More of the Same

Which is good news for the Union but for Newcastle, not so much.


We Love VAR, Part Infinity +1

VAR is the gift that just keeps on giving.  For over 50 minutes on Saturday night, the Union were looking like your father's Union, just not getting anywhere in a critical home contest with New England.  Then, in the 53rd minute, Burke took a pass from Medunjanin and broke in on goal alone.  Everybody in the stadium - except Burke -  probably saw that the AR's flag was up but referee Drew Fischer never blew the whistle.  So Burke never stopped, went around the keeper, deposited the ball into the net and promptly removed his jersey.  The call on the field was offside.  But it took Fischer only about 10 seconds to look at the still picture on the video replay screen to conclude that Burke was clearly onside.  Here's the video of the play and here's the video of the VAR, this week's YouTubeableMoment.  It could also be this week's U-12 Moment, as in you always play to the whistle.

Of course the awarding of the goal did mean yellow for Burke.  My question is whether he would have gotten a yellow if the goal had not been awarded.  The Laws of the Game specifically say - under a section entitled Celebration of a Goal - that a player must be cautioned for "removing the shirt or covering the head with the shirt."  But it's not clear what happens if a player does either of those things not in celebration of a goal.  Anyway, I digress.

Blake's performance against the Revs got him named
to the MLS team of the week.
Photo: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Burke's tally proved to be the only scoring of the night and the Union got a big 1-0 win.  I would be remiss if I did not mention the stand-out keeping of Andre Blake.  Used to be he'd make great saves in a losing cause that only kept the margin of loss down but now his saves are adding up to big points.  Also noteworthy was Ray Gaddis becoming the Union's all-time minutes played leader late in the match. 

Wednesday the Union headed down to the nation's capitol to face a surging DC United.  The "not your father's" Union reappeared.  The passing between Dockal, Medunjanin and Bedoya is, in Jeff H's words, "getting ridiculous."  Yes, the Union benefited from some near misses by Rooney but our finishing was much more clinical.  Goals by Sapong (29th minute) and Picault (61st minute) were enough for a big 2-0 win.  

Updating the BFS projections for the MLS East, we see how big the win over DC was.  Forecast as a loss by 538, this swing in points puts the Union on track to finish 5th with a seven point cushion over 7th place.  Still work to be done but as somebody said, better to be in the playoff spot instead of chasing it.


At Least It's Still Early

That's about the only positive spin we can put on events Tyneside.  Newcastle parked the bus big time against Chelsea and it almost worked.  They played what looked like a 5-4-1 but at times seemed to be a 10-0-0.  Missing Kenedy (couldn't play against parent club), Shelvey (injury) and Lascelles (injury but maybe a dust up with Benitez too), the Magpies probably had little choice.  And the defense was solid.  Yeah, it was a 1-2 loss but the goals were a PK and a late own goal.  The PK on Schar?  I have to concede it was the correct call.  Others aren't convinced but what I saw was a play on the ball followed by some scissor action to take out the legs of the Alonso.  If there had been VAR, I seriously doubt the call would have been reversed; maybe more telling, I think if the call on the pitch had been no foul, it's highly likely that VAR would have convinced the ref that there was indeed a foul.

Do I need to explain?

Actually, I'm being a bit harsh on the boys here.  After the the deflating PK call, they broke out of the shell and crafted a goal out of a simple cross and header by Joselu.  Hopes were high that we might steal a point.  The own goal off of Yedlin four minutes after drawing level was just unfortunate.  But there it is, another loss and we fall to 16th in the table. 

Benitez, who has been taking heat from the pundits for complaining about his transfer budget, got an earful this time for his defensive tactics.  Something to the effect of "a big club like Newcastle shouldn't be resorting to this type of football at home."  Blah, blah, blah.  These are the same pundits who have no problem comparing Newcastle's transfer budget with the likes of Watford and Bournemouth but then turn around and call Newcastle a "big club."  C'mon, which is it guys?

Adding injury to insult, Newcastle crashed out of the League Cup with a 1-3 away loss to Championship Division Nottingham.  The lineup provides a hint as to how seriously Benitez took this competition but the loss was still embarrassing and does nothing for the atmosphere surrounding the club.


Around the League

We'll start with the statement 3-0 win by Tottenham over Man United (a Northwest Philly Cycling Coalition Derby).  Harry Kane never scores in August and never at Old Trafford.  Until Monday.  Two sweet finishes by Lucas Moura provided the added cushion to put Spurs 2nd in the table.  Kind of annoying that the post-game focus was on the Special One, seeming to trivialize Tottenham's accomplishment. 

Wolves continuing to be an exciting watch as they snatched a 1-1 home draw with Man City.  Sure, the tying goal looked like it might have been a "hander" instead of a header but it's in the books.  The match also provided this week's U-12 Moment as someone (can't remember who) was called for a foul throw when he lifted his back leg.  So Man City is no longer perfect.

Watford's 2-1 win over Crystal Palace was full of nastiness, as evidenced by the six yellows, but surprisingly no red cards.  Leicester rallied for a 2-1 win over Southampton after Hjoberg got booked for simulation, his second yellow of the day.  From BFS co-founder and diving judge Dennis F:

Probably only a 3. Good form on the dive but didn't really argue or writhe.  Definitely knew he was caught and decided not to embarrass himself further.

Mitrovic got two in two minutes against Burnley in Fulham's 4-2 win; yeah, that's a bit annoying to Newcastle fans.  Also, what happened to Burnley's defense?  Brighton showed they are no push over in a 0-1 loss to Liverpool.  A 3-1 win for Arsenal got the Gunners on the board and left West Ham still winless.  Bournemouth - Everton did prove to be the interesting contest I suggested it might be, though not for all the right reasons.  Richarlison got himself a straight red for one of those head butts that really don't look vicious.  Still, the Toffees got a 1-0 lead off a nice effort from Walcott.  Then Adam Smith got sent off for DOGSO (ahem, a not so invisible hand? - that line would kill at a convention of economists).  Back at level strength, Everton added a second.  But goals in the 75th and 79th minutes by King (PK) and Ake rescued a point for the Cherries.  All in all, pretty good viewing for the weekend.


Labor Day Weekend

As usual, we think it's a great idea to celebrate a holiday weekend with lots of football. 

The Union travel to Florida to take on Orlando on Saturday night at 7:30.  Other matches in the MLS East include Montreal hosting the Red Bulls, New England home to Portland, NYCFC at Columbus, Toronto hosting LAFC and Atlanta traveling to DC.  If we want to get greedy, the right set of results could push the Union ahead of Columbus into 4th.  I'll be content with a draw and let the other results take care of themselves. 

In the EPL, Newcastle get to travel to Man City.  Yeah, that should work out well, especially after Man City's stumble last week.  Sounds like Shelvey is still going to be out.  This will be the feature match on NBC at 12:30 on Saturday.

Not seeing a whole lot of fixtures to get the blood going.  Leicester are playing okay so maybe the 7:30 Saturday morning match with Liverpool is worth an early rise.  If I were Spurs, I'd be very careful about facing Watford (Sunday at 11); don't want to get complacent about an opponent that is playing pretty well themselves.  Having a hard time choosing from the Saturday 10 am line-up.  Chelsea - Bournemouth is the TV game and not a bad idea; I might go for Crystal Palace - Southampton on NBC Gold.  Sunday you can see Arsenal take on Cardiff at 8:30; Gunners might continue to get better with opponents like that.  Jeff H may be forced onto NBC Gold to see Burnley - Man Untied United Sunday at 11; two teams there that need a result.

Enjoy.