Arsenal’s loanees ended the weekend on a real high, with all three to make an appearance on Sunday getting involved in the goals.
After a mixed Saturday involving an injury comeback, an unexplained absence, and the continuation of an 18-game run as an unused substitute, Arsenal’s loan group had a more obviously positive conclusion to the weekend on Sunday.
The day started with Charles Sagoe Jr.’s debut for Kalmar FF in the Swedish Cup, with Kalmar playing away from home against Varnamo.
The Arsenal winger took just over an hour to bag his first goal, firing a low driven effort into the far corner from the edge of the penalty area in the 61st minute.
Sagoe Jr. then bagged his first assist three minutes later, with a square pass to Marius Soderback leading to the midfielder’s second goal from the edge of the box.
Up next, Fabio Vieira started for Hamburger SV against RB Leipzig, and just 22 minutes into the contest he gave the hosts the lead with his fourth direct goal contribution in his last five matches.
On this occasion it was a slotted finish under the goalkeeper from close to the penalty spot to make it 1-0. Unfortunately, Leipzig rallied to win the match 2-1 in the second half.
But whilst Vieira was unable to provide the winning goal on this occasion, the same couldn’t be said of Ethan Nwaneri in the evening game between Marseille and Lyon.
Nwaneri came on as a substitute in the 63rd minute, and in the first minute of second-half injury time he raced in behind the defence before firing a square ball across the box for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to tap home.
All in all, it was a great day for Arsenal’s loanees, and one they’ll want to repeat in the coming weeks.