Jeebus Christmas. The ink was barely dry on Tuesday's post and a series of unexpected midweek results in seemingly innocuous fixtures have rendered it moot.
Arsenal's 3-1 win over West Ham on Tuesday was expected. The match was a bit of a return to mid-season form, as the Gunners struggled against a lesser opponent - and fell behind 0-1 - but did not panic. Better quality finishing was eventually the difference here. That and maybe a non-call in the box when West Ham's Jarvis refused to go down after a possible foul in the box; much speculation on the interwebs that had he taken the tumble, he would have been rewarded with a PK. But regardless, Arsenal got the required three points.
Wednesday was not as simple. Everton stumbled badly in a home match against Crystal Palace, losing 2-3. Did not see the match but apparently Crystal Palace was extremely effective in the counter attack. The Eagles have been in fine form (four straight wins) and their quest to stay up in the Premier League looks complete. Wonder how Rebecca Lowe kept it together during the post-match analysis; she is a life-long CP fan and must be thrilled. Maybe this is not quite the upset it seems to be but it is devastating to Everton. The Toffees drop to 5th, one point behind Arsenal. Worse, their remaining fixtures (Man Utd, Southampton, Man City and Hull) are somewhat more difficult that Arsenal's run-in to the finish (Hull, Newcastle, West Brom and Norwich). Contrary to what I said Tuesday, Arsenal, not Everton, now have the upper hand in the race for the last CL spot. For Everton, it could be a fine body of work seemingly undone in one afternoon. Unless of course, the weekend brings more surprises.
The other Wednesday match was maybe more of a stunner; it was also a great match for the neutrals. Sunderland gave Manchester City all they could handle and came away with a well-deserved 2-2 draw. Fernandinho got the hosts off to a flying start, maybe too easy a start, with a goal in the 2nd minute. Man City had the run of play early but could not add to the lead and Sunderland started to have some bright moments of their own. And then the play seemed about equal. The Black Cats got the tying goal from Connor Wickham in the 73rd minute. He enjoyed scoring so much, he did it again 10 minutes later and Man City was faced with the possibility of Sunderland, last place Sunderland, taking all three points at Etihad Stadium. Sammy Nasri "rescued" the situation with the equalizing goal in the 88th minute; watch how Sunderland keeper Vito Mannone scrambles, then crawls in a desperate attempt to keep the ball from rolling across the goal line. That YouTubeableMoment might say it all for Sunderland this year.
I put rescued in quotes because even the draw has completely changed the complexion of the title race. Liverpool already controlled their fate but can now hold off Man City with three wins and a draw (i.e. they only have to not lose to Chelsea). And Chelsea now can also win the title by winning all their remaining fixtures. All because of a little draw against the last place team.
Morals of the story
1) Even though the weekend features what look like unappealing match ups, you probably should watch anyway
2) A contender might be better off playing Newcastle than any squad still in relegation danger
And in the last match on Wednesday, the Union was 3/4 empty, 1/4 full in a 1-2 loss to the Red Bulls. Not much offensive pressure (at least until Conor Casey came in - maybe Jeff H will comment on what our preferred line-up should be) and the Red Bulls "outphysicaled" the Philadelphia side. Next up - Houston Dynamo.
my preferred line up would include some guys who understand that you don't leave one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of the game (an exaggeration?) unmarked 20 yards from goal.
ReplyDeleteGiving the benefit of the doubt the guys were tired after the Sat game but still it was a weak performance. Wheeler looked slow to react to things. I think you need Carroll in the game to allow Edu to be more offensive minded. Finally, the LeToux PK was a weak assed effort so it didn't make his stock go up for me. Let's hope they man up and get it done against Houston. Cmon the U.