Alistair Johnston faced a new injury worry, while Charles-Andreas Brym stayed red-hot and Bim Pepple helped secure a key victory for Plymouth Argyle.
Here’s a look at Canadians in action over the weekend.
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Alistair Johnston, Celtic
The mood surrounding Alistair Johnston’s return to the Celtic lineup on Saturday quickly turned sour. The 28-year-old Canada right-back came on as a substitute in the 52nd minute of the Scottish Premiership leader’s 2-1 over Hibernian. It was Johnston’s third appearance of the season and first since Aug. 9, having been sidelined with a recurrence of a hamstring issue.
But it became quickly evident that Johnston had not yet recovered. The Vancouver native was forced off only 21 minutes later with Cameron Carter-Vickers coming off in his stead. More worryingly for Johnston is the fact that he was limited to just seven league games all of last season with the same injury.
“We’re not sure just at this moment,” Celtic boss Martin O’Neill said of Johnston’s status after the match. “When you’ve had a couple of hamstring problems, I think that your concern is anything you might feel is a bit of a niggle. I don’t know. He’s not sure, neither is the doctor at this minute. He’ll obviously need a scan and we’ll see how he is.”
The incident did not sit will with some Scottish football pundits, including former Bhoys midfielder and manager Neil Lennon. The 55-year-old ex-Northern Ireland international, who won a combined 10 league titles at Parkhead as a player and manager, believes the training staff at the club must come under scrutiny.
“I don’t understand it,” Lennon said on Sky Sports. “This isn’t the first time this has happened to Alistair, so I don’t know what is going on behind the scenes. You know, the medical team, the fitness team and the coaching team have felt that he is fit to play some part in the game – but quite clearly that has not been the case. For me, [O’Neill] obviously can’t diagnose it straight away and what the damage is – if there is any – that has been done. I doubt it’s a psychological thing, knowing Alistair Johnston, he is obviously feeling something is not right.”
Johnston is in his fifth season with Celtic after a move from CF Montreal. In his time at the club, Johnston has won four league titles, three Scottish Cups and a pair of League Cups.
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Charles-Andreas Brym, NAC Breda
Charles-Andreas Brym’s torrid run of form continued on Friday as NAC Breda hosted leaders Heracles in Eerste Divisie action. Uncapped by Canada for nearly three years, the 28-year-old Brym hopes this purple patch forces himself back in Jesse Marsch’s conversation ahead of the November international window. Canada will take on Guatemala in a two-legged CONCACAF Champions League tie.
The Montreal-raised Brym headed into the match having scored six goals in his last five games. He didn’t take long to make it six straight matches with a goal. Brym showed great individual quality to create the goal.
A little over 10 minutes into the match, Brym took possession of the ball near midfield. Dancing in between Djevencio van der Kust and David Vicente, Brym darted towards the goal. Feigning a shot, Brym squared for Mohamed Nassoh just outside the D. Nassoh let rip with a hard strike. It was parried away by Fabian de Keijzer, but right into the path of Brym, who tucked it away into an empty net in the 11th.
With the goal, his seventh on the season, Brym is now averaging 1.02 goals per 90 minutes. He’s already bettered his league goals total from the last three seasons combined. Brym needs only four more goals to make his career-best in a single Eerste Divisie season, the 11 he scored with FC Eindhoven over 29 games in 2022-2023.
Worryingly, though, Brym’s match ended early. Just 16 minutes after he scored, Brym came off for Brahim Ghalidi. While he walked off under his own power, it appeared that Brym was dealing with a leg ailment.
NAC was unable to hold onto the lead, though. Only eight minutes after Brym’s goal, Tristan van Gilst levelled matters from the spot for Heracles. That would be all the scoring for the day as the match finished at 1-1. NAC now sits sixth in the table on 21 points, eight behind Heracles and four behind VVV for the final automatic promotion place.
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Bim Pepple, Plymouth Argyle
Bim Pepple’s breakout season with Plymouth Argyle last year earned the England-born, Calgary-raised forward his first senior call-up to Canada. Called into the squad for a pair of March friendlies, Pepple did not ultimately feature, but he is now certainly on Jesse Marsch’s radar. And why wouldn’t he be? Pepple finished last season with 16 League One goals.
Managed by former Manchester United and England midfielder Tom Cleverley, the Pilgrims finished short of the playoff places last spring, but are once again mounting a promotion push this year. The current season marks Argyle’s second in League One since being relegated from the Championship in 2025 after a two-year stint there. While it’s obviously still early days in the season, Pepple and Argyle appear to be on course to be a player come the spring.
On Saturday, the Pilgrims visited another team with promotion aspirations in Cambridge United. The U’s, back in League One after a one-year stint in League Two, are looking for a return to England’s second tier for the first time in 25 years. Managed by former Millwall and Cardiff City gaffer Neil Harris, Cambridge’s early returns have good. They entered the match one point clear of Argyle in the playoff places.
It was the hosts who got the scoring started just before halftime...unfortunately on their own goal. From a Xavier Amaechi corner, defender Louis Appere headed the ball into his own net at the near post in the 41st to make it 1-0 for Argyle. Goalkeeper Jake Eastwood, who had been kept busy earlier, was powerless to do anything about it.
The Pilgrims made it two to the good early in the second half. Taking a pass from Tyreeq Bakinson just outside the D, Harvey White used traffic in front of the net to beat Eastwood to make it 2-0 in the 50th. Eastwood was completely screened on the low drive and reacted to it far too late to make a save.
Sullay Kaikai finally gave the home fans something to cheer about only minutes later. A cross from Liam Bennett skipped across the face of the Argyle goal. An alert Kaikai beat his marker to it and dinked it in at the far post to make it 2-1 in the 57th.
Pepple made his mark in the 74th with a goal that would prove to be decisive. A deep ball sprung Will Evans through on net. Eastwood came out to challenge and took Evans to ground with the referee immediately pointing to the spot. Up stepped Pepple, who sent Eastwood the wrong way and tucked home his fifth of the season.
Shayne Lavery would go on to score a late consolation goal, but the Pilgrims would hold on for a key 3-2 victory. The win leapfrogged the U’s in the table, sending Argyle into fourth. The Pilgrims now sit on 22 points, only one back of Stockport in second and three back of leaders Huddersfield Town.
Since joining Argyle on a permanent deal ahead of last season in a move from Luton Town, Pepple now has 21 league goals and two assists in 47 League One appearances. Marcus Haber, who was capped 27 times by Canada between 2010 and 2016, holds the all-time mark for goals for a Canadian in League One with 50. He made 137 appearances across six seasons with Exeter City, Stevenage, Notts County and Crewe Alexandra.