The goals continued to fly in this week as Chelsea’s army of loanees surpassed 30 for the season before the end of September. With eight to bring you, let’s start with Tammy Abraham, who himself has now reached double-figures after twice putting Fulham to the sword.
Headliners
The football Gods ensured Bristol City would travel to Craven Cottage on Wednesday and again on Saturday; the former an EFL Cup fixture preceding their Championship weekend clash. The prolific hitman was rested in midweek but came on as a second-half substitute to score a 90th-minute winner and completely overturn a lead given to the hosts by Lucas Piazon, who was making his Cottagers debut.
He was duly restored to the starting eleven for round two as City fielded their strongest side and it took but nine minutes for him to notch his tenth of the campaign en route to a 4-0 win. Fulham were without the injured Tomas Kalas and Piazon was an unused substitute this time, but the win was enough for the Robins to leapfrog their defeated foes into the top half of the table.
Izzy Brown also found time to get in on the act this weekend, scoring for Rotherham in their 2-1 defeat at home to Cardiff. His was an opportunist’s effort at the far post following a long throw and, although it wasn’t enough to help his team to a result, he’s clearly amongst their most influential players at this point.
Moving to the continent, Michael Hector’s return from suspension came with a change of fortunes as he scored a stoppage-time equaliser for Eintracht Frankfurt at home to Hertha Berlin. Having picked up a red card in each of his first two appearances, he was on the bench with his suspension having been served but he came on to pop up with a decisive header at the death to make amends for his unfortunate start to life in Germany.
Over in the Netherlands, Ajax slayed PEC Zwolle 5-1 in a performance which could have seen them win even more handsomely, but Bertrand Traore caught the eye with this silky-smooth solo goal to make it four on the night.
He had sat out their midweek cup win over Willem II but Lewis Baker played and scored for Vitesse in their 7-2 win away at lower league outfit De Dijk. His third goal of the season to date came courtesy of a free kick from wide on the left which managed to find its way into the bottom corner.
He got ninety minutes there and then again in their 2-1 Eredivisie defeat at FC Twente on Sunday, scoring this Goal of the Season stoppage-time consolation effort.
American defender Matt Miazga came on as a second-half substitute in both matches to mark his first appearances for the club. Nathan was a half-time substitute in the latter outing but, as has been the case for the majority of his time in Arnhem, he did very little.
England
Nathan Aké played all 120 minutes of Bournemouth’s 3-2 League Cup defeat to Preston at centre-back in midweek before sitting out their league win over Everton. Crystal Palace’s Loic Remy is still injured, whilst Burnley and Watford play each other on Monday night in a potential clash of Patrick Bamford and Kenedy; the former in line to start with Andre Gray having been hit with a four-match ban.
In the Championship, Kasey Palmer was the unfortunate Huddersfield player sacrificed half an hour into their defeat at Reading following the dismissal of Rajiv Van La Parra and the ensuing defensive reshuffle required. Christian Atsu saw fifteen minutes from the bench as Newcastle beat Wolves 2-0 in the League Cup but was unused away to Aston Villa on Saturday evening.
Charlie Colkett is still awaiting his first start for Bristol Rovers but played half an hour of their midweek win at Swindon before staying on the bench on Saturday against Port Vale. Jake Clarke-Salter should, all being well, link up with his new club this week having come through a game and a half for Chelsea’s Development Squad over the past seven days.
Jordan Houghton and Doncaster lost 3-1 at Luton to lose ground at the business end of League Two, whilst Jamal Blackman couldn’t help Wycombe avoid a 1-0 defeat at Carlisle. Alex Kiwomya missed Crewe’s draw with Blackpool after suffering a dislocated shoulder last weekend but it isn’t yet clear how long he’ll be out; anywhere from three weeks to three months has been floated so far.
Crawley beat Morecambe 3-2 with Alex Davey a 78th-minute substitute and Mitchell Beeney not in the squad.
Dion Conroy came on as a late second-half sub for Aldershot as they beat Gateshead 3-0 in National League action, whilst Nathan Baxter helped the Met Police to a midweek draw with Dulwich Hamlet. He sat out the trip to Leiston on Saturday having played for Adi Viveash’s Under-23s against Arsenal the night before.
Spain
Charly Musonda’s first start of ’16-17 brought with it a match-winning assist in a 1-0 win over Málaga. He completed the full ninety minutes and, hopefully, Gus Poyet will make him a more regular fixture in the team.
https://twitter.com/chelslatest/status/779400771485962245
Granada travel to Alavés on Monday with Jeremie Boga and Victorien Angban in the squad. They lost 2-1 to Athletic Bilbao in midweek with Angban earning his first start and Boga a late substitute in place of the Ivorian.
Italy
Juan Cuadrado made his second Juventus debut on Friday night as a first-half injury replacement for Daniele Rugani, having missed their midweek hammering of Cagliari. Milan, however, have been unable to find room for Mario Pašalić so far, although midweek reports that the Rossoneri are keen to return him to Chelsea appear to be wide of the mark.
Germany
Andreas Christensen played the full match as Borussia Mönchengladbach drew 1-1 at RB Leipzig in midweek and then did the same again in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Ingolstadt, whilst Baba Rahman completed both of Schalke’s defeats against Köln and Hoffenheim.
Netherlands
Danilo Pantic played the entirety of Excelsior’s cup win over Barendrecht and then played half an hour in the Eredivisie against PSV at the weekend. He claimed an assist in the former, unselfishly setting up Nigel Hasselbaink for the opening goal.
Belgium
Royal Excel Mouscron picked up a much-needed league win last weekend which coincided with Matej Delač’s first start for the club. So, naturally, he was back on the bench on Friday as Club Brugge came to town and there he stayed along with Islam Feruz. They lost 3-0.
Feruz did at least play the first half of their midweek cup win over Dessel on penalties but Delač wasn’t even afforded a run-out there, once again raising the question of why exactly he was sent three. Cristian Cuevas also sat out STVV’s Croky Cup exploits but he, at least, is counted on as a key player for the first team and returned for ninety minutes at left-back in a narrow 2-1 defeat at Ghent.
Turkey
Kenneth Omeruo is another in Monday evening action as Alanyaspor travel to Adanaspor in Turkish Super Lig action. You can keep up with all of Monday’s events as they unfold by visiting our dedicated Loanwatch page, the link to which is in the menu at the top of the screen.
Brazil
Wallace got was an unused substitute for Gremio in their Copa do Brasil elimination by Atlético PR and, although a return to the matchday squad was long overdue, he still hasn’t played for a full month now.
Colombia
Joao Rodriguez couldn’t even make it onto the bench for Santa Fe in their two matches this week and he too hasn’t played since mid August.
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