Loan watch: Biereth scores in dream debut

There were debuts, goals and assists this weekend as seven of our Gunners were in loan action.

Mika Biereth made a dream start to his loan spell at Motherwell, scoring and assisting in their 2-1 win over Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership. Our academy striker came off the bench in the 55th minute with the score level and had a near-instant impact. 

Timing a run down the right flank to perfection, Biereth shrugged off his defender and sprinted to the byline, before cutting inside and assisting Connor Wilkinson.

Motherwell then doubled their advantage on the counter, with Biereth again showing his strength to win the ball on the edge of the penalty area. The 20-year-old bamboozled two defenders in the box with some neat footwork before drilling a shot across his body into the bottom-left corner.

Speaking post-match, he told BBC Scotland: "It was good, nothing to complain about - goal, assist, three points. I think everyone is really happy with the result, it's omething to build on. We can get better, there were sloppy moments in the game. But three points in front of the home fans is really important.

"[I can] Play hard, run the channels, be physical, score goals, help the team win games. I think the first 40 minutes today, I think I did alright."

New Swansea City loanee, Charlie Patino, also made a positive impact on his Championship debut. Brought on as a 60th-minute substitute when the Swans were 2-0 down to West Brom, Patino worked some magic from a corner kick and Henry Darling headed home.

It was ultimately too late for Swansea to complete a comeback against the Baggies and the game finished 3-2 at The Hawthorns.

Over in France, Marquinhos earned his debut for FC Nantes in the opening game of the Ligue 1 season. The Brazilian winger made an appearance late on as the side were defeated by Toulouse 2-1. 

In the Romanian SuperLiga, Catalin Cirjan featured for over an hour for FC Rapid Bucuresti in their 2-0 loss to Petrolul. Our 20-year-old Romanian midfielder joined the club back in July. 

Several of our young Gunners were also involved across the English Football League including Mauro Bandeira, who featured for Colchester United as they fell to a 2-1 loss to Bradford City in League Two.

In National League South, Billy Vigar started for Eastbourne Borough as they drew 1-1 with Farnborough and Hubert Graczyk was between the posts for Slough Town but was left crestfallen after a goal four minutes into injury time gave Dover Athletic a 2-1 win.