Aussies Abroad: Brad Smith breaks long goal drought, Irvine and Boyle set up Cup Semi-Final
Brad Smith scored his first goal in over five years in a man of the match performance for Seattle Sounders, while Jackson Irvine broke his duck for Hibernian in a Cup epic!
Catch up on an action-packed weekend of Aussies Abroad action right here!
Smith broke a barren run in front of goal which lasted over five years when he headed home the Sounders’ equaliser against LAFC in their 1-1 stalemate on Saturday.
The Socceroos defender headed in from close range after Raul Ruidiaz’s header was originally parried and fell into the path of the onrushing Smith.
The drought-breaking goal in the 54th minute was his first goal since January 2016 when he got on the scoresheet for Liverpool in their FA Cup tie.
Only just the second goal of his professional career, Smith believed that his side's new formation allowed him to get further up the pitch to score as he also touched on his desire to add more goals to his repertoire in his post-match interview.
“It’s been a while," Smith told Seattle Sounders’ website.
"From the position where I used to play as a left back, I’m generally trying to find the strikers on crosses.
"This position gives me more freedom to go forward, and Nouhou [Tolo] is my security guard at the back, so I have the freedom to get myself forward and put myself in positions that I wasn’t able to do as a left back.”
“Hopefully, I can add many more to that.”
In Scotland, our two Hibernian Socceroos played important roles as their side advanced to the final four of the Scottish Cup.
Jackson Irvine scored his first Hibs goal to double their advantage with less than ten minutes remaining, however a pair of late strikes from Motherwell ensured the match would go to extra time - and penalties.
Martin Boyle held his nerve to dispatch the first spot kick of as Hibernian prevailed 4-2 in the shootout.
In Denmark, Awer Mabil assisted FC Mitdjylland's fourth in a 4-1 win over FC Kobenhavn, that ensured his side would remain one point clear on top of the league table, with a game in hand on their nearest rivals Brondby.
Three days later AGF Aarhus would come up against the same opposition, where Australian U-23 Zach Duncan made his long-awaited return to senior action with a late cameo in a 2-1 defeat.
Heading to the Championship where Harry Souttar returned to the starting line-up for Stoke City after serving his red card suspension.
He played the full match in the heart of defence as they endured a 1-1 stalemate at Nottingham Forest.
Meanwhile, Riley McGree started and played 53 minutes for Birmingham City as they confirmed their survival thanks to their 2-1 win against Derby County.
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In the Bundesliga, Ajdin Hrustic was an unused substitute for Eintracht Frankfurt as they suffered a 3-1 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Aziz Behich played the full game for Kayserispor as they went down 3-1 to league leaders Besiktas in the Turkish SuperLig.
In League One, Bailey Wright put in a full shift for Sunderland as they came away with a point in their 3-3 thriller against Accrington Stanley.
A share of the points sees the Black Cats remain in third place with three matches remaining in the regular season.
Meanwhile, it was a disappointing outing for Kenny Dougall’s Blackpool as they suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Shrewsbury.
That is now back-to-back defeats for the Seasiders whose place in the playoffs is under jeopardy with Portsmouth and Charlton waiting in the wings below them.
Brandon Borrello started and played 57 minutes for Fortuna Dusseldorf as they were beaten 2-1 at Paderborn in the 2. Bundesliga.