Aussies Abroad: Irvine assists Boyle in Scotland as Hrustic overcomes Leckie in Bundesliga
Jackson Irvine assisted both of Hibernian’s goals in their Scottish Premiership victory as Ajdin Hrustic and his Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Mathew Leckie’s Hertha Berlin.
Meanwhile, Nikita Rukavytsya continued his purple patch with a nine-minute brace for Maccabi Haifa while on home soil, Socceroos striker Jamie Maclaren found the back of the net for Melbourne City.
Starting in the Scottish Premiership, both Irvine and Boyle were in sparkling form for Hibernian over the weekend as they helped their club to a 2-0 victory against Dundee United.
Irvine teed up both of his side’s goals with the first arriving by the boot of Darren McGregor on 21 minutes after the Socceroos midfielder rolled the ball into the path of the centre back.
Main image courtesty of Alan Rennie (@AlanRennie1).
The all-important second goal saw the Aussie duo combine as Irvine’s pinpoint through ball cut through Dundee’s defence and made its way to an onrushing Boyle who made no mistake with his finish in the 69th minute.
A dominant performance from Irvine did not go unnoticed with Hibs manager, Jack Ross, heaping praise on the Aussie.
“I think he’s got better with each passing game which isn’t surprising given he was out so long out but he’s hit the ground running in that respect,” Ross said on HIBS TV.
It was a disappointing outing for Tom Rogic’s Celtic who suffered a 2-1 defeat against St. Mirren.
Rogic entered the action in the second half when his side were already 2-1 down.
In the Bundesliga, Ajdin Hrustic’s Eintracht Frankfurt proved too strong for Mathew Leckie’s Hertha Berlin as they came out on top 3-1 in their affair on Saturday.
Leckie featured for the final 13 minutes of the contest after coming on as a substitute while Hrustic entered the action in the 82nd minute.
Danny Vukovic picked up his fourth cleansheet of the season for Genk as they were held 0-0 at Mechelen in the Belgian Pro League.
A draw sees the Aussie shot stopper’s side drop down to third on the table as they swap places with Royal Antwerp.
Elsewhere, Trent Sainsbury started and played 58 minutes for Kortrijk as they were outdone 3-1 at home to Sporting Charleroi.
In the Championship, Harry Souttar and his Stoke City escaped from Huddersfield with a point as they registered a 1-1 draw despite playing a man down for the second half.
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Massimo Luongo played the final 10 minutes for Sheffield Wednesday in their 1-0 win against Preston North End.
A last gasp winner saw Aziz Behich’s Kayserispor come away with all three points from their fixture against Kasimpasa in the Turkish SuperLig.
A 93rd minute winner proved decisive for Behich’s side as they remain teetering on the edge of the relegation zone.
Over to the Greek Super League where James Jeggo played 82 minutes for Aris Thessaloniki as they fell to a shock 2-1 defeat at Asteras Tripolis.
Israeli Premier League leaders Maccabi Haifa extended their lead at a summit as Australian marksman Nikita Rukavytsya registered a quick-fire brace in their 3-0 win over Hapoel Kfar Saba.
In the Saudi Pro League, Craig Goodwin featured for 70 minutes as his Abha Club went down 3-2 to Al Shabab on Saturday.
A head injury ruled out Bailey Wright for Sunderland’s clash this weekend as they drew 2-2 at home to Gillingham in League One.
Matchweek 6 of the A-League saw Rhyan Grant and Andrew Redmayne keep a clean sheet for Sydney FC in their 3-0 win over new rivals Macarthur FC, while a first-half goal from Jamie Maclaren was not enough for Melbourne City as they were defeated 3-1 by Perth Glory.