After a run of good results, things were on the ugly side last week. Still, there were some positives if you look hard enough.
Split Screen Loss
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| If a goal is scored at SJP and no one hears it, it still counts |
Fortunately, Chelsea did their job on Saturday, beating Fulham 2-0 on a brace from Kai Havertz. The magic number is four points, meaning that Fulham must win three out of Burnley, Southampton, Arsenal and Newcastle, while the Magpies would have to lose everything from here on out. I'm sticking with improbable but not impossible. That qualifies as optimism Tyneside.
West Brom only got a point against Wolves so their magic number is three points; they can only drop two points in matches with Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham and Leeds. Good luck with that. Brighton's 2-0 win over Leeds puts them just short of officially safe. Burnley's loss to West Ham leaves them in basically the same condition as Newcastle.
Spurs Baled Out
Tottenham kept themselves barely alive in the Champions League chase with a 4-0 stomping of Sheffield United, largely on the strength of Gareth Bale's hat trick. Leicester, despite playing all but 10 minutes a man up, could only manage a 1-1 draw at Southampton. In fact, they were down 0-1 at half and had to come from behind. No goals, just an assist for EatANacho. West Ham kept their hand in by edging Burnley 2-1. The match of the weekend, Man United vs Liverpool was postponed. Leicester and Chelsea remain the favorites to qualify.
Everybody Doesn't Do It
By "it" we mean fall down at the slightest contact looking for the foul. Check out how Villa's Ollie Watkins looks to have been tripped, goes down on one knee but pops right back up to slip the ball past Jordan Pickford. Nice goal in any circumstances but we make it this week's YourTubeableMoment for bucking the trend. Great match btw, especially the first half. Both teams, with not lots to play for, looked interested.
Not For the Faint of Heart
The Union tested their fans with an ugly 0-2 loss to NYCFC on Saturday night and a nailbiting 1-1 draw Tuesday night in the second leg of the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinal against Atlanta. Though that draw was good enough to send the Union onto the semis with a 4-1 aggregate score, even this "good" stuff was uncomfortable to watch.
Saturday night started off bad and went downhill. First, they yielded an early goal to fall behind quickly. Then Jose Martinez completed a disciplinary double. Already suspended for the Champions League match due to accumulation of yellow cards, he got himself sent off with a straight red card for a fist pounding to the head of NYCFC's Castellanos; expect a minimum one game suspension to go with it. There was some solace in they kept it at 0-1 for a long time. When shuhBILLkoh, Wagner and Flach came on at about 60 minutes, it looked like we had a chance at a draw. Then, an ill-advised back header by Glesnes didn't reach Blake and led to the second, and clinching, goal.
Right back at it Tuesday night. Recall the Union entered the second leg with 3-0 lead. Curtin said the plan was not to sit back; he wanted to come out on the front foot. And they did for the first 15 minutes, taking the game to Atlanta. No goals from the pressure but it did keep Atlanta at bay. The rest of the first half was more even. Then Flach attempted an interception just outside the box when he would have been done better just to check his man; he missed and Sosa buried the shot. Perfect. Atlanta was the better side for most of the second half and had plenty of chances. Then shuhBILLkoh provided needed relief with a goal at 88 minutes on a nice cross from substitute Cory Burke. Would have been nice about 20 minutes sooner but there it was.
I got to see both up close and personal. Not sure how it worked out this way but with the limited seating all our seats for May are 10 rows behind the Union bench.
An American in London
Last week, Christian Pulisic became the first American male (Carli Lloyd and Alana Cook have done it) to score in a Champions League semi-final match. Wednesday he became the first American (male?) to get an assist in a Champions League semi-final helping to seal Chelsea's win over Real Madrid. Chelsea came in with a slight advantage based on the 1-1 result in the first leg in Spain. A goal by Werner had provided Chelsea with a modest cushion but a goal from Real Madrid at any point would have be enough to force extra time. Despite several good opportunities, the Blues could not put it to bed. Enter Pulisic. Check out the goal he set up here; notice the composure in the box, then the pinpoint pass to Mason Mount. Nice.
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| Can PSG get a result at the Etihad? Hail no. |
So Christian Pulisic will join Zach Steffen in the final on May 29, the first time two American men will be in the Champions League final. And both from southeastern (sort of) Pennsylvania.
Conversation That Could Have Taken Place But Didn't
Dennis: Did you say the Brighton PK taker was bad?
Steve: No, I said he was Gross.
Conversation That Could Have Taken Place and Did
After Man United leveled Europa first leg semi-final with Roma at 2-2:
Steve: United look good for more. They might win this 4-2.
Dennis (after United got their 6th):What idiot said 4-2?
What does the Roma manager say in the lockerroom after that? "Well, boys, at least we got two away goals. A 4-0 or 5-1 win back at home sends us through."
Meet the New Boss
Speaking of Roma, guess who will manage them next year? That's right, the Special One. Mourinho had quite a good run in Serie A last time. Like how some are calling it "baffling and yet inevitable."
Get Off the Fainting Couch
So what to make of Sunday's protest in Manchester? You can read the BBC write-up here. Things were a little uglier than I realized but don't think my basic position has changed. To call it a riot seems like overkill; this looked largely orchestrated to make a point. Take the pitch invasion. Yes, it is technically trespassing, but the fans entered, made their point, then left on their own. Unfortunately a few did dumb things like destroy some camera equipment or go places inside the stadium they didn't need to. Not good. And apparently there were a few incidents with police. Also not good. But overall, not a riot in my book.
So I got irritated at some of the reaction. The self-serving statements from the team and local authorities are lame. You knew about this protest for a week and were incredibly ill-prepared. How could it have been so easy to break in to the stadium? As for the team statement, two weeks ago you demonstrated exactly how little regard you have for the fan base; what did you expect?
Also disappointed in the NBCSN team. They were falling over themselves to call it disgraceful, uncalled for, etc. Felt like I was watching Fox News. The protest was a generally measured response to an attempted coup of the English Premier League. NBCSN made sure we saw the same guy throw the camera tripod over the railing like 50 times. Okay that was bad but it was one incident. As far as they knew, that was the most violent act of the protest. The whole crew was breathlessly reporting like this was the end of soccer as we know it. Spare me the faux outrage guys. One guy left a shoe on the pitch and a steward, clearly not in fear of his safety, retrieved it for the protestor. And Rebecca Lowe was incredulous. Uh, I'm going to guess that the steward, who was, you know, actually there, had a better read of how (not) dangerous the situation was than you sitting in the studio in NYC or wherever. As I'm recounting the events, I'm remembering how pissed I was at the time; I ending up turning off the coverage in disgust. Maybe it was just too soon after the January 6th insurrection here, but this was pretty tame stuff and you guys overreacted. I'm much more concerned about someone leaving threatening messages on the desk of the US Speaker of the House than someone sitting on the lockerroom bench where Marcus Rashford puts on his cleats.
A minor point I realize but Rebecca Lowe made a point of apologizing to Arsenal fans for the disrupted coverage of the Newcastle match. What about the Magpie fans? I wasn't the only one who noticed this. In some ways, it's a tell. Just like how the television schedule is about making sure the Big Six get coverage. That bias hasn't been on display so much since the pandemic hit because few matches are scheduled concurrently. Wonder if that goes back to the old ways when things return to normal. I realize they want good ratings but it's also clear which side their bread is buttered on.
Still No Days Off
Another week with matches every day. Newcastle get their fun out of the way early, with a 3 pm match at Leicester on NBCSN. No expectations there; a point would be awesome. But Leicester are likely very motivated to lock up third place and a Champions League berth.
The other match that has my full attention is Fulham-Burnley on Monday at 3 pm on NBCSN. I'm probably the only person outside of family and friends of the players who cares about this one. A loss for the Cottagers would be crippling. Burnley has no interest in losing either since they would reduce their cushion to just six points.
The Champions League chase pack have work to do. Chelsea travel to Man City for the Saturday NBC feature match on Saturday. Besides a preview of the Champions League final, this will a chance for City to clinch the EPL title or a chance for Chelsea to hold onto their fourth place spot. Probably worth watching. Fifth place West Ham host Everton (Sunday 11:30 on NBCSN); the Hammers are favored but Everton don't seem to have given up just yet. Sixth place Liverpool have an easier fixture, hosting Southampton Saturday at 3:15 on Peacock. Spurs have a very tricky fixture at Leeds in Saturday's first match (7:30 on NBCSN); Leeds have been generally a tough match up lately.
Aston Villa offer a second chance for Man City to clinch the title as they face Man United (Sunday 9:05 on Peacock). A Villan win seals the title and even a draw effectively locks up trophy based on goal differential. On Sunday we hope Arsenal put West Brom out of their misery; a loss there consigns the Baggies to relegation. Two largely irrelevant matches round out the weekend - Sheffield United vs Crystal Palace (Saturday at 10 am on NBCSN) and Wolves - Brighton (Sunday at 7 am on Peacock).
The midweek fixtures have a couple of gems - and a reason for Ole Gunner to be miffed. Man United have to play Leicester on Tuesday at 1, then turn around and play Liverpool at 3:15 on Thursday. Just one day rest between two tough matches. Wednesday features Chelsea - Arsenal at 3:15; the Gunners position in the league table takes a little of the luster of this one but Chelsea will likely still be under pressure for a top four placing. Aston Villa will take on Everton (again - this is the match postponed due to covid outbreak earlier in the year) on Thursday at 1 pm.
The Union will try to put up some points in the MLS with matches on Saturday at Chicago (1pm) and Wednesday home versus New England (7:30 pm). Hopefully they can move past the heady stuff of the Concacaf Champions League and focus on league play now.
Sorry no days off again. You'll have to wait until Monday May 17th.
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