Flying Kiwis – September 24
CJ Bott - Leicester City (English Super League)
The new Women’s Super League season is underway in England but nothing has changed as far as CJ Bott is concerned. If she sees the ball, she’s still going to win the ball. Leicester City’s opening weekend 1-1 draw with Liverpool kept that clear as daylight...
This was a really nice showing from Leicester City for the most part. They were defensively sound and positive with the ball against a very useful Liverpool side that, in particular, is stacked with pace out wide. CJ Bott was heavily involved in winning possession but she also linked up confidently with her winger and midfielders to advance things. Could have easily had an assist with a great low cross into the six yard box mid-1H. Her duel with Reds captain Taylor Hinds was good fun throughout.
Having said that, Liverpool were definitely the more dangerous team. And despite their promise, the Foxes conceded from a header off a corner (Sophie Roman Haug) just before half-time, having needlessly allowed the set piece in the first place. However, the deficit only lasted until Jutta Rantala tied things up early in the second spell. 53rd minute, running onto a deep pass that the defender didn’t properly deal with. Too good to miss from there.
Liverpool did continue to ask plenty of questions at their new home ground but they were perhaps a little too reliant on crosses and set pieces (especially corner kicks) and, after that earlier lapse, Leicester City weren’t going to fall for the same trick twice. Admittedly, the Foxes did have their keeper booked for time-wasting so that tells you all you need to know about which team was pressing for a winner. But LCFC’s sturdy and courageous defence got the job done. Neither team was too gutted to walk away with a point.
Just a reminder that CJ Bott was one of the top tacklers in the entire WSL last season, finishing seventh for total tackles despite playing way fewer minutes than all of those above her. She made 49 tackles last term. She made eight of them alone in this game against Liverpool – only half her attempts were successful which is abnormal for CJB but that’ll be an anomaly. The real question is how much more of a force can she be on attack... and there were definitely a few encouraging signs here. As well as the joy to be gained from watching her dropping shoulders and crunching tackles at the highest level.
Up Next: Leicester City vs Arsenal at 3am Monday (NZT)
Indiah-Paige Riley - Crystal Palace (English Super League)
CJ Bott’s been there and done this before. Indi Riley has not. So this was a special one for IPR as she walked onto the pitch as a starter on debut for Crystal Palace, with the club itself also debuting in the WSL. Riley’s appearance makes her the 16th New Zealander to have played in this division. Ria Percival, who played for Crystal Palace last year (but has gone missing ever since and is currently still a free agent) leads the way with 74 appearances. CJ Bott is second having just played her 42nd game in the WSL.
Unfortunately that’s where the cool stuff ends because it was a rude awakening for the Eagles in the top flight. Spurs smacked them down with a 4-0 defeat. Hayley Raso opened the scoring after 19 minutes. It was still 1-0 at the break but then it got away from Palace in the second half as Jessica Naz (53’), Drew Spence (76’) and Olga Ahtinen (88’) all scored. The last two of those goals were scored after Riley had been subbed off, so that’s some consolation.
Also, Anna Leat was out injured for Aston Villa so she didn’t feature as Villa lost 1-0 to Chelsea. She’d missed the last couple of preseason games so it was good to have that confirmed, albeit without mention of any time-frame. Unfortunately, new manager Robert de Pauw referred to her as “our second goalkeeper” so it doesn’t sound like she’ll be starting ahead of Canadian international Sabrina D’Angelo, who moved across from Arsenal in a concurrent but unrelated deal to Daphne van Domselaar going the other way.
Leat is right on the fringes of being a starter in the WSL but it’s so hard to get those opportunities. She re-signed with Aston Villa in between seasons after her initial contract had run down, giving hope to the prospect of her becoming the number one, but having a new manager come in probably didn’t help matters. Leat was backup to Hannah Hampton in her first season at AFVC, then to Van Domselaar in season two, and in this season it’ll be D’Angelo. The dynamic remains the same.
Up Next: Doesn’t get any easier for Palace who host Chelsea at 6.30am on Saturday (NZT)
Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)
It’s been too long since we’d been able to update the Chris Wood Penalty Count. But roughly ten minutes into Nottingham Forest’s match away against Brighton & Hove Albion, old mate Callum Hudson-Odoi drew a hint of contact in the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot. Kinda harsh, since CHO appeared to initiate the contact and it could as easily have been a free kick the other way. But we do all prefer VARs to lean on the referee’s initial decision more often... so the call stood, fair enough. We also want to see Chris Wood doing this as often as possible...
That’s his third goal in five matches, continuing his great start to the season. It’s also his 28th successful penalty in a row for both club and country, including shootouts. Putting the shootouts aside he’s still 21 for his last 21... although this was actually the first time he’s taken a spot kick for Nottingham Forest. His only other penalty attempt since the start 2023 was a last-minute equaliser for the All Whites against Congo. The Woodsman is 6/6 in the Premier League. He last missed a penalty kick in April 2016 for Leeds United. See how emphatically he buried that one and you understand why. (And take note of Morgan Gibbs-White celebrating before Wood had even kicked it, now there’s a mate who knows what’s up).
Of course, there was still a lot of football to be played at that point. Forest led 1-0 after 12 mins but the goal had come against the run of play... then again, goals tend to change the run of play so not too long afterwards Woodsy had a golden chance to make it 2-0, sneaking in behind with only the keeper to beat... and he dragged it wide from about ten yards. Sent the keeper diving the wrong way then missed the target. Fortunately, Hudson-Odoi had been offside in setting up the move so it wouldn’t have counted and we’ll just forget all about it.
Brighton levelled up in the 42nd minute when Jack Hinshelwood powered in an excellent header and two minutes later Danny Welbeck scored a direct free kick. Bang bang and it was 2-1 to Brighton at the break – which led Nuno Espirito Santo to make a triple HT change. Paraguayan forward Ramon Sosa was also thrown on after an hour. Chris Wood survived all of those culls and wouldn’t take a seat until after Sosa scored a 70th minute equaliser. In fact, Wood was the bloke who dropped back into his own half to spark the whole move, laying the ball square to Morgan Gibbs-White who threaded Jota Silva in behind and Jota squared for Sosa to tap home. A subtle but essential bit of play from The Woodsman in there.
The game ended 2-2 so Wood didn’t miss much after being replaced by defender Morato soon after the second goal. It even meant he got a front row seat for some entertaining shenanigans after MGW was given a second yellow for a lunging challenge right in front of the technical areas. The ref initially seemed to wave play-on but then ended up whipping the cards out (possibly at a suggestion from his other officials). Needless to say, both coaches viewed the incident in contrasting ways and reactions were such that they were each soon following Gibbs-White down the tunnel with send-offs of their own. Anyway, a 2-2 draw keeps Nottingham Forest undefeated after five matches. Two wins and three draws. If Objective #1 was to avoid a relegation battle then they’re going a long way towards achieving that already.
Up Next: Nottm Forest vs Fulham at 3am on Sunday (NZT)
Hannah Blake & Michaela Foster – Durham WFC (English Championship)
If you’ve been wondering where Michaela Foster was going to end up after leaving the Wellington Phoenix then wonder no longer: she’s reuniting Hannah Blake at Durham in the English Championship...
Foster’s had a pretty incredible run these past two years. From scholarship player at the Wellington Phoenix to captaining them on several occasions and being selected as an A-League All Star. Not to mention becoming a regular Football Ferns selection, including being part of the squad for the home World Cup and then playing at the Paris Olympics. She was already one of the very best domestic players in the country prior to that but turning that into a professional career was once a pretty tricky task. Foz’s rapid rise just goes to show what can happen when the opportunities are made available. Of course, this move also shows plenty of ambition at a time when Ali Riley’s injury has opened the door for a new starting left-back in the national team for the first time in over a decade. Fozzy’s going after it.
This deal was filed and registered on Deadline Day a week earlier but they clearly wanted to wait to announce it until Foster was actually in the United Kingdom. She becomes Durham’s fifth new signing – with fellow NZ international Hannah Blake one of the others. This is not the first time Blake and Foster have played together. They were part of the same U20 World Cup squad in 2018 and U17 World Cup squad in 2016. Foster captained those U17s. Blake scored at both tournaments. Blake also scored a banger of a goal for Durham last week which led the Flying Kiwis roundup.
Mickey Foster: “It’s a beautiful place, first of all. It’s going to be a bit colder than New Zealand, but I’m excited for it. There’s a familiar face in Hannah Blake here, a fellow Kiwi, so that’s a little bit of home here. But Durham is a team that wants to win the league and has shown they can come close and do it, so I want to be a part of that and win the Championship. That’s what this club wants to do and what I want to do as well. The potential here with this team is exciting and to come into a team that’s already started really well is really cool. I’m excited to come and be a part of that.”
Because they’d already done the regos, Foster was available to play for Durham in their third match of the season. This was away to Charlton – a meeting between the only two teams in the division who’d won their first two matches. Foster wouldn’t end up getting on the pitch, it was a wee bit too soon for that, but Blake played most of the match in her now-established number ten position... and it was only after they subbed her off that the match swung drastically in the wrong direction.
Durham had gone 1-0 up in the 17th minute when Lily Crosthwaite scored a slick one. They were still 1-0 up after 77 mins when Blake was replaced. Then they conceded from a controversial penalty (82’) where the keeper had rushed out and punched an aerial ball clear but clattered into an opponent in the process. Nasty collision. Debatable outcome. Then Durham got sloppy and allowed another straight away (84’), though they did also have a shot cleared off the line deep in stoppage time. Nearly scraped a draw out of it. But nope that’s a first defeat of the term for Durham. Good thing Michaela Foster’s already there as a reinforcement.
Elsewhere in the Championship, London City Lionesses won 2-1 against Bristol City with Grace Neville playing the last ten minutes off the bench. She and Maddi Wilde have been alternating the starts at right-back so fingers-crossed it’ll be Neville’s turn next week. Olivia Page was an unused sub for Sheffield United again as they lost 2-0 to Newcastle. And Katie Kitching’s Sunderland had a blessed bye week after their awful start (losing both games conceding eight times and scoring zero).
So not a whole lot else going on there. It was a similar story in the men’s lower leagues, to be honest. Ben Waine got quarter of an hour for Mansfield in a 2-1 win vs Shrewsbury. He did start midweek in the EFL Trophy but Mansfield lost 3-0 to Bradford and Waine didn’t get to do much. Northampton Town won 3-1 against Huddersfield but Nik Tzanev was on the bench and Matt Dibley-Dias is injured. Burton Albion were beaten 2-1 by Barnsley, equalising in the 88th but then conceding in stoppage time. Couple of mint Max Crocombe saves in there despite the result. Also Reading were beaten 5-2 by Bolton with Tyler Bindon giving away a penalty for a bit of overly attentive defending. He didn’t agree with the call...
Up Next: Durham vs Birmingham at midnight on Sunday/Monday (NZT)
Ava Collins - Kolding IF (Danish Kvindeliga)
It was only a matter of time until Ava Collins scored that first goal for Kolding IF. Since joining the club she’s gone straight into their starting eleven, mostly as a striker, and her minutes alone prove how well she’s settled in. Already had one assist earlier on. Now, in her fifth game, she’s buried one against HB Køge (ex-club of Daisy Cleverley and Claudia Bunge).
For some reason they then replaced her at half-time (probably to set up more defensively with a potential point to try and protect) and ended up losing 2-1. Still a commendable effort, to be fair. Kolding have five points from six games which puts them sixth out of eight on the table – top six is where they want to be to avoid the relegation rounds. Currently in seventh place is AGF, aka Ally Green’s team. Greeny still has not been sighted so far this season so we’ve gotta assume she’s injured. This is too long for it to have been a post-Olympic break like Malia Steinmetz got. Can confirm that Green is over there in Denmark so with a little luck she’ll be getting minutes sooner rather than later (her team could sure use it).
Meanwhile, Malia Steinmetz had two games for FC Nordsjælland this week. She made her first start of the campaign in a 7-1 cup victory against lower-tier Solrod FC. Nothing to worry about there. She then went back to the bench for the top-of-the-table clash against Fortuna Hjørring and was the first substitute summoned (after an hour of play) but wasn’t able to get her team back into a 2-0 defeat. First domestic defeat for the defending champs. Still early days.
Up Next: Odense vs Kolding on Sunday/Monday midnight (NZT)
Kate Taylor - Dijon FCO (French Première Ligue)
We’re on debut watch all over the place at the moment. Already mentioned Indi Riley for Crystal Palace, while Mickey Foster should get hers in Durham’s next game. Sarpreet Singh didn’t feature for UD Leiria in a 2-0 League Cup win, this after having withdrawn from the last All Whites squad with a minor injury, though Elijah Just did make his debut for SKN St Pölten this week. Elsewhere Olivia Page (Sheffield United), Suya Haering (Turbine Potsdam), Kiara Bercelli (Sampdoria), and Milly Clegg (Racing Louisville) were all unused substitutes for their clubs this weekend - that quartet all seeking first-team (or league, in the case of Page) debuts on return from the U20 World Cup. Finn Surman remains in line for Portland Timbers having now watched five MLS games from the bench. Lots of debuts on the cards. Here’s one we can tick off the list...
Yep, a few weeks after Ben Old became only the second kiwi bloke to play in the top French division, Kate Taylor has become only the second kiwi lass to play in the top French division. She follows in the footsteps of Erin Nayler. Taylor played ninety minutes as the right-sided centre-back as Dijon FCO drew 1-1 with Strasbourg in their season opener.
Taylor’s evolved into a midfielder over the past twelve months after Paul Tempole’s stroke of cleverness for the Wellington Phoenix soon spilling into the national team as well. That wasn’t the role she had here, although it will have helped her massively in getting accustomed to her new role. Central defence is hardly foreign to her but this was central defence for an extremely ball-dominant team where she got heaps of touches including a few moments having to resist the press. 67 touches overall with 47/60 completed passes. It looked like it might turn out to be double those numbers after the first ten minutes.
Instead what happened was that, after almost complete possession in that time, Dijon immediately conceded from the first chance the other way as Laurine Hannequin snuck in behind and drew the keeper out, then patiently changed the angle to curl a shot past Taylor who was trying to cover the goalline. From that point, Strasbourg were a whole lot more composed and Dijon were a whole lot more ambitious to actually do something with the ball instead of going sideways or back and forth. They were fortunate not to concede from a Lorena Azzaro later in the half when Taylor misplaced a pass (two desperate sliding challenges from KT in that move trying to make amends, neither of which won the ball or caught the player)... but did create a few moments of their own leading up to Wu Chengshu’s 59th minute equaliser. Either team could have won it in the time that remained so a 1-1 draw is probably about fair.
This result was the only draw of the opening round. Lyon and PSG are always the front-runners in France and they both had big wins, though Paris FC made the biggest statement by beating Guingamp 6-0. Dijon finished in eighth last season (out of 12) so they won’t compete with those top sides but they will hang around with most of the rest of them. Hopefully. Their second game is against Fleury who lost 6-2 to Lyon.
Up Next: Dijon vs Fleury at 4am on Sunday (NZT)
Elijah Just - SKN St. Pölten (Austrian Erste Liga)
How about another debutant? Elijah Just’s move to the Austrian second tier was a curious one but it should be a level where he can instantly impress. In his first appearance, away to Voitsberg, he was thrown into a game that was still scoreless after 63 minutes and he walked off the pitch with his side having won 2-0. Can’t claim any goals or assists there but he has made an early case for lucky charm status.
Before Just had even touched the ball, Voitsberg had their keeper sent off for rushing out of his area and clattering a striker who was through on goal from a long ball. Gave him the big shoulder and that was his evening done. SKN were up against ten men for the remainder and they made it count without a moment of hesitation – with Marc Stendera scoring directly from the free kick. Just had been standing around the ball as though he might like a piece of it too (granted, it was from over near his right wing side anyway so he might’ve simply wanted the company). That was a lovely goal... then they scored again before the dust had settled. This time it was Malcolm Stolt with the finish.
Just still hadn’t touched the ball yet his team had scored twice and yet seen an opponent red carded since he’d been introduced. He’d get a few chances to link up from then onwards, though the result was pretty much all wrapped up by then. Just mostly played as a right winger but swapped to the left after a few more substitutions were made near the end. Some slick touches. At least one foul conceded. No worries. This was SKN’s first win of the season and it came at the sixth attempt. He really is their lucky charm.
Up Next: Sunday at 12.30am against Stripfing (NZT)
Grace Wisnewski – Lexington SC (American USL Super League)
The debuts were not done there. Grace Wisnewski missed the first three games of Lexington SC’s campaign as she ticked off the final few boxes in her ACL recovery. But she’s back in business now, having been subbed on after 67 minutes of a 3-1 defeat against Fort Lauderdale in game four. The Wiz came on in a defensive midfield role but with her team chasing a goal there was plenty of scope to push forward and take a few risks.
There was one through ball she played in stoppage time which looked like it was going to be an incredible bit of distribution but the striker didn’t quite catch up with it... otherwise the most important thing to say about Wisnewski’s game is that, in her first proper football since tearing her ACL for the Wellington on 4 November 2023, she was getting stuck in like the Wiz that everyone remembers. No caution with any of her tackles. Catch a replay over here.
This defeat does leave Lexington winless after four fixtures. They’re going to want to do something about that soon... and perhaps they will now that their first-ever signing is available again. Funnily enough, next week they’re up against Brooklyn FC which is where Wiznewski’s former teammates Isabel Cox and Hope Breslin both play.
Up Next: Sunday at 12.30pm, Brooklyn vs Lexington (NZT)
Vic Esson - Rangers FC (Scottish Premier League)
Vic Esson didn’t even need to make a save for her first three SWPL clean sheets. She didn’t make a save last week either, against Spartans, but that one wasn’t a clean sheet because Esson made a big error hoofing a clearance into a striker and seeing it rebound into her net. Whoops. She has had a couple of those hiccups during her time with Rangers but the reason she’s held in high regard is because, even in a season where she’s mostly been an on-field spectator (with the exception of the UWCL game against Arsenal which was the exact opposite), is because she can suddenly do something like this...
This was Rangers against Hearts in easily the toughest task that RFC had faced on the domestic front so far. They’d have been in a very unfamiliar losing position had Esson not gotten those big gloves on that free kick. She’d also make another save from a deflected strike that bounced just in front of her and almost crept through. No need to panic... even though she did end up doing a sneaky Raygun impersonation to keep it out. Rangers went on to win 2-0 thanks to goals from Brogan Hay (36’) and Rio Hardy (56’). They’ve now won all seven matches scoring 51 goals and conceding just once. The only team left in the SWPL with a perfect record.
Up Next: Monday at 4am in the SWPL Cup second round, away to Dundee United (NZT)
Liberato Cacace – Empoli (Italian Serie A)
Incredibly, the same Empoli club that began last season with five consecutive defeats and didn’t score a single goal in any of them... is undefeated after five games this season. They’ve got 8 points on the board already, thanks most recently to a 2-0 win against Cagliari. The xG was significantly pointed in the other direction in this game with Cagliari missing a bundle of chances as goals from Lorenzo Colombo (33’) and Sebastiano Esposito (49’) sent the Azzurri onwards to victory. It’s an amazing story and one heck of a positive reflection on new manager Roberto D'Aversa. But Libby Cacace’s only playing a supporting role.
Giuseppe Pezzella was the preferred left-back head of Cacace last season too, but Pezzella’s many injuries meant that Cacace ended up playing nearly twice as many minutes as him. This year, GP’s only been hurt once and it was right before the international break so he had time to recover. Cacace didn’t feature at all in the 0-0 draw with Juventus last week. He did get 17 mins off the bench in this one though, and a very intriguing 17 minutes they were.
Funky thing here is that he came on in place of a midfielder, not in place of left-back Pezzella. We saw Cacace deployed as part of a centre-back trio in the cup game at the start of the season and he was excellent but that wasn’t what happened here either. Nope, D’Aversa threw him on as a good old fashioned left winger. Up there in forward line looking to add a third goal... and tell ya what he almost did. His first act was to get to the byline and chip a tasty deep cross over to nobody in particular. His second act was to hunt down a rebound from a teammate’s saved shot, which he headed over the line except there had been a rather obvious offside earlier in the move so it wasn’t to count. Cacace still hasn’t scored a club goal since leaving the Wellington Phoenix but this was the third time he’s had one disallowed...
Gotta assume the reason Cacace got the nod was because of his defensive abilities. Empoli were trying to hang on to a clean sheet and they wanted a winger who’d get back and do his duty. That he did – spending most of the rest of the game in a deep position... although he did nearly get an assist with a counter attack, only he waited too long to slip the pass and his running mate stopped running (imprecisions from both of them, in other words). Never mind. Empoli won 2-0 and Cacace unlocked a new position.
Up Next: Should see some minutes against Torino in the Coppa Italia second round on Weds at 7am, then there’s also Empoli vs Fiorentina at 6am on Mon (NZT)
Andre De Jong – Stellenbosch (South African Premier Soccer League)
ADJ hiding out at the back there. He had a quiet game in the second leg of the Confederation Cup prelim against Vita Club away in Congo. De Jong started but only played the first half, getting replaced in a tactical switch after the Stellies got a red card just before the break. Nevertheless, they managed to walk away with a 1-1 draw which, combined with the 2-0 home leg, sends them through into the group stage. Brilliant stuff. They’ll find out who they play in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile the PSL has begun... but it began with a 2-0 defeat for Stellenbosch against Golden Arrows so let’s not dwell on that – they had bigger fish to fry.
Up Next: Stellenbosch vs Cape Town City at 5.30am on Thursday (NZT)
Ben Old - AS Saint-Étienne (French Ligue 1)
As much as we want to see Ben Old playing as many minutes as possible in Ligue 1, he probably shouldn’t be getting subbed on after only 35 minutes as part of a triple-change. That was the situation he found himself in after ASSE delivered an absolutely abysmal first half performance away against OGC Nice. Saint-Etienne were already 4-0 down. It would be 6-0 by half-time (making ASSE the first Ligue 1 club this century to concede six goals in a first half). They ended up losing 8-0. It was humiliating.
It began in the fourth minute when a low cross was turned home. In the seventh minute it was 2-0, again from an overlap down the left side of ASSE’s defence. Two became three on 23’ when Mohamed-Ali Cho scored an outstanding effort sliding in from the wing. Within two minutes it was 4-0, yet again coming from a move that began down ASSE’s left. Then came the subs... but that was no quick fix because Saint-Étienne immediately conceded again as Evann Guessand skipped straight through their defence (at least this one came from the right side) and Youssoufa Moukoko’s second of the day on 39’ soon made it even worse.
At least Les Verts did manage to keep it at sixes for quite a while. Tell you what, they almost grabbed a goal back thanks to Ben Old whose deflected long curling shot on 70’ looped and dipped onto the crossbar. That was by far the closest that ASSE came all game. Ultimately they would concede a couple more late ones, capping off the embarrassment. They did get their first win last week but have lost their other four matches since being promoted back to the top flight of French football and were conceding too many goals even before this silliness against Nice. The only bright note is that Ben Old was one of the few to escape with positive-ish reviews so he surely won’t be starting on the bench next week.
(Pro tip: don’t type that phrase into Google translate while you’re at work/school)
Up Next: Nantes vs ASSE at 4am on Monday (NZT)
Matthew Garbett - NAC Breda (Dutch Eredivisie)
It doesn’t feel like Matt Garbett’s been getting enough Flying Kiwis coverage considering he’s starting every week for a top tier club in the Netherlands. But the reason for that is there just isn’t much to say each week. This latest match, for example, saw NAC Breda travel to face Feyenoord. They lost 2-0. Goals for Ayase Ueda (34’) and Quinten Timber (74’ pen). Feyenoord had 25 shots compared to 5 for NAC. Garbett played a little under an hour and was subbed off as part of a double change, with one or two cool moments in there for him though mostly he was stuck having to help defend against a much stronger team. NAC Breda have six points from six games to sit just slightly above the relegation zone as the standings begin to coalesce.
PEC Zwolle are the team directly below them, in the relegation playoff spot, and we’re still yet to see Ryan Thomas even though he’s been on the bench for all six matches. He did get a half of footy in a closed-door friendly recently so he’s getting close. He did an interview (in Dutch) with ESPN NL recently in which he explained that a lot of his issues have been because his kneecap was naturally higher on the joint than it should have been and that his latest surgery was to break off a bit of it and reattach the bone lower down, which he reckons has made a massive difference in how he moves on the pitch but which also required a long period of rehabilitation to build up the muscles around that knee again. Hopefully this is good news. The dude’s had enough injuries to last a whole career and he’s not even 30 yet.
Up Next: FC Twente vs NAC Breda at 1.30am on Monday (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
Wins are all that matters at this stage of the season for the Loons. Draws are better than losses but only wins are going to get Minnesota up the standings like they need to be. So good thing then that a win is exactly what they got away against Sporting Kansas City. Wasn’t any guarantee that they’d get it because SKC threw plenty at them and it was up to Boxy and company to continually repel things – with Boxall making a ridiculous quantity of clearances – but then Kelvin Yeboah scored a lovely goal on the break (65’) before some more backs-to-the-wall defending was capped by Bongi Hlongwane scoring the clincher at 90+4’. That backs-to-the-wall defending included a penalty for SKC which would have tied things up in the 90th minute except that William Agada hit the frame of the goal instead. 2-0 to Minnesota United.
The Loons had never won at this venue before. This was a huge victory which ensures that Sporting cannot make the playoffs while Minnesota Utd remain in ninth place and hoping to climb a little higher over their last four regular season matches so that they can avoid a play-in fixture. At the moment that play-in would be against Portland Timbers who drew 3-3 with Real Salt Lake this week. Finn Surman was on the bench but once again did not play. Timbers coach Phil Neville actually spoke about Surman’s game time during the week...
Phil Neville: “[Surman’s] athletic, he wins the ball really well, he’s getting better at his composure. He’s settling into the training great. I really want to get him some minutes from now until the end of the season. It’s going to be tough, he knows that this is a period where he’s going to have to be really patient, but we’ve been really really pleased with how he’s settled into the group. He’s gaining belief each day. He knows the way that we play now, and there’s more confidence coming with him every day in terms of how he acclimatises. We’re seeing a little bit more of his personality. I think he’s going to be a really good player for the future of this football club.”
By the way, Michael Boxall now has 140 clearances across the MLS season. He’s got four more matches with which to overtake league leader Ranko Veselinovic of Vancouver Whitecaps who is three ahead of him. Not that they give out trophies for clearances - Boxy would obviously prefer four clean sheets without having to make any clearances. As for Bill Tuiloma, well, he played another ninety for the Charlotte FC affiliate team this week. He’s apparently just a reserve team player now.
Up Next: Minny vs Colorado at 1.30pm on Sunday (NZT)
Abby Erceg – Racing Louisville (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Wins are also the only currency that matters for Racing Louisville. Somehow the two veteran kiwi defensive icons playing in America have ended up in very similar situations heading into the final stretch of the regular season. And they had very similar results this week.
A 2-1 win for Racing Lou against Erceg’s old team North Carolina Courage. They conceded right before the break when Ashley Sanchez drove into the area and sent Erceg sliding with a chop turn. Erceg recovered in time to prevent a shot but Sanchez simply knocked the ball back to Brianna Pinto who scored. Milly Clegg was on the bench for Racing – her first matchday squad appearance since June 29, what with Olympics and U20 World Cups and all - but she never got close to being used. Too much attacking depth on this team now after all their trades and they weren’t going to rock the cradle whilst chasing goals.
It was getting late in the game and another defeat seemed probable. Then Emma Sears stole an underhit backpass on 79’ to tie things up before RL won a stoppage time penalty which Beth Balcer converted for the win. Sometimes all you’ve gotta do is stay in the contest and your luck will turn, aye? Racing are sitting eighth, right on the edge of the playoffs, with five matches still to go. They play Utah Royals next but Macey Fraser probably won’t be involved considering how she still hasn’t returned from the ankle injury she suffered at the Olympics. Oddly, she’s been listed as absent due to an “excused absence” rather than the ankle injury for the past couple games. Not sure what that means but there are a couple of other Royals players in the same boat.
Up Next: Utah vs Racing at midday on Sunday (NZT)
Una Foyle – Cork City (Irish National League)
Yeah, go on. Bit of recognition for a kiwi keeper who has had a very impressive start to her time in Ireland. That Team of the Week honour was for a 0-0 draw against Wexford last week. This week she had the not-so-small matter of a FAI Cup semi-final against Shelbourne... but they were big underdogs there and lost 5-0. Team of the Week though, how good?
Up Next: Cork City vs DLR Waves at 1am on Sunday (NZT)
Moses Dyer - Pacific FC (Canadian Premier League)
Look at this guy. That’s three games in a row that he’s scored in for Pacific FC. Three goals and an assist in his first five matches for the club. This was in a 2-2 draw with Halifax Wanderers, the first equaliser before his team conceded again then snatched a draw with a 90+6th minute leveller from Thomas Meilleur-Giguere.
Wait, how many goals was that? Better make it four goals and an assist in his first six matches for the club...
Sweetly done with the header. This was to tie things up against Atletico Ottawa and 1-1 was the way it ended. Moses Dyer was given the Man of the Match honours. Everyone was happy with a draw against a tricky run of fixtures and this draw keeps Pacific settled in fifth-place ahead of Dyer’s parent club Vancouver FC... for whom he served up four goals and two assists in 13 matches leaving on loan. He’s been going good and Pacific have started scoring goals again ever since he arrived
Moses Dyer: “What I bring, everyone knows: directness, energy, and hopefully the ability to help the team get back into winning ways, because it is a winning team. I can’t really say what’s gone wrong for them before I came in because every time we played against them it felt like they got just unlucky. They had chances.”
Elsewhere, Jay Herdman got a slightly bigger cameo in his second appearance for Cavalry FC. He was a stoppage time sub on debut but played ten minutes in the 2-0 win against York United that’s put Cavalry (third on the standings) one point away from confirming their playoff spot.
Up Next: Valour vs Pacific on Tuesday at 1pm (NZT)
Ali Riley - Angel City FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Up Next: Out for the season, but she’s always a quality interview
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