In the Premier League

Ethan Ampadu (pictured top) played the entirety of Sheffield United’s first Premier League win of the season last Tuesday. He impressed in the 1-0 victory over Newcastle, although could not help the Blades back up that success against Tottenham yesterday. They went down 3-1 at Bramall Lane.

Also last midweek, Ruben Loftus-Cheek put in a standout showing as Fulham earned a point at Tottenham prior to their defeat against us at the weekend, when he has ineligible to play. Frank Lampard discussed the midfielder’s progress ahead of that game.

Michy Batshuayi was a late substitute as Crystal Palace were beaten 4-0 by Manchester City on Sunday night.

Netherlands hosts Van Ginkel comeback

In an emotional moment, Marco van Ginkel made his long-awaited return from injury with PSV Eindhoven. The midfielder had been out of action for nearly 983 days after needing surgery on a knee problem, but came off the bench for the last few minutes of PSV’s game against AZ Alkmaar last Wednesday. However, there was little he could do to prevent them suffering a 3-1 defeat.

That result allowed Vitesse Arnhem to overtake PSV to go second in the Eredivisie table, and they held on to their one-point advantage as an Armando Broja goal helped them to a 4-1 win away at Emmen on Saturday. Broja took advantage of some lacklustre defending to weave his way towards goal and net Vitesse’s third of the day. It was the 19-year-old’s sixth league goal in his first season of senior football.

Juan Castillo endured a difficult start to his spell with ADO Den Haag, making his debut from the start in a 4-1 defeat to VVV Venlo on Wednesday evening. He then returned to AZ Alkmaar, where he spent the first half of this season on loan, with his new club, but left the field before AZ secured victory with an 89th-minute goal.

Serie A success and Coppa campaign win

Tiemoue Bakayoko came off the bench to help Napoli see out a thrilling 3-2 Coppa Italia win over Empoli to book their place in the quarter-finals, where they will face Roma or Spezia next week.

Napoli had things much more their own way when Bakayoko started their Serie A fixture at home against Fiorentina on Sunday. A perfect example of counter-attacking football saw them triumph 6-0, with the penalty for their fifth goal being awarded as Bakayoko was brought down in the box when looking poised to score.

Davide Zappacosta returned from injury in time to help Genoa recover from the heartbreak of their extra-time exit from the Coppa Italia at the hands of Juventus during his absence. With Zappacosta restored to the starting line-up they kept a clean sheet while battling to a hard-earned point in a 0-0 draw away at Atalanta.

The English lower leagues

In England’s second tier, Marc Guehi and Swansea go marching on. The Swans beat Barnsley 2-0 away from home and now sit four points clear of third-placed Bournemouth in the Championship table. With Guehi a regular at the back they have conceded just 13 goals in 24 league fixtures this season.

Jamal Blackman was restored to Rotherham’s Championship line-up and produced a string of good saves to help the Millers to a 1-0 win at Wayne Rooney’s Derby County.

There was also a clean sheet for Jamie Cumming as Stevenage drew 0-0 with Tranmere in League Two.

In League One, two Chelsea loanees met at the Memorial Stadium and it was Ian Maatsen who left the happier as Charlton defeated Luke McCormick and Bristol Rovers 1-0. McCormick had a good effort saved with the game goalless.

Maatsen also featured last midweek as Charlton fought back to draw 4-4 with Rochdale in a dramatic game at the Valley.

Accrington Stanley’s good recent form came to an end at home to Gillingham. They were beaten 1-0 with Nathan Baxter featuring throughout and Jon Russell coming off the bench early.

Elsewhere in Europe

In Belgium, Ike Ugbo set up Cercle Bruges’ last-minute equaliser as they earned a valuable point, drawing 1-1 away at high-flying Beerschot, but could not prevent them then losing 1-0 to Standard Liege.

Matt Miazga and Anderlecht slipped to six points off the top two. They held out for 35 minutes after going down to 10 men late in the first half at Eupen, but two late goals condemned them to a second consecutive loss, their first back-to-back defeats of the season.

There were back-to-back wins for Kenedy and Granada in Spain. The Brazilian started their 2-0 home win over Osasuna in La Liga last Tuesday, before coming off the bench as they completed a 2-1 victory at Malaga in the Copa del Rey on Sunday.

Lewis Baker and Trabzonspor claimed a dramatic point away at 10-man Antalyaspor, bouncing back from conceding in the first half to secure a 1-1 draw by scoring an equaliser in sixth minute of added time.