Fear the Magpie?

Or at least respect it. Saturday's 1-0 win over Liverpool gave Newcastle their third victory in seven days, having beaten Tottenham the previous Sunday and Man City on Wednesday.  And, for the first time this year, they looked good for the full 90 minutes.  Their previously sieve-like defense, prone to being regularly sliced up, was virtually airtight.  Though in the past I may have preferred Williamson as one of the center backs, Steven Taylor is slowly winning me over.  Sissoko's work rate continues to be high; Colback's too.  Midfielder Mehdi Abeid impressed in his EPL debut; the 22 year-old Algerian was signed in May of 2011 but has spent most of his time on loan in Scotland and Greece.  Cabella had a second straight strong performance as a sub.  The offense was better though still not great. The Magpie goal came on a Sissoko cross that was, shall we say, not well-handled by Alberto Moreno and Ayoze Perez wasted no time in burying the loose ball in the 73rd minute.  Liverpool's threat in the closing minutes was tepid enough that I did not feel the need to get up from my seat and pace.


So, with three straight league wins and 10 points in the last four matches, the Magpies have soared all the way to 12th in the table.  I think we know Newcastle well enough not to be fooled about contending for a spot in Europe.  We went through this last year.  Forget about Europe, how about we just spend some time as a solid mid-table side?  There is a key difference this time around.  Last year, our leading scorer was a loaner and the heart of the team was expected to leave in the January transfer window.  In other words, we knew the second half of the year was going to be a struggle. Now, the only current squad member we hear might be leaving is Cheick Tiote; that would be a big loss no doubt but not on the same level as Cabaye and should be manageable.  Plus some of the younger players are showing flashes.   Maybe we can just watch this team for a while and see if they're top 10 material.


Derbies

Two real derbies and a MNB spinoff derby over the weekend.  No matter how much Arlo White tried to talk up the Manchester derby in his commentary, the match seemed less than expected.  Sure, it was a close match and quite chippy but lacked something.  A big part of the problem was that Chris Smalling got a yellow for foolishly interfering with Joe Hart while he was punting, then doubled down on the foolishness with a poor challenge on James Milner, leaving Man United down a man for more than half the match.  At least the only goal was quality on a nice cross by Clichy and an even nicer finish by Aguero.


In North West London, Chelsea-QPR was actually compelling and with Charlie Austin's goal the match was tied at 63 minutes.  A rash challenge from Vargas on Eden Hazard resulted in a PK, which was taken by the Belgium star himself and he remained perfect at 17 out of 17 in EPL contests.  (Ironically, he missed on Wednesday in a Champions League.)  The opening goal from Oscar was a stunner, as he used the outside of his foot to curl a shot past keeper Robert Green.  Pretty sure if he uses the inside the ball curls away from the goal so he had to use the outside.  In any case, it's this week's YouTubeableMoment.

West Ham continued their surprising surge with an away draw against Stoke City.  The Potters got an ugly goal from Moses midway through the first half and doubled their advantage on a superb header from Moses early in the 2nd.  But down 2 goals with 35 minutes to play, West Ham came roaring back and scored two - one on a diving header from Valencia and the equalizer on a sweet half volley from Downing.  West Ham certainly never acted like they were out of the match and were rewarded nicely, picking up another point on their way towards relevance. 

The MNB spinoff derby was Aston Villa vs Tottenham (Dennis and Michael B - plus others).  Dennis will provide the details.

Oh boy – I’m not quite sure where to begin.  I guess I’ll save the refereeing until the end and start with the actual match, which was kicked off with the comment that Villa “haven’t found the opposition net in 50 days.”  But this was the antithesis of the past 5 Villa matches as they were energetic, smart, and playing well on both sides of the ball.  Benteke was clearly closer to regaining his form and new regular Sanchez had another strong game controlling the midfield.  He is a huge presence, both literally and figuratively, in the midfield that gives Villa a solid outlet from the back and decent distributor going forward.  His defensive instincts seem very strong, but he needs to get rid of the ball more quickly when it is at his feet.  More than one teammate threw their hands up in disgust as he lost possession when there was an easy pass available.  Weimann capitalized on a strong early start with an unorthodox but impressive sliding goal.  An open and exciting game, which the commentators recognized with this gem of a quote: “Commendable spirit of adventure for both teams so far”, became very one-sided when Benteke was shown the straight red in the 65^th minute (more on that below).  Spurs took their sweet time capitalizing but managed to equalize when Villa’s Agbonlahor played striker’s defense and let Chadli have a free volley off a corner, which he promptly buried.  Still showing some life, Villa almost pulled ahead again when Cissokho barely missed what would have been a highlight reel strike.  Alas, it was not be.  Controversial benchwarmer Harry Kane (ed note: controversial in that he's on the bench, right?) came on for Spurs and scored the winner off a deflected free kick in the 90^th minute.  I’m not sure either team deserved to leave with no points, but the game definitely deserved a winner of higher quality.  Maybe Michael saw it differently, but this felt like a well-earned draw gone awry.

The real story line was Benteke’s sending off in the 65^th minute for essentially “illegal hands to the face” on Spur’s Ryan Mason.  During the game, I was mad but understood the call.  After reflection and watching the replay multiple times – my feelings have shifted more towards this video.  Fighting for a loose ball on the sideline, Benteke, Lamella, and Mason are getting rather physical, but probably nothing worth calling a foul over.  Once the ball is cleared, Mason gets in Benteke’s face (which takes major cajones, cuz Benteke is one scary dude) and gives him, to quote Steve, “Alan Pardew quality head shoves.”  Benteke responds by politely removing Mason’s face from the vicinity of his face…..alright, Benteke basically slap pushes Mason away.  Spurs remain professional footballers throughout the ordeal, meaning they act like Benteke just punched Mason until he was unconscious.  After some referee deliberation, Benteke is shown a straight red and Mason walks away scot free.  To me, this was clearly a case where a stern talking to/yellow cards for both is the right decision.  Benteke obviously makes a mistake and, as the commentators point out, does something the referee is within his right to punish with a red card, but Mason is not innocent in the ordeal.

This wasn’t the most egregious call I’ve ever seen, but the timing could not have been worse for Villa, which is definitely hindering my ability to be objective about it.  We were finally showing some promise, creativity, and all around solid play again after the 5 game slump.  Now our best player, who was actually starting to look like our best player again, is gone for 3 matches.  Not that we were likely to get too much against Southampton and West Ham anyway, but losing him against Burnley really stings.  We also fall all the way to 16^th in the table, a mere point above relegation.  I guess it’s nice to be fired up about the team, which was basically impossible for the past month, and some younger players are really developing nicely, but I could really use some good news soon.  Maybe a point against West Ham?  Is that too much to ask for?  Probably.

Was, then wasn't going to add my two cents on the incident.  Was won out.  I got home late Sunday afternoon after refereeing a series of games, the last being a high level but extremely chippy U14 boys contest.  Though both coaches were complimentary afterwards, I was still less than thrilled with my work in a few places, feeling like I had failed to call several fouls and had blown the whistle for some trivial stuff.  But as I watched Michael Oliver in the MCI-MUN match and Neil Swarbrick in the AVL-TOT contest struggle to keep a wrap on things, I began to feel much better.  Both, but especially Swarbrick, to put it diplomatically, seemed to let a lot go, so the players amped things up.  The Benteke-Mason dust-up?  The rulebook says you're guilty of violent conduct (and are to be sent off) if you use "excessive force" or "brutality" against an opponent when not challenging for the ball.  Hmm...to call Benteke's action excessive force or brutality pretty much requires you do the same for Mason's head shoves.  My conclusion - being a referee is a really hard job.

Standings

Don't look now but the three promoted sides occupy the bottom three spots.  If I read my spreadsheet right, the only time since the EPL went to 20 teams that all three promoted teams were relegated the next year that this has happened was 1998 when Bolton, Crystal Palace and Barnsley went down.  Also don't look now but Southampton sits in second while West Ham and Swansea are pushing for the fourth Champions League spot.  But it's early and history is against them.  How many times since 1995-96 has the top four included two teams that weren't named Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool?  Just once, in 1995-96, when Newcastle was second and Aston Villa fourth.


 MLS Playoffs


The conference semi-finals are two leg, aggregate score affairs and the MLS is using the road goals tie breaker this year.  Thus, the Red Bulls have DC United by the at a serious disadvantage after beating them 2-0 in Harrison.   New England's position is even stronger after thrashing Columbus 4-2 on the road.  I saw the Real Salt Lake - LA Galaxy 0-0 draw and can't remember a single moment of the match.  Dallas and Seattle drew 1-1 in Dallas, which sounds like advantage to Seattle.  The second legs are all this Saturday and Sunday.


Calendar

Aside from MLS we have a full slate for the EPL, starting early Saturday (7:45) with Liverpool-Chelsea at Anfield.  Off recent form, this look's to be Chelsea's match to lose.  The 10 am matches aren't quite as exciting but we do have West Ham hosting  Benteke-less Aston Villa (looks tough for AVL) and Crystal Palace traveling to Old Trafford (looks tough for Palace).  Saturday ends with Manchester City at QPR, which sounds like three points for the visitors.

Sunday morning sees Newcastle facing West Brom. The Baggies record looks remarkably similar to the Magpies; before the season I would have had this down for at least a point but I think it's a tough match and would be quite happy with a point.  The other early Sunday games are Everton playing Sunderland in the Stadium of Light (should be something for Everton but both teams are a bit of a mystery) and Tottenham hosting Stoke; the Potters were in better form earlier so at home Spurs should be able to get something.  The weekend closes with a big "are they for real" test for Swansea as Arsenal comes to Wales.

Things are pretty compact right now - Newcastle could end the weekend anywhere from 6th to 16th.