Riley McGree came off the bench to provide a moment of magic on his return for Middlesbrough’s winner on the opening weekend of the English Championship.
McGree, who missed the World Cup due to an injury sustained in Boro’s losing promotion playoff final, sparked his side’s 91st minute winner from Will Lankshear in Boro’s 2-1 triumph over Lincoln City.
The Socceroo twisted and turned down the right flank, before finding space to burst down the byline and cut back for Lankshear to score.
McGree had only come on in the 62nd minute, but his impact led to a 7/10 rating from Teesside Live.
Teesside Live wrote: “Provided the moment that won it for Boro, with a bit of magic on the byline to beat his man, cut in and provide the assist for the winning goal.”
Mohamed Toure started and played 86 minutes in Norwich City’s 2-1 home loss to West Bromwich Albion, earning a 6/10 rating from Pink Un.
Kealey Adamson was a 20th minute substitute for QPR in their 3-1 win away to Portsmouth.
In disappointing news, Swansea City and Socceroos centre-back Cameron Burgess has been ruled out for the next six months, including the Asian Cup, due to an Achilles injury.
Swansea manager Vitor Matos said: “It’s not great news. He knows that he has all our support, and we know as well that he has the right mentality and the right character to bounce back. I know he will do everything to be as quick as possible and in the best shape as well.”
In League One, Harry Souttar played the full game as Leicester City conceded late, with the Aussie partly to blame, in a 1-1 draw at Notts County.
Leicestershire Mercury rated Souttar 6/10 and wrote: “Gave Notts a huge opportunity when he tried Cruyff turning on the edge of City’s box. Such poor defending for Notts’ goal, he just stopped and hoped for the flag and it left City wide open.”
In Germany’s 2.Bundesliga, Sam Klein made his debut for St Pauli, getting five minutes off the bench, in a 2-2 draw with Holstein Kiel.
The 22-year-old midfielder moved to Germany to join St Pauli in May, joining from A-League club Brisbane Roar.
Connor Metcalfe was absent as he remains sidelined with injury.
In Italy’s Coppa Italia, Alessandro Circati played the full 90 in defence in Parma’s 2-0 win over Catania.
In Spain’s La Liga, Mat Ryan was beaten three times as Levante started the new season with a 3-0 loss at Espanyol.
In Austria’s Bundesliga, Marco Tilio got an assist after coming on as an 80th minute substitute in Rapid’s 8-0 win over Graz AK.
In Scotland’s League Cup, Jake Girdwood-Reich wore the captain’s armband for a vastly-changed Motherwell in only his seventh appearance for the side as they were stunned 1-0 by Stenhousemuir.
In Japan’s J1 League, Tete Yengi scored Machida Zelvia’s second goal from a Mitch Duke assist in a 4-0 win away to JEF United Chiba.
Duke started and played 63 minutes, while Yengi got through 82 minutes as he made it two goals in two games for his new club.
In the big transfer news of the weekend, Nestory Irankunda’s move to Sporting Lisbon was made official by the Portuguese club with a spectacular Michael Jackson video on social media.
Irankunda surpassed Lucas Herrington’s move to Hull City as the most expensive transfer fee for an Australian with a reported €16 million (AU$24.5m), with a further €2 million in potential add-ons.
The Socceroos speedster’s contract runs until 2031, joining after one season at Championship club Watford.
“I accepted the proposal thanks to the conversations I had with people in the Club’s structure,” Irankunda said. “The project seemed very good to me and, obviously, Sporting CP is a top club with a great history. I wanted to accept this challenge and I am ready.
“Even someone who lives on the other side of the world, like me, looks at Sporting CP and understands how fantastic and passionate the fans are. For this reason, and also for the history of the Club, I get goosebumps to think that I am wanted by an emblem like this. When they told me about Sporting CP, it was Sporting CP until the end.”
He added: “I came to win titles and to play for great fans. I want to make history and there is no better place to do it than Sporting CP. I’m very happy to be here and I hope to win trophies this season.”
