Socceroos forward Mathew Leckie has hit form just in time for next month’s international friendlies, scoring his first goal for German club Ingolstadt 04 in a standout performance.
Making his first start since returning from an abdominal injury, Leckie scored the first goal then set up his side’s second as Ingolstadt 04 posted a 2-0 victory over local rivals Greuther Furth.
Displaying the pace and power that made him one of the Socceroos’ most dangerous players at the World Cup in Brazil, the 23-year-old produced a superb solo run before converting to give his side the lead in the 62nd minute.
Leckie, who joined Ingolstadt this season, then set up teammate Pascal Grob on the edge of the box and the midfielder’s rasping low drive sealed the result in the dying minutes.
The result lifts Ingolstadt to fifth in Germany’s second tier, above Furth who drop to seventh.
Leckie was among several Australians in action in Europe overnight who were last week named in the Socceroos’ 20-man squad to take on Belgium in Liege on September 4 before facing Saudi Arabia in London four days later.
Fellow Socceroos winger Tommy Oar had a strong performance for Dutch club Utrecht who posted a shock 2-1 win over Feyenoord, who were fielding Australian defender Luke Wilkshire.
After going down 1-0 in the first half, Oar set up both goals for his side to ensure the upset win.
A precision Oar cross found Nacer Barazite who netted the equaliser, before the Australian then went on a defence-busting run to set up Rodney Antwi for the winner.
Elsewhere, Socceroos defender Trent Sainsbury came on in the 80th minute as his club PEC Zwolle scored late to beat Vitesse Arnhem 2-1.
Mat Ryan’s Club Brugge had a disappointing night, toppled 3-1 by KV Mechelen while midfielder James Holland played a full match for Austria Vienna in their 2-2 derby draw against Rapid Vienna.
Futbanous
Guest
Good to see some of the overseas based Socceroos are starting to make a mark with their clubs. Augurs we'll for Ange & his long term plans for the National team. Seems to take a while for players from Australia to get up some momentum in Europe so to speak nowadays, but much IMO can be put down to the NSL( good junior set ups at some clubs)A-League gap(zilch junior set up initially).. This lack of football education at junior levels was alluded to by Thomas Broich not long ago.
oli
Guest
Football made in Germany. As Klopp says, if you want to win the next world cup, watch the Bundesliga and learn from it. Modern football, healthy clubs, awesome junior development. Germany is the No.1 football nation on this planet, 3 world cups went to the German Football Association this year!
Brick tamland of the pants party
Guest
Leckie would feel unstoppable right now and if he keeps injury free I think he'll tear that league apart.I mean what was it 11 goals and 9 assists last season and then those great performances at the world cup,a great start to this season will be too hard to ignore especially for bundesliga clubs come January.
Jack
Guest
Yep babij got a hat trick Ginnao got a double overnight
whiskeymac
Guest
Babalj is 5 from 2 games in Dutch reserves...
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
It is great to see Leckie making strides. Hopefully either Ingolstadt achieve promotion or Leckie is snapped up by one of the Bundesliga clubs. Certainly he has put himself in the shop window.
whiskeymac
Guest
Bundesliga II for Leckie, Halloran and a few others. Interested to see what happens with Langerak after the blip and where Kruse ends up playing.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Wish it got better TV coverage
Kasey
Guest
I'm very excited for the start of the Bundesliga this year. After only giving it a passing interest in years past, ze Germans winning the 2014 World Cup in such convincing fashion has nudged me to think I ought to pay the Bundesliga a bit more attention. I've picked a team and will be following Borussia Mönchengladbach through this season.