Leading the charge for Asia has been Korea Republic international Hwang Hee-chan, who scored in consecutive matches for Wolverhampton Wanderers as they moved clear of the relegation zone in the English Premier League while Japan’s Kyogo Furuhashi was on target twice in Celtic’s 4-0 win against St. Johnstone.
England: Hee-chan impresses with back to back goals
Hwang Hee-chan’s strike deep into stoppage time confirmed Wolverhampton the three points as they stunned Manchester United 2-0 for just their fourth win of the season.
The striker followed that up by opening the scoring in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, which saw his compatriot Son Heung-min missing a penalty for the London side when the tie was level at 1-1.
It was a bleak festive period for Tottenham as the stalemate followed a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Japan captain Wataru Endo was sent on in the 57th minute in Liverpool’s 5-0 win over West Ham as the Reds maintained an eight-point lead at the top.
Endo also featured briefly in Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over Leicester City earlier in the week.
Japanese international Kaoru Mitoma went on in the 58th minute as Brighton & Hove Albion battled to a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa.
The stalemate continued a poor run of results for Brighton, who had drawn 0-0 with Brentford earlier in the week.
Iraq’s Ali Al Hamadi made a cameo appearance for Ipswich Town in their stunning 2-0 win over Chelsea on Monday.
Al Hamadi had also gone on as an 80th minute substitute in the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal earlier in the week.
Daichi Kamada featured in the final minutes as Crystal Palace edged Southampton 2-1 with the Japanese star also having made an appearance from the bench in the 0-0 draw with Bournemouth in their earlier fixture over the festive period.
Italy: Taremi’s Inter keep pace with Atalanta
Islamic Republic of Iran’s Mehdi Taremi came off the bench in the 79th minute for Marcus Thuram in Inter Milan’s 3-0 defeat of Cagliari, with the win keeping them within one point of leaders Atalanta.
Japan custodian Zion Suzuki was between the posts as Parma edged Monza 2-1 to move up to 18 points, four clear of the relegation zone.
Eldor Shomurodov went on in the 86th minute as the Uzbekistan international’s AS Roma played to a goalless draw with AC Milan.
Scotland: Furuhashi, Maeda on the mark as Celtic stay in control
Kyogo Furuhashi struck in the 59th and 64th minutes with Japanese compatriot Daizen Maeda netting in the 73rd as Celtic beat St. Johnstone 4-0.
Nicolas Gerrit Kuhn had opened the scoring for the defending champions in the 30th minute as they moved 14 points ahead of Rangers, who could only manage a 2-2 draw with Motherwell, for whom Australian Apostolos Stamatelopoulos was among the scorers.
Nectarios Triantis scored his first goal for Hibernian in their 1-0 win over Kilmarnock, with his Australian compatriots Martin Boyle and Lewis Miller playing full matches.
Josh Nisbet played a full game and scored another goal to spark a two-goal comeback as Ross County drew 2-2 with Heart of Midlothian. Fellow Australian Kye Rowles also played a full game for Hearts.
