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Europe Wrap: Asia’s best strike as season winds down
Kuala Lumpur: Australia’s Martin Boyle, Korea Republic’s Yang Hyun-jun, Indonesia’s Eliano Reijnders and Japan’s Ritsu Doan contributed to their share of the headlines with crucial goals as most key European leagues began wrapping up their 2024/25 season.
Follow the-AFC.com as we look at what Asia’s finest have been up to in Europe this past week.

England: Kamada’s Palace get first major win
Crystal Palace’s 1-0 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final saw their Japan international Daichi Kamada play a full match. It was the first major trophy in the club’s history.
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Korea Republic international and Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min returned after being sidelined for a month with a foot injury and played 74 minutes in their 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa. His team remain fourth from the bottom in the English Premier League with one match to play.
 
Ipswich Town’s Australian international Massimo Luongo was on two minutes before regulation as his side went down 2-0 to Leicester City.

Japan's Kaoru Mitoma scored the second as Brighton came from behind twice to defeat champions Liverpool 3-2 on Monday.

It was the midfielder's 10th league goal of the season as Brighton moved up to eighth in the standings on 58 points.

Scotland: Boyle instrumental in Hibs stalemates
Australian international and Hibernian captain Martin Boyle scored in the third minute in their 2-2 Premiership draw with St Mirren. His teammates and fellow Australians Nectarios Triantis, Jack Iredale and Lewis Miller all played the full match.
 
Boyle was also on target in their season-closing 2-2 stalemate with Rangers, scoring in the 66th minute and assisting their first in the 16th. It was his 20th goal this season in all competitions, with his side finishing third in the standings.
Celtic’s Yang Hyun-jun struck eight minutes into time added on in the first half as the Premiership champions overwhelmed Aberdeen 5-1. Japan international Reo Hatate was on from the 61st minute.
 
Yang came on in the 54th minute in their following 1-1 tie with St Mirren, with Celtic’s Japanese international Daizen Maeda on the pitch for 72 minutes. 
 
Socceroo Ryan Strain assisted in the 20th minute in Dundee United’s only goal in their 3-1 defeat to Rangers. He also played a full match in their 2-1 win over Aberdeen, who fielded Palestine international Oday Dabbagh from the 75th minute.
Strain’s fellow international Josh Nisbet played 66 minutes in Ross County’s 1-1 tie with Dundee FC. Nisbet featured in full in their 1-1 stalemate with Motherwell, who started his countryman Johnny Koutroumbis. County meet St Livingstone in the Premiership relegation playoff. 
 
Australian internationals Cameron Devlin played a full match while Calem Nieuwenhof came on in the 71st minute in Hearts’ 2-1 win over St Johnstone. The duo also started in their 1-0 win over Kilmarnock in their following game.

Germany: Doan claims his 10th of the season
Ritsu Doan scored Freiburg’s only goal in their 3-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt. The Japanese international has struck 10 times and made eight assists in 34 appearances for Freiburg, who qualified for the Europa League after finishing fifth in the Bundesliga.
Holstein Kiel’s Japanese international Shuto Machino played 69 minutes in their 3-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund. His side finished second from the bottom with 25 points from 34 matches and have been relegated to 2. Bundesliga.
 
Borussia Monchengladbach’s Japan international Ko Itakura played a full match while countryman Shio Fukuda was on from the 82nd minute in their 1-0 defeat to Wolfsburg.
 
Japan international midfielder Kaishu Sano made a full appearance in Mainz’s 2-2 stalemate with Bayer Leverkusen. Teammate and Korea Republic international Lee Jae-sung was on for 92 minutes before being replaced by fellow international Hong Hyeon-seok.
 
Bochum’s Japan international Koji Miyoshi came on in the 77th minute in their 2-0 win over St Pauli. Miyoshi’s side finished bottom of the table and have been relegated.

Netherlands: Reijnders nets his first 
Eliano Reijnders grabbed his first goal in 20 appearances for PEC Zwolle this season in their 2-1 win over Willem II. The Indonesian international played 90 minutes and scored in the 79th. The 24-year-old also featured in full in their 2-0 win over Groningen. 
 
Japan international Ayase Ueda scored in the 69th minute before coming off seven minutes later in Feyenoord’s 2-1 win over RKC Waalwijk, who have been relegated to the Eerste Divisie next season. 
 
Ueda and Korea Republic international Hwang In-beom also started in Feyenoord’s 2-0 defeat to Heerenveen. 
Almere City’s Indonesian international Thom Haye played a full match in their 1-1 draw with Fortuna Sittard, a result which sees his side relegated. He also started in their 1-1 tie with AZ Alkmaar, who brought in Japan international Seiya Maikuma in the 58th minute.
 
Alkmaar later fielded Maikuma for 64 minutes in their 3-2 win over Twente, whose Indonesia international defender Mees Hilgers put in a full appearance. Hilgers played the first half in their following 2-0 loss to Ajax.
 
Japan international Kodai Sano assisted the last goal in NEC Nijmegen’s 3-0 win over NAC Breda. His teammate and fellow international Kento Shiogai was on in the first half while Indonesian Calvin Verdonk played the full match. Breda captain and Australian international Max Balard was on for 90 minutes. 
 
Sano and Verdonk, who skippers Nijmegen, also featured in their subsequent 2-1 win over Heracles, with Shiogai making an appearance in the 81st minute.  Socceroo Balard played a full match in Breda’s following 1-1 stalemate with Willem II.
 
Sparta Rotterdam’s Japan U23 international Shunsuke Mito came on four minutes before the end of regulation in their 1-1 draw with Utrecht. He also played the first half in their 3-1 loss to PSV, whose win gave them the Eredivisie crown by one point ahead of Ajax.

France: Sekine’s Reims in relegation playoff
Japan international Hiroki Sekine played a full match in Reims' 2-1 loss to Lille, which saw his side, who are third from the bottom, enter the Ligue 1 relegation playoffs.  
Lens’ Australian international custodian Mathew Ryan kept a clean sheet in their 4-0 win over third-placed Monaco, who fielded Japan international Takumi Minamino for 83 minutes. 
 
UAE international Junior Ndiaye played a full match in Montpellier’s 3-0 defeat to Nantes. Montpellier finished the season bottom of the standings with 16 points from 34 matches. 
 
Japan’s Ado Onaiwu played from the 71st minute in Auxerre’s 3-1 loss to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain.

Italy: Idzes’ Venezia relegated to Serie B
Venezia captain Jay Idzes, who also leads Indonesia’s national team, played a full match in their 2-1 win over Fiorentina. He also featured for 90 minutes in their 3-0 loss to Cagliari, which sees his second-bottom side relegated to Serie B next season.
Uzbekistan national team captain Eldor Shomurodov played 85 minutes in Roma’s 2-1 loss to Atalanta. He also featured for 84 minutes in their subsequent 3-1 win over Milan.
 
Islamic Republic of Iran international Mehdi Taremi was on for 56 minutes in Inter’s 2-2 stalemate with Lazio. Inter are a point behind leaders Napoli going into the final matchday.

Parma’s Japanese international keeper Zion Suzuki kept a clean sheet in their draw with Napoli.

Spain: Inconsistent week for Kubo’s Sociedad
Real Sociedad’s Japan international Takefusa Kubo was involved from the start in their 1–0 loss to Celta Vigo. Kubo also made a full appearance in their subsequent 3-2 win over Girona.

Belgium: Sakamoto’s Westerlo finish 11th
Japan’s Isa Sakamoto played 88 minutes in Westerlo’s 2-0 win over OH Leuven in the Belgian Pro League’s Conference League Playoff Group. His side ended their season in 11th place, with seven wins from 30 matches.
 
Photos: AFP