Leeds United star limps off injured after central role for international side
Leeds United attacker Willy Gnonto has limped off injured in the final seconds of the first half of his Italy Under 21s appearance against Netherlands.
Gnonto spearheaded the Italy U21 attack, playing up top with Burnley’s Luca Koleosho and Roma’s Tommaso Baldanzi either side of him. The Leeds man spent the first seven minutes the game pressing and chasing as the Dutch dominated possession but then sprang to life when Cher Ndour got free on the left and drew the keeper but was unable to find the Gnonto, who had darted into the middle of the area.
Italy's second chance fell to Gnonto and it was of his own making as he stripped a defender of the ball and dribbled into the box before firing low for the near post, only to be denied by a smart stop. The ball came back to him in the air but he was unable to turn an acrobatic follow-up towards goal. With 18 minutes gone the Italians fell behind as Ernest Poku got in behind on the left and crossed for Kian Fitz-Jim to turn in the opener.
Ten minutes before the break Gnonto started and finished a move that should have brought he side level. The striker dropped deep to link play in his own half and then raced forward to be played into the area where he shot across goal and wide of the target.
There was concern for the forward with five minutes left in the half when he went down attempting to challenge for the ball and stayed down, waving to ask for treatment for a foot or ankle issue, and though he was able to return to the game after a minute with the physios, he was soon back on the turf. The attacker limped on towards the break, moving gingerly, but was withdrawn seconds before the interval.
Those scenes will be of grave concern at Leeds, where Daniel Farke has publicly expressed a desire to use Gnonto ‘more and more’ in the number 10 position. Gnonto came on at half-time of Leeds’ 2-2 draw at Queens Park Rangers in the final game before the international break, replacing Brenden Aaronson, and helped change the game. His performance led to a discussion of his merits as a number 10 option and Farke admitted he had been considering the Italian for the role prior to the trip to Loftus Road. Aaronson, who has struggled for end product and attacking influence in recent weeks, did not get called up for the US Men’s National Team for their March international games.