Flying Kiwis – February 23
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
Guess who’s baaaaack? Mr Flying Kiwi himself, Winston Reid, returned for the Hammers to play 90 full minutes in the draw against Tottenham.
WHU looked good for the win when they took a 2-0 lead in the second half. Defending well, appearing solid in the middle and putting away a couple of chances from crosses. Kouyate with a header, Sahko with a nice finish at the far post.
And Spurs were just about running out of ideas when West Ham keeper Adrian made a complete fluffer of a save, then was caught out of position by Danny Rose’s miss-hit effort. The Hammers strived to hold on to a close win against their London rivals – who they’ve had a good record against recently – but then Harry Kane did his usual thing.
Kane picked up a loose ball after a Winston Reid tackle - charging out of the line - bounced into space on the edge of the box. He got there a step ahead of Alex Song, and the Cameroonian couldn’t help but make contact. Kane tumbled, penalty awarded deep in injury time. By the time he took the kick they were almost 6 minutes into the 5 mins added-on. Harry Hotspur missed the kick, Adrian diving the right way and parried it, but it landed right back at Kane’s feet and he made no mistake of the second chance.
Good to see Winston back though. Especially based on how they did last game. He played well, too, but this must feel like two points dropped. Alex Song should have had more composure and the keeper should have been better. But a point ain’t bad.
Up Next: Crystal Palace drop by Upton Park for a spot of footy, 1.45am Sunday (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)
“It was just one of those days,” said Mick McCarthy.
Ipswich fell to only their third home defeat of the league season, 1-0, at the hands of mid-table Reading. They went behind in the 14th minute, against the run of play, and then failed to hammer in an equaliser as Reading sat back and defended.
It was an unchanged XI from the Ipswich team that beat Fulham 2-1 last week, while their opponents were probably still wiping spittle from their faces after the barrage that their manager gave them following a home loss to Wigan.
By the time Reading scored, Ipswich had already had at least three good chances to take the lead. Instead, some timid defending and a goalkeeper slow to react saw Jamie Mackie drive the ball low inside the far post from a tough angle and a decent distance.
Forced now to break down a resolutely parked bus, Ipswich struggled to find the invention or creativity. There were a couple of penalty shouts, some sighters and snap-shots, but ultimately they just didn’t have it on this afternoon. Reading held on to win.
It was a chance to make a move up the table too. Both Middlesbrough and Bournemouth above them lost, as did Watford below them. Derby twice came from behind to beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 and claim top spot. So Ipswich hold on to fourth place but the gaps are shrinking.
Tommy Smith looked good after a shakey game last week. He did his bit defensively, with 3 tackles, 8 clearances and an interception, as well as showing some good touch with his passing game. To be honest, the problems here weren’t on defence.
Up Next: Home to Birmingham, 8.45am Wednesday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
There was no Ryan Thomas this game for Zwolle, as they lost a crazy game 3-2 to ADO Den Haag. He missed the game with illness, while strikers Stef Nijland (suspension) and Tomas Necid (fitness) were missing too. So it was a different looking frontline that took the park for Zwolle.
And they had problems creating chances in the first half, no surprises. Sheraldo Becker, playing in place of Thomas (though on the opposite wing) came close once but was forced off with injury after just a quarter of an hour. They conceded right before the break, and although they looked sharper afterwards, they leaked another one inside the hour mark. At that stage the game felt buried, however Zwolle managed to find a little fight. They scored one in the 72nd, then equalised in injury time to seemingly salvage an unlikely point. But then in the absolute final seconds of the game, the home team found a winner.
So devastatingly, Zwolle have now lost 3 games in a row. They hold on to fifth place but are falling off the pace with the quartet above them.
Up Next: 6.30am at Vitesse, next Sunday (NZT)
Marco Rojas – FC Thun (Swiss Super League)
After starting his first two games for Thun, Marco began this one on the bench. There almost wasn’t a game at all, with heavy snowfall in the area leading to the Vaduz players actually turning up early to help shovel snow off the pictch! Man, the Swiss Super League is fun.
So yeah. Vaduz vs Thun. Under the circumstances, it wasn’t a pretty game. There weren’t many chances and conditions were tough. Both teams had trouble though it was Thun who seemed to have the most difficulty keeping the ball. Vaduz were definitely the dominant team and they took the lead on 52 minutes. Marco came on with an hour played and it seemed like Thun stepped it up after that. They levelled the game with 13 mins left, a looping header into the box being poked in over the keeper. Rojas was there lurking just in case.
1-1 the final score, still entrenched in fourth place and undefeated since Rojas signed.
Up Next: Thun host Young Boys at 1.45am Monday (NZT)
Bill Tuiloma – Olympique de Marseille (French Ligue 1)
He didn’t play, with Marseille slipping to third with yet another draw (conceding the tying goal in injury time), but Tui was still on the bench. Lad’s slowly working his way into the rotation…
Impressively the day after he made his home debut for Marseille last week, he then played 90 minutes in a win for the reserves. With the first team playing away, that wasn’t possible this week, but you’ve gotta love the commitment.
Up Next: Marseille vs Caen, 8.30am Saturday (NZT)
Jeremy Brockie – SuperSport United (South African Premier Soccer League)
Oh, hey, whaddayaknow? Jeremy’s back! That’s coz after scoring on debut in South Africa, he then went and netted the opener in a 2-0 win in his second game. Damn, son!
It wasn’t any run of the mill 2-0 win either, it was a shock upset against leaders Kaizer Chiefs. The Chiefs’ first loss in 24 league games. Brockie even tried a little dance in the corner flag, though he admitted that his D-Floor efforts need some practise. The rate he’s going he’ll get plenty of that.
Up next: A midweek cup tie, Wednesday, against Polokwane City (NZT)