Flying Kiwis - December 10
Hannah Wilkinson - Sporting CP (Portuguese 1a Divisão)
Some good news there, that’s for sure. Hannah Wilkinson was on the bench again as Sporting CP hosted Valadares Gaia but things were still tied at nil-all when Wilkie was subbed on early in the second half. Sporting had had the better of the game to that point but hadn’t been able to find a way through and were even a little lucky not to concede at one point.
But Wilkinson made an immediate impact. She probably should have scored a header after a flick on straight away but she made amends soon enough. Letting a through ball slide past the defence and into space, she carefully picked out the near post to open the scoring. That was in the 65th minute and five later it was two as Wilkie placed one in from six yards out on the run after some nice work down the wing from Diana Silva. Raquel Fernandes then made it three when she beat the keeper from a tight angle, then Wilkinson was there to tap in a fourth, and her third, at the far post again from a ball squared across by Silva. Hat-trick hero!
A 4-0 win for Sporting CP makes it six wins in a row since they lost to SL Benfica, keeping them just three points behind that lot with a +46 goal difference after ten games (way off SL Benfica’s +71 to be fair). This wasn’t even Wilkie’s first hatty of the season either, she scored a treble in a 6-1 win over Ovarense a couple months back in one of the two games that she’s started this season (the other being the 3-0 loss to SL Bendica). But that hasn’t stopped the goals from flowing. That’s now 10 goals in 10 games for Wilkie, including 6 in her last 4. You love to see it.
Up Next: Sunday at 3am away to Ouriense (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PSV Eindhoven (Dutch Eredivisie)
PSV have been stumbling their way through the last few months and with a young team riddled with injuries it’s tough to get out of a slump like this... but one thing they do have going for them is the emergence/return of Ryan Thomas. Since coming back from the All Whites camp he’s started all three league games and played off the bench in a midweek Europa League match. It’s been a long time coming and the road has had some bumps along the way but we can now safely say that Ryan Thomas is officially back.
Thommo played the full ninety minutes in midfield this week as PSV tied their biggest win of the season with a 5-0 triumph over Fortuna Sittard. Ritsu Doan had the ball in the net in the fifth minute but the offside flag denied him. No matter, it only took him two minutes to score a proper one. Nodding in after Ryan Thomas had slipped the ball through to Steven Bergwijn in the box and a nice header from Doan on the end of the cross. A powerful start from PSV that got better after 26 mins when Donyell Malen scored a header of his own and then they made it three before the break as Bergwijn scored from the spot after being tripped. Another penalty, won by Malen, soon after that break saw Mohamed Ihattaren step up to score... then Cody Gakpo scored one off the bench, sweet as. A 5-0 win. Bloody beautiful.
No goals or assists amongst it all for Thommo but he had an excellent game playing deeper in midfield, knocking the ball around and building a tempo for their play. He had an 88.9% passing success rate with three key passes and a few long ones and crosses too so you know he wasn’t just taking the easy option each time. This is what they want to see from him. It’s not about the flashiness so much as having a reliable guy in the middle to link everything together, and if things are clicking like they did here then away we go.
PSV had lost five of their previous nine games in all competitions, winning just one, so this was crucial for them to not only get three points but to regain some form along the way. And this result was made even better too by Ajax losing the day before, going down 2-0 to Willem II... although Michael Woud and James McGarry were unused subs as per usual (they have extended benches in the Eredivisie, however Woud is the backup keeper so he’d be there anyway). The gap from PSV in third to Ajax is first is down to 10 points.
Up Next: Busy few days, with a dead-rubber in the Europa League (PSV are already out) vs Rosenborg on Friday at 6.45am and then they’ve away to second-place Feyenoord on Monday at 2.30am in the Eredivisie (NZT)
Annalie Longo – Melbourne Victory (Australian W-League)
Back from Korea and straight back into the regular footy. As Canterbury Pride celebrated were celebrating making yet another NWL final, one of their favourite daughters was kitting up for another dash with the Melbourne Victory. Longo’s third game for the Victory was her most prominent yet, playing the full ninety minutes.
MVC started this one hot, immediately taking control of the game and getting an early lead as Haley Hanson won the ball in midfield and guided it into the net after combining with Natasha Dowie. No less than they deserved but Western Sydney have been excellent so far this season and would settle into the match soon enough. With a front three all on loan from North Carolina Courage (they should’ve got Abby Erceg too, the cowards) they were always going to cause problems and midway through the second half Lynn Williams slid in an equaliser to set up a very competitive last half hour or so. Both teams had chances but a brilliant save from the Victory keeper Casey Dumont in the final seconds preserved a point which means that MVC have one of each result after three league games.
The Women’s Game Player Ratings: “Annalie Longo (6.5) - Great touches and turns saw Longo finding plenty of space in behind the Wanderers midfield. She looks to be developing a positive partnership with Natasha Dowie in the left hand channels.”
Up Next: Melbourne derby! Thursday night at 9.30 (NZT)
Rebekah Stott – Melbourne City (Australian W-League)
After opening the season with a draw away to Newcastle and then solid but unconvincing single goal wins over Canberra and Adelaide, a trip to face Sydney FC was easily the biggest test of the season so far for City. These were two of the last three undefeated teams after all, Western Sydney being the other. Blockbuster football.
And it was a perfect start for City, taking the lead in just the third minute of the game as Emily van Egmond finished off nicely from a great feed from Milica Mijatović as she cut across the midfield. Speaking of the midfield, Rebekah Stott was initially named on the right side of a back three but a cheeky tweak to that saw her shifted into a defensive midfield role instead. Which is a different one... but not uninspired either, with Stotty bringing a physical presence to the centre of the field. Probably a bit compromised in terms of her passing but we also know what a thrilling dribbler she can be when she steps up into these areas from defence so the more of that the better. In fact that isn’t a million miles away from what was written about Stotty in the City match preview on their website, a natural next progression you could say...
“Rado Vidosic has his side playing an attractive brand of attacking football which includes the run and dash of defensive trio Rebekah Stott, Ellie Carpenter and Steph Catley. As Carpenter and Catley continue to drive forwards as attacking wingbacks, Stott has been given the license to roam through the midfield when the opportunity presents itself knowing that she is well covered by the likes of Emma Checker and Lauren Barnes. The Football Ferns defender has an incredible ability to beat opponents at ease, using her speed and foot skills to breeze past opponents. Stott’s ability to make a 40 yard run lead to City’s match winner against Adelaide and City fans can expect much of the same as the season progresses.”
Claire Emslie hit the post for City as both teams went end to end, then Sydney were able to level it up five minutes prior to half-time when Sofia Huerta got in behind the defence. But a rocket of a volley from Mijatović with quarter of an hour to go earned the points for Melbourne City. It was a game that could have easily gone either way as both teams had plenty of chances, Princess Ibini unlucky not to score for Sydney with a number of them falling her way, and ultimately it took a fantastic strike to separate the two. This W-League season is getting funky already and, hey, guess what’s next...
Up Next: Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory, Rebekah Stott vs Annalie Longo, Thursday at 9.30pm (NZT)
Sam Brotherton – North Carolina FC (American USL Championship)
Plenty to appreciate right there. Brotherton amongst a quartet of first year North Carolina players all re-signed for 2020 as the club looks to build upon a fairly solid season here, sneaking into the playoffs. For Brotherton especially it was a great stabilising year of regular game time after a tough spell in England with Sunderland, where poor circumstances and the odd injury spoiled things. But with NCFC he was a regular starting CB and able to string together some of his best ever football back in the USA where he’d been at college before signing with Sunderland. Cool to see his CB partner amongst the quartet too, making for even more continuity.
North Carolina FC: “Both aged 22 when the season began, center backs Sam Brotherton and Alex Comsia formed a successful partnership in the middle of NCFC’s backline in 2019. Both players factored heavily in NCFC’s best defensive season since 2011, as the team allowed only 1.09 goals per match and recorded 10 clean sheets. Brotherton, of Auckland, New Zealand, played 2,784 minutes in 2019, the second-most on the team. In his first season of professional soccer in the U.S. after arriving from Sunderland in England, Brotherton recorded three goals, the most by a defender on the team. In 31 appearances, the New Zealand international logged team highs in clearances (142), blocks (21) and aerial duels won (104).”
Up Next: Still a few more months before all this kicks back into action
Erin Nayler – Girondins Bordeaux (French Division 1 Féminine)
Something of a situation developing here, as former backup GK Romane Bruneau has now started three games in a row for Bordeaux and after keeping three straight clean sheets she’s kind of hard to drop. That’s as many as Erin Nayler kept in eight games previously. Which is a bit misleading and Nayler had been playing quite well it seemed but Bruneau’s making saves and helping this team win games too so there’s some competition for that starting gig and for now it looks like Bruneau might have snatched those gloves away from the Footy Ferns number one.
Their latest was a 2-0 win over Stade de Reims. They were ahead bright and early as Viv Asseyi curled one in from the left wing in the fifth minute and the chances continued to follow before Asseyi got her second early in the second half from the penalty spot. Nothing special but another nice routine win. Their fourth win in a row. Puts them three points clear in third place now and only two pointed off PSG in second who only drew 1-1 with Montpellier this week, the Champions League quarter-finalists (they’ve drawn Arsenal) only winning one of their last four league games.
Up Next: Marseille vs Bordeaux at 2.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Chris Wood - Burnley FC (English Premier League)
Sometimes there are weeks where Chris Wood pops up with a goal and everything is sweet as, other times there are weeks where he’s involved but doesn’t quite make it happen like last week... and then there are weeks like this one where absolutely nothing happened. Chris Wood started both games as Burnley played Manchester City at home in the midweek and then played Tottenham away on the weekend. But a 4-1 defeat to City and a 5-0 loss to Spurs added up to a completely forgettable few days for the Clarets and Chris Wood might as well have gone to Ibiza for the week.
Man City did Man City things as they immediately set up tents and campfires outside the Burnley penalty area. Burnley were flustered out of possession when they did have it and about the only time you saw Chris Wood was when he accidentally got in the way of Dwight McNeil’s volleyed shot. Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring in the 24th minute when he cut inside from the right and curled in a beauty of a shot past Nick Pope (Jesus vs Pope, lol). The Clarets then held on until the break but Jesus popped up at the far post to flick in Bernardo’s cross to make it 2-0 five mins into the second spell. Woody was subbed off soon after, then Rodri slammed in a third and another sharp one from Riyad Mahrez made it four before Robbie Brady grabbed a consolation at the very end.
And against Spurs it was even worse as goals from Harry Kane and Lucas Moura meant they were 2-0 down inside ten minutes. At least Harry’s was a belter, the Moura goal was sloppy and reflected a pretty awful defensive showing from Burnley. Then Son-Heung Min dribbled from box to box to score an incredible third before the half, a goal you’ve surely seen by now, and the game was over already. Kane and Sissoko added goals in the second half and while Burnley did have a few late chances to grab something, Wood had already been replaced so who cares. Burnley have now won just one of their last 28 games against ‘Big Six’ opposition (1 W / 6 D / 21 L). Not much of a way for The Woodsman to spend his 28th birthday.
Lancashire Telegraph Player Ratings vs Man City: “Chris Wood (5) - Little service into the big striker so was always feeding on scraps. Didn't impose himself enough on the City defenders.”
Lancashire Telegraph Player Ratings vs Spurs: “Chris Wood (4) - Didn’t bully the Spurs defence enough and made little impact up front. Not his natural game to play with back to goal but needs to be stronger at times.”
Chris Wood played 58 minutes against City and touched the ball just 20 times... and at least a quarter of those were headers. He completed just three out of 12 passes and didn’t have a single shot. He then played 64 minutes against Spurs where he had 29 touches of the ball with 8/16 accurate passing and one shot off target. Clearly this was a rough pairing of games but it also didn’t help that The Woodsman was as isolated as he was. A quad injury for Ashley Barnes meant he was only fit enough to play off the bench against City and he wasn’t in the squad at all vs Spurs, breaking up that magical partnership. Danny Drinkwater played as an extra midfielder against City so that was always gonna be tricky for Wood on his lonesome City while the Spurs game saw Jay Rodriguez start next to Wood but they don’t have the same understanding.
There’s plenty been mentioned about how well Wood+Barnes go together. Something like a 45% winning rate when the pair of them both start and between them they’ve combined for 30 goals in 31 games as a starting combo. It also goes the other way though, here are Burnley’s results when one of the two is missing this season...
LOST 2-1 away to Leicester City
LOST 3-2 at home to Chelsea
LOST 3-0 away to Sheffield United
LOST 4-1 at home to Manchester City
LOST 5-0 away to Tottenham Hotspur
The evidence is rather compelling, your honour.
Up Next: Sunday at 4am at home versus Newcastle United (NZT)
Sarpreet Singh - Bayern Munich II (German Liga 3)
Funky old start to BM2’s game away to MSV Duisburg, as one of the Duisburg coaches was sent off after kicking a loose ball at Chris Richards (who effortlessly dodged it) after Richards had fouled a bloke right in front of the dugouts. Richards would go on to basically assist Duisburg’s second goal after he slipped trying to header a clearance and then deflected the ball back into trouble after it had initially been blocked. Vincent Vermeij scored that one, after Tim Albubat had earlier tapped in as the hosts carved up the BM2 defence. 2-0 down at the half.
Which is when Sarpreet Singh did his usual thing and inserted himself into the action. A bit of pressure in the midfield saw him step around his marker and then charge into the penalty area. Up stepped one of the centrebacks but Singh saw him coming and skipped back inside him, catching an outstretched leg and earning a penalty kick. There were protestations... but replays showed there was clear contact. Kwasi Okyere Wreidt took the spot kick and sent the keeper the wrong way to make it 2-1. Pretty sure that counts as yet another assist for Sarpreet Singh. Making it 4 goals and 7 assists in 15 games for BM2. Crazy stuff.
Unfortunately the Bayern reserves couldn’t keep it even at the back long enough to challenge for a result, a dozen minutes after the goal Lukas Scepanik followed up a strike that had come back off the post and the two-goal deficit was back. Wreidt would pull another one back late on but it ended 3-2 and that’s now just one win from their last eight games, leaving them five points clear of the drop zone with two games remaining before the month-long winter break.
Up Next: BM2 vs 1. FCK, Sunday at 2am (NZT)
Ria Percival – Tottenham Hotspur (English Super League)
Right on. It was her birthday the other day too... and good old Tottenham celebrated with a win and a clean sheet, beating Brighton 1-0 thanks to an own goal in the 59th minute. Or maybe Ashley Neville scored it, hard to say, though it was credited officially as an own goal.
Only problem was that despite the birthday and despite the front cover treatment... Ria Percival then wasn’t even in the squad. Which suggests an injury because up until then Percy was one of just three players to have played every minute for Spurs in the league this season (keeper Becky Spencer and midfielder Rachel Furness the others, who can still boast that everpresent status), as well as cameos in all four Conti Cup games. But there ain’t any news or updates on any possible injury so dunno what’s up there. Probably just sloppy media coverage. The much-needed win lifts Spurs up to sixth on the ladder.
Up Next: Conti Cup footy against Katie Rood & Lewes at 8.30am on Thursday (NZT)
Olivia Chance – Bristol City (English Super League)
Olivia Chance has pretty much established herself as an every week starter now but that’s kinda coincided with BCFC’s defence leaking all sorts and the Robins were lucky not to fall behind five minutes in against Birmingham as Lucy Whipp’s shot looped up over the keeper and into the top corner. The Blues then almost added a second only for the offside flag to come to the rescue for Bristol City before Abbi Grant hit the crossbar for Birmingham. Olivia Chance sent through a great ball to Ebony Salmon which might have seen the Robins draw level in the first half but her shot when straight at the keeper.
They kept at it though, creating a few more half-opportunities during the second half but a goalkeeping howler allowed Birmingham to score a second and that pretty much ended it. 2-0 was the final score. Ninety minutes for Liv Chance but that’s also now seven games in all comps without a win and the Robins are just one point clear of the relegation zone.
Here’s the full replay if you’re that keen...
Up Next: Conti Cup action away to Charlton on Thursday at 8.45am (NZT)
Marco Rojas – SønderjyskE (Danish Superliga)
Nothing crazy for Marco this week... but his team sure turned up the entertainment dial. A very messy early goal had them down 1-0 at home vs Esbjerg into the second half which had them staring at a seventh straight game without a win in the league. Rojas started but didn’t really get his shining moment – he was open in the middle of the goal early in the second half but his buddy chose to shoot from a tight angle which was quite rude of him.
Rojas was subbed off after an hour. But Sonders stuck at it without him and Artem Dovbyk was able to squeeze in an equaliser in the 78th minute before Daniel Anyembe dragged down a Sonders striker in the box for a blatant penalty and a red card. Christian Jakobsen converted and there you go. A 2-1 come-from-behind victory. Esbjerg went and got another red deep into stoppage time to finish with nine players. A much needed victory for Sonders.
Up Next: Away to Horsens on Monday at midnight (NZT)
Nicole Stratford – USV Jena & Paige Satchell – SC Sand (German Bundesliga)
Just a quick one here because it’s worth mentioning that both these two were late subs for their teams this week. Stratford got five minutes at the end of Jena’s 2-0 defeat to Hoffenheim. Nicole Billa scored a two-minute brace in the first half and that was it. Meanwhile Paige Satchell got four minutes at the end of a 4-0 defeat to top-placed Wolfsburg. Pernille Harder scored a hat-trick. Unfortunately no Ali Riley to complete the Flying Kiwis hatty as she was on the bench for Bayern in a 2-0 win over Freiburg but never got on the park.
Up Next: Frankfurt vs Bayern on Saturday at 7.15am, then USV Jena vs Potsdam and SGS Essen vs Sand both on Monday at 2am (NZT)
Greg Draper – The New Saints (Welsh Premier League)
This is a fella who knows a thing or two about goals as well. Drapes scored a second half hat-trick in a 12-0 win over Airbus UK the other week and most recently bagged a double in a 9-0 Welsh Cup win over Mold Alexandra. Usually things are closer than that but still TNS sit top of the Welsh Premier League table with 35 points from 16 games, with Draper having scored 13 goals in those games despite mostly coming off the bench.
Up Next: Saturday at 9am, away to Barry Town (NZT)
Steven Old – Morecambe (English League Two)
A 1-1 draw against Carlisle. Ninety minute for Steven Old. This was a shocking game between two of the bottom three teams in the division and a point doesn’t get Morecambe off last but it’s something.
Up Next: Away to Plymouth Argyle on Sunday at 4am (NZT)
Max Mata - Grasshopper Club Zürich (Swiss Challenge League)
[EYES EMOJI]
Oh and as for Max Mata, well he was on loan in Estonia but that season ended about a month ago. Nomme Kalju lost their final game to fall to third on the table. Mata scored nine goals in 14 league appearances and also played a little Champions League qualifying action against Scottish giants Celtic early on in that loan spell too. He’s now back in Switzerland where GC Zurich are second on the ladder trying to nudge their way straight back up into the top flight after relegation, though Mata’s a step or two away from that first team at the mo’. However he did get a game for the U21s in a friendly against a Brentford B team this week, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Brentford FC: “Just after the hour mark the away side went inches from going back ahead when Max Mata controlled fantastically before he curled an effort towards the top corner but for the post as The Bees managed to clear the rebound.”
Up Next: ???
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