Seven of Nine

Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager

No, not the Star Trek: Voyager character played by Jeri Ryan, although I've included her picture in case any Trekkies end up here because of this post's title.  I'm talking about how many points Newcastle took home from three away matches in eight days with the three top rivals for promotion.  To be honest, it's more than I would have hoped for.  And frankly, with a few unlucky breaks, the total could have been as little as two.

In the last post I described Newcastle's unlikely come-from-behind win at Brighton.  Saturday, the Magpies ceded 75% possession to Huddersfield and had just two shots on target yet came away with a 3-1 win.  How is this possible?  Well, Newcastle got what some accounts suggest was a dubious PK to take an early 1-0 lead.  At 32 minutes, Daryl Murphy added a second, though some accounts suggest he kicked the ball out the keeper's hand.  Huddersfield got one back with a possibly dubious PK of their own to ensure that the final 20 minutes would be tense.  Gayle ended the drama, assisted by this awesome gaffe by the keeper, who was scrambling to get back into position after coming forward for a late corner.  Yes, this could have easily ended 0-0.  Tuesday in Reading, the play was actually better but the Magpies could not break through.  Reading had a shot that slammed off the crossbar at 94 minutes so this one could have been a 0-1 loss.

Newcastle have seen their share of questionable calls and bad luck so some of this is just a natural evening out of things.  I only got to watch one of the three matches but it seemed like Rafa took a page out of other teams' strategy against the Magpies - that is, keep things tight at the back and take your chances when you can.  The only goals surrendered in the three games were both dubious penalty calls so the defense certainly did its job.  Newcastle enter the weekend with a three point lead over Brighton and a nine point lead over Huddersfield (who have a game in hand).  Certainly nothing is wrapped up but this is a lot better than sitting behind Brighton with Huddersfield just a point or two back.


Public Service

BFS continues to provide a valuable service to the soccer community - watching dreadful Union matches so you don't have to.  Sunday night's season opener in Vancouver was simply awful for the viewers.  One of our readers, who shall go unnamed, admitted to falling asleep during the match; we'll give him a pass because it was late Sunday night.

 Derrick Jones in action against vancouverDARRYL DYCK/CANADIAN PRESS/AP

On the positive side, a point on the road against a decent squad is just fine.  Two standouts for me were Blake (no surprise) and teenager Derrick Jones, who had played his way into the starting lineup as a defensive midfielder. Check out this analysis from the Brotherly Game on the work of Jones.  Money quote for me:

After the match, Jones’ ability to track back and provide cover for the backline in addition to controlling much of the midfield with decisive outlet passes earned him heaps of praise.

Debuts for Jay Simpson and Haris Medjunanin (who's going to need a short nickname) were more subdued.  Simpson had virtually no service so there's little to go on.  "Med" was one of the reasons Simpson had little to work with.  Just one game but hoping to see more from both of them.


Something For Everybody

Quite a collection of EPL matches this past weekend.  The featured Liverpool-Arsenal clash did not disappoint.  Some incredible attacking skills by Liverpool had them up 2-0 at the half but Danny Welbeck brought the Gunners in range with a 57th minute strike.  Great up and down stuff the rest of the way until Wijnaldum's goal in stoppage time put the finishing touches on a 3-1 win.  But Chelsea kept its lead safe with a solid 2-1 win over West Ham that wasn't really that close (Hammers goal came late in stoppage time).  Similarly, the 3-2 final makes the Tottenham-Everton match sound close but it wasn't.  A ferocious press had Spurs in control most of the way.  Man City had no trouble with Sunderland, winning 2-0.  Most interesting match that few people saw might have been the Southampton-Watford goal fest that ended with the Saints winning 4-3.

The Man United-Bournemouth game held my attention but maybe for the wrong reasons.  The Cherries were not making it easy for MUN and the score was 1-1 late in the first half.  Then, Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings stepped on a prone Ibrahimovic's face and seconds later Ibra returned the favor with an elbow to Mings' face.  Neither was carded but Bournemouth's Andrew Surman got his second booking for dissent and was sent off.  We'll return to this later.  Against my better judgment I continued to watch.  But 10 man Bournemouth did a credible job keeping things level.  Ibra's PK at 71 minutes could have won it but he was denied by keeper Artur Boruc.  Incredibly, Bournemouth held on for precious point while Man United gave up another two points at Old Trafford to a lower table side they should be thrashing, especially up a man.

At the time, Bournemouth felt hard done by the decision that left them, not Man United, a man down. But Mings could have easily been sent off too so the likely outcome would have been a 10 v 9 second half.  That Kevin Friend did not book either gave the post-match disciplinary process the chance to play out.  The Cherries are also squawking that Mings got a five match ban while Ibra only got three.  I think the difference is that Ibra didn't request a hearing.

Some shuffling of things at the bottom of the table.  Leicester and Crystal Palace both logged their second consecutive wins while Swansea got a big win over Burnley.  Leicester, Swansea and Bournemouth are now five clear of relegation and Palace moved out of the bottom three.  Middlesborough, an 0-2 loser to Stoke fell into 18th while Hull and Sunderland bring up the rear.


Roly-poly Keeper

We wrote about Wayne Shaw's story a few weeks.  Chestnut Hill Local editor Pete Mazzacaro (who wrote about the Five Men from US and is an avid Union and Liverpool supporter) offered some additional thoughts on the story in an Op-ed piece entitled "There Are No More Heroes."  Money quote for me:

Even more difficult is the continuing reminder that we can’t really have heroes. Even the most harmless among us have the habit of imploding in the spotlight when the same media forces that work so hard to elevate us, work just as swiftly to take us down. We want so much for the Wayne Shaws of the world to succeed, but it never seems to work out that way.

There was a misdeed here - it was indeed a betting impropriety as friends of Shaw benefited from his knowledge of the odds - but it was outside of the context of the sport itself.  If he lost his job over the optics as opposed to the transgression itself, that does seem excessive.


FA Cup Quarters

Will make hash of this weekend's EPL schedule.  Still, I'll be interested in Hull-Swansea City at 10 am Saturday on CNBC; the Swans could really put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone with this one.  Liverpool-Burnley might be a good one too at noon on Sunday (NBCSN)

Fox Sports will have the FA Cup action.  Saturday is Middlesbrough-Man City (7:15 FS1) and Arsenal-Lincoln City (12:30 FS2).  Both Sunday's games are on FS1 with Tottenham hosting Millwall at 10 and Chelsea taking on Man United at Stamford Bridge.

No interruption for the Championship Division since none of the clubs remain in the competition.  The top three all have tricky matches.  Newcastle are back home (is that necessarily a good thing?) but face a decent Fulham side, who beat the Magpies at Craven Cottage earlier this year.  Hoping there is no let down after that tough string of away matches plus sometimes Newcastle can be a little shaky at home.  Brighton are home as well but face a good Derby team while Huddersfield are on the road to 12th place Brentford.   Oddsmakers have all three favored to win.

I'll be making my first trek of the year to Talen Energy Stadium to freeze my ass off take in the Union home opener against Toronto.  Though at home, this is tougher competition that Sunday's match at Vancouver.  Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore will likely keep the Union defense busy.  A draw against this squad would be a good result.

Now, where is my long underwear?