Aussies abroad: Former Socceroo stars against Celtic

Scott McDonald starred for Motherwell as the Scottish Premiership strugglers stunned Tom Rogic's Celtic 2-1 on Saturday (Sunday morning AEDT).

In a busy day for Australians in Scotland, McDonald inspired Motherwell to a come-from-behind victory against his former club, while Rogic played 74 minutes for the hosts at Celtic Park.

Rogic looked to have set Celtic on their way to a third win in four games when he teed up Nir Bitton for the opening goal in the 49th minute with a smart cut-back.

But just four minutes later, McDonald's impressive hold-up work instigated a Motherwell attack that saw Louis Moult level the match for the visitors.

The 32-year-old Socceroos striker then won a penalty just before the hour mark, with Jozo Simunovic tripping McDonald after the latter's sharp turn in the box, and Moult put Motherwell ahead from the spot.

The win saw Motherwell increase their gap on the relegation zone to four points, while Celtic's lead at the top of the table has been reduced to one by Aberdeen, although Rogic and Co. still have a game in hand.

Dundee United remain bottom but Ryan McGowan helped them to a 2-2 draw at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, with the Socceroos defender playing a full match.

In other Scottish Premiership action, Jackson Irvine put in a full shift for Ross County but his side lost 1-0 at Partick Thistle, where Ryan Edwards sat on the bench.

UK

In the Premier League, Adam Federici and Mark Schwarzer sat on the bench as both Bournemouth and Leicester City won again.

In England's lower leagues, Shane Lowry made his debut for Birmingham City, playing 79 minutes at left-back in a 1-0 win over Cardiff City on Friday in the Championship.

Lowy conceded after Birmingham's win that he would have liked to have been better on the ball but was happy enough with his performance.

"I knew it was going to be a tough game live on Sky [Sports]," he said.

"I haven't played a competitive game since April, so you know, I knew it was going to be a tough game, and playing against some tricky wingers, I thought I just have to dig in.

"I had to come off with cramp in the end, I just couldn't run anymore to be fair but I'm happy I've managed to get my debut. It's been a long time coming."

On Saturday, Alex Cisak completed a full game as Leyton Orient drew 1-1 with Yeovil Town in League Two.

James Meredith came on in stoppage time of Bradford City's 1-0 win at Chesterfield in League One, while Chris Herd was absent from the visitors' squad.

Elsewhere in the Championship, Jason Davidson (Huddersfield Town), Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers) and Tommy Oar (Ipswich Town) all sat on the bench.

Europe

Mathew Leckie played another full game but could not stop Ingolstadt from slumping to a fourth consecutive match without a win in the Bundesliga as Bayer Leverkusen defeated the Bavarian club 1-0.

Robbie Kruse watched from the bench as Stuttgart stunned Wolfsburg 3-1, while Mitchell Langerak was again out of Stuttgart's squad as he continues to work his way back to fitness following knee surgery.

In the 2. Bundesliga, Ben Halloran played 90 minutes in Heidenheim's 3-0 loss to Nuremberg.

Socceroos defender Trent Sainsbury also tasted defeat in the Eredivisie.

Sainsbury completed a full shift as PEC Zwolle lost 3-2 at PSV, while in Greece, Apostolis Giannou was involved from start to finish as Asteras Tripolis lost 1-0 to Veria.

Aziz Behich also played 90 minutes as Bursaspor went down 1-0 to Konyaspor in Turkey, while Josh Brillante (Como, Serie B) and Mat Ryan (Valencia, La Liga) sat on the bench for their respective clubs.

Asia

Brett Holman played 69 minutes in Emirates' 4-0 loss to Al Jazeera in the Arabian Gulf League.