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Largely piss-poor from their parent club yesterday, but a weekend full of action for those in the squad spending time elsewhere this season nonetheless. By my count there's players involved in six different leagues--Premier League, Championship, League One, Ligue One, Serie B, and La Liga--and four different countries. That's a lot to keep track of, but thankfully there's a way to follow most, if not all, on a consistent basis.
The star man of the weekend was Divock Origi, who registered a second-half goal and assist for Lille in their 2-0 home win over Nantes. Origi didn't start last time out against Monaco but got the nod here, and after a quiet first half he put them in the lead with a headed effort and then teed up Marcos Lopes to put the match to bed. Lille now host Krasnodar in the Europa League midweek before facing Montpellier in Ligue One action next Sunday. That's now two goals through four matches for Origi, who's the leading goalscorer for a Lille side that sit top of the league on 11 points after five matches. Also in Ligue One, Tiago Ilori got the start in central defense for Bordeaux, who started the day as league leaders, away to Guingamp. Two first-half goals for the hosts condemned Ilori's side to defeat, however, as their comeback effort was limited to one goal in the 83rd minute. The young defender was solid for most of the match--his first for Bordeaux--and had little part to play in either goal conceded.
Oussama Assaidi got eight or so minutes late in Stoke City's 1-0 win over loss at home to Leicester yesterday, and he looks set for a similar role to last season as he works his way back to match fitness. He'll give Mark Hughes an pacy option from the wide areas and chip in a goal or two throughout the season, but it looks as though Stoke are going to have a tough season ahead of them despite the win because they lost here, which everyone knows.
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Andre Wisdom played another 90 minutes for struggling West Brom, who lost 2-0 to Everton. Wisdom picked up a yellow card late in a match that wasn't particularly enjoyable; Everton were comfortable throughout even though they weren't overly impressive, and West Brom now sit 19th in the table with only two points in four matches. Sebastian Coates was left out of the Sunderland squad to face Spurs in a match that ended 2-2 after a late Harry Kane own goal.
In La Liga, Luis Alberto started again for Malaga and registered two shots on goal, but the hosts failed to find a breakthrough against bottom side Levante, who earned their first point of the season in the 0-0 draw. Alberto came off after 55 minutes. Iago Aspas is on the bench for Sevilla in a match that's kicking off at the time of writing (6:00PM BST/1:00PM EST). Over in Italy, Rafa Paez played 90 minutes for Bologna in their 3-2 win over Pescara, which was their first of the Serie B season. Paez has now featured twice for Bologna.
Back in England, the lower leagues saw action for three more loanees. Joao Teixeira and Jordon Ibe got minutes in the Championship for Brighton Hove & Albion and Derby County, respectively; the former has become a fixture in the starting eleven under Sami Hyypia and got an assist in their 3-2 loss at Brentford, while the latter made his Derby debut at Nottingham Forest. His introduction came just minutes before the equalizer in a 1-1 draw, and while he made a few surging runs forward, his impact was limited as Steve McLaren's side shared the points with the league leaders. Brad Smith played another 90 minutes for Swindon Town in their 2-1 win over Bradford City.
Origi's goal, for those that didn't catch it:
