GOAL provides you the latest on Britain's stars playing overseas, including the England captain and Los Blancos' favourite Galactico
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We're into week two of GOAL's Brits Abroad series, shining a light on the United Kingdom's finest exports playing their football elsewhere in the world. It does what it says on the tin.
With more and more homegrown stars choosing to take their talents across the globe, it's proving a tricky challenge trying to whittle them all down into one concise roundup. For example, Oli McBurnie scoring his first La Liga goal for Las Palmas – at the 26th time of asking – has been reduced to a mere footnote, such has been the busyness of his British compatriots. Sorry, Oli.
McBurnie's loss is the gain of several others however, with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham enduring mixed fortunes with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid respectively, while this week we take our first venture outside of Europe to see how an England international striker is getting on. Meanwhile, there's another Brit shining in La Liga and plenty more going on at AC Milan's house of English expats. Let's dive in…
Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportKane leads Bayern to derby win
Friday night's trip to Bavarian rivals Augsburg could have proven a banana skin for Bayern in their quest to wrestle back the Bundesliga title, and when Dimitrios Giannoulis gave the hosts the lead after half an hour, the fear of being caught by Bayer Leverkusen felt like an increasingly likely reality.
But Vincent Kompany's men rallied back and ended the night with three deserved points. Jamal Musiala – a Brit Abroad in another life – fired them level just before the break, before the game turned on its head when Cedric Zesiger received a second yellow card for scything down Kane on the counter. Augsburg were immediately made to pay when from the resulting free-kick, Michael Olise (again someone who could have chosen to represent England) delivered a delicious cross for the diving Kane to get his head on to nod the visitors ahead. An own goal from Chrislain Matsima deep into added time sealed the 3-1 win for Bayern.
The challenge on Kane from Zesiger was the subject of controversy as it appeared the Swiss defender had taken the ball first, while second yellow cards cannot be reviewed by VAR. Nevertheless, Kane was adamant the call was correct, labelling the tackle "dangerous" and that it "almost destroyed my ankle" when quizzed post-match. "It was a clear [second] yellow. He tackled me from behind on the counter. It was dangerous and I could've rolled my ankle. We also should've had a penalty after that. It's a bit swollen, but I'm used to that. I'm not worried. It's fine, it hurts a bit, but it should be fine for Tuesday [against Inter]," he said.
Even though Leverkusen secured a 1-0 victory the next day in the dying embers at Heidenheim, Bayern still boast a six-point lead atop the standings with only six Bundesliga games to go. Kane is rapidly closing in on his first career title.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportFuming Bellingham powerless to stop shock defeat
While Kane is on the cusp of winning a domestic title, Bellingham's is escaping his grasp with each passing week. Reigning La Liga champions Real Madrid had the chance to move level on points with leaders Barcelona on Saturday when they welcomed Valencia to the Santiago Bernabeu, yet it was an opportunity which escaped them.
It wasn't for the want of trying on Bellingham's part, coming up with an assist for Vinicius Junior, who saw a first-half penalty saved by inbound Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili (for which the Brazilian now owes him €50). No player made more chances than Bellingham's tally of four, either.
Valencia, who started Bournemouth loanee Max Aarons at right-back we should point out, managed to frustrate their hosts and grind out a 2-1 victory to ease their relegation fears. Mouctar Diakhaby had put them ahead early on prior to Vinicius' leveller, and Hugo Duro was on hand to snatch the win after five minutes of added time at the end of the second half, with Mamardashvili producing several stunning saves in between. Frustrated with how the match played out, Bellingham was caught kicking the VAR monitor at full-time and could now face retrospective action, including the threat of a ban.
"Nowhere near good enough from us. Must change for Tuesday!" Bellingham wrote on Instagram on Saturday evening. Madrid's only consolation was that Barca were held to a 1-1 draw by Real Betis later that night, meaning the gap between the Clasico rivals only stands at four points.
Gallagher wins penalty in Atletico comeback
Elsewhere in La Liga, Conor Gallagher made a tangible impact of his own to keep Atletico Madrid's faint title hopes alive. Diego Simeone's side went a goal down inside seven minutes at struggling Sevilla on Sunday, with Lucien Agoume scoring from the edge of the 18-yard box, and Atleti's nightmare run of late seemed to be following the same story.
They weren't behind for long, however. Midway through the first half, Gallagher bundled his way into the Sevilla penalty area and was felled by transfer gossip column regular Loic Bade, allowing Julian Alvarez to equalise from the spot. The 25-year-old Chelsea academy graduate, affectionately known as 'The Pitbull' in Spain, drew the most fouls at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and created two chances before being subbed for fresher legs late in the second half. Atletico would go on to steal the win courtesy of a superb solo effort from Pablo Barrios, ensuring they moved to within three points of Real Madrid and seven of Barcelona.
Gallagher appears to have found his role in Simeone's setup, often coming in off the left of a 4-4-2 and providing extra energy in the middle third. It's unlikely to yield any silverware in his first season on the continent, but playing at such a level should catch the eye of Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel.
Getty Images SportAbraham & Tomori earn AC Milan draw
There's always going on at AC Milan, isn't there? The soap opera club put on another entertaining episode this weekend in a 2-2 draw with Fiorentina at San Siro, which, you guessed it, was full of drama and action in equal supply.
At the heart of the action were our Brits Abroad, which shouldn't be a surprise given four Englishmen play for the Rossoneri. On this occasion, it was two of their lesser stars in the spotlight.
La Viola raced into a two-goal lead inside 10 minutes and the San Siro crowd began to sour. Step forward Tammy Abraham, fresh from his scoring exploits against Inter in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg in midweek, to haul Milan off the canvas and pull one back, netting for only the third time in Serie A all season.
Under-fire manager Sergio Conceicao withdrew Yunus Musah – an England youth international before switching his allegiances to the USMNT to really make this piece come together – straight after Abraham's goal to try and keep the momentum. They had to wait until the second half to grab their equaliser though, with Fikayo Tomori's pass intended for Santiago Gimenez instead reaching Luka Jovic behind a sleeping Fiorentina backline, and he finished without an issue.
The three points could have gone either way down the stretch of a chaotic game but instead had to be shared, leaving Milan mired in ninth on 48 points, eight off a Champions League spot. Kyle Walker played all 90 minutes and picked up a yellow card for his troubles, though the most noteworthy of his affairs came off the pitch last week.
