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Europe Wrap: Ueda closing in on history
Kuala Lumpur: Japan and Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda netted his 23rd goal in 28 appearances, putting the 27-year-old on track to become the first Japanese player to finish as top scorer in the Eredivisie.
Other continental stars also filled the scoresheet, so follow the-AFC.com as we look at what Asia’s finest have been up to in Europe this past week.

England: Khusanov’s City cruise  
Manchester City’s Uzbekistan defender Abdukodir Khusanov played a full match in their 3-0 win over Chelsea, with his second-placed side scoring all their goals after the break.
 
Korea Republic striker Hwang Hee-chan came on in the 71st minute as Wolves fell 4-0 to West Ham United to remain rooted at the bottom of the standings.
Brighton sent in Japan midfielder Kaoru Mitoma ten minutes before the closing whistle in a 2-0 win over Burnley, which saw his ninth-placed side chalk up their third successive win.
 
Japan midfielder Daichi Kamada came on in the 76th minute as Crystal Palace beat Newcastle United 2-1, with his side coming from behind to earn their third undefeated match.

Scotland: Sapsford gives United the win 
Australia’s Zachary Sapsford converted a decisive penalty three minutes into stoppage time to give Dundee United a 3-2 win over Livingstone. Sapsford’s teammate and Australia international Ryan Strain played the full match.
Premiership leader Hearts started Australia midfielder Cameron Devlin in a 3-1 win over Motherwell, with his side scoring twice in the final five minutes for a come-from-behind win. 
 
Australia internationals Martin Boyle and Ante Suto, along with countryman Jack Iredale featured for 10-man Hibernian in their 2-0 loss to Aberdeen. 
Celtic’s Japan striker Daizen Maeda and Korea Republic international Yang Hyun-jun started in their 1-0 win over St Mirren. Maeda’s teammate and fellow international Reo Hatate came on in the 73rd minute.

Germany: Kim’s Bayern in record-setting form
Bayern Munich’s Korea Republic defender Kim Min-jae and Japan international Hiroki Ito started in a 5-0 win over St Pauli, who featured Japan internationals Joel Fujita and Tomoya Ando. Australia international Connor Metcalfe replaced Fujita in the 66th minute as the league leaders broke the record for the most goals in a single Bundesliga season with 105.
Indonesia defender Kevin Diks played a full match for Borussia M’gladbach while Japan forward Shuto Machino came on in the 85th minute in a 1-0 loss to RB Leipzig. 
 
Werder Bremen featured Japan defender Yukinari Sugawara in the first half as they went down 3-1 to Koln. 
Japan midfielder Kaishu Sano and countryman Sota Kawasaki started for Mainz 05 in their 1-0 loss to Freiburg.

Netherlands: Ueda stands out  
Feyenoord’s Japan forward Ayase Ueda scored in the 18th minute in a 1-1 stalemate with NEC Nijmegen, who started fellow international Kodai Sano and sent on another Japan international, Koki Ogawa, in the 77th minute. Their fellow international Tsuyoshi Watanabe played a full 90 minutes for Feyenoord.
Sparta Rotterdam’s Japan midfielder Shunsuke Mito was on the pitch for 58 minutes in a 2-0 loss to Eredivisie leaders PSV.
 
Indonesia defender Dean James stepped on in the 70th minute in Go Ahead Eagles’ goalless stalemate with Groningen
Ajax started Japan defender Ko Itakura in their 3-0 win over Heracles as his teammate and fellow international Takehiro Tomiyasu was sent off in the 79th minute after making an appearance 13 minutes earlier.
 
Indonesia defender Justin Hubner played a full match for Fortuna Sittard in their 1-1 tie with NAC Breda, with his side winless in three matches.

France: Al Tamari leads Rennes to victory
Jordan midfielder Mousa Al Tamari found the back of the net for Rennes in the 25th minute in a 2-1 win over Angers SCO. The 28-year-old has scored four times in 28 Ligue 1 appearances.
Le Havre played Japan defender Ayumu Seko for the full match in a 1-1 stalemate with Nice as they went seven league games without a win. 

Italy: Kick-off blues for Suzuki  
Japan custodian Zion Suzuki conceded a first-minute goal in Parma’s 1-1 stalemate with Napoli, consigning his side to their sixth consecutive winless match.
Indonesia custodian Emil Audero was beaten in the 63rd minute as Cremonese fell 1-0 to Cagliari. His third-from-bottom side have won only one of their last 17 fixtures.
 
Sassuolo’s Jay Idzes played a full match as his 10-man side lost 2-1 to Genoa. 

Spain: Kubo steps up in Sociedad stalemate
Japan forward Takefusa Kubo came on in the 54th minute and set up Real Sociedad’s third goal six minutes later in a 3-3 draw over Alaves.
Kubo’s fellow international Takuma Asano was on from the 72nd minute in Mallorca’s 3-0 win over Rayo Vallecano.

Belgium: Ito’s goal fails to lift Sint-Truiden
Sint-Truiden’s Japan international Ryotaro Ito struck in the 22nd minute with an assist from countryman Keisuke Goto as his side lost 2-1 to Club Brugge. Japan’s Leo Kokubo, Taiga Hata, international Shogo Taniguchi, Rihito Yamamoto and Kaito Matsuzawa all featured for Sint-Truiden.
Gent’s Korea Republic midfielder Hong Hyeon-seok and Japan internationals Daiki Hashioka and Atsuki Ito featured in a 1-1 tie with Mechelen, who equalised five minutes into stoppage time to cancel out their side’s 15th-minute goal.
 
Ito and Hashioka were also in action as Gent went down 3-1 to Anderlecht in their following outing.
Syria international and Sporting Charleroi skipper Aiham Ousou led them to a 2-0 win over Antwerp, who started Japan midfielder Yuto Tsunashima, his countryman Taishi Nozawa and Saudi Arabia forward Marwan Al Sahafi.
 
Japan’s Isa Sakamoto and U20 international Shunsuke Saito featured in Westerlo's 2-1 win over Standard Liege.
OH Leuven’s Japanese duo of Takahiro Akimoto and Takuma Ominami took to the pitch in a goalless tie with Genk, who started Japan international Junya Ito and brought in his countryman Ayumu Yokoyama in the 76th minute.

 

Photo: AFP