Flying Kiwis – March 22
Ali Riley - Angel City FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)
New dawn, new day, new team, new season. Expansion club Angel City FC had the chance to pick up Ali Riley for nothing when the Expansion Draft took place late last year, as did fellow expansion club San Diego Wave for that matter... but they both opted against that pick despite each forfeiting turns along the way. However Angel City realised the error of their ways a few weeks down the line and traded for Ali Riley instead - costing them a third round 2023 draft pick and $15k in allocation money which they otherwise could have saved, which probably counts as the biggest transfer fee ever paid for a kiwi wahine footballer.
And thus Ali Riley returned to her home state of California where not only did she immediately slide into the left-back position of their first ever starting line-up but they even made her captain...
This wasn’t necessarily something that people saw coming. Ali Riley’s leadership credentials are undeniable. Great personality, a veteran player, leads by example on the pitch... all them good things. She’s literally the captain of the Football Ferns. But Angel City FC do have USA star and fellow Californian prodigal daughter Christen Press in their ranks, along with a solid handful of other experienced pros. And to be honest the captaincy might still have gone to Julie Ertz had she been available. However Ertz hasn’t played since rushing back from injury for the last Olympics and is not expected to feature for ACFC in 2022 (though they do retain her rights).
Then again, maybe Riley would’ve won out regardless. Just Women’s Sports did a little squad preview thing around the team’s media day and some of the players filled out little questionnaires. One of the questions was which teammate is ‘Most Likely To Give A Pump Up Speech’ and almost everybody who answered it said Ali Riley. Including the team’s sporting director Eniola Aluko. She also got one Class Clown vote but that’s by the by.
Huge honour for Ali Riley to lead her home state team out for their first ever game... against another home state team playing their first ever game. San Diego Wave were the opponents here, no doubt deliberately from the NWSL’s scheduling perspectives. And the honours continue because not only did she captain them in their inaugural match but she assisted their first ever goal too. How about this for a stunner of a cross...
For context, Ali Riley played 24 times for Orlando Pride last season between NWSL and Challenge Cup fixtures and did not register a single assist. Here she got one 49 minutes into her debut with Angel City. Not only has she dodged the Orlando Pride rebuild but she’s also gotten away from a team which preferred a flat back four without as many attacking opportunities for her. Decent club otherwise, to be fair. But the vibes are immaculate with Angel City.
Didn’t quite lead to a win, unfortunately, although they got close. One of the first things Christen Press did for her new team was slice on the inside of a defender and lash a shot off the crossbar (which was also one of the first times we saw Ali Riley gunning forward on the overlap – indications of future goodness). However it was a first half of limited opportunities from the two newbie clubs and it wasn’t until that superb cross from Riley in the 49th minute was headed in by Savannah McCaskill that things picked up.
Angel City had a few moments to potentially add to their lead. San Diego Wave had some good spells. In the end an 81st minute equaliser by Kaliegh Riehl off a corner kick meant that the points were shared. If this were an NWSL game there’d have been more frustration with the late leveller. As it is, it’s a preseason cup match and they brought in a big crowd of new supporters so things are swell.
Up Next: Second Challenge Cup group game is against OL Reign on Sunday at 9am (NZT)
Abby Erceg & Katie Bowen – North Carolina Courage (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Don’t overlook the lineal champ of the NZ x NWSL crew. The North Carolina Courage have gone through all sorts of change over the last year or two, including a league-rattling coaching scandal, but despite so many international calibre players leaving the club over that time at no stage have they had to think about who their new captain should be. Because the old one’s still there doing things like this...
Abby Erceg beginning the NWSL Challenge Cup in goal-scoring form. Erceg does tend to pop up with a goal or two per year. This is technically cup football but she does have seven NWSL goals in her career. Brianna Pinto had earlier scored her first professional goal (22’) to put NCC in front at home against Gotham FC and then Erceg finished off that corner kick assault early in the second half (51’) to assert things further.
A strong, organised performance from the Courage. Keeper Katelyn Rowland did have to make one impressive save but they were otherwise good value for the clean sheet win and were even able to get a few of their draft picks debuts off the bench. Only bummer was that they didn’t also find a debut off the bench for unused substitute Katie Bowen. That one’ll just have to wait.
Abby Erceg: “That's one of the best performances I've seen from us, from the team, from the Courage in a couple of years. I haven't seen us play that well, in a long time. I certainly haven't seen it in preseason, so I don't know where that's been hiding.”
Up Next: Sunday at midday against Orlando Pride (NZT)
Chris Wood - Newcastle United (English Premier League)
Newcastle United didn’t have to do the double up again this week which was nice. A Thursday nighter followed by a weekend off leading into the international break which allowed Chris Wood to get away with plenty of time to spare before the All Whites’ second Oceania qualifying match... where he scored a record breaking brace. Sweet as. But first he had to get through a trip to the Merseyside to face Everton.
The Magpies were able to welcome back a few fellas for this one with Joe Willock and Joelinton back in amongst the starters. Wood was the lone central figure up front as always and it was his presence that Newcastle relied a lot upon to get themselves into the match. Everton might have been in some rotten form but they started with a lot of energy and it took a bunch of long aerial balls towards The Woodsman to finally able to give his team that outlet they required. Get it forward, try link off him, establish a base in the opposition half.
That led to a decent chance ten minutes in with a header that Wood dropped into Asmir Begovic’s hands. Disappointed with himself for not directing it better. Still, Newcastle soon managed to take control of the match with strong territory and possession. Wood had another chance on 27’ nodding over the top from a Ryan Fraser corner kick, not quite able to keep it down due to the presence of defender Michael Keane. Yet the NUFC midfield was looking good and all the game was waiting for was for was that inevitable Big Chance for Newcastle.
Didn’t come in the first half. Looked like it might happen early seconds as Wood knocked one down for Willock to strike but his shot caught a deflection that turned it into an easy save. Then something extremely odd happened... a protester ran onto the pitch and cable-tied himself to the post. It took close to ten minutes for all the portly stewards to figure out how to cut him loose. The bolt-cutters were useless. The protest was against fossil fuels by the way. Not sure about the outlet but the cause was noble enough... and the entire situation was hilariously weird. Better work stories for Chris Wood.
Anyway, Everton began to gain confidence from keeping the game even for as long as they had and it took several important blocks from the NUFC defence to keep them out. Committed defence at both ends. Martin Dubravka made a superb save off Anthony Gordon. Then, just as Everton were making it frisky, Allan got sent off for chopping down his namesake Saint-Maximin on the counter attack. Initially given a yellow, upgraded after a VAR intervention (it felt like a yellow-and-a-half, so could’ve gone either way). Chris Wood was definitely of the opinion that a red was warranted.
Those two major stoppages (a few Everton players, Allan most of all, took the red card decision very badly causing further delays) meant there were a whopping 14 minutes of stoppage time added on. Fourteen minutes for Newcastle to find a winner. Pepping that Everton penalty area with crosses. Pestering them down the wings. Until Seamus Coleman won a ball in midfield, Dan Burn was dragged out of position, Alex Iwobi combined with Dominic Calvert-Lewin... and, collecting the ball back, Iwobi stroked home a 99th minute winner for Everton.
Newcastle still had five more minutes to salvage something but to be honest they never created nearly as much as they should have all game and they weren’t going to do so 100 minutes into their fifth game in 20 days. Visible tiredness crept in over that second half - international break coming at a handy time. 1-0 to Everton the final score, back to back defeats. Yet another late concession too after going down to an 89th minute winner the game before against Chelsea. Ah well. They’ve bought themselves some wiggle room thanks to the brilliant month and a half of footy that preceded these stumbles. Quick highlights over here.
Up Next: Tottenham vs Newcastle on 4 April at 3.30am (NZT)
Nando Pijnaker & Max Mata – Sligo Rovers (League of Ireland Premier Division)
Another one squeezing in one last game before All Whites duty was Nando Pijnaker. No simple case of getting through the ninety though, this was a massive game for Sligo Rovers. Up against last year’s runaway LOI champions Shamrock Rovers; a great chance to test where Sligo are at after their strong recent form. Pijnaker was amongst the starters, Max Mata on the bench.
Shamrock starter sharper with a lot of possession trying to stretch that Sligo defence around. Came close to scoring too with a header punched past the near post amongst a few more dangerous set pieces. But Sligo Rovers began to show a bit of counter attacking prowess themselves, leading to a few decent efforts driving into the area, and on 18’ they took the lead. Ball swung in from deep by Jordan Hamilton and headed in smoothly by William Fitzgerald.
Then they scored again. Shamrock had settled back into their early control but then absolutely gifted their visitors a second goal with a backpass that went straight to Aidan Keena, who shaped himself up and then blasted in. The most in-form dude in the Sligo team (apart from Pijnaker, of course). That was only ever gonna end one way. Fantastic start from the Bit O’ Red barely half an hour in.
Shamrock made a couple half-time subs to search for a way back in and it did seem to do the trick. Shamrock tightening the screws as Sligo sat a tad deeper with a lead to protect. Nando Pijnaker very much in the wars winning header after header, imposing himself on a physical game. But there was nothing he could do as Marin McDonald clipped the a trailing leg of a Shamrock attacker. No doubt one where the forward was fishing for contact but he got exactly what he was hoping for. Graham Burke scored from the spot, 63 minutes gone, tricky finish incoming.
Max Mata was subbed on soon after to give them a fresher outlet up front but they spent most of that time walled in on defence and after a brilliant save from their keeper off a header, Shamrock levelled up on 81’ from the resulting corner. McGinty might have saved it again but a deflection off McDonald meant that Adam McDonell had the equalising strike. Now Sligo were holding on just to not lose... although a ball over the top did almost break for Mata to win it. Just a pity it was a little behind and he was forced to shoot earlier than he’d have liked.
No need to panic. Sligo Rovers held on for the 2-2 draw.
Could have been more, could also have left with nothing. Guessing that at the start of the day they’d have taken draw away from home against the defending champs though and this result means they remain undefeated going into the international break. When they return, they’ll be up against Adam Thomas’ Shelbourne in a potential Flying Kiwis Derby (Pijnaker and Thomas were housemates back in Aotearoa as the per that tweet above)... although Thommo has only played in one of Shelbourne’s games so far so we’ll see how that goes.
Up Next: Sunday 3 April at 6.45am against Shelbourne (NZT)
Liberato Cacace – Empoli (Italian Serie A)
This was an odd week, therefore it was Libby Cacace’s turn to be on the bench while Fabiano Parisi started. The fifth straight game in which those two have alternated. However Cacace did still add to his appearance tally with a late cameo off the bench of a wildly entertaining 1-1 draw.
So, Empoli scored first, right? At home against Hellas Verona and still looking for their first win of the calendar year and after a slow start by both teams it was actually Parisi who sparked the match into life. Won the ball on the left edge and fed it into the area where Andrea Pinamonti was lurking. AP flicked it behind himself to Federico Di Francesco and that bloke popped it where it needed to go for the 26th minute goal.
The Azzuri would have felt stoked with where they were at when half-time approached but the second spell saw an improvement in their visitors. Hellas Verona began smoking shots towards goal and Empoli became concerningly defensive. That should have caught up with them with 25 mins to play when Parisi clipped the heels of Gianluca Caprari in the area to concede a penalty... but shout out to Guglielmo Vicario because he saved the bugger. Except that there was encroachment so it had to be taken again... and this time Giovanni Simeone (son of Diego) struck it onto the post. Empoli survived.
But they didn’t get any more progressive and five minutes later Matteo Cancellieri finally cancelled out that earlier goal, chopping inside from out wide on the right and whipping in a beauty of a finish off his left boot. That finally brought Empoli forward a bit. Cacace came on with five to play. Both teams had one big chance to win it down the stretch and didn’t manage to. Game ended 1-1 and that’s now 13 Serie A games without a win for Empoli. Should be Libby’s turn next time anyway judging by the pattern but also Parisi picked up his fifth yellow of the season in this match so that should make sure of it.
Up Next: All Whites duty, then away to Fiorentina at the tasty time of 10.30pm on Sunday 3 April (NZT)
Anna Leat – West Ham United (English Super League)
They had the easiest draw, playing away to Ipswich Town who are two divisions below them on the pyramid, but West Ham still had to take care of business in their FA Cup quarter-final and it was not a simple task. Lisa Evans’ 32nd minute goal was all that separated the two teams in the end. Anna Leat with unused sub duty once more as Mackenzie Arnold kept a clean sheet.
But still gotta mention it as Leat’s gonna be a part of an FA Cup semi-finalist team. West Ham made the final a couple years ago while Ria Percival was there – losing to Man City at Wembley. That’s the closest any kiwi – male or female – has come to winning the FA Cup. It’ll be tough sledding to go further than the semis though given that Chelsea, Manchester City, and Arsenal all won by at least four goals to advance to the final four (Manchester City are the ones they drew in the end). Hopefully the extra fixture gives room for another goalkeeping rotation before the season is out though.
Up Next: Monday at 3am against Brighton (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
Second straight 1-0 win for the Loons, taking care of San Jose at home thanks to a 32nd minute Luis Amarilla goal. Couple sketchy moments early on but then Minnesota began to tighten the screws with a bunch of half-chances before Amarilla tapped in from close range off a superb ball from out wide by Robin Lod.
Minnesota never did add another goal despite the fact that they did create some chances. But that was fine as they were backed by a strong defensive showing from Boxall and bros as well as a few cheeky instances of poor finishing from San Jose who didn’t have a shot on target all match. Minny’s goalie Dayne St. Clair was unbelievable last week saving absolutely everything... this week he didn’t have to make a single save. Yet both were clean sheets and 1-0 wins. Football, aye?
Good three points either way and Minny Utd have themselves an early season win streak, undefeated through four games. Michael Boxall has played every minute – during which he has surpassed Duncan Oughton for the second most MLS apps by a New Zealander (140). Only Simon Elliott is beyond him (220).
Plus he was on podcast duty the other day. Decent chat.
Up Next: Sunday 3 April at midday against Seattle Sounders (NZT)
Bill Tuiloma – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
Last week was almost a perfect Bill Tuiloma performance. He scored a goal, he made some clutch defensive acts on the way to a clean sheet, his team got the win, he popped out the griddy celebration, then he made the MLS Team of the Week.
This week... not so much. Away against FC Dallas their hosts’ 21 year old forward Jesús Ferreira scored a first half hat-trick in the space of ten minutes to blow the game wide open. First on 26’ as a low ball across goal was dummied into Ferreira’s path with Tuiloma sliding in vain to block a shot that never came. Then on 29’ a chipped cross from the other side allowed him to head home unchallenged as Tuiloma had lost track of Ferreira’s run. And on 36’ he pushed one into the bottom corner from just outside the area via a helping hand from the Portland keeper who should have done better with it. 3-0 down already and the game was seemingly out of reach.
The Timbers did produce a much better second half, at least, and they would have felt like they were back with a chance on the hour mark when Jaroslaw Niezgoda pulled a goal back. But then FC Dallas responded on 77’ with Paul Arriola getting a goal to reward him for that dummy earlier. Set up, of course, by Jesús Ferreira. 4-1 the final score as Portland lose their first game of the 2022 season.
Up Next: Monday at 9am against Orlando City... though Billy T will be away with the All Whites (NZT)
Joe Bell – Brøndby IF (Danish Superliga)
Realistically there’s always gonna be a setback along any journey. Very rare that you continually make forward progress at every opportunity. For Joe Bell, this was that setback game.
The warnings were there for Brøndby away to AaB as their opponents missed one of the most open goals in the history of football twenty minutes into the match, fella lifting a low cross over the top from six yards with nobody in front of him. But they took the lead soon enough as the VAR intervened to award a penalty after a foul by... Joe Bell.
High boot cutting the bloke off as he tried to run past him onto a bouncing ball. Probably a fair call. Louka Prip buried that one from the spot. Then he did the same thing in the 61st minute after a very strange incident where AaB had a header cleared off the line (via a handball) and then scored on the rebound with a second header but the whistle had already gone. But that was because the ref wanted to send off Henrik Heggheim for the handball and anyway Prip scored from the penalty regardless. Heggheim was also signed by Brondby from Viking so not a great day when they both concede penalties.
Things were already in panic mode before that second goal as Joe Bell had been subbed off on 57’ for striker Carl Björk as BIF chased an equaliser (and obviously conceded straight away instead). First time that’s happened, he’d played ninety minutes in each of his first four games. Then they let in a third, not from a penalty at least, with twenty to play and in the end went down 3-0.
Another blow for Bröndby after their draw last week. Suddenly they’re eight points off leaders Copenhagen as we enter the ten championship rounds – where the top six all go home and away against each other until the finish line. AaB are now only two points behind BIF which is a worry. They’ve been defensively excellent since Joe Bell turned up so we can probably write this one off as an anomaly but they really need to start scoring some goals if they’re going to get into the Champions League, tell ya what.
Up Next: Home to Randers, Monday 4 April at 2am (NZT)
Callum McCowatt & Elijah Just - FC Helsingør (Danish Division 1)
No goals or assists for the FCH bros this week, just a completely dominant performance in which they both started with Helsingør scoring a couple early goals via Tonni Adamsen (7’) and Kristoffer Munksgaard (26’) before Adamsen added another in the 53rd min on the way to a 3-0 win over Jammerbugt. They had 30 overall shots with 10 on target compared to 6 in total and 0 on target for their opponents. Just was subbed off with half an hour to go, McCowatt got a full game. FCH are eight points clear in first place as we prepare for the championship rounds (which Marko Stamenic’s HB Køge will not be a part of after they could only draw against FC Fredericia to miss out on goal difference, ah well).
Up Next: TBD
Joel Stevens - Oskarshamns AIK (Swedish Ettan Södra)
Big ol’ kia ora to Joel Stevens who is back on the scene with Swedish third tier club Oskarshamns AIK. Released by Värnamo after they were promoted to the top flight but he’s sticking around in the country having signed with a team who actually lost a preseason friendly to Värnamo 5-0 back in early February.
Oskarshamns finished third last year in the southern conference of the Swedish First Division that Stevens won with Värnamo back in 2020 so they should be pretty competitive. New season starts straight after the international break. This is also the same conference of the same division as where Ljungskile are with their trio of Ole Academy lads (Otto Ingham, Robert Sabo & Kees Sims). Should be fun.
Up Next: Game one is away to Vänersborgs on Sunday 3 April at 2am (NZT)
Sarpreet Singh - SSV Jahn Regensburg (German 2. Liga)
Sarpreet Singh had missed the last two games for SSV with the same groin injury that he’d been managing since at least the previous All Whites tour – and which in turn caused him to miss the current All Whites tour. Finally they got to the point where it was better just to rest up for a couple weeks and let things heal. So they did. And this weekend he returned to the bench for the first time, subbed on for the last third of what was at the time a scoreless match against Paderborn. The first 2.Liga appearance he’s made for Regensburg in which he did not start.
And pretty much instantly after he came on, they scored. Andreas Albers firing under the goalie from close range (as Singh dashed in at the far post just in case). The only goal of the game and it came after 66 minutes. Regensburg held on the rest of the way for a 1-0 win that snapped an eight game winless streak – only their second win of 2022. Thoughts of promotion are now but a distant memory however there are still seven games left and with a fit-again Sarpreet Singh who knows what mischief they might get up to.
Up Next: International break, then Hannover away at 12.30am on 3 April (NZT)
Alex Greive - St Mirren (Scottish Premiership)
The new manager splatter continued this week as Alex Greive was inducted into that notorious club of players who’ve been subbed on and subbed off in the same game. To be fair, it was nothing that he did wrong. Greive had been chucked on against Dundee United after 66 minutes as part of a double change. The score was 1-1 at the time. Jay Henderson had given the Buddies a third minute lead with a stonker of a strike from outside the area. Problem was that was their only shot on target all match.
Dundee United weren’t doing a whole heap either, however they did hit the crossbar early in the second half before equalising in the 57th min via Manchester United loanee Dylan Levitt... whose strike was almost as good as Henderson’s and from a very similar spot on the pitch. Greive came on about ten mins later yet wasn’t able to get up to much in the 25 or so mins he was given before being hauled back off – the reason for that being his goalie Jak Alnwick getting sent off for rushing out of his area and colliding with a DU forward. There was a high knee involved and he was nowhere near the ball. Looked harsh at first but if anyone other than a goalie had made that challenge there’d be no complaints and given that he can’t use his hands outside the area you can’t give him that excuse of being a keeper, right?
Alex Greive was the bloke they subbed off to make room for a replacement goalie. Nothing personal against him, somebody had to come off, although surely there were some tired legs that’d played 90 mins who could have made way instead? Maybe not since it would have had to be a midfielder or defender. Well, it came back to bite them anyway. Some sloppy defending with ten men and Marc McNulty was able to head in a 96th minute winner for Dundee United after the ball had bounced off the crossbar.
2-1 to DU. St Mirren’s mud form under the new manager, coinciding with Greive dropping out of the starting team, continues. Granted he wasn’t going to keep starting every week once Eamonn Brophy and Curtis Main returned to full fitness anyway but it’s still notable how these three things all happened at once: the new manager, Greive getting way fewer minutes, and the Buddies results plummeting. Luckily there’s some All Whites stuff to cleanse the soul over the international break.
Up Next: Motherwell vs St Mirren, Sunday at 3 April at 2am (NZT)
Olivia Chance - Celtic FC (Scottish Premier League)
It’s a bit of a weird run in for Celtic, who after defeats within the last month against both Rangers and Glasgow City are no logical hope of winning the title and have almost surely missed out of second place and Champions League qualification too. Yet they’re even more unlikely to finish lower than third. They did win the League Cup and are still in the Scottish Cup quarters but the rest of their SWPL fixtures might feel a bit empty.
As such, Liv Chance was rested from the start against Motherwell as the Ghirls rallied after conceding a first half equaliser to score just before the half and then roll towards a 6-1 win with a dominant second stanza. Chance was subbed on for the last half hour, the score already at 3-1, and one of the first things she did was to thread a great ball wide to Tegan Bowie, who fed Shen inside leading to a penalty. Good cameo, good win.
Up Next: Celtic vs Hibernian, Sunday at 4am (NZT)
Nik Tzanev – AFC Wimbledon (English League One)
Did AFC Wimbledon win a game this week? Nope, yet again. They probably should have though as they led for most of the way against Cheltenham after Jack Rudoni’s 26th minute strike (just seconds after Cheltenham had hit the crossbar – Tzanev with the quick recycle to spark a counter attack). But they found themselves defending for most of the second half and despite holding on firmly until the 80th minute the dam eventually burst.
Tzanev hadn’t really had a save to make but there was nothing he could do when a ball deflected into the path of Callum Wright who scored in the 81st min. Two mins later George Lloyd headed in from a byline chip back across. Then in stoppage time Alfie May scored on the runaway to put the finishing touches on a 3-1 Cheltenham win.
Four losses in a row and 19 League One games all up since the Dons last had a win and thanks to Gillingham getting a 0-0 draw this week they have, finally, dropped into the relegation zone. Eight games left to save themselves... somehow.
Up Next: Sunday at 4am against Cambridge United (NZT)
Max Crocombe - Grimsby Town (English National League)
0-0 draw away to Boreham Wood. Another clean sheet for Crocombe who joined Grimsby as the backup to James McKeown but dislodged him as the first choice in November and is busy trying to prove to the club that he deserves a new contract for next season. As it stands Grimsby are right in the hunt for the playoffs and with that an outside shot at promotion to League Two. Could be a funky last couple months of the season.
Up Next: Grimsby Town vs Solihull Moors, Wednesday at 8.45am (NZT)
Kyle Adams & Nikko Boxall – San Diego Loyal (American USL Championship)
Righto, that went alright then. A goal, a clean sheet, and man of the match honours on San Diego Loyal debut for Kyle Adams. A fella called Charlie Adams got the other goal for them so you can imagine there were some Adams Family jokes going around the stands. 2-0 was the score against Sacramento Republic, SDL beginning the new USL campaign with a win. We’ll see if Nikko Boxall can match those heroics when he makes his club debut after he gets back from All Whites duty.
Up Next: Thursday at 1.30pm away to FC Tulsa (NZT)
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