'Special moment' for Ryan

Ryan Sessegnon admitted it was a proud moment for him to get his first goal for the Club, but he was ultimately left disappointed as we fell to a 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Lining up to start for the first time since his summer move from Fulham, the 19-year-old played the full 90 minutes for us at the Allianz Arena and showed his qualities on our left wing, but the night ended in frustration as we were unable to earn a positive result in Germany.

Bayern had taken the lead in the encounter – Kingsley Coman slotting past Paulo Gazzaniga on 14 minutes – but we reacted almost immediately, equalising just six minutes later with Ryan thrashing an effort past Manuel Neuer from just inside the box. It was not to be our night in Munich, however, as a goal from Thomas Muller just before the break turned the game back in our hosts’ favour, before Philippe Coutinho sealed their triumph on 64 minutes.

“I thought it was a difficult game,” Ryan reflected. “We knew, going to the Allianz, they were going to dominate the ball. When they are switching the ball from one side to the other, it’s very difficult when we’re chasing the game - and they have some fantastic players.

“We did well at times though on the transition to get in behind them and, on another day, if you take those chances, you can get something out of the game. But on the flip side, they had chances as well. It was always going to be difficult.”

Despite the defeat, on a personal level for Ryan, it was a momentous night, with his first start and his first goal for us. To do that away to Bayern Munich in Europe’s most prestigious club football competition... the wide man admitted that he probably wouldn’t have believed anyone if they had foretold such a night to him back in the summer.

“I would have said no way, no chance!” the teenager smiled. "To get my first start for the Club against Bayern Munich in the Champions League was a fantastic feeling – a childhood dream really.

“These are the nights and the reasons I came to this Club - to play on these Champions League nights, to play in these games against the best players.

“To get the goal was another special moment for me. I just remember, when the ball came, I had to get a good first touch and I just knew if I made good contact with the ball, it would go in. Thankfully that happened and it gave me confidence going into other stages of the game.

“It was an important goal coming at that time of the game but for them to then score just before half-time kind of killed us a little bit, but we have to pick ourselves up and go again."