poking the ball into his own net under the pressure of Brenden Aaronson to ensure Leeds United got up and running with an opening day win. Kristensen was lauded for his effort by the Leeds crowd and while it was a key moment in the contest, it was also something that displayed the character and resilience of the right-back, especially after his unfortunate start to life in the Premier League.
The former Salzburg man will have been hugely disappointed with his first real defensive contribution in a White shirt as he failed to prevent the cross coming in that led to Daniel Podence’s opener after six minutes. Battling to collect a bouncing ball with Pedro Neto, Kristensen was shrugged off by a well-placed Portuguese shoulder and he was left scrambling in the winger’s wake.
It was a moment Kristensen will be keen to forget, and he could have crumbled under the pressure of his Premier League debut from that moment. However, his character came racing to the surface as he responded with his second half heroics.
The Dane had impressive moments throughout the contest. He got forward well and he almost set up an equaliser for Leeds, heading a ball into the box back across goal, but he only got a clattering from Wolves stopper Jose Sa for his efforts.
Kristensen has all the characteristics to go on to become an Elland Road favourite this season and moments likes his last ditch tackle on Ait-Nouri will do his reputation no harm at all.
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