Ajdin Hrustic netted his first goal for Heracles since his switch from Hellas Verona, netting the equalizer to earn the relegation battlers a 2-2 draw with Almere City in the Dutch Eredivisie on Sunday.
Hrustic joined Heracles on February 1 after falling out of favour with Serie A club Hellas Verona where he didn’t play at all this season.
In his fourth game for Heracles – all starts – Hrustic produced a fine goal, cutting inside on his left and working a neat one-two with Jizz Hornkamp before curling in a first-time shot from outside the box.
Hrustic, who moved to Verona after helping German club Eintracht Frankfurt win the Europa League in 2022, initially made his name in the Netherlands with Groningen.
Mat Ryan was in goal as AZ Alkmaar conceded late to lose further ground on the top three after a 1-1 draw with Sparta Rotterdam on Saturday.
Garang Kuol was unused on the bench again as last-placed FC Volendam edged closer to relegation with a 5-2 loss to NEC.
In Italy’s Serie A, Cristian Volpato was an 83rd minute substitute in Sassuolo’s 1-0 loss away to Hellas Verona.
In England’s Premier League, Joe Gauci was left out as Robin Olsen returned to the bench for Aston Villa’s 3-2 win at Luton Town.
In Scotland’s Premiership, Calem Nieuwenhof was Hearts’ best afield as they stunned Celtic 2-0. Nieuwenhof was rated 8/10 by Edinburgh Evening News for his 79-minute display in midfield.
They wrote: “Not slow to get forward. Looked bright and showed plenty drive. Hearts’ best player on the day.”
Kye Rowles put in a full shift and was rated 7/10: “Very composed and aggressive on the left of defence.” Cammy Devlin was a 79th minute sub and Nathaniel Atkinson went unused.
In Germany’s 2.Bundesliga, John Iredale came off the bench to score Wehen Wiesbaden’s third goal in a 3-0 triumph away to Elversberg.
Iredale entered the fray in the 77th minute and netted seven minutes later, taking his season goals tally to three league strikes.
The Socceroos striker received the ball on a counter-attack, dribbling his way into the box before feigning past a defender and rifling a low shot home.
Elsewhere in 2.Bundesliga, Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe’s St Pauli suffered a 3-1 loss away to lowly Schalke 04 in a blow to their promotion aspirations. St Pauli remain top.
Irvine put in a full shift while Metcalfe started and played 62 minutes.
Jonathan Aspropotamitis was sent off on his Korean K League 1 debut as Pohang Steelers went down 1-0 away to Ulsan Hyundai on Friday.
Aspropotamitis, who started the game, received a straight red card in the 89th minute for a blatant last-man foul.
Others
Full games
Alessandro Circati (Parma), Cameron Burgess (Ipswich Town), Jordan Laws (Grasshoppers), Jordan Bos (Westerlo), Jason Davidson (KAS Eupen), Ryan McGowan (St Johnstone), Tete Yengi (Livingston), Gethin Jones (Bolton), Mitch Langerak (Nagoya Grampus), Thomas Deng (Albirex Niigata), Alexandar Popovic (Gwangju), Aaron Calver (Daejeon Citizen), Craig Goodwin (Al Wehda)
Minutes
Riley McGree – ST 83, Sam Silvera – SB 83 (both Middlesbrough), Aiden O’Neill – ST 52 (Standard Liege), Martin Boyle – ST 74, Lewis Miller – ST 84, Nectar Triantas – SB 84 (all Hibernian), Ryan Edwards – ST 61 (Amorebieta), James Holland – SB 86 (Austria Vienna), Tyrese Francois – SB 57 (Vejle), Anthony Kalik – SB 74 (Hajduk Split), Kusini Yengi – SB 88 (Portsmouth), Peter Makrillos – ST 74 (Seoul E-Land), Mitch Duke – SB 74 (Machida Zelvia), Brad Smith – SB 68 (Houston Dynamo)
Unused subs
Harry Souttar (Leicester City), Tom Glover (Middlesbrough), Jack Iredale (Bolton), Ash Maynard-Brewer (Charlton), Nicholas Bilokapic (Peterborough), Lachlan Jackson (Suwon)
Absent
Denis Genreau (Toulouse)
