Cyle Larin stayed red-hot in a Southampton win, while Jonathan David found the back of the net in his La Liga debut and both Liam Millar and Theo Bair set up game-winning goals in the Championship.
Here’s a look at what Canadians were up to in Europe over the weekend.
Cyle Larin, Southampton
The Brampton Bagsman is the top scorer in the Championship right now and Cyle Larin did what he’s doing better than anybody else right now in Southampton’s comfortable victory over Bristol City on Saturday. Despite starting the season with a -4 points deduction, Saints are already up to eighth in the table and trail the leaders by only four points. It’s Larin who is leading the way right now for Tonda Eckert’s high-flying offence.
Perhaps comfortable victory might be a little misleading because it was the Robins who had the better of the early chances and kept up the pressure on the home side. Jason Knight forced a 10-bell save out of Daniel Peretz before a spectacular goal-line clearance by Keven Schlotterbeck stopped Dom Ballard from opening the scoring. It was Larin who finally took some pressure off in the 38th minute.
Taking a pass from Finn Azaz, Larin’s first touch was a nice one as he stepped around Joe Williams and worked into the D. He then let fly with a fine left-footed volley that left Sam Tickle with no chance to make it 1-0. It was another beautiful finish by the deadliest striker in the league at present.
Larin would score a second in the 66th, putting his poacher’s touch on display. Leo Scienza darted into the box before squaring a pass to the front of goal for the returning James Ward-Prowse. His effort was blocked by a sliding George Tanner, but Larin was fastest to the loose ball and slotted home from close-range. The goal took Larin to seven in seven league matches this season.
After Lorent Tolaj pulled one back for Bristol only five minutes later, two goals in four minutes from Kuryu Matsuki and Azaz, in the 82nd and 85th, put the match to bed. With a four-goal performance, Saints have now scored 18 goals in seven matches. Only West Ham, 6-0 winners over Wrexham on Friday, have more with 20.
Larin made way in the 78th for Divin Mubama, who is on loan from Manchester City. He finished his afternoon with three shots on goal. He also picked up a pair of fouls.
“It was a difficult game,” Larin said after the match. “I think just mentally and physically it was tough as we’re just playing back-to-back games and a lot of guys played a lot of minutes, but I think we dug in and we really had to fight for that one as a team. And then our quality came out and showed in the end. So I think it was a team performance.”
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Jonathan David, Atletico
Looking strictly at the scoreline, you would think Atletico strolled to a breezy victory over Real Sociedad on Sunday. The scoreline does not accurately tell the tale. While the visitors did pick up a 3-0 win, the tie was in the balance for much of the 90 minutes. Atleti escaped with the victory thanks to a trio of late goals, including a first La Liga marker from Jonathan David in his league debut.
The first half didn’t see many good chances for either side. Morten Hjulmand probably could have done better with his header from a Lee Kang-in cross in the 24th minute as it skipped harmlessly wide of Alex Remiro’s far post. Then just after the half-hour mark, some lax defending from Atleti on a Sociedad corner led to Luka Sucic stabbing a close-range effort just wide.
David, on loan from Juventus, stepped onto the pitch for his La Liga bow in the 60th, coming on for Marcos Llorente. A little over twenty minutes later, Atleti would be ahead. The game’s first goal came from the spot.
Alex Grimaldo whipped a free kick into the Sociedad area. Cuti Romero headed down near the far post and it bounced up and caught Job Ochieng’ on the arm. The ref immediately pointed to the spot despite the protests of the Sociedad players. In fairness to Ochieng’, the awarding of a penalty seemed rather harsh upon first blush. Yes, his arm was away from his body, but he was clearly attempting to get out of the way of the ball. In any event, it was Grimaldo who took the spot kick, sending Remiro the wrong way to make it 1-0 in the 84th.
It was then David’s turn to find the scoresheet and he was full value for it. Taking a pass from Grimaldo, David outmuscled Sergio Gomez and then turned Luken Beitia inside out. He then beat Remiro with a nicely placed low drive to make it 2-0 in the 90th. The goal was David’s first league goal since a Serie A marker against Bologna last April.
Giuliano Simeone would add a third goal at the death as Atleti claimed the 3-0 win. The three points represent a nice bounce-back from a midweek Champions League loss to Liverpool. The victory pulls Diego Simeone’s side into fourth in the table on 10 points, level with third-place Alaves and five back of leaders Barcelona.
David spoke with the team website after the match.
“As a forward, you always want to score goals,” David said, “especially with this goal, in my first La Liga [appearance] and also in a difficult game to help the team breathe a little bit. So I think that first goal came at the right time.”
The 26-year-old David says his transition to Spain has been easy thus far.
“It’s going well so far,” David said. “Everyone has welcomed me, helped me a lot with the training sessions, and in finding a house. Everything outside and on the pitch, everybody’s done a great job to help bring me up to speed, so I’m very grateful.”
David’s next match, Wednesday against Osasuna, will be his first in front of home fans at the Metropolitano.
“I played there a couple of years ago as a visitor and now as the home team,” David said. “So I’m very excited, impatient to see the fans and to feel the atmosphere.”
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Liam Millar, Birmingham City
It might have been a tough pill to swallow for Liam Millar in scoring a game-winning goal for Hull City in the Premier League to immediately going on loan back to the Championship, but the Toronto native is making the most of his time with Birmingham City. The Canada winger helped inspire Brummie’s 2-1 come-from-behind win Derby County on Saturday. The 26-year-old Millar set up both of Birmingham’s goals.
Millar cut a lively figure for much of the first half, making life difficult for Rams’ defenders with darting runs and inviting passes. He set up August Priske for a goal midway through the half, but it was immediately ruled off for an obvious offside. It was clear that Millar was itching to make his mark.
But it was the hosts who would strike first and there was, perhaps, a bit of an odor to the goal. After another spell of pressure from the Blues, Derby broke the other way. Sammie Szmodics sent a deft ball deeper into the box for the trailing Bobby Clark. Clark then unleashed a low drive that beat James Beadle inside the near post from a sharp angle in the 40th minute to make it 1-0. Beadle could have done better there.
The Blues would answer back almost immediately. Jhon Solis dispossessed Clark and immediately found Millar near the touchline. Millar then swung in an inviting cross to the far post that was met with a thumping Carlos Vicente header to make it 1-1 in the 42nd. Clark wanted a foul on Solis in the buildup, but the referee offered nothing.
Birmingham found its winner in the 63rd. After another big spell of pressure earned the Blues a corner, Millar’s ball in was headed home, again at the far post, by Paik Seung-ho. The Rams were livid with goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom believing he was impeded by Blues defender Christoph Klarer. There absolutely was contact between the two players, but Klarer appeared to be pushed into the keep by Derby’s Sondre Langas.
Millar now has three assists in three matches since returning to the Championship. He now has 15 for his career in the league. His record for assists in a season is five, hitting that mark twice, in 2023-2024 with Preston North End and last season with Hull.
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Theo Bair, Bolton Wanderers
Losers of four in a row and having conceded 11 goals in the defeats, Bolton needed a break when they hosted Cardiff City on Saturday. They got one, but it came very, very late. It was Ottawa’s Theo Bair who helped the Trotters earn a precious victory.
On loan from Auxerre, Bair came on at halftime of the scoreless (largely thanks to some heroics from Bolton and Ireland keeper Gavin Bazunu, who starred across the 90 minutes with a number of dynamite saves) match for Sam Dalby. It was part of a double change for the hosts with Samuel Iling-Junior making way for Thierry Gale. Coincidentally, it would be the duo of Bair and Gale who claimed the three points for Bolton.
Bair’s Canada teammate, Toronto’s Jayden Nelson, actually helped get the game-winning move started. Nelson, who came on in the 75th for Kyliane Dong, began the play with a smart give-and-go with Max Conway. Conway then went wide to find Bair, who had slipped behind his marker, inside the box. Bair looped a cross to the far post to an unmarked Gale, who headed home in the 90th to claim the victory.
It was just a second league appearance for Bair, who has one senior goal for Canada in seven appearances. It’s a second-straight loan spell for the 26-year-old Bair, who appeared in 23 league matches for Swiss side Lausanne-Sport last season. He scored six goals.
