Flying Kiwis – April 11
Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)
The list of teams that Woody’s failed to score against tripled this week as he went without goals in games against Barnsley and Preston but hold fire on your devastation because there’s a silver lining in all of this. After all it was only last week that he failed to find the net against Reading as the Reading players talked about a Leeds side with No Plan B. They lost that one. And they lost to Brentford too. But against Preston the Whites had one of their better wins in a while and they did it without requiring a banger from Woody – which is a major positive as we near the playoffs where Wood’s gonna be targeted more than ever by defenders.
Brentford first and the damage was done in the first half. Romaine Sawyers scored a thumper of a low volley in the 19th minute following up after Rob Green had pushed away Jota’s shot – neither the first nor last big save that Green would need to make. Brentford were on the attack from the start with the Spanish duo of Jota and Sergi Canos getting all sorts of space. It was a Leeds defence weakened by Liam Cooper’s six game suspension for stomping on Reading’s Reece Oxford last game (on loan from West Ham if you recognise the name) but otherwise a pretty strong side – though Funky Monk made five changes from the weekend, midweek footy being what it is at this stage of the season.
So no surprise when 1-0 became 2-0 in the 34th minute thanks to Lasse Vibe, the Dane on hand to poke home after Green had saved Canos’ first effort. Once again the Leeds defence too slow to react and they’re lucky it wasn’t worse than that at half-time because Brentford… mate, they had their chance. Leeds had a few as well but nothing that fell to Chris Wood. A couple set pieces that were dangerous, some Mo Barrow and Pablo Hernandez work as well. But it was Rob Green’s work with the gloves that deserved all the credit, he made this one save, one-handed rushing out, that was simply superb. You see that and you remember that this is a dude who played a dozen times for England.
Probably the best moment of the game for Wood fans was when he lit up his buddy Alfonso Pedraza, when the sub made a great run along the byline only to shoot from a nothing angle when Wood was screaming for the ball on the edge of the six yard box. Pedraza knows what he did wrong, he’s not even looking at his top scorer here as he gesticulates right at him.
Thanks to Brentford wasting chances, Leeds were only ever a goal from being right back into things but they couldn’t find that elusive chance. Wood had three shots and all were off target. Greenie kept saving the bacon but they had nobody to fry it up, Kemar Roofe coming close but nah. 2-0 the final score meaning that was only the third time this season that Leeds had lost consecutive games and the first time Wood had started consecutive games without a goal since October.
YEP Player Ratings: “Chris Wood - For the second game running, was given so little to work with. He can’t be expected to carve goals out of nothing. 5/10”
Some slightly bad news followed that game as both Chris Wood and his manager Garry Monk missed out on the Championship Player/Manager of the Month awards for which they were shortlisted for March. Paul Lambert, Wolves manager and Tom Barkhuizen, Preston North End striker, were the deserving recipients. Eh, Woody’s already won it once this season – back in January. Going back to 2004 when the award began, there have only been nine men to win it multiple times but there’s always April, aye Woody?
On to Preston now. In a happy coincidence that pitted Wood up against Barkhuizen head to head and while neither of them scored here, there was only ever one winner in the contest. Ol’ Barky had two fantastic chances to open the scoring but he buggered them both up. First he hit a header straight at Rob Green from about four yards out where he puts that anywhere else within the frame and it’s a goal, then a few minutes later he was played through and with Greenie charging out he placed his shot wide of the post.
PNE were made to pay in the 18th minute. Vieira played the ball into Roofe who turned it around the corner to Woody. With two defenders closing in, Wood flicked it first time back into Roofe’s path and with the help of a defensive deflection he turned it in over the head of the keeper on the loop. Credit the assist to one C.Wood.
Yorkshire Evening Post: “United then looked to have doubled their lead in the 40th minute when Wood raced through on goal and slotted home. The goal was even announced over the PA system but referee Bankes raced over to his assistant and the effort was mysteriously ruled out for offside.”
Strange one there, no flag at the time and he was clearly onside when the ball was played but what happened was the ball flicked Kemar Roofe on the way through and Wood was beyond the defensive by then. The right call was made, just a confusing situation was all. The vids in here:
Anyway, Pablo Hernandez skipped in behind on a through ball and squeezed it past the keeper for 2-0 right before the break. Our mate Barky came out after the break and rattled the crossbar as Rob Green spilled a shot from distance but was able to get a decisive touch on the follow-up shot from Barkhuizen. Close from him but it didn’t come before Wood did the same at the other end. He found some space in the box from a corner and thrashed a volley at goal… only for it to hit the goal and come back.
Woody got yellow carded later on and was subbed off with ten minutes to play. His replacement Souleymane Doukara later missed a one-on-one, Alex Baptiste got a straight red with five minutes left and then Doukara made amends in stoppage time to make it 3-0. Three goals and none scored by Wood, though he did he damned best. That shot off the bar was his only effort at goal but he made a couple key passes and was pretty lively all game.
YEP: “There were then fears that Wood was about to sent off when the striker caught Maxwell with a late challenge but the forward was only booked and then quickly substituted for Souleymane Doukara.”
YEP Player Ratings: “Chris Wood - Saw a goal disallowed in bizarre circumstances and rattled the crossbar. A rare day when the net wouldn’t yield to him but still laid one on for Roofe. 7/10”
With Huddersfield and Reading both losing on the weekend, this was a huge win for Leeds. Automatic promotion is effectively gone with 12 points separating them and Newcastle in second with only five games left to play but a home semi-final is well within range. Gotta get a big finish in from here.
Meanwhile fresh from missing out on the monthly player award, Woody was told his fate regarding the Championship Player of the Season award the day after the Preston game. Up against Brighton’s Anthony Knockaert and Newcastle’s Dwight Gayle. His coach was confident.
Garry Monk: “Once he’s in it you want him to win it. Let’s hope so. But with those accolades, for him, Chris knows that it will go down to his team mates as well and if he can win it then great – it will be fantastic for him.”
Yeah… nah. Wood’s former Leicester teammate Knockaert got the gong. Wood’s leading the goal-scoring but Knockaert is the more creative player, equally having the season of his life and leading Brighton potentially to the Championship title. All three of the shortlisted Champo players made the EFL Team of the Season though.
Sky Sports UK: “Chris Wood is currently the Championship's top scorer, netting 24 goals in 38 league appearances for Leeds this term. It's no surprise he is included in the EFL team of the season. After some journeyman years around the English leagues, the New Zealand striker has truly found his feet at Elland Road where supporters will hope there is plenty more to come from him as the Whites look towards a play-off push.”
YEP: “With Wood, it is hard to get away from that night against Fulham when his overhead kick provoked such a pointed gesture towards the Kop. A splendid finish so soon after an unflattering miss – a header from a few yards out, driven into the turf and over Fulham’s crossbar – accentuated the fact that Wood’s personal fight outweighed that of any other player in United’s squad.
Nothing that needs to be said about 27 goals in one season. Every other striker in the division is eating his dust. What genuinely marks Wood out at Elland Road is the huge swing in his reputation and the colossal shift in appreciation of his talent. There is no possibility that Leeds would have made the play-offs without him and, in the context of Wood’s longer-term ambition, this season should be the making of him.
Prolific, reliable, irrepressible and very much Leeds United’s player of the year.”
Up Next: Newcastle vs Leeds, 6.45am Sunday (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)
Having sat out last week having gotten back to Ipswich a day later than expected due to the Wellington fog, Smith was back in the reckoning for Town’s two matches this last week. Home to Wigan and away to Fulham. The former a team staring at relegation, the latter still scrapping for the playoff spots.
And results went exactly as you’d expect from that. The Wigan game, a midweek contest against an average side, saw Ipswich draw their smallest home crowd (14,661) since the turn of the millennium yet the ones that turned up were treated to something tasty as Town scored two first half goals in front of their home fans for the first time in almost two years.
Mick McCarthy switched things back up to a three-man defence but Smithy didn’t get the starting nod, instead Steven Taylor took his place alongside Christophe Berra and Luke Chambers. Yeah, Steven Taylor plays for Ipswich now. He’s left the Portland Timbers where he defended in front of Jake Gleeson and the long-time Newcastle stalwart has been with Ipswich since January. But he won’t feature again this season after going off with a hamstring injury in the first half here. Off goes Taylor, on comes Smith.
That was in injury time though and Town had already scored twice thanks to Dave McGoldrick and Freddie Sears. Wigan’s capitulating defence made this a walkover of a game. About all there is to say is that Smith could have scored with a late header but the keeper made an impressive one-handed save. Sears added a third later on and Ipswich won 3-0. McGoldrick was brilliant, Bartosz Bialkowski made a bunch of nice saves and Tommy Smith made a team-high eight defensive clearances in his 45 minutes on the field. Big win though, they needed that one.
Then they got beaten 3-1 by Fulham. The only change in the XI, despite the short turnaround, was Smithy in for Taylor and they got blown off the park in the first half. Floyd Ayite and Scott Malone had the Cottagers up 2-0 after only half an hour. Smith might’ve had to take some blame for ball-watching instead of covering the dude who scored the first one. The second was just a great finish. McGoldy had an opportunity to pull one back before the break but stabbed his shot wide and Ipswich were in a bit of trouble.
So they made a sub, bringing on an extra midfielder in Tom Lawrence and sacrificing Mr Smith in the process. So he played 90 minutes in two games, 45 in each of them. The sub made a big difference in Ipswich being able to bring a lil creativity to things but they wasted chances and Stefan Johansen made it 3-0 after the hour. Berra added a consolation in injury time but that was that. They’re nine points clear of the drop zone as things stand, five games left. Should be safe.
East Anglian Daily Times: “McCarthy replaced Tommy Smith with Lawrence at the break, abandoning his wing-back system and switching to a diamond midfield. Town started the second half on the front foot and, within seconds, Sears flicked a Myles Kenlock cross just across the face of goal.”
Up Next: Burton vs Ipswich, 6.45am (NZT)
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
Literally anything you read in The Sun has to be taken with a grain of salt. They’re not as scumbucket bad as the Daily Mail but they’re hardly the BBC either. So keep that in mind when you read what they had to say about Winston Reid’s possible contract extension this week.
The Sun: “New Zealand ace Reid will be offered a new contract at the end of the season as well, with new £70,000-a-week terms. The 28-year-old will also have his buyout clause upped to more than £20million as top Premier League clubs circle.”
In other news, West Ham won without him, beating Swansea 1-0, and finally kept a clean sheet with Jose Fonte in the team. Big Ginge James Collins started in Reid’s place as Winston continues his recovery from injury. Huge win for the Hammers too, gets them clear of those relegation folks.
Up Next: Away to Sunderland, 2.00am Sunday (NZT)
Jake Gleeson – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
A couple of Gleeson errors played their part in Portland dropping their first points of the season last week, with a loss and a draw having started three from three. Stink that, but they’re back on the winning bandwagon again after a 3-1 triumph away to Philadelphia. How about that one, aye?
Fun fact, the Timbers had scored in the first 15 minutes of every game so far this season but late goals had cost them points in the last two. Neither of those things happened in Philly and that’s perfectly fine for Jake and company. The Union are winless so far but scored first. Richie Marquez got up highest to win the header from a corner in the 26th minute and he guided his shot inside the empty far post. PUT A MAN ON THE POST, JAKEY SON!
Eh, Portland hit back soon enough though. Darlington Nagbe, USA international, grabbed his first goal of the season to level things six minutes after they went behind and then into the second half they eventually took a fair dinkum lead a Roy Miller guided a Diego Valeri free kick into the net – the first goal in 130 games for Mr Miller. Compare that to Nagbe who’s scored in seven consecutive seasons now and also that lad Fanendo Adi who put away a late penalty to break the record and become Portland’s all-time leading scorer.
Meanwhile our lad Jake…
Oregon Live: “Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson kept the Union in check early in the first half, coming up with two spectacular saves. He came off his line in the eighth minute to break up a dangerous 1-on-1 challenge. In the 32nd minute, he went to ground and with a strong left hand, stopped a free kick that slipped through the wall.”
More Oregon Live: “Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson had made two costly mental mistakes in the last two weeks, both of which had led to opponents finding goals. But Gleeson rebounded Saturday and kept the Timbers in the game as they were struggling to find their rhythm early on. Gleeson did a great job to come out in a 1v1 situation and stop the ball with his leg in the 8th minute. He then made a tremendous diving save on a free kick to deny the Union in the 17th minute. Gleeson's heroics Saturday were critical in helping the Timbers earn the win and his ability to rebound after some mistakes this season was important.”
That free kick save was a stunner but the earlier one, the one-on-one save, was arguably the better one – especially after he got in trouble coming off his line last week. Love to see a keeper who doesn’t let a mistake become a weakness.
Elsewhere in America, there were a few kiwis in action in the USL. The Vancouver Whitecaps 2 side had a 3-0 win which saw goals for Deklan Wynne and also Ben McKendry (who is eligible for NZ but will probably play for Canada), check that out here.
Also in action that game was Francis de Vries, who did well to make this sliding tackle and even better to realise where the goal-line was on this repurposed grid iron pitch.
And Chris James’ Colorado Springs Switchbacks, who play in the same conference as the VW2s, had a 1-1 draw away to San Antonio.
Kip Colvey also got 90 minutes in there for Reno 1868 where he’s on loan but they went down 5-3 in a crazy one to Real Monarchs SLC (terrible name for an American soccer team).
Up Next: Portland Timbers vs Sporting Kansas City, 2.30pm on Sunday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
You know what’s a good result? When you’ve been fighting relegation all year and you only go and hold the top team in the division to a 2-2 draw. That’s what Zwolle did against Feyenoord, scoring twice in the first 13 minutes and holding on as Feyenoord pegged them back twice. Steven Berghuis scored both for Feyenoord in a game where Zwolle only had seven shots to 22, had 35% of possession and struggled to string a pass together at times yet they got themselves a draw out of it so not too shabby there. Thommo picked up a yellow card in the fifth minute of injury time but its worth it when you get the point, sweet as.
However a few days earlier they went and lost to Roda JC (Ivan Vicelich’s old team!) in the midweek. Now that was a frustrating one. 1-0 up at half time thanks to a Younes Mokhtar goal having had a much more even share of the chances here, they will have gone into the sheds on a high. Nice goal too, very ably assisted by none other than Ryan Thomas.
However they conceded straight after the break and then having wasted way too many shots at goal to be comfortable with a draw, they went and lost it instead. 89th minute winner to Mikhail Rosheuvel and Roda JC. Damn. And that thing about wasted chances? They don’t get any more wasted than this one. Good thing Menig got one of the goals against Feyenoord three days later. Thommo was subbed off after 83 mins, by the way. So don’t blame him for the late defeat.
Milestone time: the game against Feyenoord also counted as Thommo’s 100th in the Eredivisie (and 117th overall for the PECers). Here’s a nice little feature on him in the NZ Herald if you’re keen. Featuring some quotes about his possible transfer away in the summer.
Herman Nijman, Zwolle Journo: “It seems likely he will go to a bigger club. Most clubs know about him and Ajax were looking at him a while ago. He is one of Zwolle's best assets, that they will be looking to sell at some stage.”
Ryan Thomas: “Who knows what will happen? Things can change quickly. If I was injured last year, then I probably wouldn't be at Zwolle right now. You could say it could be at the end of this season, maybe in January. But there is nothing concrete.”
Up Next: Away to FC Groningen at 12.30am Monday (NZT)
Jeremy Brockie & Michael Boxall – SuperSport United (South African Premier Soccer League)
A casual trip to Liberia, a Confederation Cup away leg against Barrack Young Controllers. Not the worst way to spend the week exploring the world and all that. Brockie didn’t start the game which has been a custom in these CC matches, he’s been held back as a bench guy for energy, but Boxall got through the whole 90 minutes in his usual right back role.
It was Fagrie Lakay who scored the first goal of this one when he tapped in Thuso Phala’s hard cross for a valuable away goal. SSU couldn’t hold the lead as in the 25th minute the Liberian side drew level. Entertaining start with chances at both ends. Brockie came on after an hour and he had a late opening that was blocked out and eventually a surprisingly open game finished at 1-1. That’s a solid result there for the South African side what with the away goal to take into the Pretorian second leg coming up. Ronwen Williams, SSU goalie, saved a penalty. Good fun.
Also this last week the lads earned their way into the quarters of the Nedbank Cup with a 2-0 win over KwaDukuza United. Down to the last eight as they look to defend their title there. No goals for either of our kiwis though Brockie was super close, a brilliant save from Nimrode Tsengwa denying him.
Up Next: Mamelodi Sundowns vs SSU at 4.00am on Friday (NZT)
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