Up and running

Omari Hutchinson marked his first Championship start with his first senior goal, a well-taken finish in off the post as Ipswich Town’s superb form continued with victory at Southampton on Tuesday.

The winger was deployed wide left in a 4-2-3-1 shape and looked a constant menace in possession. The goal showed his desire without the ball, too, as he executed a fantastic sliding challenge to dispossess a Saints defender before latching on to a through pass to calmly slide his side ahead. He celebrated in style, pictured top!

It proved the only goal as the Tractor Boys continue to impress on their return to England’s second tier.

They sit third in the table, behind Cesare Casadei’s Leicester City on goal difference. The Italian played the final half-hour of the Foxes’ 4-1 win at Southampton on Friday night, before being handed a starting berth in the 2-0 success at Norwich.

Elsewhere in the Championship, Sunderland are up to fourth with Mason Burstow playing his first two games for the club.

The striker featured for an hour in each of their back-to-back away wins, first at QPR and then Blackburn. Both were won 3-1.

Bashir Humphreys was another Championship debutant this week, playing the full 90 as Swansea drew 1-1 at Loftus Road, only denied a first win of the season by an injury-time QPR equaliser.

Anjorin back at it

Tino Anjorin played his first competitive game in almost exactly a year on Saturday. The attacking midfielder sustained a serious ankle injury last September, but returned as a late substitute in Portsmouth’s 1-1 draw at Derby. He did likewise on Tuesday as Pompey won 3-2 at Barnsley.

Harvey Vale featured at left-back for Bristol Rovers in their 4-1 victory over Cheltenham in the Football League Trophy, and returned to a more customary midfield position as the Gas lost 3-1 to West Ham’s Under-21s.

Also in that competition, Zak Sturge played 90 minutes at left wing-back as Peterborough beat local rivals Cambridge 2-0. He then came off the bench as Peterborough drew with Leyton Orient, and cruised past Cheltenham 3-0 in midweek.

In non-league, Ted Curd won the Player of the Match award for a sterling performance in Hashtag United’s 2-2 draw with Kingstonian, making a string of superb saves. He was then between the posts as the Tags’ FA Cup campaign was ended by Needham Market.

Angelo's delight

Angelo Gabriel impressed as Strasbourg drew 2-2 with Montpellier at the weekend. The Brazilian completed six successful dribbles and had a hand in Strasbourg’s first goal as they fought back from 2-0 down to earn a point.

Elsewhere in Ligue 1, Diego Moreira made his debut for Lyon, coming off the bench to play the final 13 minutes in their goalless draw at home to La Havre.

In Germany, David Fofana started for Union Berlin in their 2-1 loss at Wolfsburg, playing an hour, before coming off the bench as their Champions League bow ended in an agonising 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid.

Jude Bellingham scored the only goal four minutes into stoppage time with Real’s 32nd and final shot of the night. Kepa did not have a save to make.

Hakim Ziyech was brought on at half-time and provided an assist on his debut for Galatasaray, with his shot from outside the box converted by Mauro Icardi in their 4-2 win over Samsunspor. The Moroccon then played 66 minutes as Gala fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Copenhagen in the Champions League.

Romelu Lukaku scored the sixth of Roma’s seven goals as they thrashed Empoli in Serie A, while in Belgium Gaga Slonina continued in goal for Eupen as they lost 3-1 to Standard Liege.