ENGLAND:
Despite being the subject of a "training ground roasting" from Sam Allardyce days before Crystal Palace’s FA Cup game against Manchester City, Loïc Rémy was involved in the match, replacing Christian Benteke at half-time.
Upcoming fixtures: Bournemouth (A, January 31), Sunderland (H, February 4)
Fikayo Tomori made his debut for Brighton and Hove Albion against non-league side Lincoln City, who shocked the Championship leaders, inflicting a 3-1 defeat upon them. Tomori contributed to the loss in the worst possible manner, scoring an own goal to put Lincoln City up 2-1, though all three conceded goals were incredibly silly. Let’s hope he can move past it quickly and help Brighton gain promotion.
Upcoming fixtures: Huddersfield (A, February 4), Brentford (A, February 5)
Kasey Palmer hasn’t yet returned to fitness and sat out of Huddersfield’s comfortable 0-4 win against Rochdale. Izzy Brown, however played the whole duration of the game and also scored his side’s second goal, making no mistake from the penalty spot.
Upcoming fixtures: Brighton (H, February 2), Leeds United (H, February 5)
Tammy Abraham and Bristol City crashed out of the FA Cup, losing 2-0 to their Premier League opponents, Burnley. As had been the case with all of City’s FA Cup games, Tammy did not start the game but played the last half-hour.
Upcoming fixtures: Sheffield Wednesday (H, January 31), Rotherham (H, February 4)
In glaring contrast to Bristol City, Fulham thrashed their top-flight adversaries on the day, Hull City, 4-1 to advance to the final 16 of the FA Cup. Lucas Piazon and Tomas Kalas both played the whole game, with Kalas even assisting the Cottagers’ opening goal. He also gave away a penalty in the 86th minute (although they were already 4-1 up by that point) which was saved by Marcus Bettinelli, however the goalkeeper gave away another penalty immediately after making the save but only to save the following one as well!
Upcoming fixtures: Burton Albion (A, February 1), Birmingham (A, February 4)
Jay Dasilva was an unused substitute for Charlton, who beat Bolton 1-2.
Charlie Colkett, Fankaty Dabo and Islam Feruz all started yet again for Swindon Town. Feruz was also, once again the only one of them not to complete the whole 90 minutes; he was hauled off after 70 minutes. Colkett looked to be one of Swindon’s better performers in the 1-0 loss against his former (loan) club, Bristol Rovers.
Reasons for Colkett’s recall from the Rovers weren’t entirely clear, although this article from the Bristol Post sheds more light on the matter, suggesting that it was the player himself who pushed for the move.
It was a big day for Jamal Blackman, who stood between the posts at White Hart Lane, as Wycombe took on Tottenham. The Chairboys took a shock two-goal lead in the first half, only to see Heung-Min Son and Vincent Janssen draw Spurs level. Wycombe then went ahead again in the 83rd minute, but in an absolute heart-break, conceded two goals at the death; Dele Alli and Son completed the comeback and the game ended 4-3 to Tottenham; what’s worse is that Jamal was arguably at fault for two of the goals — though he did also make two excellent saves. This was Wycombe's first loss in 17 matches in all competitions.
Blackman has now been part of two very competitive cup ties against high-level opposition in his career (his only appearance on loan at Middlesbrough came in a nerve-wrecking cup tie against Liverpool that was settled via penalties). This will, no doubt, be an immense learning curve.
Gutted about the result, frustrated to make a mistake. But everyone, the fans and the team were great what a feeling
— Jamal Blackman (@Big_Blacks) January 28, 2017
Doncaster Rovers kept their winning streak alive and Jordan Houghton picked up another 90 minutes in their 0-3 win against Yeovil Town.
Alexander Kiwomya was a 54th minute substitute in Crewe’s goalless draw against Cheltenham Town.
GERMANY:
Andreas Christensen started as Borussia Monchengladbach finally won a game, beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-3; the Foals came back from two goals down, via a double from captain Lars Stindl and Raffael with the winner.
Upcoming fixtures: Freiburg (H, February 4)
Michael Hector played the final five minutes of Eintracht Frankfurt’s 0-1 win against Schalke.
Upcoming fixtures: Darmstadt (H, February 5)
THE NETHERLANDS:
Lewis Baker scored his 12th goal of the season, beating the keeper with a neat finish from outside the box. It was the first of Vitesse’s two goals in the 2-1 win against AZ Alkmaar. The scorer of the other goal was none other than Nathan, who looks like a man reborn in the number ten role as of late. Matt Miazga replaced Nathan in the 78th minute as AZ searched for an equaliser following Guram Kashia’s own goal.
The three loanees will be joined by 19-year-old Mukhtar Ali, who will don the number 8 for (at least) the rest of the season and replace Sheran Yeini, who returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv after a year and a half at the club.
Earlier in the week, Vitesse produced one of their best displays in a long time to overcome the mighty Feyenoord in the quarter-finals of the KNVB Beker. Baker played the whole 90, Nathan was a half-time substitute and Matt Miazga played the final 4 minutes. Vitesse will now face Sparta Rotterdam in the semi-finals; the club are certainly in with a chance to clinch their first major trophy.
Upcoming fixtures: ADO Den Haag (A, February 3)
Wulfert Cornelius van Ginkel played 90 minutes and did not score as PSV beat Heracles 1-2.
Upcoming fixtures: AZ Alkmaar (A, February 4)
Danilo Pantic appears to have been absent from the Excelsior match-day squad in recent weeks due to an injury that also kept him out this weekend; he should be back soon, though.
BELGIUM:
Cristian Cuevas played 74 minutes of STVV’s 3-0 win against KV Oostende and the final 15 minutes in the 2-1 victory against Mechelen earlier in the week.
Matej Delac kept a valuable clean sheet as Mouscron beat KAS Eupen 3-0, doing well to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat against Zulte Waregem.
OTHERS:
Adrian Ramos’ arrival at Granada has certainly not done Jeremie Boga any favours; after a run of starts, Boga started on the bench and was brought on in the 60th minute, as Granada lost 2-0 to Vilarreal.
Upcoming fixtures: Las Palmas (H, February 6)
Mario Pasalic played 90 minutes for Milan, who lost 2-1 to Udinese despite an early opener from Giacomo Bonaventura.
Upcoming fixtures: Sampdoria (H, February 5)
Kenneth Omeruo played 79 minutes, as Alanyaspor were struck down by a Samuel Eto’o double, losing 2-1 to Antalyaspor despite taking the lead through Vagner Love.