Chris Wood – Leicester City (English Premier League)

Yeah, I know. You watch the news. Let me just refresh your memory anyway. So last week, Chris Wood had been told he was free to leave the club if he wanted to. Wolves were calling, and a fee was agreed. As basically the club’s fourth choice striker it didn’t look like too many opportunities were coming for Wood and a step down to establish himself as a leading striker for a Championship club seemed a good idea. Well, since then Wood has broken off talks with Wolves and declared his intentions to fight for his spot in the Premier League. After all, who knows if he’ll ever get back here?

Some of that determination must have made an impression on Nigel Pearson, as Wood found himself on the bench for the Everton game. In their first EPL game since 2004, Leicester were trailing 2-1 as Wood got the call and dumped the tracksuit with 12 minutes remaining. Everton looked comfortable, until LCFC’s impressive winger Riyad Mahrez’s blocked shot fell in the lap of Wood, who curled it low past Tim Howard for the equaliser and that’s the way it stayed. A wonderful moment for Woody and a pretty good way to endear yourself to the gaffer! Hopefully he gets a few more chances now following this silky little finish. Top stuff.

Up Next: Chelsea away, 2am Sunday. Yeah, that’ll be tough. (NZT)

Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)

It was a dramatic day at Upton Park for Winston Reid and company. Hosting Tottenham, who were under the tutelage of new boss Mauricio Pochettino for the first time, it seemed pretty clear it was gonna be a lean day from the start with Carlton Cole manning the front line alone. However the Hammers really took the game to Spurs, threatening plenty from set pieces and it was from a corner that they nearly took the lead. Kevin Nolan loomed over a loose ball only for Kyle Naughton to handball his turning volley away in the box, leading to a penalty and a red card. Up steps Mark Noble, hasn’t missed a spot kick in his past 10 attempts… and he fires it embarrassingly wide. West Ham keep attacking through crosses but Spurs find a foothold and start making some excursions of their own. The one man advantage was gone when Reid’s centre back partner James Collins took down Adebayor and got his own marching orders for a second yellow. And just as the game seemed to be headed for a goalless draw, Harry Kane managed to send in Eric Dier, an England U21 international playing his first game for Tottenham, to score the only goal in stoppage time. 1-0 to Spurs, final score.

A solid game for Reid, dealing with what he had to. He made a pair of solid tackles and marshalled the defence as always. He’ll probably be upset with being caught in two minds for the goal, but that’s what can happen if nobody’s gonna track the run across the backline. With all of the pressure on Sam Allardyce, this is hardly the luck he needed falling short on a day when the result could have gone in any direction.

Up Next: Off to Crystal Palace for another London derby, this one next Sunday morning (NZT)

Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)

Ipswich picked up a spare striker, Conor Sammon on loan from Derby, midweek and their clash with Reading on the weekend showed us exactly why Mick McCarthy saw fit to do that. Reading, with a bunch of injuries, picked a subs bench entirely full of players developed in their own academy. Despite an early scare, it was Ipswich that were on top for most of the first half but they failed to make anything count and in the 36th minute they fell behind to a Jake Taylor goal after Dave McGoldrick made a mess of a diagonal long ball and his header fell right in the path of Taylor. That proved to be Reading’s only shot on target all game. Christophe Berra went close, as did Tyrone Mings. It wasn’t to be. A very strong defensive performance, which basically left Reading with nothing to do but hold back and protect their lead in the second half, was wasted and Ipswich fell 1-0. Of 16 shots, 6 were blocked and just 4 were on target. That’s a win and a loss now in the Championship for the Tractor Boys, along with a midweek League Cup exit (a Tommy Smith-less reserve team lost 1-0 to Crawley in Extra Time).

Tommy Smith was great, for what that’s worth (which is plenty, given this segment is named for him). He had one of those 4 shots on target, along with 4 tackles, 2 interceptions and a game-high 19 clearances. Plus a pair of shot blocks for good measure. He passed the ball out well and he was dominant in the air. Although he did pick up a second half booking. After a week in which he copped some heat in the NZ media for his stance on All Whites duty, maybe more people should have a closer look at his Ipswich form to see just why. On that note, Anthony Hudson is gonna meet up with Smithy to see if he can sort that whole saga out in a civilised way.

Up Next: Wednesday 6.45am – away to Birmingham (NZT)

Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)

While Chris Wood may have hogged the headlines and the lagging Premier League Pass clips on the 6 o’clock news, Ryan Thomas got himself on the score-sheet as well. Playing away to FC Dordrecht, Thomas lined up in an attacking left wing role. It was the away team that dominated early on but there were few chances to dwell on until Ben Rienstra intercepted a ball and managed to find Ryan Thomas darting inside, and the All White winger finished smartly, slipping the ball past a scrambling keeper. The score remained 1-0 at the half, though unfortunately Thomas rolled over on his ankle soon after the break and was subbed off in the 56th minute. Zwolle missed a couple of chances to seal the deal and before long the home side were all over them. Zwolle fullback Bart Van Hintum was sent off for a second yellow and some awfully sloppy defending meant the scores were level just moments later. However deep into injury time, Czech international Tomas Necid – who’d replaced Thomas – skipped past his marker and pulled a ball back to the edge of the area where Mustafa Saymak curled it past the keeper and PEC Zwolle took the game 2-1.

Ryan Thomas’ afternoon was a bit of a mixed bag before it was cut short. His passing accuracy was uncharacteristically down and he didn’t find too many ways to contribute aside from his goal. But on the other hand, there was his goal. The win means PEC Zwolle (pronounced Peck Zwo-La) are one of 4 teams to have taken maximum points from their first 2 games (PSV, Ajax and Groningen the others), though they were hardly as convincing as PSV, who annihilated NAC Brede 6-1 on the weekend thanks to Memphis Depay, who was practically untouchable.

Hopefully Ryan’s back fit and healthy for the club’s first ever European campaign, when they tackle Sparta Prague on Friday morning, before a quick turnaround sees them host Vitesse on Monday morning (both NZT). He seems in good spirits anyway.

Here’s a spotlight on Ryan Thomas from Total Dutch Football.

Up Next: 6am Friday morn vs Sparta Prague. Set yo clocks. (NZT)

Marco Rojas – VfB Stuttgart (German Bundesliga)

No Bundesliga action ‘til next week, sorry champs. But VfB Stuttgart’s season opener is love on Sommet Sports at 3.30am Monday morning. Not all that likely that Rojas will see time on the pitch or even on the bench, but keep your ears to the pavement just in case…

Up Next: Away to Monchengladbach.