Stephen Eustáquio helped Swansea City end its losing run, but got injured in the process. Plus, Owen Goodman contributed at both ends of the pitch in Dundees midweek win.
Here’s a look at Canadians in recent European action.
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Stephen Eustáquio, Swansea City
Stephen Eustáquio helped proved that Swansea City’s blip in form appears to be over, but Saturday’s comfortable win over Blackburn Rovers came at a cost for the Leamington, Ont. native. Eustáquio couldn’t finish the full 90 minutes. The midfielder came off late with an apparent injury.
Coming off of a pair of losses, including a 5-0 shellacking at the hands of QPR last Saturday, the Swans wanted to use Saturday’s match to show that they were still the team that had one four straight games before the losing streak. Despite dropping two in a row, Swansea was still firmly towards the top of the table and positioning themselves in a fight for automatic promotion. The Swans last played Premier League football in 2018.
By the 11th minute on Saturday, Swansea would prove that this wouldn’t be a repeat of the QPR match. Passing the ball of to Josh Tymon at the touchline, Eustáquio began to float inside the area. Tymon’s ball near the penalty spot skipped past Ross Stewart, but was picked by Joseph Opoku. Opoku ran at goal and then spotted an unamarked Eustáquio at the far post. Opoku sent a perfect ball past a trio of Rovers defenders for Eustáquio to poke into the net to make it 1-0.
The goal was Eustáquio’s second of the Championship season in his ninth appearance. Interestingly enough, two is Eustáquio’s career-high in league goals. He’s scored two goals on three occasions in his career with the last time coming with Porto in 2023-2024.
The Swans would go on to get further goals from Opoku (32nd), Filip Lissah (36th) and Stewart (59th) to round out the well-deserved victory to move up to second in the table, three points behind leaders Middlesbrough. But there was concern in the 73rd when Eustáquio came off for Adam Idah with a suspected groin injury.
“He felt discomfort in his groin, so we need to assess and really see the extent of that and whether it looks serious,” Swans boss Vitor Matos said on Monday. “But he felt something there, so let’s see. First we’ll assess and then I can speak about it.”
Eustáquio previously missed time earlier in the season with a shoulder injury. Swansea plays two more matches ahead of next week’s international break. Eustáquio’s status should become known ahead of Tuesday’s visit to Portsmouth.
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Owen Goodman, Dundee
Dundee hasn’t played European football in over 20 years, but a fine start to the Premiership campaign has the Dee dreaming of what could come next season. Dundee finds itself fifth in the table, but only one point back of fourth-place Falkirk with a game in hand. A large factor in Dundee coming out of the gate strong has been the lay of Owen Goodman.
The 22-year-old London-born Canada goalkeeper is in his fifth loan spell away from parent club Crystal Palace, but the venture to Scotland represents his biggest test to date. In early returns, Goodman seems up to the challenge. He showed his mettle midweek in the Dee’s 3-1 win over Kilmarnock.
With Dundee up 1-0 through Joe Bevan, Goodman made a 10-bell save early in the second half. Played in on a give-and-go with Greg Kiltie, Joe Hugill smashed a hard volley from just behind the penalty spot. Goodman reacted quickly, diving to his right to parry out what looked like a sure goal. Hugill was left in disbelief.
Minutes later, some sloppy defending from the Dee let Hugill in for another opportunity. Not far from where he stop his first shot, Hugill unleashed again and once again, Goodman answered the call. This time, he swiped the shot over the bar with his right hand.
Hugill wouldn’t be denied, though. In the 72nd minute from a Killie corner, Charlie Reilly was adjudged to have hauled down George Stanger and a penalty was awarded. The call was a controversial one, but really shouldn’t be. Stanger’s shirt was clearly tugged and by the letter of the law, it’s a penalty. The issue is that kind of contact most often goes uncalled, so when the penalty is given, it feels like an injustice against the penalized squad.
Nevertheless, Hugill stepped up to take and the third time was the charm. Goodman guessed right, but his dive wasn’t enough to keep out Hugill’s hard strike to make it 1-1. Still, Goodman would have the last laugh.
After Ashley Hay scored in the 83rd to give the Dee its lead back, Goodman would help put things on ice in stoppage. With Killie pressing forward looking for a late equalizer, Goodman sent a booming goal kick down field that met the head of Hay, who bounced the ball over the head of MJ Kamson-Kamara. Goalkeeper Nico Mantl rushed out to cut the angle, but Hay did well again to dink the ball away from the keeper and slot into the empty net to wrap up the 3-1 win. Hay’s goal gave Goodman his first assist in Scottish football.