Flying Kiwis - April 15
Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)
173 days after he last took the pitch in a 3-0 loss against Chelsea that marked Ange Postecoglou’s final game in charge of the team, Chris Wood made his return for Nottingham Forest. The signs have been good ever since he had his knee cartilage surgery, with no setbacks to speak of and a steady ramping up of his training workload leading to a goal-scoring cameo for the NFFC U21s. He was with the squad when they beat Tottenham 3-0, there in a tracksuit on the sidelines to help reintegrate him. He returned to full capacity training sometime around the international break and he must have been looking sharp because after almost six months on the sidelines he went straight into the starting eleven.
When Nottingham Forest knocked the ball back from kickoff and then had the keeper lump it towards the left wing where Chris Wood was posted up it was like he’d never been away. Wood only played the first half, that’s about all he had the conditioning for. But knowing he didn’t have ninety in him makes it’s more telling that coach Vitor Pereira wanted him out for the first half of this tie rather than chucking him on to finish the game.
It was pretty clear that Forest would be happy with a draw away from home, setting things up for the home fixture, and Chris Wood’s defensive efforts were what stood out most from his performance. Lots of movement out of possession seeking to close down passing lanes. Made a couple of deep tracking runs too. Covering for his wingers as well as doing his own job. These are traits that have really grown into his game in the past few years (since he played for Newcastle, pretty much) so don’t go assuming that his value is only from the goals that he scores.
Forest got battered in the first ten minutes and could have been three goals down. Fortunately, some dodgy finishing from Porto meant it was only 1-0 (William Gomes 11’) and that lead only lasted two minutes before one of the most random own goals you’ll ever see when Martim Fernandes played a backpass from 40 metres out which missed his keeper and rolled into the net. Would love to say it was all down to Chris Wood’s pressing but there wasn’t even much pressure on him. A slip from the dude who’d passed it his way might have amped some panic and the keeper’s positioning/awareness was as much to blame as the pass. This was a goal out of nothing though. Bloody hell.
That goal settled NFFC and from there they defended quite well, battling through a few more tricky spells yet nothing like they’d faced to begin with. They thought for a bit that they’d scored again in the second half but Igor Jesus’ effort was disallowed for handball (and could have also been disallowed for a foul on the keeper). As for Wood’s earlier efforts, he had one shot with his left foot that he pushed wide from around the penalty spot. Flagged offside twice. Good shift although not a lot came his way up against a couple former foes in Porto centre-backs Thiago Silva and Jan Bednarek (speaking of which, Forest coach Pereira is also a former Porto boss – his first major head coaching role). A 1-1 draw was definitely a better result for Forest, who’ll try win the thing back in Nottingham on Friday.
That was also only the Woodsman’s second appearance in the Europa League this season, having scored a penalty off the bench during his 15 minutes against Midtjylland in the other. That goal came more than 13 years after his previous Europa League goal (playing on loan for Birmingham way back in 2011-12). Quoting from the BBC here...
“Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood scored his first major European goal for 13 years and 347 days, since he netted his first for Birmingham against Club Brugge in October 2011. Only two other players have ever had bigger gaps between their first two goals in Europe – Eugenio Corini between 1990 and 2005 (14 years, 347 days) and Mark Wright between 1982 and 1997 (14 years, 221 days). Wood did also score for Burnley in Europa League qualifiers in 2018 - but this stat is only for games in the tournament proper.”
Felt like a good time to repeat that stat. Anyway, the other benefit to only giving Wood one half of footy on his return was that it meant he was still available for some part of the weekend’s Premier League fixture. 25 minutes of it, in fact. The Woodsman joined a game that was already 1-1 at home against Aston Villa after Neco Williams (38’) had scored to cancel out a Murillo own goal (23’). Big standing ovation from the home fans as Woodsy was chucked on.
Wood’s presence seemed to give Forest a real boost of enthusiasm and he did have one headed chance, leaping above the crowd at corner kick time, though a defender was well-placed to block his downward nod. It stayed 1-1 into the final whistle... but that’s a good point for Forest who climb one further step away from the relegation zone with Tottenham having lost (again). They might feel they should have won given how dangerous they looked after Wood came on but so it goes they could as easily have lost it with Villa having a few big chances of their own. Wood finished the game with the captain’s armband after Morgan Gibbs-White was replaced.
Also since we’re locking back into Nottm Forest footy now (at an entertaining time as they battle for a European title and also to avoid relegation), here’s a cheeky stat for ya: there have been nine previous instances where a club has gone through four permanent managers in one Premier League season. Six of the previous nine suffered relegation. Two narrowly avoided it. The other was Chelsea in 2022-23 who finished a comfortable 12th place. Forest will be aiming to join the “narrowly avoided it” crowd, obviously, having gone from Nuno Espirito Santo to Ange Postecoglou to Sean Dyche to Vitor Pereira all in the same campaign.
Up Next: Two massive games in quick succession with NFFC vs Porto in the second leg of Europa quarter-finals at 7am on Friday; then NFFC vs Burnley in the Prem at 1am on Monday (NZT)
Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)
Viking had already recovered from their sloppy start to the season with a couple of wins but if there was any lingering doubt that the defending champs still had it in them then it must have been shattered by what happened in their fourth game. Hosting their biggest title rivals and recent Champions League knockout qualifiers Bodø/Glimt... they absolutely thumped them 5-0. They were three goals up inside of twenty minutes and from there they defended well without the ball and even nabbed a couple more towards the end. B/G had 72% of possession yet only registered five shot attempts all game. Incredible result from Joe Bell and the lads and yes, before you ask, Joe Bell did get an assist...
The man is just lethal on those corner kick second phases. Sometimes he bangs them top bins on the volley, sometimes he chips the ball delicately back for a runner, sometimes he simply taps it back to an open man. Bellinho sends the ball where it needs to go and this one helped VFK take full control of this game with their second goal. He then played an excellent guided bounce pass out to his winger in the build-up for the third goal a few minutes later. Call that one a secondary assist. Absolute dreamland for Viking. Even after that week one defeat, they’re already back up to second with only Tromsø ahead of them. Tromsø were third last season and have won 4/4 to begin this campaign.
This was also the 100th club appearance for former New Zealander Gianni Stensness, shout out to him. He would have gotten there sooner but for a couple of serious knee injuries. Heck of a way to celebrate the milestone…
Up Next: Viking vs Brann at 4am on Sunday (NZT)
Owen Parker-Price - Örgryte IS (Swedish Allsvenskan)
The thing that Viking did last year in Norway, that’s the same thing that Mjällby did in Sweden. They were the underdog darlings who outlasted everyone to claim a famous an unexpected league championship. Lifted the trophy. Qualified for Champions League. They’re also the team that knocked Kees Sims and GAIS out of the Svenska Cupen semi-finals a few weeks ago... but they’ve had a shocker start to the league season. A 3-0 loss away to Hammarby was bad enough but then they got blanked at home by promoted club Örgryte and yeah you’d better believe that Owen Parker-Price had a blinder in the midfield.
The goals were scored by Anton Andreasson (21’) and Jerome Tibbling Ugbo (26’) as ÖIS claimed a 2-0 victory. Established a sturdy lead in the first half then withstood whatever response the defending champs could muster from there on. Parker-Price is very much a midfielder in this team so probably not gonna see as many of the goal-scoring highlights he used to provide on the regular for Torslanda down the divisions but he’s doing what he needs to be doing. According to the Allsvenskan website, Owen Parker-Price covered 12.972 kilometres in this game which was more than anyone else in the game.
OPP did curl one effort on target that the keeper caught fairly comfortably – similar range to where he almost scored a late winner last week. However, what shone through here was how efficient he was with his defensive tasks – 5/6 ground duels won, 6 recoveries, 3 interceptions, 4 clearances, 2 blocked shots... those are numbers Finn Surman or Tyler Bindon would be happy with. To be doing that in a clean sheet win away against the reigning champions of Sweden in only his second match in the Allsvenskan, mate, if you don’t think he’s got a chance to make the World Cup squad from here then think again. Mjällby were undefeated at home last season, never conceding more than once in any of those 15 matches (11 wins, 4 draws). Örgryte just popped both of those balloons at the first attempt. Amazing result.
Up Next: Hammarby vs Örgryte at 1am Sunday (NZT)
Kees Sims - GAIS (Swedish Allsvenskan)
Over to the Kees Sims beat and the word is that GAIS number one Mergin Krasniqi is now back in full training, though he didn’t travel with the squad for the game against Malmö meaning that Kees Sims got to back it up with a second appearance to begin the season. This game wasn’t his finest advertisement though...
Ah well these things happen. Henry Gray gave away a penalty last week. Alex Paulsen’s dove over a few this season. Max Crocombe doesn’t miss much but there was that error against Sheffield Wednesday immediately before Millwall made their keeping switch. It comes with the territory of being a goalie. The timing sucks because this contributed to a 3-1 defeat, consigning GAIS to consecutive defeats to begin the year (same as Mjällby, to be fair). And with Krasniqi close to being in contention again (hopefully they give it a couple weeks to build him up) this wasn’t exactly a display to put the long-time GAIS number one under pressure.
But it’s also nothing to overreact to. It’s not that likely that Sims overtakes Krasniqi anyway and the response from Sims to that error was very good, picking himself up and not dwelling on the past. His post-game comments reflected that awareness, taking responsibility without losing context...
Kees Sims: “As a goalkeeper, you play on the borderline, and you have to find a balance between being too activated and not being activated. On the first goal, I was calm, sometimes I'm much too activated. It's not good enough, I can’t make mistakes like that.”
He was also asked about the response of his teammates, who were quick to get around him after the error...
“That means everything. It shows what kind of team we are, even now after we've had a tough start to the season, have had a tough match. These are my friends. They're close to me, I'm far from home. It means everything that they’re there to tell me to let it go.”
The first goal was beyond his control, a brilliant Pontus Jansson header (21’) that went in off the framework. Jansson was a former teammate of Chris Wood’s at Leeds United back in the day. The third goal was a messy one though (41’), Sims initially slapping away a dipping cross but not putting enough distance on it. His defence then failed to clear the ball despite multiple touches and somehow it was squeezed in past Sims whose vision was obstructed. It was 3-0 at half-time. GAIS only got their goal back with four minutes to go. So... mixed fortunes for the kiwis in Sweden.
Up Next: Hammarby vs Örgryte at 1am Sunday (NZT)
Marko Stamenić - Swansea City (English Championship)
After four games without a win, Swansea City got that happy feeling back with a 1-0 win over relegation-worried Leicester City. Zan Vipotnik converted a really slick counter-attacking winner after 53 minutes, getting in the way of Marko Stamenić who was right there running the length of the pitch himself but let’s be honest it’s probably better that chance fell to their top scorer rather than their defensive midfielder. \
Stamenić played ninety minutes. That’s something he’d only done in two of his past 14 matches for the Swans - he usually starts but also usually gets subbed at some stage. They’ve got some decent midfield depth and have seemingly been careful not to overwork a young player who hasn’t had this kind of workload before with so many games in the Championship (can’t argue with it after how Libby Cacace’s season has gone). He’ll be pushing 2500 league minutes by the end of the term, he’s never even gone close to that during his time in Denmark, Serbia, or Greece.
As it happens, Stamenić was the only one of the Championship quartet to get minutes this week. That’s because Tyler Bindon, who has been so good for Sheffield United lately, has only been on the bench for the past two fixtures. Last week that made sense following the international break (they had two games over Easter weekend – they rushed him back for the first then rested him for the second) but this week posed a few more questions. They were on a six-game winless skid so a coach is entitled to make changes. And they won this game 2-1 against Hull City to end the skid so arguably it worked (the Blades scored twice in the last five minutes after Hull had been reduced to ten men). But seeing Mark McGuinness partnering Japhet Tanganga with Bindon watching from afar does beg the question whether Sheffield United have reached that place where the focus has shifted to next season and Bindon, as a loan player, no longer takes priority over those other two contracted dudes.
With four games left, the Blades are out of playoff contention and aren’t going to be relegated so that’s where it’s at. Maybe Bindon comes back in and it turns out there was a hidden niggle or they simply wanted him to have some extra rest. Maybe he doesn’t... although if he doesn’t then that’s gotta be seen as good news for his Nottingham Forest stakes since SUFC have made it clear they’d like to sign him permanently. If that’s no longer an option then it suggests that NFFC still have big plans for him.
Millwall only drew 0-0 with West Brom in an early kickoff, though Anthony Patterson had a good game for his clean sheet. Clearly coach Alex Neil’s just gonna stick with his boy for the rest of the season barring injury so Max Crocombe’s in a tricky spot. If he was going to get any rotational ‘keep busy’ games the rest of the way then it would have happened in the last week or two when fixtures were extra congested. Millwall remain third despite that result. That’s a more positive scenario than Wrexham who lost 2-0 to Birmingham to continue their recent decline. One win in their last five has seen them slip to four points outside the playoffs with four games left. That’s still an amazing season following promotion but the Libby Cacace stuff is getting concerning with the latest word being that he’s not even back in training yet. It’s been a month since he suffered a setback in his recovery. His most recent appearance was on 7 February against Max Crocombe’s Millwall... Crocs himself has only played once since then (twice if you include All Whites).
Up Next: Swansea vs Southampton at 2am on Sunday (NZT)
Matthew Garbett - Peterborough United (English League One)
Now that’s a sight for sore eyes (and sore feet). More than two months on the sidelines with a heel complaint that took its sweet time in responding to treatment and finally Matt Garbett returned with quarter of an hour against Blackpool this weekend. January 31 was the last time he’d taken the pitch. He made one superb recovering block to save a goal in his cameo... though Posh got whipped 3-1 to drag their poor form onwards. They only won 2/11 games while Garbs was out. No question that they’ve missed him (and as the thing says it was also his birthday the day after so HB to Garbs).
He’s now got five games to ensure nothing drastic happens such as Peterborough dropping into a relegation battle. Losing to Blackpool didn’t help them at all... but although there’s only four points between them and the fourth relegation spot, there are three other teams in between those two markers and Posh have a game or two in hand on them all. They should be fine. Just need another win or two to hammer home the point, is all.
Luke Williams, Posh coach: “Matty showed some character when he came on. He showed us what he can do and we saw what we have missed such as the ability to wriggle and take the ball under pressure and get away to try and create something. That was nice to see again. At least we managed to get some minutes into him.”
Over to Port Vale, they didn’t have a game on the weekend but they did host Barnsley this morning where they drew 0-0 with Ben Waine playing 71 minutes. They had him on the wing and he didn’t really do much. That might sound like a decent result for the Vale but it’s not... they failed to score against a team that had gone 27 matches in all competitions without a clean sheet, although Joe Gauci did save a penalty (against his previous loan team) to at least ensure they got something out of it. That leaves PVFC 15 points from safety with a maximum of 18 points left to compete for. They’re gonna be relegated. Ben Waine has another year on his contract.
Elsewhere, Nik Tzanev got on the bench for Huddersfield Town in their 1-1 draw with Cardiff. Just the second instance, and first in the league, where he’s made a matchday squad since joining them in January. That happened because Huddy’s number one Lee Nicholls got subbed with a concussion in the previous game, so he’s in the protocol at the moment. Tzanev is third-choice keeper for Huddersfield but he only signed on a short-term basis and will probably seek a different home next season. He wasn’t playing for Newport County so he traded being a full-time training player with a relegation threatened team in League Two for one challenging for League One playoffs (granted, failing to beat Cardiff is a kick in the guts for that objective).
Speaking of Newport County, they had a crucial win most recently but unfortunately it came against Henry Gray’s Harrogate Town. Newport won it 2-1 thanks to a second half screamer into the top corner. Nothing HG could do about that. That’s a massive blow to his team’s survival hopes – they’re now four points adrift with three games left, having lost four of their last five. The momentum they were gathering after Gray arrived has dissipated and it’s looking like it’ll be back to non-league footy for them.
But not for Gray who is only there on loan. It’s not a hundy percent clear where he’s at with Ipswich as it seems he may be coming to the end of his contract. This loan has been another progressive step in his career so ideally he gets a new deal and Ipswich get promoted back to the Premier League and the journey continues from there. But we shall see what unfolds (he’s also one of the keepers in contention for the third goalkeeper spot in the World Cup squad, let’s not forget).
Up Next: Posh vs Port Vale on Friday at 6.45am; Posh vs Burton at midnight on Monday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
A 2-2 draw against Excelsior wasn’t an amazing result on its own. Twice they coughed up leads in that match, including one goal (the first equaliser) which snuck under the foot of Ryan Thomas as he tried to cover the post. But in its proper context this turned out to be a pretty helpful outcome. It meant they stayed ahead of Excelsior who are a couple places below them, plus nobody else caught up any ground on them either because none of the teams below them won this week.
With only four games left, the status quo suits PEC Zwolle - they only need one more point to confirm their Eredivisie status for another year. And the other thing is that Ryan Thomas got through a pretty smooth 73 minutes before he was substituted. No limping off early with an injury this time, yeah boy. Take note that they did concede the second equaliser after he’d left the pitch, adding to the reputation that Zwolle + Thomas is a far greater proposition than Zwolle – Thomas.
PEC with Thomas on the pitch:
2007 mins | 28 GF, 39 GA, -11 GD | -0.49 GD/90
PEC without Thomas on the pitch:
697 mins | 12 GF, 21 GA, -9 GD | -1.16 GD/90
The scoring rate’s actually higher without him... but the rate at which they concede blows out even further in his absence. That’s 2.7 goals per ninety minutes when Thomas isn’t on the field to anchor that midfield. Next up is another reunion against his old mates at PSV Eindhoven. It’ll be the fourth time he’s played them since he returned to Zwolle and he’s lost the other three by 4-0, 6-0, and 4-0.
Up Next: PSV vs PEC Zwolle at 7am on Friday (NZT)
Elijah Just – Motherwell (Scottish Premiership)
Motherwell’s results since the start of March:
L 2-1 vs Dundee FC (A)
L 3-1 vs Celtic (A)
D 0-0 vs Hibernian (H)
L 3-2 vs Falkirk (H)
L 3-1 vs Hearts (A)
That’s the kind of form that leaves you hobbling towards the finish line. To be fair, they played really well against Hearts and were leading 1-0 after Emmanuel Longelo’s 50th minute goal (Elijah Just contributing to the move by drifting wide to collect the ball and feed it up the line). Hearts hit back ten mins later from a corner kick before Tawanda Maswanhise missed a golden chance to put the Steelmen back ahead. Dragged it wide with on the keeper to beat. Then came the controversy as the VAR awarded a penalty after a Hearts dude fell over in the penalty area, headed the ball while he was on the ground, and got kicked in the head in the process. Very weird scenario. Probably had to be a pen but when things like that are happening, you know that luck is against you. Hearts scored the spot kik to take the lead after 87 mins and then added a clincher in stoppage time.
Just played the full game. Couple key passes in there and one shot that he pinged wide from the edge of the box. It wasn’t a very open game but he certainly had his moments in there. Alas, this loss means that Motherwell are officially out of title contention. It was also the last round of the regular fixtures so from here they face the rest of the top six over the next month and then that’s that. Good news is that Hibernian lost 2-0 to Aberdeen so Motherwell remain in fourth place with five games to go. They face Hibs in their final fixture of the season. Hearts are first by a single point trying to hold off Rangers and Celtic to become the first club other than those two to win the Scottish Premiership for 41 years.
Kilmarnock, on the other hand, drew 2-2 against Dundee in their latest outing and will need to win a few games in the lower-half split in order to stay in the division. George Stanger played the full thing against Dundee. Fourth such game in a row after a long spell stuck on the bench. He wasn’t at his best though, copping a yellow card and being beaten in a few duels. Had nothing to do with the goals they conceded.
Up Next: Rangers vs Motherwell at 2am on Monday (NZT)
Callum McCowatt - Silkeborg IF (Danish Superliga)
Much relief among the SIF cohorts as they were able to shrug off the shock of that 7-0 defeat against Copenhagen last week to win 3-1 against Odense, a massive boost to their battle to avoid relegation. They had to show some mettle to get it done too – late in the first half they’d already missed a penalty (should have let Callum McCowatt take it instead of Tonni Adamsen, whose effort was saved) and were 1-0 down and fortunate that the deficit wasn’t any worse, since OB had also seen a goal disallowed and a shot off the crossbar.
Silkeborg almost got level before the break when McCowatt slipped a sweet ball into the area for Younes Bakiz whose shot came back off the post. Instead they’d have to wait until the last half hour for the big comeback. McCowatt played in the midfield three so it was more about facilitation for him here, as was the case for the second of those goals when he collected the ball in a pocket and turned and hit a runner ahead of him to assist the assist, so to speak (similar to what Eli Just did for Motherwell’s goal vs Hearts). Good from him as his team got themselves a desperately needed victory. That leaves Silkeborg with six more games to climb at least one more spot on the standings to save themselves. They’re two points behind FC Fredericia and they play those guys next week.
McCowatt was subbed in added time promptly after getting booked. He’s mostly been used on the wing this season but has played the last few games in the midfield trio – no dramas there, it was in that position that he first made his reputation at SIF. He’s scored plenty of goals from that deeper position and had his eye on a few more in this game, taking six shots (three were blocked and two were off target – the one that was saved was the only one from inside the 18-yard box).
Up in the top half of the league, Sønderjyske had a disappointing 2-0 loss at home against Viborg. The split has not gone well for them with 2 draws and 2 defeats thus far. Still only three points behind third place though, so there’s plenty of scope to fix things. The important thing is that Dalton Wilkins played half an hour off the bench in this game, the most he’s played in any Superliga game this season. Albeit he missed the through ball that allowed for the second goal.
Up Next: Silkeborg vs Fredericia at 0:00 on Monday (NZT)
Ben Old - AS Saint-Étienne (French Ligue 2)
You know what’d be even better than Ben Old becoming a first eleven left-back for Saint-Étienne? Ben Old being a first eleven left-back for Saint-Étienne in Ligue 1. And that dream is even close to reality after ASSE won 2-1 against Dunkerque, conceding once from the penalty spot but otherwise having by far the better of the chances and deserving the victory.
What’s more, their title rivals Troyes were tipped over in a 2-1 loss to Annecy, meaning that ASSE are now only one point behind with superior goal difference. There are four rounds to go but the one that matters most is in two weeks when St-Etienne host Troyes. With that fixture to come, combined with this week’s results, the Ligue 2 championship is now entirely within the control of Saint-Étienne. Win their last four games and they’ll be lifting the trophy.
Up Next: Bastia vs ASSE on Sunday at 6am (NZT)
Alex Paulsen - Lechia Gdansk (Polish Ekstraklasa)
Haven’t checked in with AP for a few editions so let’s do that now. Those highlights are from last week’s game where Lechia won 4-2 against Korona... didn’t want to use the 1-0 loss against Wisla Plock from more recently. It’s been like that for Paulsen this season – concedes twice and they still win, concedes once but they lose.
The Korona Kielce win was a cruise for most of the way until it got very sketchy at the end. Korona had been reduced to ten men after a last-man foul which also conceded the penalty for the second goal (29’) and they made it three after an hour with every indication that more goals were on the way. Then a sneaky shove in the back off a long throw allowed Korona to pull one back from a penalty of their own – Paulsen dove the right way but it was perfectly placed just beyond his fingertips – and then shortly afterwards they scored a second. From 3-0 after 77 mins to 3-2 after 83 mins. Luckily, Lechia locked it down from there and scored a fourth on the counter in added time.
Against Wisla P, having to play away on a Friday straight after a Monday kickoff, the story was different. They conceded after thirty mins when some silky feet in the box took a couple defenders out of the frame and left AP helpless... and after their abundance of chances in the previous game, they couldn’t hardly create anything in this one. Paulsen did make a couple solid saves, at least. That sequence of results keeps Lechia smack-bang in the middle of the table with six games left to see if they can boost it towards the European spots. Not sure that really applies to Paulsen given how he’s only on loan. Having said that, his coach is already on record saying he’d like to keep him...
John Carver, Lechia coach: “We still have six games to play and I think there are some big decisions to be made. But obviously the two players [Alex Paulsen and Aleksandar Ćirković] are on loan and we have to speak to the respective clubs. If you’re asking me: would I want them to come back with us for next season? For sure. But that’s not my decision.”
Whether that’s realistic is another matter. Bournemouth are covering his entire salary this season which is a very sweet deal and the kind of thing that suggests they’re pretty invested in his development. In other words: He’s Not For Sale. Another loan deal could be possible, however they might want to get him going in the English environment instead. Bournemouth have announced that head coach Andoni Iraola is leaving after this season and that could have all sorts of ramifications.
When Paulsen first joined Bournemouth almost two years ago, the goalkeeping stocks were completely different. Raul Neto has been released to return to Brazil. Mark Travers was sold to Everton. They’ve got Fraser Forster in until the end of the season while Christos Mandas is only there on loan. Will Dennis, who began the season as the number two until suffering an ankle injury, was loaned out to League One’s Leyton Orient for game time in January. Djordje Petrovic has played every minute of the Cherries’ Premier League calendar and he’s been awesome but it’s all up for grabs behind him. Not impossible that AP might get a crack at that GK2 position next season, you never know.
Up Next: Lechia vs Piast Gliwice at 5am on Tuesday (NZT)
Finn Surman - Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
It’s funny how quickly things can change. A week ago, the Timbers were in crisis after they managed to lose a game that they’d been leading in injury time, making it five games without a win. Now they’re beaming after beating LAFC 2-1 thanks to a stoppage time goal in their favour this time. Obviously Finn Surman did not captain them this week because they never win when he’s the captain (probably because he captains when other key players are missing)... although he did take the armband after Felipe Mora was subbed so perhaps we’ve found a loophole to break that curse. Regardless, you’d better believe he had a powerful performance against the previously undefeated LAFC fellas.
This game fell in between the two legs of LAFC’s Champions Cup quarter-final against Cruz Azul of Mexico. They were already 3-0 up after the home leg but decided nonetheless to prioritise that competition by resting a couple of fellas against Portland – most critically the in-form Son Heung-min. That meant a start for Tyler Boyd, his second in MLS for his new club following his goal in the 6-0 win against Orlando last time out. So this was also a Flying Kiwis derby of sorts (granted, Surman and Boyd have probably never even met before). Boyd’s best moment was a shot chopping in from the left that was tipped over by the Portland keeper.
Portland scored first through a well-taken low shot from Kristoffer Velde (32’). LAFC levelled up with a banger from 17yo homegrown prospect Jude Terry (49’). Seemed like it was gonna be a mildly satisfactory draw but then substitute Kevin Kelsy nodded in a 90+6’ winner and the whole perspective of this Timbers season changed in that instant.
Some MLS Stat Leaders...
Finn Surman ranks first for overall defensive contributions with 99 (14.1 per90)
Finn Surman ranks first for shots blocked with 17 (2.4 per90)
Finn Surman ranks second for defensive clearances with 57 (Morris Duggan is first with 62)
He’s also one of 48 remaining players (seven rounds into the season) who have played every single minute for their teams. Surman had 8 clearances, 5 interceptions, 3 tackles, 2 blocks, and 2 recoveries in this game and did a brilliant job slowing down Denis Bouanga, one of MLS’s most dangerous attackers (who has scored 20+ goals in the last three seasons).
LAFC then drew 1-1 in the second leg of their Champions Cup tie. Went to Mexico and did what they needed to do, emerging with a 4-1 aggregate victory to advance to the semis. Tyler Boyd was on the bench but they weren’t in a substituting mood with a lead to protect so he was an unused sub as he has been in each of the last four matches (he did play a bit in the first round, at least). He’s getting his action on the domestic front at the moment.
As for Michael Boxall... he’s still injured with that adductor complaint. Coach Cam Knowles says that he’s progressing but he remains unavailable for the time being, potentially spoiling a Boxall vs Surman matchup next weekend. Minnesota Utd won 2-1 away to San Diego most recently. They’ve got 11 points from seven games.
Up Next: Minnesota vs Portland at 12.30pm on Sunday (NZT)
Stipe Ukich – NK Uljanik (Croatian 2.League)
That first goal right there was Stipe Ukich scoring a superb stoppage time winner for NK Uljanik in the Croatian third tier. He’s on the books with NK Istra in the top division but that club uses Uljanik as a feeder team so he’s been spending a bit of time there getting regular senior footy. Ukich is one of four youngsters from Istra currently on loan with Uljanik.
When he first moved to Croatia, he exclusively hung around with the Istra U19s but this season he’s been bouncing all over the place. He seems to be able to go back and forth so he had a stint with NKU at the start of the campaign. Around October he turned out for the Istra U19s where he scored three goals in three games and hasn’t been seen for them again since. He’s made it onto the bench for a handful of first team games with Istra... though more recently he’s settled into getting regular games back with Uljanik where he’s now started four of their last five matches and was subbed on at half-time in the other. This has happened immediately after his winner against Mladost Zdralovi. It also includes a brace against Rovinj in cup action – those are the other goals in that clip above. Good progressive mahi from the former Auckland City prospect, who only turned 19yo at the start of the year.
Up Next: Uljanik vs Dakovo Croatia at 2.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Moses Dyer - Phnom Penh Crown (Cambodian Premier League)
A few weeks ago, Phnom Penh Crown were competing for a treble. They were in a title race in the Cambodian Premier League, they were into the quarters of the AFC Challenge League, and they were in the quarters of the Hun Sen Cup. Then came a nine-game winless streak that derailed their entire season. Knocked out of both cup competitions. Four straight losses in the league ruined their hopes of finishing top.
They just absolutely capitulated... but they did get their first win since February when they beat Angkor Tiger 2-0 with Moses Dyer supplying a goal and an assist. The league is gone but they should still finish second. Dyer now has 13 goals and 4 assists in 24 CPL games. Across all competitions his season tally reads: 31 games, 22 goals, 5 assists. That’s without counting his domestic cup work where he’s got at least one goal, though stats are tricky to source for those.
Up Next: Away to Kompong Dewa at 11pm on Saturday 25 April (NZT)
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