There Goes the Triple

Man City unceremoniously dumped Newcastle out of another competition with a 3-1 win in their FA Cup 5th round match.  That leaves Champions League and the EPL!  Not a great week for English sides in Europe.

Fifth Time Was Not A Charm

Him again? Two from Marmoush ends Newcastle's FA Cup plans
Scott Heppell/Reuters

Newcastle lost to Man City for the fourth time since January 13th of this year.  This time it was 3-1 in the 5th Round of the FA Cup.  Things started out well and for 25 minutes Newcastle were the better side, holding a 1-0 on a nice shot from Harvey Barnes.  Then it was like the visitors woke up and said "Hey we're Man City and you're not."  Downhill from there, although it did take a little while for the goals to pour in.  By 65 minutes it was 3-1 and clear that the Magpies were outclassed.  Two came from Marmoush, who had a hat trick against Newcastle back in February 2025.

Wrexham Spoiler Alert

Do not read on if you want to be surprised when you watch the fifth season of Welcome to Wrexham.  There's talk that this is already an FA Cup Classic.  Wrexham scored first but then saw one of the ownest own goals of all-time (seen here).  Clearing the ball of the line to save a goal, it hit keeper Okonkwo and went straight back into the net.  Chelsea's second goal was legit.  Not giving up, Wrexham scored late and we were set for extra time.  Except minutes before the whistle for regular time, Wrexham's Dobson got a straight red, which meant they would play down a man in extra time.  Chelsea took advantage scoring at 96 minutes.  Seeming to rescue a PK shootout from the jaws of defeat Wrexham scored late in the second extra time period.  Alas, Brunt was fractionally offside; to make it even crueler, it's possible the ball was going into the goal without Brunt's touch (judge for yourself here).  Chelsea added another in stoppage time to make the margin look healthier but the 4-2 final understates how close a match this was.  

Minnows Acquitting Themselves Very Nicely Thank You

Three upsets in this round, though two really can't be considered shockers.  West Ham over Brentford, especially on PKs, isn't a big stretch.  Southampton, 8th in the Championship Division (2nd tier), aren't really a minnow either but it was a mild upset for them to beat Fulham 1-0.  Port Vale on the other hand, sitting in last place in League Two (4th tier) is definitely a minnow and their upset of Sunderland is a big deal. 

Wrexham certainly played well enough in a losing cause.  So did third tier Mansfield, who gave Arsenal fits in a 1-2 loss.  Wolves (3-0 loss to Liverpool), Norwich (3-0 defeat at Leeds) and Newcastle were the underdogs that did not fare well.

Quarter final matchups are Man City - Liverpool, Chelsea - Port Vale, Southampton - Arsenal and West Ham - Leeds.

We're Not In Kansas England Anymore

EPL sides mostly took it on the chin on the continent this week in the various European competitions.  Liverpool lost in Turkiye 0-1 to Galatasaray but that tie might not be irretrievable.  The prospects are not so rosy for Man City (loss at Real Madrid 0-3), Chelsea (shredded at PSG 2-5) and Spurs (also 5-2 losers away to Atleti).  Sure they're heading back home for the second leg but three goal deficits are tough.

Harvey Barnes gives Newcastle a 1-0 lead
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Newcastle had a decent day though it could have been better.  They went toe-to-toe with Barcelona at St. James' Park and were seconds away from taking a 1-0 to Spain.  Alas, Thiaw got deked by Dani Olmo in the box and the Newcastle defender stuck out his leg for a foul.  Yamal converted the PK so they head to Spain level.

Arsenal could also only manage a 1-1 draw with Leverkusen but that one is headed back to London so the Gunners' prospects aren't all that bad.

Aston Villa were the only English side to come away with a win, a narrow 1-0 victory over LOSC on the road.  The Villans played well enough though they would do well to get more shots on target; they took nine but only Watkins' game winning header was on target.  Still, Watkins scoring and McGinn back might mean an end to the slump.

Completing the mostly futile English effort, Nottingham Forest lost to Midttjylland (the t is silent) 0-1 at home in Europa Cup action and Crystal Palace worked a 0-0 draw with AEK Lamaca.  Given those second legs are on the road, not looking great for those two sides.

Do You Know The Way To Score On San Jose (apologies to Dionne Warwick)

I did not get to see the 0-1 loss at Subaru Park and may be better for it.  The stats say the U maybe deserved a draw.  Shots were 13/7, shots on target 3/3 and xG 1.4/.8, all favor the Union.  They did finish with 11 men on the field, a first in league play this year.  They are however pointless through three matches.  

Also didn't get to see the Concacaf Champions Cup match against Club America but the 0-1 loss at home reads like more of the same.  This time they didn't manage a shot on target.  Also looks like a scrappy contest with 31 fouls and four yellows (17 and 3 of those were the Union's).  Heading to Mexico for the second leg down 0-1 with an anemic offense does not sound like the recipe for advancing to the quarterfinals.

Making Chelsea Look Like Choir Boys

Our Monterey correspondent Greg M sends along this tale of cup match in Brazil that ended with 23 red cards.  No one was actually sent off as the red cards were issued post match (which was abandoned early).  My favorite part is that several of the players blame the referee.

Speaking of Chelsea players behaving badly, check out this week's YouTubeableMoment in which Pedro Neto pushes the ball boy in their Champions League match at PSG.  Neto wasn't sanctioned in at the time but is facing at least a one game ban.  Now, can we talk about the shithousery displayed by the ball boy?  First, note that he was intentionally trying to keep Neto from getting the ball and taking the throw.  Even more comical, notice that the ball boy grabs his face after the shove, even though Neto came nowhere near his face.  It's impossible not to be cynical.

Busy Again

Week 30 has some interesting match-ups.  I'll include Chelsea - Newcastle (1:30 Saturday - oh yeah we went to DST before England) in that list even though I'm skeptical that the Magpies can get a result there.  Our best chance is for Chelsea to get a man sent off; Opta agrees, having Chelsea  favored 55/22.

Marquee match of the weekend is Man United - Aston Villa (10 am Sunday).  They are level on points with United having the tiebreaker that puts them third in the table.  Villa's recent run of form leaves me less than confident even though this has been a side that is rarely out of a match.  Opta is less optimistic; they have it 44/29 favor United.  

Is this the weekend Spurs fall into the relegation zone?  Probably not, even though they face Liverpool at Anfield (Sunday 12:30).  That's because West Ham get Man City (Saturday at 4 pm) so the Hammers aren't likely to get any points either.  But Spurs could fall to 17th, as Nottingham Forest have Fulham (Sunday at 10) at home so they have a decent shot at getting a point or three.

Filling out the schedule, Saturday is a sleep late day if you want with the first matches at 11 am.  You can go with Burnley - Bournemouth or Sunderland - Brighton; we recommend the latter.  Competing with Chelsea - Newcastle in the Saturday 1:30 slot is Arsenal - Everton.  Sunday at 10 you can go with Crystal Palace - Leeds if the Man United -Aston Villa match doesn't thrill you.  The match week closes Monday at 4 with Brentford hosting Wolves.

Mid-week we have the second leg of last week's European fixtures.  Some of these look irretrievable for the EPL sides but most of the reverse fixtures are home matches so maybe there's a chance.

Two matches for the Union.  Saturday at 3 pm they take on pointless Atlanta, a side that is actually below them in the table. Goal differential makes that possible with the Union at -3 (1/4) to Atlanta's -5 (2/7).  Atlanta must be really bad because Opta has that one at 47/29 favor the Union even though it's road game.  Wednesday night they have the second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup vs Club America at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.  

 

Poo-aah

Andy Walker, color commentator for Peacock and others, turns "poor" into a two-syllable word pronounced something like "poo-aah."  And he used it a lot in describing Newcastle's performance against Everton.  And it applied to many other sides as well.  

Newcastle did make a bit of a recovery mid-week; others not so much.

Too many results coinciding with an uptick in work.  Yes, that sounds like an issue of priorities. I'll do what I can.

Shades of Mediocrity (apologies to Simon and Garfunkel)

An apt description of Newcastle's performance in a 3-2 loss to Everton.  Yes, it was great they came back from 0-1 and 1-2 deficits and that they pretty much dominated the second half.  Then you realize both goals came on massive deflections, they stumbled through the first half and despite getting off 16 shots, they managed an xG of only 1.0.  As in, their finishing remains very poo-ah.  Pope's howler that allowed Everton's second goal was pretty bad too.  But the hardest thing to take is that Everton's second and third goals came just two minutes and one minute after netting the equalizers.  For a side that used to be solid defensively, that just isn't good enough.

Will Osula: Danish treat for Newcastle
Photo: Adam Vaughn/EPA

All of this makes the mid-week 2-1 win over Man United hard to explain.  I missed the most of the first
half but got a sense that the Magpies had the run of play to the point. I tuned in just in time to see Aaron Ramsey get a second yellow for simulation and an early exit.  Demonstrating some resiliency, they continued to attack and Gordon won a PK which he neatly converted.  Alas, they allowed Casemiro an open header on Fernandes free kick just before the halftime whistle and we entered the second half with trepidation.  Surprisingly, it was Newcastle that remained the attacking side, to the point where Jon Champion had to observe "isn't this the period where Newcastle are supposed to be outplayed?"  This was a good back and forth contest despite the man disadvantage.  The draw was broken by an incredible solo effort by Will Osula, seen here as this week's YouTubeableMoment. We like it so much here's another view from right next to the goal. The three points were well-deserved.  Also, this is the first win Newcastle has ever gotten in an EPL match that Bruno Guimaraes didn't start.  

No Fun In Birmingham

Aston Villa more than matched Newcastle's mediocrity with two home defeats.  They were moribund in the absolutely lifeless 0-2 loss to Wolves.  There were better moments against Chelsea and they even had the lead for a time.  But four straight from the visitors left the Villans on the short end of a 1-4 score.   I speculated that the recent poo-ah run of form for Villa is a measure of John McGinn's true worth.  Dennis added that maybe Tielemann's value is also being revealed in this spell.

Wolves at least proved to be equal opportunity destroyers, handing a stoppage time set back to one of Villa's key competitors - Liverpool.  Game winning goal can be seen here. Wolves are making a move to avoid relegation but the phrase "too little too late" probably applies here.

And Then There's Burnley

Kayode Ugly: Michael after the first of his two own goals for Burnley

Down 3-0 to Brentford, the Clarets rallied to draw level (thanks in part to two own goals from Kayode!), scored the go-ahead goal only to see it ruled out for offside, then conceded the go-behind goal at 90+3.  In the cruelest twist, Burnley scored the equalizer at 90+7 but saw it ruled out for accidental handling.  They followed that up with a 2-0 midweek loss to Everton in which they managed two shots on target.  Wolves are getting closer while 17th just gets farther away.

Chelsea Recidivists

After noting last week that Chelsea had the worst disciplinary record in the EPL, the Blues added four more yellows and a red to their tally in a 2-1 loss to Arsenal.  Throw in two more yellows against Aston Villa and will likely extend their lead as the most undisciplined side.

Biggest New Manager Bounce Evah?

With a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday, Man United have garnered 19 out of 21 possible points since Michael Carrick took over and remained undefeated during his tenure at Old Trafford.  Of course, I wrote this before Newcastle's unlikely 2-1 win at Saint James' Park on Wednesday.  Still, a pretty good start for him.

New Manager Thud?

Spurs on the other hand are waiting for any kind of bounce under Tudor.  They fell behind 2-0 to Fulham, got one back and looked in the running for an equalizer but came up short once again.  Home against Crystal Palace, they took a 1-0 lead, saw van de Ven sent off for DOGSO at 38 minutes and gave up three goals before halftime. Unthinkably, they are now just one point out of the relegation zone, though at the moment they have the tiebreaker against both West Ham and Nottingham Forest.  The home match versus Nottingham Forest on March 22nd looms massively large right now.

In Case I Missed It

I forgot to point out last week that all nine of the EPL sides advanced to the Round of 16 in their respective European competitions.  This includes Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Spurs in the Champions League, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest in the Europa Cup and Crystal Palace in Europa Conference League.  This should help their league coefficient and keep that fifth Champions League spot?

I Mentioned the Bisque

Jeff K and I attended the Union match versus NYCFC on Sunday, weather wasn't awful, we had the sausage sandwiches, yada, yada, yada.   The yada, yada, yada of course is that they lost 1-2 on a stoppage time goal.

We were correct in asking where the Union goals were going to come from.  Yes, they did manage to score against NYCFC but it was a PK (according to Dennis that was a soft call but made up for missed call earlier).  With limited replays at the stadium, Jeff K and I really couldn't be sure.  

It's early and the U have a history of slow starts.  Still, this side seems to have a lot of holes.  The depth at center back will be tested as Makhanya has to serve a one-game suspension for picking up two yellow cards Sunday afternoon.  With two red cards in two games, are we the Chelsea of the MLS?

FA Cup and European Competitions

No EPL as we have the 5th Round of the FA Cup on the weekend and the Rounds of 16 for Champions  League, Europa Cup, and Europa Conference League midweek.  This will be "fun" for Newcastle as they will face Man City on Saturday in the FA Cup and Barcelona on Tuesday in Champions League before returning to EPL action against Chelsea next Saturday.  

The full FA Cup fixture list is here.  Matches are mostly sequential if you want to catch all eight. Not so much with Champions League; fixtures are:

March 10

Galatasaray vs. Liverpool (1:45 p.m. ET, 5:45 p.m. GMT)
Atalanta vs. Bayern Munich (4 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. GMT)
Atlético Madrid vs. Tottenham (4 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. GMT)
Newcastle United vs. Barcelona (4 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. GMT)

March 11

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Arsenal (1:45 p.m. ET, 5:45 p.m. GMT)
Real Madrid vs. Man City (4 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. GMT)
Bodø/Glimt vs. Sporting CP (4 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. GMT)
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Chelsea (4 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. GMT)

We'll be focused on Newcastle but neutrals might go with Atleti - Spurs on Tuesday.  Probably Real Madrid - Man City on Wednesday.

Villa get LOSC on Thursday.

Just realized DST starts Sunday at 2 am.  Like I can really afford to lose an hour right now.

The Winter of Our Discontent

Still too much snow, feeling under the weather.  You know what that means?  Right, coverage a mile wide and an inch deep.

Still A Loss

Newcastle were in the match at Man City but you don't get any points for a 2-1 loss no matter how well you played.  I remember thinking that a second half equalizer was not out of the question but of course it never came.  Stats were pretty even.  If they play like this versus the rest of the league, they will get results.

Rescuing A Draw That Was Not In The Script

Aston Villa at home should be getting all three points against Leeds.  Instead they needed an 88th minute goal from Tammy Abraham to eke out a draw.  First and second place get further away.

Bad Boys

Chelsea got another red card and surrendered the tying goal at 90+3 in a 1-1 draw with Burnley.  As the table below shows, this was not an aberration.

Maybe They Need A Plantagenet

The Tudor Era at Spurs did not get off to a great start.  Though the final score of 4-1 may overstate the magnitude of the defeat, especially given that Spurs had a goal ruled out on a very soft foul and another ball saved off the line.  I believe the score was 3-1 at the time and if either had counted, the final 30 or so minutes could have been really interesting.  On the other hand, Arsenal generated 20 shots to Spurs 6.  There is a gap between these two sides right now.

Your Other Gomes

Quadruple sons of different mothers?

Wolves had an "interesting" day at Crystal Palace.  They had a missed PK late in the first half, then had Krejci sent off for two yellows in the space of three minutes.  Still they persevered and looked on the cusp of maybe grabbing a point.  Guessand ended that "dream" with a goal at 90 minutes.  

But we are more intrigued by the fact that the Wolves bench featured four Gomeses - midfield Joao, forward Rodrigo, defender Toti and midfielder Angel.  They might do better to stockpile Haalands.

Champions League Playoffs

Newcastle did well enough to close out a 9-3 aggregate win over Qarabag FK.  Surprise and drama in other parts though.  Bodo/Glimt surprised Inter with a 2-1 road win to take a 5-2 win on aggregate. Juventus came back from three down to tie Galatasaray, sending that one to extra time.  At that point, Juventus turned into the Tired Old Lady, yielding two in added 30 minutes.  Atalanta was hosting Dortmund, down 0-2 after the first leg.  They roared back to take a 3-2 early in the second half but Dortmund leveled things at 75 minutes.  With extra time looming, we had this week's YouTubeableMoment in the form of a creative but ultimately costly defensive move.  With the PK, Atalanta move on.

The draw for the Round of 16 is Friday.  We know that Newcastle will get either Chelsea or Barcelona.

Not The Defense You Think It Is

The fallout continues from last week's ugly scene in Lisbon between Vinicius Jr and Prestianni.  I must include a disclaimer that much of this is based on "reports" so maybe there is more to come.  With that said, it appears that Prestianni's claim is that his comment to Vini was emphatically not racist but "just" homophobic.  Oh, well okay then.  Except the sanctions for homophobic slurs are covered by same regulations and call for the same punishment (10 game ban).  Prestianni is now claiming that he was responding to Vini calling him a dwarf.  Well, that's not great either, though UEFA regulations don't appear to cover physical characteristics like height.

Where Are The Goals Going To Come From?

This is my first thought after watching the Union fall 1-0 at DC United.  With Baribo and Uhre gone, Quinn out until July at best and Wagner no longer here to put crosses on a platter, how does this team score?  I guess Alladoh does have a track record as a goal scorer.  However, to do that, he will need to keep himself on the pitch.  Kind of a confusing sight as he was sent off for what we could only surmise was foul language (confirmed by Annie Savoy).  Later we found out it was directed at the DC United player, not the referee, not that it makes any difference for the sanction.  Also, based on his reaction scoring the game's only goal, seen here, Baribo did not get the memo about the proper way to celebrate a goal versus your former club.

Didn't make much progress on the new roster names.  Will try to provide more info next week.

Cavan Sullivan had two goals and two assists vs Defence Force

I'm still sticking with my original question about where are the goals going to come from even after
the Union completed a 12-0 aggregate trouncing of Defence Force FC.  No offence intended, but this was not the caliber of club the U will be facing in MLS.  Tonight was a 7-0 rout in the second leg back at Subaru Park.  Goal scorers included Martinez, Lukic, Korzeniowski (2), Bender and Cavan Sullivan (2).  If I read the bracket correctly, the Union will face America in the Round of 16.

Double Dose of EPL

We get match weeks 28 and 29 spread over Friday to Thursday.

Don't miss the early start to the weekend, with Aston Villa traveling to Wolves for our favorite - Friday football at 3 pm.  Not sure that applies to Saturday's 7:30 fixture between Bournemouth and Sunderland, though these are two of Newcastle's main competitors for the staying in the top 10.

Three matches at 10 but no real choice for us with Newcastle hosting Everton.  Opta has the Magpies 56/21 (23% chance of draw) favorites but that seems highly optimistic to me.  It's also probably the best choice for neutrals over Liverpool v West Ham or Burnley - Brentford.  The feature 12:30 with Leeds hosting Man City does not hold much promise.

Sunday at 9 has three choices.  We'll likely go with the London derby between Fulham and Spurs; though it makes sense, it's still jarring to see Spurs a decided underdog here. Brighton - Nottingham Forest doesn't sound exciting and on paper Man United vs Crystal Palace at Old Trafford shouldn't be all that close.  The matchweek closes with another London derby that sounds better than it might be - Arsenal vs Chelsea.  Opta says Arsenal at 63%, Chelsea 17% and 20% chance of a draw.  Wow, that's a huge spread.

The full list of match week 29 fixtures is here. Unfortunately, two of the week's better matches are stacked on top of each other.  On Wednesday, Aston Villa host Chelsea in match fraught with Champions League implications.  That's at 2:30.  But Newcastle and Man United kick-off 45 minutes later.  That match is mostly fraught with danger for Newcastle but would be an important win in Man United's resurgence.  

The Union have their MLS home opener vs NYCFC at 4:30 on Sunday.  We will be there, health and weather willing.

FA Cup Potpourri

Not every match was awesome but there were plenty that had that certain "je ne sais quoi" which makes the FA Cup sometimes watchable.

Everybody Hates VAR Until They Don't

Newcastle and Aston Villa squared off in the toughest match of the fourth round.  VAR, or the lack thereof (it's not used until the 5th round), quickly became a talking point.  Villa got an early lead on a free kick lofted over the Newcastle defensive line to Tammy Abraham, who deftly trapped it and scored.  Real time I thought he was offside and replay confirmed that.  Not by a lot but enough that the AR should have gotten it right.  Oh well.  Flash forward to later in the half when Luca Digne makes a rash challenge on Jacob Murphy.  Kavanaugh immediately went with yellow which seemed okay real time.  The replay wasn't as kind.  Many think it should have been red and that VAR would definitely have upgraded the card.  I'm less convinced.  Sure, it left a mark on Murphy but that might just be because he uses shin guards the size of credit cards.  Anyway, the worst was yet to come.

Kavanaugh and his team's bad awful
day in three pictures

Newcastle started the second half with a man advantage thanks to a massive brain cramp by Villa keeper Bizot, who drew a straight red for DOGSO on Murphy.  The Magpies seized the initiative but without immediate results.  Then, Trippier sent a ball into the box which Digne promptly handled for a PK.  Well it should have been but neither Kavanaugh or his assistant believed the handling was in the box.  They are the only two in the world who saw it that way.  Martinez punched the free kick out to the top of the box where Tonali rifled a shot that took a massive deflection into the net.  So they got a goal anyway. You can see the whole thing here as this week's YouTubeableMoment; Jon Champion called it "natural justice" but for me it was the coolest version of "ball don't lie" I've ever seen.  Tonali later scored on another long shot and Woltemade added insurance for the 3-1 final.

The match inspired a lively should we/shouldn't we use VAR.  The pro VAR side would seem to have a clear upper hand based on this situation but the antis got some good shots in.  Sure there were some bad calls here but life went on and wasn't it great not to have those lengthy interventions.  Maybe, but its a lot easier to be all like "shit happens" when the bad calls did not prevent the correct team from advancing.  Not sure you'd be hearing as much support for ditching VAR if Newcastle hadn't moved on.  Further, while you could argue this stuff evens out over the course of the season that is not the case in where you are bounced with a single loss.

Some unfortunate notes for Newcastle.  Guimaraes is out for up to 10 weeks with a hamstring problem and Wissa is hurt now too.  They need 1) Joelinton to return from injury b) Miley to return from injury iii) Ramsey to significantly lower his transfer fee/goals scored ratio or 4) all of the above.  Also, furthering conspiracy theory talk in the FA draw process, Newcastle get Man City in the next round.

Hope Spring Eternal Until the Well Runs Dry

The minnows generally gave a good accounting of themselves but only Mansfield Town was able to pull off the upset over Burnley.  We're not counting Newcastle over Aston Villa or Wrexham beating Ipswich because those sides are so close in their respective tables.  Burton gave West Ham fits, sending the match into extra time.  The Hammers scored at 95 then had a man sent off at 101; that gave Burton 20+ minutes to get an equalizer but it never happened.  Macclesfield clearly benefited from the home field advantage (i.e. the artificial surface) but it was Brentford that got the own goal game winner.  Wolves and Grimsby Town played 0-0 for a while in the muck (see below) until Wolves slipped in the game winner at at 60 minutes.  Birmingham had plenty of chances but it was Leeds that won the PK shootout.

That's Not What They Mean By Pitch

pitch

 1: a black or dark viscous substance obtained as a residue in the distillation of organic materials and especially tars

Grimsby Town vs Wolves: Some called it a "throwback" but
 mostly it looked like boys playing in the mud (Getty Images)

As in the pitch for the Grimsby Town - Wolves match looked like it was covered in pitch. Seriously, this was one step from being unplayable.  Or maybe it was unplayable.  There were several occasions when the ball simply didn't move after getting stuck in the mud.  Wolves probably deserve some credit here for just playing through the conditions to get a 1-0 win to advance to the 5th round.  It's about the only thing that's going right for them this season.

We Knew Them When

The Birmingham - Leeds match featured Union ex-pats Kai Wagner and Brenden Aaronson.  Both acquitted themselves well I thought.  Wagner did his usual thing of dumping mostly decent crosses into the box and blocked a potential goal in the box with a diving stop.  Leeds had struggled for most of the match and seemed to do better when Aaronson came on at 68 minutes.  Brenden also converted his PK in the shoot out, which Leeds won 4-2.  Aaronson also got in a fairly hefty challenge on Wagner, which earned him a foul but nothing more as seen here.

My Dog Ate My Homework

Leeds keeper Lucas Perri was all set for the PK shoot out with Birmingham, armed with paper that listed the tendencies of the Birmingham shooters.  Alas, it proved useless to him because, as detailed here, he couldn't recognize the players.  He still stopped one of the shots while a second soared over the bar, allowing Leeds to advance.  Also in the category of not using the resources available to you, it appears that Kai Wagner tried to tell his keeper which way Aaronson was going on his PK but as related here, the keeper ignored his advice.

Baku Is Lovely This Time of Year

Anthony Gordon gets the first of four against Qarabag

Well sure it is when you score in the first three minutes and have a 4-0 lead by 33 minutes.  Such was Newcastle's experience as they basically outclassed the Azerbaijani side Qarabag FK in a 6-1 rout in the first leg of their Champions League playoff.  Heading back to Saint James' Park for the second leg with that hefty lead leaves me optimistic that Newcastle will advance to the knockout phase of the competition.  But the Mapgies seem to be able to find a dark cloud behind the silver lining.  Newcastle already had 4-0 lead when Gordon was fouled by the keeper in first half stoppage time.  Now, Gordon is the designated taker of penalty shots but Kieran Trippier was trying to talk Gordon (who already had a hat trick) into letting someone else take the kick.  Gordon did not relent and converted the kick.  That wasn't quite the end of it, as the two had to be separated by teammates as they made their way to the locker room at half time.  Things appeared to be patched up by the end of the match but apparently we can't even enjoy a rout.

Not A Good Scene In Lisbon

Things were not so pleasant in Lisbon, where Real Madrid was taking on Benfica.  This was a scoreless but intriguing match until the 50th minute, when Vinicius Jr launched a laser past the Benfica keeper.  Things degenerated from there.  First, Vini got a yellow card for excessive celebration.  Then, Benfica's Prestianni lifted his shirt to cover his mouth and said something to Vini.  The Brazilian believed it was a racist comment and immediately ran to the referee to notify him.  In response, the ref raised the crossed wrists to indicate that the racist abuse protocol had been initiated.  You can see some of the events here.  The BBC provides more narrative on the incident here.  This looks frustratingly like it will end up as unresolved because it will come down to he said/he said.  All around just bad scene.

Don't Give Up Your Day Job

As Dennis noted a few weeks ago, Defence Force F.C. (the Union's opponent in the first round of CONCACAF Champions Cup) is made up of officers, soldiers and sailors from the Trinidad and Tobago army and coast guard.  I hope they are better at their real jobs because they did not defend on the pitch very well in a 0-5 loss in the first leg of Round One.  Goal scorers for the Union included Iloski, Alladoh, Makhanya and Damiani (2).  As Jeff H notes, pretty good for the first match of the season playing away from home.  I thought it was a good chance for us to get started on learning the new names.  The second leg is next Thursday in Chester.  Forecast says mostly clear skies and 43 degrees at kick-off.

The Weekend and Week

We have match week 27 and the second leg of all the European competition playoff series.

No 7:30 match - that's a good start.  There are three at 10 and our choice is clear - Aston Villa hosting Leeds.  Other choices are Brentford - Brighton or Chelsea - Burnley.  The "feature" 12:30 match, which really can't be called feature because it's not even on TV is West Ham - Bournemouth.  Saturday finishes with a 3 pm match that leaves Magpie fans quaking - a trip to the Etihad to face Man City.  Not going to even bother doing the research, pretty sure that one usually does not work out well for us. Opta has it 57/21 with 22% chance of a draw.

No truth to the rumor that Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will now be
called the House of Tudor now that Igor has been named manager
Photo: Getty/London Standard

Sunday at 9 is crowded with Crystal Palace - Wolves, Sunderland - Fulham or Nottingham Forest - Liverpool.  I like Palace and Wolves but I'm guessing Sunderland - Fulham will be the more competitive game.  The Tudor era begins for Spurs at 11:30 with the North London derby against Arsenal. Even with home field advantage, Opta doesn't give Spurs much of chance (60/19/21 - ouch). The match week concludes with Everton - Man U at 3 on Monday.  

For the European competitions, basically reverse everything from last week.  And there will be the second leg of Union versus the Trinidad and Tobago army.

Really?

C'mon guys, it's 10 degrees with a wind chill below zero and we're still locked in snow and ice that makes venturing outside a risky proposition.  Those were the best games you could offer?  The weather improved mid-week but the games weren't any more thrilling, though at least the results were better.

Blown Lead and Blown Draw

Maybe the neutrals enjoyed the back and forth action at Saint James Park between Newcastle and Brentford but it was no fun for the Geordie fans.  An early header (off his back?) by Botman gave Newcastle a 1-0 lead, arguably against the run of play, in the 24th minute.  The Bees responded well with two goals of their own to take a 2-1 halftime lead that really did feel deserved. A revitalized Newcastle side put Brentford under pressure starting right away in the second half.  That attacking surge was rewarded with a PK converted by Guimaraes in the 79th minute.  Not that a point from this match was all that great but at least they had rescued something. 

Oops, I guess not.  Ouattara grabbed a sneaky goal at 85 minutes and Brentford got all three points.  BFS Goalkeeper Consultant Graham R suggested that this was "not Trippier or Pope's finest moment."  Watch the play here and judge for yourself but I think Graham is correct.

 Dropped points by Newcastle?  Shocking.  How many dropped points does this one count for - 3? 4?.  I think three and Newcastle are back on top of the league with 19 points dropped from winning positions.

This Is All Ya Got?

Newcastle's debacle was a perfect end to a Saturday which included Spurs' 0-2 loss to Man United and Aston Villa's 1-1 draw with Bournemouth.  In the former, Cristian Romero ruined a perfectly good match with a sending off at 29 minutes for a straight red card challenge.  Things had been very lively and evenly matched until then but not so much after that.  Michael Carrick's side needed no heroics for this one as they ran their record to a perfect 4-0-0 under him.  Talk about your new manager bounce.

Aston Villa didn't exactly burst out of the gate but Morgan Rogers did give them the lead at 22 minutes with a blast from inside the box.  Villa never did build on that lead and eventually surrendered the equalizer at 54 minutes. The whole weekend was like that.  The relegation special between Leeds and Nottingham Forest was a 3-1 blowout for the home side; Sean Dyche, if he was not livid, should have been.  Brighton - Crystal Palace played possibly the most boring half of football this season.  Probably just as well I didn't see anything else except Liverpool - Man City, discussed below. 

As Good As It Gets?

So we were down to the last game of Matchweek 25 with nothing to show for it.  But it was Liverpool - Man City so expectations were high.  Alas, for three quarters of the match, we didn't get much, kind of like a heavyweight bout in which they trade a few punches but spend most of the time in a clench.  Fortunately, things got better.  Slowbonzai Slobinside Dominic Dominik delivered this YouTubeableMoment of a free kick at 74 minutes.  Hit with the laces but with his foot coming right to left across the ball, it sliced just inside the post.  And the fun was just beginning.  Bernardo Silva leveled things at 84 minutes. Next, early in stoppage time, Allison committed this foolish challenge that led to a successful Haaland PK.  Real time I thought it was a foul and replay (and VAR) confirmed that.  I'm just surprised he didn't get a yellow as it looked reckless to me.  

Dueling fouls, the ball goes into the net with neither touching it;
 this play should be on next year's ref certification test

There was still a little more fun to be had.  Check out these wild closing seconds of the match. With Allison deep in Man City territory in a vain attempt to snatch an equalizer, Rayan Cherki launched the ball from mid-field towards Liverpool's empty net.  Hilarity ensued.  Szobosly Dominik grabbed Haaland trying to slow him down, then Haaland grabbed Dominik to keep him from directing the ball away from the goal.  The ball went in anyway.  Many minutes later, VAR sorted it all out (correctly both Graham R and I believe).  The goal was waived off because of Haaland's foul on Dominik.  However, now that there was no goal, the referee could then send off Dominik for DOGSO.  Restart is a direct free kick from where Haaland was fouled.  So, a 2-1 final it was.

Mid-week "Thaw"

Jacob Ramsey gets the game winner for Newcastle at Spurs;
his transfer fee/goals is now $54m/1
Photo: Richard Pelham Getty Images

Newcastle didn't exactly shine but still got a 2-1 win at Spurs on Tuesday.  That was good news for Eddie Howe but not so much for Thomas Frank (see below).  Much the same for Aston Villa as they hardly impressed in getting a 1-0 win over Brighton at home thanks to an own goal.  Michael Carrick's record is no longer perfect but Man United did get another stoppage time goal to rescue a 1-1 draw with West Ham.  I saw the last 30 minutes or so of Liverpool's unremarkable 1-0 win over Sunderland.   Nottingham Forest and Wolves played to a 0-0 draw in which Forest got off  35 futile shots (eight on target); that got Sean Dyche sacked but in interviews after the firing, he was not livid.  Leeds grabbed an unexpected point from Chelsea with a 2-2 draw. I didn't get to see the Brentford - Arsenal 1-1 draw so I don't know if that was a decent match.  I'm sure Man City, Aston Villa and others appreciated that outcome.

Conversation That Absolutely Took Place

Michael (before Spurs - Newcastle kickoff): It's a shame someone has to win this match.

Steve: More like a crime...

More Sacking

As noted above, Thomas Frank and Sean Dyche got their walking papers this week.  I've noted in recent weeks how depleted Spurs have been with injuries.  I've read complaints about Spurs style of play or lack thereof.  I will note that last year they scored 64 and allowed 65 goals.  This year they are on pace to score 53 and allow 54.  What might you expect to happen to goal scoring when you lose Maddison and Kulusevski for the season and miss Richarlison for large chunks of time?  I've also read about issues with internal dynamics so maybe there's more to the story.  

The Dyche sacking makes absolutely no sense to me.  Neither does hearing that his likely replacement is Vitor Pereira, who was let go by Wolves back in November after losing eight and drawing two in their first 10 matches.  He will be Forest's fourth manager this season.  Forest were 6-4-8 in league play under Dyche, an average of 1.22 points per game.  That's compared to five points in eight games to start the season.  So owner Evangelos Marinakis has fired two of my favorite managers this year in Santo and Dyche; Nottingham Forest are dead to me.

Just for fun, here's a table listing managers for each club since 8/1/20, not counting caretaker managers.

Anything obvious stick out to you?

No EPL? No Worries

Friday through Monday is the 4th Round of the FA Cup.  Easily the most interesting fixture is Aston Villa - Newcastle at 12:45 on Saturday.  Intriguing in its own way is Wrexham - Ipswich at 2:45 on Friday.  The full schedule is here.  Dennis and I still think there's a conspiracy as Arsenal get Wigan (difference of 66 places) and Man City get Salford City (a difference of 72 places) while Aston Villa and Newcastle square off in this round (a difference of 7 places).  

Champions League has the first leg of playoff matches to determine the last eight to get to the knockout phase.  Newcastle are the only EPL side in that one, facing Grabbag Qarabag on Wednesday at 12:45.  In Europa Cup action, Nottingham Forest will take on Fenerbahce in the first leg of their playoff to advance to the knockout stage of that competition.  And Crystal Palace will face Zrinjski in their playoff to advance in Europa Conference action.

Three More Annoying Things About the Winter Olympics

1) All EPL matches are on Peacock, which you can't DVR.  At least their replays are posted timely.

2) Rebecca Lowe is taken off EPL duty to be the daytime host of NBC's coverage

3) Skeleton - Okay we'll have one sled race where you go feet first and then another in which you go head first.  The 2028 Summer Games should include the backwards 100 meter dash.

Bad Losses and Worse Losses

This was a week in which we discovered that Newcastle are probably not top six material and Aston Villa are probably not legitimate title contenders.  Also, Newcastle's already infinitesimally small chances for a quad dropped to zero with a Carabao Cup semi-final loss to Man City.

Liverpool Are Doing Fine, Thank You Very Much

With Ekitike, why the heck did Liverpool need to take Isak?
Photo: Getty Images

Turns out the concern we expressed for Liverpool in last week's post was very much misplaced, as witnessed by their 4-1 dismantling of Newcastle on Saturday.  The first 30 minutes or so were pretty good, with Newcastle having the run of play and eventually taking the lead with Gordon's goal.  It was pretty much downhill from there.  Ekitike levelled things at 41 minutes, then gave Liverpool the lead with another just two minutes later.  The rest of the match felt like "we're Liverpool and you're not."  Newcastle managed just two shots on goal and recorded an xG of .38.  So this wasn't even a matter of poor finishing, they just didn't generate the chances.  So we're down to 11th in the table.

You Think That's Bad?

Losing to Liverpool at Anfield wasn't fun but Aston Villa had an even worse weekend.  They were facing Brentford at home and got the added advantage of going a man up at 42 minutes thanks to Kevin Schade kicking Cash in the groin (remember that just because you got the ball doesn't mean it's not a foul).  So, of course, Brentford snuck one past Martinez late in the first half stoppage time and that  meant they were set up to park the bus.  Villa had 25 shots and an xG of 1.90 (maybe reflecting that they had just four shots on target?) but never broke through.  Well, that's not completely true, as they had a goal pulled back after VAR suggested the ball had gone out during the build up (more on that below).  It's easy to pin the loss on the injuries or the bad call but Dennis points out that 1) Villa have historically not done well up a man and 2) they don't do well against a parked bus.  Back-to-back home losses to Everton and Brentford diminish their title hopes.

Proper Use of VAR?

The ball looks out on this view

So the equalizing goal by Tammy Abraham was ruled out because VAR said the ball had gone out in the "buildup" to the goal.  You can see a longish view of the play here.  Looking on-line I see a lot of complaints about the call being unfair but haven't found any debate about the bigger issues the play raised.

Let's get one point out of the way.  A video available the next day shows that it's about 99.99999% likely the ball was out.  The picture left is a still from that video. Unfortunately, that's not really the point.

The videos we saw live, which we believe were the same available to the VAR crew didn't show anything anywhere near as clear as this.  How could you possibly view anything we saw as "conclusive" (looking at you Jamie Carragher)?  Second point is that the goal came 19 seconds after this incident; is that a reasonable time frame for a look back?  The review took almost four minutes, again suggesting that this was not a clear and obvious error.  And, regardless of what the video released on Monday shows, if this was not available to the VAR crew, it is irrelevant.  

One point that I will concede is that there is no way the AR had any idea of whether that ball was in or out.  You can clearly see that Leon Bailey is completely obstructing the AR's line of vision.  So, the AR and Tim Robinson were guessing when they made the on-field decision.  I suppose a second point in favor of the VAR is that even though this preceded the goal by 19 seconds, it was the play that gave Villa possession and the chance to go down the field and score.  

For me, I think it was a misuse of VAR.  But what do I know, I only got a 96 on my referee recertification test.  Dennis notes that this is down from last year's 98 and could be a sign of aging.  At this rate of decline, I will fail to get the required 80% when I'm 79.

Leads Are Like Rental Car Reservations

There are two parts - taking them and holding them.  As Jerry Seinfeld notes holding them is the more important part.  I was reminded of that difference this weekend as six sides took leads that they were unable to hold.  Some of the comebacks were more spectacular than others.  

West Ham's collapse at Stamford Bridge probably leads the way.  The Hammers were up 2-0 by 36 minutes.  Then it slowly fell apart.  Goals by Pedro and Cucaracha Cucurella leveled things by 70 minutes.  The unkindest cut of all was when Enzo Fernandez "hammered" the game winner past Areola at 90+2.  You can see the play here.

Man United collapsed at home to Fulham but ending up rescuing things with a late goal.  Up 2-0, the Red Devils surrendered goals at 85 and 90+1 and looked to have dropped two sure points. Benjamin Sesko rescued those points with this nifty piece of work in the box at 90+4.  So Carrick continues his perfect record.

Speaking of blowing two-goal leads, Man City coughed up such an advantage at Tottenham.  Check out Solanke's equalizer (his second of the match) at 70 minutes, an easy pick for this week's YouTubeableMoment (it's called a "scorpion" kick).  VAR had another interesting moment in deciding that Solanke did not foul Guehi in the process of scoring the first goal.  I thought maybe yes but maybe on this one they really did observe the "clear and obvious" threshold.

Other blown leads include Newcastle (Liverpool), Nottingham Forest (to Crystal Palace) and Brighton (to Everton at 90+7 - ouch). 

Quad Is Dead

Newcastle came to the Etihad for the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Man City with an 0-2 deficit.  They promptly turned it into an 0-5 deficit within the first 32 minutes.  Yes, it was a frustrating defensive display.  Equally as frustrating was their utter inability to put away good scoring chances. The xG says it was only 1.34 but it looked way higher than that to me.  Adding injury to insult, Gordon left the match with a possible hamstring injury.  But otherwise it went well.

Until that point, Newcastle were technically in the running for the quad (EPL, FA Cup, Champions League and Caraboa Cup).  The 1-5 loss on aggregate puts that nonsense to bed.

Caraboring Cup

The second leg of the Arsenal - Chelsea semi-final won the award for this week's match to nap to.  They managed two shots on target each while putting up a combined xG of 2.05. Arsenal came in with a 3-2 lead so they had no reason to force the issue.  I would have expected more of an attack from Chelsea though.  Pretty sure I had drifted off by the time Havertz scored for Arsenal at 90+7 to salt away the 4-2 aggregate win.

February Football

Didn't notice this last week but there are just three days in February (5th, 9th and 20th) without EPL, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Champions League, Europa Cup or Europa Conference League action.

EPL Matchweek 25 gets an early start on Friday with a relegation special featuring Leeds versus Nottingham Forest.  Currently 16th and 17th respectively, both sides will have a keen interest in putting more space between them and 18th place.

There is the annoying 7:30 Saturday morning fixture but at least it's interesting with Spurs heading to Old Trafford to face Man United; hmm, one side enjoying a new manager bounce and another possibly ready to bounce their new manager. The 10 am slot is packed with five fixtures.  We'll go with Bournemouth - Aston Villa to see if the Villans can bounce back from last week's disappointing performance.  Relegation followers might choose Burnley - West Ham.  Masochists might go with Wolves - Chelsea or Arsenal - Sunderland; they reek of a blowout.  Fulham - Everton might not be too bad; they are level on points, sitting 9th and 10th in the table.

The feature 12:30 match is a pretty good one with Newcastle hosting Brentford.  Opta has the Magpies as a solid favorite at home (49/25/26) but that feels high to me, given the injury list.  Guimaraes is a maybe, a troubling development give that Newcastle have not won any of the 12 EPL matches in which he didn't start.  

Sunday's schedule is very light but interesting.  At 9 am we have Brighton versus Crystal Palace, two sides separated by just two points.  Even better is the 11:30 fixture of Liverpool - Man City.  The Reds are favored at home but not by much.

In place of European competitions, we have EPL Matchweek 26 played out over Tuesday to Thursday.  Tuesday we're locked into Spurs - Newcastle and that's probably the best choice for neutrals too.  Wednesday's choice is not obvious.  We'll probably go with Aston Villa - Brighton but the relegation-relevant contest of Nottingham Forest - Wolves has some attraction.  Thursday there's only Brentford - Arsenal.

Coming Attractions

I mentioned February is jam packed.  Wait, I think I'm required to say the matches are coming thick and fast.  We have:

- Champions League Playoffs are 2/17-18 and 2/24-25

- Europa Cup Playoffs are 2/19 and 2/26

- Conference League Playoff are 2/19 and 2/26

- FA Cup 4th Round 2/13-16

Also putting a reminder here that the Union start CONCACAF Champions League play on 2/18 with a first round match vs Defence Force (a Trinidadian and Toboggan club); the second leg is at Subaru Park on 2/26.  I loves me soccer in Philly in February.  Presumably the pitch will be snow and ice free by then.

Send Goals to Newcastle

Yeah, that's not the expression but it's the truth.  Also, once again, the EPL sides had a better time of it in Europe than in their domestic league.

Another Clean Sheet of the Wrong Kind

The goal drought continues for Newcastle.  There was every expectation that Aston Villa would be a tough opponent so the 0-2 loss was not a surprise.  But, a goal would be nice.  The defense was mostly solid, limiting Villa to low percentage shots.  Unfortunately, one of those, a laser from Buendia outside the box, was unstoppable.  A serious failure to mark Watkins in the box resulted in the late insurance goals.  Again, not an awful performance but they better find some offense soon.

The xG is revealing here - 2.10 to 1.22 favor Newcastle.  Buendia's goal was a low xG but Villa do this regularly; it was their league-leading 13th from outside the box.  That tendency is also reflected in their season stats, in which their actual total exceed xG by 5.5, second best in the league behind Spurs' 7.4.  On the flip side, the Magpies's number exposes a certain lack of clinical finishing.  And that's a season trend too.  Their total goals is 3.8 behind xG, 17th worst in the league.  Hard to work your way up the table with that record.

Missing Bruno

The data says "No Bruno, no win"

Dennis pointed out that in the 11 Premier League games that Bruno Guimaraes did not start since he
arrived in Newcastle, the team has failed to win any of them.  The detailed chart from The Athletic is below:

With and without Guimaraes (starting)

Games	138	11
Wins	73	0
Draws	26	6
Losses	39	5
Avg. goals for	1.9	0.7
Avg. goals against	1.2	1.6
Win %	52.9%	0%
Points per game	1.8	0.6

The goals for with and without indicate what an important playmaker he's been.  Almost as amazing to me is how few games he was out or didn't start.  From the article:

Between November 2023 and September 2025, Guimaraes set a Newcastle record for consecutive Premier League starts for an outfield player (68), which came amid a run of 94 starts in 95 top-flight games.

Not Lou Gehrig but gotta be one of the better Iron Man efforts in the EPL.  

Ich Bin Ein Man United Fan

That had to be the top expression this weekend for all hoping to keep the race at the top close as Arsenal took on Man United.  Fans of all stripes were treated to a marvelous back-and-forth match.  The Gunners got the jump with an own goal that Bryan Mbeumo matched for a halftime score of 1-1.  Dorgu got the Red Devils a lead at 50 minutes that looked like it might stand until Mikel Merino leveled things in the 84th moment.  Well a draw would still tighten the race.  Except Matheus Cunha took an audacious shot from over 20 yards out minutes later to give Man United all three points.  We make it this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Michael Carrick is still perfect with wins over Man City and Arsenal.  You'll find him in the dictionary under Bounce, New Manager.

With Man City (2-0 over Wolves) and Aston Villa wins, Arsenal's lead is now four points.  And Man United have climbed into the top four.

Frankly Not What They Needed

A 2-2 draw with Burnley is not exactly what the doctor ordered from Thomas Frank and struggling Spurs.  The way they accomplished may also be problematic.  The 1-0 lead that van de Van had given Spurs didn't even make it to halftime.  Then they fell behind in the 76th and looked to be heading to defeat until Cristian Romero scored in the 90th minute to avoid a complete disaster.  Side note, does anyone besides the center backs score for Tottenham?  Okay, that's an exaggeration but defenders have 9 of Spurs 33 goals.  We can only wonder whether Frank would have been sacked had Spurs not had a Champions League match mid-week.

Someone Please Explain Liverpool To Me

I know I asked this earlier in the season but I must ask again after the Reds loss to Bournemouth.  They fell behind 2-0 at Bournemouth, struggled to get back level then conceded the game loser at 90+5.  You can see Adli's stoppage time winner here.  Liverpool don't have a win (4 draws and a loss) in their last five against competition that includes Leeds, Fulham, Burnley and Bournemouth; they have slipped to sixth in the table.  

Points at the Bottom

Another good week for the relegation challenged sides, unless you're called Wolves.  Burnley got a point.  West Ham got a win over Sunderland, making Nuno look less at risk.  The bad news is that they didn't gain on 17th place Nottingham Forest, who were grabbing all three points against Sunderland.  And Leeds took a point in a 1-1 draw versus Everton.

ICYMI

Marco Silva elated with Fulham progress
Photo: Getty Images

Fulham have 20 points from their last 10 matches.  This includes a win over Chelsea and a draw with Liverpool.  That kind of effort will get you up to 7th in the table.

Financial Fair Play For Whom?

Remind we why we have these FFP regulations.  I note that in the January transfer window they signed Semenyo for $77m and Guehi for $27 m.  The window is still open but the most anybody else has spent is Crystal Palace $47m for Brennan Johnson.

A Pointless Point?

Well, not exactly but Newcastle's 1-1 draw with PSG left them both outside the top eight in Champions League play.  The performance was excellent, getting a draw against the current champions in their home stadium.  It would be nice if they could match that in domestic league play.

For the rest of the EPL sides it was another awesome week.  Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea and Man City all got wins and clinched spots in the top eight.   The six EPL sides finished 1, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 12 in league play.  A side note is that the Spurs' win looks to be enough for Frank to keep his job another week.

In Europa Cup play, Aston Villa rallied from 0-2 down to beat RB Salzburg and take 3rd in league play.  Nottingham Forest were also winners; they finished 13th and will be in the playoffs for advancement to the final 16.

ICYMI Part II

We would be seriously remiss if we did not tell you the story of Benfica and their wide ride to the Champions League playoff.  Late in their match with Real Madrid, despite being up 3-2 they were still in 25th place on goal differential.  In stoppage time, Real Madrid saw two players sent off for second yellows.  Benfica did not seem all that much in a hurry, almost like they didn't know they needed another goal to make the playoff round.  They did eventually get moving.  On a last minute free kick they sent keeper Anatoliy Trubin forward into the box to essentially give them a three man advantage.  Watch the guy in yellow here to see what happens.  That play never, ever works but when it does, it's so cool.  

A Little Less Busy...

...unless you're Newcastle, Man City, Arsenal or Chelsea.  We have Matchweek 24 for the EPL Saturday-Monday, then the second legs of the Carabao Cup semi-finals on Tuesday and Wednesday.

No 7:30 am Saturday match which is always appreciated around here.  The 10 am time slot is also light, with just three matches.  Opta suggests none is compelling.  We'll probably go with Brighton - Everton over Wolves - Bournemouth or Leeds - Arsenal.  The 12:30 fixture is a London derby but not likely to be competitive, as Chelsea will host West Ham.  Then we have the Saturday afternoon special at 3 pm with Newcastle traveling to face Liverpool.  As we noted above, the Reds are an enigma but the Magpies have been mostly wretched on the road so we're not expecting anything from that match.

Sunday dawns with probably more snow and three 9 am fixtures.  Aston Villa host a recently slumping Brentford and we have high hopes for Villa in that one.  Michael Carrick puts his perfect record on the line as Fulham come to Old Trafford.  That's two hot sides right there, though Opta see United as a big favorite.  Or, you can go with Nottingham Forest versus Crystal Palace.  Forest have been recently making a move away from the relegation zone while Palace are slowly sinking towards it.  Sunday also has Tottenham - Man City; Spurs seem to do better in Champions League and on the road so this could be trouble for them.

The week ends with Sunderland - Burnley at 3 pm on Monday.

In Carabao Cup action, on Tuesday we have Arsenal - Chelsea.  The Gunners bring a 3-2 lead back home and are in the stronger position.  On the other hand, the Blues are feeling that new manager bounce under Liam Rosenior and have won five of six in all competitions.  On the other, other hand, that one loss was against Arsenal.

On Wednesday Newcastle go to the Etihad down 0-2 to Man City.  Do you believe in miracles? 

Still plenty to watch without feeling like your drowning.