Flying Kiwis – February 28

Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)

Two moments defined Leeds’ Yorkshire derby against Sheffield Wednesday early on Sunday morning. Sunday morn in kiwi time, that is, it was the early kickoff on Saturday meaning that Woody and pals had a nationally televised audience watching on. (Also meaning it was on telly in NZ).

But yeah, two key moments in a game where possession was largely split and chances were tough to come by. The first of those moments came in the 23rd minute. In came the cross from the left and Woody was left, for about the only time all game, with space in the penalty area. So much space he could take it down and slip it past the goalie for a decisive goal. His 20th in the Championship and 23rd of the campaign overall.

The Guardian: “Doukara tapped the ball down the left to Berardi, who was fractionally offside but not given. He curled a right-footed cross into Wood, who looked offside on the six-yard line but wasn’t, and he controlled the ball before relaxing his right foot to cushion a low volley past Westwood.”

The second major moment occurred shortly after HT when Souleymane Doukara fouled Sam Hutchinson in the box and the referee could do nothing but point to the spot. Which he did. Up stepped Jordan Rhodes, on loan from Middlesbrough, but his penalty was stunningly saved by Rob Green who pushed it onto the upright and away. It was a pretty dull game otherwise but if you can win those then you’re in a good place. Leeds won it, they won it 1-0, and that spot in the playoffs is starting to look good.

BBC Sport: “A game of few chances was settled by a simple finish by Wood, who has found the net in 21 separate competitive games for Leeds this season. And it is still possible that the New Zealand striker could score league goals against all 23 Championship clubs during 2016-17, having already netted against 16 different opponents so far this term.”

Wood had a few other chances. There were two shots dragged wide from tough positions for example. Also Hadi Sacko buggered up when he went it alone on the break with Wood open in the middle and the odd time he saw a crucial defensive touch take the ball away from reaching him. Ultimately it was one of those nights that build a striker’s reputation: it wasn’t pretty but he found a way to score.

YEP Player Ratings: “Chris Wood - Produced a finish which was better than it looked at first sight. Not for the first time, took the only clear chance that fell to him and won the game. 7/10”

The Guardian: “If Leeds do go up to the Premier League, they will owe a huge debt of gratitude to Wood, who has scored almost half his side’s league tally of 46 goals. The New Zealand centre-forward has more than repaid his £3m transfer fee from Leicester in the summer of 2015 and Saturday was further testament to his clinical finishing, poking home Gaetano Berardi’s cross in the 24th minute as the visitors’ defence stood still appealing for offside.”

Got a bit of heavy praise from one of his main teammates here, Kyle Bartley yapping away about what an influence Woody (and also keeper Rob Green) are having after their starring involvements on the weekend:

Kyle Bartley: “He’s up there with the very best (in the Championship). You see it week-in, week-out – he’s bullying centre-halves and he’s an absolute nightmare for them. I certainly wouldn’t want to play against him. “He’s scored a lot of goals and he’s massively important for us, not just with his goals but with his all-round play and how he leads from the front. He gives everyone a great lift.”

Up Next: Birmingham vs Leeds, 8.45am on Sunday (NZT)

Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)

It’s been a much improved West Ham over the last couple months but if you wanna keep that run going it’s probably best not to be giving away penalties in the second minutes of games. Especially not away games. That’s not on Winston, that’s on Cheikh Kouyate for a stupid challenge on Mauro Zarate (former WHU fella, who’d suffer a serious injury later in the game, sadly). Troy Deeney buried it and the Hammers were chasing the game from the start.

What followed was something of a wild game as West Ham played quite well in their quest for a leveller (at least after watching M'Baye Niang smack one over the bar) but they didn’t have the finishing to make it count. Michail Antonio, playing as striker in place of the injured Andy Carroll, was the main man there. The dude was brilliant in getting into position but simply had no luck – after chasing long balls in the first half, he got more involved in the second but couldn’t direct a glorious Cresswell cross on target. Later on he broke the offside trap beautifully only to see his shot cannon back off not one post but both posts!

Luckily Andre Ayew was following up and he tapped it home for 1-1, West Ham finally getting their reward (they’d also seen a Jose Fonte header well saved by Heurelho Gomes). At this stage they might have pushed on for the win but Antonio, who was probably the best player on the park, saw his luck continue with a second yellow for handball. You’re off, son.

Thus in the last couple ticks it was Watford thinking they could win and they damn near did deep, deep into injury time. Tom Cleverley swung in a corner that led to a real scramble where Winston Reid somehow managed to block one shot and Isaac Success somehow managed to miss getting his big toe on a loosie at the far post. All even at the climax, 1-1.

Slaven Bilic to BBC Sport: “Considering we were in good form and how well we played today, especially in second half, it's two points dropped. On the other hand, considering we are playing away against a good team and we conceded an early goal, there's always a danger you will concede a second then you can lose the game. If you ask me which team today showed more quality in every department, especially on the ball, that was [us], especially in the second half. I told the guys we have to give them some credit.”

After Zarate went off, Walter Mazzarri chose to bring on an extra midfielder, having four in the middle to protect the lead after starting as a 4-3-3. With that, West Ham also weren’t under as much pressure at the back and as such Winston had a pretty quiet game. He did make eight clearances and he blocked a couple shots but otherwise this was a game where the centre backs, outside the first and last ten minutes, were there to facilitate possession… which makes sense based on these stats.

WHUFC.com: “José Fonte’s 73 passes was the most by a single player on the night, with Winston Reid’s 91 per cent topping the pass-success charts.”

ESPN FC Player Ratings: “DF Winston Reid, 6 -- Comfortable in what was largely an attacking display by his teammates.”

Doesn’t gain them any ground on West Brom in eighth but they do actually go up a spot on the table after Stoke got wasted by Spurs 4-0. Keeps Watford a couple points behind them too.

Yo, bitesize highlights over here.

Meanwhile back in Dubai last week… Winnie met Salt Bae!

Chef

A post shared by @winston.reid2 on

Up Next: WHU vs Chelsea on a Tuesday morning at 9.00 (NZT)

Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)

He’s back. Following a run with the U23s, a spot in the first team squad but outside the matchday squad, a spot on the bench without playing… now he’s finally gotten back on the park. Tommy Smith had to wait 56 minutes to get on but he was the first sub up, replacing Myles Kenlock against Norwich with the score still even at 0-0.

And he was only on the pitch for seven minutes before Ipswich took the lead. Considering the season before last saw these two teams competing in the playoffs for promotion, their falls from grace have been fairly swift. Norwich had hopes of bouncing back to the top flight but they don’t look too likely this time around while Ipswich are nowhere flippin’ close. Dave McGoldrick thought he’d won a penalty in the first ten minutes but bizarrely the ref awarded a free kick against him and after that it was all yellow. Norwich straight dominated yet Jonas Knudsen scored the first goal.

McGoldrick did his thing in controlling the ball, he laid it through to Jordan Spence and Knudsen got up and the Dane headed the ball low and hard back across the goal from the far post on the end of Spence’s cross. He scored last time they played Norwich too and funny thing is the only reason he was up on the left, having been named as a centre back, was that Smith’s introduction had pushed him out there. Nice one, Mick.

Anyway, then Bartosz Bialkowski had to go back to being a monster in goal, though he still couldn’t protect the lead for longer than five minutes as Jacob Murphy used every inch of space (and there weren’t many) to pop an effort into the net. Norwich then pushed for a (deserved) winner… but it ended level at 1-1. Not a bad point for Ipswich, actually. Ed Sheeran sure enjoyed it, he was in the crowd watching. Apparently an Ipswich fan, probably has a Tommy Smith jersey at home.

With Ipswich preferring a three-man central defence these days, there’s room for Smith to edge back into the starting line-up soon. Especially with Adam Webster out injured at the mo’. Christophe Berra and Luke Chambers are guarantees in the XI but Smith is a manager’s favourite and there’s room for all three.

TWDT: “Town made their first change in the 56th minute, Tommy Smith coming on for his first appearance since undergoing a back operation in September in place of Kenlock. Smith took up his usual central defensive role with Knudsen moving to left wing-back.”

Up Next: Ipswich vs Brentford, 4.00am Sunday (NZT)

Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)

Nothing wrong with an away draw, picking up those points on the way to safety. Especially not against a team competing for a spot in Europe next season. Truth is, Zwolle could have won this one against AZ Alkmaar too but they let it slip with less than 10 minutes to play as Fred Friday equalised with a simple finish after some nice work from Levi Garcia.

Of course, the PECers got AZ at a good time just a few days after they were smoked 7-1 by Lyon in the Europa League (Nabil Fekir scored a hatty). As such there were a few changes to the line-up that hosted Zwolle but despite Alkmaar having much the better of the first half there was nothing there to show for it. Soon after the break, this happened:

Absolute rocket! Yeah, Ryan Thomas with the 48th minute strike to put Zwolle up 1-0. It didn’t last and the game ended up at 1-1 but even if the team blew a chance that’s still a first Eredivisie goal for the season.  That was Thommo’s only shot and his passing was uncharacteristically poor, the lad giving away the ball all over the show, but he got the crucial goal and that made up for all of that.

Up Next: Zwolle vs Vitesse, 8.45am Sunday (NZT)

Jeremy Brockie & Michael Boxall – SuperSport United (South African Premier Soccer League)

There’s a nice way to start – goals galore this week from the crew! And there had to be because this was a busy week for SSU, playing twice in the league and winning both of them to surge the side back to the top of the table – at least for now (one point ahead of Bidvest Wits who have a game in hand and three points ahead of Mamelodi Sundowns who have four games in hand).

First off they dealt to Maritzburg 4-1 at home, with all four goals coming in the space of 12 minutes in the second half. They were 1-0 down after 14 minutes too, pretty magical turnaround. Mandla Masango got the first two to get off the mark for the club while Brox put the fourth away to seal things with 26 minutes still remaining.  

Kickoff.com: “Nkhatha went from provider to scorer as he netted acrobatically from a lovely assist from Mnyamane. The same player provided the service shortly afterwards as he fired in a low cross that Nkhatha cleverly let through his legs to allow Brockie to finish comfortably and cap off a 12-minute spell in which four goals were scored.”

Brockie and Boxall played the entire game, as they would again three days later on the trip to Highlands Park though. An unchanged team in fact. Up against a relegation candidate this was a struggle but Dean Furman gave them a 1-0 after 22 minutes, making the most of some horrible defence. A half-time sub showed what manager Stuart Baxter thought of it all and while it got better after the break they also wasted some chances and Brockie was one to offer some profligacy, failing to beat the keeper after a beautiful ball put him through. Still, they held on regardless for three more points, lock ‘em in.

As for the continental stuff, the first leg of the next knockout round is played between 10-12 of March. SSU are drawn with Sudan’s Al-Ahly Shendi – win this round and they go into the playoff round with the 16 survivors from that entering a group stage.

Say, look at this!

Up Next: Home to Ajax Cape Town at 7.15am on Sunday (NZT)

Jake Gleeson – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)

That’s about it. The season starts next week and it sounds like Gleeson is free to play despite the drink driving charge. We stiiiiill haven’t heard back from the MLS as to whether he’ll face a suspension but the fact he’s been heavily involved in the practice games suggests that they expect him to be available. So does this bloke:

Up Next: Timbers vs Minnesota Utd at 3.30pm on Saturday (NZT)

Kip Colvey – San Jose Earthquakes (American Major League Soccer)

Speaking of MLS fellas…

Good on you, lad. Chipping in for the community and all. Colvey’s less likely to be a regular for his side, based on preseason he’ll be looking at a bench role or a wider squad placing. Always the outside chance he’s sent on loan again as well but he was getting some pitch time in the friendlies so that’s a decent sign.

As for Deklan Wynne and Francis de Vries in Vancouver, neither was involved in the Whitecaps’ CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-final first leg draw away the New York Red Bulls (1-1, shout out to the away goals rule). That’s because in all likelihood both are gonna be playing for the ressies in the meantime. Actually, Wynne has already been confirmed for the Whitecaps 2 side.

whitecapsfc.com: “Wynne, 21, has made eight starts in 14 regular season appearances for WFC2 since joining the side late in their inaugural season in 2015. Last year, the left-footed defender started five of his 10 regular season appearances in his first full season in Vancouver, after missing the first 16 matches due to injury. He also made one postseason appearance, playing the full 90 minutes versus Swope Park Rangers in the Western Conference Final.”

De Vries was still with the main team as of a week ago, so it looks like he might get a chance to sit on the fringes at the start of the season

Up Next: SJE vs Montreal Impact, 4.00pm Sunday (NZT)

Info
Written by Nick Robinson On Tagged