Chelsea Loan Round-up: Brown goal sends Huddersfield to play-offs; Baker & Co win Vitesse the Dutch Cup; others

ENGLAND:

After losing 5-0 to Preston North End, Bristol City have gone five games unbeaten, including four wins. This weekend, they edged past Champions-elect, Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium in Brighton, 1-0. Tammy Abraham played 81 minutes in the win, which also saw Bristol officially avoid relegation and renew their status as a Championship club.

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Upcoming fixtures: Birmingham (H, May 7)

Izzy Brown started for Huddersfield as they took on Wolverhampton mid-week, with a win enough to secure their place in the promotion play-offs. They won 0-1, with Brown scoring the lone goal of the game; the keeper could’ve perhaps dealt with the youngster’s effort better, but it was a sweet strike from outside the box that ultimately confirmed Huddersfield’s extended season.

The other three teams joining Huddersfield in the play-offs have been confirmed as well: they are Reading, Sheffield Wednesday and (practically) Fulham, but the exact match-ups have not yet been decided (3rd vs. 6th and 4th vs. 5th).

Brown was excluded from the 18 altogether in Huddersfield’s following game against Birmingham, almost certainly to have him well-rested for the play-offs.

Upcoming fixtures: Cardiff (H, May 7)

Tomas Kalas played the whole 90 and Lucas Piazon was a 59th minute substitute as Fulham and Brentford’s London derby ended in a 1-1 draw. Leeds United’s 3-3 draw against Norwich meant that Fulham’s place in the play-offs was confirmed save for a mathematical formality; the only way Fulham could fail to qualify now is if they lose their next game and Leeds win theirs in such a manner that their goal difference gap of 13 is overcome.

Upcoming fixtures: Sheffield Wednesday (A, May 7)

Fikayo Tomori was an 89th minute substitute in Brighton’s 0-1 loss to Bristol City. Brighton have lost both their games since securing promotion to the Premier League but continue to sit atop the table. Newcastle United have caught up in the meantime, and are only a point behind Brighton, who now presumably have to win the final game of the season to be crowned champions.

Upcoming fixtures: Aston Villa (A, May 7)

Christian Atsu helped Newcastle clinch promotion with his goal last weekend, and this weekend his beautifully nonchalant free-kick against Cardiff City saw his side close the gap with Brighton to just one point.

Upcoming fixtures: Barnsley (H, May 7)

Jake Clarke-Salter started Bristol Rovers’ final match of the season and unfortunately had a terrible game; Rovers lost 3-4 to Millwall, who scored three goals in the first 35 minutes.

Charlie Colkett, Fankaty Dabo and Islam Feruz (!) all started for relegated Swindon Town, who ended their season with a whimper, losing 3-0 to Jay Dasilva’s Charlton Athletic. Dasilva turned in another great shift and assisted their first goal with a cross.

Jamal Blackman’s Wycombe Wanderers could only manage a 1-1 draw against Morecambe. They could still qualify for the play-offs if they win their last game of the season, but they’d need a whole lot of other results to swing in their favour as well. Blackman was also awarded the club’s Young Player of the Year Award!

Alex Kiwomya was not involved for Crewe.

THE NETHERLANDS:

Lewis Baker, Nathan and Matt Miazga all started and Mukhtar Ali was an unused substitute as Vitesse made history with their 2-0 win in the KNVB Beker final against AZ Alkmaar. A 7-minute brace (minutes 81’ and 88’) from former Norwich City striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel ensured that Vitesse won their first ever major trophy, and in addition guaranteed themselves a place in the Europa League group stage next season. Vitesse have made it to the qualifying rounds in recent seasons, in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2015-16, but have not made the group stage since 2002-03.

All three loanees played well; Nathan worked uncharacteristically hard; Lewis Baker also put in a hardworking shift despite not scoring; Miazga was a rock at the back alongside Guram Kashia. Qualifying for the Europa League group stage next season could have some interesting implications as far as Chelsea is concerned - on the face of it, Vitesse has become a much more attractive destination for prospects now but this also means increased revenue and a greater ability to attract permanent signings from other clubs.

Lewis Baker, who finished as top scorer of the KNVB Beker this season, also confirmed that he wouldn’t be staying at Vitesse beyond this season.

“As part of the Chelsea youth team I’ve won a few tournaments but this is something else. I’ll never forget my time at Vitesse and especially this cup win. Vitesse is a fantastic club and I felt I had to do something for this club. Luckily I had my role in this historic cup win. I will never forget my two years at Vitesse and keep an eye on them, even when I'm back at Chelsea.”

- Lewis Baker (source: www.ad.nl)

A huge congratulations to Vitesse, the people of Arnhem and everyone involved.

Upcoming fixtures: Utrecht (A, May 7)

The rest of the Eredivisie was on a break this weekend, meaning there was no other Chelsea loanee involvement in the Netherlands. Bertrand Traore and Ajax have a huge game coming up though, be sure to catch them in action against Lyon on Wednesday (yes, Wednesday) in the Europa League semifinals.

GERMANY:

Michael Hector and Andreas Christensen started for their respective sides, Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Monchengladbach in the DFB Pokal semi-finals. The game ended 1-1 after 120 minutes, and saw Eintracht Frankfurt prevail in the penalty shootout, 6-7. Hector took his penalty very well, but Christensen turned out to be one of the two Borussia players to miss on the night. Christensen’s miss in sudden death had no immediate repercussions as Yann Sommer saved Guillermo Varela’s subsequent penalty, but Borussia’s following penalty taker, Djibril Sow missed as well meaning Branimir Hrgota’s penalty took Eintracht to the finals of the cup, where they will meet Borussia Dortmund.

Hector kept his place in the XI and played well in Frankfurt’s 1-0 loss to Hoffenheim, and as did Christensen in Gladbach’s 1-2 win over Mainz.

Upcoming fixtures:

Eintracht Frankfurt - Wolfsburg (H, May 6)

Borussia Monchengladbach - Augsburg (H, May 6)

BELGIUM:

Cristian Cuevas did not get off the bench for STVV, while Matej Delac started one out of two games for Mouscron, a 2-2 draw against Lokeren.

OTHERS:

Even Tony Adams couldn’t prevent the inevitable for Granada; their 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad saw them officially relegated, with 3 games left to play. There was a rare start (and 90 minutes) for Victorien Angban and a 30-minute cameo for Jeremie Boga.

Upcoming fixtures: Real Madrid (H, May 6)

Mario Pasalic was an unused substitute for Milan against Crotone.

Upcoming fixtures: Roma (H, May 7)

Kenneth Omeruo started in Alanyaspor’s 3-0 loss against Kayserispor.