Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)

Cometh the moment, cometh the Woodsman... you know how the saying goes. Nottingham Forest were hosting Sheffield United and it was poised at 1-1 deep into the match. The in-form Taiwo Awoniyi had scored for the sixth league game in a row to put Forest in front within three minutes but a banger of a strike from Gustavo Hamer just as early in the second half had levelled things up. Forest had seemed to be the more potent team however a stoic shift from the newly (re-)promoted Blades seemed likely to ensure a share of the points.

Awoniyi’s mad form is what’s going to keep Chris Wood on the bench for the foreseeable future. No worries there – if you’re gonna be a backup it may as well be a backup for someone really good. Injuries and suspensions will happen along the course of the season. Wood will get his opportunities. In the meantime he’s just also going to have to try and make the most of the little 5-10 minute cameos that he gets. You know: win a few aerials, throw himself about, make sure to track back... the effort-plays things that fans and managers alike all notice. Maybe score the occasional 89th minute winner too...

Yes sir, that’s the one. It’s funny how much difference a single goal can make. No doubt there were home fans groaning at the prospect of Wood replacing Awoniyi in the 84th minute of a game in which the team were pushing for a winner. Then Wood delivered the goods himself with a beautifully guided header from a tasty Serge Aurier cross. His second goal for the club... the first was an 84th minute equaliser against Manchester City back in February.

Credit to Aurier for that assist because the same bloke also set up Awoniyi’s goal. He’s a dodgy defender, ol’ Serge, but he was also the only one last season who seemed to willing to swing in the kinds of crosses that Wood feasts upon. Keep an eye on how that combination continues to develop.

Wood’s now halfway towards matching his league goal tally at Newcastle United. And considering that his injury last season meant he’s only actually made five starts for Forest (nine appearances overall) that means we’re now talking about a rate of 0.48 goals per ninety minutes at the club. That’s better than his average at Burnley (0.41) and miles better than what he did at Newcastle (0.20). Of course regular readers will know that the vital role Wood performed at Newcastle Utd was not based around goals, but even still it’s lovely to see him whip in a crucial one early in the season to ease any lingering pressure on his shoulders. He is, after all, a proven Premier League goal scorer. With 56 to his name overall he’s cracked the top 100 all-time. Level with Tim Cahill, Jason Euell, Kevin Gallacher, and Shane Long.

On top of that, this appearance was his 198th in the PL which brings him level with Ryan Nelsen for the NZ record. You already know that if you read last week’s edition.

This was a very helpful early season win for a team that was deep in a relegation battle last year. You don’t want to be playing catchup in this league and after losing to Arsenal in week one, they also have to play Man United, Chelsea, and Man City within the first six games of the term. They needed these three points... and Chris Wood provided them.

Steve Cooper: “I’m really pleased for him. Woody is a strong character. He’s a senior player who is part of the leadership group and is one of the guys who is driving standards for us, which is particularly important for the younger players. He’s scored goals in the Premier League before. That one was a typical Chris Wood goal, there’s no doubt about that. Everybody wants to start, of course, but we are also going to need guys to come off the bench and make an impact. They are 100-minute games now - minimum. I’m not saying any of the guys who came off the bench are just subs for us. But whoever is on the bench in a particular game, hopefully they can add value to a particular performance. That was the case this time.”

Quick note while we’re still in the Prem: no Matt Dibley-Dias on the bench for Fulham this week as they lost 3-0 to Brentford (not helped by a Tim Ream red card). Instead MDD captained the U21s a day earlier, getting ninety minutes as they won 2-1 against Manchester City’s U21s. He then captained them again in a 3-3 EFL Trophy group stage match against Portsmouth’s senior team. Big academy areas there. Meanwhile Marley Leuluai made his first start for Burnley’s U18s as they lost 4-1 to Milwall. Leuluai’s just been called up for the NZ U17s again.

Up Next: Manchester United vs Nottm Forest, Sunday at 2am (NZT)

Abby Erceg – Racing Louisville / Ali Riley - Angel City FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)

The NWSL has returned after all that World Cup influenced Challenge Cup stuff. Racing Louisville did make it to the semi-finals of the cup so they’ll face OL Reign in a fortnight to see if they can go further and compete for a trophy. Abby Erceg of course won this competition with North Carolina Courage last year. But they’ve also got work to do if they’re going to add a league playoff to that tally of knockout fixtures this season.

As do Angel City FC with Ali Riley fresh back from the World Cup – as fresh as she’s going to get anyway. Both are on the outside of the top six looking upwards but neither is out of contention just yet with a few more months of regular season action to follow.

It wasn’t like it was back when Erceg was still at NCC and these meetings between Football Ferns legends also saw them each captaining their respective teams. Riley did wear the armband for Angel City however Erceg is only a vice captain at Racing with Jaelin Howell already serving those duties from before they traded for her. Each still got ninety minutes in this one.

Riley was heavily in the action to start with, squaring a low ball past Erceg to the near post where her striker couldn’t quite sneak it through the crowd. She soon popped Alyssa Thompson into space with a great ball down the line, with AT setting up Savannah McCaskill only for that chance to be saved. Bright start from ACFC but they didn’t make it count and the game soon settled down – with the best remaining chances that half all falling up the other end.

The deadlock was broken after 66 minutes when Angel City’s Katie Johnson scored off the bench, finding a pocket of space in the area and slamming that top corner. Ten minutes later Kirsten Davis tied things back up again with a header. The 1-1 draw was probably fair enough. Erceg was quiet due to ACFC’s main threats coming from wide though she still dished up an 89% pass completion rate. Riley was less effective after she swapped to the right side of defence in the second half and her crossing was limited by the dominance of Erceg in that target zone. Good game. It was a result that doesn’t harm either team... though they’ll both need to crack on from here.

Now here’s Ali Riley talking World Cup action with Tobin Heath and Christen Press. There’s a fantastic story about how New Zealand’s bus was late before the Norway game. There’s also a rare instance of a Ferns player discussing the Andreas Heraf situation. Riley’s done a lot of media since/during/before the World Cup but this chat was the best of them...

Up Next: Gotham vs Louisville on Monday at 9.30am; Angel City vs OL Reign on Monday at midday (NZT)

Marko Stamenic - FK Crvena Zvezda (Serbian SuperLiga)

Another week and another win, this time Red Star took on Spartak Subotica and they bounced them 3-0... which is actually the closest game they’ve had so far. Four weeks in and they’ve already got a +15 goal difference. It goes without saying at this point but Marko Stamenic was once again that engine man in the midfield as he continually collected the ball and spread it around. 58 accurate passes at 87.9% completion. Threw himself into a few tackles. He even had a shot on target, a dipping volley outside the box that he didn’t get any power into which dropped nicely into the keeper’s hands. Goals will come eventually. For now this was yet another classy Stamenic performance to savour – he even played the last ten minutes as a centre-back in order to give a few younger lads a run off the bench.

The damage was done in the first half. Having threatened pretty much from the opening whistle, Red Star finally made that count after 20 minutes when Osman Bukari burst down the right wing, curved his run into the penalty area, then thumped in a tight-angle finish. Four minutes later it was two as the high press caused worries for Spartak and led to an own goal. Then followed another own goal at the end of the half, this one creeping in after a deflection on a Peter Olayinka shot.

There should’ve been more goals but also there didn’t need to be more goals. Subotica’s best moments came from long shots. Zvezda hit the post in the second half to go with a few blocks and some good saves. Three was enough. They’ll find out who they’ve got in the Champions League group stage at the end of the month.

Up Next: Away to FC Voždovac at 5am on Sunday (NZT)

Liberato Cacace – Empoli (Italian Serie A)

The Marko Stamenic Era in Serbia has begun spectacularly. The Liberato Cacace Era in Italy not so much. Last week was deemed a false start as they were dumped out of the Coppa Italia by a lower league opponent. This week was supposed to be business time with Cacace beginning his first season as an undoubted Serie A starting left-back. They were at home against Verona and the match did have its moments... but Empoli lost 1-0.

Cacace looked confident on that left edge and was really getting up the field on attack. Unfortunately they didn’t have a lot going for them in that other half so he got squeezed out of possession more than once. Also he picked up a yellow card on 66’ for dragging a bloke back to avoid a counter-attack. As a few new faces settle in around him there should be some big time highlights on the way from Cacace but this Empoli team kinda looks like they’ll have a lot more room to look up the table than they will to look down. It’s a work in progress.

Having said that, they were super unlucky in this match. Empoli’s Razvan Marin hit the crossbar with a long shot while Emmanuel Gyasi later managed to scoop a great chance over the top with only the keeper to beat. Marin also went close with a free kick in the second half. It was a game of few chances but Empoli were forging the better of them... until they conceded from a corner kick in the 75th minute. New goalie Elia Caprile – replacing Guglielmo Vicario who has moved to Tottenham Hotspur – spilled the delivery and an awkward shot into the turf snuck past Cacace and teammate on the post. Cacace was then subbed in place of Guiseppe Pezzella for the last ten minutes. Pezzella is a new signing picked up on a free transfer, hopefully with the intent to serve as Cacace’s backup.

Up Next: Monza vs Empoli at 4.30am on Sunday (NZT)

Jana Radosavljevic - Fenerbahçe (Turkish Super League)

Hey, there we go. This one was actually sealed a month ago but sometimes these things slip under the radar. Anyway, it’s Jana Radosavljevic and she’s moving to Turkey. Joining one of the biggest clubs in the land – Fenerbahçe were runners up in last season’s Super League, beaten 4-2 in the final by Ankara after extra time otherwise they’d have not only been champions but they’d have been preparing for Champions League qualifiers. Sadly there’s only one UCLW spot available in Turkey. Still, Rado’s team will have firm intentions of getting there next year (although JR has only signed a one-year contract for now).

This is a great move for Radosavljevic. She’s had a few opportunities with the Football Ferns, earning three caps, but just when her career seemed to be thriving, as she was getting decent game time for Werder Bremen in the German Bundesliga, she tore her meniscus and after a long recovery ended up down the divisions with Arminia Bielefeld. She was part of the Ferns squad for the out-of-window games against USA in February 2023 but wasn’t part of the extended training camp prior to the World Cup. This seems like just the kind of opportunity the 26yo needs to get back in contention.

Up Next: New season starts on Sunday, home to Gaziantep Asya Spor at 9pm (NZT)

Michael Woud – Ventforet Kofu (Japanese J-League 2)

It finally happened. Michael Woud has escaped the murkiness he’d found himself in with Kyoto Sanga, where he’d become stuck as a backup to the backup goalie. There was briefly a point last month when an injury to one of Sanga’s other goalies saw him jump onto the bench for a few J-League games but then they signed a new keeper and Woud returned to being third choice. They’re already out of the Emperor’s Cup which was where he got most of his minutes last season. In a year and a half, Woud has never played a league game for this club. It really hasn’t been working out.

So he’s gone on loan to Ventforet Kofu in the second tier for the rest of the calendar year. Kofu are sitting seventh in the J-League 2 Division, where they’ve been since their most recent relegation in 2017 (they’ve been up and down a few times over the past two decades). However the club did celebrate it’s greatest ever achievement last year: winning the Emperor’s Cup. A rare instance of a team outside their nation’s top division lifting a cup trophy... and as a result they’ll be playing Asian Champions League starting in September. How about that?

35yo Japanese goalie Kohei Kawata was one of the heroes of that Emperor’s Cup run but he was subbed off inside ten minutes of their game against Iwaki FC. That was three days before Woud’s loan signing was announced. Kawata has been the long term starter for Kofu so if he’s forced to miss extended time then that could be a pathway for Michael Woud to get plenty of much-needed matches. There are a couple other local goalies in the club but Kodai Yamauchi has only started two league games this year (the second coming after Woud’s signing but before he Woud was available) while Tsubasa Shibuya hasn’t played at all (yet has been by far the more common option on the bench, funnily enough).

The draw for the Champions League group stage takes place next Thursday NZT. Among the clubs they could end up against are Melbourne City, as Australia’s only representatives, the Des Buckingham coached Mumbai City, or potentially even Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr team (supposing that lot make it through the last qualifying round).

Up Next: Renofa Yamaguchi vs Ventforet Kofu at 10pm on Saturday (NZT)

Logan Rogerson & Ollie Whyte - FC Haka (Finnish Veikkausliiga)

Swish. FC Haka need points as they try to claw themselves away from the lower realms of the table and to get points they need goals. Rogerson almost set one up inside of ten minutes but his mate’s effort was expertly tipped wide by the goalie. No dramas because he soon flipped home that lovely shot of his own, in off the post after collecting the ball on the pivot.

Opponents KTS began to get going after the goal, working into a couple fine positions only to blast the ball off target. Hence the lead still stood at half-time... and it still stood after a cheeky penalty appeal led to one of their forwards getting booked for diving (rightfully so). Like many struggling teams though, Haka tend to be their own worst enemies thus Eero Auvinen went and got himself sent off after 64 minutes.

KTS soon whacked one off the post, then on 77’ Haka conceded that goal they’d been dreading. Strong near post header from a corner. Rogerson was subbed off for the last five minutes, replaced by compatriot Ollie Whyte. Haka were giving it a nudge but the ten men were running out of time and opportunity. Then all of a sudden Atte Sihvonen scored an absolute screamer in the 86th minute to win it 2-1 for FC Haka. Rightio then.

That’s now eight points from the last four games for FC Haka, who have indeed managed to crawl up to tenth on the ladder (out of 12 teams). Meanwhile Nikko Boxall’s Inter Turku found themselves 1-0 up after an hour against domestic powerhouses HJK and aiming for a famous win. Until they conceded three goals in six minutes and lost 3-1. Ah well. Problem is, the top six is now out of their control with three matches remaining before the split.

Up Next: Haka vs KuPS at 1am on Monday (NZT)

Max Crocombe - Burton Albion (English League One)

It may not have been what he envisaged when he signed for Burton Albion, having to sit on the bench and watch ex-Chelsea youngster Jamal Blackman conceded bundles of goals, but that was the state of affairs over the first three weeks of the new season for Max Crocombe. To be fair to Blackman, Burton’s real problems appear to be up the other end having been blanked in each of their first three games. They did finally score in the midweek match against Shrewsbury Town (no Max Mata yet, more on him later) but that was in the seventh minute of second half stoppage time and they were already two down. In fact they conceded the first goal after just three minutes with Max Crocombe watching on as the other new goalkeeper signing conceded his eighth goal in his fourth start for the team.

But Crocs wasn’t watching for much longer. Midway through the first half Blackman turned sharply and then instantly pulled up sore. He’d have to be replaced. On came Max Crocombe for a Burton Albion debut which was also his League One debut. His entire career had been spent at League Two or below (as well as that A-League stint) but just days after his 30th birthday he finally broke on through into the third tier of English footy.

Burton lost that game 2-1. They conceded again just before half-time from a dominant header off a corner kick and for a team that hadn’t yet scored a goal this season that hole was a little too deep. They played alright. Crocombe only had to make one save. But they lost. At least they did bundle in that consolation goal though.

The injury to Blackman is still undetermined so they’re not sure how long he’ll be out for. But he definitely missed the league match against Wycombe Wanderers where, although Burton did get shut out yet again, they managed to keep their first clean sheet of the term. That in turn gave them their first point of the term. And it was largely thanks to a man of the match performance from their All Whites goalkeeper...

Crocombe made save after save, he was magnificent. Eight saves all combined. He was strong against the high ball and, true to his reputation, he picked up a yellow card near the very end no doubt for time-wasting (although it wasn’t immediately clear exactly what he did). Also he punted the ball long on pretty much every single occasion. Gotta do what you’ve gotta do for a battling team that’s dealing with injuries far beyond their (former?) starting goalkeeper. Max Crocombe even made the EFL League One team of the week. It was an outstanding way to announce himself to his new club and even if Blackman does return soon it’ll take a brave manager to drop the bloke.

Up Next: Sunday at 2am, Burton vs Bolton (NZT)

Tyler Bindon - Reading (English League One)

The constant use of American flag emojis whenever the Reading account mention Tyler Bindon is beginning to feel like a hate crime... but one thing’s clear: this lad is the real deal. Eighteen years old and he’s already laying down masterful centre-back performances in senior football.

Bindon’s debut came in that 4-0 League Cup win over Millwall last week. He then sat on the bench for a 1-0 defeat to Port Vale. That’s where we were at after the last Flying Kiwis. Well, since then they’ve had a midweek league game against Cheltenham in which Bindon was given the start and they won 1-0. Seems he played so nicely that he maintained that spot for the weekend’s match against Stevenage... itself a 2-0 victory, although admittedly against a team that played with ten men for more than an hour.

That makes it three starts across all competitions and Tyler Bindon has yet to concede a goal. He’s knocking around passes with confident ease. He’s winning headers against grown-ass men. There was a defensive mix-up early in the Cheltenham game, his league debut, when he played a blind backpass to his keeper who was already stepping up but they got away with that and it has otherwise all been superb from the East Coast Bays junior.

He’s doing this with a very young defence around him too – the average age of their back four these last couple games is 20. Nelson Abbey has been Bindon’s CB partner with Matt Carson on the left and Amadou Mbengue on the right. Carson only made his debut two weeks ago in that Millwall game, same as Bindon. Mengou played a lot in the Championship last season and is the oldest of the quartet at 21yo. Abbey is still a teenager but had already been established as a key player coming through their academy and captained the side in that Millwall game.

Matt Carson: “Playing alongside Nelson makes everything a lot easier as I have played a few games with him already - he is quality. Tyler looks like he has played one hundred league games already. Amadou is the most experienced out of all of us, but we all pull our weight.”

They’re also playing some courageous football as you can see from Bindon’s passing stats. They’re building up from the back, absorbing the press with calmness and precision. That’s not easy for any defence to do let alone a back four as inexperienced as this lot. It’s a pretty amazing tale unfolding even beyond the 18 year old Kiwi-American defender in the midst of it.

Up Next: Away to Exeter City at 2am on Sunday (NZT)

Matthew Garbett - NAC Breda (Dutch Eerste Divisie)

Curiously, Matt Garbett started on the bench for NAC Breda’s season opener last week. They do seem to be playing a slightly different formation this season which may be part of that... although a preseason back injury was the main culprit there. However when they found themselves 1-0 down at half-time against Dordrecht they soon chilled on that idea. Garbett was thrown on at the break and while it did get worse before it got better, going 2-0 down with twenty to go, Breda eventually surged back for a 2-2 draw thanks to an equaliser in the fifth minute of additional time. Wasn’t much Garbett influence in either goal but they avoided defeat which was the main thing.

Garbs was then thrown back into the starting team for game two at home against Jong AZ (always better to play the youth teams early in the weekend rather than later when unused first team players might get released)... where a pair of first half goals from Dominik Janosek helped Breda to a 2-1 victory. Love a bit of that. Just one minor issue therein: Matt Garbett went off injured after only 23 minutes.

He’d been booked for squaring up with a bloke after being clattered in a challenge only three and a half minutes after the kickoff - and awful tackle, including in the highlights below - then he’d after about quarter of an hour he’d needed physio treatment following another challenge which crunched his ankle. MG battled on for close to ten more minutes until he ultimately had to bail on it. Roy Kuijpers made a debut off the bench in his place. It was the ankle that was the problem though, not the existing back issue (rumoured to have been caused by a poor quality hotel mattress but that’s still unsubstantiated at this stage).

It hasn’t been any better for Ryan Thomas at PEC Zwolle. Just prior to their first game back in the Eredivisie he picked up a small injury which kept him out of the 2-1 loss to Sparta Rotterdamn that began their season. Wasn’t specified what the injury was but it sounded like a precautionary thing. Sure enough he was back on the bench for game two, even if he ultimately wasn’t risked in a 3-1 defeat away to FC Twente. The match against Utrecht on Sunday sounds like a good shout for his return – 10.15pm kickoff, good for us NZ viewers.

Up Next: FC Eindhoven vs NAC Breda at 6am on Saturday (NZT)

Elijah Just - AC Horsens (Danish Division 1)

It was a strange week. Callum McCowatt got another start for Silkeborg but was subbed off at half-time of that match, with his team going on to spring a 2-0 upset win against Nordsjælland. Joe Bell wasn’t even in the squad for Brøndby although he did play 66 minutes in a reserve team friendly – only one more week to go for this transfer window so keep those eyes peeled for updates. We also had Alex Greive and Sarpreet Singh serving unused substitute duty. As did Nik Tzanev. Max Mata won’t make his Shrewsbury Town debut ‘til next week. Jacqui Hand is back with Aland United but their 4-0 win over TPS came too soon for her. Same with James McGarry and Aberdeen’s 2-1 League Cup win against Stirling Albion. Ben Waine did get ten mins off the bench for Plymouth against Southampton... but only touched the ball once in a 2-1 defeat. That’s in case you’re wondering where some of the recent stars of this column have disappeared to.

But we did have a sweet Elijah Just performance against his old team...

It was Just’s attempted pass that deflected into Aron Sigurdarson’s path for a thumping opening goal after 10 minutes of footy. Not an assist but it was at least a bit of top third influence. Jakob Andersen then doubled the lead on 17’, smashing in at the second attempt after the ball probably should’ve gone to a wide open Eli Just hovering around the penalty spot but all goods.

Additionally, Horsens hit the crossbar from a free kick while Just had a 1v1 chance tipped onto the post after some sharp movement into the area... then about fifteen seconds later he fizzed another one on target that the keeper saved diving the other way this time. Desperately close to a goal. Later in the half he had a penalty shout denied when he was shoved over, admittedly whilst already off-balance. He was subbed off for the last quarter-hour with both teams adding goals in stoppage time for a 3-1 final score. One of Just’s best performances for a long time and, not coincidentally, it came when he was given a relatively central attacking role.

They then lost 2-0 to Fredericia this morning, with Just playing the same position and getting a full game. Highlights aren’t up of that one yet so we’ll just let it roll out for a goal kick. Elsewhere in Division 1, Kolding suffered their first loss of the campaign going down 3-1 to Sønderjyske with Dalton Wilkins playing 84 minutes.

Up Next: Horsens vs Næstved at 5am on Saturday (NZT)

Meikayla Moore – Glasgow City (Scottish Premier League)

Here’s Vic Esson having a yarn with the Rangers crew after returning from the World Cup...

Esson was only on the bench again as RFC won 5-1 against Aberdeen in their second match of the new season. Too soon to feature. Liv Chance is also still away from Celtic on a break following that WC while Katie Rood is obviously out injured long term for Hearts.

So it remains for Meikayla Moore to fly the flag in the SWPL and she’s been doing that nicely so far. Despite three changes to the starting team from last week, Mouse retained her spot in defence alongside Claire Walsh who returned from suspension for this match (had been up in the air whether Moore or Kenzie Weir would make way for Walsh... turned out to be the latter). And, yeah, defending champs Glasgow City won 3-0 against Partick Thistle. Back to back clean sheet victories as a starter for Meikayla Moore. The comeback is officially on.

It was Moore’s pinpoint ball movement that began the move for GC’s first close chance: a shot from Lauren Davidson that was tipped over the bar. Moore’s distribution, including stepping through pressure, was also a factor in the move that led to the opening goal. Hayley Lauder flipped that one over the line after an overlap and square cross midway through the first half. Amy Muir then added a second on 34’ with a cross that floated into the goal from wide left.

Good goalkeeping then kept Glasgow City at bay for longer than they’d have preferred. Didn’t help when a clear handball was missed by the ref either. But they did eventually win a penalty with ten mins to go which Lauren Davidson buried to complete the scoring. Two more weeks to go until UCLW qualifiers. The big three (GC, Celtic & Rangers) have all had two comfortable wins to start the season.

Up Next: Glasgow City vs Motherwell on Thursday at 7am, then the first Big Three game of the campaign as Rangers vs Glasgow City kicks off 3.10am on Monday (NZT)

Max Mata - Shrewsbury Town (English League One)

Good to go, finally. It took a lot longer than expected but that visa came through just in time for Max Mata to play against his All Whites teammate Max Crocombe... except that he picked up a slight calf strain in training which means he’ll have to wait a tad longer for that debut. All signs point towards him being involved next week. Here’s the manager with more on the subject...

Matt Taylor: “We found out after training on Thursday ironically that Max would be available. However, unfortunately, in that last 10 minutes in training he hurt his calf slightly. It is nothing serious, he is out for five to seven days so we anticipate he will be available for next weekend. It’s been an arduous process, I know that, in terms of the amount of the work the football club has done and Jayne (Bebb) has done - the club secretary – to try and get us to a point where he would be available. I just want to say thank you to her and I also want to thank the chairman because it’s not been cheap either. We have done all we can, I know Jayne has done all she can, it’s just really disappointing Max won’t be involved today because of a slight calf tear. But he will still score goals for us and we are only in the fourth game of the season. It will be nice for him to be in the squad next Saturday.”

Up Next: Fleetwood vs Shrewsbury, 2am on Sunday (NZT)

Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)

Back to regularly scheduled MLS programming where Boxy’s Loons won 2-0 away against New York City FC. Nice rebound victory after that 5-0 Leagues Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of Nashville SC. Plus they didn’t even get a red card in this match which is always handy. It was goalkeeper Dayne St Clair who took most of the plaudits with a few impressive saves but Michael Boxall was in sharp form too, as you can see from that clip above. Jan Gregus scored the crucial opening goal on 53’ before Mender Garcia sealed the deal in stoppage time for a Minny Utd side that only had 37% of the ball in this match.

That’s a huge win that lifts them back up into the play-in spots with scope to jump much higher if they can win the game(s) in hand that they have over some of the teams above them. No Bill Tuiloma this week though. Not because of any injury recurrence, just because they were scheduled to play Inter Miami but Lionel Messi’s boys were busy winning the Leagues Cup final on penalties instead. Charlotte are six points off play-in positions as it stands. They do have a game in hand on most teams around them. Granted, that game in hand was this Inter Miami one so don’t get carried away with the projections.

Up Next: Minnesota United are at home to Seattle Sounders at 8.30am on Monday (NZT)

Tommy Smith – Milton Keynes Dons (English League Two)

Revenge is sweet. Tommy Smith could hardly get a game for Colchester United during the last half of last season despite still technically being club captain. Injuries were a large part of that but even when he was fit they seemed reluctant to use him and when that campaign ended he was one of several ex-Ipswich Town players (who’d mostly all amassed at the club around the same time) that were promptly released as free agents.

No ill feeling... but it was still cool to see Smith starting in a 3-2 win against his old club. Didn’t finish the game because they subbed him off in favour of an extra forward to chase goals whilst trailing 2-1 in the dying stages, which worked out perfectly as Alex Gilbey equalised in the 88th minute and then Matthew Dennis made use of the newfangled expanded injury time to score the winner in the tenth minute added-on. What a way to do it. MK Dons are second on the ladder after four matches and Smithy’s started them all.

Up Next: MKD vs Doncaster at 2am on Sunday (NZT)

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