Nine Crystal Palace loanees featured across the English Football Pyramid this past week, with several involved in double-game weeks.
It was red-and-white delight for Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, who scored the match-winning goal on his full home debut, while Romain Esse continues to play a key role as Coventry City chase the Championship title.
Read on to see how all our loanees fared across the leagues!
Rak-Sakyi enjoyed a productive week with Stoke City, scoring the winner on his full home debut before featuring again at the weekend.
The 23-year-old proved decisive in Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over Oxford United at the bet365 Stadium. After seeing an early effort blocked following good work from Million Manhoef, Rak-Sakyi continued to threaten, linking play well and driving at the Oxford backline.
With the sides level in the second half, he made the difference – meeting Sorba Thomas’ inswinging delivery at the back post and guiding a header home from a tight angle to secure all three points. It capped an impressive full home debut and his first goal for the Potters.
Rak-Sakyi was again involved on Saturday as Stoke travelled to face league leaders Coventry at the CBS Arena.
Introduced on the hour mark, he injected energy into the visitors’ attack and created a clear opportunity for Bae Jun-ho, sliding a well-weighted pass through on goal before a last-ditch challenge denied the forward.
Stoke looked set to claim a point after Ben Gibson cancelled out Haji Wright’s opener, but a stoppage-time strike from Jack Rudoni handed Coventry a late 2-1 win. Next up for Stoke and Rak-Sakyi are Swansea City in the Championship on Saturday (7th March, 15:00 GMT).
Check out Jes' goal, below!
Esse started for Coventry City as the Sky Blues secured a dramatic late victory over Stoke City in front of a record crowd at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Named in the XI by Frank Lampard in place of Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Esse was quickly involved. Inside eight minutes, he met a short free-kick from Matt Grimes with a first-time effort that deflected through to the 'keeper, before later delivering a cross that picked out Ephron Mason-Clark, whose header was gathered.
Coventry took the lead on 12 minutes through Haji Wright and dominated much of the first half, though Stoke levelled against the run of play just before the break. With the contest finely poised, Esse made way just after the hour mark as Lampard turned to his bench in search of a winner.
Persistence paid off deep into stoppage time when Jack Rudoni swept home to seal a fourth consecutive victory, keeping Coventry comfortably at the top of the Championship ahead of next weekend’s meeting with Bristol City.
Earlier in the week, Esse was an unused substitute as Coventry came from behind to earn a 2-1 victory over Sheffield United.
After a goalless first half, Harrison Burrows opened the scoring in the 48th minute, but the Sky Blues responded superbly, scoring twice within five minutes through Wright and Rudoni to secure the win.
Whitworth featured for Exeter City as the Grecians’ four-game unbeaten run came to an end with a 5-1 defeat to high-flying Bolton Wanderers on Saturday at St James Park.
Exeter had drawn each of their previous four matches heading into the contest, while Bolton also arrived on the back of a series of stalemates.
The visitors, however, made the sharper start and tested Whitworth early on his 22nd birthday, with the shot-stopper comfortably gathering Johnny Kenny’s effort after 10 minutes.
He was called into action again soon after, producing a smart save with his foot from close range to deny Bolton from a well-worked set-piece.
As the visitors’ pressure grew, Whitworth delivered the standout moment of his afternoon – a full-stretch stop to prevent Dan Nlundulu from completing his hat-trick during a swift counter-attack.
Despite Jayden Wareham’s second-half strike offering brief hope for the hosts, Exeter were ultimately well beaten on the day. Attention now quickly turns to Tuesday’s return to St James Park, when Burton Albion visit in League One.
Ozoh played the full 90 minutes as Derby County fell short in a thrilling 4-2 defeat against Hull City at the MKM Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Rams went behind early in the 9th minute when a corner led to an own goal by Callum Elder. However, Derby responded swiftly, with Craig Forsyth equalising just nine minutes later.
Both teams exchanged goals before halftime, with Hull’s Oli McBurnie restoring their lead in the 39th minute, before Sam Szmodics opened his Derby account in the 42nd to make it 2-2 at the break.
The second half was hotly contested, but Hull regained the lead through John Egan in the 75th minute. A late strike from Lewis Koumas sealed the victory for the hosts five minutes from time, leaving Derby to rue missed opportunities.
In Saturday’s match at Pride Park, Derby bounced back with a commanding 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers.
After a back-and-forth first half, in which Blackburn led 1-0 through a Hayden Carter header in added time, Derby came out strong in the second half.
Ben Brereton Díaz equalised early in the 55th minute, and Matt Clarke put Derby ahead in the 74th from a well-executed free-kick. Rhian Brewster extended the lead with a header in the 83rd minute.
Ozoh was brought on in the 80th minute for Sammy Szmodics and kept things simple, helping the Rams see out the comfortable win.
Derby currently sit eighth in the Championship, level on 51 points with Watfordand six points adrift of Wrexham, who occupy the final play-off spot.
Adaramola played the full 90 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to Norwich City mid-week and their 3-1 loss to Southampton on Saturday.
Since joining on loan in January, Adaramola has started all five matches he's been eligible for, playing three 90-minute games in the Championship - vital senior minutes for his development.
In the Norwich game, the Owls were comfortably beaten by an experienced City side.
After an early injury to Mohamed Toure, his replacement Mathias Kvistgaarden opened the scoring, and Paris Maghoma doubled the lead before halftime. Despite some promising moments, Wednesday struggled to break through.
On Saturday, Southampton, in strong form, dominated the first half with goals from James Bree and Liam Manning. Wednesday fought back after Jerry Yates scored in the second half, but Southampton sealed the win through Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
Adaramola’s appearances in these matches remain crucial to his development as he gains valuable experience in the second tier of English football.
Goodman started in goal for Barnsley as the Reds secured a 3-1 League One victory at Leyton Orient on Saturday.
David McGoldrick’s fifth career hat-trick earned Barnsley all three points on the road, ahead of a run of three home games over the next two weeks. Barnsley sit 13th in League One with 44 points.
Mustapha was not included in the matchday squad for either of West Bromwich Albion’s fixtures against Charlton Athletic and Oxford United this week.
Imray featured as a late substitute in both of West Brom's matches this week against Charlton Athletic and Oxford United.
Albion drew 1-1 with Charlton on Tuesday evening at The Hawthorns. Imray came on in the 84th minute for George Campbell as the Baggies pushed for a late winner, but the score remained level.
The 22-year-old again featured from the bench during a 2-1 defeat at Oxford. He replaced Campbell in the 75th minute and played a key role in Albion’s late attacking efforts, linking with Daryl Dike and Aune Heggebø as the Baggies searched for an equaliser, though Oxford held on for the win.
Henry came on as a half-time substitute for Hassocks in their 2-1 Isthmian League South East Division defeat to Beckenham Town on Saturday.
Henry made an immediate impact, creating chances and troubling the visitors’ defence, though Hassocks remain just inside the relegation zone.
França was an unused substitute as CR Vasco da Gama fell 2-1 to Santos FC in their Campeonato Brasileiro Série A clash on Thursday evening.
He was also named among the substitutes for Vasco’s 1-1 draw with Fluminense FC in the second leg of their Campeonato Carioca semi-final, a result which saw them eliminated 2-1 on aggregate.
Ouedraogo was an unused substitute as SV Beveren recorded a 2-0 victory over Olympic Charleroi in the Belgian Challenger Pro League on Saturday.
Hill’s Raynes Park Vale fixture in the Isthmian League South Central Division against South Park Reigate was postponed on Saturday.
Grante played 90 minutes in St Albans City’s 2-1 Isthmian Premier Division victory over Hashtag United on Saturday.
Last season, Owen Goodman, Danny Imray, Tayo Adaramola and Joe Whitworth all featured featured in the Palace TV series Loan Life, where our cameras gained an unprecedented insight into their time adapting to new clubs and developing in the Football League.
Watch every episode on Palace TV now!
