Jonathan David stayed red-hot with a derby winner for Atletico, while both Stephen Eustáquio and Liam Millar bagged their first league goals for their new sides.
Here’s a look at Canadians in Europe over the weekend.
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Jonathan David, Atletico
It’s inevitable to make a snap judgment following a transfer. You can like the early returns or you can think a team and/or player has made a big a mistake. Jonathan David and Atletico fall into the former camp.
After scoring a goal in his first two La Liga matches, the Brooklyn-born, Ottawa-raised forward did one better on Sunday. The 26-year-old forward on loan from Juventus bagged the winner in his first taste of El Derbi Madrileño. And like so many of those derbies before, this one was not without its moments of controversy.
The match would be Jose Mourinho’s return to a derby that historically had treated him kindly in his previous stint at the Bernabeu. In fact, “The Special One” held a 6-0 advantage over counterpart Diego Simeone from 2010 to 2013. But things would be different on Sunday.
The first big controversy came in the 38th minute. Cuti Romero and Jude Bellingham both went for a loose ball with the latter sliding in to clear it. Romero made it to the ball first, but his follow-through resulted in his boot coming down hard on Bellingham’s upper leg with a stomp. While Mourinho and Los Blancos wanted a straight red, only a caution was issued by the referee.
Early in the second half, Giuliano Simeone, who had snuck in behind the Real backline, appeared to be ready to latch onto a deep ball in the area that would have put him in alone on Thibaut Courtois. As this was happening, he was hauled down by Dean Huijsen. The ref immediately pointed to the spot, but then headed over to the VAR screen to see if what the Spain defender did merited a sending off.
After a check, the referee determined that Huijsen denied a clear and obvious goal-scoring opportunity and showed the former Bournemouth man a red card. Mourinho was aghast. Alex Grimaldo stepped up to take the ensuing penalty and the hosts went up 1-0 in the 52nd.
It was David, then, who would put the match out of reach only minutes later. Stretched thin thanks to being down a man, the Real backline hung Courtois out to dry here. Simeone came down the left being marked by Marc Cucurella, but also drawing in Toni Rudiger and taking the focus of Denzel Dumfries. This allowed David to slip into the area in between Dumfries and Ibrahima Konaté to receive Simeone’s cross and to slot home in the 59th to make it 2-0.
David made it three league goals in three matches. The feat is a rarity among Atleti players. In fact, David became the first player this century to score three goals in his first three La Liga matches for the team.
Rudiger would pull one back in the 89th, but it wasn’t enough as Atleti claimed Madrid supremacy. The victory sprung Atletico into second in the table, one point clear of Real. Barcelona, with seven wins from seven matches, still sits in first place, five clear of Atleti.
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Stephen Eustáquio, Swansea City
Swansea City hasn’t played Premier League football in nearly a decade, but that could change in time for next summer should Vitor Matos’s side maintain this hot start. After a victory on Saturday at League One champions Lincoln City, the Swans now sit atop the Championship table after eight matches. Leading to the victory was none other than Stephen Eustáquio, who scored his first-ever Championship marker.
It was the hosts who would open the scoring at ProAmpac Stadium and they did so from the spot. The Imps were reliant on balls over the top and it was a successful strategy for much of the first half with Lawrence Vigouroux forced into action on a number of occasions. In the 39th, another deep ball was sent in to Freddie Draper just inside the box where he was bundled over from behind by Josh Tymon and the referee awarded a penalty. Reeco Hackett then stepped up and hammered the ball into the roof of the goal, leaving Vigouroux with no chance, to make it 1-0.
After the Imps took that scoreline into the half, the hosts would answer back in the 47th through Moussa Yeo and a deft deflection. With Swansea buzzing around the area, Melker Widell sent a hard cross towards the goalmouth that Yeo did well to redirect past George Wickens to make it 1-1. Wickens pleaded for an offside flag, but none was coming.
It was Eustáquio, then, who took centre stage to wrap up the three points for the away side just four minutes later. The goal, his first in a Swans shirt, came with a bit of luck. Swansea was once again enjoying the lion’s share of possession. Filip Lissah cut through the area and dropped the ball off for Eustáquio steps outside of the the D. The Leamington, Ont. native unleashed a right-footed volley from distance that took a deflection and left Wickens completely helpless to react. Swans would hold on for the 2-1 win.
“We knew if we started well in the second half, we knew we had a chance to win the game,” Eustáquio said after the match. “Happily, Moussa’s goal helped [lead] the way. Then we [scored] the 2-1 [goal], we put the game on our terms. Obviously, they had to go after it and I don’t think they were very comfortable going after a result.”
The victory was the Swans’ fifth in eight league matches, becoming the first side in the Championship to reach the five-win mark. Swansea now sits two points clear of West Ham and Middlesbrough atop the table.
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Liam Millar, Birmingham City
Liam Millar is the kind of player who is going to run with the ball if you let him. After being a key component to Hull City’s return to the Premier League last season, he was sent back to the Championship on loan in the final days of the summer transfer window. The move came only days after he scored his first Premier League goal, a game-winning marker in Hull’s 1-0 win over Coventry City.
While a move down a division after fighting so hard for promotion might deflate some players, the Toronto native has responded very well to his loan with Birmingham City. Already an important player under Chris Davies, Millar followed up an assist on the game-winning goal last week with his first goal in a Blues shirt on Saturday as Brummie hosted high-flying Middlesbrough.
It was 10 minutes after United States midfielder Max Arfsten opened the scoring that Millar bagged his first goal. Tomoki Iwata dinked a fine pass to Jhon Solis at the edge of the box. Ashley Phillips did well to dispossess Solis, but the ball fell to the trailing Millar whose low drive beat Radek Vitek to make it 1-1 in the 55th.
Brummie would take the lead minutes later on a Riley McGree own goal, but the visitors would secure a late point on an Adilson Malanda goal in the 88th as the match would finish at 2-2. Neither side could really complain about the result. It was another strong showing for Millar, who now has four goal contributions in four matches with the Blues.
