Flying Kiwis – December 17
Sarpreet Singh - Bayern Munich (German Bundesliga)
What a moment. 82nd minute of the game, Bayern with a healthy 6-1 lead against Werder Bremen, and on comes Sarpreet Singh in place of hat-trick hero Coutinho. His competitive debut for the German giants and yet another steady step in the right direction, just as he’s done ever since he signed for this club.
The story this week actually starts a few days earlier as Bayern hosted Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League. Neither team had anything left to play for, other than Bayern trying to complete a perfect group stage with their sixth win from six, but that only made it easier for them to mix it up on the bench as Sarpreet Singh found himself included in a first team matchday squad for just the second time this season after the German Super Cup.
It wasn’t to be on that occasion. Bayern were the better team throughout but the lack of meaningful stakes meant there was never much heat in this game. Kingsley Coman gave Bayern the lead but that was cancelled out by Ryan Sessegnon, with the main talking point early on being an injury to Coman which led to Thomas Müller coming on as the first sub of the evening. The Frenchman’s expected to miss at least a couple of weeks now after a nasty hyperextension led to a capsule tear in his left knee. Which obviously sucks, especially for a player who has had more than his share of bad injury luck, but it does sorta mean a slight sudden need for an extra attacking midfielder.
Müller put Bayern back in front just before the half and the excellent Philippe Coutinho polished off the scoring with a third in the second half. It should have been more but this game was long since in cruise control. Fine time to chuck a young fella in for their debut then, right? Of course... but it was teenaged striker Joshua Zirkzee who got that nod, not Sarpreet Singh. Leon Goretza was then needlessly chucked out there with three minutes left and Superstarpreet Singh just had to keep on waiting. 3-1 the final score.
He didn’t have to wait much longer. That nod came the very next game as it turned out, only a few days later. This time Bayern had fallen behind thanks to a thumper from range off the boot of Milot Rashica and after 44 minutes Bayern were stuck staring at another disappointing domestic result. Then they scored a bunch of goals and no worries. Coutinho and Lewandowski made it 2-1 at the break and then each of them added to that in the second half, with Müller also getting on the scoresheet and Coutinho completing his hatty a few minutes before he was replaced by Singh.
So what did Singh get up to out there? Not a whole lot, there were only eight minutes left in a done and dusted match and he only touched the ball five times. He worked a nice combination with Davies down the left, Davies the Canadian who has had a fine run in recent times for Bayern though has also popped up three times for the reserves this season so a fella Singh will have a bit more of a connection with. Singh was a straight swap for Coutinho so he got to play that roaming central playmaker role, also winning a corner after a sharp run in behind the defence... and that was it. There were literally only two seconds of stoppage time so only a small cameo. But a historic one as a New Zealander – note that the opponents Werder Bremen were one of the clubs Wynton Rufer played for back in the day so a little more poetic symmetry, Wynton being a fella who’s played a significant role in Sarpreet’s career and the only other kiwi to play in the Bundesliga (Marco Rojas only played reserve games for Stuttgart).
Speaking of symmetry, what an image this is! Almost looks photoshopped...
This one might be relevant now too, as long as Singh remains in Bayern’s UCL squad when it’s updated for the knockout rounds...
Up Next: SC Freiburg vs Bayern Munich, Thursday at 8.30am (NZT)
Chris Wood - Burnley FC (English Premier League)
Just The Woodsman doing what he does best and scoring goals in scrappy contests.
Burnley hosted Newcastle amidst some pressure having lost their previous three in a row (it’s not like anyone expected them to beat Man City or Spurs... but they could have tried not getting thrashed by as much) but the thing about Burnley is that they generally take care of business against teams in the bottom half of the table. Newcastle have been good this year under Steve Bruce. Good by Newcastle standards anyway. But the Clarets needed this one to remind people of what they’re up to and with Ashley Barnes fit to return to the starters alongside Chris Wood that meant the result was never in doubt, not with the dream team up top.
Yeah... not quite the way it panned out... but they did win. This game was the reason the word ‘turgid’ is in the dictionary. In freezing conditions, both teams lacking in natural creativity as well as being the two teams with the lowest possession averages in the league, chances were pretty minimal. Andy Carroll headed one wide early on. Dwight McNeil drew a comfortable enough save from distance. Chris Wood had a scuffed attempt at the near post on the end of a counter attack that he himself instigated (great movement from him, an aspect of his game that gets slept on) which might haveincluded a handball. This was not an entertaining game, basically.
But there was one decisive moment which decided it. About a dozen minutes into the second half and Chris Wood got tussling with Federico Fernández as the Argentine defender tried to shield the ball out for a goal kick. Wood looked like he might have fouled him in the process and Fernández then fell on the ball before it crossed the line. Ref initially seemed to give a goal kick but changed that to a corner however Newcastle wanted a free kick that they never got. And Steve Bruce had a huge moan afterwards about the fact that the ball was already out despite telly replays showing that clearly wasn’t the case.
So, naturally, what happened next? Chris Wood popped up at the far post and headed in what proved to be the winner. A rare spark of light in an otherwise dull game. Making the difference. The header came off a beautiful Ashley Westwood delivery and the keeper probably should’ve done better and the marking was kinda terrible but no worries for Woody. That’s his seventh of the season so far (all in his last ten matches) – only 11 players currently have more.
Jack Cork went close after pickpocketing the Newcastle defence and Wood had a header flicked wide from outside the near post. Andy Carroll was a little luck to avoid further punishment for an elbow to Ben Mee’s head. All pretty turgid stuff... until Dwight Gayle knocked one wide late after getting on the end of a Joelinton cross and that really should have been the equaliser. But it wasn’t so Burnley won 1-0. Only one point behind Arsenal now, sitting twelfth.
Since the start of last season, this is the 10th headed goal that Chris Wood has scored in the Premier League and there’s not a soul can say they’ve scored more in that time. He’s a dead shot with a head shot. He brings fear in the air. There’s none better with a header. It’s also his 15th goal in the calendar year of 2019.
And, ah, a bit of festive cheer for ya, why not?
Okay, not particularly festive to be fair, more like the club shop just priming the coffers for the Boxing Day sales and all that... but have a look at this stunner, will ya? What a man.
Up Next: Bournemouth vs Burnley, Sunday at 4am (NZT)
Rebekah Stott – Melbourne City vs Annalie Longo – Melbourne Victory (Australian W-League)
Well, if you were looking for drama then the first Melbourne Derby of the W-League season did not disappoint. Particularly not with ninety minute efforts for both Rebekah Stott and Annalie Longo going head to head either... although in the end the championship pedigree of Melbourne City was a tiny bit too much.
This was another one where Rebekah Stott was used as a sort of auxiliary midfielder, named on the right of the back three but with the licence to step all the way up into midfield and beyond. The touchmap is all over the place, what a beautiful sight. Stott’s runs into midfield out of defence ought to be legendary at this point so seeing a team really embrace that is awesome.
Both Stott and Longo had their fair share of probing looks as the two teams began this game trying to figure each other out. City then took a bit more control of things and were fortunate to win a penalty for a handball by Teigen Allen... but the in-form Casey Dumont made a great save to deny Emily van Egmond from the spot and keep it even after the opening stanza. As the game went on though, City became even more dominant both in possession and shot numbers and it got to where Victory would have been happy to hold on for a point. Longo found herself out of the game for long spells as City attacked in waves upon waves. Kyah Simon missed a couple good chances while Aivi Luik hit the post one time and even Stotty had a crack from range as the defence backed off her although she dragged it well wide.
Finally in the 89th minute City got what they were looking for. Steph Catley getting to the byline on the overlap and cutting it back to Yukari Kinga and she thumped it home. Late drama for City to win it 1-0, remaining undefeated after five games and moving to the top of the table with Western Sydney having their bye. The Victory meanwhile were premiers a year ago but have just one win from their first four games.
Up Next: City vs Perth on Thursday at 9.30pm while Victory host Brisbane on Friday at 7pm (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PSV Eindhoven (Dutch Eredivisie)
Later bro, MVB.
This isn’t really a surprise. PSV have stumbled into a shocking run of form, already out of Europe having begun things in the Champions League qualifiers and ended up in the Europa League groups and now 10 points off top sitting in fourth place in the Eredivisie after losing 3-1 to Feyenoord. In all competitions, PSV had won just 2 of MVB’s final 12 games in charge so can’t really argue with that logic.
A managerial change seems to have worked out alright for Sarpreet Singh lately so we’ll see what this means for Ryan Thomas, but Thommo has started to emerge as a genuine first choice option in recent weeks. He started his first Europa League game last week in a 1-1 draw with Rosenborg, playing the first hour of an otherwise meaningless game (both teams already eliminated) before he was subbed off, although he missed the crucial Feyenoord game with an injury. Prior to that he’d started three league games in a row which included both those two final wins for van Bommel.
Thomas did travel with the squad for that Feyenoord game so it shouldn’t be anything serious, just a matter of not pushing him too hard as he comes back from a long absence. He’s made a strong impression so far and the team has been better when he plays... which really ought to be a bigger deal than it is considering the major coverage that Sarpreet Singh has gotten for doing less at an admittedly bigger club. Sarpreet joining from the Wellington Phoenix adds to that fairytale too, s’pose.
But yeah, keep an eye on Ryan Thomas as the documentary once said. Particularly with this PSV situation pretty weird at the moment. They were rather easily beaten by Feyenoord with Steven Berguis getting a hatty, two of them from the penalty spot, PSV only getting their consolation goal with six minutes left, so there’s work to be done and perhaps Thommo can make himself a bit of a hero by helping turn it around. He’s at least avoided being tarnished as part of the problem given the time he’s missed.
Up Next: Away to GVVV on Thursday at 8.45am in the KNVB Cup second round (NZT)
Ria Percival – Tottenham Hotspur (English Super League)
An awkward week for the kiwi women in England, where a round of midweek WSL Cup stuff took place with all three of them out of their respective lineups (largely thanks to the fact that it was the final round of the group stage and nothing left to play for). Katie Rood was rested for Lewes who played an inexperienced team against Percival’s Spurs and lost 6-0 to finish bottom of the group with five defeats from five. Always tricky for the lower division teams in that competition. Thing is, Ria Percival didn’t play either having also missed the previous league game – presumably an injury or something. That win wasn’t enough to get Spurs into the next round sadly. Then Olivia Chance was also rested for Bristol City’s 5-2 win over Charlton... but it wasn’t quite enough to get them through either as Brighton’s win over London Bees clinched the second quarter-final place in that group.
Then on the weekend it was bad weather dominating the scene as both Lewes and Bristol City had their respective games postponed which is a stink one considering those were their final games of the year as the footy goes on a couple week’s break now over the holidays. Particularly stink since both those teams now have to spend those holidays in a bit of a slump, Lewes having lost eleven games in a row in all competitions (six of those just by a single goal) while Bristol City are still yet to win a league game this season and with Liverpool able to play and get a shock 1-1 draw against Chelsea that drops BCFC to last on the ladder at Christmas.
Luckily Ria Percival was back to hold things down then. She returned to the Tottenham squad to start on the right side of a midfield three against Reading, putting in a big shift both in defence and also getting forwards and swinging in some of those tasty crosses. Spurs took the lead in this one thanks to a stunner from Siri Worm after the teams had traded chances in the first half. It had taken some scrambling defence to deny Reading a couple times and with quarter of an hour to go they were well set for a battling victory.
But Reading’s pressure eventually counted for something. They equalised in the 77th minute as Jo Potter slipped on in at the far post and although Beckie Spencer’s miracle save kept things at 1-1 for a little longer than they might have stayed there otherwise, she soon had to go off injured and backup keeper Chloe Morgan was a tad slow to the ball as Remi Morgan snuck in to put Reading in front in the 88th minute. Pretty poor defence as well, to be fair. Then the home side rubbed it in with a third goal in the tenth minute of injury time, Spencer’s knock extending the game, when Amalie Eikeland scoring on the runaway after Spurs had thrown players into the opposition half in search of an equaliser. 3-1 to Reading. Leaving Spurs comfortably mid-table at the break.
Up Next: Tottenham vs Manchester City at 3am on Monday 6 January (NZT)
Nicole Stratford – USV Jena & Paige Satchell – SC Sand (German Bundesliga)
Similar story over in Germany. The winter break has arrived there and it’s a much longer one, with no more football until mid-February for this lot – hopefully by which time Meikayla Moore will be able to rejoin the crew at MSV Duisburg... she’s been back in Germany for a while now continuing her rehab so another two months could do the trick. Duisburg need her too, they’ve slipped into the relegation zone with seven points from 12 games.
Also in the relegation zone, and pretty likely to go down unless something changes, are Stratty’s USV Jena as they’re stuck in last place with two points from 13 games and a -42 goal difference which is twice as bad as any other team in the league. Their most recent was a 6-1 defeat against Turbine Potsdam... although Stratford did get a cameo off the bench for the last three minutes, after all the scoring was done. Another small stint for her but still a fifth appearance for the club she signed for a few months back. Meanwhile Paige Satchell also got a few minutes off the bench in a heavy defeat, her SC Sand team beaten 5-2 away to SGS Essen and Satchell being introduced into the mix in the 83rd minute. Sand have done enough to sit seventh on 16 points at the break, and Satchell has featured eight times, all as a substitute and combining for 109 minutes.
As for Ali Riley, she’s increasingly been stuck on the bench unfortunately. Playing behind Germany’s number one left back Carolin Simon hasn’t exactly helped matters. Bayern scored late to beat Turbine Potsdam 3-2 this weekend, with the Ferns captain an unused sub again. She’s played in seven games across the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and Champions League but hasn’t gotten onto the park in their last six games – her last appearance being that second leg UCL game against BIIK Kazygurt back at the end of October. And now there’s a two month break.
Up Next: The ol’ favourite winter break
Jeremy Brockie & Dan Morgan – Maritzburg United (South African Premier Soccer League)
Gutted.
A club like Maritzburg don’t get too many opportunities to win a cup final. In their 40 years they’ve never won a major trophy and after going down 2-1 to Mamelodi Sundowns in the Telkom Cup final they still haven’t. To be fair they were considerable underdogs and things were made that little bit harder by Jeremy Brockie (admittedly he’s not in peak form atm) being unallowed to play against his parent club so it was just Dan Morgan flying the flag on his lonesome at left wingback.
And that was a busy task too. Sundowns dominated possession in the first half and looked to create a fair bit down Morgan’s side of the field. Resolute defence was the aim of the game for those moments, up until Maritzburg could muster something up the other end... which they did five minutes from the half-time whistle when a bouncing ball drew defender and goalkeeper both but it was Judas Moseamedi’s outstretched leg that somehow got to the ball first as the trio collided and even more incredible was that he directed it on target to give the Team of Choice an unlikely lead.
Sundowns stepped it up in the second half though, as the best teams do. Mauricio Affonso was able to get to a long ball before the Maritzburg keeper and his header tied it up in the 54th minute. Then the Uruguayan put Sundowns in front in the 74th, heading in from a corner after basically twenty minutes of extreme pressure. Maritzburg weren’t going down without one last desperate swing though. They threw numbers forward and in the final minute of three stoppage time mins it seems for a brief fraction of a second like they might have sent it into extra time when a Dan Morgan long throw was flicked on and then flicked in but the offside flag went up immediately.
The correct call? Well, that’s the whole drama. That angle looks pretty even... but then if you take out the defender’s arm and draw one of those slide rule lines parallel to the goal-line then maybe that right leg is a tad beyond. Either way, it’s a matter of inches. Those inches which condemned Maritzburg to cup final defeat.
Elsewhere, here’s a cheeky rumour from the Jeremy Brockie stable...
Kickoff.com: “Jeremy Brockie, who is currently on loan at Maritzburg United, is likely to be the next player to leave after also enduring a torrid time at Chloorkop without game-time. Local media reported a few months ago that Brockie is begging to return to SuperSport United, where he made his name before leaving the club to join The Brazilians. The New Zealand-born striker is yet to score a goal since joining the Team of Choice in August this year. Indications are already clear that Brockie's days at Sundowns are numbered and depending on the loan agreement with Maritzburg, he could be released from his contract before June next year.”
Up Next: Monday at 2.30am versus Kaizer Chiefs (NZT)
Hannah Wilkinson - Sporting CP (Portuguese 1a Divisão)
No need for any Wilkie heroics this week. Sporting ground out a 2-0 win away at Ouriense, taking the lead thanks to Raquel Fernandes early in the second half. Things got scary for a second there when a handball led to a penalty for the home side but it was blasted over the to. Wilkinson was subbed on for the last twenty minutes but wasn’t involved as Carolina Mendes broke the offside trap and killed the game off in the final minute. Definitely not a convincing one... but after 11 games it keeps them within reach of the top of the table, just churning the wins out.
Up Next: Sporting CP vs Ouriense, again, at 4am on Monday 23 December in the Portuguese Cup (NZT)
Marco Rojas – SønderjyskE (Danish Superliga)
For their final game before the winter break, Sonders made the risky move of dropping Marco Rojas to the bench and obviously it backfired. They were away to Horsens and by half-time they were 2-0 down. The first goal was scored directly from a corner and the second was also from a corner but much less directly, much more sloppily through a crowd. Rojas was then subbed on in the 56th minute and almost immediately Sonders scored to get back into it. Nothing much to do with Marco to be fair, a poor backpass ended up with Peter Christiansen slamming it home. But they couldn’t find a second. A disappointing one to end the year on, the Danish stuff gets back underway in February.
Up Next: FC Nordsjælland vs SønderjyskE, Monday 24 February at 4am (NZT)
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
West Ham United: “Long-serving defender Winston Reid, meanwhile, has been working with the first-team squad after garnering match minutes with the U23s and his international side, New Zealand, over the last two months.”
Manuel Pellegrini: “Winston Reid is playing and working without any problems.”
Well that’s all very nice then. Now one from the archive...
Up Next: Crystal Palace vs WHU, Friday 27 December at 4am (NZT)
Sam Brotherton – North Carolina FC (American USL Championship)
Up Next: Brotherton’s all re-signed with NCFC so it’s a happy New Year for him
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