Derby

Der·by[dur-bee; for 1, 2 also British dahr-bee] — n
1.	the Derby  an annual horse race run at Epsom Downs, Surrey, since 1780: one of the English flat-racing classics
2.	any of various other horse races
3.	local Derby  a football match between two teams from the same area

From dictionary.com.  Note the pronunciation for 3.  It's not like we don't have fierce rivalries here too but in England they have a special name for them.  The cliches are about the same though; "Yes Nigel, you have to throw out the won-loss records for these derby matches, anything can happen."  Of course, it's sort of true.  Sunderland has been bloody awful this year but still managed a 2-1 defeat of Newcastle in October and were quite happy with themselves.  And like some of the better American rivalries, they have names, albeit not as creative, relying on a river, town or region name - Merseyside (Everton-Liverpool), Wear-Tyneside (Newcastle-Sunderland), Midland (Aston Villa-West Bromwich Albion), North London (Tottenham-Arsenal), South Wales (Swansea-Cardiff), etc.  Many have a rich history; the Sunderland-Newcastle match in October was the 145th meeting between the two sides.   And they run deep.  A Newcastle daughter might find herself cut out of the will for marrying a Sunderland supporter.  It explains why Luke's only comment with respect to anything Tottenham is "f--- Spurs."

Speaking of derbies, the Everton-Liverpool match on Saturday had to be one of the season's best so far.  Liverpool went up early but Everton got the equalizer quickly.  Suarez (worst overbite in the EPL) put Liverpool back on top in the 19th minute with a well-taken, bending free kick; Laura and NBCS commentator both wondered if Tim Howard correctly positioned the wall for that kick.  It stayed 2-1 until Romelu Lukaku tied things up in the 72nd minute.  Ten minutes later Lukaku put the Goodison faithful into a frenzy as he drilled a header into the upper left corner for Everton's first lead.  That wouldn't hold up though as Danny Sturridge  headed a low hard cross from Steven Gerrard past Howard in the 89th minute.  Have to say a draw seemed like a fair result to this neutral observer.  Derby indeed.  And it was only the first match of the weekend.

Newcastle continued it's good run with what sounded like a relatively easy 2-1 win over Norwich.  Didn't mean I wasn't sweating the last 10 minutes plus 7 minutes of stoppage time.  Happy to see them beat a team they should beat.  What to make of Arsenal's 2-0 win over Southampton?  Looks good, puts them 4 points clear of Liverpool and a win is a win.  But...the first goal came on a complete screw up by the Southampton keeper and the second was a PK (accurately called IMHO) in the 86th minute.  I didn't see Arsenal dominate this match but I'm saying that not as a knock on the Gunners but more in speculation as to whether we've heard the last of Southampton.

Sunday morning brought the much anticipated Man City-Tottenham match.  Pardon my French but WTF?  Man City scored in the first 13 seconds and basically didn't stop scoring until the...well they really never stopped - the 6th and final goal came in stoppage time.  The pasting was enough to wipe out Tottenham's goal differential advantage with Newcastle and dropped them to 9th in the table.  Michael wept but Luke, ever sentimental, commented "f--- Spurs."  Sunday concluded with Man United conceding a goal right at the 90 minute mark and only coming away with a tie;  I believe I can speak for most on this distribution list to say what a shame, just a damn shame.  Sure.

Monday wasn't a bad day for Dennis, though it didn't start well.  His Villans took only 10 minutes or so to concede two goals to West Brom's Shane Long.  The first really was a thing of beauty and worth googling; the second was also a good finish but was set up by a particularly bonehead defensive play.  In true derby spirit, Aston Villa came back with goals at 67 minutes and 76 minutes to take away a well-earned draw.  An excellent result on the road, especially given the atrocious start.

And just to prove that sometimes a derby is just a mismatch by any other name, in La Ligue action, Bob's Sevilla bested Real Betis 4-0.

The MLS Cup Final (December 7th - a date which will live in infamy) is set after Sporting KC and Real Salt Lake took the semi-final matches. 

No rest for the weary this weekend, especially those involved in mid-week Champions League or Europa Cup matches.  Aston Villa hosts Sunderland and has every chance of taking all three points there.  Arsenal is away to Cardiff City - that may not be a cakewalk.  Newcastle takes on West Brom at St. James Park; like that it's a home match but the Baggies are no pushovers.  And things get no easier for the Spurs, who take on Man U at White Hart Lane.  Some other matches to watch include Chelsea-Southampton (let's see how they deal with the loss to Arsenal), Hull City-Liverpool (in second just 4 points back of Arsenal) and Man City hosting Swansea.

The Chester Blues had an interesting week.  Our match vs Peterborough was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.  At my request, the board as agreed to re-lay the pitch but not until after the season so this might be a regular occurrence given the English climate.  Unfortunately the match has been rescheduled in the middle of an already crowded schedule which will have us playing 6 matches between 1/28 and 2/15.  We played a friendly against a local unaffiliated club to stay fresh.  The good news was that after some continued negotiation, I was able to extend the loan period for two key players who had initially balked at staying longer.  Feeling much better about the squad now heading into the next 4 months.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.