Aussies Abroad | Mixed fortunes

Cahill and Rogic come up trumps, McDonald scores again, while Schwarzer and Federici falter.

Tim Cahill won the Major League Soccer player of the week gong after a two-goal brace for New York Red Bulls against Toronto.

Cahill combined beautifully with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry on both occasions. First, slotting home a left-foot finish off Henry-s cut-back, before leaping in vintage fashion, arriving from deep, to head home the 89th minute.

"It-s what I-ve been looking for all season," he told the New York Times.

"I suppose it-s just rewards of contributing a lot more, and the goals haven-t gone in. For me, it-s not about the goals, it-s about the consistency of this team. And the discipline. And making sure to fill in the holes by not conceding because we-re going to score goals."

Cahill headlined a better week for our Aussies Abroad, with more starts to report across Asia and Europe.

In Scotland, Neil Lennon sung Tom Rogic-s praises after a rare start for Celtic in a rare loss - 3-1 to Motherwell.

"It would have done Rogic the world of good today. I thought he was excellent first half, though he faded a little bit latterly," Lennon said.

"I think he's a bit short in terms of fitness levels which is understandable but once he gets a good pre-season under his belt he should be good to go next year."

Elsewhere in Scotland, Dylan McGowan played a full game at centre-back as Hearts loss 1-0 to lowly Dundee FC.

In England, Mark Schwarzer - whose future at Craven Cottage remains uncertain - played in Fulham-s 1-0 loss to Everton. Brad Jones was on the bench as Liverpool smashed Newcastle United, while Adam Federici was injured and had to watch on as Reading-s relegation was confirmed.

As the nPower Championship reaches the business end of the season, Mile Jedinak-s Crystal Palace are still in the play-off spots but their 1-1 draw with Blackburn means they haven-t won for two months.

Middlesbrough, who have slumped to mid-table, came back from 2-0 down thanks to a goal from Scott McDonald, who scored the equaliser and his 13th league goal for the season with a late header. Rhys Williams played 90 minutes, but it included an own goal.

There-s happy days for Australians in Germany, with Mitch Langerak getting to sample Borussia Dortmund-s fabulous run with a rare 90 minutes in goal.

Dortmund, readying for this week-s UEFA Champions League return leg against Real Madrid, beat Robbie Kruse-s Fortuna Dusseldorf 2-1.

Elsewhere in Europe, there were appearances from Michael Zullo in Holland, a substitute in FC Utrecht-s 2-1 loss to PEC Zwolle; James Holland-s Austria Wien beat Admira 2-0 as they wait to seal their crown and Luke Wilkshire is finally back in Dinamo Moscow-s line-up. The right-back played 90 minutes in a 3-1 win over Mordovia Bursapor.

The highlight in Asian competitions was Ryan McGowan and Erik Paartalu both bagging doubles in China.

McGowan-s Shandong Luneng drew 3-3 with Hangzhou Greentown, while Paartalu-s Tianjin Teda won 3-2 against Wuhan Zall.