Canadians in Europe: Johnston bags first Celtic goal
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Alistair Johnston followed up his first Celtic trophy with his first goal, Alphonso Davies hit a record benchmark and Steven Vitoria and Stephen Eustáquio faced off in Portugal. Here's a look at Canadians in Europe over the weekend.
Alistair Johnston, Celtic - It's been a huge couple of weeks for Vancouver's Alistair Johnston in his first months in Scotland with Celtic. Last week, Johnston won his first trophy as Ange Postecoglu's side defeated Rangers in a League Cup Final edition of the Old Firm derby. Back in league action this past weekend, the 24-year-old right-back scored his first goal as the Bhoys ran rampant over St. Mirren. The afternoon didn't start all that well for the league leaders, though. In the sixth minute, VAR spotted a Greg Taylor handball in the area and the hosts were awarded a penalty. Mark O'Hara made no mistake from the spot, hammering past a diving Joe Hart to give St. Mirren an early 1-0 lead. But the tide would turn late in the first half. After a Trevor Carson goal kick, Johnston headed back into the St. Mirren half where the ball was met by Charles Dunne. Dunne attempted to simply corral the ball back to Carson, but a heavy touch allowed for Kyogo Furuhashi to slip behind him. Before Kyogo get in alone on Carson, Dunne hauled him down and the referee immediately produced a red card for eliminating a goal-scoring opportunity. St. Mirren made to halftime holding their lead, but the floodgates would open in the second half with the numerical advantage becoming just too much. Jota tied the game in the 56th, doing well to turn in a ball from Aaron Mooy at the near post. In the 61st, it was Johnston's time to shine. From a free kick, Mooy whipped his delivery to the far post where Johnston got over Mark O'Hara to head down off the defender and into the net. After briefly being ruled an own goal, it was awarded to Johnston. There had been some grumbles from the hosts that the ball went off of Johnston's arm, but there was nothing conclusive enough to rule out the goal. Celtic would go on to score three more to make it five goals in 25 minutes with Liel Abada, Matt O'Riley and Oh Hyeon-gyu finding the scoresheet to make it an emphatic 5-1 victory. The win takes Celtic nine points clear of Rangers atop the table.
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Jonathan David, Lille - Jonathan David got on the scoresheet once again on Saturday, but more importantly, he ensured Lille picked up a point against a team they are currently chasing in the latest edition of the Derby du Nord. LOSC visited Lens on the weekend to take on a team with European ambitions of their own. Lille would head into halftime down a goal by their own hand...well, head. In the 41st minute, Angelo Fulgini, on loan from Mainz, whipped a free kick into the box where it was met by the head of of Lille captain José Fonte. The Portugal defender was quite obviously attempting to head the ball away, but managed to head it past Lucas Chevalier into his own net to make it 1-0. Midway through the second, David would come to the rescue like he has so many other times this season. In the 69th, Benjamin André lifted a ball into the Lens area where it fell for Jonathan Bamba, but his effort was deflected. Remy Cabella was unable to turn it into the near post with coming back to Bamba, who headed down to a completely unmarked David at the far post to poke home to make it 1-1. For David, it was his 16th goal on the season to set a new career-high in Ligue 1. David still has 12 games remaining to add to his total. The draw ensure that Lens, currently in fourth spot in the table, didn't pull any farther away from LOSC in sixth with the gap in points remaining at six. Lille currently trails Rennes by a single point for Ligue 1's final European place.
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Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich - Edmonton's Alphonso Davies didn't score or pick up an assist in Bayern's 2-1 victory over Stuttgart on Saturday. He played a full 90 minutes, making five tackles and an interception, as well as 59 of his 70 pass attempts. While Davies put in another typically solid shift as he does regularly, what was remarkable about the match for Davies is what it represented. For the former Vancouver Whitecaps left-back, it was Davies' 100th Bundesliga appearance. At 22, Davies become the youngest non-German player to reach the mark. Interestingly enough, Davies hitting 100 league appearances means that every CanMNT player who has played in the Bundesliga has made at least 100 appearances. Davies still trails Etobicoke, Ont.'s Paul Stalteri, who made a combined 170 league appearances for Werder Bremen and Borussia Monchengladbach (2000-2005 and 2008-2010) and Calgary's Kevin McKenna, who made a combined 112 Bundesliga appearances for Energie Cottbus and Koln (2000-2001, 2006-2007 and 2008-2012). Calgary-born England midfielder Owen Hargreaves also played the majority of his career in the Bundesliga, making 145 appearances over seven seasons with Bayern Munich (2000-2007) before heading to the Premier League with Manchester United and Manchester City.
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Steven Vitoria, Chaves and Stephen Eustáquio, Porto - The CanMNT's two Portugal-based players met in Primeira Liga action on Saturday as Stephen Eustáquio and title-chasing Porto made a visit to Steven Vitoria and Chaves. With Porto in second place and eight points behind leaders Benfica, Sergio Conceição's side knew that any slip-ups going forward might make a title nothing more than a pipe dream. In the 15th, the visitors struck first. Otávio found Danny Loader on the edge of the area. The former England under-20 made some room for himself before dragging a low shot past Rodrigo Nascimento to make it 1-0. Porto would double their lead just before halftime. Coming down the left side, Otávio put Ricardo Guimarães on skates before finding Eustáquio at the edge of the area. The Leamington, Ont. native quickly and deftly returned service to Otávio, who struck to make it 2-0. The assist was Eustáquio's fifth on the season. The hosts would pull one back just after the restart through captain Vitoria. In the 53rd, Zaidu Sanusi was adjudged to have taken Joao Mendes down in the area and the referee pointed to the spot. Vitoria stepped up to take the penalty and hammered home to make it 2-1. It was Vitoria's fifth goal on the season, tying his previous Primeira Liga high set in 2019-2020 with Moreirense. That would be as close as Chaves would come, though, as a pair of sendings off would leave the hosts on nine men. First Jo was shown a second yellow for a challenge for Otávio in the 73rd before Joao Mendes would join him with an early exit after picking up a pair of yellows in quick succession in the 87th. Toni Martinez would ice the game in the sixth minute of stoppage to make it 3-1. Despite the loss, Chaves is 10 points up on the drop zone and should manage to avoid a relegation fight.