Marcelo Flores got himself off the mark with Real Oviedo by providing an assist in a substitute appearance on Saturday.

Arsenal loanee Marcelo Flores hasn’t had the easiest start to his loan spell with Real Oviedo, struggling for starts amid an early change of manager for the Spanish club.

Before this weekend, Flores had only played 300 minutes on loan across eight appearances, an average of 37.5 minutes per appearance.

That’s not exactly ideal to get into any sort of rhythm, particularly when most of those appearances had another match in between.

After playing in the first three games of his loan, Flores had only featured in consecutive games once over the next nine matchdays.

As a result, perhaps it’s not hugely surprising that the winger hadn’t managed to get off the mark for goals or assists. But regardless of the circumstances, that’s something that hangs over you as an attacking player.

So it was encouraging to see Flores provide his first assist in senior football on Saturday, for an Oviedo equaliser.

With the ball coming in from a set piece, Flores stood on the edge of the box. An Alaves defender headed clear, only for the Arsenal loanee to head immediately back into the box, catching the opposition off guard as they tried to push up.

Borja Baston received the ball and turned it in for 1-1. You can watch the goal here from 0:39.

The match didn’t end well for Oviedo, as a late handball gave away a 99th-minute penalty, converted by Salva Sevilla.

But Flores will be pleased to have made a positive early impression on manager Alvaro Cervera, who only took over at the club last week.