Qantas Socceroos midfielder Chris Herd has earned rich praise from manager Alex McLeish after scoring his first Barclays Premier League goal to help keep Aston Villa clear of the relegation zone.
Qantas Socceroos midfielder Chris Herd has earned rich praise from manager Alex McLeish after scoring his first Barclays Premier League goal to help keep Aston Villa clear of the relegation zone.
The 23-year-old from Perth was one of six "lion hearts" aged 23-or-under in McLeish's team who claimed a 1-1 away draw with Liverpool.
He found the top left corner of the net from the centre of the box after 10 minutes to open his Premier League scoring account.
"Chris Herd has had to get a fast-track in the Premier League and you can see the progress he has made and he scored a terrific goal," McLeish said.
Herd celebrated the goal heartily on field but was later modest about the effort.
"Everybody worked together as a team and I thought we were going to get the three points but we got the one point which was a good performance by the boys and we'll (continue to) work hard," Herd said.
The win kept sixth-from-last Villa six points clear of the relegation zone.
In other Premier League matches, Australian Tim Cahill played an uneventful 81 minutes for Everton in the club's 2-2 draw with Norwich City on Saturday.
Countryman Mark Schwarzer was rarely troubled during Fulham's 3-0 victory over Bolton.
In England's League One, youngster Bailey Wright scored his first ever senior goal as Preston North End drew 1-1 with MK Dons.
The defender headed home Paul Coutts' 90th minute free kick to rescue a point for his side.
Preston boss Graham Westley said: "Bailey, the goal aside, was absolutely first class - he showed a maturity beyond his years."
In Japan's J.League, Alex Brosque scored the winner as Shimizu S-Pulse got past Vissel Kobe 1-0.
Brosque netted the decisive strike on 82 minutes as Shimizu moved up to eighth.
In Turkey's Super Lig, James Troisi netted Kayserispor's third goal as they smashed relegated Ankaragucu 5-0. The strike was Troisi's ninth for the campaign.
Former Perth Glory striker Nikita Rukavytsya played the full 90 minutes in Hertha Berlin's 0-0 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany's Bundesliga.