Sam Silvera made his Middlesbrough debut alongside Riley McGree while Tom Glover was an unused substitute as they went down 1-0 at home to Millwall in the English Championship on Saturday.
Silvera, who joined Boro from Central Coast in the off-season, was a 69th minute substitute with scores at 0-0 and fired over the crossbar with a late chance after Romain Esse had put Millwall ahead, while McGree put in a full shift in midfield.
Teesside Live rated McGree 6/10 and wrote: “Was involved a lot and tried to make things happen. But there was little quality to his work on this occasion as Boro struggled to break down the Millwall defence.”
Silvera got a 6/10 rating for his 20-minute cameo: “Lively from the bench and flashes of that unpredictability he has to his game. Came closest to an equaliser.”
Harry Souttar was an unused substitute for Leicester City in their 2-1 victory over Coventry City on Sunday.
Souttar couldn’t make the starting line-up for the Foxes, who are managed by ex-Man City assistant Enzo Maresca, with Wout Faes and Jannik Vestergaard preferred as their centre-backs in a 4-3-3 formation. That comes amid some speculation Souttar has fallen down the pecking order at Leicester.
Massimo Luongo and Cam Burgess both played full games in Ipswich Town’s return to the Championship as they won 2-1 away to Sunderland, who had ex-Central Coast defender Nectarios Triantis on the bench.
Loungo received 7/10 rating from the East Anglian Daily Times, who wrote: “The Australian spent a lot of time pressed back in his own half early, working hard defensively as Town had all hands to the pumps in the face of Sunderland’s pressure, possession and press. Has such a good understanding with his skipper, and was able to stride forward with the ball more in the second half, as well as spray some good passes around to start attacks.”
Burgess earned a 7/10 rating: “Like his fellow defenders, found himself under pressure early but coped well. Looked solid throughout, as Town largely blunted Sunderland’s weapons in the second half before the goal. Produced a superb clearance late on as Sunderland poured forward. A calm and composed showing.”
Ex-Adelaide United forward Kusini Yengi scored a late equalizer on his Portsmouth debut as they drew 1-1 with Bristol Rovers in England’s League One on Saturday.
Yengi entered the game in the 83rd minute with his side 1-0 down, before netting in the second minute of stoppage time with a well-directed header from a lofted cross into the box.
Jack Iredale scored Bolton’s opening goal in their 3-0 win over Lincoln City to open the season. Iredale, who missed the second half of last season after knee surgery, played a full game after netting his first goal for the club with a header from a corner.
“I had a mixed season last season,” Iredale said. “I played a lot of games at wing-back and was still trying to learn the position and then just as I thought I started to find my feet the injury came.”
Ash Maynard-Brewer kept a clean sheet as Charlton Athletic beat Leyton Orient 1-0, while Kenny Dougall was a 75th-minute substitute as Blackpool won 2-0 over Burton Albion.
Nicholas Bilokapic kept a clean sheet on his Peterborough United debut after joining from Huddersfield, as Posh won 1-0 at Dean Bouzanis‘ Reading. Bouzanis played a full game for Reading.
Callum Elder made his Derby County debut after his off-season move from Hull City, coming on as a 79th minute substitute in their 2-1 home loss to Wigan Athletic.
Olyroos defender Jay Rich-Baghuelou returned for the first time in almost 12 months since an ankle injury, playing a full game as Accrington Stanley won 3-0 over Newport County in League Two.
Martin Boyle made his Scottish Premiership return after an ACL injury sustained in November as Hibernian lost 3-2 at home to St Mirren on the opening weekend of the new season.
Boyle, who returned to action in midweek with a double in Hibs’ 6-1 UEFA Conference League win over Andorran club Inter d’Escaldes, started and played 63 minutes on Sunday.
Jimmy Jeggo was an 81st minute sub for Hibs, while for the Saints, Keanu Baccus put in a full shift and Ryan Strain started and played 91 minutes.
On Saturday, Calem Nieuwenhof made his Hearts debut as a starter alongside their three other Aussies in their 2-0 win at Ryan McGowan‘s St Johnstone.
Nieuwenhof, who joined Hearts from Western Sydney Wanderers in the off-season, started and played 59 minutes, earning a 6/10 rating from Edinburgh Live.
“Another new signing for the travelling support to cast their eye over. The Australian showed glimpses of what he’s capable of but at times was on a different wave length to his team mates,” Edinburgh Live wrote.
Cammy Devlin started and played 84 minutes, receiving a 6/10 rating for a “solid display”, while Nathaniel Atkinson and Kye Rowles both put in full shifts in defence, earning 6/10 and 7/10 ratings respectively. McGowan put in a full shift for St Johnstone.
On Atkinson, Edinburgh Live wrote: “Much like his fellow full back was tasked with getting up the pitch and supporting Hearts attack. Dragged a golden chance wide as the Jambos began to probe in the first half.”
On Rowles, Edinburgh Live wrote: “The big Aussie at the back was a calm and composed partner for new centre back Frankie Kent. The new pairing looked strong as they dealt with St Johnstone’s threat.”
There was no debut for Marco Tilio as Celtic won 4-2 over Ross County, with the Socceroos midfielder out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury.
In Belgium’s Pro League, Jordan Bos played a full game at left-back as Westerlo lost 1-0 at home to Club Brugge on Sunday.
On Friday, Aiden O’Neill put in a full shift as Standard Liege lost 1-0 to Union SG, while Jason Davidson played a full game in Eupen’s 1-0 away win over Genk.
Jackson Irvine played a full game and Connor Metcalfe started and played 70 minutes as 10-mn St Pauli drew 0-0 with Fortuna Dusseldorf in the German 2.Bundesliga.
James Holland was a 61st minute substitute for Austria Vienna in a 2-0 win at Austria Lustenau in the Austrian Bundesliga.
Patrick Yazbek put in a full shift while Nick D’Agostino was a 70th minute substitute as Viking won 3-2 over Bodo/Glimt in the Norwegian Eliteserien.
Others
Full games
Harrison Delbridge (Incheon United), Alex Grant (Pohang Steelers), Mitchell Langerak (Nagoya Grampus), Thomas Deng (Albirex Niigata)
Minutes
Mitch Duke – SB69 (Machida Zelvia), Patrick Flottmann – ST 60 (Seongnam)
Unused subs
Aaron Calver (Gwangju FC)
Absent
John Iredale (Wehen Wiesbaden)
Preseason done ✔️. Ready to go 💪🏼 @AZAlkmaar pic.twitter.com/atnM8oAgFa
— Maty Ryan (@MatyRyan) August 6, 2023
