Aussies Abroad: Arzani debuts for FC Utrecht, Vukovic's first league game in 380 days

Daniel Arzani made his unofficial debut for FC Utrecht in a friendly against Go Ahead Eagles in the Netherlands while Danny Vukovic’s injury nightmare is finally over after he played his first league match in 380 days for his beloved Genk in the Belgian top flight.

Socceroos winger Daniel Arzani made his unofficial debut for FC Utrecht in a friendly against Go Ahead Eagles in the Netherlands on Saturday.

The friendly was broken up into two 60 minute matches due to the extreme heat in the Netherlands.

Arzani featured in the first match which saw his side fall to a 1-0 defeat.


The 21-year-old was upbeat despite the defeat as he looks to settle in with his new team and force his way into contention for a place in the starting line-up when the Eredivisie season kicks off next month.

“It was just good to get the minutes in the legs. I think that’s the most important thing,” Arzani told FC Utrecht.

Danny Vukovic put in a full shift between the sticks for Genk as they ran out 2-1 winners against Zulte Waregem in the Belgian Pro League on Monday morning.

The Socceroos shot stopper’s long journey to recovery finally came to an end as he made his first league appearance in 380 days in the season opener overnight.

In the J League, Mitch Langerak’s Nagoya Grampus enjoyed a comfortable 6-2 victory against Thomas Deng’s Urawa Red Diamonds on Saturday night.

Both Langerak and Deng put in a full shift for their respective clubs that night as Nagoya ran riot in the first half, scoring five unanswered goals.

The three points means that Grampus remain in 4th on the league ladder while Urawa drop to 7th.

In the Scottish Premiership, Martin Boyle played the full game for Hibernian as they recorded a 4-1 victory away to Livingston on Sunday morning.

Kevin Nisbet scored a hat-trick for Hibs while Livingston’s only goal arrived from Aussie Lyndon Dykes who converted from the penalty spot on the hour mark.

The win propels Boyle’s side to the top of the table with only Rangers and Ross County also managing to maintain perfect records after the first two rounds.

Tom Rogic was absent for Celtic as they were held to a 1-1 draw against Kilmarnock on Monday morning.

Milos Degenek put in a full shift for FK Crvena Zvezda as they won 3-0 away to Macva Sabac in the Serbian SuperLiga on Monday morning.

The victory mean that his side stay top of the league with three wins from their first three fixtures while they are yet to concede a goal.

In the K League, Brandon O’Neill started and played 85 minutes for Pohang Steelers as they salvaged a 1-1 draw at home to Gwangju FC.

The visitors broke the deadlock via the penalty spot just after the hour mark before O’Neill’s replacement, Go Young-jun, made sure that his side escaped with a share of the spoils with a 90th minute equaliser.

That last ditch leveller sees Pohang retain 4th spot on the league table as they keep hot on the heels of the top three.

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Terry Antonis and Adam Taggart’s Suwon Bluewings played out a 0-0 stalemate against Ulsan Hyundai on Saturday night.

Antonis was introduced on the half hour mark for the Bluewings whilst Taggart was an unused substitute.

Ulsan ended the match with 10 men after Kim Tae-hwan was given his marching orders for his second bookable offence in the dying moments of the encounter.

The draw sees Suwon fall to a worrying 11th on the league table.

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