Wilfried Gnonto was smiling, but not because he was happy. After being chopped down for the umpteenth time on Sunday afternoon, he held his arms out and grinned in exasperation towards referee Anthony Taylor.

Derby County’s Craig Forsyth had been the culprit and Taylor blew for a Leeds United free kick, but Gnonto could not believe there was no card.

Ethan Ampadu, as captain, had the authority to ask for an explanation, though he hardly seemed to agree with it. Less than two minutes later, Gnonto would inject any residual venom into the shot he lashed beyond Jacob Widell Zetterstrom, as the visitors finally beat the Swedish goalkeeper.

It was the 22-year-old’s Italian international’s perfect riposte on an afternoon he was kicked from pillar to post. Lewis Travis, the midfield enforcer John Eustace also used at Blackburn Rovers, had been tasked with bothering Gnonto from the start.

There was a Travis arm across the face, which sent Gnonto to the ground in the first half. The Leeds man stayed on the floor, hands on his face, as Travis sent one or two choice words to him, then referee Taylor.

As a tricky winger, Gnonto’s career has been dominated by this kind of attention, but it was, ironically, a foul on a team-mate which saw him cross the line with Taylor. Ao Tanaka had been caught by a Derby player and the referee did not like the manner of Gnonto’s protests for punishment. He was summoned and warned.

“With a player of his quality, they’re always going to try and get any advantage they can on him because he’s got such quality when he gets the ball at his feet,” James Justin told reporters after the match. “Whether it’s to feet or running in behind, in the positions he picks up in between the lines, he’s definitely a dangerous player for us and I’m glad he got his reward today.”

Daniel Farke utilised Gnonto as a wing-back-cum-winger at Pride Park. When Derby had the ball, they shuffled into a 3-4-3 shape, but when the visitors were attacking, it was a 4-2-3-1 with Gnonto attacking the right flank.

Gnonto impressed and scored on a rare start against Derby (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)

Gnonto had started once since August 30 for Leeds before Sunday’s kick-off. He was understandably rusty and far better in the second period. His finish was emphatic, beating Zetterstrom with brute force, after the Derby goalkeeper had been equal to everything before the break, including a Joel Piroe penalty.

“It was a difficult game and not easy for my offensive players to come in,” Farke said in his post-match press conference. “He played, for the first time, a bit more like a wing-back position.

“There’s always space for improvement. For example, the first goal, he could react a bit quicker and in a few scenes, perhaps, to act a bit better, but the longer the game went, the better he was.

“It’s also no coincidence he was there with a crucial goal and a good finish. During the first half, one or two good chances, good finishing situations.

“There’s always space for progress and improvement, but overall, like for all the players who were involved today, compliments to him.”

While Piroe will stew on the fact he returned home with a blank from seven shots, two big chances and an expected goals on target (xGOT) tally of 1.63, Gnonto will be relieved to have got on the scoresheet with this rare chance in the starting line-up.

As with the other wingers in the squad, Gnonto’s match time has suffered with the highly successful pivot to a back-five. A calf injury killed Gnonto’s season before it really got going in the autumn, so he missed out on any chances in the 4-3-3 and now United’s width comes from their wing-backs.

It’s not the outcome many had expected in pre-season. Gnonto’s record in the Premier League had indicated he might be one of the team’s key threats. Noah Okafor was an unknown and injury-prone quantity, Brenden Aaronson had failed to pull up trees in the Championship and Daniel James, outstanding last season, had never been prolific in the top flight.

It’s a World Cup year too, of course. Gnonto has not played for Italy’s senior team since September 2023 and his match time in 2025-26, up to now, does not look like ending that wait.

There have been no noises about a January switch to aid that personal ambition. Leeds need him and as he showed in Derbyshire, he has a goal in him. United have still made use of the 4-3-3 as an in-game switch in recent weeks and Gnonto can be critical in that regard over the second half of the season.

He is unlikely to expect this goal will get him into Farke’s starting line-up against Fulham on Saturday, but he’s done what he could with the chance given to him. Confidence, as Aaronson can tell him, means everything in the final third if he’s needed from the bench.