Newcastle were outeverythinged but still beat Bournemouth 1-0. Possession was 33-67, shots were 2-13, shots on target were 1-5, corners were 0-16 (double checked that last one). Newcastle looked like a superior side that were truly annoyed at being forced to play a friendly against a team from a lower division; the Cherries worked harder, had no trouble dispossessing Magpie attackers, and generally controlled the match. The goal came on a nice left-footed poke by Ayoze Perez, which almost made up for the him spending much of the match on the pitch, looking for a referee's call when none would be (nor should have been) forthcoming. Excellent work in goal by Rob Elliot and the back line was pretty solid too. The midfield was awful; given that Siem de Jong is making noises about maybe leaving, wouldn't this be a good time to play him and find out if he can 1) help us in the midfield and 2) stay healthy?
Of course, after all this whining, it was a win that moved Newcastle out of the bottom three in time for the international break. And it probably makes up for a match somewhere in the past where they did deserve the three points but were unlucky.
Around the League
Probably shouldn't include in the uninspiring pile the North London derby that saw Arsenal and Tottenham play to a 1-1 draw. The play was spirited and at times had some of the snarl you like to see in a derby. I saw a match in three acts - Arsenal in the ascendancy, Tottenham scoring a goal and looking for more, then Arsenal drawing level and looking like they might have a game winner. I scratched my head at the insertion of Kieren Gibbs (often seen at left back) for Joel Campbell (attacking winger) in the 74th minute with the Gunners down 0-1; of course he scores the equalizer three minutes after entering the match and also nearly had the game winner.
Were I a true Aston Villa fan (as opposed to a more casual viewer who wishes them well most of the time), I might have been more captivated during their totally unexpected scoreless draw with Manchester. I'll let Dennis supply the passion and will only note that we're seeing how important Aguero and Silva are to the Citizens as they were held scoreless.
Not a ton of passion from me on this one either. It was nothing short of a miracle that the Villans stole a point from this match and really just goes to show how hard it is to continually lose, even when you are a mediocre team (something about a blind squirrel comes to mind here). City had at least 3 chances they should have scored - 2 chances from 6 yards out that didn't even hit the target, and one 92nd minute header that rattled the crossbar . I wouldn't be surprised if this is the only match all season in which City have these types of chances and get shut out.
Compare that to the Villa offense that mustered 3 shots......period. None of which were on target (other, somehow less flattering, comparisons to blind squirrels seem apt here). Aside from that little detail about scoring, Villa actually looked half decent - more movement, crisper passing, and much less sloppy defending all contributed to a not embarrassing display. This was a tough way for Garde to have to start his tenure, but I liked his lineup choices - he started Clark, Veretout, Sinclair, and Gil - and the general style of play. That said, Villa thoroughly deserved to lose and didn't, so I'll just chalk this one up to dumb luck, take my point, and lock it away so no one can take it back.
Also saw West Ham and Everton draw 1-1; again, not terrible but I remember a bit of multi-tasking while watching that one. Couldn't miss Stoke-Chelsea, which featured Mourinho calling in instructions from the hotel while serving his one-game stadium ban. Hmm, the instructions either were misheard or not the right ones as Chelsea went down again 0-1. Frankly, they did deserve a draw because Stoke keeper Butland definitely tried to trip Loic Remy in the box; Remy bravely cleared the sprawling keeper but couldn't stick the landing and could only flail away at the ball while tumbling to the ground. Easy PK, possibly a red card, but no call was forthcoming. And did you notice how quickly the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (described here) threw referee Anthony Taylor under the bus? Within minutes the announcers were informing us that the PGMOL was saying that was a clear penalty. Not a great match to watch but it leaves Chelsea in 16th a mere one point above Newcastle.
The matches I probably should have been watching were Leicester-Watford and Liverpool-Crystal Palace. Dennis may have details on Leicester's 2-1 win over the Hornets which included another goal for Jamie Vardy (okay it was a PK but still [And Vardy did do all of the work to earn the PK, so he totally deserved the goal]). At Anfield, I'm sure Jurgen Klopp coached the pants off Alan Pardew but Crystal Palace beat Liverpool anyway 2-1. So the Eagles now sit in 8th but I'm still reading about plenty of Newcastle supporters who still think Pardew is an awful manager. Drives me nuts. Not saying everything was great during his tenure, just that his managing wasn't the reason for the problems. MLS Playoffs
So I watched the wrong match here as well. With the Red Bulls holding a slim 1-0 lead over DC United after the first leg, the game in Harrison should have been a nasty, tense affair. The Red Bulls were unable to add to their lead but even though a single goal by DC United would have meant overtime, there was no sense of drama to the match. A late goal by the Red Bulls eventually put the series out of reach. Probably would have done better to watch Columbus-Montreal or FC Dallas-Seattle, as both of those went to extra time and eventually kicks from the spot before Columbus and FC Dallas clinched their spots in the conference finals. And the Portland Timbers pulled off a mild upset, netting two on the road in Vancouver and winning that series. Personally I'll be rooting for the Red Bulls and FC Dallas as they had the best regular season records but can understand it's hard to root against a team that awards slices of logs to men of the match.
Speaking of Timbers fans, Bob K (who is also
International Break
The USMNT begins World Cup qualifying with matches on Friday night against St Vincent & the Grenadines (pretty sure I saw them at the Main Point in the 70s) and Tuesday against Trinidad & Tobago. Would expect these are wins for the US - I mean these are countries that have to put two countries together to field a team (Or as Ted Lasso might say: "How many countries are in this country?"). Maybe the more interesting thing will be the lineups Klinsmann trots out for these matches.
Possibly more exciting are the two leg playoff series for the final four spots for next year's European Championships. The match ups are Norway-Hungary (11/12 and 11/15), Bosnia & Herzegovina-Ireland (11/13 and 11/16), Ukraine-Slovenia and Sweden-Denmark (both 11/14 and 11/17). Check your local listings - these games will be available on the ESPN and Fox Sports channels.
Without access to BeIN Sports, I won't be able to watch but there will also be some great South American WC qualifying matches during this break as well.
Might get to raking some leaves this weekend. Or a nap.
Big games for USA. And I'm happy Red Bull is playing Cbus, although as I fan I prefer Montreal and Droga. The first round 11 round shootout between Portland and KC was wild. I'm not a big Timbers guy though, haha.
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