Another week, another Patrick Bamford goal. The England Under-21 striker struck struck for the fourth game in succession and the sixth in his last seven as Middlesbrough went top of the Championship with a 2-0 win over his former loan club Derby County. We begin with him before checking in on a rare Chelsea-inspired Vitesse Arnhem performance.
Headliners
Bamford has been irrepressible of late, helping Boro to an eight-match unbeaten run which has seen them shoot to the summit of England’s second tier. Having had to bide his time work his way into Aitor Karanka’s starting eleven he is now surely one of the first names on the team sheet and was tremendous in a 2-0 win over a Derby side he helped to within one game of promotion in the first half of 2014.
He struck the opening goal inside ten minutes and was centrally involved to the game’s decisive moment as he was fouled by Ryan Shotton when clear on goal. Shotton was sent off, Grant Leadbitter scored the spot kick and Boro went top of the table.
Karanka and Bamford each spoke this week of being close to extending his stay on Teesside until the end of the season and he will undoubtedly be a vital piece of their push for promotion.
Fellow loanee Kenneth Omeruo was an unused substitute whilst Jamal Blackman was not in the matchday squad.
In the Netherlands, suspension and injury forced a surprising starting line-up from Vitesse manager Peter Bosz ahead of their trip to Groningen. Bertrand Traore was restored to the starting line-up having been dropped earlier this month for poor form, whilst Josh McEachran was afforded a first league start in the absence of the suspended Davy Pröpper.
Traore opened the scoring with his third goal of the season, a placed finish from the edge of the box using his weaker right foot. He played 70 minutes of the 1-1 draw before going off (as he usually does) but McEachran played a confidence-boosting ninety minutes and fared rather well.
Wallace was absent through a suspension caused by accumulation of cautions.
Marko Marin scored for Fiorentina in the Europa League for the second straight matchday but was back on the bench unused for their 4-1 league win at Cesena on Sunday.
England
Ryan Bertrand continues to play well despite Southampton’s continued slide down the table and despite a 1-0 defeat at Burnley he was one of their best players. He won a second-half penalty but Dusan Tadic was unable to convert it and Ronald Koeman’s side went down to another loss. Nathaniel Chalobah was an unused substitute for the victorious Clarets and manager Sean Dyche indicated this week that his stay in Lancashire would be likely to end in the new year.
Christian Atsu started for Everton in a meaningless Europa League tie against Krasnodar in midweek but was forced off early through injury and played no further part in their action this week. Victor Moses, meanwhile, remains a mid-term absentee with a hamstring problem and is unlikely to return until late January.
Alex Davey continued his ever-present run at the heart of the Scunthorpe defence since arriving on loan at Glanford Park and helped inspire them to a third league win in four as they beat Crewe 2-1. Todd Kane was absent for Bristol City in their win over Crawley as a precaution after suffering a shoulder injury last weekend but he did return to training this week and shouldn’t miss any more time.
Germany
Thorgan Hazard was left out of Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Europa League team for the first time all season as he instead begins to make continued strides into their first choice Bundesliga selection. He played all bar one minute of Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Leverkusen and, once again, made an impact by providing the assist for Roel Brouwers’ goal.
Lucas Piazon also claimed an assist as he came off the bench to give Eintracht Frankfurt life away to Hoffenheim on Friday but despite helping Haris Seferovic to equalise, Eintracht wound up losing 3-2 as Roberto Firmino won it late on.
Oriol Romeu played 57 minutes for Stuttgart in a 1-1 draw at Mainz that still leaves them bottom of the table and, of course, Tomas Kalas played no part for Köln.
Italy
More injury woe befell Marco van Ginkel this week as he was clattered by Sulley Muntari in training and suffered an ankle injury that will keep him out for the rest of 2014 at the very least. Fernando Torres, meanwhile, no longer seems to be wanted at Milan and may have to find an alternative home going forward. It won’t be at Chelsea though, and instead Napoli and Rafael Benitez has been mooted as a potential destination. Milan faced Napoli on Sunday night but Torres missed out with flu.
France
Bastia beat Rennes 2-0 without Joao Rodriguez whilst Arles-Avignon and Matej Delač lost 2-0 to Creteil and remain bottom of Ligue 2.
Spain
Gael Kakuta played well for Rayo Vallecano as the rest of his team crumbled and fell to a 3-0 defeat at Valencia on Saturday. The Frenchman has been arguably their most consistent performer of the season to date but was unable to haul them out of this particular hole.
Mario Pašalić and Elche travel to Deportivo La Coruna on Monday night and you can keep up with how he gets on by following @chelseayouth on Twitter.
Uli Dávila and Tenerife faced Alcorcón but the Mexican remained an unused sub for the duration of the 0-0 draw.
Netherlands
Stipe Perica was an unused substitute for NAC Breda in their 2-0 home defeat to Heerenveen.
Greece
OFI Crete lost 2-0 at Panionios with Islam Feruz about as far away from playing as he’s ever been.