Flying Kiwis – March 22
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
There was precious little word about Winston after he was subbed off in his comeback from injury. The FA Cup quarter final draw with Man United was a tough test but one he did a great job in despite the lack of recent game time. Read last week’s FKs for that though.
It sounds like the reason he was subbed was probably a bout of cramp or maybe only a predetermined thing, hardly unusual there. Here was the verdict from Doctor Vandenbroucke:
“Winston Reid came off during Sunday’s FA Cup tie at Manchester United. He had only trained for two days with the squad and, following discussions between the manager, the medical staff and the player himself, we took the calculated risk of playing him at Old Trafford. He played and came off as a precaution following some good communication between the staff and Winston and he has trained this week and will be available to face Chelsea on Saturday.”
With that game against Chelsea and then a good long injury break to worry about, well… there’s no reason to worry. David Gold’s got our backs:
The man himself had this to say: “I had a conversation with the manager and we had to see how I felt. I felt alright and I tried to keep it simple. It is nice to be back out there and with a week’s training behind me, I look forward to facing Chelsea next weekend. I think when you get booked after a minute or so. You have to play carefully and that tempers how you can play. I felt a bit of cramp, I didn’t pull my hamstring though.”
So as hoped/hinted, Winston started against Chelsea. Even better, he played the full 90 minutes in what was a highly controversial London derby. Just as we all love them to be. Chelsea are unbeaten in the league since Guus Hiddink took over but they were without Diego Costa for this one. Winston looked sharp in his first test, firmly dispossessing Oscar and then doing the same to Willian on the rebound.
The Hammers then settled into some good possession and in the 17th minute they took the lead. Manny Lanzini was the bloke who got it done, a superb strike that curled beyond Thibaut Courtois. Stunning stuff. Also of note was the repeated tussling between Winston Reid and John Terry at corners. The ref warned them and it went right on ahead, neither ready to give an inch.
It looked like West Ham would lead into HT but they didn’t. Injury time and a long ball was sent forwards by Chelsea, Winston leaps to bring it down on his chest but Oscar steps in and takes it. Reid steps across and fouls him, picking up a yellow and conceding a free kick on the edge of the box. Cesc Fabregas then buried it directly. An equally outstanding goal.
Andy Carroll came on after an hour and a minute he had put WHU back on top. Smart movement from Carroll and a slick finish but the ball from Dimitri Payet was lovely. Payet was on top form here, looking dangerous at every touch. Reid then made an acrobatic block off a Traore shot, which a few Chelsea players appealed for a handball for. Possibly off the arm but it wasn’t exposed or anything. CFC’s best chances seemed to come off set pieces and they were winning a lot of attacking free kicks, yet there didn’t seem a way through that backlines. Winston made a game-high five interceptions as well as seven clearances. He did give away three fouls, but.
Despite not carving out as many chances as they maybe deserved, Chelsea were still the team that pushed on with most of the ball. Terry heading over, Cahill heading wide, Oscar with a blocked shot, Fabregas too high with a bicycle kick, Adrian coming out several times to punch clear. With five minutes left, West Ham had their best attacking spell of the half, winning a few corners and drawing some nervy defence. But it cost them, they were hit on the break and Antonio knocked over Kenedy. Penalty, Fabregas with the equaliser. Problem was the contact was actually outside the box. That goal made it 2-2 which is how it ended. Told ya it was controversial.
It was two points robbed from them as far as Slaven Bilic saw it but things still broke their way with Manchester United taking the points off City in the Manchester Derby, which leaves all three teams within a point with City now only clinging to fourth. Champions League footy is not exactly a pipe dream for Winston and the Hammers. It’s a genuine opportunity.
Up Next: WHU vs Crystal Palace, 2.00am April 3 (NZT)
Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)
1-0 up after 22 minutes, things looked good for Leeds at home against Huddersfield. Fast forward to 74 minutes in when Chris Wood came on off the bench and it was not so flash. They lost 4-1 and it’s better that we don’t talk too much about it. Woody had enough time to win a header, make a few passes and lose the ball a couple times. Here are the match highlights:
Steve Evans: “I never think it’s a 4-1 game. It’s fine margins but they were better than us. They caused problems more often in the wider areas and it just look as if they wanted it more than we did.”
Anyway, some better news now:
Wood made his return from injury with a cheeky five minutes off the bench last game and any time he can get on the park is clearly good. However in his absence other dudes have stepped up and as Steve Evans says here, he won’t be straight back into things:
“He’s worked so hard. It’s easy to say ‘get yourself in super condition’ but he’s gone and done it. He’s proved the point. But Doukara and Antenucci are in fine form. They work so hard for the team and that’s the first criteria here.”
But an hour with the reserves against Peterborough and 16 minutes against Huddersfield… it’s all progress.
Ooh, if you fancy a laugh, check this one out on Squawka. Where are they know from a 2013 clash between Watford and Leicester. Times have changed, that’s for sure. Woody was subbed off for Harry Kane in this one, not even joking.
Up Next: Away to Rotherham, 2.00am April 3. Flying Kiwi revenge! (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)
Two big games this week, one big result. Against Blackburn midweek, it was hardly a vintage Ipswich performance. Still, points are the only currency that count and Town were happy to wish Daryl Murphy a happy 33rd birthday as the Irishman proved the difference.
In a scrappy contest, the first real cheers from the crowd were for an extended rally of head tennis. Murphy had a couple pops while keeper Bartowski needed to make a pair of nice, outstretched saves but for the most part nothing happened. Town were relying on half-hearted penalty shouts and the first half was scoreless. But then one of those appeals actually came through. 66 minutes in and Luke chambers went tumbling to the deck as a corner was swung in, Hope Akpan with the shove. Penalty given and Murphy netted it. Murphy then doubled the lead with a few minutes remaining, cutting inside swiftly and curling his effort in after some sharp work from Freddie Sears. 2-0, Ipswich’s biggest win since November but that hardly told the tale of the match. Ipswich definitely had more of a goal threat, however. That’s in part down to a solid effort from Tommy Smith in which maybe he could have passed the ball better from the back but for the most part he was without error. Good on ya, matey.
But then they played Rotherham on the weekend. Unchanged team, much worse performance. It ended with the players getting booed after their playoff chances took another hit with a stumbling effort. Rotherham were in the relegation zone not that long ago. Now, under Neil Warnock (!), they’ve not lost in their last five and are sitting safely a couple points clear of MK Dons. Early attempts by Town hardly tested the keeper before Rotherham began to muster the odd challenge. Then, minutes before half time, Rothers took the lead. Sloppy work down the wing and a stretched defence combined to give Leon Best waaaay too much space in the middle and he slipped the ball into the near post for 1-0. Try as they might in the second, Ipswich couldn’t then find a way through. And they did try. There was just no creativity there, most of it sitting on the bench. As EADT wrote:
“The result wasn’t the driving force behind the jeers, it was simply to do with the fact the punters had been bored senseless and felt short-changed.”
A disappointing 1-0 loss that leaves Ipswich four points off sixth now. Smith played a decent hand, winning the ball well in the air and firmly picking off crosses. He was nowhere to be seen for the goal though, having been caught out of position with Town giving up the ball softly from their own free kick.
Up Next: Away to Wolves, 2.00am April 3 (NZT)
Marco Rojas – FC Thun (Swiss Super League)
Lil Frodo had the week off last game, sitting on the bench but never getting on in a 0-0 draw away at FC Vaduz. This time they hosted Luzern and once again Marco was on the bench. He wouldn’t stay there though, a 71st minute sub in a 1-1 draw.
Thun should have taken the lead in the 13th minute but Ridge Munsy was controversially (and wrongly, on replay) adjudged to be offside and it was disallowed. Thun continued to threaten only then to fall behind to a Marco Schneuwly goal, tapping in a lovely cross from his brother Christian. Mummy will be proud. That was the score at half time but soon after Thun were able to draw level. It was an absolute ripper from Andreas Wittwer too, running around onto a loose ball after a corner and fair crushing it on the first time volley. So much power and swerve, the keeper had no idea. The game eased up from there, though the Thuners were nearly able to grab an injury time winner, Rojas left watching at the far post as Simone Rapp's header was cleared a metre off the line after beating the keeper to a cross. That result makes it four draws in a row for Thun, which isn’t terrible because it keeps them ahead of their latest opponents on goal difference.
Up Next: Thun hosts Grasshoppers early next month
Jeremy Brockie – SuperSport United (South African Premier Soccer League)
Well now wouldn’t you believe it, but Jeremy Brockie’s only gone and scored another goal. That makes it ten for the season and the lad himself is talking up his chances of a Golden Boot:
“Every goal scorer wants to end up at the top, Collins [Mbesuma] and Prince [Nxumalo] have had a very good season as well so it will take a lot to catch them, but there’s still seven games to go so we’ll see.”
To be fair now, all goals count equal. But this one was as easy as they come, Brockie benefitting with a simple tap-in after some great work from Michael Morton, beating defenders and putting in a smart pass across goal. Brox could hardly miss:
“The longer the game was going on I didn’t think I was gonna get one at the end but credit to Michael Morton, he made a great run down there and cut the ball back nicely and they don’t come any easier than that, it was good to get it in the back of the net.” – JB
Brockie’s goal was the third in a 3-0 win for SuperSport against Golden Arrows. Dove Wome and Kingston Nkhatha made it 2-0 within half an hour before the Arrows were reduced to ten men. Brockie added his with three minutes to play, just to make it certain. A big win on the road and one that puts them up to tenth and still well in range for a run at a top half finish.
Up Next: Nothing ‘til they face University of Pretoria in the Nedbank Cup, early April
Kip Colvey – San Jose Earthquakes (American Major League Soccer)
First off, why is this team named after a natural disaster? Second off, Colvey held his place at left back as SJE travelled to tinseltown to play Steven Gerrard’s LA Galaxy. Now, Stevie G’s not exactly been playing great yet for these guys but they have a monster team all the same. Robbie Keane scored, for example. And Nigel De Jong and Ashley Cole played 90 minutes too. Put simply, it wasn’t San Jose’s finest hour and a half. They were comfortably beaten 3-1, always in trouble after Simon Dawkins was sent off for an ugly two-footed challenge just seconds before the half time whistle. So dumb.
If Kip Colvey had enjoyed his time as a pro so far then this was a real awakening. There was some good stuff in there but he was under pressure often and couldn’t always deal with it. He was lucky to get away with losing the ball in the corner in the first half but there was no escape in the 62nd minute when he was slow to react to a long ball. While he did get across his man to get a foot on the ball, it was a tame touch and it landed right at Gyasi Zardes’ feet and he slotted it for his second goal of the night (the first coming six minutes earlier, a tap in after a header won on a free kick move). Chris Wondolowski pulled one back with 90 seconds left but then in injury time it was 3-1. Robbie Keane looked to run the ball straight at Kip in the box but before he could challenge him, Víctor Bernárdez stepped across and cut him down for a clear penalty. Keane made no error from the spot.
Meanwhile Jake Gleeson was once again on the bench for the Portland Timbers, waiting behind Ghanaian international Adam Kwarasey – which is a better possie than he started last season in – as the Timbers rallied from 2-0 down at home to draw 2-2 with Real Salt Lake. Fanendo Adi scored a double in the final 11 minute, helped by RSL finishing with nine men.
Also, HB, Kip:
And this, shot bro:
Up Next: SJE vs DC United, 2.30pm April 3 (NZT)