Welcome to A-Leagues Alumni: A weekly piece that keeps you up to date with the best stories from our products flying the flag abroad. The acronyms of the A-Leagues club(s) each player has represented are in brackets after their name.
Carpenter & Lyon in shock Cup boilover
Ellie Carpenter (WSW, CBR, MCY) and Lyon were on the receiving end of unwanted history in France over the weekend.
Lyon are a powerhouse of women’s football in Europe. They have won a record eight UEFA Champions League titles, 16 Division 1 Feminine championships and 10 Coupe de France Feminine trophies.
Over the past 11 years, they had claimed nine Coupe de France honours and were the defending champions in 2023-24 having had a stranglehold on French football.
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However, Lyon were sensationally ousted by Fleury 91 5-4 on penalties in the semi-finals.
After a goalless draw on Sunday, in which Matildas star Carpenter started but didn’t take a penalty, they were eliminated in a shoot-out.
Not only did Fleury reach the final for the first time, but they celebrated their first ever win over Lyon following 12 previous defeats and one draw since 2017.
“It’s obviously a big disappointment,” said Lyon head coach Sonia Bompastor, whose side are seven points clear atop the league standings.
“It’s difficult to analyse the match in the heat of the moment.
“I have the feeling that we were not in difficulty but we were seriously lacking in efficiency in the last third. When you don’t score it’s more difficult and Fleury came to get the result they wanted. I think they wanted to go to penalties.
“We played 20 rather good minutes with control and opportunities then we had too much technical waste in our game. Unfortunately we got knocked out of a competition which was one of the objectives of our season.
“It’s hard to find the right words after these emotions but we have to move forward.”
Awaiting Fleury in the final is Clare Hunt (WSW) and Paris Saint-Germain.
The Matildas defender was an unused substitute as PSG overcame Paris FC 4-3 on penalties following a 3-3 draw, while Sarah Hunter (WSW, SYD) was not in the squad for the latter.
Jordy Bos’ wondergoal!
Take a bow, Jordy Bos (MCY).
The A-Leagues graduate scored an incredible goal-of-the-season contender in Westerlo’s 3-1 loss to Mechelen in the Belgian Pro League.
In the 90th minute, Socceroos full-back Bos netted a stunning long-range consolation goal as Westerlo suffered a third straight loss in Belgium.
Since arriving from Melbourne City at the start of 2023-24, he has scored two goals.
Elsewhere in Belgium, Jason Davidson (PER, MVC) played the full 90 minutes as KAS Eupen trumped Sint-Truiden 1-0.
Another Aussie, meanwhile, put on a show in Livingston’s trip to Scottish giants Celtic.
Livingston lost 4-2 to Celtic in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals but Tete Yengi (NEW) was a menace throughout and netted a wonderful goal in Glasgow.
Yengi was too strong to control as he rolled past his opponent and curled the ball into the far corner of the net.
The 23-year-old has now scored five goals in 10 matches since arriving in January.
Hearts also advanced to the semi-finals after edging Greenock Morton 1-0 on Tuesday.
Kye Rowles (BRI, CCM) and Cam Devlin (SYD, WEL, NEW) both started for Hearts, while Nathaniel Atkinson (MCY) came off the bench.
In-form Calem Nieuwenhof (SYD, WSW) was absent due to a hamstring injury.
“It looks like a small hamstring strain – but hopefully I’ll be back soon,” he said via FTBL.
“I’ve been playing heaps and there’s still a lot to play for. I just want to keep putting in good performances and helping the team out for the rest of the season.”
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Nieuwenhof had been touted for a Socceroos call-up ahead of this month’s 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup qualifiers.
“With all the Aussie boys in the Hearts team having played for the Socceroos, I think I’m also in a really good place to achieve that,” he said. “I think if I keep doing what I’m doing it’ll give me the best chance of eventually getting that call.
“I feel like I’ve added a bit more of an attacking side to my game here, especially in the last few weeks where the boss has given me more freedom to push forward, which I’ve really been enjoying.
“Coming to Hearts, for me, was all about getting the opportunity to bring out the best in myself.”
As for Nick Montgomery (CCM) and 10-man Hibernian, they lost 2-0 to Rangers in the quarter-finals.
Australian defender Nectar Triantis (WSW, CCM) impressed in an unfamiliar role in midfield.
Ange fuels 73-year first
Ange Postecoglou (BRI, MVC) and his Tottenham boosted their chances of qualifying for the UEFA Men’s Champions League with a 4-0 rout of fourth-placed Aston Villa.
Spurs put Villa to the sword in the Premier League, where Tottenham are now just two points behind the Birmingham club with a game in hand.
Tottenham have now scored in all 27 Premier League matches under Australian legend Postecoglou – equalling a club record streak.
The only other time Spurs have scored in 27 straight league games was 73 years ago back in 1950-51.
“The whole game, I was really pleased with the way we handled the whole day,” Postecoglou said afterwards. “Obviously we knew it was a significant game coming here, tough venue, good opponent.
“I just thought, obviously the atmosphere here, they get behind their team. I thought with all that, the context of all that, first half we did really well, just to make them work hard more than anything else, they had to try to contain us, and the threats they had we snuffed out.
“I had a sense towards the back end of the first half that they were beginning to really tire a little bit. That was the message at half-time, just to persevere, stay calm, play our football, maintain the intensity, which is going to be important. And we did. We got off to a flyer, the quality of our football was excellent, to see out the game.”
In Germany’s 2.Bundesliga, Connor Metcalfe (MCY) started as St Pauli stayed top of the league with a 2-0 triumph over Hertha Berlin.
Jackson Irvine (MVC) provided an assist for St Pauli, who are five points clear at the summit.
“We were very dominant, especially in the first half, when we offered them nothing at all,” Socceroos star Irvine said via St Pauli’s official website. “We were good on the ball, pressed well and forced them to hit it long.
“We controlled the game and put in a very good performance in view of the injuries we have. After the Schalke game we knew we had to show a reaction and that’s what we did. We were hungry in the tackle.
“The defence and the collective desire to keep the ball away from our goal made us strong. We wanted to get back to that and that’s what we did. Everyone pulled their weight.”
Matildas star finally awarded starting role
Not since November had Mary Fowler (ADL) started for Manchester City, but that changed over the weekend.
The Matildas star was in the line-up for the Women’s FA Cup quarter-final showdown against Tottenham and while City lost 4-3 on penalties, she capped the occasion with a goal.
Fowler struck in the sixth minute for her first goal since January 14 before Tottenham – who were without Charli Grant (ADL) – scored an injury-time equaliser.
Alanna Kennedy (SYD, NEW, WSW, PER, MCY) was an unused substitute for City.
Remy Siemsen (SYD, WSW) was on the bench as Leicester City reached the semi-finals for the first time after downing Liverpool 2-0. Teagan Micah (BRI, WSW, MVC, MCY) was a substitute for Liverpool.
Clare Wheeler (NEW, SYD) played the entire game as Everton lost 1-0 to Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Jason Cummings (CCM) and Dimitri Petratos (BRI, NEW) are both gunning for the Indian Super League (ISL) Golden Boot.
Cummings and Petratos were on target in league-leading Mohun Bagan’s 3-1 win at East Bengal.
Former Central Coast Mariners star Cummings opened the scoring in the 27th minute before Petratos completed the scoring with a first-half penalty.
Cummings and Petratos have now both scored eight goals in the ISL this season, four less than Golden Boot leader and A-Leagues great Roy Krishna (WEL), currently starring for Odisha FC.
Mumbai City – led by former Melbourne City assistant Petr Kratky – are a point further back.
In the Dutch Eredivisie, Mat Ryan (CCM) kept his ninth clean sheet of the season in AZ Alkmaar’s 4-0 rout of Excelsior Rotterdam.
Elsewhere abroad…
In the EFL Championship, Riley McGree (ADL, NEW, MCY) started and Sammy Silvera (CCM, NEW) came off the bench in Middlesbrough’s 2-0 win at QPR. Tom Glover (CCM, MCY) was an unused substitute.
Kevin Muscat (MVC) and his Shanghai Port maintained their unbeaten start to the Chinese Super League (CSL) season with a 0-0 draw at Zhejiang. The defending champions have four points from two games.
In Japan’s J1 League, Mitch Langerak (MVC) and Nagoya Grampus suffered a third straight loss after going down 1-0 to Albirex Niigata, who had Thomas Deng (MVC) in the starting XI.
Mitch Duke (CCM, WSW) came off the bench as Machida Zelvia beat Kashima Antlers 1-0 while Peter Cklamovski’s (PER, ADL, MVC) FC Tokyo lost 2-1 to defending champions Vissel Kobe after having a player sent off.
Over in the K League 1, Alexandar Popovic (ADL) completed the full 90 minutes in Gwangju FC’s 4-2 win against Gangwon.
Amy Sayer (CBR, SYD) scored and Clare Polkinghorne (BRI) started as Kristianstads DFF kicked off their competitive season with an 8-1 demolition of Lidkoping in the Svenska Cupen in Sweden.
Aivi Luik (BRI, PER, MCY) and BK Hacken also started their season with a 3-0 triumph over Vaxjo.
Hayley Raso (CBR, BRI, MVC) was a 62nd-minute substitute for Real Madrid in their 1-0 Liga F win against Sevilla.
