Socceroos pair Jordan Bos and Aiden O’Neill both made their Belgian Jupiler Pro League debuts over the weekend for their new clubs Westerlo and Standard Liege respectively.
Jordan Bos, who joined Westerlo in May on a four-year deal from Melbourne City, started and played the full 90 minutes at left-back in their come-from-behind 2-2 draw at Jason Davidson‘s KAS Eupen.
Bos missed the target with a chance after Westerlo, who finished seventh in the Pro League last season, went 1-0 down. Davidson put in a full shift for Eupen.
Aiden O’Neill, who joined rebuilding 10-time Belgian champions Standard Liege in June on a four-year contract, played a full game in the centre of midfield as they conceded late to lose 1-0 at Sint-Truiden.
📋 Starting 𝐗𝐈 | Bodart, Fossey, Bope, Vanheusden, Barrett, O’Neill, Price, Kawabe, Balikwisha, Dønnum & Ohio#STVVSTA #COYR 🔴⚪ pic.twitter.com/ukmI3gM6ya
— Standard de Liège (@Standard_RSCL) July 30, 2023
Jackson Irvine got an assist as his promotion hopefuls St Pauli started the new German 2.Bundesliga season with three points, winning 2-1 at Kaiserslautern on Saturday.
Irvine provided the assist for the opening goal from Elias Saad in the 51st minute, lofting a pass in behind the Kaiserslautern defence, as the forward rounded the keeper and calmly slotted home.
Irvine put in a full shift in midfield, while fellow Socceroo Connor Metcalfe also started and played 63 minutes.
Elsewhere, John Iredale made his 2.Bundesliga debut for newly-promoted Wehen Wiesbaden who drew 1-1 with Magdeburg. Iredale started and played 56 minutes in attack.
Ryan Strain impressed again in the Scottish League Cup with two assists in St Mirren’s 4-0 win over Forfar. Strain has four assists already this season.
The Socceroo, who played down the right flank, set up the Saints’ opening two goals amid speculation of transfer interest in Strain, although St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson said they’d received “no bids or no offers” for him.
Robinson added: “Long may it continue. We don’t want to let him go. We don’t need to sell, we’re not in the [financial] position we were in last year. Ryan’s done terrifically well. He’s a very, very good footballer if he doesn’t complicate the game.”
Mika Mandron heading us in front in yesterday's win against Forfar Athletic 🎯#OurStMirren #COYS pic.twitter.com/Te53yUcCvY
— St Mirren FC (@saintmirrenfc) July 30, 2023
Strain played 63 minutes in the win, while Keanu Baccus made his season debut, putting in a full shift in midfield. St Mirren topped their group to advance to the knockout phase on August 19.
Ryan McGowan was a 46th-minute substitute as St Johnstone were badly beaten 4-0 at home by Stirling Albion. St Johnstone are out of the cup.
In friendly news, Martin Boyle was back in action after 10 months out due to an ACL injury, playing in Hibernian’s pre-season 3-0 loss to Blackpool.
"It's been a long ten months. It's great to be back and hopefully I can kick on now." 💬@MartinBoyle9 discusses his return to the Hibs team today following a long-term knee injury… pic.twitter.com/7iADD425yo
— Hibernian Football Club (@HibernianFC) July 29, 2023
Patrick Yazbek provided the assist for Viking’s opening goal in their 2-0 win at Brann in the Norwegian Eliteserien on Sunday.
Yazbek played a full game, while Nick D’Agostino came off the bench in the 76th minute. Gianni Stensness was absent due to injury.
James Holland played a full game as 10-man Austria Vienna opened the new Austrian Bundesliga season with a 3-0 home loss to Sturm Graz.
Anthony Kalik was an unused substitute as Hajduk Split won 1-0 over HNK Rijeka in the Croatian Prva HNL.
In Japan’s J2 League, Mitch Duke was a 71st minute substitute as leaders Machida Zelvia won 2-1 over Tokushima Vortis, while Stefan Mauk played the first half as Fagiano Okayama lost 1-0 at Shimizu S-Pulse.
In Korea’s K League 2, Patrick Flottmann put in a full shift as Seongnam won 2-1 over Jeonnam Dragons.
