Giverin is finding his feet at Antwerp
Luke Giverin scored his first goal for Royal Antwerp during a 2-1 defeat to title rivals KV Oostende on Saturday. The United youngster, born and raised in Salford, gave his side a lead with a tidy finish in the 21st minute before goals from Yohan Brouckaert and Laurent Depoitre turned the game on its head, leaving Antwerp four points off top spot in fifth place.
Despite the loss, Giverin will be pleased with his performance as he forced saves from Oostende goalkeeper Nicaise Kudimbana as his team looked for the equaliser which never came. Giverin has now completed 13 full matches for Antwerp this season, where Reds team-mate Gyliano van Velzen is also on loan. The Dutchman was an 84th minute substitute for Nicky Hayen on Saturday an made a clearance late on to keep his side’s hope alive.
In the Championship, Ben Amos was dropped for Hull City’s 1-0 defeat to Burnley with manager Steve Bruce favouring new loan signing David Stockdale. Reds midfielder Robbie Brady impressed when brought on for Seyi Olofinjana after 46 minutes at the KC Stadium. It was the same again on Tuesday as Stockdale was between the sticks as Hull drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace. Steve Bruce said he had rested Amos and is not returning to United when questioned why the 22-year-old was not among the substitutes. Robbie Brady did start though, and he was his usual lively self playing in a free role in the Tiger’s attack. Hull were close to an opener in the third minute when Koren just failed to get on the end of Brady’s dangerous low cross. The Irishman has been enjoying his second spell at the KC Stadium which has led to a glowing piece in the Hull Daily Mail in which ex-Hull star Peter Swan said: “He managed to get down the wing on a frequent basis and he was always a threat, linking well with Stephen Quinn.
His distribution was very good and he was part of a defence that kept Palace quiet for the full game.
For me, having faded badly in the latter stages of last season, he has come back looking refreshed from a summer back at Manchester United.
He looks to be back to the player we know he can be and appeared to relish his first start in his second loan spell at the club.
There are certainly signs that he has matured since he was last at the club, and that is a big plus as City are going to need him to be a consistent performer for the rest of the season.”
Brucey withdrew Brady after he was booked for unsporting behaviour and could have been sent off for a foul straight after his booking. If he works on his discipline, he may once again become a crowd-favourite at Hull.
Joshua King made his debut for Blackburn Rovers as a substitute in the 2-0 reverse to in-form Millwall. Boss Henning Berg said on Rovers’ official website afterwards: “He showed in parts of his game that he can give us that little bit extra with his offensive runs in behind. He can take people on and get into scoring positions.”
King started on Wednesday too, as Blackburn fell to a 2-1 defeat to Lancashire rivals Bolton. He struggled to get into the game and had one shot blocked by Bolton defender Zat Knight in the first half. The Norwegian was eventually replaced after 70 minutes for Colin Kazim-Richards and the substitute made an immediate impact setting up striker Jordan Rhodes to head home a consolation effort in the 82nd minute.
Jessie Lingard made another cameo appearance for Leicester City, coming on with just five minutes to go as Nigel Pearson’s side piled more misery on struggling Sheffield Wednesday by sealing a 2-0 win at Hillsborough. Ex-Red Danny Drinkwater was among the goals for the Foxes. On Tuesday, Lingard had to make do with another appearance from the bench as Leicester lost 1-0 at Elland Road. Lingard replaced Martyn Waghorn with 13 minutes to go and was deployed behind fellow youngster Jeffrey Schlupp as Leicester looked to nick a late equaliser. Leeds, however, looked the more likely side to score and saw out the win which pushed them up to 15th in the table.
Fabio was ineligible to play against United as QPR lost 3-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday. The Brazilian, who returned from injury last weekend, was an unused substitute in QPR’s 0-0 draw at Sunderland on Tuesday in new manager Harry Redknapp’s first game in charge. Jose Bosingwa started ahead of Fabio at left-back and the 22-year-old will be hoping to impress his new boss ahead of their crunch tie against fellow-strugglers Aston Villa at the weekend.
John Cofie was an unused substitute as Sheffield United lost 2-0 at Brentford in League One, while Reece Brown was also a frustrated bystander as Coventry City recorded a 1-1 draw with Portsmouth at the Ricoh Arena. Similarly, Sean McGinty was left out as Carlisle lost 3-1 to Yeovil.
United have all these young players out on loan but I am surprised that the Reserves outstanding player for the last two seasons never gets a chance either in the first team or goes out on loan. I am referring to Davide Petrucci the Captain and playmaker of the reserves. When he is not playing in the team they always struggle.