The goals continue to flow steadily for the Chelsea Loan Army, with another four this week taking us to a total of 86 for the season and maintaining the streak of having at least one in every full week of the 2016-17 so far. We begin with a record-breaking familiar face.
Headliners
Tammy Abraham’s 16th league goal – his 19th in all competitions – might have arrived rather fortuitously but it helped Bristol City earn a point against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek, and made a little bit of history too. It took him clear of Moussa Dembele, then of Fulham, as the teenager with the most goals in a single Championship season in (at least) the last twenty years.
In a week where Chelsea were linked with signing Dembele for somewhere north of £30m, that gives us plenty of food for thought. Abraham then got an hour in their 1-0 win over Rotherham on Saturday and might be set for more rest than he’s been afforded so far this season after City signed Matthew Taylor from rivals Bristol Rovers on transfer deadline day.
On Sunday, Izzy Brown continued to steal the headlines for Huddersfield Town by scoring for the third time in four matches to help them beat Leeds United and go within five points of automatic promotion. He’d previously won Man of the Match on Thursday as Town beat Brighton 3-1 at the John Smith’s Stadium but a late kick to the leg forced him to the bench for the local derby against Leeds on Sunday.
He was replaced in the starting eleven by Kasey Palmer, who had made his return from a hamstring injury late in Thursday’s match, but Palmer himself only lasted 25 minutes before having to go off with a recurrence of the same problem. Brown replaced him and, two touches later, opened the scoring:
Town won with a last-gasp Michael Hefele goal, and Brown in particular is going from strength to strength under manager David Wagner.
At the same time, Swindon Town were involved in their own heated derby against Oxford United. They opened the scoring too as Fankaty Dabo netted for the first time at any level in almost three full years, rifling home late in the first half in some style.
He and Charlie Colkett started but Islam Feruz fell victim to the numbers game as one of seven loanees at the club; only five can be involved in a matchday squad, and he figures to miss out more often than not right now. Colkett was substituted during the second half as Oxford turned things around and ran out 2-1 winners.
An interesting side note at Swindon is the number of Chelsea academy products they currently have playing for them. In addition to their three loanees, they added Dion Conroy, Jesse Starkey (both permanently) and Rohan Ince (on loan) this week to a squad that also has Anton Rodgers, and they also took a look at Alex Davey on trial on deadline day. With Jim Fraser, Adi Viveash and Ian Howell all at Chelsea having previously worked at Swindon, that particular pipeline is proving rather fruitful right now.
Finally, Juan Cuadrado’s howitzer of a goal opened the scoring for Juventus at home to Inter in the Derby d’Italia…
https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/status/828341298872594435
England
Loic Remy was an unused substitute as Crystal Palace won 2-0 at Bournemouth in midweek, and then came on for half an hour as they were humbled 4-0 at home by Sunderland at the weekend.
Tomas Kalas and Lucas Piazon started both of Fulham’s matches this week, both completing their 2-0 win at Burton, but Saturday’s defeat at Gianfranco Zola’s Birmingham saw Kalas get his customary 90 minutes but Piazon only a quiet hour.
Fikayo Tomori was an unused substitute twice for Brighton but will be slightly closer to first-team duty after the news that Connor Goldson will miss the rest of the season due to a concern over his heart.
Jay Dasilva was an unused substitute as Charlton drew 1-1 at home to Fleetwood in League One, whilst in League Two Jordan Houghton and Doncaster dropped two points at home to Morecambe. Houghton got his usual 90 minutes but did make way in stoppage time.
Jamal Blackman and Wycombe saw their long unbeaten league run come to an end in a 4-2 defeat at Exeter in midweek but they bounced back well on Saturday, beating Portsmouth 1-0 for the big stopper’s 12th clean sheet of the campaign. Alex Kiwomya, meanwhile, was restored to Crewe’s starting line-up for their own trip to Exeter, but he was withdrawn after 67 minutes in a 4-0 defeat that leaves the Alex perilously close to the relegation zone.
Nathan Baxter conceded his first goal for Solihull Moors in their 1-0 defeat at home to FA Cup Fifth Round side Lincoln in midweek, whilst their ensuing trip to Woking at the weekend was postponed.
Spain
Granada host Las Palmas on Monday evening with Jeremie Boga and Victorien Angban in contention for a starting place.
Italy
Mario Pašalić played 72 minutes as Milan were beaten at home by Sampdoria to continue their recent poor form; the Croatian came close to scoring but close wasn’t quite good enough on the day.
Germany
Andreas Christensen and Borussia Mönchengladbach claimed a handsome 3-0 win over Freiburg – and a much-needed clean sheet too – to continue their revival under new manager Dieter Hecking and climb steadily up the Bundesliga standings.
Michael Hector was an unused substitute as Eintracht Frankurt beat Darmstadt 2-0.
Netherlands
2017 has treated Vitesse very nicely indeed so far; not only have they reached the cup Semi Finals, but they are now four league matches unbeaten after a very comfortable 2-0 win away to ADO Den Haag on Friday night. Lewis Baker and Nathan started with the latter subbed after 87 minutes to allow Matt Miazga to come on and help secure the win, as has become his speciality lately. Mukhtar Ali was an unused substitute in his first appearance in a matchday squad since joining the club on loan last weekend.
Marco van Ginkel made it back-to-back weeks with an assist as he helped PSV to a 4-2 win away to AZ in his 84 minutes on the pitch.
Danilo Pantic was back in the Excelsior squad for the trip to Groningen but didn’t get off the bench.
Belgium
After a good win over Eupen last weekend, it was back to frustration for Matej Delač and Mouscron as they lost 1-0 at Genk on Saturday.
Cristian Cuevas was an unused substitute as Sint Truiden lost away to Westerlo.
Turkey
There was no action for Alanyaspor nor Kenneth Omeruo this weekend; they’re next back in action against Genclerbirligi in a week’s time.
Brazil
Gremio began their Campeonato Gaúcho schedule against Yparinga in midweek but there was no Wallace, suggesting he might not feature later tonight against Caxias either. They had tried to terminate his loan at the end of the Serie A season in December but it was unsuccessful so, for now at least, he remains a part of their squad.
Colombia
Cortuluá lost 4-0 at home to Deportivo Pasto on Saturday but Joao Rodriguez did prove that he is alive and well, starting (wearing the number nine shirt no less) and playing 70 minutes.
Comments are closed.