Trainwreck

Me and the missus watched Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck on Saturday night.  Two thumbs up.  Earlier that day, I watched Newcastle’s trainwreck of season continue.  No thumbs up.  Ahead 1-0 after 15 minutes, the Magpies completely crumbled before the Crystal Palace onslaught and left London with a 1-5 loss.  Results around the league were decidedly not helpful.  Sunderland won, Bournemouth drew with Everton (awesome ending, with four goals from the 80^th minute on, including two in stoppage time), West Brom stole a point from West Ham, and Arsenal failed to win at Norwich.  I know charity begins at home but a little help from the rest of the league would be nice.

The view from Birmingham was no better, though it looks like the match was at least a little more competitive.  Dennis, if he can bring himself to write anything, adds:

This one was actually a rare "undeserved loss", if such a thing really exists.  Villa have been getting thoroughly beaten for the most part, but this loss was distinctly against the run of play.  Villa controlled the match until allowing a sloppy rebound goal in the 16th minute, should have equalized just minutes later, and did in fact draw level before half, while still mostly controlling the flow of the match.  Watford again took the lead on a Hutton OG and got a third on another multi-rebound ugly passage of play (though the actual finish was pretty).  Ayew kept to his scoring form with a lovely strike from the top of the box with about 10 minutes remaining, which was enough to earn this week's YouTubeable Moment (skip to 1:40 for the goal), but not enough to get the Villans a point. 

In reality, they controlled nearly the whole game, created the better chances, scored the higher quality goals, and generally looked like the better team...and still lost.  If they aren't going to win matches when they play like this (against a lower tier opponent to boot), I don't see a way out of the bottom three.  It will take a run of last-season-Leicester-esque proportions to see them to safety and I frankly do not see it happening.

We both did better with our backup teams.  Dennis, who pegged Leicester as an exciting team to watch early last season even when they were bottom dwellers (that's right - I was on the Leicester bandwagon before it was cool!  In fact, I was driving the wagon!), is thoroughly enjoying their run near the top.  Hard to call it a classic but the Foxes must be happy with the 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United; I didn’t see a case of stage fright in their first real test in the limelight.  And Jamie Vardy got the EPL record with a goal in his 11^th consecutive match.  Bittersweet for me was the Crystal Palace side of the Newcastle trainwreck.  Hard to know how much that was Newcastle suckiness but the 5-1 laugher leaves Alan Pardew’s side in seventh place.

The other big match of the weekend – Tottenham-Chelsea – was a bit of a let-down, though maybe not a surprising one.  Certainly talent was on display but neither side could break through in the 0-0 draw.  Though not a terrible result for Spurs, you can’t help but feel they were hoping for more given their recent form.  Chelsea were probably happy to take the point.

Never Leave Before the Final Whistle

The second legs of the MLS semis certainly reinforced that adage.  Neither contest really offered much until very late but then delivered big time.  After scoring early in the second half, the Portland Timbers were up 4-1 on aggregate and looking very comfortable.  And then suddenly they weren’t.  Goals from Dallas at 68 and 73 minutes created the very real possibility of extra time.  Timber center back Nat Borchers (the one who looks like a lumberjack) got a crucial block on a shot late to preserve the one goal lead and Lucas Melano put away an insurance goal late to seal the 5-3 win.

Borchers (left) - He's a lumberjack and he's okay

Things were just as crazy late in Harrison NJ.  I thought the Red Bulls showed a profound lack of urgency down 0-2 throughout the match.  They did manage to make things interesting with a goal in the 93^rd minute.  With no more than a minute or two left in stoppage, it still seemed like a long shot but extra time was still a possibility.  Then Bradley Wright-Phillips popped a header over Columbus keeper Steve Clark only to see it hit the post leaving Columbus a 2-1 winner.

So once again, the MLS Cup will be lifted by a side other than the Supporter Shield winner.  But a Columbus-Portland final looks appealing; kickoff is at 4 pm Sunday on ESPN.

No Respite

Newcastle have the honor of hosting a hot Liverpool side that seems to be finding their game under new manager Jurgen Klopp.  No reason for optimism here; Steve McClaren is now even money to be the next EPL manager sacked.  You can watch that one on Sunday at 11 on NBCSN.  Aston Villa travel to Southampton with very slim hopes of a result there; no live TV for that one.

Not an overwhelming list to choose from this week.  Man City go to Stoke for the 7:45 Saturday match on NBCSN.  Arsenal, which have been doing a crappy job of beating weaker sides lately (but still sit in fourth) host Sunderland in the 10 am USA match.  Man United versus West Ham at Old Trafford is the 10 am NBCSN match, which should be competitive, if not high scoring.  Saturday TV finishes with Chelsea hosting Bournemouth at 12:30; normally I’d yawn but this year you never know.  Also on the schedule but foolishly relegated to livestreaming is Leicester going to Wales to face Swansea City; hopefully the Foxes aren’t in letdown mode after last week.  Same fate for Tottenham, playing West Brom - no live TV.  Monday has a decent looking match between Everton and Crystal Palace; I have modest hopes for a freewheeling contest there.

Looks like another weekend where the highlight for me will be the Chester Blues in Football Manager.