Missed It By That Much

Apologies to Maxwell Smart 

via GIPHY

Late in the MLS Cup final (100 minutes maybe?) with the score 2-2, BFS Keeper Consultant Graham R and I agreed that regardless of the result, the Union had acquitted themselves well. They had rallied from 0-1 and 1-2 to take the match into extra time.  The second time was a clutch header from Jack Elliott, seen here, in the 85th minute.

Extra time was crazy.  In the 110th minute, LAFC keeper Maxime Crepeau made challenge on Cory Burke that left both players down.  Crepeau suffered a serious injury and had to be stretchered off the field with a broken leg.  Burke continued on but later had to be subbed out.  At first referee Ismail Elfath initially showed Crepeau a yellow card (a breach of referee etiquette there as he flashed yellow at Crepeau while he was frantically signaling for the physio).  There was no way this wasn't red for DOGSO and eventually Elfath got it right.  Ironically, the LAFC replacement was John McCarthy, the LaSalle grad who had been Blake's back up for several years.

Ruing what could have been (photo Stephen Speer)

Things got crazier in the 124th minute (9 minutes of stoppage time because of the injury) when Jack Elliot put the Union up 3-2.  This was not a pretty play but we still make it this week's YouTubeableMoment.  The Union are up 3-2 with about five minutes of stoppage time left.  The bad news was that all earlier statements about just being happy that we made it a real contest became null and void.  Thus, it was daggers when Gareth Bale leveled things again at 120+8 minutes.  Sure we were going to kicks from the spot but somehow the moment seemed like it was gone.  And it was.  The U missed three consecutive so when Sanchez buried his kick in the fourth round, LAFC won.  Try as I might, I can't go back to the feeling I had at 100 minutes.  We were champions for five minutes and then it was gone.  Damn, it is the hope that kills you.

To be sure, the Union had played tough, but not great.  Give aways and sloppy fouls were an issue again.  There is a silver lining though.  This is not a team that needs to be torn apart and rebuilt to win a championship.  Further good news is that except for Blake and Bedoya, they are all under 30.  That doesn't mean there won't be replacements.  We'll probably read soon that both Wagner and Mbaizo have left for Europe.  Paxten Aaronson is also set to follow in his brother's footsteps; though he didn't feature as much as we might have expected, he was likely to play a key role going forward. 

There is also some measure of satisfaction in reading that many feel it was the best MLS Cup Final of all time and that it was the most watched final in 20+ years.  Small consolation but it is something.

Does This Say Philly Sports or What?

In the space of 7 hours and 13 minutes on Saturday night, Philadelphia lost two championships - the MLS Cup and the World Series.

Fine Side Tyneside

Joe Willock slips the third goal past Gavin Bazunu

I forget which Peacock announcer coined that phrase as Newcastle were heading towards their fourth straight win, a seemingly easy 4-1 win over Southampton.  Certainly the finishing was high quality with four different Magpies - Almiron (again!), Wood (finally!) , Willock and Guimaraes - getting on the board.  But Newcastle also benefitted from the Saints not taking advantage of their opportunities; I recall Southampton missing several wide open chances.  The stats reveal how deceptive the margin of victory was.  Newcastle were outpossessed 45-55, outshot 7-16, and had fewer shots on target (4-5).  Most telling was xG, with Southampton taking a 1.6-1.1 edge there too.  Of course, you could just say Newcastle were simply more clinical in their finishing and deserved the win.  And mostly I believe that but they also need to be careful not to read their press clippings too closely.

Third in the table?  That can't be right.

Like Good Vinyl?

The highest compliment you could make about an LP (go ask your parents) was that you could drop the needle anywhere on the record and you'd like what you heard.  We can say the same about the five matches in Saturday's 11 am time slot.  You could have picked any one of them and seen an interesting contest.  I was going to say you wouldn't be disappointed but that might depend on your rooting interests.  All five were in doubt until late and in four, the decisive goal came at 83, 84, 95 and 96 minutes.  We discuss Man City - Fulham below.  Nottingham Forest were the beneficiaries of an own goal in the the 96th minute to snatch a 2-2 draw with Brentford.  Leeds finished off an unlikely comeback from a 1-3 deficit to Bournemouth with a goal in the 84th minute to grab a 4-3 win.  Given how tight the standings are Leeds get to 12th while consigning Bournemouth to 17th.  Wolves and Brighton had a fun back and forth contest but the Seagulls prevailed 3-2 on a goal at 83 minutes from Pascal Gross; Brighton's run continues while Wolves are stuck in 19th.  

Speaking of how compressed the table is, Everton had a chance to put some distance between them and the relegation zone but were outplayed by Leicester in a 0-2 loss.  So now both sides are at 14 points -  with Leicester slipping ahead on goal differential - just two points outside the relegation zone.

 

Playing With One Haaland Tied Behind Their Back

Man City started the match against Fulham with scoring phenom Erling Haaland on the bench.  Then Cancelo got sent off for DOGSO.  Perfect.  PK converted and it's 1-1.  Now we can have an even match.  Except even down a man this was one-sided in just about every respect but the score.  Even the eventual appearance of Haaland didn't tip the balance and we rolled into stoppage time level.  Then DeBruyne made an absolute meal of the slightest of touches by Antonee Robinson in the box.  You can see the play here; we are largely KDB fans but that performance is Oscar-worthy.  Of course Haaland converted the PK for a 2-1 final.  

A Second New Manager Bounce

Apparently you get an interim manager bounce and a permanent manager bounce.  In his first match in charge, Unai Emery saw Aston Villa dispatch Man United 3-1.  The match looks closer on the stat sheet but Man United's only tally was an own goal from Ramsey.  Note, that he corrected his mistake with one for the proper side a few minutes later.  There must be a name for a brace that includes one for each side.  

The contest turned a MMA demonstration when Lisandro Martinez took two bites at the cherry, as they say over there, elbowing Leon Bailey twice in the same play.  You can see the incident here. The first contact was clearly the more forceful one and probably a foul but how do you let a deliberate elbow like the second one go?  Martinez somewhat despairs that his nickname is the "Butcher of Amsterdam."  Others point out he only had four yellows last year at Ajax.  Well, with refereeing that lenient, of course he'll only get four yellows in a season.  Also, note the rematch between the two (Villa and Man United played each other in Carabao Cup action on Thursday) was more of a professional wresting contest.  Hysterically, only Bailey got a yellow in the rematch.

Selective Memory?

I remember very little from the feature match of the week, the London derby that saw Arsenal best Chelsea 1-0.  The 7 am start may be partly to blame.  The stat sheet offers another clue - Arsenal had all of two shots on target, Chelsea just one.  

In the other big match, I remember Spurs falling behind Liverpool distressingly easy - again - before staging a furious second half comeback that barely fell short.  The final was 2-1 in favor of Liverpool but a draw would have been a fair result here.  Actually xG suggests Tottenham might have been the better side.  

I have no memory of Crystal Palace beating West Ham 2-1 but that's because I didn't see it.  Too bad, because that was another decided late in stoppage time.   

A Brief Note About the Carabao Cup

Newcastle are still in it. They play Bournemouth in the next round.

Old Business

Football is life and it's the lack of hope that kills you

I neglected to post my favorite Halloween costumes of 2022.  Michael B and Susan C went to a Halloween party as Dani Rojas and Ted Lasso.  

Last Gasp Before World Cup

This weekend is the last EPL match week until after Christmas.  Feature match of the weekend, wait this can't be right, is Newcastle hosting Chelsea Saturday at 12:30 on NBC.  Looking at 538, wait this can't be right either, they have the match at 41/34/25.  So the Magpies are prohibitive favorites?  I do expect an interesting match as Newcastle have seemingly discarded their old practice of parking the bus against powerhouses.  A win?  Not so sure about that.

Back to a crowded 10 am Saturday fixture list.  USA grabbed Liverpool - Southampton but that doesn't look too competitive.  I'd be more likely to go with Bournemouth vs Everton - two teams closely matched that are way closer to the relegation zone than they would like.  Or, maybe go with West Ham- Leicester for basically the same reason.  Your other choices are Nottingham Forest - Crystal Palace or Spurs hosting Leeds.  Crystal Palace have been tough this year.  Despite Tottenham's inconsistent form, hard to see them struggling against Leeds.  

For those who like their massacres early, you can get up to see Man City host Brentford Saturday at 7:30 on USA; 538 has that one at 85/5/11.  Yikes. There's also a bonus Saturday game on USA at 2:45 with Arsenal on the road to face Wolves; given that is 1st vs 19th, not holding my breath for a tight one there.

The Sunday schedule is light as we have Brighton - Aston Villa at 9 and Fulham - Man United at 11:30.  Both are on USA.  Enjoy them as that will be your last taste of EPL until Boxing Day.  

Speaking of the World Cup

Of course, the lack of EPL football will be more than made up for by a crowded World Cup schedule.  The group stage features 48 matches between 11/20 and 12/2, with four on most days at 5 am, 8 am, 11 am and 2 pm.  Aware of the growing US market and taking advantage of the time differential,  all the USMNT group stage matches are  at 2 pm.  They include Wales (11/21), England (11/25) and Iran (11/29).

There is no lack of preview material on the web.  I liked this one from Yahoo because of its format and the fact that it's written by Chestnut Hill YSC graduate Henry Bushnell.  This one from SBNation

was a good read as well.  We'll turn to Henry again for his thoughts on the USMNT roster.  

I humbly offer my recommendations for Match Day 1 matches of the group stage for those with limited viewing windows: 

11/20  Qatar - Ecuador 11 am (it's your only choice)

11/21 US - Wales 2 pm

11/22 Mexico - Poland 11 pm

11/23 Morocco - Croatia 5 am

11/24 Uruguay - South Korea 8 am  (gotta be better than any parade)

I was going to do all the group stage days but upsets can change which are the key contests so we'll add those in subsequent posts.

The World Cup does give a different look to the holiday season.