Strike pair on target in good sign for Socceroos

Australia’s potential strike-pairing of Scott McDonald and Josh Kennedy for the opening FIFA 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Qatar, will come home in goalscoring form, after both found the back of the net for their clubs overnight.

Australia-s potential strike-pairing of Scott McDonald and Josh Kennedy for the opening FIFA 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Qatar, will come home in goalscoring form, after both found the back of the net for their clubs overnight.

McDonald-s irresistible form for Celtic continued in the 5th Round of the Scottish Cup, adding another two goals to his tally in a 5-1 rout of Kilmarnock.

However Kennedy-s goal on debut for his new club Karlsruhe was especially sweet, given that it was scored against his former club Nurnberg in a 2-0 win. Kennedy, who started the match, also played a key role in the opening goal with an incisive pass.

The pair were both replaced in the second half of their matches and will now head back to Melbourne for the all-important qualifier on Wednesday night at the Telstra Dome.

McDonald took his season tally to 20 goals from 26 matches, by far and away the leading goalscorer in Scotland, again showing his predatory skills inside the penalty box. He rifled home Celtic-s opening goal from close range after meeting a Nakamura cross and then added the side-s fourth goal with a shot from 12 yards, which singled his final contribution of the game.

As for Kennedy, he couldn-t have wished for a better debut for Karlsruhe after a difficult; injury-riddled spell at Nurnberg. He came back to haunt his old club, who are fighting to stave of relegation, with a good display that will have boosted his confidence considerably, after failing to get much game time at his old club. Ironically though, it-s Karlsruhe that is traveling along really well, the win sending them to 5th on the Bundesliga table.

It was his pass that laid the foundations for Karlsruhe-s first goal in the 66th minute, while he was on the end of a cross, volleying home from close range in the 74th minute. For Nurnberg, Michael Beauchamp came on midway through the second half.

Another player in goalscoring touch at the moment is David Carney, who scored for the second successive game, as Sheffield United drew 2-2 away at struggling Colchester. Carney-s equaliser rescued a point for The Blades. Also in The Championship, Nick Carle was replaced midway through the second half, as Bristol City lost 3-0 at QPR.

Several returning national team players faced off against one another in the Premier League, with Brett Emerton-s Blackburn Rovers sharing a point with Tim Cahill-s Everton. Both players played full games.

Lucas Neill played a full game for West Ham in a 1-0 loss against Wigan Athletic, while Harry Kewell was not included in the Liverpool squad that played at home against Sunderland.

In Italy, Mark Bresciano came on as a second half substitute and helped Palermo secure a valuable 1-0 win over Livorno, to keep them in the top half of the table.