Wales international Aaron Ramsey came off the bench to score the equaliser for Nice in a 1-1 draw with promoted Toulouse in the French league on Sunday.
Signed on a free transfer from Juventus in the closed season, Ramsey replaced Calvin Stengs in the 76th minute and made an instant impact for his new club by pouncing on a pass from Billal Brahimi to score with a first-time effort in the 78th.
“I didn’t expect it to be this hot,” Ramsey told Amazon Prime video after the game. “I’m excited to play in this league. As you can see today, it was very technical, athletic, very fast. So I’m happy to be here and hopefully I can play my part this season.”
In his French league debut, Thijs Dallinga opened the scoring for Toulouse by flicking home a cross from captain Branco Van den Boomen in the 20th.
Toulouse signed Dallinga for a reported fee of 2.5 million euros ($2.55 million) this summer. Last season, the Dutch striker scored 36 goals to help second-division Excelsior Rotterdam gain promotion.
Dallinga also beat the offside trap to be clean through on goal in the 18th but had his shot deflected on to the post by Nice goalkeeper Marcin Bulka.
Stengs was the only bright spot for Nice in the first half. The Dutch winger rattled the bar in the 32nd and made a cross for Amine Gouiri, whose tame header didn’t trouble goalkeeper Maxime Dupe in the 36th.
Toulouse started tiring in the second half as Dupe denied Khephren Thuram in the 61st.
Ramsey began his career at Welsh club Cardiff City before earning a move to Arsenal in 2008. He scored 40 goals in 262 appearances for the Gunners before moving to Italian giants Juventus in 2019. He made played 49 games for Juve, scoring 5 goals.
The midfielder has played 75 times for Wales and notched up 20 international goals.
Ramsey is the first Welshman to play in the French league since Brynley Griffith in 1959 according to the Ligue 1 official website.
A contender for European spots, Nice finished fifth last season.