Hollow Victory

Can't remember a less satisfying win than Newcastle's 1-0 result against Aston Villa.  First, the game just wasn't that good; the only moment of any quality was Cisse's settling of the ball in the box and calmly placed shot in the net.  Second, it came at the expense of the relegation threatened Villans and Dennis and I were watching together.  Third, Aston Villa were actually the better team, except for the fact that they simply cannot score.  As the Villans were having the run of play, I would say a goal seems imminent; Dennis would say you don't know this team.  Then they would miss a golden opportunity.

Q:  What do you call it when Aston Villa put the ball in the net?
A:  Offsides

True to form, they did that twice.  All told, just not a great viewing experience.  Certainly the neutral would ask for a refund of his 90+ minutes.  Not that there are any plans to return the three points mind you.


Yes Officer, That's the Guy

Manchester United - Sunderland was not the antidote to the drab NEW-AVL but it did have some fun moments.  In the 64th minute of a scoreless draw, somebody from Sunderland held back Radamel Falcao as he dribbled toward the goal.  Asked to pick out the offender from the lineup below, Roger East chose the man on the left - Wes Brown.  Replays showed that the perp was actually the man on the right - John O'Shea.  Close enough I guess (Avid blog readers will recall a similar mentioning of the mistaken identity between Arsenal's Gibbs and Oxlade-Chamberlain early in the season.  That one seems a little more forgivable in the face of this one.)
 

So having decided on the offender, East reached into his pocket and showed Brown...a round red card.  A quick tour of the web did not reveal a definitive answer as to why some use the round card.  Some said it was so the ref knew which color card he had when he pulled it out of his pocket.  Others said it was so color-blind players could distinguish the two.  Someone said it could double as a coaster when the ref was at home enjoying his favorite beverage.  Whatever.  It did liven up an otherwise uninteresting match.

But for a true antidote to drab football, you had to check out Liverpool - Manchester City.  A quality goal for each in a scintillating first half with plenty of chances and end-to-end action.  Maybe not as frantic in the second half but Philippe Coutinho's masterful strike in the 75th minute was true brilliance and easily this week's YouTubeableMoment. The context - Liverpool trying to get themselves back in the Champions League race - just made it all that much more exciting.


Midweek Reversal of Fortune

 Dennis will discuss the Aston Villa's derby win over West Brom, coming with the Villans on life support.  I will not discuss Newcastle's 0-1 loss at home to Manchester United, other than to say they played well enough to earn a draw and the goal they surrendered in the 89th minute may have been one of silliest of the season. (no link as we do not want to reward that type of behavior).

Surveying the weekend and the mid-week results what are the takeaways, at least for teams of interest to this blog?  Chelsea look ensconced at the top, Man City running out of time but solidly in second, Arsenal and Manchester United in good form holding onto 3rd and 4th.  But, it's too early to count out Southampton, though they've been inconsistent of late, Liverpool, who are hot, and Tottenham who are also rounding into form.  Everton have not removed themselves from relegation danger and Aston Villa, though out of the bottom three, have work to do to ensure that Dennis won't have to choose another team next year.

I Forgot It Was A Derby

Chalk it up to my being a relatively new fan or my recent general apathy towards the team, but I didn't realize this match was a derby until several minutes in.  I guess I need to work on my passionate hatred for a specific set of strangers who live thousands of miles away.

The Villans seemed to realize this was a derby and came out firing on all cylinders, prompting several comments along the lines of "Why haven't they played like this all season?"  In particular, Agbonlahor looked 5 years younger, sprinting all over the pitch, tucking away a well deserved opening goal, and hitting the post minutes later.  In true Villa fashion, they gave up an easy looking equalizer half way through the second half, but that just set the stage for the finish of the season.  

West Brom keeper Ben Foster had shown slippery hands all match, but they didn't come back to bite him until the final minute.  With Villa frantically seeking a winner, Foster spilled yet another Villa shot and compounded the problem by fouling Matt Lowton........in the box.......and the ref actually saw it........and he actually called it.........awarding Villa their first PK of the season!  Given the way the season has gone, this is exactly the kind of call that I don't expect them to get.  But they did, and Benteke quite calmly earned Villa what could very easily be a season saving three points.

This revived my hopes enough to actually watch all three other matches with teams currently in the relegation zone and I am happy to report that Burnley, Leicester, and QPR all lost in convincing fashion (though QPR made me a little nervous).  The real key will be to keep this momentum into next Saturday's match against Sunderland (sorry FA cup, you're not as important as not getting relegated) and really put the bottom of the table in the rear view mirror.

The stars truly aligned for me and this match.  First, and most amazingly, Villa actually won.  Second, the match wasn't supposed to be available on replay and I wasn't expecting to watch it, but I didn't end up checking the scores at work because I actually had work to do.  Third, Tuesday was my birthday.  


Capital One League Cup

A great match until it started to suck.  First half you felt like the match was there for the taking.  But a needless foul at 44 minutes gave Chelsea a free kick that John Terry deflected in.  Tottenham seemed punchless in the second half and a second goal (Costa shot deflected by Walker) ended whatever suspense was left.


MLS Starts This Weekend

Kind of snuck up on me but the MLS season starts this Saturday - assuming there is no strike and the fields are not snow covered.  Check out this link for a preview of the Eastern Conference.  Not great news for either the Union or the Red Bulls.  Given the Union's relatively quiet offseason, I can't really argue with the conclusions.


FA Cup Weekend

Quarter finals spread out over Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  No live TV that I can find for Aston Villa-West Brom or Man United-Arsenal.  But Fox Sports 1 will have Bradford City-Reading at 7:45 on Saturday and Liverpool- Blackburn at 12:30 on Sunday.

Only EPL match is another London derby featuring Tottenham at QPR on Saturday at 10.  An important match for both for vastly different reasons - Tottenham to stay in the Champions League hunt, QPR to stay in the EPL.


Is it just me or does it feel weird to others too that the dreary, wet weather in England looks like it would be a pleasant change of pace?