Barring the play-offs, all English divisions below the Premier League have now concluded their campaigns, but City’s loan rangers abroad are still aiming for more first team minutes.
Wayne Bridge’s Brighton will play no further part in the Championship play-offs after they crashed out on Monday night - losing 2-0 to fierce rivals Crystal Palace courtesy of a Wilfried Zaha brace.
The defender played every minute of the two-legged contest, and was part of the back line which held Palace to a goalless draw in the first leg.
Elsewhere, Mohammed Abu missed Ligue 1 side Lorient’s midweek game against Evian through injury, but recovered to play the full 90 minutes in a 3-1 win against St Etienne at the weekend.
The Ghanian turned in an impressive performance on his return and was voted man of the match.
Roque Santa Cruz scored for Malaga against La Liga giants Real Madrid last Wednesday, but his side went on to lose the match 6-2. At the weekend, the Paraguayan striker came on for the last eight minutes of the stalemate with Sevilla but was unable to influence the result.
In Scotland, Ryan McGivern, now a regular starter for Hibs, lost his battle to be fit for Sunday’s Edinburgh derby after suffering a knee injury against Kilmarnock last week.
The Northern Ireland defender will be hoping to be back swiftly for his team’s rearranged clash with the same side on Wednesday night, with the Scottish Cup final against Celtic at the end of the month rapidly approaching.
Abdi Ibrahim played another 90 minutes as Stromsgodset overcame Brann 2-0.
Norway’s Eliteserien is only nine weeks in and runs through the summer months, but the midfielder has already nailed down a place in the team’s starting line up which bodes well for the rest of the season.
Having already secured promotion to the Bundesliga, Eintracht Braunschweig have probably relaxed a bit – Omar Elabdellaoui was part of a side that lost 5-1 to St Pauli this week.
Luca Scapuzzi was an unused sub for Varese in Serie B.
