After winning back his starting spot at Turkish club Sivasspor, goalkeeper Milan Borjan backstopped his team to perhaps their biggest result of the year this past weekend, a 2-0 shutout of league leaders Fenerbahçe.
Borjan, who was brought into the side during the summer to be the No. 1 ‘keeper, was recently relegated to the bench following a spell of injuries and poor form. Since returning to the pitch, he has played in three straight Süper Lig matches, two of which were clean sheets that led to victories.
Sivasspor’s latest victory puts the club in a four-way tie for eighth place after 10 rounds of play.
A couple of other Canadians also found themselves in the win column in Turkey’s top flight this weekend. Mike Klukowski and Josh Simpson both took part in Manisaspor’s 1-0 victory on Saturday against visiting Antalyaspor. Klukowski went the distance while Simpson played 79 minutes before being substituted.
Meanwhile in Germany, Olivier Occean just keeps scoring. In 2.Bundesliga action on Saturday, Occean was the hero for SpVgg Greuther Fürth, scoring in stoppage time to secure a 2-2 draw at FC St. Pauli.
Occean’s goal – an opportunistic strike from inside the St. Pauli six-yard box – was his eighth of the season, keeping him near the top of the league scoring charts.
Also seeing time in the German second division this past weekend was defender Adam Straith, who played the final 35 minutes for FC Energie Cottbus in their 2-0 defeat to SC Paderborn.
The same couldn’t be said for big striker Rob Friend, who watched from the bench as his team, Eintracht Frankfurt, won 2-1 at FC Erzgebirge Aue to remain in second place in the German second tier.
Across the northern border in Denmark, Patrice Bernier and Lyngby BK fell 3-0 at table-toppers FC København. Bernier went 90 minutes for Lyngby, who are sitting second to last in the Danish Superliga.
The results were similar for Canucks in England’s top flight. On Saturday, David “Junior” Hoilett continued his string of 90-minute performances for Blackburn Rovers, although his club dropped another Premier League decision in a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea. Blackburn are off to a terrible start in the league, having accumulated only six points from 11 matches.
Things aren’t so bad for Norwich City in their return to the EPL, but they dropped a crucial match as well, losing 3-2 to hosts Aston Villa. Forward Simeon Jackson entered the match in the 76th minute for Norwich, who were leapfrogged by Villa and now sit in ninth place.
Down a rung in England’s Championship, David Edgar logged 90 minutes in defense for Burnley in a 3-1 defeat to Leicester City. Edgar picked up a late yellow card in the match, his 13th of the season.
Staying in England’s lower divisions, Jaime Peters and AFC Bournemouth picked up a 2-0 victory against Scunthorpe United in League One. Peters went the distance in the shutout.
Meanwhile, Preston North End continued to falter without attacking talisman Iain Hume, who sat out a 5-2 PNE defeat to League One leaders Charlton Athletic. Hume has missed all but one match for Preston after injuring his hamstring while on international duty last month, and his club has gone winless during that time.
On the other side of the globe, winger Issey Nakajima-Farran entered the match in the 64th minute for Brisbane Roar in a 2-2 deadlock with Melbourne Victory in Australian A-League action. The draw represents the first dropped points of the season for Brisbane, who remained comfortably in first place after five rounds.
