PL boss’ rave review of ‘class’ Souttar; Aussie’s all-time goal celebration

There were goals, assists and clean sheets galore for several of our Socceroos stars.

Check out how some of the Aussies abroad performed over the weekend!

In the Premier League, Leicester City’s Harry Souttar made his home debut for the Foxes against Tottenham Hotspur.

Despite the teams’ vastly different positions on the ladder, it was Leicester who showed Spurs how it’s done in an emphatic 4-1 victory.

Souttar had a major hand in the Foxes’ third goal, as it was his ball over the top of Spurs’ backline that put Leicester striker Kelechi Iheanacho through on goal in first-half stoppage time.

The towering Aussie also kept Spurs superstar Harry Kane quiet throughout the game in an impressive display as the Foxes have two wins and eight goals scored from the two games Souttar has played in.

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers described Souttar’s performance as “class” as the Socceroo continues to prove he belongs at this level.

“He’s calm in possession, he passes the ball well from behind, he makes a great pass for our third goal,” Rodgers said.

“I’ve been absolutely delighted with him, he’s settled in really, really well.”

In the Championship, Middlesbrough midfielder Riley McGree continues to impress under Michael Carrick as the Aussie got on the scoresheet in his side’s 3-1 win over Cardiff City.

McGree was pivotal to Boro’s opening goal when he played a neat one-two with Marcus Forss which put the Aussie into space before cutting the ball back in the box, although forward Cameron Archer got a toe on it to officially be credited with the assist.

The Aussie midfielder was a constant menace throughout and got the goal his performance deserved in the 90th minute when he was on hand to convert from teammate Matt Crook’s ball across the face of goal.

McGree then delivered a rather unusual celebration in front of the travelling Boro faithful as Carrick’s side sit in third on the Championship ladder.

Several Socceroos north of the border were in action and put in impressive shifts.

Celtic star Aaron Mooy’s absurd run of form continued as he provided the assist for the Hoops’ first of five goals in a 5-1 win over St Mirren in the Scottish Cup.

Mooy was slipped in on the right hand side before crossing the ball into the path of Celtic striker Daizen Maeda who slid the ball into the back of the net.

The assist was the latest goal involvement for the 33-year-old, who now has nine goal involvements in last 11 games across all competitions.

Hearts midfielder Cameron Devlin also played a part in his side’s Scottish Cup clash, scoring the Jam Tarts’ second goal in a 2-0 win over Hamilton Academical.

Elsewhere across Europe, there were more goals, a clean sheet and a welcome return for one Socceroo.

Connor Metcalfe made it two goals in two 2. Bundesliga games for St. Pauli in their 1-0 win over FC Kaiserslautern.

The midfielder throw a small feint that left his marker for dead as St. Pauli defender Eric Smith played a perfectly-weighted pass over the top of the backline for Metcalfe to run on to.

Metcalfe didn’t even need to take a touch to control it as he curled home a first-time effort to score the only goal of the game.

In the Eredivisie, Socceroos gloveman Mat Ryan kept his first clean sheet for his new team as AZ Alkmaar thrashed Excelsior 5-0.

The win keeps AZ in second place on the ladder, just two points behind league-leaders Feyenoord and one point ahead of Dutch giants Ajax in third.

Midfielder Denis Genreau logged his first Ligue 1 minutes since October as the silky Socceroo got 27 minutes of action for Toulouse in a 3-1 win over Rennes.

Genreau recently underwent groin surgery and will hope for more time on the park in the coming months.