Cyle Larin made it three goals in three matches to open the season, while Owen Goodman shone again in goal and Tajon Buchanan helped earn Villarreal a tough point on the road.
Here’s a look at Canadians in Europe over the weekend.
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Cyle Larin, Southampton
Southampton picked up their first points of the young Championship season on Saturday as Saints begins to dig out of an early hole. The team started their campaign on a -4 points deduction as part of the penalty that saw them thrown out of last spring’s playoff final for contravening league rules as part of an illegal spying practice. After a season-opening loss to Watford last week, Saints got into the win column at St. Mary’s against Stoke City with the red-hot Cyle Larin once again playing a big role.
Larin, who spent the second half of last season on loan with Saints from Mallorca, quickly won over the fans with a series of fine performances and timely goals, earning himself the nickname of “The Brampton Bagsman.” After his loan was made permanent ahead of the World Cup, Larin has repaid the faith the club has shown in him with two goals in two competitive matches. He made it three against the Potters very early on in the first half.
The play began in the Saints half where George Hirst did well to wrest possession back for the home side. He got the ball up to Flynn Downs, who sprung Larin behind the Stoke backline with a sensational through ball. Viktor Johansson came off of his line to attempt to cut the angle, but Larin fired through the wickets to make it 1-0 in just the eighth minute.
The goal was Larin’s third in three matches this season. He now has 10 league goals in 18 matches for Saints. He is now the seventh all-time top scorer among Canadians in the Championship. The all-time leader is fellow Bramptonian Iain Hume, who spent time with Leicester City, Barnsley and Preston North End, with 54.
Saints’ lead would last for under 20 minutes. In the 26th, Sam Gallagher sent a ball through the Southampton area that should have been cleared by one of the many Saints players in the box. Instead, it came to Manchester United academy product Ethan Galbraith who poked home the equalizer to make it 1-1.
That scoreline held for almost the rest of the match. Larin made way for new signing Divin Mubama, on loan from Manchester City, in the 78th. Larin finished his afternoon with four shots, two tackles won and a foul drawn.
Manager Tonda Eckert’s roll of the dice on Mubama was the right one. The England U21 forward opened his Saints account in the 89th to give the home side the lead. A Ryan Manning penalty in stoppage wrapped up the three points and a 3-1 victory for Southampton.
Up next for Southampton is a return to League Cup action. Saints heads to London for a date with West Ham, who are back in the Championship after a 14-year Premier League run, on Tuesday. Millwall then visits St. mary’s on Saturday for Southampton’s third Championship match of the season.
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Tajon Buchanan, Villarreal
After a third-place finish in La Liga last season, Villarreal said goodbye to manager Marcelino for a second time. The former Marseille, Valencia and Sevilla boss, who had previously been in charge at El Madrigal from 2013 to 2016, announced he would be leaving following three seasons in charge of the club last spring. The third-place finish was Villarreal’s best since 2013 when the Yellow Submarine were runners-up.
In Marcelino’s stead comes Inigo Perez. The 38-year-old Perez is one of the better young managers in Spain, having spent the past 18 months at Rayo Vallecano. Perez took Rayo to the UEFA Conference League Final last spring where they ultimately fell to Crystal Palace.
Perez was handed a tough start to his Villarreal tenure with two road games to start the season. After a 2-2 draw with Racing Santander to open the campaign, Villarreal had a visit to the Metropolitano and a date with Atletico on Sunday. Villarreal’s Canadian duo of Tajon Buchanan and Tani Oluwaseyi started the match on the bench. The game would stay scoreless until almost the hour-mark.
It was Diego Simeone’s hosts who struck first and they did so in style. In the 58th, Marc Pubill and Giuliano Simeone engaged in a quick give-and-go outside the Villarreal area. The Spain defender then struck a beautiful curling left-footed volley to beat Luiz Junior and make it 1-0.
Minutes later, Perez turned to Buchanan, who came on in the 61st for Ayoze Perez. The Brampton, Ont.’s impact would be almost instant. Morten Hjulmand was dispossessed by Santi Comesana deep in the Atleti half. The ball fell to Buchanan who muscled his way into the area before being taken to ground by Hjulmand. The ref immediately pointed to the spot. Gerard Moreno’s little stutter step completely froze Jan Oblak and it was 1-1 in the 66th.
Villarreal would then take the lead. Penned back in their own area, Buchanan won the ball back from Marcos Llorente and then sprung Georges Mikautadze forward. The Georgia striker raced towards goal where he was pushed to the ground by Robin Le Normand.
It was as obvious a penalty as you would see this weekend, but it somehow wasn’t given by the referee. Only after VAR intervention was it awarded and an incredulous Le Normand was shown a straight red. Despite his protestations, the Spain defender had nothing to complain about here. Mikautadze would take his own penalty and beat Oblak to make it 2-1 in the 78th.
But the hosts would earn something from the match in the end. On 10 men and against the run of play, Atleti broke forward through Alex Baena. The World Cup winner sent in a delightful through ball for Simeone, who beat Luiz Junior in the 85th to make it 2-2 and earn the draw. Questions could certainly be asked of the Brazilian goalkeeper on the goal.
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Owen Goodman, Dundee
Four years is an eternity in sports, but it might be hard for Owen Goodman to not have his eye on 2030. After serving as Canada’s third goalkeeper at this summer’s World Cup, the 22-year-old Crystal Palace product is on loan at Dundee. It’s a fifth straight loan to begin his professional career and it’s his highest-profile yet after having previously played in League Two and League One.
Goodman will be 26 when the next World Cup rolls around. Canada’s other two keepers, Maxime Crepeau and Dayne St. Clair, will be 36 and 33, respectively. That’s hardly ancient for a goalkeeper, but should Goodman continue on his current trajectory, he might be the favourite for Canada’s No. 1 shirt for the 2030 World Cup.
In the here and now, Goodman continued his strong start to life in Scotland with his first Dundee derby on Sunday as the Dee travelled across town to Tannadice Park to take on Dundee United. The visitors were hoping to keep the Terrors winless in the new season.
It was Goodman who made the first good stop of the match. From a United corner, an unmarked Vicko Sevelj headed towards the far post. Goodman did well to track it and poke it over the bar.
With the match still scoreless, the Dee struck minutes later. United pressed forward until an errant pass was picked off by Drey Wright. Wright kept the ball for himself and ran at goal before firing off a fine volley that caught Jack Walton flat-footed to make it 1-0 in the 43rd minute.
Goodman would make his best save in the second half to preserve the one-goal lead. Dylan Tait found a completely unmarked Abdoulaye Yoro at the near post. With time and space, Yoro’s low shot was nicely turned away by Goodman. Yoro threw his hands over his hand, unsure of how he didn’t manage to score.
Owen Bevan would put the match on ice shortly thereafter with, perhaps, the luckiest goal he will ever score. From a Dee corner, the ball ricocheted around the United area. It would fall to Alan Forrest, whose low shot was redirected by Bevan’s right leg as he picked himself off of the ground with his back to goal in the 57th. He might say he did it on purpose, but the timing was very fortuitous.
The visitors would hold on for the 2-0 win to move to the top of the table, level with Celtic. It was a second straight clean sheet in the league for Goodman. He finished his afternoon with four saves.
