There were goals and debuts aplenty for our players out on loan this week...
Two of our young strikers continued their impressive goalscoring starts to the season in Europe this weekend. In the Eredivisie, Armando Broja’s brace for Vitesse away at ADO Den Haag helped his new loan side into third after five matches in the Dutch top flight.
The opener after half an hour was a predatory finish on the rebound from 10 yards after a strike had been parried into his path, while his second later in the game was an even more impressive effort. Carrying the ball down the right, the 19-year-old cut inside and skipped past two defenders before beating the goalkeeper with a powerful, low left-footed shot.
Vitesse had seen a man sent off late in the first half but Broja’s brace was enough to ensure they made it 12 points from 15 with only two goals conceded to date and added to his maiden senior career goal last month against Sparta Rotterdam.
Elsewhere in the Netherlands, George McEachran made his debut for MVV Maastricht in the second division, coming off the bench for the final 30 minutes as they were beaten 2-0 away at Excelsior.
Also among the goals on the continent was Ike Ugbo, who netted twice in a big 5-2 home win for Cercle Brugge over Gent in the Belgian Jupiler League. The brace doubles his tally for the campaign to four and takes the team into sixth position. Matt Miazga went straight into the Anderlecht side for his debut against Leuven but could not prevent Vincent Kompany’s men dropping two points in a 2-2 home draw.
In the Premier League, Ruben Loftus-Cheek made his Fulham debut at Bramall Lane as the Cottagers picked up their first point of the season. The England international started in an advanced midfield role and played 81 minutes, his longest runout in 17 months following a long-term Achilles injury.
Aleksandar Mitrovic missed a penalty for the visitors just before the hour mark but Ademola Lookman, another new signing, looked to have won it for Scott Parker’s men with a strike 13 minutes from time.
However, the Blades were awarded a spot-kick of their own late on and Billy Sharp made no mistake to ensure a share of the points. Ethan Ampadu was an unused substitute for the hosts.
Ross Barkley made it two goals in two games for Aston Villa with a stoppage-time winner against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. As a stalemate of a contest looked to be heading for an inevitable draw, the midfielder found the bottom corner from 25 yards out to maintain Villa’s winning start to the season.
Michy Batshuayi started the first game of his second loan spell at Crystal Palace and was involved in winning an early penalty for the Eagles against rivals Brighton when he was pulled to the floor by former Blue Tariq Lamptey. Wilfried Zaha dispatched from 12 yards but Roy Hodgson’s side then sat back and eventually conceded a late leveller to Alexis MacAllister.
On Monday evening, Conor Gallagher made his Premier League debut for West Brom as they recorded a 0-0 draw with Burnley at the Hawthorns. The 20-year-old played throughout on his first appearance in top-flight football following an impressive season in the Championship with Charlton Athletic and Swansea City.
Switching to Italy, Tiemoue Bakayoko made his debut for Napoli in an impressive win over Atalanta. Gennaro Gattuso’s side raced into a 4-0 lead by half-time, with Bakayoko sitting in a deep midfield role for the hosts. It finished 4-1, with the 26-year-old withdrawn after 75 minutes.
Davide Zappacosta and Genoa were not in action after a number of positive Covid-19 test results saw their game postponed.
Kenedy played the opening hour of Granada’s impressive win against 10-man Sevilla, the visitors to Stamford Bridge tomorrow in the Champions League. The Brazilian started in a wide-right attacking position and recovered from an early knock to play his part in a win that takes the Nazaries sixth in the early La Liga standings.
Meanwhile in France, Trevoh Chalobah played 76 minutes of Lorient’s 3-1 win away at Reims.
In Turkey, Eddie Newton’s Trabzonspor fell to a 2-0 defeat at home to Basaksehir, with Lewis Baker playing throughout, while Victor Moses made his Spartak Moscow debut in their comeback win against Khimki. Spartak are joint-top after 11 games; Krasnodar, our Champions League opponents next week, are six points back in seventh.
Lucas Piazon was replaced 76 minutes into Rio Ave’s 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Benfica in Portugal’s Primeira Liga and Danilo Pantic played 50 minutes of Cukaricki’s 2-1 loss to Proleter in Serbia.
Back in England, Marc Guehi’s Swansea lost their first game of the Championship campaign at home to Huddersfield Town. The defender played throughout in a back three, with former Chelsea youngster Kasey Palmer also making his debut for the Swans. It finished 2-1 to the Terriers in south Wales.
Jamal Blackman was unable to prevent Norwich City stealing a late winner against Rotherham United as Jordan Hugill scored a penalty four minutes into added time to seal a 2-1 win for the Canaries in Yorkshire.
Tariq Uwakwe and Jon Russell featured throughout as Accrington Stanley were beaten at early League One leaders Ipswich Town. Goalkeeper Nathan Baxter was on the bench. Also in that division, Luke McCormick started Bristol Rovers’s 1-1 home draw with Burton Albion. Jamie Cumming’s Stevenage lost 1-0 at Forest Green Rovers in League Two.