Flying Kiwis – April 24
Marco Rojas – sc Heerenveen (Dutch Eredivisie)
Last week Marco Rojas made his first start since the end of October. Season-ending injury to Martin Ødegaard opened up a spot in the front three, which manager Jurgen Streppel initially chose to fill with Japanese midfielder Yuki Kobayashi playing further forward. But against VVV-Venlo he needed Yuki in the central three with Morten Thorsby and Stijn Schaars both suspended, freeing up space for Marco Rojas to finally get back in there having battled away on the bench for the last several months.
A decent game there and he was back in for the midweek clash with ADO Den Haag. Michel Vlap replaced Arber Zeneli while Rojas maintained his place. Safe to say that Zeneli wasn’t too chuffed with that decision and the telly cameras caught him looking pretty stroppy on the bench there, although he did get a run later on in the game and even set up a goal.
And guess who scored that goal? None other, mate. Marco Rojas scored both as Heerenveen beat Den Haag 2-0, shooting them up into the Europa League playoff spots. The first half didn’t have much going for it but ten minutes after the break Pelle van Amersfoort picked up the ball in the box and skipped down the left of the defence and chipped a ball back into the middle. Last game you could see a couple times when Rojas popped up in these quality areas but the ball didn’t quite get to them. Both of their goals in the previous game he was right there waiting if it had come his way. This time it did. Marco wasn’t taking any chances as he leapt into a diving header and gave his team the lead.
Then in the 74th minute Zeneli had his moment, skipping around the left in a similar way to how the first goal was scored and dragging a cross back along the goal-line, which the defender, not realising the danger (or at least trying to avoid the own goal) let slide to the far post… where Rojas was creeping in at the far post to stab in from roughly five centimetres out. Always an easy tap-in. Not his first goals in the Eredivisie since he scored one against Excelsior back in September but this pair takes his tally up to three, matching his best haul for FC Thun in a season (and this isn’t including his plentiful goals for the SCH second team).
Up Next: NAC vs Heerenveen, Monday at 12.30am (NZT)
Chris Wood – Burnley (English Premier League)
The yarns keep coming with The Woodsman. Five goals in five games and he’s getting noticed all over the show, here are a couple from a tasty selection to choose from…
Football365’s PL’s Best Finishers:
“3) Chris Wood (27.27% shot conversion rate) - Nine goals from just 33 shots, you say? Five goals from just 14 shots in his last five games, you say? While Burnley’s centre-halves have got all the love this season, Wood has quietly chipped in with a pretty decent goal haul. One more and he will match Sam Vokes’ total from last season; two more and he will equal the total that earned Danny Ings a Liverpool move.”
The streak did come to a little halt this week, however. Burnley came up against Chelsea, who still have a shot at sneaking back into the Champions League spots after Spurs lost to City the other night, and went down 2-1 in a tightly contested game. Coming in on a five-game winning streak while Chelsea are sitting fifth nearing the end of a disappointing season, it was a bit of a shock to see the status quo emerge as Chelsea were comfortably the better side for long stretches. Shows the contrasting seasons of the two teams, really.
Antonio Conte made six changes with an FA Cup semi to prepare for versus Sean Dyche’s unchanged XI. The best of those changes was matching Burnley with two men up front, Olivier Giroud and Alvaro Morata causing issues of all sorts and Morata in particular might’ve had a hatty with some better finishing and a little more luck, Nick Pope did well to deny him a couple times. Yet there was no denying the opening goal as Victor Moses cut one across goal and it was turned into his own net by Kevin Long.
But this Burnley side, mate, they never give up. Chelsea didn’t add to that lead in time and Ashley Barnes levelled up in the second half, almost inadvertently deflecting Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s shot from range into the net. It looked like he was trying to get out of the way and Thibault Courtois had no hope. Except then Moses scored pretty much straight away and Chelsea held on easily enough for a 2-1 win.
Lancashire Telegraph Player Ratings: “Chris Wood (6) - The Clarets front two were marshalled superbly all night, and like Barnes Wood had very little to go at.”
A few days later the Clarets took on Stoke and Sean Dyche named his third consecutive unchanged lineup. Maybe they were tired… because Stoke, playing for their future in the top flight, came out firing and took an early lead through Badou Ndiaye’s strike from the edge of the area. There was some decent stuff at the feet of Johann Berg Gudmundsson but actually they were lucky to only be down one at the break after Mame Biram Diouf for some reason tried to take a touch when wide open on the break and he missed his shot almost entirely.
Then Dyche did a little magic and the Clarets came out fired up in the second half. Jack Butland had already made a save or two and he was on hand to deny both Jack Cork and James Tarkowski from set piece headers. Eventually the equaliser came. Ashley Barnes, of course. Cork put in a sweet cross to the far post, with Woody hovering at the near, and Tarkowski’s header was saved only for Barnes to be standing right there, about a metre out, to poke it in off the knee. That dude cannot stop scoring.
Gudmundsson almost won it in the final stages but ah well. Ended up as a draw, Chris Wood playing 90 minutes for only the second time in 2018 but not having much to work with in front of goal.
A 1-1 draw in the end doesn’t do massive favours or either side but Burnley keep it ticking over in seventh while Stoke are staring down the barrel of relegation. Safe to say that Burley fans are a little more at ease with the stalemate.
Lancashire Telegraph Player Ratings: “Chris Wood (6) - Living on scraps, with one shot straight at Butland, but ran the channels to offer an out ball.”
Lancashire Telegraph: “The fight between Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood to end the season as Burnley’s top scorer is turning into quite the scrap. After Wood had stretched his advantage to two at the weekend Barnes pulled it back to one against Chelsea - although he didn’t know much about it. Barnes now has nine for the season [Update: 10 with his goal vs Stoke] compared to Wood’s 10 and while both are obviously putting the team first there does seem to be some playful personal rivalry in the fight to top the scoring charts. Their partnership has reignited Burnley’s prowess in front of goal as well, with the Chelsea fixture the seventh in succession in which the Clarets have found the back of the net, having previously not scored in more than three straight Premier League fixtures this season.”
Up Next: Burnley vs Brighton, Sunday at 2.00am (NZT)
Tyler Boyd – CD Tondela (Portuguese Primeira Liga)
We’re twenty-something seconds into injury time, Tondela with a comfortable 2-0 lead over Desportivo Aves. Tyler Boyd has already played a blinder in getting his team to the brink of three points and he’s only got one thing in his mind as he picks up the ball on the right side of the box. Facing up his marker, he throws a mean stepover on him and comes straight back onto his left foot, unleashing a curling shot towards the top, far corner of the goal…
Mate, what a goal. And damn did he deserve it too after setting up both previous goals, each with gorgeous crosses coming in from the right hand side, the first accidentally headed in for an own goal before Miguel Felipe Nunes Cardoso (those Portuguese names, man…) got an outstretched foot on the second. They’d already had the better of the first half but had gone in at 0-0 despite Boyd being in the middle of most of their best stuff. No worries here, they soon made it all count and that win keeps them well in touch with a top half finish, which ain’t bad for a team mostly hoping to avoid relegation. Right now, with three games left, they’re only two points behind Boyd’s parent club of Vitoria SC.
Boyd’s had some quality performances since the turn of the year, coming back from the winter break to force his way in as a first XI regular and scoring goals on top of that. He’s got five now this season. Check out the highlights of the game here for the full impression of all he got up to against Aves…
Up Next: Away to Benfica at 5.15am on Sunday (NZT)
Abby Erceg – North Carolina Courage (American National Women’s Soccer League)
(with an appearance from: Katie Bowen – Utah Royals)
Two games for Erceg and the Courage this week, that being the first. And oh look they were back to their usual 1-0s after a surprisingly goal-filled game in Washington last week. Jessica McDonald scored the only goal with twenty minutes left but this was a game that the Courage were always in control of. Seattle Reign were without Megan Rapinoe who was injured last week and they might have shaded the possession stats but Abby and her lot were too good, barely ever giving up a clear look at their goal.
It was just a matter of time until NCC finally got their winner and Lynn Williams blew two golden chances the likes of which she could usually score in her sleep before McDonald hit the post from another. But then Macca made one count and 1-0 was good enough. Could’ve been four or five but it means three clean sheets from four for Erceg’s defence. Thanks to stuff like this…
Then a few days later they were back at it against Katie Bowen’s Utah Royals. The Royals were still looking for their first win as a franchise and when that’s the case you can rightfully curse your luck when Merritt Mathias is scoring sixth minute rockets like the one she did here. NCC then had a few oppos to add to that but didn’t… which came back to haunt them as Katie Stengel (wrong Katie, unfortunately) took advantage of a scuffed headed clearance attempt from Abby Dahlkemper (wrong centre back, luckily) for the goal and then Brittany Ratcliffe scored a banger in the 66th minute to take the lead. Abby Erceg was the CB involved this time, her pass back hesitated upon by the keeper Katelyn Rowland, whose awful clearance was smashed back into the net by Ratcliffe.
Utah on the verge of a famous win… only for their defence to do a bit of the same and bugger up a clearance so that Crystal Dunn could step in and score the final goal of a 2-2 draw that keeps Utah without a win and keeps North Carolina without a loss, though it does spoil their perfect start. Katie Bowen and Abby Erceg both played the full ninety, try spot ‘em in the highlights.
Up Next: Away to Houston Dash at 7.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Not often that Thommo finds himself this far down the ladder but it’s been ugly for the PECers and Ryan Thomas hasn’t been able to do much to help them. The latest was a 2-0 defeat against FC Twente that at least does their opponents some good in trying to stay up in the division but it doesn’t do Zwolle any bloody good, slipping behind Heerenveen on the ladder (as you already know).
Jeroen Van der Lely and Michael Maria scored the goals, both in the first half and both deserved, with it being pretty obvious which team had more on the line here. Zwolle got better as the game went on but still didn’t really create much worth mentioning. Ryan Thomas did get a yellow card though, that’s not something he does too often. With two games left, the PECers are now a point outside the Europa League playoffs, extending their current barren streak to a single win from their past ten games and two from their last 14.
At least it’s almost done. Thommo’s getting close to 150 pro games for Zwolle, as these jokers point out… but he probably won’t get there with the season nearly over and the transfer talk gonna start up soon…
Up Next: Zwolle vs Willem II, Monday at 12.30am (NZT)
Ali Riley – FC Rosengård / Hannah Wilkinson – Vittsjo GIK (Swedish Damallsvenskan)
After unexpectedly being held to a 1-1 draw in their first game, the Rosies had no such dramas against Kalmar. The only problem was Anna Mittag having to be subbed off in the first half but aside from that it was a near perfect day at the races. A 4-0 win away from home, with goals to Mittag, Lisa Utland (2) and Sanne Troelsgaar-Nielsen. Ali Riley had a comfortable ninety minutes without having to do too much defending but she was a force getting up that left flank, assisting the fourth goal with a sweet low cross to the far post.
As for Wilkie’s lot, it looked like a disaster when they were 2-0 down after 23 minutes against Linköping who are the two-time defending champs. Linda Sällström got them right back into it by pulling a goal back and then, in the 53rd minute, she struck again to tie it up. Great ball through by Hannah Wilkinson, by the way.
All even at 2-2 then, the game was there for the winning with a heroic comeback on the cards. You know what’d be cool? If Hannah Wilkinson whacked in that winning goal from well outside the box to complete the comeback in the final quarter of an hour. And it’s true, it was cool. It was very cool. Gotta have a look at these highlights right here…
Up Next: Rosengård are up on Friday vs Eskilstuna United at 4.30am while Vittsjö get a go at Kalmar at 2.00am on Monday (NZT)
Tommy Smith, Kip Colvey & Deklan Wynne – Colorado Rapids (American Major League Soccer)
Time for a chat with Deklan Wynne, don’t you reckon? Burgundy Wave has us covered for that. They spoke with the lad about plenty of topics (lifestyle in Colorado, his journey in football, his relationships with Hudson and Bazeley, etc.) but for the sake of Flying Kiwis we’ll highlight the stuff about being traded to the Rapids and transitioning into a right-sided centre-back…
Deklan Wynne: “In Vancouver I was on the USL team, but at the end of the season I had just signed an MLS deal. So, I was in New Zealand thinking I’m going back to Vancouver for pre-season. I got a call in mid-December saying I’d been traded but I thought I know the coaches so that will pretty good for me.
“I’d never played on the right side before, and in the preseason I’d played a few times at left-side centerback which I felt quite comfortable being on my left foot, and then they told me I’d be on the right. I said, ok we’ll see how this goes, because I’m not always using my right foot as much. After trainings I’ve been doing a lot of right-footed stuff and in the games I feel quite comfortable playing out to the wingback and playing forward so I feel pretty good.”
To the footy now and, knowing Anthony Hudson as we do, it’s tempting to say that a game which allows his team the excuse to sit back and soak up pressure for most of a game is his kind of game. Maybe not the way this one played out though. Like, having Tim Howard sent off in the 20th minute is surely never a good thing. He had to sub off a striker to bring on a new goalie which then weakens his attack and that’s never ideal either.
Ask Huddo, he’ll tell you his team were “incredibly dominant” right up until the red card (which was given for handling the ball outside his penalty area). Fair call but then after the red card this derby match against Real Salt Lake swung a full 180.
Predictably Kip Colvey had been left on the bench but Deklan Wynne and Tommy Smith both started and had plenty of defending to do. 29 shots attempted by RSL, compared to 12 from Colorado (who had zero on target). They were realistically holding on for a draw and for 81 minutes it kinda looked like they might get it… then Tommy Smith handled the ball in the box and gave up a penalty.
Safe to say when you’ve defended with ten men for 81 minutes and you give away a spottie like that, you’d better be buying the first round at the post-match. Joao Plata slotted it and then Damir Kreilach and Albert Rusnak each scored in the last couple minutes for a 3-0 win to Salt Lake.
Up Next: Home to Orlandon City on Monday at 8.00am (NZT)
Max Crocombe – Salford City (English National League North)
Max is in there somewhere, dunno if you can spot him. Should have a pair of gloves on…
But, yes. Salford City have been crowed as champions of the National League North, which also happens to mean a third promotion in four seasons. They actually lost 2-1 at home to Boston United in their most recent game but Boston had already done them a massive favour by beating Harrogate Town midweek as Salford won 1-0 away at Southport for a third straight clean sheet so, regardless of the defeat on the weekend, once news came through that Bradford had beaten Harrogate 3-1, she was all over red rover.
There’s still one game to play but Salford cannot be caught now, this promotion putting them only one more rung on the ladder away from the Football League. It was an interesting call when Crocombe chose to sign down a couple divisions with Salford after he was released from Carlisle a year ago but Salford (casual reminder that the club is part-owned by Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville Brothers) are a club on the rise, with the ownership’s initial target of playing Championship within 15 years of their 2014 takeover looking more than a little cautious these days.
Crocombe’s had a fine season playing 30 times and keeping nine clean sheets along the way… although he’s probably best remembered beyond the league for the time he got sent off for taking a piss during a game. Hey, sometimes you’ve just gotta go. He’s even done well enough to get that first All Whites cap along the way, playing the game against Canada a wee while back. Of course, they don’t have international breaks there so Salford had to sign a backup keeper on loan to cover for him, nabbing Tim Erlandsson from Nottingham Forest on a one-month deal and the Swede has played the last eight games, meaning Maxie’s been absent since mid-March – not even on the bench so presumably injured. All good, job’s been done.
Up Next: Leamington vs Salford City, Sunday at 2.00am (NZT)
Olivia Chance – Everton (English Super League)
Check this one out then, Reading played Everton in the Super League. Except Anna Green wasn’t in the match day squad so it was only Livvy Chance. The Toffees started well and weren’t far away from a goal thanks to Courtney Sweetman-Kirk but Reading finished the half strong and started the second even better, taking the lead through Remi Allen within two minutes of the resumption. And then this happened…
Ooh, that ain’t good at all. She’d need a few minutes of treatment before leaving on the stretcher. Lauren Bruton and Kirsty Pearce ended up scoring in the last twenty minutes to blow it out to a 3-0 Reading win but here’s hoping Livvy pulls up better than first feared. Never want to have to report injury news and we’ve already had Winston Reid ruled out for the season. Chance has done brilliantly to force her way into the Everton starting lineup and there’s plenty more to come in the future, for sure.
Up Next: Reading are away to Sunderland on Sunday at 11pm and Everton are away to Liverpool two hours later (NZT)
Jorge Akers – Birmingham City (English Championship)
This from the Birmingham Mail: “Birmingham City have taken talented teenager Jorge Akers on trial. The 18-year-old winger took part in an under-23s’ match against Bolton Wanderers at Wast Hills this afternoon where he was watched at close quarters by Blues chiefs. Akers hails from New Zealand and has just finished a season in their top flight with Hawke’s Bay United.”
The Blues are looking for a bunch new youth players and Akers is one who is getting a good look in as they close in on the end of the season. If he can nab a contract here then he’ll be set up nicely with a team with quality history but some recent crap seasons, currently lingering near the bottom of the Championship.
But that’s not so bad when you’re looking to break into first team footy. Adam Mitchell is in a similar position at Bolton Wanderers while Matt Woud and Sam Brotherton’s Sunderland just got relegated (again) and will drop to League One next campaign… which will hopefully clear up some of a crowded path between them and first team action. Clayton Lewis is in League One with Scunthorpe, who are on the fringes of the playoff places, but Lewis hasn’t been spotted for a while. Anyway, there’s your kiwis on the edges of upper tier English clubs outside the Premier League wrap. If Jorge can keep up some more of this then he’s doing okay…
Up Next: Slip the coaches a few fivers and see how it goes
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
Not a lot to say about this one. Seattle Sounders have been rubbish but they finally got a win by beating Minnesota United 3-1. It was closer than it sounds but two goals in three minutes in the first half meant Seattle played this thing from in front for most of the way. The first was a dead set screamer, the second could probably have used some better defending. Christian Ramirez got them back in the game after 65 mins and Francisco Calvo had a great chance to equalise at the end but he missed it and Seattle went down the other end to score in the fourth minute of injury time.
Up Next: Minny vs Houston Dynamo, Sunday 12.00pm (NZT)
Stefan Marinovic – Vancouver Whitecaps (American Major League Soccer)
Here’s the good bit from the latest Whitecaps game, away to Sporting Kansas City…
And now for the bad stuff. Yordy Reyna missing a seventh minute chance having already rounded the goalkeeper with the defence in his wake wasn’t great. Nor was getting beaten down the flanks of their 3-5-2 formation for the entire game. Conceding in the tenth minute as Stefan Marinovic wasn’t able to get enough of a hand on Johnny Russell’s shot, that sucked too. Going 2-0 down soon after when Russell pumped another one in the same corner but from the other side was also a drag. Then when Jimmy Mendrana caught Marinovic out with a long range belter after half an hour, well…
Oh no but it gets worse. An implosion from a few of the Whitecaps saw a bit of a melee begin after conceding a rough foul and two of their jokers were sent off after a brief VAR excursion (there were eight minutes of first half injury time, if you were wondering about the definition of ‘brief’). Down 3-0 already… now playing with nine men. Could it get any worse? Of course it could.
Johnny Russell, the Scottish winger formerly of Derby County, won that penalty which he didn’t take, Ilie Sanchez did instead, and Marinovic saved it. But Russell got his hatty soon after the break. The Caps went more defensive to shut this thing down yet still conceded again to Christian Lobato and Yohan Croizet and only a few late Stef saves kept it from being even worse than the eventual 6-0 defeat. It was such a good start to the season and now they’ve lost three straight and following this abomination there’s gotta be some very unhappy players, coaches and, especially, fans out there in Vancouver.
Stefan Marinovic: “Like a lot of games we’ve played so far, we actually started off well. We had a prime opportunity in the first five minutes. Through a bit of, I guess in some cases, lackluster defending from the team as a whole, we conceded three soft goals.”
Up Next: Saturday at 2.30pm against Real Salt Lake (NZT)
Elliot Collier – Chicago Fire (American Major League Soccer)
Collier got yet another start this week and this time he was up front in a two-striker formation that seemed to suit the team a little better away to New York Red Bulls. Turning into a real utility forward is Collier. This was a tough away game and one which saw them fairly clinically dominated… but unlike a few other kiwi players this week whose MLS teams got starved for possession, the Chicago Fire were able to produce a strong counter attacking performance for an impressive 2-1 win. Collier played a hand in the second goal when he played in Aleksandar Katai after taking down a long ball and Katai was fouled in the box. Nemanja Nikolic scored the penalty after Katai had already had them in front in the first half and that’ll do. Collier was replaced with 15 minutes left and Bradley Wright-Phillips grabbed one back in the last ten but it ended 2-1 to Chicago… who had four shots and scored two. Decent ratio.
Up Next: Away to Toronto FC at 7.00am on Sunday (NZT)
C.J. Bott - USV Jena / Amber Hearn & Meikayla Moore – FC Köln (German Frauen-Bundesliga)
Bott’s lot had a good result. A 0-0 draw away to Bayern Munich meant their sixth point of the season and they keep touch with the two teams directly above them who they’ll need to surpass down this final lap of the season if they’re gonna avoid relegation. CJ Bott was an injury time sub as they looked to preserve the point.
One of those teams directly above them is FC Köln but they didn’t have nearly as good of a time. Two goals from Nina Burger inside the opening ten minutes had them down 2-0 at home to SC Sand and Meikayla Moore was one two players sacrificed at half-time as they chased a desperately needed win. It didn’t work. They ended up losing 6-0. Amber Hearn played the full game but wasn’t able to score any of the seven goals needed to snatch three points here. Burger, on the other hand, completed her hat-trick in the fifth minute of injury time.
Up Next: Jena have a midweek catchup game at home to league leaders Wolfsburg so good luck with that, keep up with that one on Thursday morning (NZT)
Jake Gleeson & Bill Tuiloma – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
Cheers, Billy. Hope everyone spent their Earth Day breathing fresh air and embracing whatever your chosen earthy worship may be. We’ve all got one or two of them.
Unfortunately the Timbers weren’t so generous to their kiwi contingent on Earth Day because coach Gio Savarese went and left the both of them out of his lineup for their 3-0 win over New York City FC. With Gleeson, his position was always likely to be given back to Jeff Atinella once the 2017 incumbent was fully healthy and that just happened to coincide with a knee sprain in training for Tuiloma, which kept him out of this one and allowed a lifeline for Liam Ridgewell following four straight games out of the match day squad. Ridgey spoke about ‘disappointments’, ‘conversations’ and ‘disagreements’ over the last month but played well enough to earn the praise of the gaffer who’d dropped him. That impressive return makes it curious where Billy T stands now once he returns from injury, although Ridgewell wasn’t in many doubts as to why he got the recall…
Liam Ridgewell: “It was probably Bill getting injured," Ridgewell said. "I can't read the gaffer's mind and Gio's mind on what he's going to do, but obviously Bill got injured and it gave me an opportunity.”
NYC FC had been undefeated through seven games, taking 17 points from them for the best record in the MLS. They also kept 75% of possession against the Timbers while completing 760 passes… yet they lost 3-0. Seb Blanco and Fanendo Adi each scored in the first half and Larry Mabiala got the third in the 66th minute to earn a bit of breathing room. This time there was no late collapse to make it dangerous, the Timbers pulling one right out of the steady defence + counter attack scrapbook.
Giovanni Savarese on what he sees in Bill Tuiloma: “One, is confidence. Second is that he is a talented player. I think the third is that we’ve been working together to make sure that we are better defensively and I’ve seen that we have progressed. Still work to be done but I’ve seen something that is better. And the fourth is that socially he’s a guy that everybody likes. He knows how to communicate. He knows how to be able to be a guy that can be with everybody in the locker room.”
Up Next: Away to San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday at 2.30pm (NZT)
Katie Rood – Juventus (Italian Serie A)
Roodie was on the bench again for Juve but maybe she ought to have played because after losing last week to Brescia and opening the title race right up, the team from Turin suffered a far more shocking result this time with Cecilia Savai’s 88th minute own goal dooming them to a 2-1 loss away to Fiorentina. That’s four wins in a row for Fiorentina and also a result that could well have ended up costing Juve the trophy… had Brescia not also suffered a shock loss at home to Mozzanica. They equalised in the 90th minute then conceded a winner in the 92nd. These were the first two losses either Juventus or Brescia had suffered against anyone other than each other all season (if that makes sense) and thus a definite missed opportunity for each.
On to other topics now, here’s some more fun stuff…
Up Next: Juve vs Zaccaria, Sunday a 1.00am (NZT)
Joel Stevens & Myer Bevan – Husqvarna FF (Swedish Division 1 Södra)
Last week both these two made their debuts for Husqvarna and Stevens scored a lovely goal. This week they each played their second games, Bevan getting his first start, and it was Myer who scored the goal. They lost 3-2 at home to Utsiken and are still without a win in their three games so far but at least their two kiwi signings are already up and running. Should hopefully be plenty more where that came from (it’s third division in Sweden, so… you know).
It was nothing special from Bevan, an 81st minute penalty kick. But it did cap a two-goal comeback… only for Robin Book to score the winner two minutes later for the visitors. Bevan was also booked earlier in the clash and both he and Joel Stevens played the full game. Long way to go yet.
Up Next: Away to Oskarshamns AIK on Monday at 3.00am (NZT)
Rebekah Stott – Sky Blue FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Did Sky Blue finally win a game after a drawn out first couple losses? Nope. But they did get their first point with a 1-1 draw against Rosie White’s Chicago Red Stars (minus their injured Footy Fern, naturally). Stott got the whole thing but it couldn’t have started worse with Sodia Huerta scoring in the first minute of the game. But an entertaining game saw Savannah McCaskill get her first professional goal with a dozen left on the clock to earn the draw.
Up Next: Sky Blue vs Houston Dash, Sunday at 11am (NZT)
James Musa – Phoenix Rising FC (American United Soccer League)
That’s nice. Injury had meant that Moose missed the first five games for his new Phoenix Rising side and coincidence meant that when he did finally make his debut this week it was against his old USL team, Swope Park Rangers. Cracker of a game too, as Kharlton Belmar quickly cancelled out Billy Forbes’ second half opening goal for Phoenix before Belmar scored again for what looked like the winner with two minutes left, ony for Solomon Asante to smash in a beauty from range to equalise in the 90th minute. Which still left enough time for Kevon Lambert to get sent off for PR. It was his second yellow and no surprise with the ref’s card making more features than Justin Bieber here. Guess who else got amongst it?
Up Next: Home to Fresno and Cory Brown, Sunday at 2.00pm (NZT)
Michael Fitzgerald – Kawasaki Frontale (Japanese J-League)
Here’s something positive: after 13 months on the sideline recovering from injury, Mike Fitzgerald finally made his return playing ninety minutes in central defence for Kawasaki in an Asian Champions League game against Ulsan from Korea Republic. The team blew a 2-0 half-time lead to draw 2-2 but that doesn’t really matter too much. Fitzy’s first season with KF saw the team win the Japanese championship on goal difference but he didn’t get to play a part of it, last taking the park in an ACL game in early March 2017. Great to have him back and raring to go.
Do you best with this google translation of his post-match comments…
Mike Fitzgerald: “Looking back at it, the game was fun. It was my first official game in a year and a month. I just wish we’d won. I think that the start of the game was good and it was not bad in the first half, and the performances of Shuhei (Akasaki Shuhei) and Ralph (Yuuto Suzuki), which passed through the back, were very good. I wanted to raise or lower the line a bit more at the end, but I think it was good to see it through the first half. I understood that these opponents use the long ball tactic, so I was able to cover it well. Edu (Eduardo) competed well, and the cover of Shota (Arai Shota) was also good. However, the first five minutes in the second half were all. I got hit by set play as well. I wish I could be rebuilt when I got a point, but I did not have enough voices including myself. After having just taken the second point, it became the atmosphere that there is no choice but to do. I talked about getting settled all together. I wish I could have done it shortly after the first point. Personally, it was fun anyway. I have to improve the precision of the position to go with defense and to raise and lower the line. When I got a ball I could calm down and judge, but I think more side change could be used.”
Meanwhile down a division with FC Gifu, Ryan de Vries has started two and come off the bench in the other of the last three games for his new club but they’ve all been 0-0 draws so he’s still waiting for that first goal. Something that fellow former NZ Premmy banger Keegan Linderboom certainly is not doing for his new team in Singapore.
Up Next: Sagan Tosu vs Kawasaki Frontale, 10pm on Wednesday (NZT)
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