Return of the Minnow?

Hopefully you looked in on the FA Cup quarterfinals two weekends ago.  No, not the Newcastle 2-0 loss to Man City - that was boring.  But the other three were exciting, producing five stoppage time goals between them.

The best of the lot was Championship Division Coventry's roller coaster 3-2 win over Wolves.  They are probably too high up in English football (currently 8th in the second tier) to call them a true minnow but this was definitely an upset. The Sky Blues carried a 1-0 lead late into the match only to see it evaporate with goals by Wolves at 83 and 88 minutes.  Not to worry.  We'll just score at 90+7 to level and then again at 90+10 to win.  US International Haji Wright (more on him below) got the game winner, seen here as this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Nothing flukey about that one, calmly curved around the defense.  A classic FA Cup moment.

I didn't see Chelsea push Leicester around for 90 minutes while still finding themselves locked at 2-2 heading into stoppage time.  Again, no worries.  The Blues simply poured in two goals in stoppage time to take this quarterfinal.  Leicester had been a man down from 73 minutes on, managed just five shots (only one on target) so it seems the win for Chelsea was fully deserved.

Man United vs Liverpool was a see-saw affair.  United had an early lead that turned into a 1-2 deficit by half time.  Antony leveled things late with an 87th minute goal.  My Forest Green Football Manager star Harvey Elliott put Liverpool back in front in the first period of extra time.  Again, not to worry.  Rashford got the equalizer at 112 and Amad Diallo got the game winner at 120+2, seen here.  Note that Diallo took his shirt off and got the requisite yellow card.  Problem was that it was his second so United had to play the final seconds down a man.  Dennis and I were so hoping that Liverpool would grab an equalizer with that advantage but there wasn't enough time.  

Just awesome stuff.  If the FA Cup keeps this up, we'll probably be more respectful in the future.

Limited EPL Action

The league stuff wasn't quite as captivating in comparison but I do remember a few things.  Burnley took advantage of a Brentford red card to get a 2-1 win to keep survival hopes alive.  The Luton Town - Nottingham Forest was a classic relegation contest and Luton Town did what they often do - scored a late goal to snatch a much-needed point.  This week's WTF moment was clearly Fulham's 3-0 smashing of Tottenham.  Michael B announced he no longer follows the EPL for the fifth time this season.  Aston Villa clearly missed John McGinn in a 1-1 draw at West Ham.  Dennis and I agreed that the point was a pretty good result given the circumstances.

I've Never Seen MLS Like This

The Mighty Quinn; Sullivan doubles the Union lead
Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

Apple's promo tag for MLS Season Pass works on multiple levels.  With the game behind two paywalls (Apple subscription plus Season Pass subscription), I took in Saturday's late match with Portland on WPEN.  Still too new with soccer on the radio - I can't translate play-by-play into a visual like I can for baseball or football.  The Union were seriously undermanned, missing six starters, mostly for international duty (more on that below) and naming just five subs - Donovan, Real, Ngabo, Makhanya and Rick.  Again, no worries.  A brace from Carranza and one from Sullivan were enough to see off the Timbers 3-1.

The MLS continued to burnish its reputation as a second tier league by playing through the international break, leaving many teams shorthanded.  This was especially egregious given that the USMNT was involved in Concacaf Nation League semis and finals.  So the domestic league from which the national team in theory draws its talent didn't see the need to observe the international break.  

At least they resolved the referee lockout.

How Many Countries In This Country Made the European Championships?

Alas, just two - England and Scotland.  Wales easily bested Finland 4-1 in a semi but failed to advance against Poland, falling in the PK shootout after playing to 0-0 draw through 120 minutes.  A close (as expected) low scoring (as expected) match that turned out to be perfect for intermittant napping.   Ukraine and Georgia (good week for former SSRs) were the other two additions to the championship field.  

The Wright Stuff

Doing it Wright; Haji scores in extra time
(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The USMNT was about to bow out of the Concacaf Nations League, trailing Jamaica 0-1 in stoppage time.  They were given a lifeline by an own goal from ex-Union striker Cory Burke.  Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, Haji Wright proceeded to score two in extra time to give the US a 3-1 win and a berth in the final.

In the final, the US got a convincing 2-0 win over Mexico.  Dos a cero anyone?  The first goal was a Tyler Adams'  shot from the parking lot, seen here.  That's a solid .001 xG right there.  The second was from Gio Reyna, who seems to have made up with the team.  Hard to recall Mexico threatening all that much.  No, the biggest issue was their fans (see below).

Really?

So play was suspended twice in the late stages of the US - Mexico Concacaf Nations League final for homophobic chanting by Mexican fans.  Again.  Concacaf and maybe FIFA need to get tough here.  They didn't even follow the established protocol here.  Referee Drew Fisher correctly stopped play after the first incident.  But for the second incident, they are supposed to pull the players from the field; Fisher only called them back to the center circle.  It's not going to stop unless the powers-that-be get serious about this.

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place and Did

BFS La Liga Correspondent Michael B is in England with wife Susan to take in a couple matches and hike in the Cotswalds.  

Michael: We're going to see Spurs - Luton Town on Saturday

Steve: Wait, I thought Susan was Luton free

Gotta Be Something in the Water

These guys spent three days in Newcastle and two
had to have hip replacments

Newcastle managed to collect two more injuries.  Sven Botman went down with a ACL injury in the
closing minutes of the Man City match.  He sat out three months earlier this year, opting for a non-surgical rehab of an ACL injury.  The consensus is that his form has been off since his return.  The stats at WhoScored.com back that up; his average game rating in those 12 matches has been 6.34 (including a 5.88, 5.87 and a 4.56) while his average last year was 6.75.  Surgery is the only option this time and he'll be out six to nine months.  Don't want to second guess too much but that plan did not work.

Then we hear that Lewis Miley hurt his back on international duty and will miss several weeks.  How does a 17-year-old get a back injury?

I will note for the record that five of us (see picture above right) spent three days in Newcastle in 2016 and two of us eventually required hip replacements.  Didn't think much of it at the time but the connection is so obvious now.

Seeing the Forest?

Finally up-to-date in Football Manager but it has not been pretty.  Forest Green have five wins, two draws and five losses since 1/1/24.  We are still fifth but trending towards eighth.  In my defense, it's probably mostly my fault.  I go weeks without playing and don't keep notes anymore on what formations, tactics and player roles make a difference.  The game is too detailed to get away with that.  If I was on the board, I'd consider sacking me.  

The Run-in Starts Now (apologies to Steve Earle)

Glad to see that the rest of the world has accepted the unilateral declaration by Michael and me that the run-in officially begins after the spring international break.  And it gets off and running with two match weeks spread over Saturday/Sunday and Tuesday-Thursday.  England hasn't moved to DST (Sunday) yet so note the Saturday times are an hour later than we're used to.

Marquee match of the week is clearly Man City vs Arsenal Sunday at 11:30 on NBC.  The Gunners sit in first but City are just a point back.  Despite their proximity in the table, Opta doesn't give Arsenal much of a chance here at 21% for the win and 26% for the draw.  

We'll be up to take in Newcastle vs West Ham at St. James' Park at 8:30 on Saturday.  I guess the home venue gives the Magpies a slight edge here but not taking anything for granted on this one.  There's a full slate of five fixtures at 11; we'll go with Spurs-Luton Town on Peacock to see if we catch a glimpse of Michael in the stands when the cameras do their panning for celebrities.  Nottingham Forest - Crystal Palace is also a good choice given its relegation relevance.

The 1:30 feature match on NBC should be fun with Aston Villa hosting Wolves.  Villans are favored at home but expecting a fun contest.  Add in a special 4 pm contest between Brentford and Man United and you have a full Saturday.

Your warmup for the Man City Arsenal fixture is Liverpool - Brighton.  The Reds could be back top of the table with the right set of results.

Best of the mid week fixtures look to be West Ham - Spurs on Tuesday, Man City - Aston Villa on Wednesday and Chelsea - Man United on Thursday.  Newcastle's descent into the bottom half of the table could be complete after Tuesday's fixture with Everton.

In the midst of all the EPL action on Saturday, I'll be at Subaru Park to see the Union with my own eyes as they take on Minnesota at 2 pm.  

Still paddling like crazy with projects but will attempt to keep the lights on and the posts coming.

Washout

It can't be good when the best result of the week for your teams is a rainout.  Not good news for any of the BFS home sides.  Well, that's not completely true as Aston Villla did manage a 4-0 spanking of Ajax to advance to the quarter finals of the Europa Conference League.  

Newcastle went down 3-2 at Chelsea and the score is a bit charitable given that the Magpies' second goal came in the closing minutes.  The stats don't look like a disaster but the second half felt like there was no way Newcastle could win.  All that trash talk about Chelsea is coming back to haunt me as we only lead the Blues by a single point and the bottom half of the table is beckoning.

Aston Villa fared worse, losing at home 4-0 to Tottenham.  The more distressing news was the straight red collected by John McGinn that will see him suspended for three games.  It was not a classic red card challenge but he did line up Udogi and came in with a lot of speed.  Villa still hold onto 4th but the margin is just two points. 

But the Union did the worst, falling 6-0 to Pachuca in the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 tie.  We have nothing more to say about that one.  It does make one think that maybe sometimes a rainout, like we got with Seattle on Saturday night, is a good thing.

No Lead Is Safe

Sides in the bottom three spent the week making the case that any lead is the most dangerous.    Burnley were up 2-0 on West Ham but ended up with a 2-2 draw when Danny Ings scored in the 91st minute.  Sheffield United were up 2-0 on Bournemouth but also ended up with a 2-2 when Enes Unal scored in the, wait for it, 91st minute.  But Luton Town bested those two, taking a 3-0 lead on Bournemouth before surrendering four second half goals in a 4-3 loss.

Who's In First?

First place Liverpool played to a 1-1 draw with second place Man City (a decent watch) so who's in first?  Right, Arsenal, because they beat Brentford 2-1 and have a better goal differential than Liverpool.  We are set for what hopefully will be an interesting three-team race to the finish.  Sorry Villa and Spurs but at 8 and 10 points back of third, hard to see you guys being in it.  Actually, eight points is the biggest gap in the table right now.

A Quiet Weekend

The FA Cup quarterfinals mean we have limited action.  Here's the FA Cup lineup:

Subtract four hours to get EST for the matches.  Viewing will be limited to ESPN+.  The Magpies playing at The Etihad doesn't look enticing; Opta says 72% chance of Man City win, 16% it goes to PKs.  Chelsea and Wolves are solid favorites in their matches as well.  Even the Man United - Liverpool match is offering long odds for the home side; Liverpool are 49% for the win and 24% for a PK shootout.

That schedule still leaves us with four EPL fixtures.  Saturday at 11 (they haven't moved to daylight saving time yet) offers two relegation specials - Burnley v Brentford (Peacock) and Luton Town v Nottingham Forest (USA); we'll likely go with the latter.  A London derby featuring Fulham and Tottenham is the 1:30 feature match (on USA as NBC goes with The Players Championship).  Sunday has a good one with West Ham hosting Aston Villa at 10 on USA.

Having done so well in Mexico, the Union head south again to take on Austin at 8:30 on Saturday; that one is on "free" Apple.  

Yeah, still swamped with work so you're on your own for Champions League and other Europa stuff.  Also, with the international break after this weekend, we will take a week off.  We will be back for the EPL run-in, which Michael B and I have unilaterally decided begins with the first games after the March international break.

My Dog Ate My Homework

Well, actually my excuse is that I've been working on a rush project since last Thursday.  I know a lot happened.  I'll get to what I can. 

Newcastle had a 3-0 win over Wolves that was relatively easy though the final score is probably a bit flattering.  Nice to have a match that wasn't exciting for the neutral.

Lowest xG for the Weekend

Sheffield United    .24 (in 6-0 loss to Arsenal)

Man United           .29 (in 3-1 loss to Man City)

Crystal Palace       .36 (in 3-1 loss to Spurs)

The Sheffield United match was over in 15 minutes.  An early goal from Marcus Rashford and resolute defending by United kept the Manchester Derby close; City didn't get the go-ahead goal until the 80th and the insurance goal in stoppage time.  United managed just three shots and Rashford's was the only one on goal while City had 27, with eight on target.  I didn't see the Palace match but the stats suggest it was all Tottenham but it took forever for Spurs to actually put the match away.

Orange Is the New Orange

Website says orange - Dennis sees red

Aston Villa coughed up a two-goal lead at Luton Town but escaped with all three points on a late goal from Lucas Digne, seen here.  However, the hot topic on the text string was the color of Luton Town's jersey.  Dennis disputed Peter Drury's characterization of them as orange.  Everything I found on the internet said team colors included orange with no mention of red.  The picture left is from the Luton Town website with no filter applied.

Oxymoron of the Week

On Sunday, a commentator first labeled the title race as a four-team chase but then added "If you're a Spurs fan and an optimist, it's a five-team race."  I don't think there are any of that variety of Tottenham supporters around any more.

MLS (Mighty Lame Stuff)

As detailed here, replacement referees will be calling this weekend's game as the lockout is still unsettled.  The article notes how they had to replace a replacement for the Miami - Orlando match after a photo surfaced of him wearing a Miami jersey.  Surprisingly, they do not cite the end of the Union match.  In the closing seconds of their contest with Sporting KC, the referee and/or the AR called a throw-in favor the Union when it should have been KC's.  Seconds later, the Union win a corner and Bedoya puts in the tying goal.  You can see that action here.  The bad call comes at about 38 seconds of the video.  I did like how the announcer pointed out that, yes it was a horrendous call but Sporting KC dominated the match yet failed to put the Union away.

But referees aren't the league's only black eye.  This week we got to see the "compromise" solution worked out by US Soccer and MLS regarding the US Open Cup.  Eight MLS sides will have their first team participate while another nine will enter their MLS NEXT Pro (i.e. minor league) affiliate.  Sides involved in Concacaf Champions Cup (eight) get an excused absence.   The three Canadian teams are not eligible anyway and DC United does not have an MLS Next Pro affiliate.  The details are here. Way to support the game in your own country MLS.  And don't trot out that congested schedule crap.  That was created when you added the Leagues Cup competition.  It's about the money.

The Ugly American

And another thing; Pulisic (r) mixing it up in Italy
Alberto Lingria/Xinhua via Getty Images

BFS Scandinavian Correspondent Philip S alerted us to the interesting week US international Christian Pulisic had.  In a Serie A match with Lazio, Pulisic got two opponents sent off for their second yellow cards with basically just cheeky hustle (okay, maybe a little holding too).  Highlights of the match are here.  The video should open to the first incident.  This one is all on the Lazio player - if you're worried about your teammate's fake injury, just kick the ball out.  The second happens at about 2:42 of the video.  Pulisic did hold Guendouzi (for which he got a yellow) but the Lazio player then totally lost his cool.  Pulisic did receive death threats and a ton of abuse on social media, which Philip points out might be the ultimate compliment for an American in European soccer.

No Respite

Full EPL and MLS schedules this weekend.  Concacaf Champions Cup, Champions League, Europa Cup and Europa Conference League during the week.

Great Sunday EPL doubleheader - Aston Villa vs Spurs at 9 am and Liverpool vs Man City at 11:45, both on USA.  Already five back of Villa, this is a must-not-lose for Tottenham.  Man City go in just a point behind Liverpool so they could take over first with a win.  On the other hand, a draw there and an Arsenal win over Brentford puts the Gunners at the top of the table.

Newcastle are on the road at Stamford Bridge.  Not getting hopes up too much, but we've had some success against Chelsea in recent years so maybe we'll get something out of the match.

All four Champions League ties look competitive.  We'll be watching Arsenal at home, down 0-1 to Porto on Tuesday and maybe Atletico in the same situation against Inter on Wednesday.

Thursday will be the second leg of Aston Villa - Ajax Europa Conference League tie, which sits at 0-0.  

As for the Chester Philadelphia Union, they host Seattle Saturday at 7:30, then have a quick turnaround to face Pachuca in the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 tie.  That one is 0-0 after the first leg.

Yeah, I know, I left a lot out.