Omari Kellyman got the goal which sent Cardiff City back to the Championship, while Kendry Paez and Ted Curd qualified for the play-offs and Nicolas Jackson became a German champion: here we review the action involving the Chelsea players out on loan over the last month.
Omari Kellyman – Cardiff City
Kellyman scored the goal which sealed Cardiff’s promotion to the Championship as they rediscovered their form in April. The Welsh side had gone over five hours without a goal on home soil when Kellyman headed in from a corner to open the scoring in a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers, their closest challengers for second spot in the League One table, ending a run of three games without victory.
After a draw at Huddersfield Town, Cardiff went to Reading with a chance to secure promotion then and there. Kellyman starred again, latching on to a through ball to finish calmly for their second goal, then setting up the third of a 3-1 win which guaranteed a return to the second tier with three games to spare.
With promotion secure, Kellyman began the remaining three games as a substitute and following wins over Port Vale and Northampton Town, the 20-year-old signed off his time in Cardiff in style as he scored twice during the 5-4 defeat to Mansfield Town.
Jimmy-Jay Morgan – Peterborough United
The forward ended his loan spell at Peterborough United with 14 goals from his now familiar No.10 position. His final finish came away at Luton Town, when he headed in to get his name on the scoresheet for the fifth consecutive game, but it was only a consolation on this occasion, as the Posh were left to rue a missed first-half penalty in a 2-1 loss.
It was a similar story when Morgan turned provider at Blackpool, getting the assist for his team’s first-half equaliser, but they eventually went down 3-1 to the 10-man Seasiders.
Peterborough ended the season without a win in their final nine matches but finished 18th, four points above the relegation zone.
Nicolas Jackson – Bayern Munich
The striker returned from suspension to find the back of the net in three consecutive Bundesliga matches, helping Bayern Munich to be crowned league champions in the process. The first came when he started a 5-0 thrashing of St Pauli, making it 4-0 before setting up Raphael Guerreiro for the fifth.
He followed that up by giving Bayern the lead as they came back from a goal down to beat Stuttgart 4-2, the result which officially crowned them as Bundesliga winners. Jackson then got the first goal of an even bigger come-back, winning 4-3 after being 3-0 down to Mainz at half-time, and was a late substitute in the Germans’ 5-4 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final.
Jackson started the 3-3 draw with Heidenheim at the weekend and still has hopes of securing a treble in Germany, with the Champions League second leg against Paris Saint-Germain tonight and the DFB Cup final against Stuttgart still to come.
Kendry Paez – River Plate
Paez got his first goal and assist for River Plate as they continued to progress in domestic and continental competition. The first came in the Copa Sudamericana, when Paez supplied the final pass of a quick counter-attack for Sebastian Driussi to score the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Venezuelan side Carabobo, putting River Plate top of their group.
Having started a narrow league defeat to fierce rivals Boca Juniors, Paez then found the net for the first time in a River Plate shirt, this time applying the finishing touch to another counter-attack to make a 3-1 victory over Aldosivi safe, with his side now second in the table and guaranteed a place in the Apertura play-offs.
Aaron Anselmino, David Fofana, Mike Penders – Strasbourg
There was a mixed month for Penders as he featured in every minute for Strasbourg across three competitions in April. In Ligue 1, the month started and finished with wins, 3-1 at home against Nice – when Anselmino and Fofana both came off the bench – and 3-2 away at Lorient, but those victories were sandwiched by a 3-0 loss to Rennes, as Penders captained the side for the first time. Those were followed at the start of May by a 2-1 defeat to Toulouse.
Nice got their revenge in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France, as starter Penders and substitute Fofana were unable to prevent Strasbourg’s cup run coming to an end with a 2-0 defeat.
Their UEFA Conference League campaign is still ongoing, though, with a Penders’ clean sheet helping the French side overcome a 2-0 first-leg defeat to beat Mainz 4-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals. They will need to come back again in the semi-finals on Thursday, after a 1-0 loss at Rayo Vallecano in Thursday’s first leg.
Ted Curd – Boreham Wood
The goalkeeper played every minute for Boreham Wood as they won four of their last five matches in the National League, including clean sheets in their last three, to secure a place in the end-of-season promotion play-offs.
Curd then kept another clean sheet in a 1-0 extra-time win over Forest Green Rovers in the quarter-finals, setting up a semi-final away at Carlisle United on Sunday.
And Curd produced a string of fine saves to secure another extra-time win against the Blues, this time 2-1, to book a place in the National League Play-Off final against Rochdale as Boreham Wood continue their bid to book a place in the Football League for the first time.
Axel Disasi – West Ham United
There was FA Cup heartbreak for Disasi and West Ham as the defender featured in every minute for the Hammers across all competitions in April and the start of May. They found themselves two goals down to Leeds United in the FA Cup quarter-finals as the clock ticked over into the 90th minute but scored twice to force extra time, Disasi turning in Adama Traore’s cross for the incredible equaliser, although they were ultimately defeated in a penalty shootout.
Things were more straightforward as the defender helped West Ham keep back-to-back clean sheets in the Premier League, thrashing Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 and drawing 0-0 at Crystal Palace, before another injury-time goal gave the Hammers a 2-1 win over Everton.
Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Brentford and Tottenham’s win against Aston Villa means West Ham dropped into the third relegation place, one point below Spurs with three games remaining.
Tyrique George – Everton
The young winger featured in all three of Everton’s Premier League fixtures during April, coming off the bench ahead of a dramatic conclusion on each occasion. First he was introduced away at Brentford, moments before his team fell behind, as the emotions turned full circle when former Chelsea midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall netted an injury-time equaliser.
Things were reversed in the Merseyside derby at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, when George came on with 10 minutes of regulation time remaining and the scores tied, only for Liverpool to take advantage of a lengthy spell of added time to seal victory in the 100th minute. George and Everton then thought they had grabbed a point at West Ham when Dewsbury-Hall equalised with two minutes remaining, only for the Hammers to win it in added time.
Tyrique was then an unused sub for Monday’s 3-3 draw with Manchester City, which sees Everton in tenth place.
Dujuan Richards – Leicester City
The 20-year-old made one appearance for Leicester in April, coming off the bench late on to replace Patson Daka up front in their 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship. Richards did not feature as the Foxes’ relegation was confirmed later in the month.
Ishe Samuels-Smith – Swansea City
Injury meant Ishe missed the last six matches of Swansea City’s season as the Swans finished 11th in the Championship.
