We’re closing on a significant milestone in the Loan Report as six goals this past week too us to 92 for the season overall, edging ever-closer to the century mark. Ahead of schedule by comparison to the 2013-14 season, when that year’s Loan Army notched a remarkable 125 goals, it promises to be a very interesting couple of months as this season’s vintage go about their business.
Headliners
The first contributor to a flurry of goals was Mario Pašalić, who came up trumps for Milan away to Bologna in midweek in what was a testing fixture for the Rossoneri. Down to nine men for much of the second half, a counter attack three minutes from time led by Gerard Deulofeu looked to be little more than a time-wasting exercise until the Spanish winger beat his man and cut inside; Pašalić did what he does best and ghosted in unnoticed to apply the finishing touch and secure an unlikely 1-0 win.
He will hope to make a similar impact away to Lazio this Monday evening.
Tammy Abraham was next up, notching a brace away to Derby County in what was eventually a disappointing Saturday afternoon for Bristol City. A pair of typically-Abraham goals in the first half gave City a 3-0 win and light at the end of a tunnel that has seen them win just once in the league since the first week of December, but a shocking second half display saw them leave with only a point as Derby rescued a 3-3 draw.
The goals lifted Abraham up to second in the Championship goalscorers’ chart on 18, two behind Newcastle’s Dwight Gayle, whilst it took him to 21 in all competitions; a good way to end a week that had otherwise seen stories concerning a road accident whilst allegedly driving without a license or insurance. More of the goalscoring, please, Tammy.
Roughly twenty seconds after Abraham’s first goal of the day, Izzy Brown struck gold for Huddersfield away to Queens Park Rangers. A slick one-two with Nahki Wells was followed by the finish of a player at the top of his game, scoring for the fourth time in five outings and setting Town on their way to a 2-1 win.
He’s stepped up big time since arriving and has been a real leader in Kasey Palmer’s absence; a recurrence of his hamstring problem struck him down against Leeds last Sunday and manager David Wagner this week revealed that the talented attacking midfielder could be out for up to eight weeks now. Izzy’s going to get every opportunity to make further waves as the Championship promotion race heats up.
Skipping to Sunday, Bertrand Traore’s return to Eredivisie action after an African Cup of Nations in which Burkina Faso finished third and he was named in the team of the tournament went well, as he scored a sublime solo goal in Ajax’s comfortable home win over Sparta Rotterdam.
https://twitter.com/DutchGoalsAMore/status/830784332109332480
It was his sixth goal of the season and showcases both sides of the debate about him playing in the Netherlands; he has the ability to make that sort of impact on a regular basis, but the standard of defending makes it easier for a forward of his calibre, whilst having proven himself more than capable in the league already whilst at Vitesse, this sort of thing doesn’t appear to be truly testing for him.
The same goes for Marco van Ginkel, who put the seal on PSV’s 3-0 win over Utrecht later the same afternoon for his third goal in five appearances this season and 12th in 18 games across both of his loan spells at Eindhoven in the past two seasons. The league is no longer a challenge for him and it’s even more pronounced than it is for Traore.
https://twitter.com/DutchGoalsAMore/status/830833282304602114
England
Loic Remy played the last three minutes of Crystal Palace’s 1-0 defeat at Stoke, a result that leaves his loan club second from bottom of the Premier League and two points away from safety.
Tomas Kalas missed Fulham’s Championship win over Wigan through a minor knock and Lucas Piazon was an unused substitute for the same fixture, but both are set to return for Tuesday’s home game against Nottingham Forest.
Christian Atsu, who like Traore was selected to the African Cup of Nations all-star team, returned to Newcastle United duty on Saturday as a half-time substitute in their 1-0 win away to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Fikayo Tomori, however, was an unused substitute as Brighton beat Burton 4-1.
In League One, Swindon find themselves squarely in the relegation mire after losing 1-0 away to fellow strugglers Bury on Saturday. Charlie Colkett and Fankaty Dabo played the full 90 minutes without affecting the outcome (though both have earned more positive reviews than negative so far), but Islam Feruz missed out as Swindon have seven players on loan with only five allowed in a matchday squad.
Jay Dasilva was an unused substitute again for Charlton Athletic. Jake Clarke-Salter isn’t yet back for Bristol Rovers but is closing on a return from a broken arm and dislocated elbow suffered back in the late autumn.
Doncaster Rovers were held to a goalless draw at Newport on Friday night in League Two but Jordan Houghton played another full match to extend his lead at the top of the division rankings for most minutes played by a midfielder this season. Alex Kiwomya played the last seven minutes of Crewe’s surprising 5-0 win over Grimsby, but it was a rare disappointing outing for Jamal Blackman and Wycombe, who went down 3-0 at Stevenage.
Nathan Baxter, however, kept a third clean sheet in four matches for Solihull Moors as they beat FA Cup surprise package Sutton United 3-0. It included a rather impressive penalty save to boot:
Spain
Jeremie Boga and Victorien Angban hope to be in contention for a place as Granada travel to Eibar on Monday evening. Updates, as always, will be available on Twitter @chelseayouth and in our LoanWatch section here.
Italy
Juan Cuadrado played the entirety of Juventus’ 2-0 win at Cagliari.
Germany
Borussia Mönchengladbach’s revival under Dieter Hecking continued with another win over Werder Bremen, the 1-0 triumph also meaning another clean sheet for an Andreas Christensen-led defensive unit.
Michael Hector played the full ninety minutes as Eintracht Frankfurt were beaten 3-0 at Bayer Leverkusen but did also find the time recently to sit down with Nizaar Kinsella to lift the lid on life as a loanee in the Bundesliga.
Part 2 of my chat with @Big_Hec35 (Michael Hector), he talks about Eintracht's Leicester-like story: https://t.co/RhmJB21DE2 #CFC
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) February 10, 2017
Netherlands
Vitesse’s unbeaten start to 2017 came to an unlikely end on Saturday night as Willem II came to town and scored twice inside the last ten minutes, staging a proper smash-and-grab raid to win 2-0. Lewis Baker and Nathan played the full 90 minutes whilst Matt Miazga was pressed into extended duty after a first-half injury to defender Maikel van der Werff, and might be set for a longer run in the team now, with Vitesse struggling for numbers in defence.
Mukhtar Ali was an unused substitute.
Danilo Pantic made his first appearance for Excelsior since November 26th when he came on for the last two minutes of a home draw against Twente on Sunday.
Belgium
Mouscron were beaten 2-1 at home by Oostende on Saturday with Matej Delač continuing in goal, but there was no Cristian Cuevas for Sint-Truiden as they lost 3-0 to Genk.
Turkey
Kenneth Omeruo got ninety minutes and a clean sheet in Alanyaspor’s 3-0 win at home to Genclerbirligi.
Switzerland
FC Zurich host Xamax on Monday night with Miro Muheim hoping for his debut.
Brazil
Wallace was an unused substitute as Gremio lost 2-0 at Flamengo.
Colombia
Joao Rodriguez played 72 minutes as Cortuluá lost 1-0 at Tigres.