Who Needs Strikers?

Various projects leave me short on time, and just when things are getting interesting.

Clark's "tap" ties him for Newcastle scoring lead with two

Newcastle took Bournemouth with two more goals from defenders after our attackers squandered several chances.  DeAndre Yedlin's all-in header that leveled the match at 1-1 is our pick for this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Note how VAR took all the fun out the celebration as Yedlin knew it was a tight call as to whether he had stayed onside.  To be fair to our attacking players, the set up came from Almiron and Saint-Maximin.   Ciaran Clark's game winner was nowhere near as pretty but somehow it did get across the line.  Of course there was plenty of stoppage time and some near misses from Bournemouth because this is Newcastle and they never do anything easy.  The Magpies managed to hold on to capture another three points.  They are now just two points out of fifth and seven clear of the relegation zone.  Some of that is due to wackiness elsewhere but they do have 10 points from the last five matches so they have earned that cushion.  We can rest on that until at least December 4th.

So what's happening?  Is this classic Newcastle?  Never as bad as they seem when things aren't going right but also not as good as they seem when they are on a roll.  Maybe we don't need our strikers to score as long as they keep passing to defenders so they can score.  I still think this a long relegation fight because of the number of decent squads and the lack of really terrible sides, though I am starting to wonder about Norwich.  No, I haven't forgotten they beat Newcastle and Man City.

Really, Michael? Guardiola not pleased with some of  Oliver's
calls on Sunday

The feature clash between 1st place Liverpool and 2nd place Man City was a bit of bust.  City
management and fans are still complaining about Michael Oliver not calling handling in the box shortly before Fabinho's laser made it 1-0.  The ball clearly hit Alexandar-Arnold's arm; was it in a natural position?  Hard to say.  VAR didn't overrule so it was clearly a tough call.  City didn't need to give up another just seven minutes later and yet another early in the second half.

Friday's Norwich - Watford tilt could only be streamed on NBC.  Those who missed out shouldn't feel that deprived not seeing the Hornets' 2-0 win.  Christian Pulisic notched another in Chelsea's 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.  Spurs woes continued as they could only manage a 1-1 draw at home against Sheffield United.  At least they still have Champions League.  Seriously, this might be the first time since I've been following Newcastle that the Magpies are above Tottenham in the table.  The draw lifted Sheffield United to fifth.  I had planned to take an in-depth look at the 538 expected goals numbers to see who's been lucky or unlucky so far this season.  I did check all of Sheffield United's matches and it looks to me they are six points above where they should be based on expected goals.  In this crazy, compressed table, that would drop them from 5th to 16th or 17th.

Speaking of 17th place, hard times continue for Aston Villa.  Playing Wolves away is no fun the week after facing Liverpool.  They weren't terrible but they looked uninspired; missing Grealish - and others - is probably taking it's toll.  The 1-2 loss leaves them just three clear of the drop zone.  On the positive side, they are only six points out of 5th.

Leicester passed another test with a win over Arsenal.  I watched the match and have vague recollections of thinking like the 2-0 was a little flattering to the Gunners.  In many ways it was close - Leicester scored at 68 and 75 minutes and many of the stats match up well.  But it looked like Arsenal played "not to lose" while Leicester were the creative side.  The Foxes are second now, behind only Liverpool.


Seattle Sounder than Toronto

I stole that from Adrian Healy or some other MLS announcer.  Seattle defeated Toronto 3-1 to win the MLS Cup.  Not a compelling match in my view.  Toronto definitely had the run of play for 60 minutes but had no goals to show.  Seattle got an own goal that was not ruled an own goal at 57 minutes.  The shot by Leerdam looked to be nowhere near on target until it deflected off a Toronto defender.  The second goal was cleaner and still sort of against the run of play.  A third at 90 minutes clinched things, making Jozy Altidore's powerful header in stoppage time a footnote.  While the game itself wasn't great, watching Brian Schmetzer, Seattle's home grown manager, take in the victory was. More on Schmetzer here.


Getting Ready

The BFS Founders Derby is just around the corner.  Earlier it looked like Dennis's Aston Villa would wipe the floor with Steve's Newcastle.  And that could still happen.  But the Magpies recent form gives me hope for a competitive match on Monday November 25.

For the next week or so you'll have to amuse yourself with European Qualifiers and CONCACAF Nations League stuff.  Most of the European stuff is on ESPN3 or ESPN+ but you might find a few on ESPN2.  This set of matches will conclude group play, locking up spots for next year's European Championship for 20 countries.  Another four slots will be up for grabs in a byzantine playoff format.

The USMNT plays Canada on Friday (7 pm ESPN2) and Cuba on Tuesday (7:30 on FS1).  Recall the last match versus Canada didn't go all that well.  Let's see if there's a response this time.