Mat Ryan continues to impress in the Dutch Eredivisie, keeping his fourth straight clean sheet as AZ Alkmaar secured a 0-0 draw away to giants Ajax on Saturday.
Ryan has been exceptional lately for AZ, having joined the fourth-placed Eredivisie club in January from FC Copenhagen.
The Socceroo’s latest performance drew praise from AZ defender Sam Beukema who said: “He is really a perfectionist. I have not seen that before. He comes before the match with vision of Ajax from last year, which he was not even there yet, with ‘look, we have to do this’. He is really obsessed. It really feels like I’ve been playing with him for a year now, so our collaboration is great.”
One of Ryan’s best moments with a one-on-one save from Brian Brobbey in the 42nd minute, where he dived low to his right and thwarted the attempt, before blanketing the follow-up from Steven Bergwijn.
The result doesn’t really help either side’s Champions League qualification hopes, with Ajax third on 63 points and AZ fourth on 61 with three games to play. PSV are second on 68 points, with the top two qualifying.
Ryan’s AZ are into the UEFA Conference League semi-finals where they will face West Ham United in midweek.
Aaron Mooy and Celtic clinched the Scottish Premiership title with a 2-0 away win over Hearts on Sunday.
Mooy was a 70th-minute substitute and provided the assist for Oh Hyeon-Gyu’s 80th-minute goal to seal victory, earning a 6/10 rating from Glasgow Live, who wrote: “Great ball for Oh’s goal.”
Despite a run of games off the bench lately, Mooy has been a big part of Celtic’s success this term, with 29 league appearances including 13 starts and four goals.
Kye Rowles put in a full shift for Hearts, while Cameron Devlin started and played 74 minutes. Nathaniel Atkinson was unused, while Garang Kuol was absent.
Rowles was rated 8/10 by Edinburgh Evening News who wrote: “As he often does, made a number of interceptions in the penalty area with great positioning.”
Devlin got a 6/10 rating: “Off the ball he was great. On the ball he left a lot to be desired with loose passing.”
Jackson Irvine put in a full shift and Connor Metcalfe was an 81st minute substitute as St Pauli boosted their promotion hopes with a 3-0 win at German 2.Bundesliga leaders Darmstadt on Saturday.
The result, combined with third-placed Hamburg SV’s draw, keeps St Pauli in the hunt for promotion with three games to play. Hamburg are in the playoff spot on 57 points, with St Pauli four points behind.
Ajdin Hrustic was absent due to injury as Hellas Verona claimed a massive 1-0 win at Lecce to move out of the drop zone and three points clear of 18th-placed Spezia in the Italian Serie A on Sunday.
Cristian Volpato was an unused substitute as AS Roma lost 2-0 at home to Inter Milan in the Italian Serie A on Saturday. The result hurts Roma’s top-four hopes with four games to play.
Denis Genreau, who won the Coupe de France last week, was absent for Toulouse’s 0-0 draw at Ajaccio in the French Ligue 1 on Sunday after his partner gave birth to their child, a boy called Louis.
Awer Mabil may have scored a match-winning double last week but he was an unused substitute as Sparta Prague triumphed 1-0 at Sigma Olomouc in the Czech 1.Liga Championship Group on Sunday. Sparta are top by two points from rivals Slavia Prague.
Mitch Langerak kept a clean sheet as Nagoya Grampus beat Gamba Osaka 1-0 in the Japanese J1 League on Saturday. Nagoya are third on the table after 12 games.
Quelle semaine pour @DenisGenreau !
Notre milieu de terrain australien est papa depuis hier d’un petit Louis 👶
Toutes nos félicitations à sa compagne et lui, et bienvenue à son petit garçon 😊💜 pic.twitter.com/ovn1wUIBHQ
— Toulouse FC (@ToulouseFC) May 6, 2023
Others
Full games
Jimmy Jeggo, Ryan Strain, Mark Birighitti, Aziz Behich, Gianni Stensness, Alex Grant, Lachlan Jackson, Aaron Calver, Ash Maynard-Brewer, Massimo Luongo, Cam Burgess
Minutes
Lewis Miller – SB 91, Keanu Baccus – SB 46, Patrick Yazbek – ST 76, Nick D’Agostino – SB 61, Mitch Duke – ST 89, Stefan Mauk – SB 62, Peter Makrillos – ST 87, Harrison Delbridge – SB 79, Brad Smith – SB 88
Unused subs
James Holland, Doni Grdic
Notable absentees
Fran Karacic, Thomas Deng
