Celtic loanee Vakoun Bayo certainly had himself a successful weekend, and it resulted in his name being chanted around the Toulouse dressing room in their post-match celebrations.
Bayo went into Saturday’s game against Grenoble all over the place. His spell in France has been a disaster overall, and before yesterday, he had only scored two goals in 12 appearances. He needed a boost from somewhere.
And boy did he get it.
The Ivorian, signed by Celtic under Brendan Rodgers back in 2018, shone against Grenoble in Ligue 2 yesterday. The Celtic striker would open the scoring with a deft header after 65 minutes. His influence wouldn’t end there. Bayo then provided his first assist of the season, latching onto a long ball, cutting inside and laying it into the path of Amine Adli to touch home. 2-0.
The win was hugely important for Toulouse. It took them to within two points of Troyes at the top of Ligue 2. And their players clearly appreciated Bayo’s efforts in their post-match celebrations.
Celtic loanee Bayo the toast of post-match celebrations
Bayo’s team-mate, Brecht Dejaegere, posted a video on his Instagram story. It showed the Toulouse players chanting in unison about the two goalscorers on the day. It roughly seemed to translate to something along the lines of “Bayo, Bayo, he shoots, he scores”.
Or something like that. My French isn’t the greatest! In any case, they toasted Bayo before moving onto goalscorer number two Adli. The video was posted on YouTube by popular Toulouse fansite Les Violets.
Bayo spoke to beIN SPORTS after the game, saying the following:
“I’m very happy to have helped the team. It’s been a couple of times since I came in and couldn’t help the team. This time I’m happy because the goals have come from me.”
Indeed they did, and this has to be Bayo’s springboard. Unlike his parent club, his season with Toulouse is still retrievable. There’s still a great opportunity for Bayo to shoot the French outfit back into the top flight. So far, his own individual influence on that target has been a massive disappointment.
Hopefully, this is the game that sparks a revival from him. The likes of Jack Hendry and Marian Shved have started putting building blocks in place this season. There’s no reason Bayo can’t follow suit.
In other news, this ex Barcelona and Manchester City coach hasabsolutely gone through Celtic.
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