Around the UK

Conor Gallagher put his name on the scoresheet for the first time since mid-October, but it was a frustrating afternoon for Charlton Athletic as they let a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw at home to Cardiff City. Our young midfielder netted his sixth goal of the season (he is his team’s leading scorer) when he reacted quickest to put them in front early on, but it is now five games without a win for Lee Bowyer’s side.Elsewhere in the Championship, Trevoh Chalobah and Jake Clarke-Salter were in direct competition as Huddersfield Town took on Birmingham City. Chalobah played a key role in the Terriers’ opener as he played in Fraizer Campbell to slot home, but the spoils were shared when a late equaliser was heeded home for the Midlands side.

There was also an assist at the weekend for Izzy Brown, who crossed for the goal which drew Luton Town level against Leeds United, the club where the winger endured a frustrating loan spell last term. Ex-Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford had put Leeds ahead. However, a stoppage-time own goal leaves the Hatters on a five-game losing streak and into the drop zone on goal difference. There was also a narrow defeat for Matt Miazga and Reading, who lost at Brentford.Richard Nartey was another of our loanees who was defeated on Saturday, this time in League One, where Burton Albion lost 1-0 to a stoppage-time stunner from Joe Ward, but in the fourth tier Josh Grant was part of the Plymouth side which beat Bradford City to move up to eighth. He had played in a 1-0 away win at Forest Green Rovers the previous weekend.Up in Scotland, injury had kept Nathan Baxter on the sidelines in the early months of the season, but he was selected in goal for his first Ross County appearance when they travelled to bottom of the table St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership. Despite his best efforts, a late goal condemned the Staggies to a 2-1 defeat.

Overseas Involvement

Mario Pasalic started Atalanta’s game against Juventus, who are of course led by our former head coach Maurizio Sarri. The midfielder twice came close to netting the opener, when he almost headed in the rebound of a missed penalty and was later denied by an excellent save by ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. Although his side did take the lead in the second half, Juve hit back to win 3-1, thanks largely to a brace from Gonzalo Higuain, who spent the second half of last season on loan at the Bridge.

Tiemoue Bakayoko made his first appearance in a month after recovering from an ankle injury, playing 82 minutes of Monaco’s 2-1 defeat at Bordeaux in France’s Ligue 1, and Kenedy came on for the final 12 minutes as Getafe were held 1-1 by Espanyol.Our loanees in the Dutch second tier continue to impress for their respective sides. Ike Ugbo, who spoke to this website last week, was on target for Roda to put them in front against Go Ahead Eagles, taking his tally for the season to 10 as he scored for the fourth game on the spin. However, they conceded late on to draw 1-1. Juan Castillo provided his third assist of the season when he set up the winner for Ajax Under-21s in their 2-1 victory over NAC Breda, whose goal was assisted by Sydney van Hooijdonk, the 19-year-old son of former Nottingham Forest and Celtic striker Pierre.Elsewhere in Europe, Victor Moses started for Fenerbahce in a 0-0 draw at Yeni Malatyaspor and Danilo Pantic played the first half of Mol Fehervar’s 3-1 defeat to Puskas Akademia in the Hungarian top flight.