Flying Kiwis – October 7
Winston Reid - Sporting Kansas City (American Major League Soccer)
Back amongst the starters for the first time since August and it was like riding a bike for Winnie. The fella looked comfortable as he took care of business throughout a 2-1 win over Houston Dynamo. SKC scored in the 34th minute thanks to Alan Pulido and then the same bloke did it again in the 73rd minute with both goals beautifully assisted by teenager Gianluca Busio. Houston’s best chances were all shots from distance as Reid and the lads gave them no room to manoeuvre in the penalty area... up until the 84th minute when they pulled one back from a near post header off a corner. But SKC closed it out.
What’s more is that Winston had his feistiness about him too. Winnie picked up his first MLS yellow card for clashing with Darwin Quintero in the second half. Reid had been shielding the ball out of play after they’d scrapped for body position down the sideline and Quintero almost piggy-backed him trying to fight well above his weight class. But DQ then fell over having decided that Reid had elbowed him (he might have, though if he did it was accidental) and then shot back up and two-hands-to-the-chest pushed Reid to the floor. Reid stepped up and gave him the big don’t argue finger point and after a flurry of teammates flooded the scene they were both booked. His coach wasn’t really sure what Reid did wrong, you could hear Pete Vermes on the pitch mic’s yelling: “I don’t care, the guy was on his back. He was on his back from the beginning!” Funny story, Quintero was a teammate of Michael Boxall’s at Minnesota for the last couple years.
Reid woulda mashed him Israel Adesanya styles, no doubt about it.
Meanwhile at West Ham...
Jeez if only they knew where to find a guy with 166 Premier League appearances who has played (and scored) at a World Cup and with leadership abilities that have made him captain of his national team.
Up Next: 1.30pm on Thursday against Elliot Collier and the Chicago Fire (NZT)
Ria Percival – Tottenham Hotspur (English Super League)
Not the finest weekend for the WSL crew. Erin Nayler was an unused sub for Reading again, Rebekah Stott you’ll read about in a sec, and Ria Percival might have gotten in a full ninety against Manchester City but it wasn’t the most enjoyable outing as she moved back to right back to try and cope with a rather star-studded City group. To minimal avail. The Sky Blues had already hit the crossbar and drawn a save or two when Chloe Kelly curled one in from the left wing, getting the shot off before Percival could close her down (slight controversy as Spurs had a player down injured at the time).
It remained 1-0 until the 50th minute when Kelly had herself a double as she converted a penalty... a penalty conceded by Ria Percival for a shove in the back of Gemma Bonner. To be fair, there was bugger all contact. A corner kick had been kicked back down the line and chipped in from deep and Percy and Bonner clashed trying to run onto it. Percy did raise an elbow into Bonner’s back and extended it slightly but mate there was nothing much in it. Ria wasn’t having a bar of the decision either.
With the double goal advantage, City then romped home. Sam Mewis scored two minutes later and then Ellen White eventually added a fourth. City hit the post again in between those two goals as well – three times they struck the frame of the goal in this match. Spurs did get one back with ten minutes to go as Anna Filbey flicked in a Siri Worm corner kick which made it 4-1 as the final whistle blew. Spurs had three total shots and 31% of possession.
Up Next: Sunday at 12.30am at home to Man United (NZT)
Rebekah Stott – Brighton & Hove Albion (English Super League)
Yeah okay then. 3-0 loss against Manchester United... Stotty didn’t start this one either, coming on as a 74th minute sub a little after they’d gone two down (having played 120 minutes in the FA Cup last week – she’d started all three previous games since signing). Coincidentally Stott was subbed on about a minute before Christen Press was subbed on for her Man Utd debut (and about five mins after Tobin Heath had done the same for MUFC). Rebekah Stott had been excellent in her first few Brighton games so not sure if there was an injury there or just a bit of rotation to keep everyone fresh with another (much more winnable) game coming up in the midweek in the Conti Cup.
Up Next: Brighton vs West Ham on Thursday at 7.30am, WSL Cup (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PSV Eindhoven (Dutch Eredivisie)
The good news is that PSV are safely through to the group stages of the Europa League. Away to Norwegian side Rosenborg they did what they needed to do, getting a goal from new signing Eran Zahavi on debut in the first half and then another from Cody Gakpo in the second half, just as Rosenborg were starting to make things tetchy, for a 2-0 win. They’ll face PAOK, Granada, and Omonoia in the groups.
The bad news is this...
Thommo got injured and had to be replaced just before the first goal was scored. Seemed to happen after a collision in the challenge, with Thomas walking gingerly off the pitch afterwards. However, no need to hold your breathe, it does appear that it wasn’t too bad of a knock. His ankle was the problem but after defender Phillipp Max was also forced off hurt, gaffer Roger Schmidt played down the severity of both injuries and told the papers the next day that: “we hope to have them back soon”.
How soon is soon? As it happens, Thommo was all good to take his spot in the starting line-up just a few days later as PSV faced Fortuna Sittard in the Eredivisie. Nothing to worry about then. Sweet as.
Getting to the game now and PSV took a bright and early lead in the fifth minute as Donyell Malen got through and sneakily finished past an overstretched keeper and scrambling defender. But Fortuna probably should’ve equalised immediately after and while PSV were clearly the stronger team they were having all sorts of trouble capitalising. Blame the linesman for doing his job for that. Eight minutes and they had the ball in the net again... nope, offside. 14 minutes and Ryan Thomas nearly had his first goal of the season, hovering at the far post he slipped a beautiful header back across the keeper inside the near post but that was disallowed too, albeit a much closer decision.
PSV also had their keeper to thank for keeping them in front at the half... and guess what? First half stoppage time and they had yet another goal disallowed for offside. Donyel Malen this time. Barely even inches. We also had a Ryan Thomas cross headed narrowly wide and another chance gone begging that he’d helped set up with a sharp ball down the left wing. Finally PSV did get a second. Noni Madueke broke free to score and cap a 2-0 win. NInety minutes for Thommo and with that PSV are up to second after four games.
By the way, we didn’t get much luck elsewhere in the Europa League playoff round. Marko Stamenic is a way away from cracking the first team at FC Copenhagen yet but regardless they lost 1-0 to Rijeka to fall one step short of the competition proper. Same deal for Nando Pijnaker and Rio Ave... Pijnaker hasn’t made his debut for Rio Ave yet, although he’s much closer, and he won’t get any Euro ball this season after they were dropped by AC Milan in a bonkers penalty shootout. This one went on forever...
Which means that with the Champions League and Europa League group stages coming up very soon... it’s all on Ryan Thomas to fly that kiwi flag. No pressure.
Up Next: Away at the old stomping ground, PEC Zwolle vs PSV on 19 October at 3.45am (NZT)
Chris Wood - Burnley FC (English Premier League)
A dud week to cap off a dud start to the season. The Clarets hit the international break very much in need of a bit of reassessment as their winless start to the season continued and they’re now out of the League Cup too. That League Cup defeat was expected, they were away to Manchester City and used the game as an opportunity to work a few players coming back from injury into the team again. James Tarkowski and Ashley Barnes in particular... with Chris Wood starting on the bench only to be subbed on at the half in place of Matej Vydra. Getting that Wood + Barnes combo back again, aye?
But they were pretty well beaten. Raheem Sterling scored a double and Ferran Torres got the other one with City far more likely to have scored more than Burnley were to score anything. A couple half shouts for penalties were as close as they really got. -Burnley only had two shots on target and 38% of possession all game. Wood only touched the ball 11 times in his 45 minutes.
Then it was Newcastle United in the Premier League and it was Wood + Barnes up front again with the strongest team Burnley have been able to name yet this season... and they still weren’t up to much. Dwight McNeil showed some flashes early on but they fell behind in the 11th minute as Allan Saint-Maximin scored an excellent goal sending Burnley defenders in all direction with his feints before hitting the bottom corner from outside the box.
This might have been a pretty even game in the pouring rain were it not for Saint-Maximin’s game-breaking play throughout the match. Burnley had the ball in the net awhile later but Barnes was offside and the same fella put a fine cross in for Woody in the second half which Wood headed strongly towards goal from a tricky angle but it was palmed away by Karl Darlow. It was a scrappy game in most other aspects, Wood only had 31 touches in all his ninety minutes and that header was his only clear chance... and it was a chance which he did as much as he could with and needed a keeper’s error if he was gonna score.
But Ash Westwood didn’t need any help in the 61st minute as he whipped in a low volley after Newcastle couldn’t clear their lines from a corner kick. Beautiful strike... except literally five minutes later Saint-Maximin’s pace and skill down the right wing saw him skinning Charlie Taylor and laying a perfect ball across goal for a Callum Wilson tap in.
Then if Burnley had any hope of a second equaliser it was buried ten minutes later when a heavy Nick Pope touch led to him fouling Ryan Fraser as he tried to recover and Callum Wilson scored from the penalty spot to complete the scoring in a 3-1 Newcastle victory. Burnley have lost all three Premier League games and they didn’t get any help as the transfer deadline passed either... good timing for the ol’ international window then.
Up Next: West Brom vs Burnley, Sunday 18 October at 3am (NZT)
Rosie White – OL Reign (American National Women’s Soccer League)
For 38 minutes it was a close game and then it got out of hand extremely quickly. Lindsey Horan set up Christine Sinclair for the opening goal and before the half was out the Canadian had another after a silly challenge in stoppage time sent her to the penalty spot. Roquel Rodriguez then struck a super left-footed volley in on 57 minutes and it wasn’t long after that when Rosie White, who’d started in a fruitless attacking midfield role, was replaced by Leah Pruitt. Beth Balcer would pull one back but then Sinclair completed her hatty and all in all a forgettable one for the Reign. Worst part is they play Portland once more in their next game too.
Up Next: OL Reign vs Portland Thorns again, Sunday at 1pm (NZT)
Katie Bowen – Utah Royals (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Utah also played Portland a few days later but they did a fair bit better with that task. Katie Bowen played the full game at right back as Amy Rodriguez gave them a ninth minute lead. She’d already gone close once and after some great movement on the counter attack there was no stopping her with an open goal in front of A-Rod on the rebound.
Portland missed a fairly simple one soon after while Utah continued to charge forward on the break whenever possible but Portland soon began to get a handle on things. Christine Sinclair had a shot cleared off the line in the first half and obviously it was gonna be her, right on 58 minutes, who finally levelled the game. Utah continued to create chances throughout with Tziarra King hitting the crossbar at one point however 1-1 was the way it ended.
Up Next: Nothing next week, then they face OL Reign on Sunday 18 Oct at 1pm (NZT)
Niko Kirwan – Reggiana (Italian Serie B)
Can’t hardly miss with service like that. Start of the season and the worry was that maybe Niko Kirwan might not make the cut after Reggiana were promoted... fast forward two games and he’s started both of them and here he was setting up the opener in a 2-0 win over Virtus Entella.
How the other fellas never scored is a miracle, they hit the crossbar twice and had several other chances... but then Reggiana closed it out with a late penalty (from which at least four players encroached but all goods). A 2-0 win follows nicely from a draw in the club’s first game. Niko Kirwan played the whole thing at left wing-back in a 3-4-1-2 formation. Peep at some highlights.
Up Next: Reggiana vs Chievo, Sunday 18 Oct at 1am (NZT)
Matt Garbett – Falkenbergs FF (Swedish Allsvenskan)
A Matty Garbett goal, how about it? His first for Falkenbergs and it came in a 9-0 pasting that they gave to third division BK Astrio in the Swedish cup. Third division being about the sixth tier (Allsvenskan, Superettan, Etta, Div 1, Div 2 & Div 3), the same level that Torslanda got relegated to last year (the club with all the Ole Academy links).
That difference showed immediately even as FFF rotated their squad for the occasion... Matt Garbett amongst the starters here. It was only 2-0 at the half but it had been 2-0 since the 15th minute so FFF were always in the ascendancy and after they scored the third they then proceeded to run away with it, the last six goals scored in the final twenty minutes and Garbett’s was the ninth and last of them right at the end. Sounds like it was a popular old strike too...
FFF: “With an 8-0 lead, the teammates did everything to help Matthew Garbett also become a goal scorer. First he was served a free kick by Chibuike but missed and then he had another number of good goal chances. In the end, the ball was in the net! In the 90th minute, he fired a shot that touched an opponent and went inside. The joy was great with Garbett and his teammates. When the team would go forward and thank the visiting fans, it was Matthew Garbett who was sent forward to lead the wave of victory with the fans. FFF thus scored seven goals in the second half and won 9-0. It was FFF's biggest win in a competitive match in many, many years. With the victory in Halmstad, FFF has qualified for next year's group game in the Swedish Cup.”
Beauty. Also a beauty to see him able to really stretch his legs as most of his appearances have been cameos off the bench as FFF find themselves in what’s descending fast into a relegation battle. As he did a few days later, rewarded for his goal with five mins off the pines against Häcken. Only problem was they’d been 3-0 down since the first half which was how it would end with FFF mostly stuck on defence after Garbs entered the contest and it was another disappointing league defeat with FFF having sunk to the bottom of the Allsvenskan table in the last few weeks.
Up Next: FFF vs Örebro, Sunday 18 October at 2am (NZT)
Ryan De Vries – Sligo Rovers (League of Ireland Premier Division)
87th minute winner, popping up just where his team needed him for the 1-0 win over Derry City to snap a run of three games without a win and keep Sligo Rovers in the hunt for European footy. That lasts bit is a slim hope but they did go up to fourth on the ladder with the win. And for RDV it was a moment in the spotlight which he more than deserves having been so good for Rovers this season, often creating for teammates to get the glory. He’d been pretty active all game too as he pressed high and won a couple balls in dangerous areas. This was his second goal of the season. It also came only about five minutes or so after Derry had hit the post so some quality dramatics at the end of this one.
Unfortunately they then lost 4-0 to Shamrock Rovers on the weekend. RDV was replaced after 64 minutes. That leaves them one point off third but only three clear of seventh (in a 10 team comp) with three games remaining and most teams around them with a game in hand. Shamrock Rovers are strolling to the title though so that’s their toughest match out of the way.
Up Next: Shelbourne vs Sligo Rovers, Monday 19 Oct at 5am (NZT)
Greg Draper – The New Saints (Welsh Premier League)
Old mate did what now? Well, despite not having scored yet this season for TNS in any competition (four apps in the league plus another in Europa League qualifying, only one of them a start) he roared back into contention with his usual magnificent goal-scoring efficiency as he put five away against Flint Town. No typos... Drapes scored five and TNS won 10-0. Got them started from the penalty spot in the 18th minute and didn’t let up from there. What’s more is that his third goal made him the club’s all-time leading goal-scorer.
TNSFC: “Going into the game with 151 TNS league goals to his name, the popular striker was just two off Mike Wilde’s 153. Finding the net on five occasions, he not only equalled the record but broke it in style. His first goals of the season, incidentally Greg is now the league’s 2020/2021 leading scorer.”
What a lad.
Up Next: Weds at 7.45am against Newtown (NZT)
Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)
Another typically wild game for the Vikings. They came out looking sharp against Strømsgodset but went back into the sheds at the half still scoreless, then they conceded a couple quickies after the break, and then since no lead is safe in a VFK game regardless of who’s holding it they scored with quarter of an hour left and then Yann-Erik de Lanlay equalised in the fourth minute of stoppage time for a 2-2 draw.
Third league game in a row in which Bell has played ninety minutes... although club vice-captain Kristoffer Løkberg’s finger is out of a splint again now since being operated on and he should be back in contention after the international break. The coach was on record earlier in the week as saying the two are basically in direct competition with each other for that holding midfield role: “We have both Joe Bell and Kristoffer Løkberg competing for the six position. They are both very good.”
Up Next: Odd vs Viking, Monday 19 October at 5am (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
Bit of a silly question, everybody loves Boxy.
Minnesota United’s leading appearance maker had himself a relatively simple week as the Loons broke that pesky winless streak with a 2-0 pop against FC Cincinnati. Kei Kamara gave them the lead on fifteen minutes from the penalty spot. After several minutes of an injury break accompanied by a VAR intervention the process allowed the ref to see that Chase Gasper had indeed had his ankle almost broken by a horrible challenge in the box and Kamara stepped up to put them ahead.
Kamara had a couple other chances along the way and Robin Lod went close too whereas FC Cincinnati didn’t really look like they were gonna score until a good save denied them a headed chance in the second half... then Kevin Molina came off the bench and scored a runaway goal for Minny in the 69th minute and that was that. Keeper Dayne St. Clair played well to preserve the clean sheet and the game ended on a Michael Boxall headed clearance, giving the Loons the win they needed to get the train back on the tracks.
Up Next: Nashville vs Minnesota, Wednesday at 1.30pm (NZT)
Liberato Cacace – Sint-Truiden (Belgian Pro League)
Tell ya what, they’re not holding back on the Cacace content. A few glimpses there of what he brought to the table on debut last week... which was more or less exactly what he’d been doing for the Phoenix before that. A few mazy runs, some decent crossing, some assured defending. The full Cacace experience.
He held his spot for the subsequent game too. It was at home against KV Kortrijk although instead of playing on the left side of a back four this time Kevin Muscat had the fellas with a three-man defence and Cacace therefore slid into a more attacking wing-back role. And by most accounts he was even better in his second game, freed up to be more of an influence in attack, with the only problem being his team’s lack of finishing. The first half was a boring affair as neither team really created enough. STVV got better as it went along with the new formation definitely helping things and it looked like they might romp home after Kortrijk had a bloke sent off with twenty mins remaining... but no dice. It ended in a scoreless draw which at least gives STVV something as they linger down near the bottom of the table.
All positive from Cacace though. Voetbal Belgie called him a “bright spot” while Sporza had him as their Man of the Match, saying: “At only 20 years old, Liberato Cacace scored good points with coach and fans. The New Zealander was very active on his left flank and delivered some excellent crosses”. Without a win in the seven games since the opening match of the of the season it’s kinda dire times for the club but as the lad himself said afterwards this was at least a more positive performance and he’s clearly making a bit of an impression over there already.
Liberato Cacace: “I think we played good football. The coach asked for hard work and discipline and we brought that in. Especially after the red card we were on top of the game. We deserved to win, but then of course you have to score, and that was missing today. Our fans expect us to work hard and we did. We gave ourselves 100 percent.”
Up Next: Beerschot vs STVV, 5.30am on Sunday 18 October (NZT)
Ali Riley – FC Rosengård (Swedish Damallsvenskan)
Pink beehive looking jerseys for Rosengård this week, one for the fellow kit gazers out there but also one for a much bigger cause too as the jerseys will all to be auctioned off later in the month in aid of the Cancer Foundation... a gesture which included removing all the club’s regular sponsors’ logos from the jersey with only the club logo and the Cancer Foundation logo used. A great cause and one which is even more immediate for Ali Riley, whose image was used for all the matchday graphics...
Ali Riley: “It is very important for me personally. My mother has survived breast cancer twice. And as a woman, you know that it is something that affects so many other women around the world, regardless of origin. Attention and education around it means so much. It is also important to have support and information for people in the area. We were lucky, mom managed. Many others do not have that luck.”
Things have gotten sweaty in the Damallsvenskan. After Rosengård dropped points last week with a scoreless draw at home against Umeå, suddenly the title race is very much wide open again and even more so after the Rosies could only draw 2-2 against Linköping. They almost didn’t even get that much out of the game. Despite beating this lot 7-1 the last time they played them, Rosengård found themselves trailing 2-0 soon after half-time following a Nilla Fischer header from a corner kick just before the break and then an Alva Selerud finish in the 52nd minute after she’d been played through the middle of the defence.
Ali Riley started her first game for nearly a month but when you’re losing 2-0 you’ve gotta do something and Riley was one of two players subbed off in the 56th minute as the Rosies sought a way back in. And you know what? The two players who came on, Fiona Brown and Anna Anvegård, both scored so you can’t hardly complain about that. Brown got her goal in the 60th min with a confident shot from long range with the keeper stranded out of the picture and back in the contest Rosengård basically dominated the rest of the way, hitting the post at one point, though it took an excellent curling strike from Anvegård with eight minutes remaining to salvage what could prove to be a very valuable point in the end. They drop to second a point behind Kopparbergs/Göteborg (who won 2-0 against Umeå) but with a superior goal difference and five games still to play... and the two clubs face off in the second to last week of the campaign.
Elsewhere in the division there was only a four minute cameo for Hannah Wilkinson at the end for Djurgården but she did help close out a very handy 2-1 win over Växjö, a first half Sheila van den Bulk double doing the damage, which buys them some comforting room in the relegation scrap in the bottom half of things. Rightio.
Up Next: Eskilstuna Utd vs FCR on Monday at 2am (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Colchester United (English League Two)
Some enjoyable chaos as Colchester and Oldham Athletic played this week. Oldham being the team managed by Harry Kewell these days and his natural attacking instincts led to a wild game in which the U’s were up 2-0 in the first half having exploited the space left at the back by Oldham only to be pegged back to 2-2 within ten minutes of the second half kicking off. They took the lead again in the 65th minute and seemed to have it under control... until Conor McAleny smacked one in for 3-3 in the 89th min. Solid effort from Tommy Smith who dictated things at the back and cut out plenty of potential dangers but a bummer to lose the three points at the end there.
Up Next: Sunday at 3am away to Walsall (NZT)
Jana Radosavljević - Werder Bremen (German Bundesliga)
Some steady progress here as Jana Radosavljević made her first Bundesliga start. Her pro career up ‘til this season had been spent in the second tier with BV Cloppenburg but she left there a few months back to sign with Werder Bremen and after nudging in with increasingly bigger cameos off the bench here we were with the big start against Hoffenheim.
Looked like left wing or maybe left wingback for Rado... and she nearly had a goal to show for it too as she drifted into the middle as Nina Lührßen got around the defence and cut one across, but Rado’s side-footed effort was just wide.
It was already 1-0 at that time, with Werder Bremen having taken a 20th minute lead through a supreme Agata Tarczyńska goal where she chipped the keeper from about 35 yards. So good. But this was one of those game of two halves types and Hoffenheim came back and levelled up in the 50th minute and then took the lead quarter of an hour later as Franziska Harsch managed to get the decisive touch on a header melee that included Rado in the middle of it from a free kick into the mixer. Then no sooner had they taken the lead than they’d put a third away. 3-1 was the final score, Radosavljević was subbed off after 74 mins. Frustrating one as a half-time lead became a fourth straight defeat to start the season.
Up Next: Monday at 1am against Bayer Leverkusen (NZT)
Jamie Searle – Swansea City (English Championship)
In case you were wondering where Jamie Searle will fit in at Swansea after signing last week... as expected he slipped straight in with the U23s, making his debut in a 3-0 defeat against Bristol City’s U23s. All three goals scored in the second half by a fella called Louis Britton.
Swansea City: “Louis Britton’s hat-trick did the damage against a youthful Swansea, whose matchday squad consisted of 15 teenagers with skipper Matthew Blake the only player aged 20 or above. Coach Jon Grey made seven changes to the team that began the 5-1 rout of Cardiff City, handing debuts to first-year scholars Harry Jones and Harry Pinchard, as well as new signing Jamie Searle in goal.”
Searle is 19 years old if you were wondering... and that still made him one of the older ones in that Swansea U23s side. Fingers crossed for a good run of games from here as he settles into the club.
Up Next: More of all that
Sarpreet Singh - Nürnberg (German Liga 2)
Good yarns/ Singh was a stoppage time substitute in Nürnberg’s latest game, a 3-2 loss against Darmstadt 98 (conceding a 93rd minute winner, d’oh). This after only playing 20 mins off the bench in a 1-0 win against Sandhausen a week earlier. He started a league game and a cup game before that but still finding his feet at his loan club it seems.
Up Next: St Pauli vs Nürnberg... but not ‘til after the international break (NZT)
Elliot Collier – Chicago Fire (American Major League Soccer)
Didn’t see EC until the 72nd minute against Montreal Impact this week, coming on with his team down 2-1. They’d scored first thanks to Robert Beric after the Canadian side gave up the ball cheap from their own goal kick... but seven minutes later it was even again as the Fire keeper parried a diving save into Lassi Lappalainen’s path. Not a huge amount of action after that... until 67 mins when Maximiliano Urruti turned a deflected shot just inside the post to put Montreal on top. Five minutes later Chicago made a triple sub, Collier included, and barely a minute after that Francisco Calvo popped up to nod in the equaliser. Montreal forced a few saves down the stretch as they pushed for a third but nah 2-2 was the final score.
Up Next: Sporting KC on Thursday at 1.30pm (NZT)
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