Cups Running Over

Pretty satisfying few days even without league action.


More FA Cup Do Overs

Seven EPL sides are on to the 5th round and three more went crashing out over the weekend.  And four others got the most wonderful of presents, a midweek FA Cup replay.  All the scores are here. 

Prenton Park - Like the Water Tower, just more spectators

Notable memories from the weekend include watching Man United play at Tranmere on a pitch (see left) that had clearly hosted a tractor pull the night before.  Didn't seem to bother the Red Devils as they marched to a 6-0 win.  Newcastle - Oxford was a 0-0 snooze-fest, which is a big problem because 1) Oxford are a League One side (3rd division) and 2) the match was at home.  Frankly, I was half hoping Oxford would score in the closing minutes so we wouldn't have to do a road replay next week.  Possibly a great way to stifle the Magpies is to let them have possession; they seem less dangerous when they have the ball.  The thing is, should Newcastle get a win in the replay, their 5th round opponent is West Brom, meaning they have a plausible path to the FA Cup quarter finals.  Wait, who am I kidding?  This is Newcastle and the FA Cup.  Get real.

I didn't see the Southampton - Spurs 1-1 draw but at least the replay is back in London for Spurs.  Clearly the shock of the weekend was mega-minnow Shrewsbury scoring in the 65th and 75th minutes to rally from an 0-2 deficit to draw with Liverpool.  So get this.  Liverpool have not surrendered a lead to any EPL team this year and have won 23 and drawn once in 24 EPL matches but here's mighty Shrewsbury accomplishing both.  Granted the Liverpool line-up was dotted with second string.  The replay will be back an Anfield.

Except Klopp has already said he's playing the U23 team in that one.  Basically the issue stems from what the EPL is calling a "mid-season player break."  The intent was to make sure that every club had a weekend off in February, which offered somewhere between 13 and 16 days off depending on your exact schedule.  As explained in this article, the Shrewsbury replay falls inside Liverpool's two week break, leaving them with just 10 days off.  Klopp has said he planned the season with that break and obviously feels he has bigger fish to fry than the FA Cup.  Note that Spurs, Southampton and Newcastle also get a shorter break because of these replays.

Always something with the FA Cup.


Suddenly We Carabao It Cup

Two solid semi final second legs.  To the extent that anything involving the Carabao Cup can be considered a classic, the Aston Villa - Leicester match would qualify.  Recall that was 1-1 heading into the second leg.  Both sides, but mostly Leicester created opportunities early.  Somewhat against the run of play, Villa's Matt Targett scored in the 12th minute.  Just great end-to-end stuff throughout so it wasn't surprising when Leicester leveled things in the 72nd minute.  The Foxes looked the likelier side to find a game winner to save the contest from a dreaded PK shootout.  But it was Aston Villa in the 93 minute on a cross from Ahmed "Tickle Me" Elmohamady to Mahmoud Hassan who took the honors.  Nice goal, deserving of this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Though we continuously make fun of the competition, the Villa fans seemed energized enough by the win, storming the field at the final whistle.

I didn't see the other semi - a Manchester derby -  but Dennis tells me "surprisingly watchable."  Trailing 1-3 after the first leg, Nemanja "Auto" Matic got one back for United in the 35th minute.  The comeback would sputter out though, party because Matic picked up a second yellow in the 76th minute; that left the Red Devils a little short of the needed attacking power to level the match. 

So Man City will face Aston Villa on Sunday March 1 at Wembley. 


Newcastle Get Their Men

This would be one of the more productive transfer windows in recent memory for the Magpies.  Granted, it looks like a Tottenham close-out sale but I think it works for us.  First we got defensive midfielder Nabil Bentaleb from Schalke on loan; you might remember him from his days with Spurs.  Then we got left fullback Danny Rose on loan from Tottenham.  He fills a huge gap created by the losses to injuries of Paul Dummett and Jetro Willems.  We also added Valentino Lazaro from Inter Milan to help out at right wing/midfielder.  All make enormous sense and strengthen the squad.

Biggest news league wide I guess would be Bruno Fernandes going from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United.  He'll be a force in the midfield as both a goal scorer and a playmaker. 

Aston Villa made some moves earlier in the month, adding Danny Drinkwater (who has frankly looked awful in his appearances so far) and veteran keeper Pepe Reina.  This week they picked up striker Samatta from the Belgian side Genk.  Dennis wasn't overwhelmed by the latter but his ratings in Football Manager aren't bad.


Critical Matches

Sure that Cup stuff was fun but this weekend it's back to the real prizes - not getting relegated and chasing a Champions League spot.  I'll be at my referee recertification clinic until 12 so gonna be on major delay this weekend.

Things get going right away with a 7:30 Leicester - Chelsea match up.  The Foxes look pretty solid for a Champions League spot but Chelsea have work to do, holding a six point lead over a chase pack that includes Man United, Wolves and Spurs. A full slate of six matches at 10.  Dennis and I will be turning to NBC Gold for a critical relegation showdown between Bournemouth and Aston Villa, following it up with Newcastle-Norwich.  This could be a season defining moment for the Villans, as you can't find a lot of points elsewhere in their schedule.  Newcastle still need some points to end the relegation threat and Norwich at St. James' Park sure looks like a good place to start.  A third relegation-relevant contest at 10 am is West Ham - Brighton.  The NBCSN 10 am match is Liverpool - Southampton.

The NBC feature match at 12:30 is a dandy between Man United and Wolves - two the sides vying for that fourth Champions League spot.

Sunday's 9 am match on NBCSN is Burnley - Arsenal; I'm stunned to see that 538 has Burnley as a slight, very slight favorite here.  But then I see the two are actually tied on points, with Arsenal having a slightly better goal differential.  Arsenal were surprisingly quiet in this transfer window too.  The 11:30 match has Tottenham hosting Man City; this is not likely to be a match for Spurs to make up ground.  I think Michael will be rooting for Leicester to beat Chelsea so they don't lose any more ground. 

Don't forget the FA Cup replays on Tuesday and Wednesday, if you have ESPN+.