Irankunda brings his MJ celebration to England

He didn’t have a silver glove, but it still looked pretty cool.

Nestory Irankunda has pulled out another Michael Jackson-inspired goal celebration, this time after scoring for Watford in the English Championship.

Less than a week after going viral with his performance - in all senses of the word - for the Socceroos against Curacao, Irankunda was at it again, this time at club level, scoring the equaliser for Watford in their 1-1 draw with Charlton this morning via a crisp and clinical finish.

Here’s hoping the 20-year-old’s hot streak continues all the way through to the World Cup, where more goals like this could put his name up in lights in a far bigger way than his dance moves will.

Irankunda wasn’t the only Socceroo to find the back of the net this morning, with Alex Robertson’s strong form for Cardiff continuing as he scored his sixth league goal of the season.

It’s been a happy period for the 22-year-old, getting some minutes for the national team last week and now scoring the opener in Cardiff’s 1-1 draw with Peterborough, a result that means Cardiff are now seven points clear in second place on the League One ladder, with a game in hand.

Elsewhere in England this morning, Riley McGree and Cam Burgess went head-to-head in a clash that could prove crucial to determining who earns automatic promotion to the Premier League.

McGree played a little over an hour while Burgess, as usual, played the full 90 minutes as Middlesbrough and Swansea played out a 2-2 draw. A win for Boro would have seen them move into second spot, but instead they are now third with the team above them, Ipswich, having two games in hand.

Get our wrap of this morning’s Aussies Abroad action here.

‘The magic of the Cup’ is a well worn cliché but there a couple of Australians that can now attest to just how special a competition England’s FA Cup is.

As Port Vale - bottom of England’s third tier, coached by Australian Jon Brady (who had an exclusive chat with Simon Hill just before the game, which you can read here) and with Socceroos World Cup hopeful Joe Gauci in goals - took to the Stamford Bridge pitch over the weekend, they could dare to dream of pulling off one of the biggest upsets in the FA Cup’s recent history.

Instead they were dealt a brutal reality check, conceding after just two minutes and going on to lose 7-0 against a ruthlessly-efficient Chelsea side.

But the 6,000 Port Vale fans that travelled to London had an experience they’ll never forget, as did Brady and Gauci, as well as Kiwi forward Ben Waine, who all played such pivotal roles in getting their club to the quarter-finals in a cup run that will live long in their memories.

About 24 hours later there was another Aussie coach / player duo dreaming of a FA Cup fairytale, and on this occasion, the dream came true!

Former Socceroo Dario Vidosic coached a Brighton side featuring Matildas defender Charlie Rule to a stunning 2-0 win over Arsenal in the Women’s FA Cup, taking Brighton through to the semi-finals.

It’s an incredible result when you consider the firepower available to Arsenal, the current world club champions and Champions League semi-finalists, which included Matildas star Caitlin Foord although not Steph Catley (more on that a bit later in today’s newsletter).

Making the victory even more special was the fact that it came a day after what would have been the 65th birthday of Vidosic’s father Rado, who up until a few months ago was involved in the Brighton setup before a short battle with cancer ultimately took his life.

“I’m sure he was watching this one today and he’ll be really proud of the girls and what they were able to show,” Dario Vidosic said after the win over Arsenal.

“It’ll probably all hit me a little bit later, once I get to now pause a little bit and be alone.

“Very happy and hopefully dad is proud of as well of this one today.”

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Melbourne City and Central Coast Mariners have a chance to jump into the top six tonight after a weekend of A-League Men results that were at times downright confusing.

Sixth-placed Macarthur got things rolling with their win over ladder leaders Newcastle Jets on Thursday night, and the streak of unexpected results wrapped up on Easter Sunday when Wellington Phoenix earned a surprise three points away to Melbourne Victory.

That result continues Wellington’s remarkable run of form since former coach Giancarlo Italiano stepped down, leaving them just one point outside the top six after three wins on the bounce.

But they and Macarthur will be leapfrogged by whichever of City and the Mariners prevails in tonight’s clash at AAMI Park, which will leave all teams having three games remaining in a regular season that continues to throw up plenty of surprises.

City will contest that fixture without young gun Marcus Younis after his contentious red card in Saturday’s win over Western Sydney, a decision that City coach Aurelio Vidmar was not too pleased about.

Across town, if the defeat for Victory wasn’t bad enough, they also had contend with an injury concern for Spanish star Juan Mata, who was apparently in considerable pain after hurting his elbow during the game.

Meanwhile the A-League Women had a dramatic finish to its regular season, with Brisbane Roar securing fourth spot on the ladder after an amazing win over Canberra United that featured a goal direct from a corner, and a brilliant penalty save from goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln in the dying moments.

That result confirmed Central Coast Mariners won’t be able to defend their title after their scoreless draw with Sydney FC meant the Mariners finished outside the finals places.

Get the full A-League Women wrap here.

The Young Matildas are into the quarter-finals of the Under-20s Women’s Asian Cup after recording their second consecutive five-goal victory.

The Aussies crushed India 5-0, just a few days after beating Chinese Taipei by the same margin, to march through to the knockout rounds with a game still to play.

The breakout star for Australia so far has been Skye Halmarick, the 18-year-old striker who now leads the tournament’s Golden Boot standings after bagging a hat-trick in the space of 10 minutes against India, to go with her double against Chinese Taipei.

Meanwhile as we mentioned earlier, Steph Catley didn’t play for Arsenal over the weekend and the club went on to say that the Matildas star won’t be available to play for Australia in the upcoming FIFA Series matches in Kenya.

Football Australia is yet to confirm the news but if true, it’ll open up another opportunity for someone to impress coach Joe Montemurro as he balances the desire for “continuity” with a need to build even more depth within the Tillies squad.

What a week it’s been for Graham Arnold.

After guiding Iraq to their first World Cup in 40 years, Arnold and his players flew back to Baghdad for an open-top bus parade that must have been a pinch-me moment for all involved, including the fans who gathered in their thousands despite the constant security threats hovering over most of the country due to the ongoing war next door.

Then, seemingly in the blink of an eye, Arnold was being mobbed by Iraqi fans at Sydney Airport, after flying home alongside his contingent of Aussie coaching staff to enjoy a little well-earned rest following what must surely be one of the most intense periods of their professional lives.

But you couldn’t wipe the smile off Arnold’s face as he posed for selfies and signed autographs with ecstatic Iraqi expats, in beautiful scenes that, in an ironic twist, were the same place that just a few weeks earlier had seen tearful Iranian expats attempt to stop players from their women’s national team from returning to Iran.