Aussies Abroad: Rogic's Celtic keep up hot form as Degenek, Irvine enjoy wins

Caltex Socceroos star Tom Rogic impressed again as Celtic thrashed Hearts 5-0 on Sunday morning (AEDT), while Milos Degenek’s Red Star Belgrade kept up their winning run.

And while Maty Ryan’s run of English Premier League clean sheets came to an end at three, there was joy for the likes of Jackson Irvine, Trent Sainsbury and Aziz Behich.

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Read on for the full Aussies Abroad overnight wrap!

Celtic on the march with another big win

Fresh off a 5-0 victory over Dundee in midweek, Celtic won by the same scoreline in a Scottish Premiership blockbuster against Hearts.

Hearts started the weekend four points above Brendan Rodgers’ men on top of the table, but Celtic slashed that advantage to one with a commanding performance in front of their home fans.

Rogic entered the match with three goals in his last four appearances for club and country, including a strike in his 150th Celtic appearance on Thursday morning (AEDT).

And while he was unable to continue that run, he did go close in a first half dominated by the reigning Scottish Premiership champions.

French forward Odsonne Edouard scored a double for Celtic and added an assist, as Rogic played the full 90 minutes.

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Celtic have now scored 20 goals in their last four league matches.

Hearts’ Australian contingent had a tough day, with Ben Garuccio introduced as a 46th-minute substitute, while Oliver Bozanic was not involved.

Also in Scotland, Mark Milligan, Jamie Maclaren and Martin Boyle completed 90 minutes in a last-gasp 1-0 home defeat to St Johnstone.

Maclaren and Boyle led the line at Easter Road but St Johnstone scored in stoppage time to climb above the sixth-placed Hibs in the league table.

Ryan unable to keep up recent heroics

Caltex Socceroos goalkeeper Maty Ryan was eyeing off a slice history of Sunday morning (AEDT) as he aimed for a fourth successive top-flight clean sheet - something that has never been done in Brighton and Hove Albion’s history.

But he was kept busy by an impressive Everton side who won 3-1 at Goodison Park.

Ryan was beaten for the first time since September when Richarlison fired a fierce close-range effort past the shot-stopper following a swift counter-attack.

And although Brighton levelled through Lewis Dunk, Everton restored their advantage thanks to Seamus Coleman’s 20-yard strike.

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Ryan was then rounded for Everton’s third goal after a poor pass from Dunk was intercepted by the goalscorer.

The news was better for Jackson Irvine in the Championship as Hull City beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 to move five points clear of rock-bottom Ipswich Town.

Hull still sit 23rd in the table but are now just one point adrift of safety. Irvine completed the 90 minutes.

Also in the Championship, Massimo Luongo picked up a yellow card as his Queens Park Rangers side were beaten 1-0 at Blackburn Rovers after conceding late in the piece.

Leckie returns in the Bundesliga

Mathew Leckie made his return for Hertha Berlin after missing out on last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Borussia Dortmund.

But the Caltex Socceroos winger was introduced in the 67th minute with his side trailing 2-0 at home to Red Bull Leipzig in a game they ultimately lost 3-0.

Hertha are without a win in four and now sit eighth.

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Robbie Kruse was also a second-half substitute in Germany, coming on in the 83rd minute as his VfL Bochum side were held to a 2-2 draw with Greuther Furth in the second tier.

Bochum led 2-0 early in the second half but were pegged back, with Greater Furth scoring their equaliser in injury time.

The joy kept coming for Trent Sainsbury and Aziz Behich’s PSV, but the pair were both unused substitutes as the Dutch giants beat Vitesse 1-0.

PSV have won all 11 matches of the Eredivisie season so far.

Genk are also unbeaten, with Danny Vukovic in goal again as they drew 1-1 with Club Brugge in a top-of-the-table clash in Belgium. Genk are three points clear of Club Brugge.

And Milos Degenek’s Red Star Belgrade are in the same boat as they made it 14 wins in 15 matches - and maintained an unbeaten start to the season - with a 2-0 success at Proteler Novai Sad in Serbia.

Degenek played the full 90 minutes.

Apostolos Giannou was introduced off the bench in AEK Larnaca’s 1-0 home defeat to Cypriot First Division leaders AEL.

Langerak comes up against Podolski

The news was not good for Mitch Langerak’s Nagoya Grampus, who slumped to a 2-1 home defeat to Vissel Kobe as the J-League season draws to a close.

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Both of Vissel Kobe’s goals were scored by Germany great Lukas Podolski, with the result leaving Nagoya just one point clear of the relegation zone with three matches to play.

Nagoya could be in the bottom three after Sunday’s fixtures, too.

Also in Japan, Andrew Nabbout came off the bench but could not stop the Urawa Red Diamonds from losing 3-1 to Gamba Osaka, while Mitchell Duke was an unused substitute for Shimizu S-Pulse in a goalless stalemate at Shonan Bellmare.

And in Saudi Arabia, Brad Jones’ Al Nassr lost for the first time this season, going down 2-0 to Al Ahli in a result that dropped them down to third.

Jones was hurt in the match after a collision with an Al Ahli player, an incident that saw him substituted in the latter stages.

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