Chelsea’s loanee goalscoring continues unabated with another flurry of strikes this week, and whilst Patrick Bamford and Lucas Piazon were held off the scoresheet for a change, Romelu Lukaku continued his fine run of form and was ably assisted by Nathaniel Chalobah and Stipe Perica in another fine week for those young Blues playing elsewhere.
Headliners
We begin with Lukaku, who struck a fifth goal in five appearances for Everton to help the Toffees on their way to a 2-0 win away to Aston Villa. It was another important game for the Belgian on a personal level too, as he took the headlines in direct competition with Christian Benteke, a player he is likely to be competing with for a starting berth at the World Cup next summer. After grabbing two goals against Croatia in a decisive qualifier a fortnight ago, this was another nod in his favour.
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Chalobah, meanwhile, scored his first goal in Nottingham Forest colours as the Reds lost 3-1 away to Yeovil. It’s not been the smoothest of seasons so far for the England Under-21 international, with injuries, suspensions and international breaks preventing him from picking up a head of steam, and even though he netted a consolation effort at Huish Park, he was substituted at half time as manager Billy Davies felt he was close to getting himself sent off.
Over in the Netherlands, Stipe Perica grabbed a third goal of the season for NAC Breda in a thumping 5-0 win over Go Ahead Eagles. The Croatian forward is yet to start a game since joining on loan and has accumulated just 85 minutes as a substitute, making his scoring record all the more impressive.
There was bad news however as Perica injured his collarbone and may be sidelined for a while. The full extent of the injury remains unclear at this time, however.
England
Victor Moses took a back seat for Liverpool, remaining an unused substitute in the 4-1 in over West Brom. It was the first time since joining on loan that he failed to feature in a match.
In The Championship, Todd Kane played 90 minutes for Blackburn in a tempestuous 2-2 draw away to North-West rivals Blackpool, whilst Josh McEachran and Watford await a Monday night kickoff away to Brighton & Hove Albion. News of his involvement and performance will be published here in a later revision of the Loan Report.
In League One, Bamford was twice held off the scoresheet this week as MK Dons suffered a pair of defeats at the hands of Carlisle United and Tranmere Rovers. Manager Karl Robinson had warned his team that they couldn’t always rely on the goals of the division’s leading scorer and so it proved this week. Bamford had one exceptionally good chance away to Tranmere on Saturday, steering wide from close range late in the game, but it was little more than a bump in the road in an otherwise excellent season.
It was a much better week, however, for Sam Walker and Colchester United. They picked up a useful 1-1 draw at Shrewsbury in midweek before securing an impressive 1-0 home win over Peterborough United at the weekend, with Walker important to both results. There was no involvement in either game for Daniel Pappoe.
George Saville and Brentford are upwardly mobile again and took six points from their double-header of action; beating Bristol City 2-1 and Shrewsbury 1-0. Saville played the full duration of both games and picked up Man of the Match in the latter.
Milan Lalkovic was a late sub in Walsall’s midweek win at Swindon and then failed to even get off the bench at home to Coventry on Saturday.
Netherlands
Vitesse let a two-goal lead slip in the final fifteen minutes to drop two points at home to Groningen in a 2-2 draw. Lucas Piazon can lay claim to at least one more assist as his corner was put away by Mike Havenaar in the first half, whilst his pass to Davy Propper later in the game resulted in a second goal.
Patrick van Aanholt got his customary 90 minutes at left back, whilst Christian Atsu got 82 minutes before being replaced by Gael Kakuta. Sam Hutchinson was on the bench but wasn’t used and is still awaiting his debut in Arnhem, and Cristian Cuevas was not in the squad.
Belgium
Thorgan Hazard played a half for Zulte Waregem in a Europa League defeat to NK Maribor on Thursday, and Essevee’s European hangovers continued on Sunday when they drew 1-1 with Charleroi. The younger Hazard played the full match but had a rare quiet outing.
Italy
Wallace continues to struggle for playing time at Inter and was an unused substitute in their 4-2 win over Verona.
Spain
Thibaut Courtois bounced back from an unfortunate own goal last weekend – one which cost Atlético Madrid their 100% league record – and kept a clean sheet away to Austria Vienna in midweek Champions League action. In League action on Sunday, he was once again unbeatable as Atléti strolled to a 5-0 win over Real Betis.
Oriol Romeu got his first 90 minutes of the season as Valencia spanked St Gallen 5-1 in the Europa League, but was back on the bench with a watching brief on Sunday as Villarreal handed Los Ché a 4-1 beating at El Madrigal. Marko Marin remains injured and unavailable for Sevilla.
Uli Dávila started and played 70 minutes for Córdoba as they drew 2-2 away to Murcia, and Jhon Pírez played half an hour as a sub for Leganés in a 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad B. The Uruguyan had one or two chances to put his team in with a shout, but couldn’t take them on this occasion.
Serbia
Matej Delac and FK Vojvodina recovered from their first league defeat last weekend to defeat OFK Beograd 2-0 in midweek for a fourth clean sheet of the league season and a result good enough to move them into second place, just two points behind leaders Partizan.