Easy there, Sparky. This is Newcastle we're talkin' about.
But it was a glorious weekend, wasn't it? Basically everything fell the Magpies way. Starting with the shockingly easy 3-0 win for Newcastle at home against Southampton. I hadn't even sat down before Kenedy was bringing down Shelvey's pass off his chest, pivoting and scoring. The second goal was a brilliant piece of counterattacking, as you can see from the video (this week's YouTubeableMoment). Check out Gayle's run in support of Perez and Kenedy. Shelvey's
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| Benitez and Pellegrino: Rafa answers the question as to how many of them will still be managing come Monday (Image: PA) |
Then the results started coming in from other precincts. Every team in the bottom 11 besides Newcastle dropped points! The biggest of the result might have been West Ham losing at home 0-3 to Burnley. Huddersfield could only manage a 0-0 draw at home to short-handed Swansea. And everywhere else, the top sides were taking care of business. By the end of Match Week 30, Newcastle's relegation chances as measured by 538 had dropped from 18% to 4%. The good news is that Newcastle are almost over the line; the bad news is that of the eight remaining matches, precious few are likely to add points. Home matches against Huddersfield and West Brom offer the best opportunities. Other positive news is that with this weekend's results, it's not outrageous to think that 34 points might be enough to stay up.
Meanwhile, Back at the Top
With most of the top sides winning, not much changed there. Well, except for Man United taking the measure of Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford. As I suggested last week, the result hardly damages Liverpool's chances of a top four finish but it did significantly boost the likelihood that Man United will finish second. Man City rolled on with a modest 2-0 win over Stoke City and Tottenham started slowly but eventually took care of Bournemouth 4-1. Chelsea kept pace with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace but still look like the odd man out.
West Ham Fans Are Revolting
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| One of multiple pitch invasions during West Ham Burnley match (Christopher Lee/Getty Images) |
As the likely result became clearer at Olympic Stadium, there were multiple pitch invasions by disgruntled fans. Though we do not condone fans going onto the field, we are awarding style points to the fan who took the corner flag and planted it in the center circle. Some of the other incidents weren't so cool and there was a lot of tackling that didn't involve two players. This article provides a helpful explanation as to what's driving the discontent. Not a happy scene.
This Is Definitely Not My Beautiful Game
The scene at West Ham may have been ugly but at least it wasn't disgusting or downright scary. No, we can turn to others for that. First, we have former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher spitting at a 14 year-old girl in the aftermath of Man United's 2-1 win over the Reds. No link to the video because, well, it's disgusting; you can easily find it if you're interested. Sure there was some banter going on there but spitting? Really? Uh, the girl's dad has nothing to be proud of as he was taking the video while driving.
Continuing on, in Greece, after a controversial call late in the PAOK-AEK match in the country's top league, PAOK owner Ivan Savvidis entered the field of play with a gun holstered on his hip. You can read more and see the video here. This is just plain scary. Scary enough that Greek officials have suspended league play for the moment. The incident comes on the heels of convictions for match fixing and referee intimidation. Suddenly, the MLS is looking much more grown-up.
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Man United and Chelsea followed Tottenham in departing from this year's Champions League competition. Neither was in a particularly strong position after the first leg and neither distinguished themselves in the second leg. Michael B noted that The Special One offered up a bizarre post-match press conference, even for him. Basically Mourinho said "What's the big deal? Man United usually fares poorly in Champions League. Heck, I knocked them out twice myself when coaching other sides." Really, read this and tell me that's not what he said.
Which takes me to the audience participation portion of this week's blog. On more than one occasion, we have suggested that Mourinho may be the Donald Trump of football managers. The Guardian apparently thinks so too and offers this 10 question test asking the reader to choose whether it was Trump or Mourinho who uttered the particular quote. I got 8 of 10, which likely means I'm reading too many soccer and political blogs.
Whither Wenger?
With a 3-0 win over Watford and a convincing Europa League take down of AC Milan, this was a much better week for Arsenal. They've drawn CSKA Moscow in the quarters. At 538, they're giving Arsenal a 15% chance of winning the whole thing. Which leads to the following question: If Arsenal finish 6th in the EPL but win the Europa League, does Wenger survive for another year?
Who Should We Root For?
BFS Social Media Director Mackenzie made sure I saw this YouTube post from Hank Green. Hank notes that with the absence of the USMNT from this year's World Cup finals, many are facing the question of who to root for. Personally, I have been heavily linked with the Belgium team and will be able to give them my mostly undivided attention. In the role usually played by the US - that is, an underdog that will have to work it's ass off just to get out of the group stage - I'll be looking in on Iceland. How can you not get excited about a country whose population, as Hank points out, is less than Wichita Falls? Iceland did dodge a bullet when they found out that midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson will only miss 6-8 weeks with a knee ligament problem; initial reports had suggested he might miss the World Cup.
Recall that two years ago, Mackenzie did offer a handy, relatively easy-to-implement method of determining your rooting interest in the European Championships. Her advice was to always cheer for the side with the least imperialistic history; if both countries were colonial powers, then choose based on the diversity of the squad. This approach should work equally as well for the World Cup. Unless of course, you want to root for
FA Cup Quarters
The FA Cup quarterfinals make a real hash of this weekend's schedule. The quarterfinals themselves feature seven EPL sides and one League One club. Can we say there are any scintillating match-ups? Not really. Tottenham go to Wales to face Swansea City at 8:15 on Saturday; except for Spurs penchant for getting draws on the road against lesser sides in the FA Cup, we'd say this should be no contest. Manchester United host Brighton at 3:45 Saturday afternoon; after the mid-week Champions League exit, one would think anything less than a decisive win for the Red Devils will be cause for a
On Sunday at 9:30 we have the curious case of Wigan (League One) taking on relegation threatened Southampton, who will be under the care of a new manager. This might be the most intriguing of the four fixtures. The round concludes with Leicester-Chelsea at 12:30, which might be a decent match as well.
Because of the FA Cup matches, there are only four league fixtures. We'll be focused on Huddersfield vs Crystal Palace at 11 am Saturday on NBCSN. We have this down as a draw but a win for either would vastly improve their chances of staying up. Liverpool-Watford is the other TV match at 1:30 on Saturday, also on NBCSN.
We'll be in DVR mode Saturday, partly because I'll be making my first trip of the year to Talen Energy Stadium to see the Union take on Columbus. The Crew are off to a good start and this is likely a sterner test than the season opener against New England.
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