Unlucky or Ungood?

Newcastle are probably both.  Anybody who watched the Magpies 1-1 draw with Burnley would likely agree that Newcastle sure looked like the winner there.  Metrics from 538 Soccer agree, suggesting that based on the location of shots and who took them, Newcastle could have been expected to have at least another goal.  To some extent, failure to convert these chances may be a matter of (bad) luck - a hot keeper, a shot off the post, etc.  But then again, if it's the same players consistently (looking at you Joselu and Gayle) not putting these opportunities away, don't you have to question their finishing abilities?

In the end, this was another two points thrown away.  Particularly galling was Joselu's missed PK (Newcastle's first of the season) and his shot wide of the post in the second half.  The Burnley goal was another bit of bad play combined with bad luck.  On a corner, Burnley got not one but two heads (which are better than one) on the ball. Darlow made a decent save on the second one but pushed the ball towards the crossbar; it caromed off the underside, right back at him and bounced into the goal. 

Results elsewhere were mixed from a Newcastle relegation perspective.  Draws for Southampton (vs Brighton 1-1), Stoke (0-0 vs Watford) and West Ham (1-1 vs Crystal Palace) were probably good things.  That last was a mildly boring affair given Crystal Palace's penchant for wild matches.  Clearly unhelpful were Chelsea's 0-3 home loss to Bournemouth and Arsenal's 1-3 loss to Swansea.  Michael B and other Spurs fans were ecstatic but really?  Didn't see either match so I can't say what went wrong for the favorites there.  At least Liverpool dispatch Huddersfield 3-0, which allowed Newcastle to move up a place in the standings, and Man City was not too troubled by West Brom in winning 3-0.


In the Northwest Philly Cycling Derby, Tottenham were surprisingly easy winners over Man United 2-0.  We didn't know it at the time but the match was over in just 11 seconds, as Eriksen scored before you could take your first sip of coffee.  We'll make it this week's
YouTubeableMoment; sorry Jeff H, I'll try to get a Jesse Lingard video in sometime this year.  Actually Jeff may be more dismayed that by rule, the goal shouldn't have counted.  As you can see from the picture, Harry Kane was in the Manchester United half of the field when the ball was kicked off.  Only the player taking the kick-off is allowed to be in the opposing half of the field; the kick-off should have been retaken.  I will give the Special One credit here; Mourinho focused on his team's lackluster play than an infringement.


More FA Cup

The EPL games were held midweek because the weekend was given over to the 4th Round of the FA Cup.  We can quickly dispatch with discussion about Newcastle, as they fell rather easily to Chelsea 0-3 at Stamford Bridge.  Wait 'til next year, blah, blah, blah.

But there was entertaining stuff elsewhere, perhaps none more than the Liverpool-West Brom VAR fest.  Firmino gave the hosts a quick 1-0 lead at 5 minutes but a double from Jay Rodriguez at 7 and 11 minutes put the Baggies up.  They could have been up 3-1 but Dawson's header goal was ruled offside (correctly) after VAR review.  Not too much later, VAR came into play again as referee Craig Pawson did not award a PK for a foul in the box against Salah but VAR Andre Marriner signaled to Pawson that he might have missed it.  After reviewing the video, Pawson agreed and awarded the PK, which Firmino promptly missed.  An own goal from Matip in first half stoppage time did make it 3-1.   A 78th minute goal from Salah meant it was tight until the finish but West Brom held on for the upset.

Was the VAR a disruption?  Probably a little bit.  The delay on the PK was about four minutes.  The other times (West Brom's third goal was reviewed too) not so bad.  Maybe I'm just used to the excessive delays in the NFL so it didn't seem awful to me and the VAR did result in the correct calls.  For Alan Pardew to hint that Kieran Gibbs' hamstring injury was a result of the four minute delay is, well, very Pardewish.  There are occasionally lengthy stoppages for serious injuries, or just bad acting, so it's not like it never happens.  In a sport where goals are infrequent, I would rather see them sacrifice a little flow for getting it right.

By my count there were three other upsets in the fourth round.  Likely the biggest was West Ham losing to Wigan 0-2.  Less earth shattering were Southampton 1-0 over Watford and Coventry 1-0 at  MK Dons.  Some of the draws raised eyebrows as well, like Spurs 1-1 at Newport County.  Huddersfield 1-1 to Birmingham and Swansea 1-1 to Notts County probably weren't too well received by their fans either.  Overall, the League Two sides managed a win and two draws against one loss; but the replays will be away matches so maybe the final tally will include three losses. 


Recertified

As long as my hip holds up, I am cleared for another year of refereeing.  The class got a little frustrating as we spent 15 minutes discussing the restart if both the keeper and the kicker commit an infraction on a PK if the kick is successful.  Correct answer - disallow goal, indirect kick from the spot of the kicker's infraction, yellow card for the kicker.  But you knew that, right?  If the kick is missed, it is retaken and both the keeper and kicker get cards.  People got hung up on why the keeper doesn't get a caution too if the kick is good.  Two reasons.  One, if the goal was scored, the keeper's infringement was unsuccessful so there is no infringement.  Two, that's what the rules say.  Can we move on please?


Six Point Matches

Looking at the weekend, I'd say there are five "six-point" matches between sides close to each other in the standings; four are in the relegation fight category while the other is for Champions League.

Sunday at 11:30 (NBCSN) is the big one - Liverpool vs Tottenham.  Spurs sit 5th in the table, two points back of both Liverpool and Chelsea so a win would put them third or fourth.   Spurs have been more consistent (unbeaten in last seven) while Liverpool more, shall we say, mercurial (win over Man City but loss to Swansea). 

Down in trenches we have Bournemouth-Stoke, Brighton-West Ham, West Brom-Southampton and Crystal Palace-Newcastle.  Unless every one of these ends in a draw, the relegation picture will change.  The Newcastle match will be televised - Sunday at 9:15 on NBCSN; might be entertaining if not high quality.   Why is everybody in Philly rooting for Crystal Palace? All I see are Go Eagles signs.  Oh. Never mind.

The Manchester sides have matches that affect relegation too, with City traveling to Burnley and United hosting Huddersfield.  And Arsenal have a tough match versus Everton (Saturday 12:30 on NBC); unless the Gunners wake up and smell the coffee, Champions League may be gone for a second year in a row.

Let's hope that the "raving lunatics" on both sides of the Atlantic are happy with Sunday's results.