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.
Nieuwenhof stars as Hearts score huge win over Celtic
After a tentative start to life in Scotland, former Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder Calem Nieuwenhof (WSW) is starting to catch fire at Hearts.
The 23-year-old has enjoyed quite the week for the Jam Tarts, playing the full 90-minutes against bitter rivals Hibernian as the Edinburgh derby finished in a 1-1 draw before then backing it up against Celtic at the weekend, helping them to an impressive 2-0 win.
Furthermore, the young midfielder laid on the assist for teammate Lawrence Shankland in the 56th-minute before he was ultimately replaced by former A-Leagues midfielder Cameron Devlin (WEL) in the 79th minute, to a rapturous applause from the Tynecastle faithful.
And the applause was for a good reason. His well-crafted assist aside, Nieuwenhof also put in a strong shift with regards to the defensive side of the game, making 5 recoveries and winning a good percentage of his duels as he was named Player of the Match by both club AND a fan vote conducted by BBC Scotland.
Now becoming a key component in Steven Naismith’s side, Nieuwenhof recently spoke about his desire to emulate two of the key midfielders he’s come up against this season in Celtic skipper Callum McGregor and former Premier League midfielder now Rangers man John Lundstram, and it’s clear the exposure to a new level of football is rubbing off on the young Aussie.
“I love watching them and playing against them,” said Nieuwenhof in a recent interview with FootballScotland.co.uk. “With the quality they have, they are the best players I’ve come up against.
“Being on the park next to them, seeing how they carry themselves for the whole game, they have that mentality where they don’t stop for 90 minutes.
“They keep going at you for the whole game. That’s something I’ve learned from them and I want to take it into my own game. Playing for Hearts, that’s something we can learn from them and improve.”
Also playing alongside both Nieuwenhof and Devlin in the Jam Tarts’ four-point haul over Celtic and Hibs was Socceroos defender Kye Rowles (CCM), who was a key component of the defensive unit which helped keep a clean sheet, securing Steven Naismith’s side their third win in five matches.
Muscat off to a flying start in China
Kevin Muscat (MVC) has enjoyed a winning start to life as a coach in the Chinese Super League as his Shanghai Port side defeated Wuhan Three Towns 3-1.
A double from former Espanyol forward Wu Lei did the damage for the home side as Muscat secured his first league win having previously suffered defeat on his Shanghai debut, losing to rivals Shanghai Shenhua 1-0 in the Chinese Cup Final.
Flanked by former Brisbane Roar head coach Ross Aloisi (BRI), Muscat’s squad still contains some of the original stars who swapped European football for Asia in the early days of the CSL’s lavish spending spree, most notably Brazilian midfielder Oscar, who left Premier League giants Chelsea for a fee of around £60 million in 2017.
Former Mariners man scores dramatic late winner as former Johnny Warren Medalist prepares for A-Leagues reunion
Former Wellington striker and Johnny Warren Medalist Roy Krishna (WEL) was on the scoresheet for Indian Super League side Odisha FC at the weekend but his efforts were undone in the 94th minute of the clash against Chennaiyin FC by another former A-Leagues striker.
Deep into stoppage time, up popped ex-Central Coast Mariners striker Jordan Murray (CCM) with a bullet header to fire his side to a dramatic 2-1 win to keeps their hopes of qualifying for the finals alive.
Currently 10th in the Indian Super League, the win moves Chennaiyin FC to within three points of the top six with just fives games left to play in the season.
As for Odisha FC, Krishna’s side remain top of the pile heading into the business end of the season and that goal took him two goals clear in the race for the Golden Boot.
Krishna will be back on Australian soil this week as Odisha FC take on Central Coast Mariners in the first leg of their AFC Cup Inter Zonal Semi-Finals, with the second leg taking place in India on Thursday 14th March.
Elsewhere in the ISL, Aussies Jason Cummings (CCM) and Dimi Petratos (NEW) were both on the scoresheet as Mohun Bagan defeated Jamshedpur 3-0.
The home side took the lead in the seventh minute when Petratos found the far corner with a low, drilled shot from the edge of the box before Cummings then got in on the action to seal the win midway through the second half.
Peeling off the shoulder of the last man, Cummings executed a perfect curling finish across the keeper and into the far corner to score the 250th goal of the season in the ISL and take his tally to seen goals for the campaign, level with teammate Petratos.
“This is perfect,” said Petratos after the game when speaking to IndianSuperLeague.com. “All three front players got on the scoresheet; it does not matter who scored the first, second, or third. A goal is a goal. The most important thing is that it is a good boost for everybody.”
Former Macarthur man endures debut to forget
Things didn’t go to plan for ex-Macarthur defender Jonathan Aspropotamitis (MAC) on his Pohang Steelers debut in Korea.
The K League 1 season opener between last year’s champions Ulsan Hyundai and last year’s runners up Pohang saw Aspropotamitis make his league debut but it ended in defeat and an early bath for the centre half.
With Ulsan leading 1-0 thanks to Ataru Esaka’s 52nd minute opener Aspropotatmitis was then shown a straight red card in the 89th minute of the contest for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Now down a player, Pohang’s chances of rescuing anything from the game were dramatically reduced and as such succumbed to a defeat in their league opener. Furthermore, Aspropotamitis will now be suspended for their round two clash with Daegu.
Striker continues red-hot run in Indonesia
Former Sydney FC frontman Charles Lokolingoy (SYD) made it FIVE goals in his last four games at the weekend as his Arema FC side scored a big boost in their fight to avoid relegation.
Lokolingoy found the back of the net in the 48th minute to seal an important 1-0 win away at bottom side Persikabo 1973.
With seven games left in the season, Arema FC find themselves two points clear of the relegation zone and their next two games are against 19th placed Bhayangkara and, crucially, 18th placed Persita, who sit directly below them on the ladder.
