Aussies Abroad: Taggart nets a hat-trick, Arzani gets first assist
Adam Taggart was on fire for Suwon Bluewings on Saturday as he picked up a hat-trick against FC Seoul, Harry Souttar was a rock in defence for Stoke City, while Daniel Arzani registered his first assist for FC Utrecht in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Adam Taggart was Suwon’s saviour after he popped up with a hat-trick in their 3-1 win against FC Seoul on Saturday afternoon.
Taggart’s first arrived on 14 minutes with a freakish turn and volley that he fired into the back of the net.
His second came just after the hour mark when he latched onto Kim Min-woo’s cross at the far post.
The Socceroos striker made sure of the points in injury time when he slotted home from close range to give the Bluewings their first league win over Seoul since 2015.
In the English Premier League, Maty Ryan’s Brighton & Hove Albion succumbed to a late goal as they went down 3-2 to Manchester United at the AMEX Stadium on Saturday night.
Brighton looked like they had done enough to take a point from the fixture when Solly March’s header found the back of the net in the fifth minute of injury time.
However, a United penalty five minutes later saw United snatch all three points after Ryan could not manage to keep out Bruno Fernandes’ spot kick.
In the English Championship, Harry Souttar played the full game in the heart of defence for Stoke City as they won 1-0 away to Preston North End on Sunday morning.
Souttar put in a man-of-the-match performance in his first league start for the Potters this season, with the Socceroos centre back having already picked up consecutive clean sheets in his two Cup appearances.
Massimo Luongo put in a full shift for Sheffield Wednesday as they fell to a 2-0 defeat away to Bristol City on Sunday night.
Heading to the Dutch Eredivisie, where Daniel Arzani grabbed an assist for FC Utrecht as they saw off RKC Waalwijk 3-1 on Sunday night.
Arzani entered the action in the 70th minute and was on hand to tee up his side’s third goal of the contest after Sander van de Streek headed home his perfectly struck corner on 85 minutes.
In the Scottish Premiership, Martin Boyle’s Hibernian suffered a 3-0 defeat against Tom Rogic’s Celtic.
Boyle played the full game for Hibs as they fell to just their second defeat of the season, while Rogic was an unused substitute for Celtic as they closed the gap to just one point on leaders Rangers.
Over to Denmark, where Awer Mabil started and played 82 minutes for FC Midtjylland as they won 1-0 against Randers FC in the Danish Superligaen on Sunday morning.
Their latest victory rounded off a profitable week which saw them come away with a 0-0 draw away to Slavia Prague in their UEFA Champions League third round qualifier.
In the Greek Super League, James Jeggo came on for the second half for Aris Thessaloniki as they drew 2-2 with newly promoted PAS Giannina.
Apostolos Giannou made his debut for OFI Crete, coming on a substitute in the dying moments of their 2-2 stalemate against Atromitos on Monday morning.
In J.League action, Mitch Langerak was inbetween the sticks for Nagoya Grampus as they triumphed 3-1 against Shimizu S-Pulse on Saturday afternoon.
The three points sees Langerak’s side keep hold of fourth spot on the league table.
Thomas Deng played the full game for Urawa Red Diamonds as they fell to a 2-0 defeat against Yokohama FC on Saturday night.
Two first half goals condemned Urawa to their ninth defeat of the season as they drop to 9th position on the ladder.
In the Serbian SuperLiga, Milos Degenek put in a full shift for FK Crvena Zvezda as they extended their winning streak to nine matches thanks to their 4-0 win against Mladost Lucani on Sunday morning.
Bailey Wright played the full match for Sunderland as they won 1-0 at home to Peterborough in their League One affair on Sunday morning.
That’s now back-to-back clean sheets for Sunderland as they remain just one of seven sides who are undefeated this season.
Brandon Borrello played the first half for Fortuna Dusseldorf as they won 1-0 at home to Wurzburger Kickers in the 2. Bundesliga on Saturday night.
In the AFC Champions League round of 16, Mitch Duke started and played 83 minutes for Al-Taawoun as they went down 1-0 to Al Nassr on Monday morning.
That defeat brings an end to their ACL campaign as they enter the off season.
Meanwhile, Trent Sainsbury had a debut to forget for Kortrijk after he scored an own goal in their 3-1 defeat to Royal Antwerp in the Belgian Pro League on Saturday morning.
