Samuel Galindo did not feature in Gimnastic de Tarragona’s 2-1 defeat to Almeria. Chuks Aneke didn’t feature in either of Stevenage’s games this week while Sead Hajrovic and Daniel Boateng were unused substitutes for Barnet and Swindon respectively. Nicklas Bendtner is injured and is now expected to miss well over a month of football with his Sunderland side. Emmanuel Frimpong suffers a similar fate but his Wolves side did not have a game this week anyway. Rhys Murphy has moved to Preston North End on loan for the rest of the season.
Carlos Vela: The Mexican starred in his Real Sociedad side’s 5-1 thrashing of Sporting Gijon. Sociedad got off to a fantastic start with two goals in the first three minutes. Vela got the assist for the second, sliding a pass through Zurutuza for his second goal of the game. Sporting pulled a goal back just after half time but Vela helped to secure the three points for Sociedad; he whipped in a corner that was bundled in by the unmarked Elustondo. Vela was then substituted before Sociedad completed the rout through goals from Aranburu and Griezmann.
Denilson: The midfielder started twice this week for Sao Paulo and helped his side to win both matches. After falling behind to Oeste, Sao Paulo recovered scoring three goals though a Criz own goal before Wellington and Lucas scored either side of half time. Tadeu got his second of the game right at the end, but it was too late as Sao Paulo went home with all three points. They then defeated Sao Caetano by two goals to one; Luis Fabiano and Lucas were on the scoresheet, while Denilson was substituted at half time with the score at 1-1.
Credit to Gaspar Nóbrega/VIPCOMM
Pedo Botelho: The winger also started twice this week, but had far less success; his Levante side lost twice at home as they crashed out of the Copa Del Ray and just managed to hold on to their fourth position in the league. Already 4-1 down from the first leg, Levante failed to put up and real fight as Valencia cruised into the next round by three goals to none (7-1 on aggregate). Botelho was substituted after sixty-five minutes having failed to make a big impact in a poor Levante performance. They were then 2-0 down to Getafe at the weekend but despite scoring a late penalty they were unable to score another to scrape a point.
Joel Campbell: Campbell started for Lorient as they drew 1-1 at home to Sochaux. He had one real good moment in the game; his curled shot was well saved by Cros. He was replaced with fifteen minutes left while Lorient were 1-0 up but Bakambu equalised just five minutes later. In regard to his status at the French club, none of the strikers have been prolific this season with three goals for Emeghara and Campbell, two for ex-Gunner Jeremie Aliadiere and one for another ex-Gunner Gilles Sunu; however, Campbell’s workrate has endeared himself to the manager and fans even though he isn’t first choice.
Wellington Silva: The Brazilian was again brought on as a substitute for CD Alcoyano but failed to make the same impression he made last week. After being brought on with half an hour left, his side fell behind with little over ten minutes to go after a strike from Nauzet was fortunately deflected into the net. Wellington did have one golden chance to equalise late on but put his shot over from eight yards while under pressure from the defender and was booked at the end as frustration got the better of him.
Kyle Bartley: The defender played the full ninety minutes as Rangers cruised to victory against Hibernian. Two goals from Davis sandwiched strikes from Healy and Aluko while Bartley’s main impact, other than generally solid defending, was an excellent tackle on Doyle as he looked to pull the trigger.
Sanchez Watt: Watt has now moved on loan to Crawley Town for the remainder of the season after his short spell in Sheffield. He made his debut in the F.A. Cup, starting as Crawley caused an upset in knocking out Hull City. He was almost engaged in a personal battle with Vito Mannone, who has returned on loan to the North for the remainder of the season. Watt forced a number of good saves from Mannone but he will come away happier than the Italian as his side was drawn at home to Stoke in the 5th round.
