Two Gunners teammates went head-to-head in European action last week as Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko featured as Porto travelled to Nottingham Forest. 

It was Alex’s Forest side who came out on top at the City Ground, with a 2-0 league phase win under new boss Sean Dyche. Zinchenko played just under half the contest having been withdrawn with an injury, while Jakub played the full 90 minutes.

The Ukrainian then missed the Premier League defeat at Bournemouth on Sunday, while Kiwior is next in action this Monday night in a Liga Portugal visit to Moreirense. Of Zinchenko’s injury, Dyche claimed in his press conference: “After coming off, we’ll wait and see how that is.”

Two Gunners claimed assists in their corresponding league matches within the past week, as Ismeal Kabia continued his impressive streak with Shrewsbury Town in League Two – providing for Tommy McDermott’s late strike against Oldham Athletic on Saturday. 

Following his milestone of a first senior assist, the makeshift right-wing-back was praised by manager Michael Appleton, who told the Shropshire Star, “the fans love him” and tipped him for a huge future.

Ismeal offered a productive 90 minutes for the Shrews in their 2-2 draw at Boundary Park, while Maldini Kacurri set up Jake Cain’s opening goal for Morecambe in their midweek 4-0 rout of Boston United in the National League. Maldini played two full matches for the Shrimps, with another full 90 against Eastleigh on Saturday.

Following a two-match suspension, Fabio Vieira made his comeback into the Hamburg side during Saturday’s narrow defeat by Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. Fabio entered the fray for the final 27 minutes of the contest, replacing a former Gunner, Sambi Lokonga.

Reiss Nelson is now back fit for the Brentford matchday squad, having been named as a substitute in each of the Bees’ last two matches. A pivotal win over Liverpool on Saturday night saw Reiss on the bench, though he did not feature on this occasion. The same goes for Werder Bremen and Karl Hein, who was an unused substitute for the Bundesliga outfit’s 1-0 win over Union Berlin on Friday evening.

Lucas Nygaard returned to the Brabrand team at the weekend in the Danish Second Division, but his side went down 3-1 at league leaders AB Kopenhagen. Our young stopper did impress with a string of saves to limit the damage for his side.

In the women’s game, this weekend has brought an international break, as Michelle Agyemang featured as a late substitute for England’s Lionesses in a narrow friendly defeat to Brazil on Saturday. The match at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium saw the Brazilians take home a 2-1 win, as Michelle came on for the final eight minutes.

Laila Harbert also represented England via their ynder-23 side, who were beaten 5-0 by Germany in Thursday’s friendly clash. However, it was better fortunes for the Lionesses’ U19s and Cecily Wellesley-Smith, who earned a cap from each of two comprehensive wins over Estonia and Greece. The Estonians were put to the sword 6-0 in midweek, while Greece were beaten 4-0 over the weekend. Cecily played half of each game in a very satisfying international period.

Rosa Kafaji was an unused substitute for Sweden in Friday’s defeat to Spain, while our remaining Gunners loanees – Madison Earl, Jessie Gale, Naomi Williams and Vivienne Lia – have so far not been in action as the anticipation builds for a return to domestic action next weekend.

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