Aussies Abroad: O'Neill shines in K League debut

Brandon O’Neill had a debut to remember for Pohang Steelers while Jason Davidson’s Ulsan Hyundai sit pretty at the top of the K League ladder.

O’Neill did not need much time before he was able to endear himself to the Steelers’ fans after he orchestrated Aleksandar Palocevic’s 43rd minute goal in their 1-1 draw away to Daegu.

The former Sydney FC midfielder dispossessed Daegu’s Jin-Hyun Lee before expertly picking out Min-Kyu Song on the left wing with a perfectly weighted through ball.

Song played the ball into the path of the onrushing Palocevic on the edge of the penalty spot as he calmly slotted the ball past Daegu shot stopper Young-Woon Choi.

However, an equaliser from Daegu’s Edgar on 67 minutes meant that both sides had to take a share of the spoils from the second round encounter.

Davidson played the full 90 minutes for Ulsan as they overcame Adam Taggart’s Suwon Bluewings 3-2 on Sunday night.

Davidson’s Ulsan were faced with an uphill battle after they found themselves trailing 2-0 just after half time, with Suwon’s Seung-Beom Ko opening the scoring for the home side with a spectacular long range effort on the stroke of half time.

A second half onslaught from Ulsan saw them draw level before Junior Negrao put the icing on the cake with a last gasp winner to ensure that the visitors recorded back-to-back wins to start their campaign.

Elsewhere, Rashid Mahazi’s Incheon United endured a 0-0 stalemate against Seongnam with the former Melbourne Victory midfielder not a part of the matchday squad.

The return of the German Bundesliga meant that we had a chance to see another two Aussies in action with Brandon Borrello and Mathew Leckie featuring for SC Freiburg and Hertha Berlin respectively.

However, Borrello did not make the matchday squad for his side’s clash against Leipzig as they secured a 1-1 draw at the Red Bull Arena on Saturday.

Berlin enjoyed their first match back as they triumphed 3-0 at Hoffenheim on Saturday, but new Hertha coach Bruno Labbadia did not include Leckie in his matchday squad.

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