Canadian striker David Hoilett’s triumphant return to the Blackburn Rovers lineup was spoiled by a controversial penalty that allowed Fulham to take the full three points in a crucial Premier League clash over the weekend.
Hoilett, the 20-year-old Toronto-area native who has been a regular feature at Blackburn this year, came back from a brief injury spell to rejoin the Rovers starting lineup. With his club down 2-1, Hoilett’s 65th-minute strike to put Blackburn back on level terms was nullified when Fulham’s Bobby Zamora converted an 89th-minute penalty that saw the officials swarmed by the Blackburn players following the final whistle.
The match ended 3-2 for Fulham, and the result meant the London side leaped three points ahead of Blackburn in the extremely crowded middle of the EPL table.
A division down, Iain Hume played the full match for Championship cellar-dwellers Preston North End in a 1-1 draw with promotion candidates Norwich City. Hume has also been battling injuries in recent weeks, and this was the first full game for the 27-year-old since his return to fitness.
On the other side of the pitch, striker Simeon Jackson was an 81st-minute addition to the match for Norwich as the Canaries pushed in vain for a late goal in an attempt to secure all three points.
Elsewhere in the Championship, David Edgar continued to get garbage time minutes for Burnley, entering their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in second-half injury time.
[inline_node:329610]Over in Holland, Atiba Hutchinson (at right) started in the midfield for PSV Eindhoven and scored a beautiful goal, PSV’s second of three in a 3-2 away victory at Excelsior Rotterdam.
Hutchinson received a pass on the left wing, ran at a defender, and juked his way into the Excelsior area before slipping the ball past the onrushing keeper from a tight angle. It was just his second league goal of the season, but Hutchinson and PSV continue to ride high in the Eredivisie, topping the table comfortably with a third of the season left to play.
In Turkey, Josh Simpson sat out with a suspension as his side Manisaspor won 2-1 at Kayserispor. Simpson can rest assured that his starting spot will be there for him next week as his 11 league goals leads all Manisaspor players so far his season.
A few hours east, Michael Klukowski returned to MKE Ankaragücü’s stating lineup and played the full 90 as his team defeated visiting Konyaspor 2-0 in Turkish SuperLig play.
Kevin McKenna was out injured as FC Köln fell 1-0 to league-leaders Borussia Dortmund in a Bundesliga encounter. Köln sit in 11th place in the table.
In the German second-tier, Marcel de Jong played the full match at left back for FC Augsburg in a 5-2 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf. Augsburg remain in second place in the 2.Bundesliga.
The Serbian SuperLiga resumed play after a long winter break, and newly minted Canadian international goalkeeper Milan Borjan was between the pipes for FK Rad in a 3-0 dispatching of crosstown rival Cukaricki Stankom.
Denmark’s SAS Ligaen also kicked off the second half of its season, and midfielder Issey Nakajima-Farran featured for AC Horsens in a 2-1 victory over Odense Boldklub. Nakajima-Farran was subbed out of the match after 93 minutes.
Even further north, the Finnish League Cup is in full swing, and Riley O’Neill scored his club MyPa’s only goal in a 2-1 loss to TPS Turku. O’Neill has scored in consecutive matches since joining the team last month after stints at various lower-division German sides.
Another Canuck also found the back of the net for a new team. Edmonton’s Tosaint Ricketts was the hero for Romanian club FC Politehnica Timisoara as he entered at the 71st minute of a deadlocked match vs. CFR Cluj and proceeded to score the winner to help Timisoara edge out a 2-1 win.
In the Belgian league, 37-year-old Tomasz Radzinski started up front for Lierse and went the distance in a 1-1 draw with KAS Eupen.
Half a world away in J. League’s Division 2, 21-year-old Matthew Lam started and played 82 minutes of a 3-0 win for JEF United Ichihara Chiba over Kitayushu. Lam is on loan from upstart FC Edmonton of the NASL and is the first Canadian to play professionally in Japan.
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