#108 - Toure blunts Blades, Galic stars in Sweden and Young Socceroos nightmare

Magical Mo Toure is at it again! The 22-year-old continues his incredible scoring run for Norwich in the Championship, but could two out-of-favour Australian wingers finding form in Europe force their way into the next Socceroos squad?

We also look at a potentially long season ahead for Harry Souttar in League One, Riley McGree’s increasing minutes, and whether Scottish goalkeeper Jacob Chapman has done enough to enter the Socceroos conversation.

For the Matildas, Daniela Galic is flying in Sweden, while Ellie Carpenter and Alanna Kennedy continue their European campaigns.

England

Premier League

• Lucas Herrington helped Hull City secure another clean sheet in a 0-0 draw, coming on in the 71st minute.
• Hull sit second with seven points after an impressive start.
• Hull face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup next.

Championship

• Mohamed Toure scored again as Norwich beat Sheffield United 3-1, taking him to three league goals and equal fourth in the Championship scoring charts.
• Toure played 71 minutes in a midweek 1-0 loss to Stoke.
• Riley McGree continues to build minutes, playing 55 minutes in a 1-0 win over Millwall after starting and playing 61 minutes against Burnley.
• A difficult week for Alex Robertson and Cardiff City, with losses to QPR and Portsmouth.
• Callum Elder played the full match in Lincoln's 0-0 draw with Blackburn but was an unused substitute against Southampton.
• Kealey Adamson made an 18-minute substitute appearance for QPR.

League One

• Harry Souttar stayed at Leicester City and played the full match in a 2-0 win over Plymouth, before featuring in the 4-0 defeat to Oxford.
• Caleb Watts came off the bench against Leicester before scoring as Plymouth beat Doncaster 3-2.
• Luka Smyth featured in consecutive 1-1 draws for Notts County against Doncaster and Huddersfield.
• Sammy Silvera made substitute appearances in defeats/draws against Wigan and Wycombe.
• Raphael Borges Rodrigues made his Burton debut immediately after joining on loan.
• Clayton Taylor played 15 minutes in Barnsley's 5-1 loss to Stevenage.

League Two

• Peter Cklamovski's Salford City recorded consecutive wins, including a 1-0 victory over Port Vale.
• Kaelan Majekodunmi played a full match as Swindon beat Port Vale 3-1, then played the second half in another 3-1 win over Colchester.
• Swindon sit second in League Two.

Women's Super League

• Alanna Kennedy started and played the full game as London City Lionesses won 2-1.
• Ellie Carpenter started for Chelsea and provided the assist for the opening goal in a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.

Australians in Europe

Germany

• Paul Okon Jr started in midfield for Köln against Stuttgart before being substituted at half-time in a 4-1 defeat.
• Hayley Raso was sent off for Eintracht Frankfurt in a dramatic Champions League qualifier. Frankfurt eventually lost 6-2 after extra time.
• Jamilla Rankin featured in the second half of extra time.
• Connor Metcalfe played the second half as St Pauli drew 2-2, with Sam Klein also making a late appearance.

Portugal

• Nestroy Irankunda came off the bench as Sporting won 2-0.
• Circati played from the 62nd minute as Benfica won 3-0 away.

Netherlands

• Max Ballard started for NAC Breda in a 4-2 defeat after his side went down to 10 men.

Austria

• Jed Drew played 12 minutes as Hartberg won 3-2.
• Marco Tilio scored in Rapid Wien's 3-1 win and remains part of an undefeated league-leading side.
• Rapid were then beaten 5-1 by Salzburg, with Tilio coming off the bench.
• Tilio started again and played 64 minutes in a 5-2 Austrian Cup win over Klagenfurt.

Denmark

• Paul Izzo returned in goal as Randers won 2-1.
• Oliver Jones also gained valuable minutes after an injury-disrupted period since joining Randers.
• Marcus Younis played 65 minutes in Brondby's 3-1 defeat.

Hungary

• Daniel Arzani was outstanding for Ferencvaros, assisting the opener in a 2-1 win over Puskas Academy.
• Arzani then assisted another opener in a 3-0 win over Gyor, playing 70 minutes.

Norway

• Gianni Stensness played another full match for Viking as they continue to chase Bodo/Glimt at the top of the table.
• Viking drew 1-1 and now sit three points behind the leaders.

Scotland

A huge week for Australian players in Scotland.

• Cam Devlin started for Rangers in a 2-1 win over Falkirk.
• Ryan Strain provided assists in consecutive matches, continuing his excellent attacking form for Falkirk.
• Martin Boyle scored for Hibernian in a 2-1 win over Dundee before Hibs lost 3-1 to Hearts.
• Jake Iredale came on as an early injury replacement against Hearts before being sent off.
• Jacob Chapman was one of the week's biggest talking points, keeping a clean sheet in St Mirren's 1-0 win over Kilmarnock.
• Chapman then made five saves against Celtic in a 2-1 defeat. Could the St Mirren goalkeeper be a surprise Socceroos call-up?
• Jake Girdwood-Reich featured for Motherwell against Dundee United and Rangers.
• Josh Rawlins, Daniel Bennie and Zac Sapsford all started for Dundee United, with Lachie Rose featuring from the bench.

Slovenia

• Ya Ya Dukuly came off the bench in both a 4-1 defeat and a 2-0 bounce-back win for Celje.

Italy

• Cristian Volpato played 55 minutes as Sassuolo progressed in the Coppa Italia on penalties against Frosinone.

Sweden

• Daniela Galic was the star, scoring twice in Vittsjo GIK's massive 5-0 victory.

Women's Champions League

• Chelsea completed a 6-2 aggregate win over Real Sociedad, with Ellie Carpenter playing 60 minutes in the second leg.
• Hayley Raso's red card proved costly for Eintracht Frankfurt as PSG ran over the top in extra time to win 5-1 on the night and 6-2 on aggregate.

Asia & Beyond

Saudi Arabia

• Ange Postecoglou suffered a 2-1 defeat against Al Ittihad.

China

• Kevin Muscat guided Shanghai Port into the China Cup semi-finals with a 3-0 win over Shandong.
• Shanghai then drew 0-0 with Beijing Guoan.
• John Aloisi's Chengdu Rongcheng could wrap up the title.

Japan

• Jackson Irvine played the full match as Cerezo Osaka beat Kashiwa Reysol 2-0.
• Tete Yengi played 60 minutes as Machida beat Kawasaki Frontale 2-1.
• Steve Corica's Yokohama FC drew 1-1 with Kyoto.
• Eli Adams played the full match in a 2-2 draw with V-Varen Nagasaki.

MLS

• Aiden O'Neill returned for New York City FC, playing 20 minutes off the bench in a 0-0 draw with Nashville.
• Patrick Yazbek started for Nashville and played 55 minutes.
• Archie Goodwin played seven minutes in Charlotte's 0-0 draw with Houston.

Transfers

• Leticia McKenna joins Nottingham Forest for a record transfer fee.
• Hayden Matthews joins Bradford City on a season-long loan.
• Raphael Borges Rodrigues joins Burton Albion on loan for the season.
• Dylan Leonard joins Alemannia Aachen on loan in Germany.
• Kusini Yengi joins Sanfrecce Hiroshima on loan until the end of the year, with an option to make the move permanent.
• Ryan Fraser joins Macarthur FC.

Young Socceroos & Pathways

The Australia U-20s opened their Asian Cup qualification campaign with a controlled 2-0 win over Laos. Marcus Neill converted a penalty before Melbourne City's Lewis Marinucci found the far corner directly from a corner.

The Young Socceroos then drew 2-2 with Malaysia in a disrupted encounter, leaving qualification going down to the wire.

Australian Championship

• The groups for the inaugural Australian Championship have been announced.

New U-15 National Programs

Football Australia has announced Australia's youngest-ever national programs, introducing boys' and girls' U-15 National Select sides.

• The boys' team will compete at the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival in Azerbaijan in October.
• The girls' team will debut at the women's edition next year.
• From 2028, both U-15 World Cups are scheduled to be held annually.
• Michael Cooper has been appointed as Football Australia's Pathways Talent Identification Lead.
• The new programs are designed to give Australia's best young players their first experience of international tournament football.
• The U-15 tournament in Azerbaijan runs from October 22–31 and will use a modified, fast-paced format rather than traditional 11-a-side football.

Team of the Week

GK: Jacob Chapman

DEF: Ellie Carpenter, Lucas Herrington, Alanna Kennedy, Kaelan Majekodunmi

MID: Aiden O'Neill, Patrick Yazbek

FWD: Caleb Watts, Daniela Galic, Martin Boyle, Mohamed Toure

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