Loan watch: Balogun adds two to his goal tally

There was plenty of loanee action this week as midweek league games kicked off across Europe.

Folarin Balogun continues to flourish during his loan spell at Reims, making a huge impact from the bench in their 4-2 win over Angers on Wednesday. Balogun came on at 2-2, won a penalty which he then scored, and assisted Alexis Flips for another goal – all in the space of just 26 minutes. 

In their weekend fixture, Reims shared the points with Lens, but not without another goal from Balogun. Only Kylian Mbappe and Neymar have scored more than the 21-year-old in Ligue 1 this season.

To cap off a perfect week, a certain Arsenal legend sent Balogun a quick video message:

Meanwhile, Nicolas Pepe bagged his first goal for Nice in a midweek game against his old club, Lille. A penalty was awarded in the 29th minute after Pepe was brought down by the keeper, which he cooly converted, and the game ended 2-1 to Nice. Pepe's side lost to Monaco at the weekend. 

Elsewhere in Ligue 1, Nuno Tavares played the full 90 minutes in Marseille's win over Clermont on Wednesday, and his performance earned him the Player of the Match nod. Tavares then featured as a half-time substitute in their 2-0 defeat of Auxerre. Marseille remain in second place in Ligue 1, equal on points with league leaders Paris Saint-Germain.

Back in England, Ainsley Maitland-Niles made his debut for Southampton in their 1-0 loss to Southampton at Molineux. His 17-minute cameo from the bench included a 86% successful pass rate.

In the Championship, Brooke Norton-Cuffy has already established himself as a regular starter at Rotherham United, playing full minutes in both of the Millers' matches this week. Fellow academy loanee, Charlie Patino, is also close to returning to the Blackpool squad after an ankle injury kept him out of action for several weeks.

Birmingham City and Auston Trusty had a mixed week: losing 2-1 to Norwich City on Tuesday, but overcoming Preston North End to win 1-0 at the weekend. Trusty played the full 90 minutes in both games. 

Tyreece John-Jules came on as a half-time sub in Ipswich Town’s 6-0 thrashing of Northampton Town in the Papa Johns Trophy. Back in League One action, John-Jules played an hour in the Tractor Boys' 2-0 win against Accrington Stanley. 

Elsewhere in the Papa Johns Trophy, Mazeed Ogungbo scored a decisive penalty in Crawley Town's penalty shootout against Portsmouth. Crawley won the shootout 6-5, kicking off their cup run with three points.

Following his recent loan move to National League leaders Chesterfield, Tim Akinola made his debut as a substitute during their 2-0 defeat of Oldham Athletic. 

Over in Scotland, Ryan Alebiosu and Kilmarnock were defeated by Hibernian away from home, but in the Premier Sports Cup, Alebiosu played 90 minutes and kept a clean sheet. Kilmarnock now progress to the next round. Alex Kirk, meanwhile, played a full game for Ayr in their 2-1 win over Greenock Morton.

In the Super Lig, Runar Alex Runarsson started his third consecutive game for Alanyaspor between the posts. They lost 2-0 to Mesut Ozil's Basaksehir. 

Wrapping things up in the Netherlands, academy striker Nikolaj Moller played 45 minutes off the bench as Den Bosch lost 2-1 to Zwolle. Moller impressed throughout his performance, particularly in the air, as he won 7 out of 11 aerial duels.