Liam Millar stayed red-hot to lift Birmingham City to a big win, while Jacen Russell-Rowe kept Toulouse moving up the Ligue 1 table and Charles-Andreas Brym made it five straight games with a goal in the the Netherlands.
Here’s a look at Canadians in Europe over the weekend.
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Liam Millar, Birmingham City
Liam Millar probably didn’t think this is how his season would be going right now had you asked him this past summer, but he’s making the best of it. Undoubtedly disappointed to be back in the Championship and not playing in the Premier League, the Toronto-born winger’s current form has Birmingham City challenging for automatic promotion through the first two months of the season. On loan from Hull City, Millar’s sensational run continued on Saturday with a visit from QPR.
Millar opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark. From a QPR corner, the Blues broke back the other way through Jay Stansfield when Rayan Kolli and Kealey Adams got their wires crossed. Stansfield found Tomoki Iwata, who sprung Millar in behind the QPR back line.
Pierce Charles, in at goalkeeper for the Hoops, paid for some indecision. Unsure how to handle the oncoming Millar, Charles left his line to cut the angle too late. By the time he made it out, Millar had decided on a low shot and beat Charles to make it 1-0 in the 27th minute. It was his second goal in two matches and third in four.
But Millar wasn’t done yet. In the opening minutes of the second half, Brummie would extend their lead and put the match out of reach. Millar took centre stage again.
Near midfield, Bright Osayi-Samuel was dispossessed, but Iwata won the ball back before Glen Kamara could do anything with it. With the Blues coming forward in numbers, Patrick Roberts found Iwata at the edge of the area. To his left was a ridiculously unmarked Millar. Played in by Iwata, Millar struck with his first touch and beat Charles again to make it 2-0 in the 49th. It marked the first brace for Millar since scoring two goals for the Liverpool reserves side against Arsenal in 2018.
With the win, the Blues moved to fourth place on 20 points after 11 matches. Birmingham sits only two points behind West Ham for automatic promotion and three back of Swansea City for top spot. The Blues are looking to return to the Prem for the first time since 2011.
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Jacen Russell-Rowe, Toulouse
When Jacen Russell-Rowe moved to Ligue 1 last season from Columbus Crew, what he was looking for was opportunity. So far, he’s found that. The Toronto-born forward has become a fixture in Les Violets’ lineup and he made his sixth start of the season this past Friday at Le Mans and made an impact.
Coming off of a 2-2 draw with Monaco, Toulouse looked to make it four games unbeaten. The visitors had a number of chances in the first half, but couldn’t find pay dirt. In the waning minutes of the first 45, Russell-Rowe struck from just inside the area with his right foot, but it was batted away by Nicolas Kocik.
Russell-Rowe wouldn’t be denied the next time. From kick-off, Toulouse came forward through Aron Donnum. The Norway forward played the ball to the lip of the area for Russell-Rowe. Cutting inside on Harold Voyer, Russell-Rowe unleashed a fine left-footed volley to beat Kocik and make it 1-0 just :24 into the second half.
The goal, Russell-Rowe’s second of the season, was all Les Violets would need. Donnum got one of his own in the 59th before Casper Tengstedt scored his fifth goal in four matches in the 87th to round out a 3-0 victory. It was a comfortable win for Jens Berthel Askou’s side, who moved into 11th in the table.
Russell-Rowe wasn’t the only Canadian to play in Friday’s match. Midfielder Niko Sigur of Burnaby, BC also started for Toulouse. It was his second start since arriving from Hajduk Split in the final days of the transfer window. He played all 90 minutes, winning a tackle and making three interceptions.
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Charles-Andreas Brym, NAC Breda
Montreal’s Charles-Andreas Brym is a victim of a deep Canadian forward corps when it comes to opportunities with the national team. The 28-year-old winger does have 13 Canada caps since his international debut in 2020 and he has a goal to his name, in a friendly against Barbados, but he hasn’t appeared for Canada in more than two years. With the likes of Promise David, Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Tani Oluwaseyi almost automatic inclusions in any Canada side, Brym doesn’t know when that next call-up will come, but he’s not simply waiting around.
Plying his trade in the Dutch Eerste Divisie, a rung below the Eredivisie, with NAC Breda, Brym is in torrid form and that continued this past Friday. Taking on Helmond Spot, NAC looked to make it four wins in five as the team plots its return to the top flight. Like he has so often before over the past month, Brym once again rose to the occasion.
Late in the first half, Brym completed a move he started himself. Snuffing out a Helmond move, Brym launched the ball forward into the attacking half. Moussa Soumano pressured Flor Van Den Eynden into a poor clearance and the visitors moved forward with intent.
With Jannes Van Hecke looking for a pass to his right, Mohamed Nassoh glided into the area and sent the ball to his left to Soumano. Soumano expertly spotted the run of Brym, who made his way towards the penalty spot unmolested, and floated in a perfectly weighted header. Brym met it with aplomb to make it 1-0 in the 39th.
The goal was Brym’s sixth on the season and sixth in his past five matches. Back in the Eerste Divisie for the first time since 2023, Brym is now only five goals back of his career-best mark set with FC Eindhoven in 2023. He scored those 11 goals in 29 games. Brym has needed just nine this season to reach six.
Soumano would add a second from the spot in the 55th to make it 2-0 and help NAC wrap up the three points. With the win, NAC moved up to fifth in the table. The team now trails Brym’s former side, Almere City, by two points for automatic promotion and sits eight points behind leaders Heracles.