Good But Not Dooping Great

Two more wins for the Union but hold off on the coronation.  Newcastle steal a point.  Villa finally lose.  Late game heroics continue.  Business as usual.

Supporters Shield Winners?

Santos celebrates hat trick vs Toronto
Photo:Shivant Krishnan

With Saturday night's 5-0 massacre of Toronto, the Union moved into the top spot in the MLS.  It was a beat down in every respect.  They were up 2-0 by 33 minutes and Toronto looked helpless to a) stop them and b) score.  This was the first time in a while Curtin could field what is arguably his preferred XI, in their proper positions.  It showed.  For the first time in a month, they had proper spacing, time on the ball, accurate passing and quality finishing.  They were so much better with Martinez back in the line up.  Some call it the best Union win ever, though I would still go with last year's playoff win over the Pink Cows.  No doubt this was awesome though, to beat the top team in the league so convincingly.  Wednesday's 2-1 slugfest over Chicago was not as encouraging but nice work by Curtin on the substitutions to pull that one off.  The wins put the Union three points away from clinching a home field advantage for the playoffs and the Supporters Shield for the best regular season record in the MLS.  

So why do I feel that all these things come with asterisks?    Well, for starters, the Toronto starters weren't their top XI; injuries and the like meant no Altidore and a weakened (slow?) back line.  Good on us for taking advantage but maybe we shouldn't overvalue the win.  In the Chicago match, the Union reverted to their sluggish first half approach.  Even with an arguably generous handling call (PK converted by shuh-BILL-koh) and a sending off (not sure if it was deserved), the Union could only manage a 1-1 halftime score.  Burke's first goal (a solid header off a cross from Mbaizo) was the difference but they needed an incredible goal line clearance by Wooten to preserve the win.  To be fair, they were missing Monteiro (yellow card accumulation suspension) and Martinez (positive covid-19 test).  That's an asterisk right there - how long will Martinez be out?  Did others get infected during his presence with the team?  Another asterisk is that Blake left the game with some kind of hand injury.   

I realize I sound like a Democrat fretting excessively that the polling data are wrong and that Biden is going to lose.  The standings say the Union have a three point lead with two to play and all this other stuff is just noise.  Except it is pretty loud noise.  Maybe Blake will be fine and Martinez will only miss a game and no one else gets sick.  This looks like a team that needs its best XI out there.

Side note: last week we gave Jack Elliott a shout-out for his nice work filling in at defensive midfielder but suggested that it would be his only appearance there.  Not.  He subbed in for Martinez late in the Toronto match and started there against Chicago in Martinez's absence.  We saw more solid work from him plus  a couple of nifty moves.

You Say Tomahto, I Say Tomayto

Wednesday saw the return of Fabian Herbers to Philadelphia.  Except we found out that when he was here he went by Faybian and now he goes by Fahbian.  So noted.

You Can't Tell the Players Without a Scorecard

In Newcastle's case, this might mean the players themselves.  For Sunday's match vs Wolves, injuries meant Steve Bruce put out a makeshift starting line up that included Ryan Fraser in the midfield and Jacob Murphy at right back.  I saw several times when Allan Saint-Maximin (hereafter ASM) and Fraser were clearly not on the same page.  With a 5-3-2 (looked more like 5-1-3-1 to me), the Magpies were clearly set up to defend.  The first 15 or so minutes made me wonder if we'd see the Wolves' 18.  Newcastle did come around and there was more balance for most of the match but this was a team that was playing for a 0-0 draw on the road.  

Jimenez broke the tie with a blistering shot from the top of the box in the 80th minute.  Some discussion about whether Darlow could have done better.  He did go for it with the "wrong" arm but it was a blistering shot.  With ASM having been substituted, this felt like Plan A was out the window and there was no Plan B.  We were pleasantly surprised with what happened next.  Wilson earned a foul on the edge of the box.  A committee of three (Almiron, Schar and Murphy) hovered over the ball.  It was Murphy who took it and you can see the result in this week's YouTubeableMoment.  He curled it around the wall and just beat Rui Patricio.  An inquest as to whether the wall was properly constructed or should Patricio have done better.  Maybe.  Whatever, the shot was brilliant,  Newcastle get a point and I'll argue it was not undeserved.  

Nobody's Undefeated Anymore

On Friday, Aston Villa were locked in a 0-0 draw with Leeds and looking awful while doing it.  Not surprising then when Leeds poured in three between 55 and 74 minutes.  All by Bamford.  The 0-3 final was about right. The good news is that apparently if you are not named Salah or Bamford, you can't score on Villa.  

That's creme de mint, not Toffee: maybe Everton
forgot who they were in those shirts

The other undefeated squad, Everton, might have been even worse in an 0-2 loss at Southampton.  Maybe it was a Merseyside derby hangover.  Whatever it was, the Toffees (Creme de Mints in those kits?) looked exceedingly ordinary.  Their cause was not helped by Digne's red card at 72 minutes.  Seemed a bit harsh and Everton's post-match appeal got the suspension reduced from three matches to one, offering some support for that view.  

Speaking of exceedingly ordinary, Man City could only manage a 1-1 draw versus West Ham.  With two draws and a loss, the Citizens find themselves 13th in the table.  Sure it's early but the dropped points add up.  Also ordinary was the 0-0 draw between Man United and Chelsea.  They both looked more than comfortable walking away with a point.

LiVARpool

Though they did manage to come away with a narrow 2-1 win over Sheffield United (alternate header: Blades Give Liverpool Close Shave), the Reds continued their fun with VAR.  Two more goals were called back for offside after VAR review, though at least this time the calls weren't as close.  They did struggle at home to beat a side with no wins and just three goals.  

Don't Touch That Dial

Not as frequent as last week but there were four matches decided late.  Besides Newcastle's narrow escape, Son's 76th minute goal was the difference for Spurs at Burnley, Jamie Vardy scored in the 80th minute to allow Leicester to take all three from Arsenal, and Karlan Grant rescued a point for Brighton in the Albion derby with West Brom with his 83rd minute equalizer.

Fall Back

The numbers at 538 are hinting at some blowouts.  Plus, daylight savings time ends early Sunday so we're back to 7 am starting times.  We soldier on.  The schedule makers continue with the sequential starting times so you can still see every match live if you so choose.  

Two most interesting games of the weekend look like Aston Villa hosting Southampton (7 am Sunday on Peacock) and Monday's relegation duel between Fulham and West Brom (12:30 on NBCSN).  Both the Villans and the Saints have been lively so far and they are closely matched.  The Cottagers and the Baggies (sounds like an English pub?) have not been lively but they are closely matched at 17th and 20th in the table.

I suppose I should get sh...crap from the Man United and Arsenal fans for not including that game in the above list.  In theory that should be a good one so it's a little surprising that 538 has the Red Devils as big favorites.  Both squads have had good and bad moments so it's not clear where they are going just yet.  Definitely worth checking out Sunday at 11:30 on Peacock.  Monday's second match, Leeds vs Leicester (3 pm on NBCSN) might be good too.

Newcastle get their second straight TV appearance, hosting Everton at 9 am Sunday on NBCSN.  Once again, we'd be thrilled with a point.  If you like Friday afternoon football, you can see Wolves - Crystal Palace at 4 pm on NBCSN.  

Don't want to be accused of jinxing things so I will just say the heavies look to have some easier sledding this week.  Man City get Sheffield United (8:30 Saturday on Peacock), Chelsea have Burnley (11 am Saturday on NBCSN), Liverpool get to host West Ham in Saturday's 1:30 feature match on NBC and Spurs are home to Brighton (2:15 Sunday on Peacock).

That last one is a conflict with the Union, who travel to Columbus for a 3:30 match.  As of publication, no news on Blake or Martinez.

I do realize that Champions League and Europa League matches are going on and I even get to see some of them but just don't have time to write about them.