Massimo Luongo’s Sheffield Wednesday and Kenny Dougall’s Barnsley picked up three points in free-scoring matches in England’s Championship early on Sunday morning (AEDT).
Caltex Socceroos midfielder Luongo helped his Wednesday side to an emphatic 4-0 victory on the road against Nottingham Forest, while Dougall started in Barnsley’s 5-3 win against Queens Park Rangers.
Luongo’s Owls rise to fifth in the Championship ladder thanks to four first-half goals, with Jordan Rhodes netting a hat-trick and Steven Fletcher adding an insurance goal in stoppage time.
The 27-year-old from Sydney played 90 minutes in a central midfield role at the City Ground as Garry Monk’s side recorded their third win in five unbeaten matches.
Dougall, who is uncapped at international level and was named in Graham Arnold’s squad to face Jordan in November, played 90 minutes at the base of midfield in Barnsley’s eight-goal thriller.
Connor Chaplin struck a treble but Luke Amos’ hit back with a double as the Tykes led QPR 3-2 at the hour mark.
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Cauley Woodrow’s penalty and Bambo Diaby’s strike extended the home side’s lead at Oakwell, before Ilias Chair scored a late consolation for Rangers.
Barnsley remain bottom of the table, two points behind Wigan and Stoke, but new head coach Gerhard Struber said: “It is our big challenge to stay in the league and I see the mentality is not like a relegation team, which is very important for us.”
Meanwhile, in League One, Harry Souttar’s Fleetwood Town had to settle for a share of the points after Gillingham grabbed a late leveller.
Paddy Madden scored his 16th goal of the season to put the Cod Army in front at Highbury Stadium, but Alex Jakubiak’s 82nd-minute effort secured a 1-1 draw for the Gills.
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Giannou’s AEK back to winning ways
Apostolos Giannou celebrated a 1-0 win for his AEK Larnaca side against Pafos FC in Cyprus.
Spanish centre-back Joan Truyols scored the decisive goal after 29 minutes to put AEK into fifth place on the Cypriot First Division table.
Artur Rudko was handed a red card for the visitors at AEK Arena, as Giannou’s 90 minutes helped the hosts to their first win in four games.
Trent Sainsbury led Maccabi Haifa to a clean sheet but his side were unable to break down lowly Hapoel Ra’anana in a 0-0 draw in Israel.
Sainsbury’s team, who are on a 10-match undefeated run, are two points off the Israeli Premier League leaders Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
There were two red cards as Ajdin Hrustic’s FC Groningen drew 1-1 on the road against ADO Den Haag in the Netherlands.
Swedish midfielder Gabriel Gudmundsson put the away side ahead at Kyocera Stadium, before Tomas Necid equalised on 42 minutes.
Three minutes later, Deyovaisio Zeefuik saw red for Groningen and the match finished 10-a-side when Tom Beugelsdijk was sent off in the closing moments as the points were shared in the Dutch Eredivisie.
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Redmayne and Grant clinch record start
Andrew Redmayne and Ryhan Grant recorded a shut out in Sydney FC’s 1-0 win against Central Coast Mariners on Saturday.
The Sky Blues’ eighth victory in nine Hyundai A-League games gives Steve Corica’s side the best start in competition history.
New Zealand international Kosta Barabrouses’ fifth-minute strike was enough to seal the win at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium to put Sydney FC six points clear at the top of the ladder.
Also on Saturday, Mitchell Duke was on the losing side as Western Sydney Wanderers slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Perth Glory.
Goals from defenders Gregory Wüthrich and Alex Grant earned the Premiers the points at HBF Park as Wanderers fell to a fifth straight loss.
Across the Asian Football Confederation, Craig Goodwin’s Al-Wehda beat Al-Adalh 2-0 in the Saudi Pro League on Friday (AEDT).
Brazilian attackers Anselmo and Renato fired in the goals for the Red Giant at King Abdul Aziz Stadium to record their seventh win from 11 games.
The Knights of Mecca sit two points off Al Nassr at the top of the ladder in Saudi Arabia.
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