Loan watch: Earl lifts cup, two players face off | News

Many of our Men’s, Women’s and Academy players have been sent out on loan this season to gain experience and further action.

It was a silverware-laden weekend for Maddy Earl and Glasgow City Women on Sunday, as they overcame Rangers 2-1 at Fir Park to win the Sky Sports SWPL Cup in Scotland. Maddy was named on the bench for the final in Motherwell, as Leanne Ross’ side scooped a well-earned trophy.

In Sweden on Sunday afternoon, two of our loanees – Hammarby’s Vivienne Lia and Rosengard’s Cecily Wellesley-Smith – faced off in the Women’s Allsvenskan season opener, from which Hammarby came out on top with a 3-1 win. Vivienne scored her side’s second goal of the contest inside just 10 minutes, also assisting the opener five minutes earlier for Sofia Reidy. Vivienne was substituted after 75 minutes with Rosengard recovering from a 3-0 half-time deficit to win the second half, Cecily having played the full match.

In the WSL, Rosa Kafaji bagged a crucial assist in Brighton & Hove Albion’s 1-0 win at Leicester City on Sunday. Rosa set up Kiko Seike to score the decisive goal three minutes into the second half at the King Power Stadium, before being substituted with a minute remaining – inspiring a result which lifts Brighton into the top six ahead of their visit to the Gunners in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.

Jenna Nighswonger played the full match for Aston Villa over the weekend in an agonising 4-3 defeat by Chelsea, a slender defeat which leaves Villa ninth in the table, while Laila Harbert missed Everton’s 3-2 Merseyside derby defeat by Liverpool on Saturday.

Jessie Gale started for Bristol City in the WSL 2 on Sunday, playing 72 minutes but finding herself on the losing side in a 1-0 defeat to Birmingham City. The Robins have three league games to go, sitting fifth in the table with a five-point gap to the third play-off place.

Charles Sagoe Jr played the full 90 minutes of Kalmar’s 3-2 friendly win over Varnamo on Saturday, with the Swedish Allsvenskan season set to begin this weekend. Kalmar will host Vasteras in their curtain-raising league match on Sunday.

Louie Copley made his return from injury as a starter for Crawley Town in Saturday’s vital 2-0 win over Gillingham in League Two, playing 74 minutes. Ismeal Cabia was a second-half substitute for Shrewsbury Town in their 1-0 defeat at survival-chasing Newport County, coming on for the final 21 minutes in South Wales.

Will Sweet was not involved in Dagenham & Redbridge’s third-straight National League South win, a 3-1 victory over Hampton & Richmond on Saturday’s dedicated Non-League Day, while Lucas Nygaard’s Brabrand kept a clean sheet in a 0-0 away draw at Naestved in the Danish Second Division.

Due to the men’s international break, there were no domestic matches for Jakub Kiwior, Ethan Nwaneri, Fabio Vieira or Reiss Nelsonwhile Karl Hein has now returned to Arsenal from his loan spell at Werder Bremen following surgery on an injury.