ATK had an important clash at home against league leaders FC Goa in the 13th matchweek of 2019-20 Indian Super League.
Fijian forward Roy Krishna played an important role in the match by providing two assists from the right side of the field in the second half to lead his team to an important 2-0 win. You can check the highlights by clicking here. Krishna has now four assists in the league.
ATK now share the lead with FC Goa. Both teams have 24 points. Check the ladder below:
Now only official matches await Galaxy; their last friendly match was played against Erakor Golden Star at Korman Stadium in order to prepare for the upcoming VFF National League Championship and so on for the OFC Champions League to be played next month. The new tournament raised by VFF will feature the two Ni-Vanuatu sides – Galaxy and Malampa Revivors – that will compete at the regional tournament to assist their preparations for their most important challenge of the year.
Erakor Golden Star picked the best players they could to give fight to Galaxy FC and they really made the things hard for the current Port Vila Top Four champions. Players as Tony Kaltack, Jason Thomas, Azariah Soromon and John Alick boosted the squad of Erakor for this friendly match in particular.
The match started in a bad way for the team coached by Batram Suri and Moise Poida, since the striker Tony Kaltack scored for Erakor in the first half.
But in the second half the things changed in favour of Galaxy: in the late minutes of the game the team could equalize to an unfortunate own goal from Erakor defensive line. The four minutes of additional time gave the chance for Galaxy to pursue a winner and it came through the effort of the English striker, that scored the second goal of the team and gave the win for his side in this friendly match.
Galaxy is grouped with Hekari United (PNG), Hienghène Sport (NCL) and Eastern Suburbs (NZL) in the Group A of 2020 OFC Champions League to be played in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. This will be the first appearence of the team created in 2014, they will be looking to use the VFF National League Championship as a preparation tournament for the OFC Champions League.
After a heartbreaking defeat at home against Kerala Blasters by 1-0 in their previous match, Roy Krishna will hope to lead his club ATK to another victory in the Indian Super League. Krishna, that captained ATK in their previous matches, does not score for three matches in a row. The Fijian already scored eight in the season for his club in India, but lost the first place in the run for the golden boot in the most important football league of South Asia due his lack of goals in the last games.
ATK needs Krishna goals to be back to the top of ISL table, which they are currently three points away. But on this Saturday they will have a golden chance to be close to the top once again: they will be playing at home the current leaders of the league Goa FC. If Krishna and his teammates can deliver a good performance and win the match, they will be tied up with Goa in the first place of the competition.
ATK will enter the pitch to play Goa at 2am Fijian time, this Saturday (18/01).
The great momentum of Wellington Phoenix came to an end after they were beaten by 1-0 at SunCorp Stadium by Brisbane Roar. The unique goal of the match from Dylan Wenzel-Halls was enough to give Roar a hard fought victory in a match they counted with luck to beat the Wellington Phoenix.
Phoenix played a very good first half; Davila created important chances for the team, but they were all wasted. Jaushua Sotirio and Steven Taylor were unlucky to see their finishes hit the woodwork – Phoenix controlled the actions in the first 45 minutes, but could not open the scoreline.
Brisbane came stronger in the second half and forced the goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic to make impressive stops. David Ball came from the bench after recovering from an injury but the super sub of the night was not the Englishman, but yes Dylan Wenzel-Halls: the Australian needed nearly one minute in the pitch after replacing Rahmat Akbari to make a fantastic goal after nutmegging Taylor and hitting a strong finish that Marinovic was not able to stop.
After pulling ahead into the scoresheet, Robbie Fowler decided to choose for a more defensive formation in order to secure the 1-0 scoreline: it proved a fair decision since his team could maintain the lead until the last whistle. Despite suffering and counting with a very good performance of their goalkeeper Jamie Young between the sticks, Roar capitalized a very important for their aspirations in the season, sitting now 7th in the run. Gary Hooper had a superb chance to level the scoreline, but his touch was not strong enough to find the low corner – Ben Waine could have touched it to the goal, but unfortunately the young striker could reach the ball in time.
The bad news for Phoenix is that they will not be counting with the German midfielder Matti Steinmann in their next clash in the league since the player picked up his fifth yellow card in the season. There is also some doubts regarging the teenager Liberato Cacace that was subbed in the 89th minute by Sam Sutton due an injury – despite not seeing so serious, it is always a concern for the fans when it comes to a very important player as Cacace.
Despite losing for the first time in 10 matches in the league, Phoenix continues in a good position in the ladder still sitting in the 4th position. The team coached by Ufuk Talay will be back home to face Newcastle Jets next Friday at Sky Stadium hoping from a fast recovery from this away defeat.
The moment for Wellington Phoenix is fantastic in the A-League; the New Zealand club will have the opportunity to increase their 9-game streak without a defeat to ten if they grab a positive result against Brisbane Roars away from home at SunCorp Stadium – if they do so, this will be the record for the maximum of matches without a defeat for the club in the top-tier of football in Australia and they will prove 2019/20 season the Nix can do big to represent Oceania in A-League.
The good news for Phoenix is that their striker David Ball will be available to play for the team this weekend after missing their previous game after a muscle injury. The player can be option to add more firepower to the great attack of Wellington led by Mexican star Ulises Davila.
Phoenix will hope to count with the quality of players as Gary Hooper and Liberato Cacace to overcome an inconsistent Brisbane Roar, that despite being only 9th in the season so far they do not lose a match in their previous three games.
Phoenix will need to take care with the Roar number 10 Brad Inman who scored twice last weekend against Melbourne City and can upset the possibilites to continue the non-losing streak for the Wellington-based club.
The match can be watched at SkySport and also in the YouTube channel of MyFootball for foreigner fans.
The most important football league in the region reaches its tenth round; Auckland City continues three points clear Team Wellington in the leadership of the table, both sides are now separated from all other eight clubs in the league as Team Wellington now have a 6-point margin from the 3rd placed side Hawke’s Bay United.
Tasman will hope to continue their good run in the season as they host Southern United in Blenheim at the beautiful Lansdowne Park. Tasman expects a lot of support from the home crowd to achieve for the first in the season two wins a row, as they won Eastern Suburbs in Nelson by 2-0 in the previous round.
Southern will hope to be back to their winning days after a hard fought draw away from home against Wellington Phoenix Reserves, with a late equalizer coming from Andrew Cromb.
Auckland City might not have an easy challenge as they face the 3rd placed side currently in the ladder Hawke’s Bay United. After two draws, the team came strong against Waitakere United and recorded an emphatic 6-2 victory over the city rivals. Myer Bevan scored again and tops the goalscoring lists with 10 in the season.
Hawke’s Bay hopes to recover rapidly after a harsh defeat in Wellington against the 2nd placed Team Wellington at David Farrington Park. The club saw a good streak broken in their first match of the year and hopes to grab points in a match that tends to be very hard for them in Auckland.
Waitakere United started very well the season, but in the current moment the team has dropped many points and only sits 9th in the table. Their harsh defeat against the rivals Auckland City put them back to the bottom of the table and they will really need a good game against Wellington Phoenix Reserves in Wellington to be back in contention. If there was something good for Waitakere it was the goal scored by the young striker Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit – his first in ISPS Handa Premiership.
Wellington Phoenix Reserves played a 1-1 draw against Southern in Sky Stadium in the previous week and hopes to grab more points when they enter the pitch to take on Waitakere this Sunday.
Canterbury United had their worst 10 minutes of the season against Hamilton Wanderers: they came from 1-0 to a 1-3 rapidly and lost all points playing at home, despite pulling upfront in the scoreboard through a goal from George King.
Eastern Suburbs will travel to Christchurch to face the Dragons and both sides will be desperate to recover from their defeats in the previous round; Suburbs was also beaten away from home against Tasman United and sits now only 6th in the table.
Hamilton Wanderers have much to celebrate as they entered the top four and won in fashion Canterbury in Christchurch. Semmy brace was instrumental for the recovery in the scoreboard in the final moments of the encounter. The team that started very bad the season is now completely recovered and balanced to pursue their goals in the season.
Team Wellington travels to Hamilton and will have certainly a very hard match in front of the opposition crowd and of an inspired duo Semmy & Tieku. TeeDubs need a win if they want to keep in the race for the first place in the standings with Auckland City and they know they will the likes of Hamish Watson and Jack Henry-Sinclair if they want to beat the Wanderers in this round.
You can check the updated standings, top goalscoers and full results of the season so far by clicking here and visiting our session of New Zealand football in Oceania Football Center.
Nigerian player Kenneth Kerewi is back to Lupe o le Soaga. The 37 years old midfielder is joining the Samoan club to play the 2020 OFC Champions League preliminary round that will be played in New Zealand later this month.
Kerewi adds lots of experience in the Lupe’s midfield. He recently played for Manurewa AFC in New Zealand and he also played for FC Savusavu NZ in the 2019 NZFFI IDC Cup.
He played for Lupe in 2018 helping his team to reach the group stage after winning two matches in the preliminary round. He also played OFC Champions League for Utulei Youth in 2017 and for Kiwi in 2019.
The sixth episode of Islanders Observer has arrived! Oceania Football Center keep talking about the foreign islanders that are playing in 2019-20 ISPS Handa Permiership, the top national football league in Oceania. Now it is time to talk about a Papua New Guinean defender that is living a great season in New Zealand: Aaron Spain.
Spain is playing his first season for Team Wellington after spending many years playing for Canterbury United. He was in the bench in the opening match against Hamilton Wanderers and he was not called up for the second match against Auckland City. However he found his space in the squad and he had his first opportunity to play as a starter in the third week against Wellington Phoenix Reserves.
He had an outstanding performance against WeeNix Reserves and he was named for ISPS Handa Premiership “Team of the Week 3”. He has not left the starting eleven since that week and he was named for the Team of the Week for two more times: in the 8th and 9th matchweeks.
Spain could be a great addition for Papua New Guinea National Soccer Team to play 2020 OFC Nations Cup that will be held in New Zealand in June.
Papua New Guinean club Hekari United signed with two Brazilian players for 2020 OFC Champions League but their profiles were unknown until now. Oceania Football Center tell all you need to know about them.
Erick Joe Ribeiro Moreira Lopes is a 23 years old central back. He played at youth level for Vitória and Confiança. He also have professional experience at the São Paulo State League’s fourth tier by playing for União Mogi. He is a tall (1.90m) player that can add good aerial power to Hekari.
Vínicius Reis Kryzozun, also called Alemão (it means “German” in Portuguese) is a 24 years old left-footed attacking midfielder. He played at youth level for Criciúma and Ponte Preta, two teams that recently played in Série A, the top tier of Brazilian football. He also has some experience at the State Leagues and according to reports he last played for Uberaba SC, in the second tier of Minas Gerais State League.
It was previously reported that Hekari United would sign with a Portuguese player too but he is not coming to Papua New Guinea anymore. Both Brazilian players are expected to arrive in Papua New Guinea in the next upcoming days. Hekari also signed with Samoan player Vito Laloata. Oceania Football Center wish good luck to both players.
Maritzburg United won AmaZulu FC by 1-0 in the 19th matchweek of ABSA Premiership, the top tier of South African football. Solomon Islander Micah Lea’alafa did not take part of the team for the second straight match.
His last appearence was on January 8 against SuperSport United. Lea’alafa was in Maritzburg’s starting eleven but he was subbed off in the 38th minute due to technical reasons. It seems that Micah is not impressing head coach Eric Tinkler.
New Zealander defender Daniel Morgan played 90 minutes while his countryman Jeremy Brockie was not called for this match.
Oceania Football Center