After making the worst possible start to his loan spell at USL Dunkerque, Billy Koumetio has made his first appearance since his debut for the club back in September.
Koumetio joined the French side from Liverpool on a 12-month deal back in the summer having made just two senior appearances since arriving at Anfield from US Orleans in 2018.
His stint in Ligue 2 didn’t begin how he would have pictured it, having been sent off just 52 minutes into his debut for the club against Grenoble for two clumsy bookable challenges.
The defender didn’t play again until this weekend’s trip to Auxerre, featuring for the full 90 minutes in a dramatic late 1-0 win.
Koumetio typically features as a centre-back and did so in his debut last month, but on this occasion he was employed in the unfamiliar role of left-back for his side.
Midfielder Remy Boissier was the matchwinner as he headed home from close range following a well worked corner routine in the 96th minute of the contest.
It was an unexpected away victory, with Koumetio’s side languishing in the relegation zone while Auxerre sit fourth in Ligue 2.
The defender picked up a welcome and hard-earned clean sheet, but he doesn’t appear to have fully learned his lesson from his somewhat disastrous debut.
Koumetio was booked after just 38 minutes of his second appearance for the club, leaving him walking a tightrope for the remainder of the meeting.
The win was only USL Dunkerque’s second of the season and comes off the back of five straight defeats, it was also the first win since Koumetio’s arrival at the end of August.
He will be hoping to keep himself out of further trouble with referees and help his new side out of the relegation zone in the coming weeks.
It is currently unclear whether he will see out his full 12-month deal in France, with Koumetio one of four loanees who could be recalled in January due to inactivity at their current clubs.
He will be hoping the 90-minute appearance is a sign of things to come as USL Dunkerque look to carve out a role for the 20-year-old prior to Liverpool taking that decision.
Elsewhere, Fabio Carvalho was once again restricted to a cameo apperance in RB Leipzig’s 6-0 win over Koln, while Owen Beck got another 90 minutes for Dundee FC as they defeated Livingston 2-0.
#LFC loanee James Balagizi now playing for Wigan U21s.
Would expect him to be recalled ASAP in January.
Billy Koumetio also likely to return. https://t.co/TzPzqTXtsY
— Jack Lusby (@LusbyJack) October 30, 2023
James Balagizi only featured for Wigan U21s over the weekend and currently looks set to return in January, while Tyler Morton sat out of Hull’s 1-0 win over injured Calvin Ramsay‘s Preston.
Nat Phillips watched on from the bench as Celtic drew 0-0 with Hibs, with Sepp van den Berg getting 87 minutes under his belt in Mainz’s 2-2 draw with Bochum.
Harvey Davies kept another clean sheet as Crewe beat Harrogate 1-0, with James Norris coming on as a late substitute for only his second League Two appearance as Tranmere fell to another defeat at Stockport.
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