Five players are currently away from Arsenal on loan. Swiss
international defender
Johan Djourou will be getting valuable Premiership experience
after joining newly-promoted Birmingham City until January.
Elsewhere, defender
Matthew Connolly will spend the entire campaign at Championship
club Colchester United while
Kerrea Gilbert and
Jay Simpson will be in League One with Southend United
and Millwall respectively. Promising Mexican striker
Carlos Vela will play his football in Spain with La Liga side
Osasuna.
Keep up-to-date with the fortunes of all our loan stars in our
regular Loan Watch.
Jay Simpson
Millwall 2-3 Oldham Athletic, December 15
A topsy-turvy afternoon for Jay Simpson as the youngster netted for
Millwall before being dismissed as a result of his celebration.
Simpson's strike cancelled out the first of three Lee Hughes
goals for Oldham, and Zak Whitbread even put the Lions in front
just before the break. However two goals in the last 16
minutes by Hughes ensured Oldham left with the points. Neal Eardley
was sent off late on for the visitors.
Matthew Connolly
Colchester United 1-1 Norwich City, December 15
A hard-fought encounter at Layer Road eventually saw Colchester and
Norwich share the points. Matt Connolly was involved throughout and
it seemed his U's side had done enough through Kevin
McLeod's 78th minute goal. But, in stoppage time, Danny
Granville put through his own net leaving Colchester in the bottom
three, a point behind the Canaries.
Johan Djourou
Birmingham City 1-1 Reading, December 15
Alex McLeish continued his fine start to life at the Birmingham
City helm, although Johan Djourou did not feature in the 1-1 win
over Reading. Former Chelsea man Mikael Forssell bundled the ball
over the line to open the scoring for the Blues after just four
minutes. But Stephen Hunt converted a penalty after half-time to
leave both sides still perilously close to the drop zone.
Carlos Vela
Real Madrid 2-0 Osasuna, December 16
Carlos Vela played throughout the 90 minutes as Osasuna travelled
to the Bernabeau to face league leaders Real Madrid. Former
Manchester United man Ruud van Nistelrooy put the hosts in front
after a quarter of an hour and, despite a gritty display from the
lowly visitors, they were eventually beaten 2-0, Wesley Sneijder
grabbing the second.
Kerrea Gilbert
Swansea City 3-0 Southend United, December 15
Another quiet afternoon for Kerrea Gilbert as he failed to make the
squad for the 3-0 mauling by league leaders Swansea. The Shrimpers
travelled to Wales looking to move within touching distance of the
automatic promotion places but were humbled by the impressive
Swans. Warren Feeney put the hosts ahead and the visitors' task
became harder when Nick Bailey was dismissed for a second bookable
offence. Angel Rangel and Thomas Butler both netted after the
break, while Swansea's Andy Robinson missed a penalty.
