Massimo Luongo and Alessandro Circati made their top-flight debuts in England’s Premier League and Italy’s Serie A respectively on Saturday, while Awer Mabil had an incredible display in Switzerland on Sunday.
Awer Mabil produced a remarkable performance in the Swiss Schweizer Pokal for Grasshoppers with five assists and three goals in their 9-0 win.
Grasshoppers toppled fifth-tier outfit Regensdorf, with Mabil providing four assists in the first half, before a brace before half-time.
Mabil teed up Pascal Schurpf three times in the opening half hour, before setting up Giotto Morandi.
Die Grasshoppers setzen sich in der 1. Runde des Schweizer Cups souverän durch und schlagen den FC Regensdorf klar mit 0:9. Die Tore für GC Zürich erzielten Schürpf (3x), Morandi, Mabil (3x), Meyer und Babunski. Spielbericht: https://t.co/bIHcaIHoxt#gczürich #immerwiiter
— Grasshopper Club Zürich (@gc_zuerich) August 18, 2024
The Socceroo grabbed two goals of his own in the 34th and 39th minutes, both times with a classy lob over the goalkeeper.
Mabil completed his hat-trick in the 59th minute to make it 7-0, before setting up the ninth with some good ball control inside the box before laying off for Dorian Babunski.
Perth-born 20-year-old centre-back Alessandro Circati started for newly-promoted Parma in their 1-1 home draw with Fiorentina.
The two-cap Socceroo was key part of Parma’s promotion-winning side, making 29 appearances including 28 starts last term.
At the opposite end of the scale in terms of age, retired Socceroo Massimo Luongo made his Premier League debut as Ipswich Town went down 2-0 at home to Liverpool.
Luongo, 31, started and played 65 minutes and earned a 7/10 rating from the East Anglian Daily Times. They wrote: “Any questions over where he can make the step up to be a regular at this level should fade away quite quickly after that.
“Shadowed Morsy’s performance in almost every way, particularly off the ball, where he remained strong and physical in challenges.”
Cameron Burgess, who was a regular last term as the Tractor Boys secured promotion, was an unused substitute.
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Joe Gauci was an unused substitute for Aston Villa in their 2-1 win at West Ham United.
In England’s Championship, Riley McGree was absent after tweaking his groin as Middlesbrough lost 1-0 to Derby County. Callum Elder put in a full shift for the Rams.
After making his club debut in the EFL Cup in midweek, Harry Souttar was a 77th minute substitute for Sheffield United as they blew a two-goal lead to raw 2-2 with QPR.
Sam Silvera put in a full shift and earned an 8/10 rating in Portsmouth’s 0-0 draw with Luton Town. Kusini Yengi was out with a groin injury and Jacob Farrell was unavailable due to a knee complaint.
Portsmouth News wrote about Silvera: “Built on promising Millwall showing as Pompey’s danger man. Took the game to Luton with boundless energy and unlucky not to score with one searing first-half thump. Didn’t always come off for Aussie but never stopped – noticeable the support he gave Ogilvie defensively, too.”
Alex Robertson also made his club debut in midweek but was unused for Cardiff City’s 5-0 defeat to Burnley.
Henry Hore came off the bench to score the winner as Gangwon FC came from two goals down to beat Gwangju 3-2 in the Korean K League 1 on Sunday.
Ex-Brisbane Roar attacking midfielder Hore, 25, was introduced in the 71st minute and scored four minutes later with a header from a corner to decide the contest.
Martin Boyle got an assist as Hibernian lost 3-1 to Celtic in the Scottish Premier Sports Cup on Sunday.
Boyle, who started and played 77 minutes, laid off the pass from a free-kick for Mykola Kukharevych in the 34th minute. Lewis Miller put in a full shift too.
Others
Full games
Aiden O’Neill (Standard Liege), Gianni Stensness (Viking), Anthony Kalik (Hajduk Split), Paul Izzo (Randers), Mitchell Langerak (Nagoya Grampus), Lachlan Jackson (Suwon)
Minutes
John Iredale – SB 46 (AaB), Keanu Baccus – ST 89 (Mansfield), Nikolau Udjur – ST 63 (Queen’s Park), Alex Gersbach – SB 90 (Kalmar), Mitch Duke – SB 75 (Machida Zelvia)
Unused subs
Mat Ryan (AS Roma), Denis Genreau (Toulouse), Nectar Triantis (Sunderland), Kye Rowles (Hearts), Ash Maynard-Brewer (Charlton), Nichola Bilokapic (Peterborough), Dean Bouzanis (Stevenage)
Notable absentees
Jordan Bos (Westerlo)
