When Your Team Wins on Friday

The whole weekend is better.   You watch the other matches less concerned about how the results might affect your team.  The beer is colder.  Etc.

Recall that my wish for the match with Crystal Palace wasn't a result but simply that the Magpies be competitive.  And they were.  They gave as good as they got throughout the match.  The problem was  that all the best chances kept falling to Joe L Linton, who was not making the most of them.  So the match proceeded into the late stages at 0-0.  Finally one of scoring opportunities came to Callum Wilson and he sweetly nutmegged the keeper for the lead in the 88th minute.  An easy choice for this week's YouTubeableMoment.  We should be fair to Mr. Linton - it was his pass that sprung Wilson.  Also, he ended up scoring an insurance goal a few minutes later.  Yeah it was deflected but it was still credited to him as opposed to an own goal. 

Aside from getting Wilson back, the Magpies benefited from the return of Jonjo Shelvey and his ability to pick out the long pass.  Matt Ritchie also made his return.  Darlow had a few more saves, adding to his league-leading total; good that he's making them, bad that he's faced so many shots.  They did manage to win without Saint-Maximin and Lascelles.  A statistical mixed bag - worse possession, more shots, equal expected goals.  I saw this as a smash-and-grab win from a match that was probably a draw.  Love the three points stashed away for a rainy day.

Sunday's Test Results

We'll go with a friendlier pass/fail grading system given the pandemic.

Man United's answer man Edinson Cavani

Manchester United - Pass  They were heading towards fail until they starting cheating off of Edinson Cavani, who seemed to have all the answers.  The Uruguayan came on to start the second half with the Red Devils down 0-2 and not looking good at all.  All he did was get the assist for Bruno Fernandes at 60 minutes, the equalizer at 74 and the game winner two minutes into stoppage time.  You can fault them for having to pull the 3-2 win out of the fire but the bottom line is they did get the three points.

Spurs - Pass  They are Newcastle with talent.  By that I mean they are more than willing to cede possession to their opponent, confident that the defense will yield few serious goal scoring opportunities while their counterattacking prowess will give them sufficient scoring opportunities.  The 0-0 draw with Chelsea was not beautiful, other than the fact that they went into Stamford Bridge against a strong, in-form team and came away with a point.  

Wolves - Pass  Despite losing key players from last year (Jota, Doherty), this is a squad that looks determined to hang around the edge of European qualification anyway.  Their key test with Arsenal was made all the more difficult when Raul Jiminez was literally knocked out of the match with a head injury after a nasty collision with David Luiz.  They soldiered on and came away with a 2-1 win against the struggling Gunners.

Southampton - depends on the question  Taking Man United to stoppage time before falling 2-3 is not an awful result.  Probably doesn't feel that way after coughing up a 2-0 lead.  Holding on could have elevated their status.  Still, this looks like a good team that could compete for European qualification. 

Chelsea - Pass  Maybe lenient but hard to say a 0-0 draw versus a well-organized, disciplined Tottenham side is a failure.  There were a couple of chances after errors by Spurs' debuting defender Rodon that the Blues might have capitalized on and they did have the possession advantage.  Still, when two good sides battle to a draw like that, hard to say it was a failure.

Arsenal - Fail  No such leniency here.  Wolves are not a bad team but this was Arsenal at home and they managed just two shots on target.  Aubameyang had a couple of chances late but couldn't convert.  Expected goals say this was a Wolves win.  Also, kind of an ugly match with seven yellow cards.  So the Gunners sit 14th in the table, a point behind Newcastle.

Everton probably didn't realize there was a test this weekend so they failed the pop quiz, losing 0-1 to Leeds on a late goal.  They continue their slide down the table after a hot start.  They weren't the only ones to stumble.  Leicester somehow managed to lose at home 1-2 to Fulham, coughing up a chance to rise to second place. That upset vaulted the Cottagers back ahead of West Brom and out of the relegation zone. The Baggies had temporarily left that space after an important but not particularly scintillating 1-0 over hapless Sheffield United.  The Blades now have one point from 10 matches, the worst start in EPL history.  Man City had no trouble disposing of Burnley 5-0, which was nice in that I didn't have to spend much time with the dvr of that one.

Dennis and I were relatively confident of an Aston Villa result at West Ham and feel the manner of the 1-2 defeat confirms we were not far off.  Villa managed to allow a goal right at the start of each half.  They got one of them back on a nice shot from Jack Grealish (yeah, it was deflected but ever so slightly).  Watkins had a chance to level it in the 74th minute but crashed the bar with his PK attempt.  He also scored in stoppage time only to have it called back - correctly - for offside.  Aston Villa had all the stats in their favor, with possession at 66/34, shots at 16/6, shots on target 6/2 and expected goals 2.15/.65.  Of course, it's still a loss but this was eminently winnable. 

LiVARpool

Their fun with VAR continues.  In the 1-1 draw with Brighton, the Reds had two goals called back for offside after review and saw a stoppage time PK awarded to the Seagulls after the VAR spotted an foul on Andy Robertson.  We stress that we believe all three calls were correct.  Just that it seems like VAR has not been Liverpool's friend this year.

MLLess

So the conference finals didn't have quite the same intrigue.  New England did pull off another upset, sending Orlando home with a 3-1 win in a chippy, not very pretty match that at times looked ready to disintegrate into a hockey match.  Nashville played Columbus tough for over 100 minutes, offering us the tantalizing possibility of a Eastern Conference final between the 7th and 8th seeds.  But Columbus prevailed in extra time so at least we'll have the 3rd seed in the conference final.

In the West, underdog FC Dallas battled gamely but the Seattle Sounders beat them again in the playoffs, this time 1-0.  Dallas did have a couple of close calls mid-way through the second half, including one shot cleared off the line, so it was not one-sided.  The MLS website refers to Seattle grinding out this win and that sounds about right.  The second semi was another upset, though not on the scale we've been seeing in these playoffs.  Fourth seed Minnesota jumped on Sporting KC for three goals in 12 minutes in the first half and never looked back.  Didn't see the match but the 0-3 final looks a little harsh based on the stats.  Sounds a little like the Union loss to NE; SKC missed some chances early and it cost them.

So we have 3 v 8 in the East and 2 v 4 in the West.  Top seeds missing all over the place yet surprisingly better than we might have expected after the first round.

Derby Delayed

Dennis and I were psyched for virtual viewing together of the BFS derby Friday afternoon.  Alas, covid, has run amok at the Newcastle training ground so the Aston Villa-Newcastle match has been postponed.  Dennis notes the possible incongruity of the league opening up the venues for limited fan attendance at the same moment the league is faced with its first postponement due to the virus.

Besides a Footballess Friday, we also have a Sunday full of Peacock telecasts.  Not funny guys.  

Feature match of the weekend is the North London Derby between Tottenham and Arsenal Sunday at 11:30.  BFS London Football Tour Guide Simon notes "Arsenal next?  It'll be good to play a team in the bottom half of the table😆😂."  Yikes, in the wrong hands, that could be bulletin board material. But Spurs heavy favorites here - 54/22/24 at 538. 

The weekend kicks off with Burnley-Everton Saturday at 7:30 on NBCSN; though it sounds tepid, this might actually be pretty competitive.  Everton have come back to Earth and Burnley don't concede too many goals at home.  At 10 am, we would expect that Man City are going to harsh Fulham's mellow.  The NBC feature match at 12:30 is West Ham - Man United. Doesn't sound all that great but they have identical records over the last five matches so maybe it will be close.  Nah, I think the Hammers are a bit overrated at this point.  Doesn't mean I won't watch.  Saturday closes with the underdogs who refuse to play like underdogs - Leeds - taking on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (3 pm on NBCSN).  I love watching these guys but up against the Blues at home is going to be tough.

I'll be sure to be up at 7 am on Sunday for West Brom hosting Crystal Palace.  Actually, like the Burnley-Everton contest, this is likely to be quite close and maybe a good watch for anyone up at that hour.  This is followed by Sheffield - Leicester at 9:15.  Will the Foxes stumble two weeks in a row?  I doubt it.  Next is the London Derby and Sunday concludes with Liverpool - Wolves at 2:15.  The odds are stacked against Wolves, especially without Jiminez, but still might be worth watching.  

The EPL matchweek finishes on Monday at 3 pm (NBCSN) with a South Coast Derby (we like the term though fans of both sides don't view it as a derby) between Brighton and Southampton.  The Seagulls are not as bad as their record suggests and may give the Saints a tough time here.

MLS playoffs are again overlaid on top of the EPL action.  The Eastern Conference final is Sunday at 3 pm on ABC featuring Columbus hosting New England.  Not a big fan of either of those.  The Western Conference final is December 7th (a date which will live in infamy) with Minnesota heading to Seattle.  The Eastern final could be very tight, with the improved and in-form Revolution likely to give Columbus a good battle.  I suspect Seattle is a big favorite taking on Minnesota in the comforts of their home Lumen Field.

Didn't even get to the Champions and Europa League stuff - group stage play ends with matches Tuesday-Thursday.  If you can't find something to watch, you're not trying hard enough.