Christos Tzolis enjoyed a fantastic debut for Norwich City, scoring twice and assisting twice as he proved too hot to handle for Bournemouth.
The 19-year-old Greece international joined from PAOK earlier this month in a deal worth close to £9million initially, potentially rising to around £11m if he proves successful.
After being an unused substitute for the first two Premier League games, Tzolis was unleashed by Daniel Farke against an under-strength Cherries side that was mauled by a team of Canaries players hungry to stake their claim for top-flight action.
After City’s romp to a 6-0 win in front of just over 20,000 fans at Carrow Road in the League Cup second round, here’s a closer look at the winger’s exciting first appearance in yellow and green.
TWO GOALS
It took just 12 minutes for Tzolis to open his first Norwich account and it owed a great deal to lovely play from Kenny McLean, fading a long pass over the Bournemouth defence into the left channel.
The youngster took the ball in his stride, dummied to shoot to buy himself an extra second as the ball bounced and then thumped a low left-footed strike which clipped defender Zeno Ibsen Rossi to deflect kindly past Orjan Nyland into the bottom-right corner.
He had to wait until the 66th minute for his second, after Josh Sargent had intercepted a Nyland pass. He reacted quicker than Chris Mepham to burst into the box and thump home the American’s low cross for 5-0.
Tzolis had been thwarted by an offside flag just before the break as he turned onto another wonderful McLean high pass and was taken out by Brennan Camp as he ran onto a Kieran Dowell chip in the 55th minute, with the Cherries full-back booked.
He really should have had a hat-trick in the 83rd minute too but went for the spectacular, after Adam Idah had held up a nice Jacob Sorensen pass and prodded him through on goal – but he smashed left-footed into the crowd at the Barclay end, using too much power with just Nyland to beat and firing wide.
There was an attempted lob from halfway before full-time, after bullying Gavin Kilkenny off the ball, but he scuffed his shot to a relieved Nyland.
Tzolis also had one last chance deep into injury-time, after determined play from Idah, but could only stroke a tired effort straight at the keeper as his hat-trick goal evaded him.
TWO ASSISTS
Plenty of nice link play on the left with Brandon Williams and some crossing attempts led to a simple assist in the 37th minute, being played down the left by McLean after the Scot had won possession.
Tzolis squared to make the most of a well-timed run from Lukas Rupp to the edge of the box, who calmly took a touch and placed a classy shot into the bottom-right corner for 3-0 and his first goal for Norwich.
More maturity was shown as he combined with Sargent to complete the rout in the 75th minute, pouncing on a Steve Cook pass and going through on goal but unselfishly squaring to his striker, who managed to bundle home with a bit of good fortune.
Before the night was out, Tzolis had also done well to set up substitute Billy Gilmour for a shot on the edge of the box, that Nyland held.
VITAL STATISTICS
Stats experts at WhoScored.com gave the Greek 10 out of 10, based on his statistical performance.
Beyond the two goals and two assists, he was also responsible for six of City’s 16 shots, four of the 12 that were on target and five of the team’s 14 crosses.
REACTION
A delighted Tzolis took to Instagram after the game to savour the moment but the youngster was also well aware it was just the start of his story.
“More than happy for my Norwich debut and helping the team to qualify,” he wrote.
“It's an amazing feeling to play and score in front of our fans.
“That's a first in my journey so far but we have a long way to go.”
VERDICT: A storming start to life in England and in strong contention for a start against Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday.
Clearly the Foxes will pose a far stronger test than the abject effort of the Cherries but Tzolis punished that poor approach from the visitors.
It was not just his attacking play that impressed though, tracking back to battle with Williams in defence and regularly using his low centre of gravity to out-muscle opponents.
Farke will inevitably want to temper the hype somewhat but the lad has momentum now and will be desperate for another chance to build on his memorable night.
RATING: 9 out of 10 - taking into account how poor Bournemouth were.
NCFC EXTRA: Watch hghlights of Norwich City's cup thrashing of Bournemouth
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