Angelino and Shay Facey both completed the full complement of minutes as part of a comprehensive 3-1 victory for New York City FC over DC United at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night, while Angelino has now been nominated for the 2015 Rising Star at the North West Football Awards.
Already named the 2014/15 EDS Player of the Year at City Live thanks to your votes, this is the latest recognition of an outstanding 12 months for the Spanish left back in England and the Big Apple.
Now he needs your help – you can vote for him here.
Angelino and Shay are making great strides thanks to their exposure to professional football in Major League Soccer with our sister side, and the duo have secured starting berths under Jason Kreis as part of a competitive squad who still hold out hope of making the play-offs in the club’s maiden campaign.
Another solid performance at the heart of the back line against DC has been earning Facey plaudits across social media, although his booking means he will miss the next game against Columbus Crew.
At 20 years old, Shay Facey is, without question, the leader of the NYCFC defensive line. Credit to Manchester City’s youth academy
— Matthew Klimberg (@ArchNEMECsis) August 13, 2015
100% @_Poku_Poku was my MOTM but finally #NYCFC‘s best CB pairing of @JasonH_2 & @ShayFacey was back & they were great. All 3 = must starts!
— Alexis Guerreros (@NotAlexis) August 14, 2015
You can watch the highlights of the win against DC United on NYCFC.com here.
A young City loanee now furthering his education in Italy is Olivier Ntcham, but Genoa have completed their pre-season engagements and he will be forced to wait until Serie A kicks off for his next chance to get on the field.
In Belgium, Enes Unal came on for the last five minutes to help Genk secure a 2-1 win over KVC Westerlo. After four games, his side lie fourth in the Jupiler League.
The Turkish striker has also been bonding with his new teammates and has completed the traditional “singing” initiation – and in the days of smartphones, we can now all watch his efforts via YouTube...
Meanwhile, over in France Seko Fofana played all 90 minutes of Bastia’s 1-1 draw with Lorient in Ligue 1.
The midfielder has played every single minute of Bastia’s two league games so far, and looks set to have a productive loan spell in his home country.
Jack Byrne continues his recovery from injury but has been watching and avidly supporting his SC Cambuur teammates as they have recorded a draw and a loss to start their Eredivisie campaign.
The defeat at the weekend came to traditional high-flyers Feyenoord so there is unlikely to be panic just yet on the streets of Leeuwarden.
The Irish midfielder has also been getting a heap of positive press recently, with Ruud Gullit the latest to weigh in and compare the City youngster to another Irish midfielder – albeit one who used to wear red.
“He is doing well but he is injured and he won’t play this week,” Gullit said of Jack. “He’s a midfielder, Roy Keane-like, a little bit of a tough guy.
“For him, it (the experience) is fantastic because he plays in a small community, with a small club. I don’t like to play on plastic turf but he has to.
“The development in Holland is good because he will get first team football and it’s more open, very technical and tactical, so it will be a good experience. A lot of players started in Holland.”
Off to watch the lads @SCCambuurLwd kick the season off tonight⚽️ Can’t wait till i am back fit and involved in hopefully a great season 😃⚽️
— Jack Byrne (@Jackb_8) August 12, 2015
In Holland’s Eerste Divisie, Divine Naah sat out NAC Breda’s defeat to Eindhoven as he began his suspension for the red card last weekend.
NAC Breda are still searching for their first points of the new campaign after two league games.
Godsway Donyoh came on for the closing stages but could not help Swedish side Falkenberg reverse a 1-0 deficit to Hammarby, while Bismark Boateng was an unused sub as Stromsgodset lost 2-1 to Aaalesund in Norway’s Eliteserien.
Finally, Yaw Yeboah has joined Lille on loan for the 2015/16 season, and is looking to make the most of his move across the Channel.
He told GhanaSoccer.net: “I am very happy to be playing in the French league and I am hoping that I will be able to get more games that will make me better.
“It’s a big move for me and I am looking at taking full advantage.”
