Our round-up of the last seven days for our players out on loan includes news of Ethan Ampadu’s first appearance in the Champions League, Jake Clarke-Salter’s first Championship goal, and Mario Pasalic’s first Serie A brace.
Overseas involvement
Ethan Ampadu started for RB Leipzig in their midweek draw with Benfica, making his Champions League debut in the process. The Welshman played just under an hour in the 2-2 draw, with Leipzig netting twice in stoppage time to guarantee their place in the knockout stages. Ampadu went off with the German side trailing 1-0.
Atalanta still have a chance of qualifying for the last 16 after defeating Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 on Tuesday. Mario Pasalic played the full 90 minutes of that victory, and if the Italian side win against Shakhtar Donetsk in the final game, and Man City don’t lose to Dinamo, they will finish second in Group C.
Pasalic then netted twice as Atalanta easily beat Brescia 3-0 away from home on Saturday. They were the Croatian’s third and fourth goals of the season, and his maiden brace since playing for Hadjuk Split in February 2014. His first was a close-range header, his second a cute, improvised backflick from a low cross. Pasalic also hit the inside of the post with a looping header between those goals.
In Spain, Kenedy featured for 86 minutes of Getafe’s 1-0 win away to Trabzonspor in the Europa League on Thursday. That result leaves qualification for the last 32 of the competition in their hands. The Brazilian then came off the bench on Sunday as Getafe rose to seventh in the table with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Levante.
Victor Moses helped Fenerbahce twice come from behind to draw 2-2 at Goztepe, while in Hungary Danilo Pantic was a late sub in MOL Fehervar’s 3-1 success at Diosgyor.
In the Eerste Divisie, Netherlands’ second tier, Juan Castillo played in Ajax II’s 3-2 victory at Telstar, but there was no such success for Ike Ugbo and Roda JC. They lost 4-1 at home to Excelsior.
Around the UK
Jake Clarke-Salter headed a late equaliser for Birmingham, his first goal for the club, as they drew 1-1 with Millwall on Saturday. That followed a midweek fixture at Sheffield Wednesday which ended with the same scoreline.
It was a mixed few days for Izzy Brown. The 22-year-old scored the winner for Luton with his first goal for the club in their 2-1 midweek win over Charlton, but then went off with a hamstring injury as the Hatters were thrashed 7-0 at Brentford on Saturday.
Conor Gallagher featured for the Addicks in the first of those games, hitting the post late on as they chased an equaliser. A booking in that game was his fifth of the season, so he was suspended for Charlton’s defeat to Sheffield Wednesday. On Friday a takeover of the club was announced.
Trevoh Chalobah was another suspended this weekend, having been sent off for a headbutt in Huddersfield’s 1-1 draw with Swansea on Tuesday as he reacted angrily to a bad tackle with four minutes left.
‘I thought up until that point he was outstanding,’ said Huddersfield boss Danny Cowley.
‘I thought he played with a real energy, drive and athleticism. I thought he handled the ball exceptionally well. Then he reacted in the way that he has and I know that he's disappointed with himself. He's a young player and he'll learn from that experience.
‘We're all going to feel the pain because we were in a good place to maybe go on to get the three points. As well as that, we obviously now lose him for three games.
Trevoh's a young man, he'll learn from the experience. He's an intelligent kid, so I don't expect him to make the mistake again.’
Huddersfield subsequently lost 5-2 at Bristol City on Saturday.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Dujon Sterling and Matt Miazga went head to head as Reading came from 1-0 down to beat Wigan 3-1 in the North-West. The pair both played during the week, too, as Leeds nicked a late goal to win at Reading and Wigan drew 2-2 at Millwall.
Up in Scotland, Nathan Baxter saved a penalty from Celtic’s Ryan Christie but he could do nothing about the rebound which Christie converted. Ross County did equalise but eventually succumbed 4-1 on home soil.
This weekend the FA Cup second round took centre stage in the bottom two rungs of the English leagues, and Joshua Grant played for Plymouth who came from 1-0 down to earn a late draw at West Country rivals Bristol Rovers. That replay is in eight days’ time.
Earlier in the week, in League One, Richard Nartey started for Burton as they beat Sunderland 2-1 at the Stadium of Light.