EFL Team of the Week: Rubin Colwill’s spark and Josh Sargent’s ruthlessness shine through

This week’s EFL Team of the Week celebrates another exciting weekend across the divisions, packed with memorable moments and surprising results.

Championship newcomers Wrexham finally claimed their first league win of the season, beating Millwall 2-0 away, a milestone that will give them plenty of confidence moving forward.

Elsewhere, tight contests, late goals, and standout team efforts shaped the action, with a mixture of attacking flair and defensive resilience on show.

From high-scoring games to narrow victories, fans were treated to drama and quality in equal measure, demonstrating the competitiveness and unpredictability that makes the EFL so compelling.

Here is Charlie Elliott’s Team of the Week from the action-packed weekend.

Joel Pereira (Reading)

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Joel Pereira was the reason behind Reading’s 1-0 win over Port Vale, after keeping a clean sheet that included a couple of very strong saves to keep the Valiants out.

His best save of the lot was when he dived low to his right to stop a Ronan Curtis strike destined for the bottom corner, with just under 15 minutes to go in the game.

The result marked the Royals‘ first league win of the season and if their defence and Pereira stay as solid as they were on Saturday, they may start to look further up the table.

Nat Phillips (West Bromwich Albion)

Another side who won 1-0 was West Bromwich Albion, who travelled the short distance from the Black Country to Staffordshire and returned with the three points after narrowly beating Stoke City.

Centre back Nat Phillips was dominant defensively, but it was his goal which was the difference between the two sides on the day.

He reacted first to a corner that was dropped by the Stoke keeper to tuck the ball home early on, and his goal ended up being the only one of the afternoon.

The result puts the Baggies in second place in the Championship and was Stoke’s first league defeat of the season.

Joe Wright (Bradford City)

Bradford City defender Joe Wright has had a great start to life in West Yorkshire, with his recent performance against AFC Wimbledon being the best of his impressive first five games for the club since signing from Scottish side Kilmarnock.

Despite the Bantams conceding two on their way to a 3-2 win at Valley Parade, Wright was solid throughout and even got his name on the scoresheet.

He couldn’t miss his header from about a yard out, which equalised the game at 1-1 midway through the first half, but they all count.

Aside from the goal, he was heavily involved and made 24 clearances across the 90 minutes.

Omar Sowunmi (Bromley)

Capping off a trio of centre-backs who scored this weekend is Bromley’s Omar Sowunmi, who netted the second goal in their 2-0 home win against Harrogate Town in League Two.

He used his size and power to leap over his defender at the par post and power a header home, which capped off a very positive game for the hosts at Hayes Lane.

The defender also won the most duels in the match with a respectable 16, and Harrogate never really seemed to have an answer to break down the Bromley defence.

Ronald (Swansea City)

Winger Ronald showed plenty of his Brazilian flair in Swansea City’s 2-0 win away at Sheffield Wednesday, bagging a goal but just generally being a nuisance to defend against.

He received the ball on the penalty spot with his back to goal and quickly took a touch and finished, with the ball tapping the post on the way in.

Full of trickery all afternoon, the 24-year-old also won four fouls for his team in the match and Wednesday just didn’t look like they could handle him all afternoon.

Zack Nelson (Luton Town)

Young Luton Town midfielder Zack Nelson got a goal and an assist in their comfortable 3-0 win away at Burton Albion, in what was arguably his best performance in an orange shirt.

He slipped a ball through to Lasse Selvag Nordas for his assist, and his goal came when he received the ball at his feet in the box, took a touch past the defender and slotted under the keeper to finish the game off.

Nelson also hit the post from long range and the youngster looks like a very impressive talent who has heaps of confidence.

CRUISING: Zack Nelson shoots past Burton goalkeeper Jordan Amissah
PICTURES: PSI/John Mallett

Gavin Kilkenny (Swindon Town)

To the surprise of a lot of people, Swindon Town went away to League Two high-flyers Crewe Alexandra and convincingly beat them 3-0, with Gavin Kilkenny dictating proceedings.

The midfielder completed all 59 of his 59 attempted passes, created the most chances in the match with three and got himself a goal to open the scoring.

It was just about as complete a performance as you are likely to see.

While his strike took a large deflection to nestle into the corner, the fact that he took it on from outside the box deserves a huge amount of credit, and it still goes down as his goal despite the fortunate nature of it.

Rubin Colwill (Cardiff City)

Inform midfielder Rubin Colwill kept his electric start to the season going with a goal and an assist in Cardiff City’s thumping 4-0 win over Plymouth Argyle.

While both teams were relegated from the Championship last season, both have had very different starts, with Cardiff sitting top of League One and Plymouth languishing in the relegation zone.

His assist was a simple cut back to Ryan Wintle, who unleashed an outstanding finish into the top corner from outside the box, whereas his goal required him to take on a defender and then finish, with the ball looping over the Plymouth keeper due to a heavy deflection.

A great young player, Bluebirds fans will be hoping that this form continues.

Omari Patrick (Tranmere Rovers)

Words can’t describe how important Omari Patrick is to this Tranmere Rovers side, as the winger is the creative heartbeat of the team.

Although they lost 2-1 at home to Notts County, he again showed his quality and got himself a goal, while also being the focal point of the Rovers team.

Outside of his goal, he created the most chances in the match and completed the most dribbles.

His finish was simple enough, as he was left free just inside the box and latched onto a square pass to finish into the corner, but it is more about what he brings to Tranmere.

Josh Sargent (Norwich City)

Clinical striker Josh Sargent made the most of his limited involvement, scoring twice to earn Norwich a 2-0 win at Blackburn Rovers despite recording just 28 touches – the fewest of any outfield player to play the full 90.

Two of those touches were crucial though, as a penalty right on half time and a finish in stoppage time at the end of the match were the difference between the two sides.

He tucked his penalty home, but his second goal was the headline-grabber.

Sargent found himself in space running towards the edge of the box, held up the ball and assessed his options before taking a touch out of his feet and curling the ball right into the top corner to seal the game and send the travelling away support into bedlam.

Clearly a player a cut above the Championship, the American’s goals were crucial at Ewood Park.

Emil Riis (Bristol City)

The second striker in this team is another who got a brace that proved to be the difference in a two-goal win, as Emil Riis’ double helped Bristol City on the way to a 4-2 win against Hull City.

The Dane was heavily involved and had seven shots in total, hitting the bar on one occasion, whilst also being the most fouled player on the pitch.

His goals were both proper strikers’ finishes, one being an instinctive finish from just inside the six-yard box and the other being a composed one-on-one strike after he won the ball back following a poor touch from a Hull defender.

A summer acquisition from Preston North End, the striker is proving to be a shrewd signing so far.

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