Arsenal loanee Ismeal Kabia registered the first direct goal contribution of his career this weekend, providing an assist for Shrewsbury Town away to Oldham Athletic.
Arsenal loan winger Ismeal Kabia has had a positive start to the 2025/26 campaign, but the one thing he was lacking was a goal or an assist.
After scoring in his first game of the season for the Arsenal u21s and providing an assist against Nottingham Forest in his second match, Kabia hadn’t managed to provide a goal contribution in his first nine matches with Shrewsbury Town.
Part of that was about his role in the team, playing as a wing-back rather than a winger for the last four matches. But it was encouraging to see the 19-year-old getting off the mark in his 10th appearance for Shrewsbury against Oldham on Saturday.
Playing as a wing-back once again, Kabia received the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area in the 91st minute, with the scores level at 1-1.
The youngster squared up his defender before playing the ball inside for Tommy McDermott, who beat his man and finished to give Shrewsbury a late lead.
The goal really should have been the winner, but four minutes later Joe Garner popped up with an equalising header to put a dampener on things from a Shrewsbury perspective. All the same, Kabia will be pleased to be on the board now.
In terms of minutes, Kabia can have no complaints with how things are going. The Arsenal loanee has started every one of Shrewsbury’s games since joining, making it understandable that he ended his previous appearance against Crawley Town coming off with cramp.
It’s been a significant physical step up for the Dutch teenager playing in League Two this season, and he should be a lot better off for the experience.