A-League Premiers humiliated in Asian Champions League
Mark Milligan's Newcastle Jets made their first appearance in the AFC Champions League (ACL) proper since 2009 and were both humbled and humiliated, conceding five times before half-time in a 7-1 thrashing that has them at the bottom of the league phase standings.
Matters were not helped by a dreadful ball handling error from Jets goalkeeper James Delianov that helped Japanese powerhouse Kashima Antlers convert their first four shots on target into five goals, with the Jets' continental inexperience and lack of match practice on full display on Tuesday evening.
Milligan handed a starting debut to 19-year-old Central Coast Mariners academy product Angus Reid and Reid, along with 23-year-old fullback Joel Bertolissio, were in particular found to be sadly out of their depth at this level.
Kashima Antlers had what Milligan pointed out as a significant advantage of being "match hardened", having already completed seven J1 League rounds whilst the Jets are still in pre-season, but refused to offer any excuses when he took full responsibility.
"When I look at the game and the result, the result is fully my responsibility,” Milligan explained.
“We learnt a very difficult but valuable lesson. At the end of the day, we played a very, very good side that is match hardened and I will not make excuses for this and we will be better for it.”
Kevin Muscat's Shanghai Port already have more wins in this ACL Elite league phase than they did in the last after they overcame Thai side Ratchaburi in a dramatic 6-4 win.
28-year-old Ghanaian striker Prince Obeng Ampem scored his fifth, sixth and seventh career goals for the club with a first half hat-trick that looked to have Shanghai in cruise control, only for Ratchaburi to strike twice in one minute to bring the score back to 5-4 in second half stoppage time.
Ratchaburi went all-in in pursuit of a 5-5 draw but came up short, allowing Shanghai's Leonardo to seal the three points with their sixth goal of the match.
Shanghai endured four draws and four defeats from their eight league phase games in 2025/26 and so ending the drought will be especially pleasing for Muscat with the triple-defending champions in a disappointing midtable Chinese Super League position and set to miss Asian football next season.
Strain's best rating in 18 months leads Hearts-breaking performance
Scottish Premiership battlers Falkirk broke through for their first win of the league season at the sixth time of asking and former Adelaide United right-back Ryan Strain had a big part to play in their surprise 2-1 midweek win over Hearts.
Strain assisted Falkirk's match-opening goal in the eighth minute with a neat little trap and dink around a charging goalkeeper, one of three key passes he registered for the match.
It wouldn't be unfair to suggest that Strain was short of outstanding, having missed the target with more than 70% of his progressive passes and losing possession five times, but he won four challenges and eight duels in return as well as making seven ball recoveries to finish with the best player rating of the match.
Hibs' Aussie trio suffer surprise defeat
Aussie trio Jack Iredale, Ante Suto and Martin Boyle all took to the pitch in Hibernians' surprise 1-0 midweek loss at home to last-placed Kilmarnock, who were winless after the first five rounds of the Scottish Premiership.
Iredale was one of three starting centre backs for Hibs and touched the ball more times (100) than any other player on the pitch, pushing forward and linking up with the two wingers to make a game-high 14 accurate passes into the front third. His rating of 7.6 out of 10 was the sixth-best of the match.
Starting striker Ante Suto (6.6 out of 10) didn't record a shot and was subbed off after 53 minutes to be replaced by veteran Martin Boyle, whose only shot produced an expected goals count of 0.01. He touched the ball just eight times in 37 minutes and rated 6.3 out of 10.
Clayton Taylor gets his first assist in England
Clayton Taylor got his first assist for Barnsley in a 30-minute cameo that ultimately saw them knocked out of the EFL Cup away to Peterborough.
Taylor played what was described on the TV broadcast as an "inch perfect" pass to Reyes Cleary, who struck his second goal to put Barnsley up 3-2 before they lost in a penalty shootout 7-6.
The 22-year-old New South Welshman rated 7.2 out of 10 for his assist and making two key passes from his eight touches on the ball.
He hasn't been able to break into the starting lineup at either league or cup level, but hopefully Taylor did enough on Tuesday night to impress manager Daniel Stendel and take a step in the right direction after a frustrating start to his new journey.
In other news...
There was an Aussie v Aussie showdown in Japan when Eli Adams played 16 minutes (6.3 out of 10) in Gamba Osaka's 4-1 win over Stefan Mauk's Cong An Ha Noi.
Mauk prevented one big chance with a last man tackle but was booked and rated 6.2 out of 10.
Jake Girdwood-Reich played 90 minutes for 6.1 out of 10 in Motherwell's humiliating 4-0 loss to Aberdeen, despite being warm favourites to win the match.
Curtis Good played 90 minutes for 6.5 out of 10 in Buriram's 1-1 ACL draw away to Malaysia's Johor DT. Good's captain, 33-year-old Aussie Kenny Dougall, was sent off shortly after half-time
Riley McGree was booked playing 78 minutes in Boro's 2-2 draw at home to Millwall, rating 6.7 out of 10 after taking two shots, making three successful layoffs and five ball recoveries.
Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn.
