Flying Kiwis – February 16
Bill Tuiloma – Olympique de Marseille (French Ligue 1)
The undercover NZ football story of the year continues with Bill Tuiloma making another cameo off the bench for Marseille this week. This time he got 13 minutes, as he made his home debut for the second placed team in France.
Just like last week, the top three teams all drew, so this was a stumble for Marseille. They hosted mid-table Reims, and fell behind after only six minutes. Marseille dominated possession and had plenty of chances, but they could have gone behind 2-0 with Reins a constant threat on the break. The equaliser did come though, Dimitri Payet slamming one home from the edge of the box via a pretty substantial deflection. Ten minutes later Marseille led, Andre Ayew converting a comical goalmouth scramble that included an airshot bicycle kick, a flopping goalie and some static defenders. Bill Tuiloma entered eight minutes later, with the clock at 77 played, as OM tried to hold the lead. But just before the end of the 90, former Liverpool forward David Ngog flicked in a lovely header that pounded off the inside of the near post and into the back of the net to steal a point. It was only Stade de Reims’ second Ligue 1 point of the calendar year.
There wasn’t much for Bill to do other than be a body in the midfield and a shield for the defence. He didn’t make a tackle or interception, but all 8 of his passes were on target and he won a header too. A more involved appearance this time, even if the result wasn’t great. Top stuff.
Also, his twitter account is no longer hacked, and here he is back-heeling a ball into a goal in warmups. Good week.
Up Next: Monday 9am at Saint Etienne (NZT)
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
Not a whole lot to be bothered about this week. Winston’s still injured, and so thankfully he missed West Ham’s embarrassing 4-0 loss to West Brom in the FA Cup. Kouyate and Tomkins played as centre backs, a partnership that had looked superb in draws against Manchester United and Southampton. Except they were slaughtered by Tony Pulis’ WBA. Saido Berahino was a handful and Brown Ideye suddenly looks like a player, who knows what happened there? Part of it was finding space where he never should have been allowed it. Like, in the six yard box for example.
Sam Allardyce has been one to stick with a winning formula, so there was no guarantee at all that Winston Reid would have a place to return to after he regains fitness, especially with his transfer status far from settled. That’s probably not a worry for now, and he should be back if not this weekend then by the next. Which is good news for the Hammers, who’ve now lost Andy Carroll for the season with his latest knock. Poor fella.
Also, WHU Chairman David Gold offered this sceptical optimism on the Winnie front:
Up Next: 1am next Monday, Tottenham at White Hart Lane (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)
Massive week for the Tommy Smith Promotion Campaign. Two wins from two, and although Ipswich stay in fourth place despite it, they’re now only two points off first. That’s after Bournemouth drew twice to lose their grip on outright first. Second and third placed Middlesbrough and Derby each have midweek games after they both bowed out of the FA Cup on the weekend.
Twice this week Ipswich came away with 2-1 victories, but they were very different in how they unfolded – even if they were both mighty impressive. Against Sheffield Wednesday midweek, Ipswich really needed to bounce back after some rough form saw them slip down a couple places on the table. And that didn’t look good when a mix-up between Christophe Berra and keeper Bartosz Bialkowski handed Kieran Lee a gift of an opening goal after only 20 rotations of the clock. Daryl Murphy headed off the post late in the half as Ipswich picked things up to create a few chances, including a Tommy Smith header powered just past the post.
In the second half they finally got their reward. Murphy slipping one in from Freddie Sears’ cross, then Luke Chambers rose high to head in what proved to be the winner in the 68th. They had to work damn hard for it, but they got the win that they so desperately needed.
Then on the weekend they were away to Fulham. Daryl Murphy scored a brace to lift his season total to 21, flicking a header in from a corner after only 5 minutes then doubling it with a wonderful finish just before half time. He’s the first Ipswich player to 20 season goals since 1999/00. The Trotters really bossed this one and aside from a spell in the first half where Fulham threatened, it wasn’t that close. They iced the second half, although Fulham did pull one back when Tommy Smith – whoops – made a complete hash of a clearance, missing it under his leg under no pressure. But Ipswich rallied together to close the game out. It could have been a different game had Fulham tied it up in the opening half, however it was a comfortable win as it turned out. 6 valuable points out of 6.
Smith played all 90 in each game, looking impressive in the Sheffield Weds game, though not as flash against Fulham – his big error no small part of that.
Up Next: Hosting Reading, 4am Sunday (NZT)
Marco Rojas – FC Thun (Swiss Super League)
Lil Marco got the start again, in his second available SSL game. He played in the same inside-left winger spot as he did last game, even taking corners too.
Thun were up against second placed FC Zurich. Zurich were looking to put the pressure on leaders Basel, who dropped a couple points the day previous, however chances were hard to come by as Thun defended with solidity. The first real chance didn’t come until Gaetan Karlen drove a volley narrowly high and wide on the break for Thun, but they really should have taken the lead from a Rojas corner five minutes later that ended up cannoning off the bar from a volley and then being inexplicably headed wide of the post. Zurich hit the post from distance before the half, but that was all they offered.
Rojas came out in the 68th minute, replaced by Alex Gonzalez (the guy who got engaged before the last game), and it was Gonzalez that popped up to stick a winner in with a dozen to play. A deserved win for Thun against a surprisingly passive Zurich side.
Up Next: Monday 1.45am @ FC Vaduz (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
This was not good. Zwolle fell to a 1-0 loss at home to local rivals Go Ahead Eagles. Great name, but not a great team. They’re lingering just above the relegation playoff spots, while Zwolle are up in the European zone. This should have been a winnable game.
Instead they fell behind after a nice little one-two move put Jeffrey Rijsdijk in after 22 minutes. It was a fiery match, and only a smart save from their keeper kept Zwolle from going behind even further before the break.
Things went from bad to worse when striker Stefan Nijland was sent off early in the second stanza for lashing out at an opponent. They still nearly salvaged something, but Mustafa Saymak's chip bounded back off the crossbar.
Ryan Thomas was subbed off with 70 minutes played, as a part of a double substitution and a formation change with Zwolle desperately trying to salvage something. When we say it was a feisty game, well, even Thomas was booked. Just his second yellow of the season, coming for a foul. He also had a shot on target, and did some quality stuff tracking back (5 tackles, for example) although his touch wasn’t what it usually is.
Interestingly, one of the players who came on when Thomas left was Eli Babalj, the former Melbourne Heart forward. Aussie international Trent Sainsbury also played – he had a very good game in defence – and Nijland, the guy who was sent off, once played for the Brisbane Roar. Big A-League connections at PEC Zwolle!
Up Next: Another Monday morning game, this one’s at 6.30am - away to ADO Den Haag (NZT)
Jeremy Brockie – SuperSport United FC (South African Premier Soccer League)
He probably won’t become a regular in these pages, but Jeremy Brockie deserves a mention for an impressive debut in South Africa.
Playing away to the Mpumalanga Black Aces – at the ground where the All Whites famously drew 1-1 with Italy at the 2010 World Cup! – Brockie scored 12 minutes into his first game and SuperSport held on from there for a 1-0 victory. It was enough to edge them up a few spots on the table too, their first win of the year after an extended break during the African Cup of Nations. SuperSport sit 8th of 16, deep in the midtable scramble, with 7 wins in 18 games.
Up Next: Kaizer Chiefs drop by on Wednesday morning, 6.30am (NZT)