A number of Arsenal players got rare starts this weekend while Jack Wilshere excelled once again for Bournemouth.
Here’s a roundup:
ENGLAND
Jack Wilshere played the full 90 minutes in AFC Bournemouth’s slender away victory over Stoke City on Saturday afternoon. The creative midfielder made a number of incisive passes in the final third, but none of his team-mates were able to convert – making for frustrating viewing at the Bet365 Stadium.
League One side Oxford United ran out 4-1 winners against Coventry City, gradually pushing them away from the relegation places, but did so without the presence of Dan Crowley. The 19-year-old midfielder did not feature in the matchday squad.
Glen Kamara was once more an unused substitute for Colchester United during their 2-1 away defeat at the hands of Yeovil Town.
Goalkeeper Ryan Huddart made his fourth league start of the campaign, but was unable to stop Eastleigh from being held to a 2-2 draw against Gateshead in the National League.
NETHERLANDS
Kelechi Nwakali started in an unfamiliar role at left-back and played the full 90 minutes for MVV Maastricht, during their 3-2 win over Fortuna Sittard. He won the penalty which opened the scoring after a great run and came close to scoring twice himself. Stefan O’Connor came on in the final few minutes as a stoppage-time substitute.
SPAIN
Julio Pleguezuelo was once more an unused substitute, as Mallorca came back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 at home against Sevilla Atletico in Spain’s second division.
PORTUGAL
After his recent goal-scoring exploits with Costa Rica on international duty, Joel Campbell was not selected in Sporting’s squad to face third division side Praiense. They thrashed their visitors 5-1.
Who’s left to play?
Sunday’s fixtures for Arsenal’s loanees (all kick-off times GMT):
12:30 – Takuma Asano (VfB Stuttgart) vs Union Berlin
14:00 – Wojciech Szczesny (Roma) vs Atalanta
15:15 – Jon Toral (Granada) vs Valencia
16:00 – Calum Chambers (Middlesbrough) vs Chelsea
19:00 – Tafari Moore (Utrecht’s second side) vs Ajax’s second string