#canMNT Club Recap: From 24 April to 30 April
Posted on 30 April 2012 in Around the Soccer World
With play in the major European leagues drawing to close, a number of Canadians find themselves in races that are set to come down to the wire.
Atiba Hutchinson and PSV Eindhoven have won six of the last eight matches as they push for the UEFA Champions League places in Netherlands. Canadian captain Kevin McKenna is scrapping for survivial in the German Bundesliga with FC Köln while Simeon Jackson's Norwich City FC have confirmed their place in the English Premier League for a second consecutive season.
Netherlands
Eredivise
Atiba Hutchinson and PSV Eindhoven continued their march towards the UEFA Champions League places in Netherlands with a 3:1 away win over Roda JC on the weekend.
Hutchinson has been a stalwart for PSV at right-back during the club’s resurgent form. The Canadian international has played virtually every minute of PSV’s run of six wins in eight matches.
The Eindhoven club currently sit in third in the Eredivise table, which would be good enough for a place next season’s UEFA Europa League and are only point behind Feyenoord in second place. The top two teams from the top Dutch league qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
England
Premier League
Despite suffering an 0:3 loss to Liverpool on 28 April, Simeon Jackson and Norwich City FC officially clinched their place in the 2012-13 English Premier League courtesy of Queens Park Rangers’ loss to Chelsea on the same day.
Jackson and Norwich have completed a remarkable return season in England’s top flight with the club achieving beyond the expectations of the majority of pundits of surviving relegation comfortably.
Championship
With regular season play in the English Championship having drawn to a close on 30 April, David Edgar wrapped up a consistent league campaign with Burnley FC.
Edgar featured in an impressive 44 of 46 league matches (a season appearance record for Edgar) for Burnley. Playing mostly at centre-back, Edgar picked up two goals along the way.
Burnley finished the season in 13th position, a comfortable distance away from the relegation places but also a fair way out from the promotion play-offs.
Germany
Bundesliga
Kevin McKenna and FC Köln find themselves further embroiled in a relegation battle after a 1:4 loss to SC Freiburg on the weekend. McKenna played 90 minutes in the match for the Köln side.
If Köln are going to avoid relegation, it will have to be done via a playoff against the third-place finisher from Bundesliga 2. But Köln will need a stroke of good fortune to avoid direct relegation all together, as should Hertha BSC pick-up a win in the final round of league matches, McKenna and Köln will need to take three points at home to Bayern München.
Bundesliga 2.
After securing promotion to the Bundesliga earlier in the month, Olivier Occean and SpVgg Greuther Fürth have now climbed into first place in 2.Bundesliga as the team go in search of the league title.
Occean did not feature in Greuther Fürth’s most recent match, a 1:1 draw with Fortuna Düsseldorf – but the Canadian striker remains the top scorer for the club with 17 goals, as well as the joint top scorer in the league.
North America
Major League Soccer
Dwayne De Rosario scored his first goal of the 2012 MLS campaign for D.C. United in a 3:2 win over fellow Canadian international André Hainault and the Houston Dynamo. De Rosario now has one goal and four assists through nine games for D.C. United.
Nineteen-year-old Canadian international Doneil Henry scored his first MLS goal for Toronto FC as the Reds were defeated 2:3 in added time by Will Johnson and Real Salt Lake.
Around the World
Romania
Goalkeeper Milan Borjan continues to command the ‘Number-1’ spot at FC Vaslui in Romania as his side earned a 2:1 win on 29 April.
Vaslui currently occupy the final Europa League place in Romania, sitting in fourth position with six games to goal in the Romanian Liga.
