From the NPL, JLeagues to the Scottish Premiership and beyond. KEEPUP has you covered on all the Aussie-related news outside the A-Leagues.
Sainsbury fuels derby rout in career first
It’s not often a defender is the catalyst behind a derby demolition but that was the case for Socceroo Trent Sainsbury.
For the first time in his career, former Central Coast Mariners star Sainsbury scored a double to help KV Kortrijk end their seven-game winless run in the Belgian Pro League with a 5-0 rout of rivals Zulte Waregem.
Sainsbury fuelled Kortrijk with the opening two goals of the game in the first half – the Australia centre-back finding the back of the net for the first time since December 11.
Aussie King announces himself in Denmark
From the Isuzu UTE A-League to the Danish Superliga, recently capped Socceroo Joel King made his Odense BK debut on Sunday.
Prised from Sydney FC at the end of January, King was thrust straight into the starting line-up in OB’s 2-0 away loss to league-leading FC Copenhagen.
The 21-year-old left-back savoured his first taste of European football.
“It was exciting to make my debut. It was tough to adjust to the conditions at the start but after the first 15 minutes I started to warm up a bit and got into the game,” King said after his 87-minute bow.
“The atmosphere was crazy. I was trying to speak to [centre-back] Jeppe Tverskov next to me and he couldn’t hear me. It was hard in that sense but it was a great opportunity and a great experience: I loved it.”
King added: “Copenhagen’s fans were really loud but I was pleased to hear the OB fans screaming and cheering us on – they helped us a lot but it was unfortunate we didn’t get a result.
“It’s very exciting that we’ll be playing at home in a week. Playing an away game was a good experience but it will be even better to play at home in front of the home crowd. I’m excited to see what it’s like there and I’m looking forward to it.”
Turkish delight for stoppage-time hero Mabil
Awer Mabil swapped FC Midtjylland for Kasimpasa on loan, with one clear mission to get his career back on track.
After watching his career stall in Denmark, Socceroos winger Mabil bagged his first goal for Turkish Super Lig club Kasimpasa in dramatic fashion.
Mabil came off the bench with Kasimpasa trailing 3-2 19 minutes from the end before his 91st-minute equaliser salvaged a thrilling 4-4 draw at second-placed Konyaspor.
“Mixed feelings after yesterday game! Happy to score my first goal with @kasimpasask but disappointed to only add 1 point,” he wrote via Instagram.
“We continue with hard work and we will reach our targets. let’s go!!”
Volpato steals the show in the Italian capital
Remember the name: Cristian Volpato.
Volpato came off the bench and found the back of the net within three minutes of his introduction to help rallying Roma overturn a two-goal deficit in a 2-2 draw against Hellas Verona.
The 18-year-old Aussie became the youngest scorer in Serie A this season thanks to his well-taken finish in the 65th minute.
Langerak keeps another clean sheet as Muscat’s Marinos draw
Another season, same old Mitch Langerak. The former Australia goalkeeper has broken records in back-to-back J1 League campaigns.
In 2020, Langerak set the record for most clean sheets, only to surpass his own achievement last season.
To start 2022, Langerak and Nagoya Grampus shut out Andres Iniesta-less Vissel Kobe 2-0 in Saturday’s season opener. Vissel played the final 32 minutes with 10 men after a red card to Takahiro Ogihara.
In his first full season at the helm, Yokohama F.Marinos head coach Kevin Muscat oversaw an enthralling 2-2 draw at home to Cerezo Osaka.
After guiding F.Marinos to a runners-up finish in 2021, Muscat went into the contest without J1 League Golden Boot co-winner Daizen Maeda (Celtic) and star defender Thiago Martins (New York City FC).
F.Marinos, with Aussie Shaun Ontong as assistant, missed a penalty to equalise against Cerezo but rallied to take a 2-1 lead behind new signing and super-sub Anderson Lopes, only for the visitors to snatch a draw at the death.
Ange’s Celtic stretch lead
After defending champions and bitter rivals Rangers were held to a draw, Celtic took advantage but they did it the hard way.
Celtic squandered a two-goal lead before Giorgos Giakoumakis completed his hat-trick in the 86th minute to five the Scottish Premiership leaders a nail-biting 3-2 victory at home to lowly Dundee.
Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic are now three points clear of Rangers through 27 games.
NPL Victoria heats up
After a long time between drinks in Victoria’s top flight, the NPL returned with the traditional derby meeting between South Melbourne and Heidelberg at Lakeside.
The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the competition for two consecutive seasons, but South put on a show as they emphatically disposed of Ivan Franjic’s Heidelberg 3-1 on Thursday.
There was a derby theme in the opening round, with Dandenong City and Melbourne Knights coming together.
The Knights started their season in rampant fashion, making light work of rivals City 5-0 away from home.
Two former Melbourne Victory youngsters stole the show as Gianluca Iannucci and Josh Hope led Green Gully past Oakleigh Cannons 3-2.
Elsewhere, Avondale FC defeated Bentleigh Greens 3-1, Dandenong Thunder were 2-1 winners over Eastern Lions and Port Melbourne drew 1-1 with St Albans, while Altona Magic and Hume City played out a scoreless stalemate.
