While many around the world are in the midst of enjoying the holiday season, Issey Nakajima-Farran and the Brisbane Roar have definitely fallen on some hard times during the month of December.
Nakajima-Farran went 59 minutes as the Roar dropped their most recent Australian A-League match 1-0 to Gold Coast United on Monday, the fifth defeat in a row for the once high-flying club. Brisbane have fallen to third in the league after starting the season with an eight-match unbeaten streak.
Over in Europe, Mike Klukowski and Josh Simpson were the only Canadians in action outside of the United Kingdom in a slow week across the continent.
Teammates at Manisaspor of the Turkish Süper Lig, Klukowski and Simpson both took part in last Wednesday’s 1-0 loss at Galatasaray. Both Canadians received yellow cards in a foul-filled affair that saw the hosts take sole possession of first place while Manisaspor fell to 10th in the standings.
Up in Scotland, St. Johnstone grabbed a big 3-0 away victory over Dunfermline, with 22-year-old attacker Marcus Haber going the full 90 minutes in the match. Haber was directly involved in the Saints’ second goal. It was his shot that was mishandled by the opposing ‘keeper, which allowed a teammate to pounce on the loose ball for the easy score.
To the south in England, David “Junior” Hoilett played 75 minutes of Blackburn Rovers’ massive 1-1 Boxing Day draw at Liverpool. Hoilett was subbed off with a minor leg injury.
Also in the Premier League, Simeon Jackson had to watch from the bench as Norwich City were taken apart by Gareth Bale and Tottenham Hotspur to the tune of 2-0. Norwich are in 11th place after 18 rounds of EPL play.
A division below in the Championship, David Edgar went the distance on the back line for Burnley in a 3-0 defeat of visiting Doncaster Rovers on Monday. Burnley have won five of their past six league matches and currently sit ninth in the table.
Meanwhile, down in England’s League One, Iain Hume was the lone Canadian goalscorer of the past week, having notched Preston North End’s first goal in a 3-3 shootout with Carlisle United. The goal was Hume’s sixth in 14 league appearances for PNE so far this season.
