Arsenal loanee Charles Sagoe Jr. provided two assists for the second game in a row over the weekend, as his loan to Swedish side Kalmar continues to go well.
Though Arsenal youth forward Charles Sagoe Jr. had made a positive start to his Allsvenskan career over the last few weeks, his only goal or assist remained his debut effort in the Swedish cup in March.
That changed last Monday, as Sagoe Jr. set up two goals in a league win for Kalmar over IF Elfsborg.
The 21-year-old first set up Kalmar’s equalising goal for 1-1, driving a low cross into the box with his left foot for Charlie Rosenqvist to finish. He then repeated the trick with a dinked left-footed cross for Anthony Olusanya to score the winner.
Sagoe Jr. then repeated the trick against IK Sirius on Saturday, providing another two assists for Kalmar.
The winger first played a curling right-footed cross into the box for Rosenqvist to head home for 1-0, then played a short pass lay-off to Rony Jansson for a first-time finish for 2-0.
Unfortunately, Sirius rallied to score three second-half goals and win the match, but Sagoe Jr. couldn’t be faulted for that. He wasn’t even on the pitch by the time the hosts scored their winning goal.
Sagoe Jr.’s five goal contributions from his first eight games is a lot more than he managed on his loans to Swansea City and Shrewsbury Town, as his game continues to mature in senior football.
Perhaps more importantly, he’s started all eight of those matches in a row, quickly racking up the minutes he needs.
Those loans to Swansea and Shrewsbury only earned Sagoe Jr. 877 minutes in total, whereas he’s played 662 minutes in his first two months at Kalmar, despite a four-week break from games between their elimination from the Swedish cup and the start of the league action.
With another seven months until the Swedish domestic season ends, there’s plenty of time for him to far surpass his game time in the English lower leagues.