One of the Canadian national team's most reliable faces is doing his thing at the club level in Europe, too. Atiba Hutchinson’sPSV Eindhoven suffered a setback in European play, but can do no wrong in the league.
Despite holding 70 percent percent of possession, PSV lost to Swedish-side AIK 1-0 in the Europa League last Thursday, dropping them into third place in Group F. But they rebounded in a big way with a 5-1 win over Heerenveen this past weekend to move into first place in the Eredivisie. It was their seventh straight league win.
In Germany, Olivier Occean’sEintracht Frankfurt have cooled off after their fast start to the Bundesliga season. They have just one win in their last five games after losing 2-0 to league-leaders Bayern Munich this past Saturday. Occean came on in the 58th for third-place Frankfurt.
In the 2.Bundesliga, Randy Edwini-Bonsu made just his third appearance of the season for Eintracht Braunschweig, coming on in the 83rd minute of a 1-1 draw with Erzgebirge Aue last Friday.
Also in Germany’s second flight, Kevin McKenna got a rare 90 minutes last Friday as FC Köln played MSV Duisburg to a scoreless draw. It was McKenna’s seventh appearance of the season.
Braunschweig currently sit atop the 2.Bundesliga table, while Köln are 12th.
One rung further down, defender Adam Straith hadn’t played for more than a month for 3.Liga side FC Saarbrucken, but saw 90 minutes of action in his side’s 3-3 draw with Wehen Wiesbaden on Saturday.
Over in England, forward Marcus Haber’sStevenage continue to sit near the top of the League One table despite picking up a loss over the weekend. Haber played 77 minutes as Preston North End dropped third-place Stevenage 4-1 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Iain Hume and Doncaster Rovers have slipped back a bit. Hume played the full 90 minutes on Saturday but couldn’t find the back of the net as Doncaster lost 1-0 to AFC Bournemouth. Doncaster have lost back-to-back games and are now ninth in the table.
In Norway, Tosaint Ricketts has just one chance left to pick up a win with Vålerenga before his short-term contract ends at the end of the season.
He came off the bench in the 60th minute on Sunday for his second appearance with the club, but Vålerenga lost 2-1 to Lillestrom. They sit eighth in the league heading into the last matchday.
READ: Ricketts saga comes to a temporary conclusion
In Turkey, a healthy Milan Borjan between the posts was a welcome sight for supporters of Süper Lig club Sivasspor.
The Canadian national team No. 2 had left his club's game on Oct. 27 with a knee injury, but he made his return last Friday as Sivasspor snapped a three-game losing streak with a 1-0 victory over Eskisehirspor. Sivasspor moved up to 10th place with the win, seven points back of first in a very close top flight race.
In Portugal, Pedro Pacheco and Santa Clara have won back-to-back games and have moved up to 13th place in the Liga de Honra, Portugal’s second division. Pacheco started and got an hour on the field in a 1-0 win over Maritimo II on Sunday.
In Cyprus, Issey Nakajima-Farran’s AEK Larnaca saw their unbeaten streak come to an end this past Saturday. Nakajima-Farran came on in the 81st minute as Larnaca lost 2-1 to AEL to slip three points back off the top and currently sit in third place through nine games.
