Were We Not Entertained?

Is this not why you are here? Yes, Maximus, it is.

Championship Sunday delivered a great 2 hours of drama.  A TV, computer and phone were barely enough to keep up with events.  For most of the hour between noon and 1 pm, one goal either way could have changed the title and relegation races.  

A Lot of Celebration for a Booby Prize

We can thank Aston Villa for much of Sunday's drama.  Recall that Man City had to lose or draw to give Liverpool a chance at the title.  And that Arlo White had suggested that Pep and City might view the EPL title as the booby prize after losing out on Champions League.  Villa kept City scoreless and when Matty Cash scored at 37 minutes, the door was indeed wide open.  It was practically off the hinges when Coutinho made it 0-2 at 69 minutes.  Trouble was, Liverpool wouldn't walk through.  They were stuck in a 1-1 draw against Wolves.  And the door was closing quickly.

This time, City's Usain Bolt-like comeback didn't falter.  They blew past Villa in the space of five minutes, scoring three times between 76, 78 and 81 minutes.  By the time Liverpool could finally grab the lead against Wolves (at 84 mintues), the chance was gone.  Here's the game winner from Gundogan, this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Nice assist from DeBruyne.  The reaction of Pep and City bench - seen here - suggests they do not see the EPL title as a booby prize.

Dennis offered his perspective as an Aston Villa fan and someone who would have also preferred Liverpool take the title:

The worst 20 minutes of football I've had to stomach

After the first one went in, it was scripted that the other two would go in

Philip S notes that Liverpool lost twice all season yet can only finish second.  City are good.  And they are adding Erling Haaland?  Oh FFS.  

The Real Booby Prize

The beginning of the end for Burnley;
 Nathan Collins hand ball in the box

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, things were almost as dramatic.  Burnley shot themselves in the hand again, picking up another PK for handling in the box.  But Leeds were still locked in a draw with Brentford, so a goal in either match would have swung things back in Burnley's favor.  The Clarets' troubles worsened when Leeds did get a breakthrough at 54 minutes, and when they conceded a second Newcastle goal.  All was not lost, at least not yet.   Burnley started playing better and got one back.  Then Brentford (that would be 10 man Brentford, who lost Kristoffer Ajer to injury after they'd used all their subs) leveled things.  So a goal at either venue would again be enough to save the Clarets.  Alas, the equalizer was not coming at Turf Moor.   In the end, it would have just been heartbreaking anyway because Leeds got the game-winner against Brentford (that would be the 9 man Brentford, who lost Sergio Canos to two yellow cards in two minutes - the first one for taking his shirt off while celebrating a goal).  Leeds escape with 38 points while Burnley join Watford and Norwich in a return to the Championship Division.

Spurs in Champions League 

Son's brace at Norwich 1) helped secure Spurs' CL spot
 and 2) got him share of the Golden Boot with Salah

The chase for the fourth Champions League spot was much tamer.  Tottenham's early attention to business meant we didn't have to spend much energy on that story.  Given that a draw was going to be good enough to secure 4th, the 2-0 lead by 32 minutes against Norwich was about as secure as you could get.  The Canaries averaged .61 goals per game for the campaign and scored more than two goals exactly once all season (on an own goal from 10-man Watford at that).  Spurs added a bunch in the second half to make the final 5-0.  That result rendered Arsenal's 5-1 win over Everton irrelevant.  

Optimism Tyneside?

Not to be overlooked in all the other action, the Magpies win over Burnley meant an 11th place finish.  Respectable in any season, incredible in this one.  They didn't get their first win until December 4th.  They had 7 points through 14 matches and 12 points at 20.  They managed 37 points in the final 18.  Over a 38-match season, that would be 78 points and a Champions League spot. 

Having been severely burned with false hope after the 2018-19 season, I try to measure my enthusiasm.  Recall that Benitez was the manager and there was some hope that Ashley was going to give him a reasonable budget to maybe lift the club back to a top 10 side.  That did not end well, as Ashley felt Benitez wanted too much, Rafa departed and we floundered in EPL purgatory for another three seasons.  Of course, the major difference today is that Ashley no longer owns the club and it's not likely that the new owners paid all that money to watch the club wallow in the bottom third of the league.  No, the bigger fear this time is that they'll over spend on the wrong players and end up like, say, Everton.  

U Get Mojo Back

The Union went to Portland and ended a seemingly interminable streak of draws.  There were two solid finishes from Gazdag and Santos.  Check out this bicycle kick from Gazdag that gave them a quick lead.  The header from Santos was sweet too.  VAR again came to the Union rescue when it looked like Portland had pulled one back in the 69th minute.  I will confess my first thought was we're going to cough up another lead.  Never got an explanation as to why the review took so long but the picture that you can see at the end of this video makes it look like they got it right.  With the two goal margin restored, the final 20+ minutes weren't as nuts as they could've been.

At times, this felt like a dominant Union performance.  At others, not so much.  The stats, especially xG, say it was close.  Had that disallowed goal stood, this could easily have seen another draw.  But, it was clearly a step up from the lackluster showing against Miami at home on Wednesday.  Three road points are always a good thing.

We Had A Spy

CHYSC Alum David R at Portland match-
He's a lumberjack but he's okay

Well, not so much a spy - he was sitting out there in the open with other Union fans.  But there was a CHYSC alum in the stands in Portland - David R, son of BFS Keeper Consultant Graham R.  We know this because we have grainy footage (grainy footage of bearded creatures from the Northwest - where have I heard that before?) as the FS1 camera briefly panned across the Union cheering section at the game's end. That's David in the yellow with the full beard, looking very much like he'd be the guy with the chain saw cutting off the slice of wood when Portland score.  Graham says that is a retro Union jersey, a Christmas present from some years ago.

Quieter Weekends

We are looking at decidedly slow weekends ahead, though I won't miss the 7:30 am Saturday matches too much.  This weekend there are two unfinished pieces to the 2021-22 season.  

The first is a cracker of a Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.  That'll be 3:00 on Saturday on CBS. Pretty good write up about the match here.

Sunday features the Most Lucrative Match of in Football -  the Championship Division playoff final to determine the third team that will be promoted to the Premier League.  We call it the most lucrative match because winning this single match is estimated to be worth £85-95 million in additional revenues each year. This year's contest is between Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield.  You can catch it at 11:30 Sunday on ESPN+

And the Union will be on the road again, this time to one of our least favorite venues, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough MA.  So far, this has not been the New England side that ripped through the Eastern Conference last year.  However, they can be a handful at home.  The Union may benefit from not having a second game this week as they bowed out of the US Open Cup a few weeks ago with a loss to Orlando.