Canadians in action: Arfield puts Falkirk on brink of promotion
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Scott Arfield put Falkirk on the cusp of promotion, Tani Oluwaseyi stayed red-hot and Jacen Russell-Rowe got the Crew a win against CF Montreal.
Here's a look at Canadians in action over the weekend.
Scott Arfield, Falkirk
Falkirk appears on course for a return to the Scottish Premiership for the first time in 15 years and the Bairns took one step closer on Saturday with a 5-0 thrashing of Greenock Morton to retain their hold on top spot in the Championship. Former Canada midfielder Scott Arfield was central to the victory. The 36-year-old Arfield has been a goals machine for the club since his return in February from Bolton Wanderers. Arfield is a Falkirk youth product and made his professional debut with the team in 2007. He spent three seasons with the club before moving to England with Huddersfield Town in 2010. Arfield got the party started for the Cairns on Saturday early on. Coming out from the back, Falkirk looked dangerous down the right with Calvin Miller setting up Keelan Adams. His blast was stopped by Gary Woods, but the rebound fell for Arfield to hammer home to make it 1-0 in the fourth minute. Arfield did well to even make contact with a ball that looked like it could bounce over his head. The goal was a special one for Arfield with the marker giving him 100 on his career. Falkirk's second seemed to come from nothing. A deep free kick from goalkeeper Nicky Hogarth was latched onto by Miller just inside the Ton area. Muscling around a defender, his fine left-footed strike left Woods stationary and it was 2-0 in the 17th. Arfield would add a third before halftime, once again linking up with Adams. Adams again came down the right and pulled back for Arfield near the edge of the six-yard box. With his initial effort blocked, Arfield calmly latched onto the rebound and struck with his left foot to make it 3-0 in the 44th. The goals made it eight in nine matches since his return to the club. Ethan Ross and Barney Stewart would add goals in the second half to complete the 5-0 victory. Eight points clear of Livingston with four matches remaining, the Cairns can wrap up the title as soon as this weekend. Should Falkirk defeat Ayr on Friday and Livi fail to defeat Greenock Morton, the title will belong to the Cairns. It would be a remarkable second promotion in two seasons for Falkirk, who topped League One a year ago.
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Jacen Russell-Rowe, Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew kept their undefeated season going on Saturday with a visit from CF Montreal with their young talent earning them three points. Toronto's Jacen Russell-Rowe continued his strong start to the 2025 campaign with another goal and an assist. It was another defeat for CFMTL, who are still looking for their first victory of the season. The Crew got their scoring done within the first half hour. In the 11th, Aziel Jackson opened the scoring in style. Racing onto a ball sent in over the top by Russell-Rowe, AZ did well to chest the ball down and then drag his shot inside the far post past Jonathan Sirois to make it 1-0 in the 11th. It was the first goal on the season for AZ, who notched a career-high 13 last year in a campaign split between the Crew and St. Louis City. It was Russell-Rowe's turn in the 26th. With the Crew pressing, Steven Moreira sent in a fine pass for Russell-Rowe to run onto on the edge of the 18-yard box. Stepping into his effort, Russell-Rowe hammered a fine right-footed strike past a diving Sirois to make it 2-0. The goal was the TFC academy product's third on the season in seven matches played. He sits only two back of the career-high set last year in 22 matches played. The match would head to the break on the 2-0 scoreline after Caden Clark's 33rd-minute goal was ruled offside after a VAR check. But Montreal would make things interesting just five minutes after the restart through another former Toronto FC man. With the Crew a little leisurely on the ball inside the CFMTL half, a turnover allowed Prince Owusu to break forward. Shaking off his marker, he did well to find Clark whose well-struck effort ricocheted off the post, but fell right to a completely unmarked Owusu to poke home with Patrick Schulte completely unaware of where the ball was. The goal was initially ruled off by the linesman's offside flag, but it was given upon a VAR check that determined Owusu was onside. The goal would be the closest Montreal would come to an equalizer with the Crew holding on for a 2-1 win to go top of the table in the Eastern Conference.
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Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United
That Mississauga, Ont.'s Tani Oluwaseyi is capable of scoring goals in droves shouldn't come as a surprise. In his second professional season after being taken with the 17th overall selection of the 2022 MLS SuperDraft out of St. John's, Oluwaseyi blew up in a big way at USL side San Antonio FC, scoring 16 times in 25 matches in 2023. As his playing time at Minnesota United has increased, so have the goals. In his first full season with the Loons in 2024, Oluwaseyi scored eight goals in 25 appearances. Canada Soccer took notice with Oluwaseyi now a regular feature in Jesse Marsch's sides. He scored his first goal in a Canada shirt in the team's 2-1 victory over the United States in the Concacaf Nations League third-place game last month in Los Angeles. There's a confidence in Oluwaseyi's game right now and it was on display again on Sunday when the Loons visited New York City FC. Oluwaseyi took only 60 seconds to find the back of the net. Running at goal and slipping past the NYCFC backline, Oluwaseyi took a fine delivery from Joaquin Pereyra and immediately volleyed past Matt Freese to make it 1-0. Oluwaseyi had time and space to control the ball, but the one-time shot clearly confused Freese. The goal was Oluwaseyi's fifth in six games this season. Pereyra would set up a second just before the half-hour mark on some set-piece trickery. Standing over the ball, it appeared to everybody in Yankee Stadium that Pereyra was going to curl his free kick into the box and hope to meet the head of a teammate. Instead, he crossed the ball to the top of the area, well behind the crowd in the box, for Wil Trapp to send in a low shot that fooled everybody, including Freese, to make it 2-0 in the 29th. That was all the Loons would need for the three points with NYCFC pulling within one in the 89th through Keaton Parks.