Loan Watch: Savage's sweet moment
Charlie Savage claimed his first senior goal to open the scoring for Forest Green Rovers, in their League One clash with Bristol Rovers.
The Manchester United loanee lashed the ball home in the 12th minute but Duncan Ferguson's side eventually fell to a 3-1 loss to the visitors, with John Marquis scoring twice and Scott Sinclair also on the mark.
Savage's strike was further evidence, though, of how he is settling in at The Bolt New Lawn, and a great moment for the 19-year-old midfielder.
The goal (which you can watch further down this article) elicited a show of touching emotion from his father, and former United youth-teamer Robbie, while he was working in the BT Sport studio. Seeing Charlie's name pop up on the vidiprinter, prompted the response below from the ex-Wales international.
"My boy has scored!" 💚
— BT Sport Score (@btsportscore) March 11, 2023
The heartwarming moment @RobbieSavage8 realises his son Charlie has scored his first senior goal for @FGRFC_Official. pic.twitter.com/1nFQS7yGGT
Elsewhere, Alvaro Fernandez helped Preston North End defeat Cardiff City 2-0 in the Championship.
The young Spaniard, usually a full-back or wing-back at United, operated in a central-midfield role and excited the home fans with his attacking spark. He was withdrawn in the second half, as Tom Cannon edged the Lancashire side in front, with Jak Alnwick sent off for the Bluebirds before Ched Evans sealed the points.
Hannibal came on as a substitute in Birmingham City's 2-0 home triumph over Rotherham United. Reda Khadra and Kevin Long bagged the decisive goals in the first half, while our Tunisia international was introduced with 11 minutes to go, replacing former Red Tahith Chong.
There was a full 90 minutes for Axel Tuanezbe as Stoke City saw off Blackburn Rovers 3-2. A first league start at the Potters for the talented centre-back ended with success as he helped keep danger man Sam Gallagher in check.
Amad was absent from Sunderland's fine 1-0 win at Norwich City due to injury but Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray suggested the problem is not too serious for the youngster. Ethan Laird was also injured and missed QPR's 1-0 victory over Watford.
In League One, Shola Shoretire played in the no.10 role as Bolton Wanderers were beaten 2-0 by Ipswich Town. Kieran McKenna's side left with all three points, thanks to goals from George Hirst and Cameron Burgess, as Shola was replaced on 74 minutes by Kieran Lee, another United Academy product.
Di'Shon Bernard did not make it off on the bench in Portsmouth's 1-0 home reverse to promotion-chasing Sheffield Wednesday.
On Friday night, in League Two, Ethan Galbraith was part of the Salford City side defeated 4-3 in a thriller at Crewe Alexandra. Performing a key role, the Northern Ireland international helped set up Callum Hendry's goal and was unlucky not to score when a shot of his deflected wide. Despite leading 3-2 when Steve Mallan scored in the 85th minute, later efforts by Connor O'Riordan and Dan Agyei produced a remarkable turnaround. There was still time for Galbraith to whistle a drive wide in the seven minutes of stoppage time.
Charlie McNeill started and played 86 minutes of Newport County's 1-1 draw with Mark Hughes's Bradford City. The teenage striker helped create an early chance for the Exiles before Mickey Demtriou levelled Andy Cook's opener.
There was FA Trophy action for Altrincham, as they headed to York City and won 2-1 to reach the semi-finals. Joe Hugill replaced cup-tied Regan Linney to get a start in attack, while Maximiliano Oyedele was also involved for Alty.
Further afield, Alex Telles played for 63 minutes of Sevlla's 2-1 win over Almeria in La Liga and Matej Kovar kept a clean sheet in Sparta Prague's 3-0 away win at Banik Ostrava in the Czech Republic top flight.
Eric Bailly made a valuable goalline clearance after replacing Alexis Sanchez in Marseille's 2-2 home draw with Strasbourg in Ligue 1.
With a number of midweek fixtures taking place, there will be more opportunities for our loanees to impress in the near future.