Canadians in Europe: Eustáquio stays hot in Porto win

Leamington, Ont.'s Stephen Eustáquio made it two goals in two games for Porto, while three Canadians took the pitch in an entertaining draw in the Scottish Premiership. Here's a look at Canadians in action in Europe over the weekend. 

Stephen Eustáquio, Porto - After a goal in the Champions League in midweek, Leamington, Ont.'s Stephen Eustáquio found the back of the net again in a return to Primeira Liga action on Sunday against Vizela. Last week, Porto picked up a 4-1 win over Antwerp in Group H action with Evanilson bagging a hat trick, but Eustáquio got onto the scoresheet about 10 minutes into the second half with what would be the match-winning goal. Winning a ball at midfield with the score at 1-1, Eustáquio dished off to Mehdi Taremi and headed towards the goal. Taremi went wide to Joao Mario, who cut inside the area and after some fancy footwork, squared a pass to Eustáquio to strike home with his right foot. After three matches, Porto sits second in the group on six points, three back of leaders Barcelona. Back in Portugal, Porto found themselves with a must-win match against third-from-bottom side Vizela. If Sergio Conceicao's side wanted to continue their title fight in what is already is shaping up to be a tight battle with Sporting and Benfica, they couldn't afford to drop points against a relegation-threatened team. Midway through the first half, Porto was awarded a penalty. Bruno Wilson was adjudged to have taken Evanilson down in the area with very little protest from the home side. Taremi took the spot kick and, after a running start, sent his shot under a diving Fabijan Buntic to make it 1-0. Just before the half, Eustáquio would make it two goals in two matches and it was a pretty one. With the balling bouncing around the Vizela end, Eustáquio collected just outside the area, put Anderson Jesus on skates and unleashed a powerful volley just underneath the crossbar to make it 2-0 in the 44th. The match would end on that scoreline, putting Porto in third place on goal differential, level on points with both Benfica and Sporting. For Eustáquio, it was his third goal of the season across all competitions.

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Victor Loturi, Ross County and Harry Paton and Theo Bair, Motherwell - Two Canadians met in Scottish Premiership action on Saturday in a wild encounter that saw both teams share the points. All six goals in the match between Motherwell and Ross County were scored after the 65th-minute mark. It was Eamonn Brophy who opened the scoring for the visitors in the 65th. Collecting a pass from Kyle Turner, his whipped-in shot from inside the area was too much for Liam Kelly to handle. The Motherwell 'keeper managed to get a hand to it, but not enough of it to keep it out. The Staggies would go two-up in the 73rd and appeared to be in cruise control with questions to be asked of Kelly. Simon Murray did well to dink around Kitchener, Ont.'s Harry Paton to get his shot off, but Kelly could have done better to handle to the low, bouncing effort that skipped past him to make it 2-0. The home side would pull one back in the 79th from the spot. Mika Biereth was played into the area by a beautiful through ball and raced in alone on Ross Laidlaw. Laidlaw came off his line to cut the angle and took the Arsenal loanee to ground with the referee immediately awarded a penalty. Biereth sent Laidlaw the wrong way to pull the hosts within one at 2-1. But Ross County would restore their two-goal cushion thanks to an opportunistic Victor Loturi of Calgary. After Alex Samuel bundled into one defender and took him out of the play, the ball fell to Loturi, who had a step on Georgie Gent. Holding off Gent, Loturi's shot was stopped by Kelly, but he was fastest to the rebound and poked home to make it 3-1 in the 83rd. Somehow, though, that wasn't enough for the Staggies to pick up three points. In the 88th, Biereth pounced on some comical Ross County defending to find Conor Wilkinson. Wilkinson cut inside Ryan Leak and then outwaited him to beat Laidlaw with his left foot to make it 3-2 in the 88th. Then deep into stoppage, the Steelmen produced an equalizer. As a desperate Motherwell pressed forward, Dan Casey knocked down a cross at the goal mouth that found its way to Luca Cross, who got the ball across the line to send the home fans wild and earn a 3-3 draw in the fourth minute of stoppage. Ottawa's Bair played 60 minutes, registering a shot on goal. Paton played the full 90 minutes, winning four tackles and drawing a foul. Loturi also played the full 90, drawing a foul and making an interception to go along with the goal. It was Loturi's first goal in Scotland in his second season after a transfer from the Canadian Premier League's Cavalry FC.