Chelsea Loan Round-up: February 19 - 25

ENGLAND:

Michy Batshuayi scored his first goal for Crystal Palace in their 1-4 beating of Leicester, which proved to be Claude Puel’s final game in charge of the Foxes. It was in unorthodox fashion — James McArthur’s long-distance strike seemed took a touch off Michy’s knee and made its way past Kasper Schmeichel into the goal.

Kenedy was introduced in the 81st minute of Newcastle’s 2-0 win against Huddersfield Town.

Matt Miazga and Lewis Baker, both played the whole of Reading’s uninspiring 1-1 draw against Rotherham, a relegation six-pointer. Majority of the blame for the result lay with Reading’s front three, and the pair of Chelsea loanees had good games, by all accounts. Baker was deployed as a holding midfielder, as opposed to a number 10 which is where Jose Gomes seems to prefer him.

Fikayo Tomori played well in Derby’s 0-1 loss to Millwall in mid-week; there was nothing he could do about the goal, which was borne of an individual error from Jayden Bogle. Frank Lampard decided to change up his tactics, playing a 3-5-2 with Tomori and Bogle on either side of Keogh and Chelsea legend, Ashley Cole playing as left wing-back. Derby sniffed out most threats from Millwall and looked to exploit their width via heavy utilisation of their wing-backs but a lack of creativity from midfield and Bogle’s mistake cost them the result. An early set-piece goal conceded to Nottingham Forest saw them lose 1-0 once again on Monday night. Bogle was once again the culprit, although it can hardly be said that any of them played well. Mason Mount isn’t expected back by next weekend either; for Derby’s sake, hopefully it won’t be longer than that.

Tammy Abraham started for Aston Villa against Stoke City and didn’t score but for a change, almost turned provider for Anwar El Ghazi in the first-half. He also came close to scoring — as he usually does — with a header that was saved by Jack Butland.

Izzy Brown was on the bench for Leeds United against Bolton but was left waiting to make his debut.

Jay Dasilva and Tomas Kalas started for Bristol City, who were flying at half-time as they led the league leaders, Norwich City, 2-1 at half-time. Unfortunately for the Robins, Norwich came back to seal a 3-2 victory. Kasey Palmer was part of a triple substitution in the 71st minute, replacing Dasilva with manager Lee Johnson deciding to go for the kill. However, he didn’t do much good to his chances of starting the next match. Dasilva had a bit of a tough time dealing with the talented Emi Buendia down the left, while Kalas was generally solid as always.

Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah started for their respective loan clubs, as Wigan just about managed to steal a result against a 10-man Ipswich. James didn’t play up to his usual, incredibly high standards but still ended up creating a number of chances for Wigan and ultimately assisted Joe Garner’s last-gap equaliser to make it 1-1.

Michael Hector and Tom Lees were imperious against the Swansea attack and kept the rearguard manned in Sheffield Wednesday’s 3-1 win.

Todd Kane and Hull City had a match they’ll want to banish from their memories as soon as possible; a Said Benrahma hat-trick fueled Brentford to a 5-1 win against the Tigers.

Dujon Sterling linked up well with Derby County loanee, Luke Thomas, down the right and was solid in defence, as Coventry City played very well to hold league leaders Luton Town to a draw in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Sunday afternoon. Coventry were even the better team for large spells of the game.

Nathan Baxter kept his 11th clean sheet of the season and wore the captain’s armband for Yeovil in their 1-0 win against Cambridge United. It’s very rare for a player that young — a loanee, no less — to have the honour of captaining his side and it speaks volumes about Baxter’s character and ability.

Bradley Collins managed to keep the dangerous Barnsley from scoring in midweek (the game ended 0-0) but let one goal in against Joey Barton’s Fleetwood Town.

Jacob Maddox played 79 minutes as Cheltenhem notched a second consecutive victory, this time against Port Vale. Maddox is known for his technical prowess and ability to carry the ball in midfield but his defensive work also shone through in this game.

Karlo Ziger was not involved for Sutton, while Jack Wakely started as Basingstoke lost 2-1 to Salisbury.

ITALY:

Ola Aina and Mario Pasalic played well for Torino and Atalanta respectively as the two sides locked horns, with the Turin club prevailing 2-0.

A report by Tuttosport In the wake of the match suggested that Torino have decided to exercise their €10m option to buy Aina at the end of the season.

Lucas Piazon was brought on with only minutes to spare for Chievo, in their goalless draw against Genoa.

There was another impressive appearance by Tiemoue Bakayoko in Milan’s 3-0 win against Empoli, with the Rossoneri closing the gap on their city rivals, Inter, to just two points.

SPAIN:

Kenneth Omeruo and Leganes held Valencia to a 1-1 draw, with the center-back impressing in the middle of a back three.

Josimar Quintero played 62 minutes for Lleida Esportiu against Valencia B.

Alvaro Morata was introduced during the second half of Atletico’s Champions League clash against Juventus and looked to have scored with a typical, powerful header but the goal was chalked off by VAR.

Nevertheless, he opened his account for Atletico on Sunday by scoring in the 31st minute against Villarreal with a well-placed effort from Filipe Luis’ cross. He was subbed off in the 58th, for Diego Costa.

FRANCE:

Victorien Angban was a 70th minute substitute in Metz’s 2-0 win over Paris FC.

Baba Rahman kept his place in the starting line-up and played all 90 minutes as Reims beat Montpellier, 2-4.

THE NETHERLANDS:

Jake Clarke-Salter and Eduardo started as Vitesse Arnhem comfortably dispatched of FC Emmen, 0-3.

Fankaty Dabo started for Sparta Rotterdam and assisted their final goal in a 6-1 drubbing of Go Ahead Eagles.

BELGIUM:

Kylian Hazard started for Cercle Brugge and added his 3rd and 4th goals of the season, earning them a 2-2 draw against Oostende.

(video via @chelseayouth)

GERMANY:

Christian Pulisic has been out injured.

TURKEY:

Fenerbahce’s 1-0 win against Zenit in the first leg of their Europa League fixture wasn’t enough to see them through, as they fell to a 3-1 defeat in St. Petersburg. Victor Moses played the whole game.

BRAZIL:

Nathan wasn’t involved in mid-week for Atletico MG against Defensor Sporting, but played 20 minutes on Monday versus Villa Nova.

SERBIA:

Danilo Pantic missed out for Partizan due to injury.

NORTHERN IRELAND:

Jared Thompson was not involved for Warrenpoint Town.