It’s been a long time coming for forward Tosaint Ricketts.
The 25-year-old finally saw action with Vålerenga of Norway’s Eliteserien after his prolonged transfer saga finally came to an end. The Edmonton navite joined Vålerenga at the end of August from Romania’s Politehnica Timisoara, but an error on the paperwork meant he could only train, but not play, with his new club.
That finally came to an end with Ricketts coming off the bench in the 61st minute as Vålerenga lost 1-0 to Sogndal on Monday. Lars Hirschfeld was in goal for Vålerenga, who are in seventh place.
In the Netherlands, there is no hotter team than Atiba Hutchinson’s PSV Eindhoven. This past Saturday, PSV won their sixth straight game in the Eredivisie with a convincing 4-0 win over Heracles. Hutchinson (above) was used as a defensive midfielder for the full 90 minutes as PSV sit in second and just one point back of FC Twente in first.
In England, Simeon Jackson’s Norwich City has also found a good stretch of form, though the Canadian forward has largely been kept on the bench. Jackson got a rare start and scored a late winner last Wednesday, however, as Norwich beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the Capital One Cup to advance to the quarterfinals.
Two other Canadians saw action in the FA Cup over the weekend as Iain Hume and Doncaster Rovers advanced while Marcus Haber and Stevenage were eliminated.
On Saturday, Hume scored Doncaster’s second in a 3-1 win over lower-league side Bradford Park Avenue to advance to the second round of the competition, while Haber played all 90 minutes as Stevenage lost 3-2 to Rotherham United.
They were both back in action in League One play on Tuesday as Hume played the full 90 minutes in Doncaster’s 2-0 loss to Crewe Alexandra and Haber came on at the start of the second half in Stevenage’s 3-1 over Yeovil Town.
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After a few weeks out of the lineup, defender David Edgar was a starter for Championship side Burnley as they picked up a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
In Germany, Olivier Occean played the full 90 minutes for new club Eintracht Frankfurt against his old club Greuther Fürth as they tied 1-1 on Saturday. Frankfurt are in third place through 10 Bundesliga rounds.
At the other end of the Bundesliga table are Marcel de Jong and Augsburg. They slumped to last place with just six points to show for their efforts as they were beaten 2-0 by Hannover 96 on Sunday.
Down in the 2.Bundesliga, Kevin McKenna saw a few minutes of rare action for FC Köln. McKenna came on in the 81st minute as his team lost 2-0 to Aalen on Sunday.
In Cyprus, APOEL are one of three teams tied for first after eight games in the 1. Division season. All three teams are unbeaten as APOEL picked up a 4-1 on Monday over Ayia Napa. Defender Mike Klukowski played the full 90 minutes for APOEL and scored a 90th-minute own-goal, which spoiled his team’s bid for a shutout.
The season has come to an end in Sweden and it was a bittersweet day for goalkeeper Tomer Chencinski as his team ended a miserable season but put in their best performance.
Chencinski was in goal on Sunday as Örebro beat Gais 4-0 for just their fifth win of the season – good enough for a second-to-last-place finish, but not enough to stave off relegation from the Allsvenskan.
The Superettan (second division) season also came to an end for Nik Ledgerwood on Saturday as he played what could be his final game in his brief stint with Hammarby as they tied Östers 0-0 and finished in fourth place.
In Portugal’s Liga de Honra, midfielder Pedro Pacheco helped Santa Clara pick up their first win in three games on Saturday as they beat Atlético CP. Santa Clara are 14th out of 22 teams in the Portuguese second flight.
In Singapore, Sherif El-Masri wrapped up the S-League campaign with Young Lions last Thursday with a 0-0 draw against Home United. El-Masri started and played 89 minutes as Young Lions finished 10th in the 13-team league.
