Loan watch:Adebayor cup woe

As we draw to the business end of the campaign, it was crunch-time for the City players out on loan last weekend. Emmanuel Adebayor’s hopes of lifting the FA Cup were dashed by a rampant Chelsea as his Tottenham side suffered a 5-1 thrashing at Wembley. One year on from his parent club’s own derby day heroics in London, the outspoken striker was unable to replicate the Blues 2011 success and was instead left reeling by a number of contentious refereeing decisions. That defeat wasn’t the heaviest suffered by an on-loan Blue this weekend, however, as Gai Assulin’s Brighton slumped to a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of promotion-chasing West Ham. The Seagulls were three down after just 11 minutes and having failed to make an impact, the Israeli winger was replaced eight minutes after the break. Greg Cunningham remains ever present in Nottingham Forest’s first team and his side claimed a valuable point against play-off hopefuls Blackpool to boost their hopes of survival. With the end of the Championship season looming, Cunningham’s side were clear of Alex Nimely’s Coventry who came from behind to take a point from their trip to Burnley’s Turf Moor – the City striker playing 56 minutes for the Sky Blues. Harry Bunn was introduced in the dying moments of Oldham’s weekend fixture as they were also able to rescue a point. The Latics had a late penalty to thank for a 2-2 draw that left them six points clear of opponents Wycombe and the League One drop-zone. It was far less dramatic for Wayne Bridge as he watched Sunderland play out a forgettable goalless draw with bottom club Wolves from the Black Cats’ subs-bench. In what proved a fruitful weekend for City’s overseas contingent, Vladimir Weiss played 55 minutes for Espanyol who claimed a shock 4-0 triumph over Valencia – a single point separates them from Europa League qualification. There were 77 minutes of game-time for Roque Santa Cruz who was unable to find the net for Betis but whose side are now just four points off European football themselves having overcome Osasuna 1-0. John Guidetti opened the scoring for Feyenoord as they swept Excelsior aside 3-0 to ensure just a goal separates them from Champions League qualification in the Dutch Eredivsie, while Mohammed Abu helped Stromgodset move up to third after four games of the Norwegian Premier League campaign with a 2-1 win at Brann.