Flying Kiwis – November 1
Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)
The League Cup is always the forgotten trophy of the English footy season. It’s the one that gets buried with youth team players and hidden but for cursory midweek glances. But Leeds have been on a bit of a run, you know.
It started with a horrible showing at Fleetwood Town which they managed to rescue with a penalty shootout, followed by a 1-0 win at Luton Town and a 1-0 win against Blackburn Rovers. Woody’s only started two of those ones and he didn’t start here against Norwich either but that hasn’t stopped him hitting the back of the net a couple times.
Breezing across the non-kiwi stuff, Alex Pritchard had put Norwich in front after 14 minutes when he got there first to the far post and dropped a diving header into the net. Marco Silvestri had to be at his best to keep a couple other Canary efforts out, meanwhile Kyle Bartley went and picked up a yeller for an attempted Mano de Dios and the card was probably as much to do with the clueless expression on his face when it was ruled out as it was the handball. At least he didn’t celebrate.
Anyway, Leeds equalised for real a few mins before the break thanks to Marcus Antonsson, who was on hand to tap in Doukara’s lob across goal after some persistent work from Kemar Roofe to create it all. Then Wood came on in the 63rd, which is where we pick up the story.
… except that not too much happened other than some more quality from Silvestri with the gloves. Wood had a chance at the near post which he couldn’t connect with (and Alex Mowatt muffed the second chance). Then Wood drove one at John Ruddy, who saved comfortably. An on it went into extra time.
Which Norwich promptly scored in. Nine mins of extras and Nelson Oliveira had them on top with a free header six yards out. Lovely cross from that lad Pritchard too. He was a highly touted fella in the Spurs system but never got much of a chance and this is his first season with Norwich.
Ten minutes later, on the brink of elimination, this happened:
Money in the bank from that range. Well, usually.
And so it went to penalties. Norwich to kick first… bang, Dorrans sends the keeper the wrong way. Woody goes next… slammed into the bottom corner. Yes lad. Pritchard follows… and it’s a shocker, right at the keeper who doesn’t move, just stands there and lets hit his hands. Roofe then makes it 2-1 to Leeds. Naismith goes to his left… and Silvestri saves. Phillips… nope, Ruddy goes the right way and makes a great save. Still 2-1, two kickers each remaining. Norwich send Oliveira up… walloped into the top left to tie things. Grimes for Leeds… and he misses the target altogether! Jeezus, son. That was awful. 2-2 and Brady is up for Norwich… low, left and SAVED by Silvestri with a wonderful dive, tipping it away with his left wrist. Vieira for the win… yup. Leeds take it 3-2 on pens and they’re into the quarters of the EFL Cup.
Oh and guess who they’re playing in the next round… time’s up: Liverpool. At Anfield. What a draw.
Damn Woody, the week didn’t finish there though. There was also the matter of hosting Burton Albion on the weekend as well. Given their recent form, people are starting to take notice of Leeds and Chris Wood’s been scoring pretty much half of their goals so there you go. He started here alongside all the usual jokers.
Burton is the team that’s had All White Clayton Lewis trialling with them recently, though he’ll be back with Auckland City possibly even in time for their next game. So no reason to feel sympathetic here, even if Burton have a pretty cool story in their first season in the Champo having only been promoted from League Two a season ago and having been a Conference team as recently as 2009.
Burton are doing okay this season, sitting near the bottom as they adjust to the new level but with enough points to where a few good weeks would send them vaulting upwards. You know, like Leeds have done recently. So no surprise that Burton came to town with plenty of scrappy intent and it was probably fair to say they had the better chances in the first half. There was one cross from Kemar Roofe that nearly picked out Wood but no go. A few dangerous corners swinging in as well, then Wood opened things up with a flick-on header for Pablo Hernandez, who couldn’t get past the keeper one-on-one.
But, yeah, Burton were just as dangerous and every bit likely to score. Pontus Jansson made a couple superb defensive contributions. That dude was an undercover masterclass of a signing. Then there was Hadi Sacko at the other end not squaring a ball to Wood that the kiwi was yelling for and then right at the end of the half it took an extra coating of paint on the crossbar to keep the game level, Leeds getting lucky there as Kyle Bartley nearly nodded one into his own net.
Leeds picked it up a bit more in the second, Roofe with a couple fine efforts, as did Hernandez. With both teams fancying a win, it got pretty frenetic and that paid off in the home team’s favour as a nice little passing move shallow in Burton territory saw a first time lay-off from Wood coming back to be an option out to Hernandez drifting wide and his first time ball found Souleymane Doukara tearing inwards in all kinds of space. As he cut back, Ben Turner cleaned him out and the ref pointed to the spot. Up stepped Chris Wood…
Boom. Seven minutes to play and Leeds finally had the lead. That didn’t quite mean the win however. Burton threw everything at an equaliser and might have had it deep into injury time with a free kick right on the edge of the box. To save a hysterical description, three diving blocks later and Wood was hooning down the wing on the break and swinging in a ball to Doukara who took it all the way to the box, possibly fouled as he looked to finish but bundling it in anyway for the 97th minute sealer. 2-0 to Leeds, really good from Wood as well. 70% passing success is not something he usually relies upon, he could have had more too if a couple crosses had gone his way.
For the record, Wood scored 12 goals last season. He has 10 in 18 games across all comps this time.
Nigel Redfearn, to BBC Yorkshire: “To get double figures at this point of the season is a fantastic achievement. He just has to keep plugging away and he has his next target now - 20 goals. This could be his best season for goals in his career I would have thought.”
Chris Wood (to LeedsUnited.com): “We have a lot of character in this dressing room and the team and we have to show that every week. Every side wanting to do well in competitions and in the league needs that and things are going well at the moment. We have strived for consistency this season, it was always going to be a slow start with the changes and the new players needing time to gel, but it is coming together now.”
Crazy thing is, Leeds are now only a point out of the playoff spots.
Up Next: Norwich vs Leeds, 4.00am Sunday (NZT)
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
Chris Wood got to lead off this week, since he scored a couple goals. Winston had a fairly eventful week himself, though. Two games, two contrasting results. First off he also had a League Cup match to brag about when WHU hosted Chelsea in a tense London derby.
Winston Reid started in what’s now their regular back three, with Edmilson Fernandes getting another go at right wing back after going good on debut against Sunderland. But it was Winston’s partner at the back, Cheik Kouyate, who shone through early in this one, powering a wonderful header past Asmir Begovic 11 minutes into the game and giving West Ham a lead to play with. Kouyate rose above a very rusty John Terry to make it happen.
Chelsea had given a few youngsters a run, to be fair. Yet it’d also be fair to say it wasn’t the likes of Nathaniel Chalobah or Ola Aina who were off their game here, instead it was more the senior players that let things down and Reid and company comfortably dealt with Michy Batshuayi’s threat all day. And then they went and made it 2-0 when Fernandes scored soon after HT.
Antonio Conte responded by bringing on Diego Costa. Then on came Eden Hazard. And then Pedro. The Blues were way more threatening now with the big boys on and chasing the game, though WHU still held firm – even as Hazard was begging for a penalty as he went down under pressure from Winston. They wouldn’t be broken until the final minute, Gary Cahill the scorer, but it was too late and onwards they go into the quarters at the end of November when they’ll travel to Old Trafford to play Manchester United. Yeah, that’ll do.
It’s almost enough to make the London Stadium feel like home… or it would have been had fans not been brawling in the stands, ripping up chairs and causing havoc. A shame, it was a really entertaining game and a great result for the Hammers.
Slaven Bilic: “I can't say we were perfect but we had a plan and the guys executed it in a great way. We were good in defending as a unit. We were really good in keeping the ball and stretching them and playing wide. In the first half it was great and I think we deserved to be more than one up.”
There was one frustration (on the pitch). This from the Telegraph: “Costa created one good chance for Willian but also missed the chances that came his way, standing on the ball on one occasion – a moment that bizarrely convinced referee Pawson to book Winston Reid.”
That yellow left him one away from a domestic ban.
Next up came the visit to Everton, against whom West Ham hadn’t been able to keep a clean sheet for 16 games before this one. Plus Romelu Lukaku had scored in all eight games he’s played for the Toffees against the Hammers. Winston will have seen more than a little of that, probably marking him in most of those games.
For the first 45 the Hammers had them pretty well where they wanted them. Antonio was close to tapping in a Payet cross, before Obiang fired way over with the goal in sight but a couple defenders sliding in. So Payet took things into his own hands to draw a good save out of Joel Robles. Mate, and that was all in the first quarter of an hour.
As the game went on, Everton grew more and more into it. A few teasing shots, a couple of scary moments. Mark Noble almost gave away a spottie for a handball while Lukaku scuffed a touch with the goal at his mercy if he could only turn. The defence had stepped up but Kouyate didn’t follow, leaving Lukaku wide open and onside. Phew. Adrian then made a top save to deny Ross Barkley after he’d sent Winston sliding with a drop of the shoulder. Also this happened:
But after the break, the game swung firmly when Romelu Lukaku did his usual thing and scored against West Ham. Not that he could miss from there, Adrian palming away Seamus Coleman’s shot and Yannick Bolasie beating Reid to the loose ball to square to a wide-open Lukaku.
WHU did have their chances to equalise. Payet continued to create and Antonio probably could have done better on Ashley Williams a few times. Noble curled one towards goal that was slapped away too. But with 15 left, Lukaku spotted up Ogbonna and whipped one across to Barkley (whose switch to Big Rom had started it all) at the far post. 2-0. That’s the way it ended.
On another day, West Ham would have been more clinical and it would have been a different story. Instead Everton’s clinical attack and ability to pull it off at speed was too much and although there were hints of trouble and a few lucky moments in the first half, it was fairly dramatic how much worse the West Ham defence got in the 2H. Reid was caught slacking just a tad for the first goal and Ogbonna looked too passive on Lukaku for the second. Lapses in key areas at both ends of the park, that’s what it was.
The Guardian: “Reid had controlled Lukaku impressively in the first half but their role reversal was instrumental in deciding the outcome in the second.”
Winston did put up a few figures for the statfolk to look at, a couple tackles and interceptions, six clearances, two blocks and a couple fouls (balanced out by winning five free kicks himself). But this was a disappointing game for him – summed up in the 67th minute when he was booked for handball, meaning he misses the game against Stoke next weekend.
Slaven Bilic: “While you are always not happy after a defeat, I am more disappointed because we could have taken something from this game. I'm not saying that they didn't deserve it, because they were more mature, but we should have done better. They were more lethal and more cruel when they were offered something from us. We didn't capitalise on our chances”
Up Next: Hammers vs Stoke, 4.00am Sunday (NZT)
Bill Tuiloma – Olympique de Marseille (French Ligue 1)
Oh sweet as, check this out:
Billy T is back in action. Nothing special here, but he did play all 90 minutes against Marignane Gignac in a 2-1 win. They needed it too because the CFA team were – and read into this what you will – without a win in any of the four games since Tui got injured. Looks like they had him in the middle of a 4-3-3 midfield. Good to see. As for the top team, they drew 0-0 at home against Bordeaux after beating Clement Foot 2-1 in the Coupe de la Ligue a few days prior.
Up Next: OM away at Montpellier, Saturday 8.45am (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
They may still only be four points off last place but the PECers are also up to tenth and the reason being a 3-1 win over the wonderfully (but in this case inaccurately) named Go Ahead Eagles. Having made a return off the bench last time, Thommo was asked to play the same role here although he was into things a lot sooner than expected.
Not as soon as Queensy Menig gave Zwolle the lead though. This was a derby game too, so things really couldn’t have started any better than having Menig get on the end of a long ball and chip the keeper for the lead within two minutes. Thomas was introduced quarter of an hour later with Youness Mokhtar subbed off injured, however by half time it was 1-1, Sander Fischer scoring and defying gravity at the same time.
Eventually Zwolle reclaimed the lead. Mustafa Saymak had too much space and he scored a beautiful goal. The result was made certain in the 89th minute as Fischer was sent off for a last man tackle and Danny Holla took the free kick, curling it into the goal. 3-1 the final score. Having played 72 minutes, Thomas got plenty of touches, drawing a save with his only shot and passing it around nicely. This game followed a 2-1 KNVB Cup win against VVV-Venlo three days earlier, in which Thommo played 45 minute, coming on with the game at 1-0.
Up Next: Home to Ivan Vicelich's old side, Roda JC, at 6.45am Sunday (NZT)
Jeremy Brockie & Michael Boxall – SuperSport United (South African Premier Soccer League)
Things are starting to really come right for SSU as well. A win over Ajax Cape Town makes it six games unbeaten in the league and rises them all the way to third. Alright!
What’s more is that it was Jeremy Brockie who scored the first one against ACT, slotting from the penalty spot very early in the first half – which is helpful given he only got off the mark for the season in the previous game. He could have had another one too with a bit of luck but a thumping volley came back off the post an hour in. Instead it was Reneilwe Letsholonyane who made sure of proceedings with an injury time goal to make it 2-0.
Ajax only sacked their coach the other day, so they weren’t expected to put too much of a fight up though SuperSport ended up needing the odd moment of brilliance from keeper Ronwen Williams to avoid falling behind in the first half. Brockie was subbed off with five minutes still to be burnt while Mickey Boxall played the whole thing, getting a yellow card late in the first stanza.
Up Next: SSU vs Orlando Pirates, 6.30 on Weds (NZT)