In the English Premier League, Brett Holman played a starring role for Aston Villa in their 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion. Holman, who played the full 90 minutes, was a constant threat, forcing Baggies ‘keeper Ben Foster into two super first half saves.

Holman also provided a threat out wide, with several low crosses causing all sorts of problems in the box. The news wasn’t as good for Chris Herd, who was absent from the match-day squad.

Mark Schwarzer played a full game in goals as Fulham conceded a late goal in their 2-1 loss to champions Manchester City. Schwarzer had a busy game between the sticks, making a handful of decent saves, the highlight a superb reflex save from David Silva’s stinging shot which cruelly fell at the feet of Sergio Aguero who tapped home.

Schwarzer was the only Aussie ‘keeper in action in the EPL, with Brad Jones an unused substitute in Liverpool’s 5-2 win over Norwich, and Adam Federici absent with injury as Reading drew 2-2 with Newcastle.

In the Serbian SuperLiga, former Melbourne Heart striker Eli Babalj scored his first league goal for Red Star Belgrade in their 3-1 win over Smederevo. Babalj came on as a 84th minute substitute and struck 4 minutes later, latching onto a precise through ball and finishing calmly past Smederovo ‘keeper Mladen Zivkovic. Elsewhere in Serbia, Matthew Byrne put in a full shift as Donji Srem went down 2-0 to Novi Pazar.

In the English Championship, Mile Jedinak put in a full shift in Crystal Palace’s rousing 1-0 win at Bolton. Elsewhere, Shane Lowry played 90 minutes in defence as Millwall earned a 2-2 draw with Burnley thanks to an injury time goal from Darius Henderson.

Neil Kilkenny played the full 90 minutes as Bristol City lost 3-2 at home to Leeds United, Patrick Kisnorbo wasn’t in the Leeds match-day squad.

Massimo Luongo was a half time substitute as Ipswich Town drew 1-1 with Barnsley, while Rhys Williams & Scott McDonald were both absent as Middlesbrough lost 2-1 at home to Leicester.

In League One, Dean Bouzanis continued in goal for Oldham in their 1-0 loss to Coventry, Bouzanis was beaten in second half stoppage time and that lead could have been doubled if Bouzanis hadn’t pulled off a stunning double save with nearly the last play of the game. Fellow Aussie James Wesolowski played 89 minutes while ‘keeper Alex Cisak was an unused substitute.

Bailey Wright played the full 90 minutes in defence as Preston North End came from behind to beat Yeovil 3-2. Wright kept the points safe for North End with a goal-line clearance in second half stoppage time. Fellow Aussie Shane Cansdell-Sherriff was an unused substitute.

In League Two, Jamie Young played the full 90 minutes in goal for Aldershot in their 2-0 loss to York City. Young made several superb saves in the first half as he was continually let down by his defence, before York City put two goals away in the second half and could have been three after Young made a mess of clearance which was jumped on by Jon Challinor, however the referee ruled Challinor handled the ball.

James Meredith played all game as Bradford City went down 1-0 to Port Vale, as did Aaron Downes in Torquay’s 1-1 draw with his former club, Chesterfield.

In the Scottish Premier League, Ryan McGowan put in a full shift as Hearts slipped to a disappointing 3-1 home loss to Kilmarnock, Dylan McGowan was an unused substitute. Alex Baird was an unused substitute as Dundee FC lost 3-1 to St Johnstone.

In the Scottish Second Division, Marc Warren came on as a 14th minute substitute as Airdrie United went down 3-2 to Greenock Morton.

In the Dutch Eredivisie, Tommy Oar put in a full 90 for FC Utrecht in their 2-1 loss to Vitesse. Oar had a lively first half and had a couple of half chances, but it was the story of Utrecht’s day as they butchered numerous opportunities and were also denied by some fine goalkeeping.

Adam Sarota also saw some game-time, playing 82 minutes in the loss, while Michael Zullo was an unused substitute.

Jason Davidson was absent through injury as Heracles drew 3-3 ADO Den Haag, while Travis Cooper was absent as VVV Venlo were thumped 6-0 by PSV Eindhoven.

In the Dutch Second Division, Corey Gameiro was a 64th minute substitute as FC Eindhoven’s slow start to the season continued, losing 2-0 to De Grafschaap.

In the Bundesliga, Robbie Kruse put in a lively full shift for Fortuna Dusseldorf as they came back from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw with Schalke, while Mitch Langerak was an unused substitute as Borussia Dortmund thumped Borussia Monchengladbach 5-0.

Nikita Rukavytsya played the full 90 minutes as FSV Mainz beat Wolfsburg 2-0. Rukavytsya was involved in Mainz’s second goal, playing in Andreas Ivanschitz who provided the assist for Adam Szalai to finish.

In the German Second Division, Mathew Leckie was out with injury as FSV Frankfurt were beaten 3-0 by VfR Aalen. In the German Third Division, Mustafa Amini was a 62nd minute substitute as Borussia Dortmund II were beaten 1-0 by Preussen Munster.

In the Serie A, James Troisi was an unused substitute as Atalanta were thumped 5-1 by Torino. In the Serie B, Carl Valeri was again missing through injury as Sassuolo beat Ascoli 1-0.

In the Austrian Bundesliga, James Holland put in a full shift as Austria Wien drew 1-1 with Wolfsberger.

In Denmark, Brent McGrath was absent as Brondby lost 3-2 at Randers.

In Belgium, Kofi Danning wasn’t in the match-day squad as CS Vise thumped Roselaere 5-1.

In the Czech Republic, Kerem Bulut was a half time substitute as Mlada Boleslav drew 2-2 with Banik Ostrava.

In Russia, Luke Wilkshire put in a full shift as Dinamo Moscow beat CSKA Moscow 2-0. Wilkshire was involved in a spiteful moment on 58 minutes, as his crunching challenge saw CSKA’s Alan Dzagoev react and kick out at Wilkshire and earn himself a red card.

In Croatia, former Gold Coast United youth player Steven Lustica was an 88th minute substitute as Hadjuk Split lost 3-1 to Dinamo Zagreb. Elsewhere, Tomi Juric was a 78th minute substitute as Inter Zapresic drew 2-2 with Slaven Belupo.

In the MLS, Tim Cahill played the full 90 minutes as New York Red Bulls beat Toronto FC 4-1. Cahill had two trademark headers well saved late in the match as Thierry Henry stole the plaudits with three assists and a goal.

In the J-League, Josh Kennedy started but was hauled off at half time as Nagoya Grampus copped a 5-0 thumping from Albirex Niigata, while Jade North put in a full shift as Consadole Sapporo lost for the seventh consecutive match, going down 1-0 to Kawasaki Frontale.

In the Chinese Super League, Joel Griffiths was a 57th minute substitute as Shanghai Shenhua beat bottom placed Henan Jianye 2-1, Daniel Mullen put in a full shift for Dalian Aerbin who fought back from 2-0 down to level the scores, only to concede a last minute penalty and lose 3-2 to Jiangsu Sainty.

Dino Djulbic put in a full shift for Guizhou Renhe as they went down 1-0 to Rostyn Griffiths’ Guangzhou R&F. Griffiths wasn’t in the Guangzhou match-day squad. Milan Susak was absent from the Tianjin Teda side that defeated Liaoning Whowin 1-0.

In the UAE Pro-League, Richard Porta’s scored a second half double as Dubai beat Al Shaab 3-2. Porta struck with a header on 51 minutes before scoring the winner on 75 minutes, capitalising on some poor defence to slot home from inside the box.

Elsewhere, Nick Carle put in a full shift and provided an assist as Baniyas beat Al Ittihad Kalba 2-0, while Lucas Neill put in a full shift as Al Wasl drew 2-2 with Al Nasr.

In the Qatar Stars League, Mark Bresciano started and played 66 minutes as Al Gharafa drew 1-1 with Matt Spiranovic’s Al Arabi. Spiranovic put in a full shift for Al Arabi and picked up a second half yellow card. Sasa Ognenovski was again missing through injury as Umm Salal were beaten 2-0 by Al Saad.