Aussies Abroad: Luongo scores, Mooy saves Huddersfield

Massimo Luongo scored an important goal in the Championship on Sunday morning (AEDT), while his Caltex Socceroos teammate Aaron Mooy was integral in Huddersfield Town avoiding defeat in the English Premier League.

There was also late heartbreak for Maty Ryan in England’s top-flight, while fellow goalkeeper Mitch Langerak suffered defeat as well, with his J-League side now firmly trapped in a relegation dogfight.

The news was better for Milos Degenek, though, as his outstanding week continued.

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So read on to get up to speed with how your Caltex Socceroos performed overnight!

Mooy saves the day for Huddersfield

While Aaron Mooy was not at his attacking best in Huddersfield’s 1-1 home draw with West Ham United, it was at the other end of the pitch that the midfielder proved vital.

The Terriers took an early lead thanks to Alex Pritchard’s sixth-minute strike, the first goal scored by a Huddersfield player at their John Smith’s Stadium venue since April.

Huddersfield also hit the bar twice in the first half, before Felipe Anderson levelled proceedings for West Ham with just 16 minutes left.

And it could have been so much worse for David Wagner’s side, with Mooy rising to clear Issa Diop’s late header off the line.

Mooy’s goal-line clearance helped Huddersfield secure a point, a result that means they now sit two points above bottom-placed Fulham, in 19th.

mooy-huddersfield


Maty Ryan was unable to produce the same late heroics, beaten in the 90th minute as strugglers Cardiff City edged a 10-man Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1.

Brighton took an early lead but were pegged back before midfielder Dale Stephens was given a straight red card for a reckless lunge in the 34th minute.

That put Brighton up against it and Cardiff peppered Ryan’s goal in the second half, hitting the bar in the 60th minute before the goalkeeper made a smart close-range save to deny Callum Paterson.

Ryan also kept out a Victor Camarasa effort in the 87th minute before a crazy piece of play produced Cardiff’s winner.

First, Cardiff defender Sol Bamba hit the woodwork with a bicycle kick, before Paterson’s effort on the rebound was deflected onto the bar by Brighton defender Lewis Dunk.

But with the Brighton defence scrambling, Bamba kept his cool and rifled into the back of the net to spark big celebrations in Wales.

ryan-cardiff

Luongo inspires QPR comeback

There were plenty of goals in Championship games involving Caltex Socceroos, with Luongo inspiring his Queens Park Rangers side to a 3-2 home success against Brentford.

Brentford led 1-0 but Luongo’s 50th-minute tap-in was followed by two more QPR goals in the next 10 minutes.

And although Brentford responded with an 81st-minute effort, it was not enough as QPR made it four wins from their last five, a result that lifted them to 10th in the table.

At the other end of the Championship table, Jackson Irvine’s Hull City climbed to 22nd - and just goal difference away from safety - after a thrilling 3-3 draw at Birmingham City.

Jackson Irvine


Hull trailed 2-0 and then led 3-2 before Che Adams’ third goal of the day for Birmingham ensured both sides would share the spoils. Irvine played the full 90 minutes.

Frustration in the Netherlands and Germany

Mathew Leckie was an unused substitute for a 10-man Hertha Berlin side who were thrashed 4-1 at second-from-bottom Fortuna Dusseldorf in the Bundesliga.

Trent Sainsbury and Aziz Behich were also unused substitutes, although their PSV side fared a lot better, winning 4-1 at De Graafschap to make it 12 wins from as many Eredivisie matches.

The wins keep coming for Degenek

Fresh off a stunning UEFA Champions League win against Liverpool, Milos Degenek’s Red Star Belgrade made it 15 wins from 16 in the Serbian top-flight this season thanks to a 3-0 success at Dinamo Vranje on Sunday morning.

Degenek played the full 90 minutes in the clash.

Tomi Juric lasted 54 minutes as his Luzern side thumped Lugano 4-1 in the Swiss Super League.

Tomi Juric


In Japan, Langerak’s Nagoya Grampus dropped into the relegation playoff spot with just two matches remaining after a 2-0 loss to Mitchell Duke’s Shimizu S-Pulse.

Andrew Nabbout’s side had more success, with the striker a late substitute in Urawa Red Diamonds’ 2-1 win against Consadole Sapporo.

And in Saudi Arabia, Matt Jurman was not required from the bench as his Al Ittihad side slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Al Feiha.

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This article was originally published on the Socceroos website.
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