Ritsu Doan was on the scoresheet to seal SC Freiburg’s 3-0 win against Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany’s Bundesliga while his Samurai Blue teammate Takumi Minamino netted first for AS Monaco in their 5-2 victory over Metz in France.

Iranian winger Mohammad Mohebi bagged a brace for FC Rostov in Russia and Hwang In-beom scored to help Red Star Belgrade stay on track in their title defence in Serbia, so join the-AFC.com as we find out how the Asian stars performed in Europe over the past week.

England: Son seals three valuable points

Son Heung-min netted an 86th-minute winner as Tottenham Hotspur defeated Luton Town 2-1 to stay three points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa, with his 160th goal for Spurs also seeing him become the fifth highest scorer in the club’s history.

Wataru Endo started Liverpool’s 2-1 win against Brighton & Hove Albion which sent the Reds two points clear at the top, while Takehiro Tomiyasu earned his first minutes since returning from AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ duty as title contenders Arsenal and Manchester City played out a goalless stalemate.

Caitlin Foord came off the bench and created the opening for Stina Blackstenius’ extra-time winner as Arsenal edged Chelsea 1-0 at Molineux Stadium to defend their Women’s League Cup title. Her Australian compatriots Steph Catley and Kyra Cooney-Cross were also introduced as second-half substitutes.

Mary Fowler contributed two assists as Manchester City took a three-point lead in the Women’s Super League with a 4-1 defeat of a Liverpool side featuring Fuka Nagano while Yuka Momiki bagged a goal and an assist as Leicester City held Aston Villa to a 2-2 draw.

Germany: Doan seals Freiburg victory

Japan winger Ritsu Doan turned in a cross from Maximilian Eggestein to seal SC Freiburg’s 3-0 win against his international teammate Kou Itakura’s Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday to move into eighth place in the Bundesliga while Hiroki Ito and Jeong Woo-yeong were involved in third-placed Stuttgart’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Heidenheim on Sunday.

France: Minamino scores in Monaco win

Takumi Minamino opened the scoring for AS Monaco four minutes after kick-off as they defeated Metz 5-2 to stay one point behind second-placed Brest in Ligue 1 while Lee Kang-in came off the bench at the interval and helped a 10-man Paris Saint-Germain beat Marseille 2-0 and maintain their 12-point lead at the top.

Mousa Al Taamari started for Montpellier as they beat Le Havre 2-0 to pull three points clear of the drop zone while Japanese duo Junya Ito and Keito Nakamura were among the starters as Reims played out a 1-1 draw with Lyon.

Meanwhile, Ellie Carpenter started for Lyon in both their 4-1 win over Benfica that secured their place in the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-finals and a 3-0 defeat of Le Havre that saw them stay seven points clear at the top of the women’s league in France.

Netherlands: Sano nets second of the season

Kodai Sano scored his second goal of the Eredivisie season as NEC Nijmegen recorded a 3-1 win and handed leaders PSV their first defeat of the season on Saturday. The 20-year-old has made 17 appearances for the side sitting sixth in his first season in the Dutch top division.

Japan full-back Yukinari Sugawara recorded a goal involvement for the fourth match running with an assist for Dani de Wit in fourth-placed AZ Alkmaar’s 2-0 win against Vitesse while Ayase Ueda came on as a late substitute in defending champions Feyenoord’s 4-2 win against Zidane Iqbal’s Utrecht.

Russia: Mohebi double for Rostov

Mohammad Mohebi bagged two goals and an assist as FC Rostov defeated Dynamo Moscow 4-1 on Friday for their third consecutive win in the Russian Premier League. The 25-year-old has been involved in five goals in his last two outings having also scored a brace against Krasnodar earlier in March.

Uzbekistan defender Rustamjon Ashurmatov started for Rubin Kazan as they edged FC Akhmat Grozny 2-1 on Sunday.

Belgium: Ito, Fujita assist in Sint-Truiden win

Ryotaro Ito and Joel Chima Fujita provided assists for Sint-Truiden as they began the Belgian Pro League playoffs to decide the final place in next season’s European competition with a 2-0 win against Westerlo with Zion Suzuki and Rihito Yamamoto also involved for the winners on Sunday.

Tsuyoshi Watanabe and Hong Hyun-seok started for Gent as they defeated Hayao Kawabe’s Standard Liege 5-1 on Friday to lead the playoff group by one point over Sandy Walsh’s Mechelen, who posted a 3-2 win against an OH Leuven side featuring Kento Misao and Takahiro Akimoto.

Spain: Ito strike goes in vain

Miku Ito opened the scoring for Sporting Huelva, but the bottom side suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of UD Tenerife in Liga F on Sunday while Hayley Raso started Real Madrid’s 2-0 win against Villarreal as they trail leaders and defending champions Barcelona by 12 points with eight games left.

Syria centre-back Aiham Ousou played the final 25 minutes to help Cadiz edge Granada 1-0 and secure an important win as they battle relegation in La Liga while Takefusa Kubo started for Real Sociedad as they defeated Alaves 1-0 but remain seven points adrift of fourth place and a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League.

Serbia: Hwang on target for leaders

Korean midfielder Hwang In-beom kept his purple patch going in the Serbian SuperLiga as he was involved in his sixth goal in as many matches by scoring leaders Red Star Belgrade’s second goal in a 3-0 defeat of Javor on Saturday.

After 27 rounds, the 27-year-old’s side are currently four points clear of second-placed Partizan for whom Goh Young-jun started a 1-0 win against Spartak Subotica.