Flying Kiwis – February 16
CJ Bott - Vålerenga (Norwegian Toppserien)
Three times CJ Bott’s potential Champions League debut got pushed. First there was drama with Brøndby (Denmark) being denied entry into Norway for the first leg back in December which led to a farcical situation where they still had to fly into the country so they could turn around and go home again because UEFA wouldn’t postpone it until the proper processes could be undertaken or some such silliness. Then the second leg, which was now effectively the first leg, was postponed soon after with the games rescheduled for three months later instead (after the winter break/Vålerenga’s offseason). But come the start of February, Norwegian covid restrictions made that too tricky as well so it was decided that they’d play a single-legged tie in Denmark instead. ‘Twas then fourth time lucky because when that last date finally swung around we were treated to a pretty significant Flying Kiwis moment...
As the tweet says, Bott lined up as a left midfielder. Providing width and a bit of extra defensive cover on the break, no doubt, with VIF and Brøndby both keeping things pretty structured and safe in keeping with the magnitude of the occasion. But it was Vålerenga who played most of the early footy. They forged the first real chance as the seas almost opened up for Rikke Madsen to shoot but she slipped as she struck – that move had begun from CJB dashing up the left wing on the counter, btw. Isabell Herlovsen had their first shot on target soon after... then in the 15th minute the Norwegian side deservedly took the lead. Slick looking counter attack, getting the strikers involved, and a naughty sliding tackle on the end of it allowed Dejana Stefanovic to slam in the first goal from the penalty spot.
Brilliant start for VIF who were winning the early midfield duel with ease... but that brilliant start didn’t really coexist with too many more clear open chances to add to that lead. Stefanovic had a free kick smacked wide about a minute after she scored the penalty but Brøndby soon began to do some things – including VIF’s American keeper Hannah Seabert having to make a really good low save off Malou Marcetto Rylov. There was almost a moment of legend as VIF got out on the counter and Bott had an ambitious crack at chipping the keeper from about 40 metres except she didn’t get enough on it and the goalie was able to wait up and catch it. Synne Jensen also went close before the half was out yet the tide did seem to be turning as Brøndby came right back into it late on.
However once the teams regathered for the second half that tide had gone back out again. Fifteen minutes of dominance for VIF as Jensen blazed wide early, then Celin Bizet Ildhusøy got through on goal but was closed down by the keeper. Can’t honestly say they didn’t have their chances. But just as with the first stanza those chances eventually dried up and there was a lot more defending to be done all of a sudden. This is probably a good time to mention that Vålerenga are only just in their preseason ahead of the new league campaign that begins in March while Brøndby are smack bang in the middle of theirs. VIF were also without star midfielder Sigrid Heien Hansen as well as their new signings (thus only three outfielders on the bench). Not quite equal footing and perhaps that explains why VIF faded after bright starts to both halves.
CJ Bott was replaced after an industrious 71 minutes. Not always as tidy as she’d have liked to be but plenty of running up that left wing and nothing coming back that way on defence. She left the game with her team in the lead... but that only lasted another seven minutes without her. 78th minute of the game and Josefine Hasbo won the ball in midfield and thumped in a brilliant equaliser from just outside the box. Twelve minutes away from advancing but the real problem was tiring legs and a failure to take their earlier chances. It eventually went to penalties where Stafanovic, who’d scored from the spot in regular time, was the only player to miss and Vålerenga’s Champions League journey was over. Gutted. Although on the positive side... they’ve already qualified for next season’s edition thanks to their 2020 Toppserien championship.
Here’s the penalty shootout...
And check it out, here’s a full replay...
Up Next: VIF vs Avaldsnes on 22 March as the league season commences (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PSV Eindhoven (Dutch Eredivisie)
Our fella was back in the starting line-up with ADO Den Haag on the cards away from home. Again in that midfield playmaker role, though this time paired with Belgian youngster Yorbe Vertessen rather than Mohamed Ihattaren... which was a bit controversial. There had been some blowback on gaffer Roger Schmidt for subbing Ihattaren off during the KNVB Cup defeat to Ajax in midweek – Ihattaren has come back into form lately and was one of the brighter sparks in that match but with ten mins to play, Schmiddy took him off and then defended that decision afterwards saying that Mo needs to be producing more from those wider areas. The 19 year old also happens to be in contract negotiations so that’s a frisky situation. One which affects Thomas too because he was one of the two players brought on in that 80th min double sub. Along with Vertessen - then the two of them started in those same roles the next game.
Ryan Thomas got things churning straight away against ADO when he ran onto a second phase ball and volleyed it wide in the 8th minute. Then he should’ve had an assist in the 13th when he ran onto a pass down the right then put in an early low cross to Donyell Malen who stretched out and put it wide with only the keeper to beat. And a minute later he had a loud appeal for a penalty after his low cross was blocked by a defender’s arm (but a fair no-call there, it’d hit his leg first then gone into his arm). Busy start from Thommo. Don’t normally see him as heavily involved as that. Lovely stuff.
PSV would win a penalty anyway on 20 mins but Philipp Max smashed it over the crossbar. Then an absolutely brilliant save denied Malen a goal on 25 mins after Thomas had cleverly picked him out rather than shooting. Problem is you can’t be coming back empty handed after all those chances. 27 mins and ADO worked a nice move down their right with Bobby Adekanye gliding into the middle past defenders and slamming in the opening goal. He’d been the dude who conceded the penalty too.
Thomas was back at it on 35 mins but he couldn’t control an awkward loose ball and the keeper gathered it at his feet. Eran Zahavi then missed a couple good looks but Malen finally got them back on even terms after 50 minutes with a slick run and an even slicker near post finish. Chances continued to flow, including off the boot of Ihattaren after he was subbed on with half an hour left, before a bum clearance allowed Malen to tap in a simple one in the 76th min. Thomas had been subbed off (for Mauro Junior) about a minute before what seemed to be the winning goal... except it wasn’t the winning goal because those sloppy buggers then went and conceded in the 93rd minute to draw 2-2. This after Malen had hit the crossbar twice in the final fifteen mins. But a long ball into the mixer caught them out. An air-balled clearance and then a bicycle kick goal putting a massive dent in PSV’s hopes of a title challenge. Amazing finish... but that game shoulda been dead and buried ages before.
Note Ryan Thomas putting up Kane Williamson scale numbers on the expected assists for that game...
As for the KNVB Cup game... it’s always a big deal up against Ajax but PSV turned up too late and got smoked in the first half. 2-0 down after 25 minutes thanks to a Sebastien Haller brace. The lack of Ryan Thomas means no need to go into stark detail here but suffice to say that PSV were thoroughly outplayed during that period. It could easily have been more... but PSV did hang in there and Donyell Malen went close in transition before the half.
Then they got themselves back in it via an own goal in the 58th minute (from a brilliantly worked move) and the last half an hour finally lived up to the blockbuster billing of this quarter-final as we went end to end the rest of the way. Ajax came closer to scoring, from a couple fine saves to a hack off the line and a shot just wide, but PSV had a few moments of their own. They also had a few frustrations with tempers increasingly boiling over as the game went along. Four minutes into stoppage time a Ryan Thomas cross threatened to cause some chaos... but Ajax hacked it away to take the 2-1 win.
Which means that PSV are out of the domestic cup and now six points behind Ajax (who have a game in hand) on the league table. Getting second is absolutely essential as that’s Champions League qualifying. Tricky times... though there’s one other competition on the line. PSV’s Europa League campaign resumes in a few days, Ryan Thomas hopefully gonna be very involved in that after he went off injured and missed a month of footy the last EL game he played. At that stage things were looking bleak but PSV recovered to advance to the knockouts where they’ll face Olympiacos of Greece. Ajax are also in the Europas now having dropped in from the Champions League group stages and they’ve drawn Lille of France.
Gotta go back a long way to find a kiwi partaking in Europa League/UEFA Cup knockout rounds.: Ryan Nelsen started for Blackburn in a 2-0 loss against Larissa (Greece) back in September 2007... though that was when the first knockout round came before the group stage. However the season before that Blackburn beat RB Salzburg over two legs, then topped their group, before Nelsen played all 180 mins in a 3-2 aggregate defeat against Bayer Leverkusen in the R32 – he was injured for all the rest of them, only playing 12 Premier League games that season. Ivan Vicelich also once got on as an injury time sub for Roda JC in the R32 back in 2002. Then of course there’s Wynton Rufer’s copious exploits.
Up Next: Europa League R32 first leg, Olympiacos vs PSV (NZT)
Sarpreet Singh - Bayern Munich II (German 3. Liga)
Right on, back amongst it for the reserves from the start. Second game since his loan ended and already logging a mint 85 minutes in a 3-2 win over FC Zwickau, which included two own goals in their favour including a 73rd minute winner. Zwickau was actually the team that BM2 clinched their 3.Liga title against last season (Singh didn’t play, he was with the first team at that stage)... but things have been tougher this term with a number of players moving up or out, Singh included for most of the time. So this was a solid little win in the snow.
Singh played a key role in the second goal, sliding a beauty of a through ball in for Timo Kern from about just over halfway. Kern’s chipped finish was hacked off the line by a defender... but straight into another defender for the oggie. Plus it was Sarpreet’s dash forward with the ball (in what was pretty heavy snowfall now) that sparked the move that led to the third after BM2 had blown that early 2-0 lead (they were up by two with 15 mins played) thanks to some less than ideal defending. They held on for the win after that.
And because it’s that time of the year there was another game a couple days later against FC Kaiserslauten. Singh again was named to start... though this time he only played half a game. Subbed off at the break, presumably just working his way back up to fitness although it was a pretty poor half for Bayern who might’ve wanted to make a tactical change to deal with the pace and directness of FCK. Whatever the reason was, it meant he missed all the fun. A red card for Bayern’s Bright Arrey-Mbi in the 51st min (last man tackle, pretty debatable) followed by a goal anyway against the run of play, Dimitri Oberlin dashing through in the 67th min, before a missed clearance allowed FCK to equalise soon after for a 1-1 draw.
Up Next: Monday 22 Feb at 1am against Viktoria Koln (NZT)
Paige Satchell - Canberra United (Australian W-League)
There it is. Probably would’ve got decent odds if you’d wagered before the season that Liz Anton and Claudia Bunge would both score W-League goals before Paige Satchell but the speedster is underway now. Pure Paige Satchell for this strike. Too fast for the defence running in behind then the sneaky finish. Right on time as well, this was an equaliser only seconds before the end of the first half as Canberra took on Adelaide.
Satchell started on the left wing having mostly played on the right to date and although Canberra had the first big chance, Michelle Heyman having a near post effort tipped wide, it was Adelaide who looked the more dangerous side. Sure enough Chelsie Dawber ghosted in at the far post to punch in the opening goal in the 11th minute of the match. The game continued on in that fashion although Heyman had another huge moment, running through one on one but sliding her shot wide of the post, midway through. Then it was some great work from Heyman to evade pressure and then lift that ball over the top that led to Satchell’s leveller before the break.
Unfortunately the second half went more in the other direction. Emily Condon regained the lead for ADL on 54 mins as she was left with a dose too much space in the box to get her shot off. Then it was all on Canberra keeper Keeley Richards to keep them in the game as she made save after save, hoping to allow her team the chance to get down the other end and level it up again. The saves she took care of superbly. The second goal... well that never happened. The closest they came was when Paige Satchell cut across and unleashed a shot from way outside the area which dropped but didn’t drop enough, coming back off the crossbar. Satchell was replaced on 81 minutes and Canberra went down 2-1, their second loss of the campaign.
Up Next: TBD thanks to the Melbourne mini-lockdown
Olivia Chance - Brisbane Roar (Australian W-League)
Not just any old six point week either, this was Brisbane laying down their challenger status.
First they beat Western Sydney 2-1. This was a game they were pretty much expected to win and they did so, albeit not as easily as they’d have hoped. The Roar actually fell 1-0 down in the 14th minute when Leena Khamis broke the offside trap on the end of a superb ball from Libby Copus-Brown. Coulda been defended better as she chopped in to score but so it goes. Brisbane only needed about a minute to strike back anyway. Emily Gielnik, naturally. Big tackle won on the edge of the area by Liv Chance, Izzy Dalton then smashed it towards goal. Gielnik got in the way of the shot (which was heading wide) and then buried it herself. Chance was also involved earlier in the move as she shifted the ball to the overlapping winger... then half an hour in it was Chance switching the ball to Mariel Hecher running into the area, whose chip towards Tameka Yallop caught a stray arm and Gielnik made it 2-1 from the penalty spot. A couple hockey assists, as they say. Setting up the set-up.
The second half wasn’t quite as rewarding. WSW had chances throughout - hitting the crossbar twice, most drastically when Bryleeh Henry rocked it in the 84th min. Then deeeep into stoppage time, the sixth minute of six, it looked for sure like Khamis would snatch a draw but debutant keeper Morgan Aquino made a stunner of a save diving one-handed. Brisbane were the stronger team, they were good value for the win, but they really did get away with it late on. 90 minutes for Liv Chance, btw (who had the best pass accuracy – 83.3% - of any Roar player with more than 20 attempts).
Then came the real statement: Sydney FC vs Brisbane Roar. The last two undefeated teams. And although Princess Ibini nearly gave SFC the lead right from the outset, it was Brizzy who struck first on seven mins as Tameka Yallop headed in from an Emily Gielnik cross... after Liv Chance had hit Gielnik in space out wide as the Roar flowed forward. That lead didn’t last five minutes before GK Aquino had a howler as Clare Wheeler charged down a clearance to score... but then five mins after that Brisbane were back on top through Jamilla Rankin. Another keeping issue there though fumbling a leaping catch is a bit more understandable.
After the early freneticism the game slowed down into a more survivable rhythm... until Clare Polkinghorne nodded in from a 54th minute corner for a massive goal. Now the Roar were up by a couple and could play within themselves. Eventually they’d score a fourth as Rankin got her second as the Sydney goalie dropped a cross over her own shoulder. That one really was a shocker... but it didn’t make a difference to the game. Chance was subbed off soon after the four goal along with a few other key players. 4-1 win over the title favourites, who had won all six games previous to that. This Roar team is really good and Liv Chance is right there amongst it.
Up Next: Saturday at 9.10pm, a rematch with Sydney FC (NZT)
Liberato Cacace – Sint-Truiden (Belgian Pro League)
87th minute of the Belgian Cup round of 16 clash against Genk and they go and concede the decisive goal to lose 1-0. That’s not the way to do it. Down that channel between Cacace and his inside CB too, with Cacace pushing up on the passer. Nobody kept up with the runner. The shot from Paul Onuachu snuck under a defender. Ah well, no trophies for STVV this year. They made it as far as would be expected and went out at the breaking-even point.
Full game for Cacace in there as he returned from his yellow card suspension. They needed him early too because despite Genk’s dodgy league form they were well on top for the first half hour. Had a shot cleared off the line, another off the inside of the post. Didn’t get the breakthrough though and into the second half STVV were a lot more comfortable. A sloppy game in all honesty but that sorta suited Sint Truiden... Steve De Ridder went close for them, he thought he’d scored. Then they conceded and lost. Ah well.
After which it was back to league footy where STVV hosted Zulte-Waregem... and lost again. A four minute spell between the 52nd and 55th minutes did the damage as Jean-Luc Dompe and Gianni Bruno both scored (Dompe’s was a beauty of a goal). Yuma Suzuki pulled one back on 72 mins but they couldn’t get another. The problem was they should have already been leading in the first half, Suzuki missing several chances while some bloke called Cacace went and missed from here...
Puts it a metre to the left and that’s his first goal for STVV. Instead it’s a wasted opportunity. Even then you still gotta wonder if it crossed the line, there was one angle where it looks like it did and one where it looks like it didn’t. But it shouldn’t have come to that anyway from that position (ripping goalkeeping though).
The coach said afterwards that he wasn’t too disappointed because the performance was much better than the result suggested and he backs them to score a few more goals next time they play like that. As impressive as Cacace’s immediate integration with STVV has been, that’s the one major factor that’s missing: end product goals and assists (his numbers with the Nix weren’t actually as high as you’d think either, tbf).
Up Next: Away to Antwerp on Monday at 8.45am (NZT)
Winston Reid - Brentford FC (English Championship)
Reading versus Brentford in the midweek with Winston Reid starting on the bench for the third time and just like the previous two games the Bees conceded first. This time they held out a little longer, it wasn’t until the 24th minute that Lucas João put Reading into the lead from the penalty spot, but still a growingly familiar trend. The penalty was a little soft, to be fair. The claim was that Henrik Dalsgaard had clipped a bloke as he lined up a shot. Meh. Brentford being Brentford they improved after the wake-up-call of conceding and would draw level about ten minutes later when Josh Dasilva got around his marker down the right wing then chopped back inside to whip in a beautiful equaliser.
More of the same up until this point, except against a team in a solid bit of form and to be honest it was Reading who had the better of the first half. Brentford love a challenge and that led to a fantastic second half in which both teams went all out for those valuable points, end to end with both keepers having to be extremely sharp. Then Ivan Toney chested a ball down for Dasilva to crunch in that decisive next goal. Super work from both of those two. Toney then went on at add a late third as he followed up on a shot from Sergi Canos and there you go. No Winston Reid sightings despite using all five available subs. His hamstrings won’t be complaining, not on a freezing London evening. 3-1 the deceptive final score in a game that could have gone either way, Brentford going top of the ladder with these three points.
Old mate didn’t play the next game either. Again on the bench as Brentford... ahem, as Brentford lost their 21-game undefeated league streak with a 2-0 defeat against Barnsley. Conceded early to Connor Chaplin then again at the start of the second half to Carlton Morris. Both goals coming from crosses into the area, the second one in particular one that should have been better dealt with. Could be the impetus for Winston Reid to step into the starting team? We shall see about that, but the Bees had been flirting with a result like this for a while now. Keep on falling behind with slow starts and eventually you’ll stumble on a game where you don’t recover. Josh Dasilva, Ivan Toney, and Ethan Pinnock all had close chances. Wasn’t to be. Brentford drop back to second on the ladder.
Up Next: Thursday at 8am away to QPR, then Sunday at 1.30am away to Coventry (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Colchester United (English League Two)
As far as bad ways to start a football game go, that’s one of them. The ol’ fourth minute own goal, aye? Smithy sticking a leg out at a loose ball after a free kick swung into the box and he took it away from his keeper and there was nobody there to stop it sneaking in.
Colchester got back into it when Callum Harriott struck a smooth goal six minutes before the half. Mansfield Town had a goal disallowed for offside earlier and they’d go close several times in the second spell before finally retaking the lead on 81 minutes as James Perch tapped in from six yards. But then a wonder goal from January signing Frank Nouble tied things up in the 89th. Turned his man, smashed it in on the angle. Colchester perhaps a lil lucky to get a point on a snowy afternoon but they’ll take it. Tidy performance from Smithy other than the own goal. He’s far too experienced to let that cloud his mind the rest of the way.
Up Next: Away to Crawley Town on Sunday at 4am (NZT)
Katie Rood - Lewes FC (English Championship)
Last week Lewes won thanks to a late goal, this week Lewes lost to a late goal as London City Lionesses buried a 92nd minute winner. Ruthless old sport, this one.
Ini Umotong had given Lewes an early lead but by the half hour mark they were down 2-1. An 82nd minute penalty converted by Umotong levelled it back up again but then Ellie Mason won it for LCL. Katie Rood played off the bench, coming on as a 70th minute sub in a double change whilst still chasing the game (and after London City had missed a penalty of their own for a handball) and she had one amazing chance running onto a long ball but couldn’t quite get there before it bounced. Even then she still got a challenge up against the keeper, who couldn’t grab it but did save Roodie’s reverse flick towards goal. Then even the penalty, that came about from Rood hustling down the right wing before winning it back and swinging in a low cross where a foul was committed as players condensed around the ball. But the game ended in that gutting defeat. Stink buzz.
Up Next: Charlton vs Lewes, 8 March at 3am (NZT)
Meikayla Moore – Liverpool (English Championship)
Yeah there’s been a bit of that lately.
Up Next: Monday 1 March at 3am against London Bees (NZT)
Dan Morgan – Maritzburg United (South African Premier Soccer League)
Let’s not spend too much time on this one. Maritzburg with one of those crucial games against a fellow relegation battler, TTM, and they lost it 1-0 after conceding in the fourth minute of first half stoppage time. They’d almost scored an incredible freak goal just before that when a cross drifted towards the top corner and the keeper tipped it onto the post only for it to drop into the back of his leg, but as it landed on the line it had enough backspin to come back out where it could be gathered otherwise there was no stopping it. Then a great free kick from Thabo Mnyamane busted the game open and Maritzburg panicked with a triple-sub at half-time... which included taking off left-back Dan Morgan. Never did get back into it in that second half though.
Up Next: Maritzburg vs Orlando Pirates in the Nedbank Cup R16, Sunday 28 Feb at 5am (NZT)
Callum McCowatt - FC Helsingør (Danish Division 1)
Only McCowatt involved of the kiwi trio as FCH resumed their season after the winter break. Elijah Just and Dalton Wilkins both being injured at the moment, Wilkins having missed most of the season while Just’s is a more recent thing. But despite those two knocks, despite the (even) more important loss of top scorer Jeppe Kjær with a long-term complaint, despite the freezing weather, and despite some poor form before the winter break... Helsingør produced one of their best showings of the campaign to win 2-0 against Kolding IF.
Oliver Kjærgaard celebrated his new contract when he scored in the 13th minute, then debutant Nicolai Geertsen sealed the deal in the 68th. Bit rude of him to score his first goal before Callum McCowatt but at least it went to a good cause. McCowatt did have a header about twenty minutes in which was saved and he would have had a tap-in early in the second half but the ball was cut out just before it could reach him. Still gotta be happy at being a part of a quality team effort. McCowatt was subbed off with ten minutes left with the club website saying he was “exhausted” after having “fought like a lion for 80 minutes”. Apparently with Kjær injured they’re going from a two striker system to more of a 4-2-3-1 which fingers crossed will make it easier to squeeze McCowatt and Just both into the starting team more often than not.
Up Next: Hobro vs FCH, Sunday at 2am (NZT)
Nando Pijnaker – Rio Ave (Portuguese Primeira Liga)
In case you’re wondering what’s up with Nando Pijnaker, here he is battling away for the B team at Rio Ave. He gets a fair few games for that crew, keeping up his reps, though he’s also been bubbling away just below the surface of regular Flying Kiwis coverage because seven different times he’s made the bench for the first team... he just hasn’t quite snuck on for a debut yet. That includes five times since the start of 2021 so it’s surely only a matter of time now.
Up Next: Monday at 4am, Rio Ave vs Familicão (NZT)
Lily Alfeld – Perth Glory (Australian W-League)
No game for Perth this week but a Lily Alfeld nomination for PFA Player of the Month is a worthy way to close this out. Alfeld is joined by Michelle Heyman (Canberra), Teresa Polias (Sydney FC) & Teagan Micah (Melbourne City) on the shortlist. Bit of a surprise but a heap of saves can do that for ya.
PFA.net.au: “Despite her side languishing at the foot of the W-League ladder, New Zealand goalkeeper Lily Alfeld has made an instant impact for her new club Glory, producing 13 saves in just 270 minutes of football. The most impressive was the W-League’s Round 3 save of the week, when Alfeld acrobatically tipped over Emily Condon’s clever half volley with a finger-tip effort. With a disrupted start to the season due to match rescheduling, Alfeld is likely to prove critical to Glory’s remaining fixtures.”
Right on. Here’s what coach Alex Epakis had to say about the news: “How many games did she play in that period to be nominated? I think it was two and that says it all. It speaks volumes about the impact that she's had on the squad. Lily is a fantastic goalkeeper and more importantly, a fantastic person who has brought a lot of good stability and leadership to the group and I'm just so proud to see her acknowledged for that. Now, with this big run home, we're going to see even more of her quality.”
Up Next: Thursday at 9.10pm away to Western Sydney (NZT)
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