In the Eredivisie, Adam Sarota played a full match while Tommy Oar came on in the 87th minute as FC Utrecht defeated VVV Venlo 3-1.

Midway through the second half, Sarota intercepted a wayward pass from Maya Yoshida and delivered a neat through ball to Alexander Gerndt, who rounded the keeper and fired a tight angled shot into the back of the net.

The much improved Aussie midfielder was in and out of the squad during his first two years at Utrecht and is now looking forward to the prospect of regular football.

“It has taken time for me to adapt to Dutch football,” Sarota said. “This is very common, but you always want the process to happen faster. I’m glad that FC Utrecht has given me the chance to develop.”

Holger Osieck watched the match from the stands and Sarota hopes that a recall to the national team is not be too far away.

“It's obviously a huge honour for the national team manager to come out,” he said. “I know that Osieck wants to give young players a chance in the Australian team, but you have to be getting minutes at your club. Now that's the case, I hope to get another opportunity with the national team.”

Elsewhere in the Eredivisie, Jason Davidson came on in the 46th minute and played as a central defender during Heracles Almelo’s 3-1 loss to AZ Alkmaar.

In the Austrian Bundesliga, James Holland played a full match as Austria Wien continued their ascent up the table with a 1-0 victory over Ried.

Goal difference is now all that separates Austria Wien from league leaders Rapid Wien.

Adam Federici had a disastrous return to the top flight, making an uncharacteristic blunder during Reading’s 1-1 draw with Stoke.

The Socceroo goalkeeper handed the opening goal of the match to the Potters when he allowed Michael Kightly’s tame shot to slip through his fingers.

Federici was understandably disappointed with the error, but vowed to bounce back over the coming weeks.

"I've never made that mistake in training, let alone in games,” Federici said. "There was a massive deflection on it. It kind of just stuck to my shirt and spun off my wet top and I just lost it.

"It's tough to take. I've worked extremely hard to get here and to have that first experience in the Prem. I'd say I was a little bit nervous as well, and the boys were, to start with.

"But, early days, there's a long way to go and I'm sure that the next few games will be good ones for myself in particular."

It was better news for Mark Schwarzer, who played a full match and helped Fulham thrash Norwich 5-0.

Elsewhere in the English Premier League, Brett Holman started and played 60 minutes for Aston Villa in the 1-0 loss to West Ham. Chris Herd didn’t make it off the bench.

Brad Jones was an unused substitute as Liverpool suffered a shock 3-0 loss to West Brom.

In the Championship, Mile Jedinak put in a full shift and wore the captain’s armband as Crystal Palace conceded two late goals to go down 3-2 against Watford.

Massimo Luongo started and played 70 minutes as Ipswich Town came from behind to draw 1-1 against Blackburn Rovers.

Luongo, who walked a tight rope for most of the match because of a 19th minute yellow card, delivered a cross that almost led to an equalizer for Town early in the first half, but Lee Martin couldn’t get his header on target.

Socceroo Rhys Williams put in a full shift as Middlesbrough lost 1-0 against Barnsley. Out of favour striker Scott McDonald was not in the squad.

Shane Lowry played the full 90 minutes of Millwall’s 2-0 loss to Blackpool, while Neil Kilkenny was an unused substitute for Bristol City in the 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest.

In League One, Alex Cisak played a full match as Oldham Athletic went down 2-0 to MK Dons. The final score line flattered Oldham and it would have been much worse if not for some fine saves from Cisak.

Dean Bouzanis was on the bench, while James Wesolowski was not in the squad.

Shane Cansdell-Sherriff played a full match, but Bailey Wright was absent as Preston North End drew 0-0 with Colchester United.

In the U21 Premier League, Curtis Good and Brad Inman scored a goal each as Newcastle United defeated Tottenham 6-4.

In the Scottish Premier League, Ryan McGowan put in a full shift as Hearts conceded twice late in the match to draw 2-2 against Inverness.

McGowan was lucky to avoid serious injury after being on the receiving end of a reckless challenge from Richie Foran, who was subsequently given a straight red card.

In the Russian Premier League, Luke Wilkshire started but came off injured at half time as Dinamo Moscow extended their losing streak to five matches following a 2-1 loss to Terek Grozny.

In the DFB Pokal, Robbie Kruse played the full 90 minutes of Fortuna Dusseldorf’s 1-0 victory over Wacker Burghausen, while Nikita Rukavytsya was an 81 minute substitute during Hertha Berlin’s 2-1 loss to Wormatia Worms.

On Firday, Mathew Leckie scored his second goal of the season as FSV Frankfurt defeated Sonnenhof-Grossaspach 2-1.

In the Coppa Italia, Carl Valeri started and played 75 minutes for Sassuolo in the 1-0 loss to Catania. 

Meanwhile, in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, Caleb Patterson-Sewell played a full match as Vitória Setúbal drew 2-2 with Nacional.

In the J.League, Alex Brosque was a 58th minute substitute for Shimizu S-Pulse in the 1-0 victory over Sagan Tosu.

Socceroos Josh Kennedy and Jade North were again kept on the sidelines by injuries.

Meanwhile, in Korea, Matt McKay scored an injury time goal to secure a 2-1 victory for Busan I’Park against Gangwon.

Eddy Bosnar played a full match as Suwon Bluewings defeated fellow title contenders FC Seoul 2-0.

On Sunday, Brendan Hamill played the first 62 minutes of Seongnam’s 3-0 victory over Sangju, while Luke DeVere put in a full shift for Gyeongnam during the 1-0 loss to Chunnam Dragons.

Adrian Madaschi played a full match as Jeju United drew 3-3 with Jeonbuk Motors. Alex Wilkinson was an unused sub for Jeonbuk.

In the Chinese Super League, Daniel Mullen played a full match as Dalian Aerbin defeated Guizhou Renhe 2-1, while Joel Griffiths came on in the 60th minute of Shanghai Shenua’s goalless draw with Dalian Shide.

It was an all too familiar story in Uzbekistan, with David Carney not featuring in Bunyodkor’s 2-1 victory against Neftchi.