Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)

The rumours were true, Joe Bell is a Viking. The curls are at the height of Stavanger fashion once again after Bell’s frustrating tenure with Brøndby in Denmark ended with a switch back to his old club in Norway. Bell has signed a hefty four-and-a-half year contract with the Vikes and he joins them for an estimated transfer fee of €200k... about a quarter of what Brøndby paid for him. Now that’s some seriously good business from VFK.

It’s even better business because Viking have improved quite a bit in the meantime. When Bellinho left the club, he’d just helped them to a third placed finish in the 2021 Eliteserien which was their best season for fourteen years. They weren’t so flash immediately after he departed, dipping all the way to 11th in 2022 whilst getting bounced in the Europa Conference League playoff round against Romanian club FCSB (after having knocked out Sligo Rovers, with Nando Pijnaker and Max Mata, in the previous round of qualifying). But this year it’s been a different story. With 11 games remaining they were dead level with Bodø/Glimt at the top of the ladder, trailing only on goal difference. Bell’s come back for a title challenge. European footy is a strong likelihood next term. The Vikings have been pillaging and he wants to be a part of it.

VFK sports manager Erik Nevland: “We are very happy that Joe is back and we know what we are getting with him. He helps strengthen our squad, and the fact that he has signed such a long contract means that we have a long-term perspective on it. He is a very smart football player, who is good in the duels, is good with the ball, and makes his teammates better. We know what he delivered in 2021 and he certainly hasn’t gotten any worse from being in Brøndby.”

The Brøndby stint simply didn’t work. They went through a couple of managers while he was there and never really had a settled squad around him. Once the current boss got settled it became clear that he wanted something different than what Bell provided in the midfield. It wasn’t a personal thing, just a bad fit. These things happen all the time in football. Forget about it. Now he’s back in Norway to pick up where he left off with goals and assists and dominant midfield performances.

And he’s already made his second debut. Viking had a very tricky game against Vålerenga, one that they couldn’t afford to lose against a team considerably below them on the table, and Brother Joe was immediately picked as a starting midfielder. The buzzy thing about that is how instantly settled he looked, despite minimal recent game time. Just like riding a bike, apparently. If there was one aspect where he was a little rusty it was his defensive challenges. Not as definitive there as he’s capable of being. But his passing was great and a large of VFK’s chances had a Bellinho involvement at some stage of the move.

Despite an otherwise really good first half performance, VFK were mostly only able to muster long shots – although a Bell corner kick was headed into the side-netting late in the spell. Then the Bell return almost reached dream proportions as the man himself made a late run into the area to pounce on a loose ball six yards out except a defensive block prevented him from disturbing the net (then the rebound effort from a teammate was saved down low).

Viking gained a huge let-off on the hour when a VIF dude broke in behind and rounded the keeper only to slice his finish wide. Three minutes later Viking finally took the lead as Eneo Bitri turned the ball into his own net from a low cross but Vålerenga flicked a switch in response and suddenly looked more dangerous than they had all game. Viking were hanging in there when Bell was subbed after 83 minutes which was probably more than they intended to play him given his match fitness. Alas, they conceded three mins later. An equaliser on 86’, probably shoulda been cleared off the line. Into the books as a 1-1 draw. Highlights here.

Despite failing to win a game they probably ought to have, breaking an 8-game winning streak in the process, they didn’t actually lose any ground in the title race. That’s because a day later Bodø/Glimt drew an absolutely bonkers match 4-4 against HamKam (who are only two spots ahead of Vålerenga down near the bottom of the ladder). BG were two goals down after 25 minutes, scored four unanswered to lead 4-2 with twenty to go. Then couldn’t see it through. With 10 games remaining, BG and Viking are both on 45 points. Viking are also eight points clear of Molde in fourth (which is the highest spot that’ll miss out on European footy).

Also it may be of interest to know that one of the fellas who came on when Bell went off in a double switch was Nicholas D’Agostino, one of two Aussies in the matchday squad as Patrick Yazbek also operated in the midfield three with Bell. Gianni Stensness is still there too but he didn’t play this match. Three Aussies at one club. Yikes.

Up Next: Away to Haugesund at 4am on Sunday (NZT)

Malia Steinmetz – FC Nordsjælland (Danish Kvindeliga)

Nobody in that Football Ferns squad raised their profile more during the World Cup than Malia Steinmetz, who served up a series of defensive midfield clinics – particularly in the Norway game – for an Aotearoa side that conceded just one goal in three games. Now after three years in the A-League, one at Perth and two with Western Sydney, she’s graduated into the European realms. Following in quick succession after Indi Riley (PSV Eindhoven) and Claudia Bunge (HB Køge). That’s what we wanna see.

Steinmetz has signed a two-year contract with FCN, who finished fourth in the Kvindeliga last year. That means the New Zealander is moving to North Zealand. Sounds appropriate. Nordsjælland were formerly known as Farum until they were absorbed into the wider FCN club in 2018, swiftly earning promotion to the top flight and peaking with a Danish Cup title in 2020. Never finished better than third in the league but they do appear to be a stable team making steady growth. Plus Steinmetz won’t be alone. She may not have a compatriot like Claudia Bunge does with Daisy Cleverley but she does have Australian international Winonah Heatley... whom Malia was once flatted with when they both played for Northern Tigers in the NPL.

FCN sports director Jessica Davis: “We are incredibly happy to be able to add Malia to our already strong squad. We had the opportunity to follow her during this summer's World Cup final round, where she impressed us. She fits in perfectly with our playing style and we are sure that with her qualities she will strengthen our Kvindelta team. Despite her young age, Malia has already experienced a part in her football career, where she has played a number of matches under great pressure and with many spectators, which we believe will be an invaluable addition to our young team. We look forward to welcoming her to the club and we look forward to following her development in FCN.”

Coincidentally, the first game for FCN after Steinmetz’s signing was also the first game for her good mate Claudia Bunge at HB Køge as that pair of title contenders ran into each other in week two of the season. Too soon for Steinmetz to be involved... but Bunge played ninety minutes at the back while Daisy Cleverley also got half an hour off the bench for HBK.

Up Next: Saturday at 11pm, a possible Steinmetz debut against another Ferns teammate as FCN face Ally Green’s AGF away (NZT)

Claudia Bunge & Daisy Cleverley - HB Køge (Danish Kvindeliga)

Yep, a clean sheet in Claudia Bunge’s debut. Would have preferred a win as well but that wasn’t to be the case as the same rustiness in the attacking third that was on display in their narrow win last week was there again for HBK in this one. Plus Nordsjælland are a good team. Strong at the back and about to get even better when Malia Steinmetz is injected into the midfield.

Bunge wore the #3 jersey and lined up as the left-sided centre-back. In truth it wasn’t a very exciting game. Defensive solidity won out... although HBK did sharpen up after Daisy Cleverley joined the action. But yeah nah a match of very few chances and a very valid 0-0 draw. Elsewhere Ally Green got 15 mins off the bench for AGF in a 2-0 defeat against Brøndby.

Brøndby and Kolding are the only teams who’ve won their first two Kvindeliga games so no dramas there. Anyway, the focus for HBK now shifts towards the continental because later this week they’ve got their Champions League first round qualifiers. Their semi-final is on Thursday NZT against KuPS (Finland) then three days later, they’ll play either Spartak Subotics (Serbia) or KI (Faroe Islands). Two wins and they’ll progress onwards to the second qualifying round with a spot in the group stage on the line. Looks like they got Claudia Bunge in there just in time.

Up Next: HBK vs KuPS, Thursday at 5am (NZT)

James McGarry - Aberdeen (Scottish Premiership)

Last week came James McGarry’s Aberdeen debut off the bench in a Europa League qualifier. This week came his starting debut for Aberdeen in a Europa League qualifier. It was the second leg against BK Häcken of Sweden and the score was tied on aggregate following Aberdeen’s brilliant comeback 2-2 draw in the away leg. In between he’d made a league debut as a sub in a late comeback 2-2 draw against Alex Greive’s St Mirren. And at half-time of this one they were left hoping for another such comeback as an Ibrahim Sadiq double (in his last game for Häcken before transferring to AZ Alkmaar) had put the Swedish side in the driver’s seat.

No blame on McGarry for either goal. He was nice up that left wing, whipping in his first cross inside of a minute (it was headed wide) and regularly linking up with little one-two moves around the edge of the area. He looks a natural fit for the way that Aberdeen are trying to play their football. Unfortunately there’s not much anyone could’ve done once Sadiq lashed in a screamer from distance in the 14th minute. Aberdeen then spent the best part of half an hour pushing for an equaliser via many half-chances only to get caught out by Sadiq running in behind on 41’ for his second goal.

McGarry fizzed a shot from wide across the face of goal, head in hands. That was just before half-time. Early in the second stanza one of the BKH blokes missed the sitter to end all sitters, scooping over wide open from about half a metre off the line. Soon after that came the lifeline they were seeking when a heavy McGarry touch in the area accidentally allowed Luis Lopes to run into a challenge. Initially the ref told him he’d dived but then the VAR determined otherwise. A soft penalty but Bojan Miovski slotted it on 55’ to make it 2-1 on the day and 4-3 on aggregate. However Miovski soon flipped a wonderful chance wide of the target with only the keeper to beat and they never had another moment as good as that.

There were 73 mins on the clock when McGarry was replaced. Aberdeen went on to concede a VAR penalty of their own which Amor Layouni scored on 81’. It ended as a 3-1 win to Häcken (5-3 agg) and thus the wait for Aberdeen to get back into the Europa League continues. However there was a strong consolation in the form of a Conference League group place. McGarry will become the first NZer to play in the group stage of that competition. The draw has already been done and Aberdeen will face: Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), PAOK (Greece), and HJK (Finland).

James McGarry: “We are going to do a review of this game but if you are creating that many chances against good opposition you are going into that [Conference] league and do the same thing if not more. We just need to finish them. It was a big move for me but Thursday showed me why I came over, for these big European games. You can be really disappointed and gutted, which we are. But I think we’d be more disappointed if we didn’t create those chances and go into games not having had 25 shots and four or five really good chances we should have taken”

It was always going to be tough to back it up after that midweek defeat, so perhaps it shouldn’t be a shock that The Dons then went and lost 2-0 at home to Hibernian in the Premiership. McGarry started again and this time went the distance in what could have been a very different kinda game had his deflected effort sailed in early in the second half. It was still goalless at the time and JM had to fight through contact to get to a half-cleared corner kick on the edge of the box. He did, and his shot took a diversion off a defender, but the keeper adjusted to make a fine stop.

Adam Le Fondre (75’) and Christian Doidge (80’) then scored for Hibs as the game got away from the home side. Hibs don’t even have a permanent manager at the moment. The Dons boss blamed the defeat on having lots of new signings still trying to gel together and that’s probably a fair point. Short turnaround from European stuff is never easy either although they’re going to have to get used to that. 2-0 to Hibernian. Aberdeen haven’t won any of their first four Premiership games.

That’s in contrast to St Mirren and Alex Greive, who haven’t lost in their first four games. They almost got done by Livingston this past round though. Greive had been brought on midway through the second half to try and provide a spark to a previously dull contest and he did whip one shot on target cutting in from the left... but it was a simple save. Livingston then seemingly won the thing with an 89th minute goal from Luiyi De Lucas. But then a deep free kick in the sixth minute added-on led to Stav Nahmani nodding in a dramatic leveller for 1-1. The Buddies briefly went top after that game ended however wins for Celtic and Motherwell have since dropped them back to third.

Up Next: Hearts vs Aberdeen on Sunday at 2am – it’s a Cam Devlin/James McGarry Wellington Phoenix reunion (NZT)

Erin Nayler – Bayern Munich (German Bundesliga)

Professional footballers often find themselves in the right place at the wrong time and that problem gets amplified for goalkeepers. It’s happened several times to Erin Nayler in her career, like when she signed for Reading in England and then only played one League Cup game all season. Or her recent stint with IFK Norrköping in Sweden where she was made backup to a young starlet keeper before suffering a hip injury that she only just recovered from in time to make the World Cup squad.

But other times the planets seem to align perfectly. Erin Nayler is no longer the Football Ferns starter and she wasn’t a starter for Norrköping either. In fact due to that injury she never even played for them. So if you’re gonna be a backup, might as well be a backup at one of the best clubs in the world, aye?

Bayern Munich are the reigning champions of Germany having edged out Champions League finalists Wolfsburg by two points (they themselves were knocked out of the UCL by Arsenal in the quarters). They’re the real deal, no doubt about that. Though they have struggled to settle on their goalkeeping unit lately. Cecilía Rán Rúnarsdóttir is a bit of a phenom but she’s out injured with a dislocated patella. Maria Luisa Grohs played a lot last season and did alright. Anna Wellman has joined from Turbine Potsdam to fill things out... yet Laura Benkarth left for Lyon at the end of her contract while Leicester City followed up their super successful loan link with a permanent move for Janina Leitzig, shout out to CJ Bott and the Foxes.

Rúnarsdóttir and Grohs are both quite young. Wellman is more experienced and played for the club’s reserve team a few years back. Hence they wanted a veteran to hold things down, someone who won’t complain about game-time and who’ll provide positive guidance for the others. So they locked onto Erin Nayler.

Bianca Rech, Head of Women's Football FCB: “We are very pleased that Erin is coming to Munich and FC Bayern. After the injury to Cecilía Rúnarsdóttir it was clear that we had to strengthen again in the goalkeeper position. We have had Erin on our shortlist for a long time. She is a goalkeeper who can help our goalkeeping unit with her experience. It was important to us that we added an experienced player who is there for the team and who can support the young goalkeepers. Erin brings all of this with her because she has the utmost experience, has played in different countries, and is also an international goalkeeper.“

She’s being signed as a backup but you never know how that might go. She could even sneak a Champions League appearance in there as a reward for good service. Can’t argue that being a backup for the German champs beats being a backup for a freshly-promoted club in Sweden. Nayler won’t be the first NZer to play for the club. Sarpreet Singh on the bloke’s side, obviously, but also Ali Riley who spent a year with the club after leaving Chelsea. She only made three league appearances for them (which is one more than Singh got) so we’ll see if Nayler can catch those numbers. It’s a one-year contract that she’s signed and the new season begins in a fortnight.

Up Next: 4.15am on Friday 16 September, away to Freiburg in the Bundesliga opener (NZT)

Ben Waine – Plymouth Argyle (English Championship)

Make that three goals in two League Cup ties for Ben Waine. He always loved a goal in the Aussie Cup. His first Plymouth Argyle goal came in the EFL Trophy. Now he’s owning the spotlight in another cup competition... scoring to put Argyle into the lead against Premier League outfit Crystal Palace.

It got even better for the Pilgrims when Luke Cundle supplied a belter of a goal within a minute of the second half beginning. Leading 2-0 against a Prem team? It was almost too good to be true. Then suddenly it was. Old mate Roy Hodgson made a trio of substitutions with Eberechi Eze, Jordan Schlupp, and Jordan Ayew all sent on and each of them set up a goal within ten minutes of their introductions. From 2-0 up after 57 minutes to being 3-2 down after 62. Later Odsonne Eduard would score his third of the day as Palace won 4-2 in the end. That Premier League depth was simply too much.

But at least this defeat came with another Ben Waine goal. He’s up to three for the season which already tops the two he scored in his half year last time (albeit injuries did limit his impact). Waineo then got a cheeky eight minutes in a 3-0 win over Blackburn Rovers, brought on just after the third goal was scored. He’s tallying up those league minutes too even if his starts have all been in cup comps.

Having said that, Plymouth did just sign a new striker. They only had two in the squad between Ryan Hardie and Ben Waine so that was always likely to happen. Mustapha Bundu is a Sierra Leone internationals who joins from Anderlecht for an undisclosed fee. They are still waiting on a work permit for the bloke which Max Mata can tell you is a process which sometimes drags on although the international window will soak up most of that time. As long as Bundu doesn’t soak up all of Waine’s opportunities.

Steven Schumacher, PAFC manager: “[Waine]'s getting better. He has been with us eight months now, every day he works so hard to improve. We do all his extras with him. His all-round game is improving. His awareness and tactical knowledge is getting better so he's going to be a good player. As I say with everybody, it takes a bit of time.”

In other EFL news, AFC Wimbledon threw a stitch-up the way of Nik Tzanev. He’s been backup goalie in the league games so far but he did play their previous EFL Cup match and was man of the match as they progressed to face Chelsea in the next round. Then they picked the other goalie, Alex Bass, for the Chelsea game. Extremely rude... granted Bass was really good making seven saves in a 2-1 defeat. No New Zealanders remain in the League Cup this season after Reading were also eliminated on penalties by Ipswich Town – Tyler Bindon is out injured at the moment.

Also Tommy Smith played 63 minutes for MK Dons in a 3-1 loss to Crewe Alexandra that tips them back to second in League Two while Max Mata got some more Shrewsbury minutes off the bench in a 2-0 defeat vs Carlisle United. Max Crocombe was solid in goal once more for Burton but they lost 1-0 to Exeter City. Jamal Blackman was back on the bench for that match so it looks like Crocombe’s now the number one. Sweet as. Check out this save that Crocs made...

Up Next: Sunday 17 September, Preston NE vs Plymouth at 2am (NZT)

Abby Erceg – Racing Louisville (American National Women’s Soccer League)

In comes the cross, up goes Abby Erceg. Goal. This is the tenth goal that Erceg has scored in the NWSL (not even including Challenge Cup stuff) and you’ve gotta imagine that a very high percentage of them have been headers and probably a high percentage of those being from corner kicks. It was lather, rinse, repeat here against the Portland Thorns.

Racing Louisville needed that goal too. They’re playing for their playoff lives and had been a goal down despite dominating the initial stages. Somehow Paige Monaghan hit the crossbar from in close within five minutes of kickoff... only for the Thorns to score against the run of play in the sixth minute when an errant backpass was picked off by Morgan Weaver. Shoulda been winning, instead they were losing. The Portland goalie then ensured that no leveller was forthcoming before the break before both goalies made superb 1v1 saves in the early second half. Leave it to Abby Erceg to end the impasse (thanks to a sneaky deflection off a defender).

Three minutes later Thembi Kgatlana whipped in a sweet finish and everything had flipped. Racing Louisville went on to win the game 2-1, beating the top of the table team (who now drop to second after San Diego Wave’s victory). RL are now only two points out of the top six with four more games remaining... and their next match will be the Challenge Cup semi-final. Heaps to play for. Exciting times.

Another angle of the goal, why not?

Also if you’re wondering about the salute celebration, wonder no more...

Up Next: NWSL Challenge Cup semi-final, Thursday at 2pm, OL Reign vs Racing Louisville (NZT)

Ali Riley - Angel City FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)

Also making a late surge towards the postseason are Angel City, who remain level on points with Racing Louisville after a 1-0 win away to Kansas City. Ali Riley didn’t play that game. She was on the bench and didn’t get used, a bit of rotation amidst a busy schedule. They were without their captain for a decent stretch of time during the World Cup and have managed her minutes throughout the season so nothing dramatic there.

Believe it or not, the Angels are now on a 10-game unbeaten run across all competitions. There are four draws in there and they’ve not scored more than twice in any of those games so it’s not all been flawless but they’re grinding out points when they need them with the top six still a very real possibility – especially as three of their last four games are against teams below them on the ladder.

Also, Ali Riley’s vegan cookbook – co-written with former teammate Toni Pressley – is now available for preorder...

Up Next: Bit of a rest before Chicago Red Stars vs Angel City on Monday 18 September at 10am (NZT)

Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)

Deadline Day must be quite annoying for a back-up level player. Chris Wood has settled into a comfortable spot as the reserve striker for Nottingham Forest, appearing in each game so far and even scoring a late winner against Sheffield United. But his one chance to start came in a League Cup game during the midweek, up against his old Burnley club no less, and it was a desperately boring game in which he barely got to touch the ball then he was subbed off with a couple of minutes remaining and in that time Burnley scored a winner to knock Forest out of the EFL Cup. Zeki Amdouni’s 90th minute goal was the first shot on target all game.

Thus the League Cup didn’t quite give Woodsy the same spotlight moment that Ben Waine got to present his case for more minutes. Then, a few days later, Nottm Forest went and announced the Deadline Day addition of Divock Origi – the former Liverpool forward. More competition for places. They also added Callum Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea though that was more of a direct replacement for Brennan Johnson who has left for Tottenham.

Origi wasn’t available for the match against Chelsea on the weekend therefore Chris Wood helped himself to 25 minutes (plus additional) off the bench in place of Taiwo Awoniyi – who didn’t score and hence lost his consecutive games with a goal streak at eight. Although while he may not have scored, Awoniyi did still set up Anthony Elanga for a 48th minute goal that had Forest in the lead when The Woodsman was summoned.

Wood spent more time in his own penalty area than that of Chelsea’s but that was to be expected. Up 1-0 in a game where they were way behind on the xG and had only 24% of possession, Wood wasn’t called upon to specifically search for a second goal. His job was to help them preserve what they had. He might’ve scored had Elanga crossed instead of shot near the end on a Forest breakaway, just sayin’... but alright, no panic, Forest still survived for a 1-0 victory against Chelsea. A rare away victory for Forest who really struggled in such games last season. It was also the club’s first win away to Chelsea since 1995. Happy days. Now we wait and see if Woodsy’s still got this spot in the squad after the international break once all the late-window signings have arrived.

Up Next: Nottm Forest vs Burnley on Tuesday 19 September at 6.45am (NZT)

Vic Esson - Rangers FC (Scottish Premier League)

Following on from the World Cup, Esson sat on the bench for the first four games of the new season. Games in which Rangers were undefeated... but also in which they didn’t keep a single clean sheet. That was never anything to panic about given that she’d missed all of preseason but we have since had an explanation from the new manager. Seems she wanted to give VE more time to get accustomed to a few tweaks in style under her leadership. Fair enough. By game five, at home to Partick Thistle, the catchup had been completed and Esson was picked for her first appearance of the season... and what do ya know she kept a cleanie in a 1-0 win.

RFC manager Jo Potter: “Vic in goal, I think it’s important I get to see her get some minutes [against PT]. She’s had a few weeks back form the World Cup now to be able to settle herself in and see how we wanted to play, with a different system and a different way of playing. It was important for her to get that under her belt and I’m looking forward to seeing her today.”

Kirsty Howat scored the only goal, twenty minutes in. Kinda snuck it under the keeper but it was a sweet move and a decent strike. They should have scored more, not sure how they didn’t. Shots were missed, saves were made, even a goal-line sliding block at one stage. But at the other end Esson only had a couple of saves to make and they weren’t difficult ones so the result was rarely in any doubt.

Up Next: Dundee United vs Rangers on Monday at 3am (NZT)

Meikayla Moore – Glasgow City (Scottish Premier League)

Nothing to worry about here either. Glasgow City made three changes from the 1-1 draw with Rangers last week but there was still room for Meikayla Moore in central defence as they took on Hearts. This was another very good performance from GC, who press high with danger and they play out from the back with confidence – something that Moore has been a big part of.

Hearts were the best of the rest last season, finishing fourth, and they did prove a tricky side to break down. Glasgow City were all over them at times yet despite rampant wingers and poaching forwards and potent corner kick deliveries... nothing was quite falling for them. They even hit the woodwork a couple of times. Keep knocking at the door and eventually someone answers though. 36th minute and a shot off the bar led to a follow up that was blocked only for the rebound to go in off a defender for an own goal.

Hearts had one big chance to score that was spurned not long before GC’s opener. They also had a goal disallowed for an offside before the first half was through. Then in a second half that mostly resembled the first, Glasgow City finally got a second goal when Kinga Kozak smacked home a rebounded finish. 2-0 to Glasgow City. Ninety minutes and a clean sheet for Mouse. Now they head to Lithuania for their Champions League qualifiers. It’s Shelbourne (Ireland) in the semis, then either Gintra (Lithuania) or Cardiff City (Wales) in the second game. They’re guaranteed two matches although only the team that wins both games will progress.

Up Next: Wednesday at 9am in the UCL qualifiers, Glasgow City vs Shelbourne (NZT)

Betsy Hassett - Stjarnan (Icelandic Besta Deild)

The third of our Champions League qualifier contenders, Stjarnan have the toughest path as they’ve got to get past Levante (Spain) in their semi-final and if they’re successful there then FC Twente (Netherlands) or Sturm Graz (Austria) is going to make for a final that’s equally as brutal. Tough to see them progressing from here but you never know. At least they’re in the mix.

Before travelling to the Netherlands, Stjarnan won another crucial game on the domestic front. Betsy Hassett started this one, her first start since the World Cup, as the Stars managed to bag a few goals against FH. Andrea Palsdottir had gotten them underway on 21’ with a banger after they’d won the ball on the press. That was how it held into the second half when Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir doubled things on 54’ with a sharp underlap and finish. Then Palsdottir got her second in a move that involved Betsy Hassett operating as a pivot in the box with some quick feet.

Hassett was subbed in the 78th minute with her team three up and seemingly strolling towards three more points. Then they threatened to spoil it by conceding twice in what remained... though the second goal was late enough that there wasn’t really room for a third. Count it as a 3-2 win for Stjarnan.

This was the first week of the championship rounds, with the top six playing each other once more each (so five more games) in order to decide the champs. On that count, it’s looking like Valur will back up as champions again as their latest win sent them 11 points clear at the top. However Breidablik’s defeat to Throttur opens up the race for second (and the other Champions League spot). Stjarnan are smack-bang in the middle of that race sitting in third place. Only three points separate those three teams. The Stars are on a four-game winning streak and haven’t lost since early July. They were second last year. They might yet be second again this year.

Up Next: Stjarnan vs Levante at 11pm on Wednesday, UCL qualifiers (NZT)

Marko Stamenic - FK Crvena Zvezda (Serbian SuperLiga)

Back to winning ways with Marko Stamenic doing the business in midfield yet again. All the usual stuff. He completed 27 out of 29 passes and got himself a late yellow card. The yellow was for a sliding challenge that he was a little out of control with, though there wasn’t much force in it. Judge for yourself...

Anyway, Aleksandar Dragovic scored early for Red Star against Novi Pazar (8’) then despite being in full control it took until a Guelor Kanga penalty with ten minutes to go for them to eventually score again. They immediately conceded to make it frisky but eventually got there in the end. Important thing was the three points as Red Star currently only sit second on the ladder due to last week’s shock loss. TSC are first with 16 points compared to Crvena zvezda’s 15. Partizan could overtake them if they win their game in hand too. Eh, early days. We’re only six weeks into the season.

Also guess what? Looks like Marko Stamenic is going to get another crack at Manchester City...

That’s a difficult group... though they should back themselves against Young Boys of Switzerland. Probably need to win those games if they’re going to maintain an automatic qualifying spot for Serbia on the UEFA coefficients. To be honest, that luxury may already have evaded them given how Serbian clubs have underperformed this year and last but we’ll see how it goes. If they do finish above Young Boys then remember even a third place finish in the group would still see them drop into the Europa League knockouts. Man City away is their matchday one fixture so supposing Stamenic plays, and he should, then three of his first four UCL matches will have been against the Citizens. Strange.

Up Next: Cukaricki vs Crvena zvezda on Sunday 17 September at 3am (NZT)

Callum McCowatt - Silkeborg IF (Danish Superliga)

Silkeborg 1-0 Hvidovre. Right on. The winning goal was an 81st minute strike from Alexander Lind, a pinpoint diving header scored after McCowatt had already been subbed. Quiet game from Callum here but the win was the main thing as Silkeborg sit fourth on the ladder having won four of their previous five games. Good place to be at the first international break for the only Superliga club with a New Zealander on board now that Joe Bell has left Brøndby.

Elsewhere in Denmark, Eli Just’s Horsens team drew 0-0 with B 93 Copenhagen. Just did get ninety minutes in there though. Dipping even lower we finally got a first team debut for Oscar Obel-Hall at Esbjerg as he started and played the first half of a 3-0 win away to AB. Esbjerg have won five games in a row since being relegated and so naturally are top of the Division 2 table.

Further abroad in the continent Sarpreet Singh was stuck as an unused substitute against in a Hansa Rostock defeat. That’s three games in a row now. His only start came in the cup and he was subbed off at half-time and he has played a combined 35 minutes in the other two league games. Also Ryan Thomas and Matt Garbett were still out injured this past week, while Liberato Cacace got dropped for Empoli’s game against Juventus and watched the whole thing from the bench in a 2-0 defeat. Hopefully things swing back around for all of those lads soon.

Up Next: After the break it’s DBU Pokalen time, with Silkeborg away to Young Boys FD at 4.30am on Wednesday 13 September (NZT)

Get amongst our Patreon if you rate the reads and want to support the mahi

Also helps to sign up to our Substack, whack an ad, make a donation, and tell your mates

Keep cool but care