Scores
Hamilton Academical 1 – 2 Ross County
An early own goal presaged gloom for the Staggies. But newcomer Jordan White’s goal and assist within the last 10 minutes saw the Stags to a big relegation zone 6 point win. (Worth noting that assist was a particularly blistering cross to the exact right spot in the box)
TRAU 0 – 2 Punjab FC
Apparently all it took to get Chencho Gyeltshen to score was a passive aggressive blog mention. His brace reflected how well he can capitalize on opportunities that appear. More impressively Punjab’s young defense has allowed one goal in the last four games and boosted the team to third on the table. (At times they seemed unsettled by TRAU but Kiran Limbu couldn’t be shaken, and sometimes that’s all it takes to keep a goalless streak in tact).
Legon Cities 0 – 0 Karela United
The offense might have vanished on the Royals again, but a draw against the league’s top team is never a bad result.
Valenciennes 0 – 1 Grenoble Foot [M]
Don’t look now, but Brice Mableu’s spot between the sticks for Grenoble may be in jeopardy. Esteban Salles turned in another man of the match performance. That plus a late own goal (on an unstoppable half volley) kept Grenoble close to promotion.
Vendados 2 – 2 Alebrijes
Oaxaca kept plugging away after they fell behind on a corner kick inside of 9 minutes. While that normally presages a long night for the team, this time they kept calm and notched two much needed goals in the second half: starting with a long chip to capitalize on an adventurous keeper, and a final goal on a blistering header.
FK Radnik Surdulica 1 – 1 FK Vozdovac
Serbia swung back into action and showed exactly they’re tied with Surdulica in the table, by tying them on the field. An uncharacteristic lapse from keeper Miloje Prekovic put the dragons behind . But the teams remained as contentious and aggressive as you’d expect from Serbia (a few particular forearms to the face stood out). The late equalizer came from Luka Cveticanin on a staggering top shelf volley, marking his first strike for the Red Dragons.
Freiburg 2 – 1 Dortumund [M]
Even in a down year, a match against the bright young stars of Dortmund is intimidating (all the more so because they hadn’t been Dortmund in 10 years). But Freiburg was capable of keeping pace throughout, and Vincenzo Grifo again showcased his skills to further his case for joining the Italian national team in World and European Cups in the coming months. Add to that Woo-Yeong Jeong continuing to come into his own and you have a very promising start to the end of the season.
Ross County 0 – 2 Dundee United
After Billy McKay and a Jordan White won the match on Wednesday, they got a chance to start against Dundee. Unfortunately, neither found the same rhythm and the day ended with disappointment.
Hearts of Oak 1 – 1 Legon Cities
An early goal for Jonah Attaquye, capitalizing on a flustered defense, gave the Capital City upstarts a promising start. One they held on to for most of the match despite Hearts of Oak’s near relentless pressure. Again and again Winfried Honu stood up to the onslaught, with several outstretched saves. A late equalizer (also against a flustered defense) stymied a solid effort.
Werder Bremen v. Freiburg [F]
A blustery day in Bremen ended with a postponed match.
Indian Arrows 1 – 2 Punjab FC
Punjab’s second straight win comes from the feet of Baba Diawara. The Senagalese striker provided the attacking muster to give Chencho Gyeltshen a day off. Though the defense finally ceded their second goal in 5 games. Kiran Limbu continued to look quite formidable throughout.
Alebrijes de Oaxaca 3 – 1 Pumas Tabasco
Alebrijes continues a strong turn around during the spring campaign. Most of the switch has revolved around a greater effectiveness in the box and nobody was more effective in this match than Julio Cesar Cruz who was opportunistic, effective on set pieces and just great one-on-one.
News & Notes
Griz get a go in the big house
The University of Montana has had to make do with some lousy circumstances this year. But training as a team in the U’s biggest stadium isn’t one of them. Here’s hoping for a Big Sky battle in Washington-Grizzly some time soon.
Vozdovac is Bac
The red Dragons kick off felt much less nerve racking than last year as the team nosedived towards relegation. A mid table finish is quite likely this year so hopes for further improvement rest on newcomers seeking to establish themselves.
Over the winter the team let go two strong first half performers in defensive midfielder Marko Putincanin (off to Navbahor) and winger Milos Pantovic (back to Red Star’s youth team). The two accounted for 25% of the teams fall season goals, so replacing them is key.
Their boots will be filled by two returning loanees midfielder Stefan Purtic (22) and forward Lazar Popovic (19 and my new favorite Serbian name). The team also brought in A pair of left backs (Red Star sub Stefan Hajdin, and Macva talent Nikola Ducic) and a returning hero Aleksandar Stanisavljevic (who trotted out for the Kazakh league Europa contenders).
Minnesota Black, and Blue, and Open for Business
There will be soccer in the US this summer. There are fancy shmancy business reasons, I don’t really understand them. My big take away is: hopefully we can go back to games this summer.
Player of the Week
There’s a lot of great performances to choose from and both Esteban Salles and Winifried Honsu have stepped up massively, but the decisive factor has to be that Kiran Limbu helped lead Punjab to two wins and a massive boost up the table. For that, he gets the nod as this week’s player of the week.
Standings Update
Freiburg takes their lead right back with the streak snapping victory while Punjab’s great week and Grenoble’s consistency shrink the top four. Ross County stays off the bottom thanks to Vozdovac’s debut.
| Team | W | D | L | PPG | GFA | GAA |
| SC Freiburg | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 1.4 |
| Grenoble Foot 38 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
| Legon Cities FC | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1.57 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
| Punjab FC | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1.57 | 1.1 | 0.7 |
| Alebrijes | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.4 |
| Ross County | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.9 |
| FK Vozdovac | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Rosenborg BK | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Minnesota United | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Emelec | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Vozdovac FK | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – |
| University of Montana | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – |
What’s Next
Wednesday, February 10th
7:45 Grenoble V. AS Monaco [Cup]
Thursday, February 11th
Friday, February 12th
Saturday, February 13th
4:35 Punjab FC v. Chennai City
6:30 FK Vozdovac v. Indjija
8:30 Werder Bremen v. Freiburg [M]
9:00 Legon Cities v. King Faisal
9:00 Ross County v. Hibernian
12:00 Grenoble v. Amiens [M]
Sunday, February 14th
7:00 Freiburg v. SC Sand [F]
MacKenzie's Boot Room 