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Football London
Football London
Sport
Kaya Kaynak

Flo Balogun level with Messi, Pablo Mari left out, Marcelo Flores plays: Arsenal loan round up

Arsenal continued their fine start to the season with a 3-0 win over Bournemouth that saw them rise to the top of the Premier League over the weekend. A brace from Martin Odegaard and a screamer from William Saliba put a cherry on top of another fine team performance in which Gabriel Jesus stood out once more.

What's perhaps most exciting about the Gunners spectacular start to the season is the strength in depth they now appear to have among the squad. Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kieran Tierney, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah were all among the substitutes, while new signing Fabio Vieira could not even get off the bench!

With that in mind forcing your way into Mikel Arteta's plans feels like a daunting task right now. It's one that many of the Arsenal loanees will be hoping to overcome though and with that in mind football.london takes a look at how they got on this weekend.

READ MORE: Kieran Tierney U-turn 'confirmed' after Mikel Arteta's decisions and £45m Arsenal transfer

In France it was another impressive day for Flo Balogun who was able to notch his third goal in as many games as Stade de Reims claimed their first point of the season thanks to a 1-1 draw with Strasbourg. The 21-year-old now sits joint third in the Ligue 1 golden boot race, level with Lionel Messi and behind only Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Hot on his tails is Nuno Tavares who netted in both his first two games for Marseille. The left wing back was unable to keep this record going for L'OM this week though, but did play the full 90 minutes as they beat Nantes 2-1 despite being reduced to 10 men.

Over in Spain Marcelo Flores started for the first time as Real Oviedo secured a 1-0 win over Leganes but was substituted off before the end of the game. For the rest of Arsenal's players abroad though the weekend wasn't quite as fruitful.

Alex Runarsson's new side Alanyaspor do not play until Monday night to be fair to him, and the same goes for his fellow goalkeeper Ovie Ejeheri who could be between the sticks for Chelmsford City in their National League South clash against Chippenham Town.

Pablo Mari was in the squad that travelled to Napoli for Monza, but missed their 4-0 defeat after picking up a muscle strain in the build up to the match. Over in Holland Mika Biereth and Nikolaj Moller were both not involved for RKC Waalwijk and FC Den Bosch respectively, while Omar Rekik was an unused sub in Sparta Rotterdam's 1-0 defeat to Ajax.

There were at least some minutes for the Gunners north of the border. Alex Kirk was given his first league start for Ayr United as they beat Cove Rangers in the Scottish Championship, while Ryan Alebiosu played the full 90 in Kilmarnock's 1-0 loss to Ross County.

Back in England there was another defeat for Auston Trusty as Birmingham succumbed to 10 men Wigan, although the American was praised for his ability on the ball. Charlie Patino and Harry Clarke missed out though due to ankle and shin injuries that they've sustained.

Further down the leagues Tyreece John-Jules continued his positive start to life at Ipswich by scoring in a 3-0 victory over Shrewsbury that lifted them up to the top of League One. Mazeed Ogungbo meanwhile finds himself second from bottom of League Two with Crawley, although he did play the full 90 of their 2-0 defeat to AFC Wimbledon.

READ NEXT:

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William Saliba reacts on Instagram after his first Arsenal goal and delivers verdict on new song

Arsenal transfer business under the microscope in 'good deal' or 'bad deal'

Mikel Arteta makes transfer promise as late substitutes highlight need for ‘firepower’ guarantee

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