Aussies Abroad: Mooy’s Huddersfield snatch crucial win

Aaron Mooy’s Huddersfield Town took a vital step towards Premier League survival on Sunday (AEST) with a late win over Watford.

The Socceroos midfielder played the full 90 minutes and completed just under 80% of his passes as a 91st-minute Tom Ince strike stole all three points for the Terriers.

David Wagner’s men are now 14th as a result and sit seven points clear of the drop, albeit having played one game more.

Mat Ryan meanwhile had no such luck as Brighton and Hove Albion fell 3-2 away to fellow relegation battlers Crystal Palace.

Ryan’s failure to deal with a Luka Milivojevic drive from an acute angle allowed Wilfried Zaha to pounce inside the opening five minutes, before James Tomkins doubled their advantage 10 minutes later.

And while Glenn Murray brought the Seagulls back into the contest, Zaha’s second midway through the first half proved telling - despite Jose Izquierdo’s reply - as Palace claimed all three points.

In the Championship, Millwall had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Sheffield United, with James Meredith featuring and Tim Cahill left as an unused substitute.

After Leon Clarke broke the deadlock midway through the second half, Steve Morison brought the Lions level just two minutes later to extend their unbeaten league run to 17 matches.

Queens Park Rangers continued their inconsistent finish to the season, losing out 2-1 to Preston North End despite an impressive performance from Massimo Luongo, who missed his side’s midweek 4-2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday.

Harry Kewell’s Crawley Town saw their push for League One promotion come to an end with a 2-1 loss at home to sixth-placed Coventry. The defeat leaves Crawley 13th in League Two as a result.

In Germany, Mathew Leckie came on at the start of the second half to help Hertha Berlin come from behind against FC Cologne in the Bundesliga.

With Hertha trailing last-placed Cologne, manager Pal Dardai brought Leckie on in place of full-back Mitchell Weiser in a bid to stretch the opposition and it ultimately paid off as Davie Selke found more space inside the box to snatch a quick-fire double and subsequent 2-1 victory.

Over in Asia, fringe Socceroos goalkeeper Mitch Langerak had a difficult time between the sticks with Nagoya Grampus going down 2-0 away to Kashima Antlers.

Langerak joined Nagoya hoping to earn a FIFA World Cup call-up from coach Bert van Marwijk, but has struggled thus far as Nagoya sit second from bottom with the second-worst defence in the J1 League.

Fellow relegation rivals V-Varen Nagasaki climbed out of the drop-zone after their 3-0 victory over cellar-dwellers Gamba Osaka, with Ben Halloran making a second-half cameo.

And Kwabena Appiah played 80 minutes in Incheon’s 4-2 K-League loss to Jeju United - his seventh consecutive league appearance since signing from the Central Coast Mariners.

Dylan Murnane could not help IFK Mariehamn avoid defeat at home to league leaders HJK in the Finnish Veikkausliiga.

The former Melbourne Victory left-back played the full 90 minutes for the second consecutive week but will hope his side can improve on their current last-placed status.

And in Scotland, Lyndon Dykes found the back of the net to secure a 1-0 Championship win for Queen of the South against Jack Iredale’s Greenock Morton.

Morton’s defeat leaves them five points adrift of fourth-placed Dundee United, who saw Scott McDonald play in attacking midfield during their 1-0 victory over Falkirk.