AMSTERDAM—Rubio Rubin made his first start of the Eredivisie season on an eventful Saturday night, as FC Utrecht staged a pair of second half comebacks to pull out a 3-3 home share with Cambuur.
The US Olympic team candidate put in a full shift, but was badly starved for touches while the visitors staked out a slim halftime lead. Utrecht equalized at 1-1 before falling behind again, this time by two.
After Rubin was stoned by the Cambuur netminder midway through the second period, Utrecht then scored on 72 and 83 minutes to grab a point. The young American made a fine slip pass bid to set up a stoppage-time winner, only to watch recipient Nacer Barazite stopped at close range. With but one defeat in their last six league games, the Red-and-White Army tentatively sit 10th.
Over in France, Alejandro Bedoya and Nantes fell apart after the break, learning a 4-1 lesson from visiting Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
Both the US attacker and the rest of the Canaries started the contest in solid fashion; Bedoya set up Yacine Bammou to ring the woodwork shortly after the Canaries striker had opened the scoring on 11 minutes. He then played Jules Iloki into the PSG box in the 22nd minute, but the winger pull his shot wide of the far post from a sharp angle.
Bedoya completed 19 of 22 passes on the night, but was also whistled for four fouls in the attacking end. Four straight league losses have pushed Nantes all the way down to 17th place.
Over in Norway's Tippeligaen, Zarek Valentin and Bodø/Glimt all but kissed their Europa League hopes goodbye with a 3-1 defeat at third place Strømsgodset. The right back saw yellow on his return from suspension as the visitors dropped consecutive road games for the first time since June.
Around the league, Rhett Bernstein had a rough day at the road office as survival playoff spot holders Mjøndalen suffered a 3-0 loss against Lillestrøm.
The defender was pulled in the 75th minute after struggling to deal with the home front line. Vancouver Whitecaps loan forwrd Erik Hurtado came on to work an active second half for Mjøndalen, almost notching an assist when Mads Hansen somehow put his provided sitter inches wide six minutes after intermission.
Turning to the Armenian Premier League, Bryan de la Fuente bagged a late rally double to earn Ararat a 2-1 derby triumph at Ulisses.
The former Chivas USA attacker converted from the spot midway through the second frame to level matters and then slalomed past three home side defenders to fire the 86th minute winner. The visitors' comeback allowed them to snap a four-game losing skid.
Finally, in Bulgaria's A-PFG, Bjørn Maars Johnsen and 10-man Litex Lovech retained first place on goal differential after battling for a 1-1 away draw at second place Ludogorets Razgrad.
