Canadians in Europe: David returns with a bang – TSN.ca

Jonathan David opened the Ligue 1 season with a bang, Richie Laryea returned home and Alphonso Davies celebrated a comfortable win. Here’s a recap of the week that was in Europe for Canadians.

Jonathan David, Lille – It could have come as a surprise that Jonathan David started the season opener in Ligue 1 in Lille on Sunday. The expectation for much of last year was that the Ottawa native would walk away from the club during the current transfer window, but with three weeks to go David is staying at Lille and helping them to a comfortable Matchday 1 win over Auxerre. Lille opened the scoring right after kick-off with a well-crafted team goal involving David. It was a skillful chop from David, who set up a low shot from outside the box for Benjamin Andre to defeat a diving Benoit Costil and make it 1-0 in the first minute. Before Auxerre could even settle the game down, the score was 2-0 through David. With a pass down the right, David entered the area, used his marker as a sight and shot the other side of the net with his left foot, Costil being powerless to hit it. Auxerre were down twice after just three minutes. David would complete his brace in the 39th after Lille penalized Auxerre for a sloppy play from behind. Brayann Pereira fumbled with an outlet pass down the left touchline and was brought down by Jonathan Bamba, forcing a turnover. Bamba found Remy Cabella cutting into the area. After putting three defenders in play, Cabella spotted an unmarked David who hit a low shot to make it 3-0, securing his second goal of the game. Lille would win 4-1. David had a career-best 15 league goals last season and should he remain in Ligue 1 he could easily surpass that mark this year.

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Richie Laryea, Nottingham Forest – Toronto native Richie Laryea has struggled to find game time since moving to England last January, making only five appearances for Forest in a single start last season. With November’s World Cup fast approaching, Laryea knew he needed playing time to maintain his place in John Herdman’s Canada squad, which is why he returned to Toronto FC on loan last week. Laryea had spent the last three seasons with the Reds before his January move. “It’s great to bring Richie back to the club,” said TFC head coach Bob Bradley last week. “As everyone knows by now, Richie has established himself as one of the best full-backs in the league. He’s a dynamic player, a fantastic dribbler and a real competitor. To have Richie back in his hometown to play for TFC ahead of Canada’s trip to the World Cup is exciting.” Laryea wasted no time in rejoining Major League Soccer and landed a seed on Saturday night. In TFC’s 4-3 win over Nashville SC, he played 63 minutes, assisting Jonathan Osorio’s second goal of the game, completing 90.2 percent of his passes and receiving a yellow card. It was the kind of vintage performance Reds fans had come to expect from Laryea.

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Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich – Eintracht Frankfurt finished 11th in the Bundesliga last season and is 35 points behind champions Bayern Munich. Thanks to winning the Europa League title last season and taking penalties in the final against Rangers, they will play in the Champions League this season, although they are not quite there in terms of European talent levels. The gulf between Eintracht and the top teams in the Bundesliga was wide last season and, if this year’s opening game is any indication, it is still wide. Bayern ran over Eintracht from kick-off in Friday’s opening game of the season, with Julian Nagelsmann’s men pointing out that an 11th straight title is on the horizon. Bayern scored a brace from Jamal Musiala and goals from Joshua Kimmich, Benjamin Pavard, Serge Gnabry and Sadio Mané on his debut as the visitors celebrated a 6-1 win. It was a smooth evening of sailing for Alphonso Davies. The Edmonton native played the entire 90 minutes, making six blocks, 53 carries and going 49 to 53 (.925) with his pass. It was the fifth time in the last six games that Davies had played the full 90 minutes.

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Theo Bair, St Johnstone – St Johnstone celebrated their first win of the new season on Saturday, with Ottawa’s Theo Bair playing a key role. Bair, 22, is in his first full season in the Scottish Premiership after joining from the Vancouver Whitecaps last January. He thought he should have opened the gate on the 25th. A deflection deep in the Motherwell half allowed Bair to go in on Liam Kelly alone. As two defenders closed in on him, Bair took a low shot from just outside the area, which Kelly stopped and held. Bair was visibly angry with himself after the attempt and perhaps thought he could have taken a step or two towards goal before shooting. Bair would make up for his mistake just a few minutes later to set up the first goal of the game. St. Johnstone’s Ryan McGowan won a free kick in his own half and shot the ball down. With his back to goal, Bair deftly chested on oncoming Jamie Murphy, whose right-foot shot defeated a diving Kelly to make it 1-0 in the 28th minute. The game would remain so until the second-half stoppage when Motherwell thought they had stolen a point with a Graham Carey own goal, but there was more drama to come. On death, Motherwell failed to clear a corner of St Johnstone far enough. The ball was lifted back into the box by Cameron MacPherson and headed by McGowan to Jamie Murphy to thrust home through Kelly’s legs to take the three points.