Tim Akinola drew widespread praise from Chesterfield FC supporters after his performance in their 2-0 victory on Saturday.
Arsenal’s Tim Akinola is having a somewhat strange loan spell with Chesterfield FC, as he seems to be making himself a fan favourite despite relatively limited minutes on the pitch.
Since going on loan, Akinola has made eight appearances for Chesterfield, but all bar one of those appearances were from the bench.
Saturday was no exception, as Akinola entered the game in the 66th minute to try and help Chesterfield over the line against Solihull Moors. But the midfielder did more than that, helping his team to double the score to 2-0.
Playing a one-two around the halfway line, Akinola sprinted away with the ball and pushed the ball down the line to leave the defence backtracking.
The Solihull defenders tried to usher Akinola into the corner, but he spun away from the pressure before passing the ball to Armando Dobra, whose shot rebounded to Bailey Clements to score.
The Chesterfield Twitter account admitted Akinola deserved a lot of praise for the goal.
72' | YES!! Tim Akinola deserves a lot of credit here – the midfielder dances through 4 defenders, holding the ball up brilliantly before passing to Dobra, whose shot is deflected into the path of Clements, he takes one touch with his chest and fires a volley into the top corner!
— Chesterfield FC (@ChesterfieldFC) November 19, 2022
The Chesterfield fans have been more than happy to give the Arsenal youngster that credit, flooding the replies to Arsenal loan watch accounts with praise.
He may not have been Arsenal’s busiest loanee so far, but it looks like Akinola has already won the hearts of the supporters, which will hopefully lead to further opportunities eventually.
Brilliant player so much energy!
— Spireite (@SpireiteC) November 20, 2022
Another brilliant performance from him
— Tom (@tom_coups) November 19, 2022
And he was fantastic
— Luke (@lukeCFC25) November 19, 2022
Top player
— Alex (@SthrnSpireite) November 19, 2022
Shhh – we want him to stay – the best ex – arsenal player to wear the sacred blue since Mark Randall …. No wait Boa Morte .., actually Alex Bailey (check your history books)
— Has Jeff King taken the piss today ? (@JeffKingcfc) November 19, 2022
Class wish we could keep him
— Julian Morris (@JueM075) November 20, 2022
https://twitter.com/Elliscfc88/status/1594068246281719808
https://twitter.com/benpinkney/status/1594041901749272577
What a player he is!
— Lukemorley (@LukeMorley94) November 19, 2022
