Stephen Eustáquio scored his first goal in Major League Soccer. Plus, Ismaël Koné helped Sassuolo to an improbable win, while Ali Ahmed and Norwich City picked up a key three points. Here’s a look at Canadians in action over the weekend.
--
Stephen Eustáquio, Los Angeles FC
Canada soccer watchers have been beating the drum for months (maybe even over a year now) that Stephen Eustáquio’s lack of playing time at Porto was worrisome as the World Cup approaches with the Leamington, Ont. native being as key as he is to Canada’s fortunes. With the winter transfer window being his last chance at a move before the summer, there were sighs of relief when the 29-year-old midfielder joined Los Angeles FC on loan, linking up with a Canadian contingent at the club that also includes Mathieu Choiniere (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.), Jacob Shaffelburg (Kentville, NS), Ryan Raposo (Hamilton, Ont.), Thomas Hasal (Cambridge, Ont.) and new manager Marc Dos Santos (Montreal). Not only has Eustáquio been playing at LAFC, but he’s been making a difference.
After a 3-0 thrashing of MLS Cup holders Inter Miami on Matchday 1 in which Eustáquio played a full 90 minutes, LAFC hit the road to take on Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo proved to be very hospitable as they were more than happy to have their guests leave with a full three points thanks to some poor decisions. Once again, Eustaquio would make a mark.
The first big moment of the match came in first-half stoppage. With LAFC probing in the Houston half, the ball came to Son Heung-min with his back to goal. As he received the ball, he was fouled by Antonio Carlos. Referee Jon Freemon immediately went into his pocket and produced a straight red. Carlos and the rest of the Dynamo were incredulous. Replays showed that Carlos managed to stomp on the Tottenham Hotspur legend’s Achilles and the sending off was warranted.
The visitors broke the deadlock a little over 10 minutes into the second half thanks to a former Toronto FC man and he was full value for it. After taking a corner short, Son found veteran midfielder Mark Delgado at the edge of the 18-yard box. An MLS Cup winner with TFC, Delgado unleashed a fine right-footed volley to beat the diving Jonathan Bond to make it 1-0 in the 56th.
If it weren’t bad enough playing on 10 man, the Dynamo saw a further reduction in manpower in the 76th. Substitute Amin Boudri sent a fine through ball to spring Son behind the Houston backline. Before he could go 1-v-1 with Bond, he was hauled down by Agustin Bouzat. It was quite clearly last man back, so Freemon had little choice but to send off the Dynamo midfielder, putting the home side on nine men.
Eustáquio would make them pay in the 82nd. From another short corner, Son set up Delgado in almost the exact same position that he scored from earlier in the half. Instead of shooting this time, he squared up for Eustáquio, who took a a running start and hammered home with his right foot from about 20 yards out. It was Euatáquio’s first career MLS goal and his first goal of any kind since a Europa League against Lazio on Nov. 11, 2024.
--
Ismaël Koné, Sassuolo
What could have, and maybe should have, been a bad loss at home on Sunday for Sassuolo turned into an improbable victory against a buoyant Atalanta side coming off of a big comeback in the Champions League. In the match, Montreal’s Ismaël Koné once again demonstrated why the Neroverdi were so keen on turning his loan move from Marseille into a permanent.
The second leg of the UCL playoffs were on the verge of being a dark one for Italian football. With Scudetto holders Napoli already out of the competition, all of Atalanta, Juventus and Inter entered their second legs down two goals or more. Serie A leaders Inter stunningly went out to Bodø/Glimt, with the Norwegian side quickly becoming the Cinderella story of this season’s competition, and Juve were eliminated by Galatasaray despite a valiant fightback, but La Dea lived to fight another day. Atalanta defeated Borussia Dortmund, 4-1, overturning BVB’s 2-0 lead from the first leg, and ensured that the UCL Round of 16 wouldn’t be without an Italian side for the first time ever.
Returning to league play on Sunday, Atalanta was handed a major advantage early on in their match at Sassuolo. In the 16th minute as the visitors pressed for an opener, a Sassuolo clearance fell for Albania defender Berat Djimsiti. Before he could do anything with the ball, Andrea Pinamonti flew in with a reckless, studs-up challenge and was sent off immediately by referee Matteo Marchetti. The challenge was incredibly rash and there was little argument from the home side.
While the numerical advantage should have seen La Dea take control of the match, it was Sassuolo who snatched the opener. Armand Lauriente’s corner just cleared the head of Kristian Thorstvedt and fell right to Koné at the goalmouth. He quickly poked home with his right foot before Marco Carnesecchi had time to react to open the scoring in the 23rd. It was Koné’s fifth league goal of the season and second in five games.
Missing out on a goal in the first half, Thorstvedt would double the host’s lead in the 69th with a fine piece of skill. Taking a pass from Lauriente, the Norway midfielder ran at goal and unleashed a well-hit left-footed volley into the top corner of the Atalanta net to make it 2-0. La Dea would get a goal from United States forward Yunus Musah in the 88th, but that was as close as they would get with 10-man Sassuolo hanging on for the win.
After winning Serie B last season, a finish in the top half of the table this season would be a fine accomplishment for Fabio Grosso and Sassuolo, but with the three points on Sunday, the Neroverdi moved to eighth in the table on 38 points. While a finish in a European place would still be unlikely, it’s not outside the realm of possibility with Sassuolo now nine points back of Juve in sixth. The Neroverdi has only been in Europe once before, in 2016-2017, when a Europa League appearance ended in the group stage.
--
Ali Ahmed, Norwich City
Since the calendar turned from 2025 to 2026, things have been much better at Carrow Road. The chances of a relegation battle have grown more remote by the week following a run of seven wins in 10 matches for Toronto’s Ali Ahmed and Norwich City. The Canaries entered Saturday’s match with a chance to put even more daylight between them and the drop zone as they visited the King Power to take on relegation-threatened Leicester City.
Philippe Clement’s side got a key piece of business done on Friday that closed the book on an unwelcome distraction over the past several weeks. The protracted Josh Sargent saga finally ended with the wantaway United States forward officially completing his move to Toronto FC in what could end up being a record MLS transfer. The departure will allow both sides to move on from what became an increasingly acrimonious situation that saw benefit for neither party.
Ahmed found himself under fire in the early going. The former Vancouver Whitecaps man couldn’t put a lid on the run of Abdul Fatawu. The Ghana winger brushed aside Ahmed and headed towards goal. While Fatawu’s effort was blocked, the ball fell to Harry Winks, whose shot from distance forced an awkward save out of Vladan Kovacevic. Ahmed was apologetic towards his teammates after the danger was cleared.
Later, the Canaries broke the other way with numerical superiority. With Ahmed streaking to his left and with a step on his marker, Edmond-Paris Maghoma chose to shoot himself and dragged his effort just outside of Jakub Stolarczyk’s goal. While Maghoma’s shot was by no means poor, a pass to Ahmed might have been the smarter play that would lead to a better scoring chance.
Norwich would finally open the scoring in the 68th. After Stolarczyk brilliantly denied Anis Ben Slimane earlier, he wouldn’t get so lucky this time. Teed up by Sam Field, Slimane’s right-footed shot made it just inside the post and past a diving Stolarczyk to make it 1-0. It was the Copenhagen-born Tunisia midfielder’s fifth marker on the campaign.
The Canaries would wrap up the three points 10 minutes later. From a free kick, Kenny McLean went wide for Kellen Fisher. Fisher sent in an ball for Errol Mundle-Smith, but it was stopped by Luke Thomas. Mundle-Smith regained possession and fired from close range. His effort was deflected by the trailing leg of Stolarczyk across the face of goal where Ahmed was unmarked to poke into an empty net in the 78th to make it 2-0. The goal was Ahmed’s third Championship goal in nine games, matching his career total in 68 MLS contests.
The victory puts the Canaries 11 points clear of the Foxes and the drop zone. The loss continues a dreadful winless run for Leicester, now up to nine matches. Their last victory came on Jan. 5 against West Brom.
