Not everyone lost 6-0 this week. Another seven days of productive loanee action brought us goals from Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham and Ola Aina, so we shall focus on those in an attempt to shed some positive light on affairs this Sunday.
Headliners
Pulisic was the first to find the back of the net in his most meaningful Dortmund action since agreeing to join Chelsea. It came in the German Cup in a wild match against Werder Bremen – a match Dortmund eventually lost on penalties – but his goal was stylishly constructed and finished.
It wasn’t enough to secure him a start in the league against Hoffenheim at the weekend though, with 120 minutes of midweek action taking its toll, yet Dortmund again drew 3-3, this time yielding a 3-0 lead in the final fifteen minutes.
The same thing happened at Villa Park on Friday night, where Villa rescued an unlikely point at home to Sheffield United, who had comfortably led 3-0 courtesy of a Billy Sharp hat-trick before the late heroics. Abraham scored his 20th goal of the season – two fewer than the veteran marksman Sharp – and played his part in a stirring finale that kept them just about in touch in the race for a playoff place.
There were considerably fewer goals in Serie A on Sunday, and just one at the Stadio Olimpico, where Torino defeated Udinese with Aina’s first for the club. Coming inside from his right wing-back spot to meet a cross from the left, he produced a header any centre-forward would have been proud of to lift I Granata up to 8th in the standings.
England
Premier League
It wasn’t quite such a good week for Kurt Zouma. Impressive despite losing to Manchester City on Wednesday, he endured a frustrating defeat at Watford on Saturday before being sent off AFTER the match for a pair of yellow cards issued for dissent.
For those who missed it – here is how Kurt Zouma was sent off today… pic.twitter.com/NRVLXlSZAv
— 𝐓𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐄 𝐓𝐕 (@ToffeeTVEFC) February 9, 2019
Michy Batshuayi came on as a late substitute again for Crystal Palace as they shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw against West Ham, while Kenedy will be hoping to earn more playing time for Newcastle away to Wolves on Monday evening.
Championship
Bristol City keep on rolling and recorded an eighth straight win to keep their promotion challenge going. The 1-0 victory at Blackburn came with Jay Dasilva and Tomas Kalas impressing in defence again – Jay now having earned himself a regular spot at left-back – and Kasey Palmer came on for a late cameo against a team that failed to find a good way to use him in the first half of the season.
They’re currently battling with Derby County for the final playoff place, and the Rams kept up the pressure themselves with a 2-0 win against Hull. Mason Mount missed out through injury, but Fikayo Tomori was excellent at the back as usual, and Todd Kane put in a shift at right-back for the visitors.
Izzy Brown was back in a senior matchday squad for the first time in thirteen months as he took his place on the bench for Leeds at Middlesbrough; he didn’t get on the pitch, but that will come sooner rather than later.
Reece James had another ninety minutes in midfield for Wigan at Rotherham, a challenge he found harder than some of his recent assignments, but still came out of with plenty of praise. Trevoh Chalobah, on the other hand, produced more of a mixed bag in the East Anglian derby for Ipswich at Norwich. The driving force behind much of Ipswich’s good play, he also displayed his capacity for the odd mistake, and Norwich were able to claim a 3-0 win to continue their dominance over their local rivals.
Michael Hector, Matt Miazga and Lewis Baker all shared the same pitch as Sheffield Wednesday drew 0-0 with Reading.
League One
Brad Collins recorded his seventh clean sheet of the season as Burton won 2-0 at Wimbledon, and Dujon Sterling played well for Coventry in a 1-0 win at Rochdale that lifted them into the top half of the table.
League Two
Jacob Maddox played ninety minutes for Cheltenham in their win against Yeovil in midweek, although Nathan Baxter and Josh Grant, the latter through injury, were absent for Yeovil.
https://twitter.com/HorsemanDavid/status/1089289511698280448
Baxter was overlooked again for the home match against Grimsby on Saturday, something that drew confusion from supporters as Stuart Nelson let three goals past him, and it would hardly be a surprise to see him restored to the team next time out.
Maddox was a late substitute in Cheltenham’s second outing of the week, a 3-0 defeat at Colchester.
Non-League
Jack Wakely played another ninety minutes for Basingstoke in a midweek defeat to Salisbury before missing Saturday’s match against Staines through injury. Basingstoke won 10-3.
There was no Karlo Ziger for Sutton United as usual and as expected.
Netherlands
Vitesse’s poor form continued with a 2-1 defeat against Groningen, with some fans finding room to criticise Jake Clarke-Salter for his part in the performance, while Eduardo was in goal as usual.
Fankaty Dabo made his comeback from his latest spell out injured to play 67 minutes in Sparta Rotterdam’s 3-0 defeat to Twente.
Italy
Mario Pašalić’s rotational role continues to be fairly well-defined for Atalanta; he got ninety minutes away to Cagliari on Monday night, and twelve as a sub in Sunday’s win at home to SPAL.
Tiemoué Bakayoko guided Milan to a 3-0 win over Cagliari, and Lucas Piazon made his Chievo debut as a second-half substitute in a 3-0 defeat to Roma on Friday.
Spain
Alvaro Morata had 71 minutes to forget up front for Atlético Madrid in the derby against Real, seeing a fine finish ruled out for offside, and ending up on the losing side for the second week running at a club that had gone nineteen matches unbeaten before his arrival.
It was a better week for Kenneth Omeruo, who played every minute of wins for Leganés against Rayo and Betis to move up to eleventh place.
Josi Quintero came on in stoppage time at the end of Lleida’s goalless draw with Cornella.
France
Baba Rahman was an unused substitute for Reims in their 1-1 draw at Toulouse.
Victorien Angban played 13 minutes from the bench as Metz drew 0-0 at Lens.
Belgium
Kylian Hazard came on after about an hour of Cercle Brugge’s 2-2 draw at home to Club Brugge in their local derby.
Turkey
Victor Moses came on at half time in Fenerbahce’s 1-0 defeat to Kayserispor on Friday.
Northern Ireland
Jared Thompson and Warrenpoint lost 5-0 at home to Glentoran on a forgettable Saturday afternoon.
Brazil
Nathan played the second half of Atlético-MG’s 1-0 win at fourth-tier Caldense in the Mineiro State Championship.
Statistics
Started: July 14th
Final: May 29th
| Player | Club | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe/Cont | Other | Mins Played | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Tammy Abraham | Aston Villa | 40 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3450 | 40 | 26 |
| Ola Aina | Torino | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2275 | 32 | 1 |
| Victorien Angban | Metz | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2056 | 29 | 1 |
| Tiemoue Bakayoko | Milan | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2972 | 38 | 1 |
| Lewis Baker | Leeds United | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 491 | 14 | 0 |
| Lewis Baker | Reading | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1497 | 19 | 1 |
| Michy Batshuayi | Valencia | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 952 | 22 | 2 |
| Michy Batshuayi | Crystal Palace | 11 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 923 | 12 | 6 |
| Isaiah Brown | Leeds United | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| Trevoh Chalobah | Ipswich Town | 43 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3273 | 44 | 2 |
| Jake Clarke-Salter | Vitesse | 28 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2895 | 36 | 1 |
| Charlie Colkett | Shrewsbury Town | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 306 | 6 | 0 |
| Fankaty Dabo | Sparta Rotterdam | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1625 | 24 | 0 |
| Jay Dasilva | Bristol City | 28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2383 | 32 | 0 |
| Josh Grant | Yeovil | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 720 | 8 | 0 |
| Kylian Hazard | Cercle Brugge | 21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1116 | 21 | 4 |
| Michael Hector | Sheffield Wednesday | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3242 | 37 | 2 |
| Reece James | Wigan Athletic | 45 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4005 | 46 | 3 |
| Tomas Kalas | Bristol City | 39 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3586 | 40 | 0 |
| Todd Kane | Hull City | 39 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3363 | 40 | 3 |
| Kenedy | Newcastle United | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1529 | 26 | 1 |
| Jacob Maddox | Cheltenham Town | 38 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3077 | 43 | 4 |
| Mason Mount | Derby County | 37 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3745 | 42 | 11 |
| Matt Miazga | Nantes | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 810 | 9 | 0 |
| Matt Miazga | Reading | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1620 | 18 | 0 |
| Alvaro Morata | Atlético Madrid | 15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1245 | 17 | 6 |
| Victor Moses | Fenerbahce | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1076 | 15 | 4 |
| Charly Musonda | Vitesse Arnhem | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 0 |
| Nathan | Atletico Mineiro | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 835 | 22 | 2 |
| Kenneth Omeruo | Leganés | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2434 | 28 | 0 |
| Kasey Palmer | Blackburn Rovers | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 984 | 17 | 3 |
| Kasey Palmer | Bristol City | 15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 538 | 16 | 2 |
| Danilo Pantic | Partizan Belgrade | 29 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3043 | 40 | 8 |
| Mario Pašalić | Atalanta | 32 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2047 | 40 | 8 |
| Lucas Piazón | Chievo | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 4 | 0 |
| Christian Pulisic | Dortmund | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 651 | 11 | 4 |
| Josimar Quintero | Lleida | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 693 | 18 | 0 |
| Baba Rahman | Schalke | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 327 | 4 | 0 |
| Baba Rahman | Reims | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 965 | 11 | 1 |
| Joao Rodriguez | Tenerife | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 447 | 12 | 1 |
| Ruben Sammut | Falkirk | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 967 | 15 | 0 |
| Kyle Scott | Telstar | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 995 | 14 | 2 |
| Dujon Sterling | Coventry City | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3307 | 39 | 0 |
| Fikayo Tomori | Derby County | 46 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4692 | 54 | 2 |
| Iké Ugbo | Scunthorpe United | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 936 | 16 | 1 |
| Jack Wakely | Basingstoke Town | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1355 | 16 | 0 |
| Kurt Zouma | Everton | 32 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2838 | 34 | 2 |
| Total | 82392 | 1124 | 115 | |||||||||||
| Player | Club | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Mins Played | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Cln Sht | Apps | Cln Sht | Apps | Cln Sht | Apps | Cln Sht | Apps | Cln Sht | Apps | Cln Sht | |||
| Nathan Baxter | Yeovil Town | 35 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3420 | 38 | 11 |
| Jamal Blackman | Leeds United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 180 | 2 | 0 |
| Brad Collins | Burton Albion | 31 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3115 | 35 | 11 |
| Eduardo | Vitesse | 29 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3060 | 34 | 5 |
| Jared Thompson | Warrenpoint | 10 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1170 | 13 | 4 |
| Ethan Wady | Tooting & Mitcham United | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 810 | 9 | 3 |
| Karlo Ziger | Sutton United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 90 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 11845 | 132 | 34 | |||||||||||