There were certainly mixed emotions for Aussies in the English Premier League this weekend - here is a wrap of how our overseas contingent faired over Easter.
There were certainly mixed emotions for Aussies in the English Premier League this weekend - here is a wrap of how our overseas contingent faired around the globe over the Easter break.
UK
Mile Jedinak scored the only goal from the penalty spot in a 1-0 win for Crystal Palace away to West Ham United. The Socceroo didn't celebrate as a mark of respect for countryman Dylan Tombides, the young Hammers forward who passed away on Friday after losing his battle with cancer. It was Jedinak's first English Premier League goal and ensured the Eagles will retain their top-flight status for next season after notching their fifth consecutive win.
Mark Schwarzer broke another record, becoming the oldest player to take the field for Chelsea in the EPL when he was handed his Blues debut against Sunderland. Unfortunately the goalkeeper became part of an unwanted bit of history, with his side's 2-1 loss ending manager Jose Mourinho's 77-match unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge. It was an unhappy outing for the retired Socceroos legend, who will feel he should have done better to deny the Black Cats an equaliser and Schwarzer was unable to prevent on-loan Liverpool striker Fabio Borini converting from the spot late-on.
In the Championship, Scott McDonald came on with five minutes remaining in Millwall's 2-1 win at Middlesbrough.
Massimo Luongo played a full game for Swindon Town as they defeated Coventry City 2-1 on the road in League One.
Jackson Irvine completed 90 minutes for Kilmarnock in their 2-1 Scottish Premiership loss at home to Partick Thistle. Dylan McGowan fared better, starting and finishing the game for Hearts as they defeated Ross County 2-0 at home.
Europe
James Holland was part of the Austria Wien team that defeated Wolfsberger AC 3-1 at home. Mat Ryan helped Club Brugge keep a clean sheet in a 2-0 home win over Genk in the Belgian Pro League playoffs last week.
Mitch Langerak was in goal for Borussia Dortmund in their 4-2 Bundesliga win at home to 10-man Mainz, continuing his record of never losing a league game for German giants. A tier below in the 2. Bundesliga, Mathew Leckie opened the scoring but was unable to prevent his FSV Frankfurt team from going down 3-2 at Kaiserslautern. Ben Halloran also scored first for Fortuna Dusseldorf in a 3-0 win away to Sandhausen.
In the Swiss Super League Dario Vidosic came on at half-time in Sion's 0-0 draw away to Young Boys. Oliver Bozanic played the full game in Luzern's 2-1 win at Aarau.
Luke Wilkshire was introduced with 14 minutes remaining in 10-man Dinamo Moscow's 2-1 Russian Premier League loss at home to Krasnodar.
Asia
Jonas Salley played the full game for Guizhou Renhe in their 2-1 Chinese Super League win away to Henan Jianye. Adam Hughes started and finished Harbin Yiteng's 2-1 loss at Hangzhou Greentown, while Daniel McBreen completed 90 minutes in Shanghai SIPG's 1-1 draw at Dalian Aerbin.
In South Korea's K-League, Alex Wilkinson's Jeonbuk enjoyed a 2-0 victory away to Jeonnam, who introduced Robbie Cornthwaite off the bench with eight minutes to go. Luke DeVere returned to Gyeongnam's starting XI and helped to keep a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw at home to Sangju Sangmu. Aleksandar Jovanovic also played 90 minutes for Jeju Utd in their 1-0 home win over Incheon.
Josh Kennedy started and finished but didn't find the back of the net in a 2-0 J-League loss for Nagoya Grampus away to Ventforet Kofu. Mitch Nichols came on with 10 minutes to go as his Cerezo Osaka lost by the same scoreline at Tokyo.
North America
Fit-again Tim Cahill returned to action for New York Red Bulls in their 2-1 MLS win at home to Philadelphia Union last week.
On the bench
Brad Jones (Liverpool), Adam Federici (Reading), Alex Cisak (Burnley), Caleb Patterson-Sewell (Gil Vicente), Ryan McGowan (Shandong Luneng), Billy Celeski (Liaoning Whowin)
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