Whew, that was close. Newcastle were staring at a third straight 3-0 loss until Chadli's goal in the 88th minute made the final margin 4-0 for Tottenham. The Magpies got some key players back - Gouffran and Cisse - but it didn't make much difference. Tiote and Remy were still out. Three of the goals came off of Krul (cruel?) rebounds that bounced straight to (were pounced on by?) a waiting Spur; that Newcastle defenders were slow to react and maybe, you know, mark somebody only made the put backs easier. Newcastle are goalless in their last four matches and have lost four straight at home. There were moments of life in the second half - Lloris had to make some great saves to keep a clean sheet - but they were no where near consistent enough. With Southampton's win over Hull, Newcastle fall to ninth in the table.
Of course the flip side of the Newcastle misery is the Tottenham resurgence. Adebayor had two more goals but what about Bentaleb's setting up two scores, Kaboul's return at center back, and Capoue's play in the midfield? All of a sudden, the Spurs appear to have some depth as they challenge for a Champions League spot.
Elsewhere, Aston Villa drew 0-0 at Cardiff City. I thought the match was interesting enough with both teams having legitimate chances but others might be more critical; I can hear the Men in Blazers making some crack like "it reminded me of two little boys fighting over the last of the pudding" or something like that. Chelsea got stung by a late Anichebe goal and only took home a point against West Bromwich. But Arsenal failed to capitalize when they could do no more than 0-0 at home versus Manchester United. For the Gunners, it was certainly better than the 5-1 loss to Liverpool but a draw against a struggling Manchester United at the Emirates must have been disappointing; frankly, they still looked a bit disorganized to me, though Giroud did have some pretty clear chances. Man United probably didn't jump for joy either but taking a point from a top team on the road isn't all bad. I only saw the end of Fulham-Liverpool but that looked exciting; a Steven Gerrard PK in the 91st minute sealed the win after they had trailed 0-1 and 1-2. Manchester City's chance to recapture first was gone with the wind as stormy weather postponed their match with Sunderland. Everton - Crystal Palace faced a similar fate and the schedule makers will have fun finding make up dates between Champions League, FA Cup, and international breaks.
Chester Are Promoted!
Again defying the bookmakers, Chester took a 4-3 victory at Leeds and clinched promotion to the Premier League. First place is not nailed down yet but that is somewhat secondary to promotion and we will probably look at some of the younger players in the last few matches. Attention now turns to improving the squad for next year; most obvious need is a better left fullback. There are a number of younger players that the scouts tell me will eventually be worthy of the first division but it's not clear how long that will be; I might have to find some veterans to hold us over until they develop. We did beat out other clubs and center back Michael Parkhurst will join Chester on cyber July 1. I hope his USMNT fortunes improve as well.
Fillebrown Derby
Dennis added the countdown clock widget so you can keep track of the days, hours, minutes and seconds to the first ever Fillebrown Derby. Late next week look for posts from each of us listing the ten reasons why the other side will win. In the meantime, I ask you to ponder the question as to whether Aston Villa keeper Brad Guzan and Mini Me are brothers.
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