Four West Ham United loanees were on the scoresheet for their respective clubs this weekend.
Returning to the top of the Championship were Grady Diangana and West Bromwich Albion, the tricky winger netting their second in a 4-2 victory over Cardiff at The Hawthorns.
Diangana also played his part in Matheus Pereira’s opening strike inside 20 minutes, returning the ball in a quick give-and-go before Pereira curled home from the edge of the ‘D’.
Three minutes before half-time, and Diangana doubled the Baggies’ advantage, charging forwards on the counter-attack, receiving the ball and striking low into the far corner from the edge of the area.
After Diangana left the field with a knock early in the second period, Charlie Austin looked to have sealed the result with 20 minutes remaining, but a quickfire double from Danny Ward put Cardiff on the periphery of an unlikely comeback.
Deep into injury time, however, Romaine Sawyers put the result beyond all doubt with a cool finish to boost West Brom back to the top of the Championship table after a week’s absence.
Another West Ham forward on the mark was Martin Samuelsen for FK Haugesund, as they bested Rosenborg 2-1 at the Haugesund Stadion.
After 54 minutes, Samuelsen led the charge on the counter from a Rosenborg corner, slipping in Niklas Sandberg to give his side the lead with a near-post finish.
Bjorn Johnsen looked to have snatched Rosenborg a point when he powered home with six minutes remaining, but Samuelsen would restore Haugesund’s lead just a minute later, demonstrating expert technique to guide a swinging cross into the bottom corner with a precise left-footed finish.
The goal was the 22-year-old’s fourth in three games, and cements FK Haugesund’s position in mid-table in Eliteserien ahead of their domestic cup semi-final at the end of the month.
Playmaker Sead Haksabanovic also made his way onto the scoresheet this weekend as IFK Norrkoping enjoyed a 4-4 draw away at GIF Sundsvall on Saturday.
The home team had raced into a 3-0 half-time advantage, but Haksabanovic helped inspire a second-half fightback, blasting home a sweeping counter-attack to make it 3-3 with 20 minutes left on the clock.
GIF Sundsvall struck again six minutes later, but Rasmus Lauritsen’s late goal ensured that both teams earned a point from the encounter and left Norrkoping sitting in fifth in Allsvenskan, six points off the European qualification spots with three games remaining.
High-scoring thrillers abounded this weekend as Jordan Hugill notched for Queen’s Park Rangers in their 4-2 win over Blackburn at Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.
The on-loan Hammer emerged from the bench with half an hour remaining to replace Bright Osayi-Samuel, who had just put the R’s 3-1 up on the afternoon.
Goals from Nahki Wells and Eberechi Eze either side of half-time looked to have set QPR on their way to a comfortable result, but Bradley Dack’s penalty on 57 minutes gave Blackburn hope.
Osayi-Samuel’s strike three minutes later again gave QPR some leeway, and Hugill put the result beyond all doubt when he rose highest to meet Ryan Manning’s cross and plant a brilliant header past Christan Walton – Hugill’s sixth Championship goal of the campaign.
Elsewhere in the Championship, midfielder Josh Cullen and Charlton Athletic were twice pegged back by a spirited Fulham side in a 2-2 draw.
With former Hammers midfielders Scott Parker and Lee Bowyer in the dugouts, Cullen put in an impressive passing display in an entertaining game at Craven Cottage.
After Conor Gallagher swept the Addicks in front, Ivan Cavaleiro drew Fulham level with a solo effort.
Macauley Bonne restored Charlton’s lead in the second half but Aleksandr Mitrovic forced home a late equaliser which left the South London team with just one win from their last five Championship games.
In League One, goalkeeper Nathan Trott helped AFC Wimbledon to their first win of the league season – a 3-2 victory over Rochdale at Kingsmeadow.
In an end-to-end contest, Wimbledon took a commanding 3-0 lead after goals from Marcus Forss, Paul Osew, and Mitch Pinnock inside half an hour.
Rochdale began to claw their way back into the game, however, and Trott was needed to produce an impressive point blank save from Fabio Tavares before half-time.
The England U21 goalkeeper produced further solid stops from Aaron Wilbraham and Ollie Rathbone, but had little chance with Ian Henderson’s second-half double.
Three goals proved enough, however, for Wimbledon to claim their first league win of the season, moving up to 21st in the table, three points inside the relegation zone.
Also in League One, defender Ajibola Alese – recently named in the England U19 squad for the International Marbella Cup – was an unused substitute as Accrington Stanley drew 1-1 at Wycombe.
Finally, in League Two, Oladapo Afolayan remained on the bench as Mansfield Town claimed a dramatic 1-0 win at Grimsby.