Never Mind About Those Passports

Newcastle pissed away weeks of good work with an awful 90 minutes at Selhurst Park.   Coventry nearly made FA Cup history.  Nottingham Forest set a new sour record for sour grapes.

Europe? Europe? (apologies to Jim Mora)

After a run of strong performances, Newcastle laid an egg in an 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace.  The Magpies were outplayed in every phase of the game.  Notably, they managed just two tepid shots on goal, both very late in the contest.  Palace were physically all over Newcastle, playing like a side that wanted to put a few miles between themselves and relegation.  I can't remember so many passes being smothered at the source.  What is difficult to understand is that this was the same lineup and formation that dismantled Tottenham 4-0 just 10 days ago.  

Europe may not be totally gone but another performance like that one and it is.

Ya Done Good, Bruno

We do pick on Bruno Guimaraes a lot here but we did fail to note that after picking up his 9th yellow card on January 13th, he went 11 matches without picking up a 10th.  The importance of that, of course, is that another yellow in any of those contests would have meant a two game suspension.  Apparently he can exercise self-control

No Quad Triple Double For You

What looked like a possible big haul of trophies for Liverpool has evaporated in a spring of disappointment.  The FA Cup hopes were dashed by Man United.  A possible Europa League championship went bye-bye after a terrible home performance against Atalanta.  And now the EPL title seems to be a long shot after losses to Crystal Palace and more recently to Everton.  Three points down with four games to play doesn't sound outrageous except for the way they have been playing in the last few weeks.

The Sourest of Sour Grapes

Everybody complains about refereeing but Nottingham Forest took it to a new low this week.  To set the scene, Forest were playing Everton on Saturday.  Prior to the match the standings had Everton 16th with 27 points, Forest 17th with 26 and Luton Town 18th with 25.

The fun actually started mid-week, as Nottingham warning the PGMOL that the VAR for the match - Stuart Attwell - was a supporter of relegation rival Luton and that he shouldn't be assigned to the game.  Fuel was added to the fire when there were three incidents in the match where no penalty was called on the pitch and VAR declined to send match referee Anthony Taylor to the monitor.  This of course amplified the outrage, with Nottingham officials now yelling "we told you so and look what happened."  Details can be had here from ESPN in their weekly review of VAR.

Much to unpack here.  First, I haven't seen anybody point out that Everton, at least at the time, was also a relegation rival with Luton.  What was Stuart Attwell's play here?  Manipulate the calls to ensure a draw so neither team got three points?  I guess with Everton two points ahead and Forest only one point ahead, maybe it was to ensure a Everton win.  Of course, I kid on all points.  

As to the three calls themselves, only one complaint holds any water.  It's not clear that Reyna was even fouled so the "clear and obvious error" threshold wasn't met.  On the Young handling, I thought proximity, the fact that Young had just arrived to that position (as in his arms would still be moving) and that his arm was barely at 45 degrees and somewhat behind his body ruled out VAR intervention as well.  The possible foul on Hudson-Odoi?  Taylor signalled that he thought Young had gotten the ball.  The replay suggested he did not.  In that situation, I would think Attwell should ask Taylor what he saw and if he says Young got the ball, then Attwell needs to send him to the monitor.  Okay, bad call there.

Boo effing hoo.  Wasn't the first time and it won't be the last time. The ESPN article points out that Forest are a net beneficiary this year of bad calls.  Fortunately, Forest's handling of this has drawn near universal condemnation and most are expected fines to be levied.   Also, note in the ESPN article that there is occasionally attention to the issue of referees having a link to certain clubs.  Dennis points out that it is virtually impossible that an English referee didn't grow up supporting a team.  But this much focus seems to be a rare circumstance.

The One That Got Away

The Saturday FA Cup semifinal - a 1-0 win for Man City over Chelsea - did little to add to the legacy of the magic of the competition.  On the other hand, Sunday's semi between Coventry and Man United did. Reporting the result, a 3-3 draw in which Man United advanced on PKs, hardly does the the match justice.  

Coventry were this close to an FA Cup Final

Coventry, who sit 8th in the Championship (i.e. nominally 28th ranked in English football) were serious underdogs to Man United, who at the time were 7th in the first tier.  And the match proceeded much as you would expect, with United slowly building a 3-0 lead.  Then, somehow, it wasn't a done deal.  Coventry scored in the 71st minute, then again in the the 79th minute.  They completed the improbable comeback with a PK in the 95th minute.  Okay, on to extra time, where United would surely get their act together and dispatch this pesky second tier side.  Except that didn't happen.  And please don't call me Shirley.  In the 121st minute, Coventry scored on great counter attack.  The whole English football world, excepting Man United fans, went nuts.  Except the goal did not withstand VAR review, as Wright was adjudged to be marginally offside.  We make the play this week's YouTubeableMoment.

So it was on to PKs.  Rasmus Hojlund with kick to make the final 4-2 on PKs.  As soon as struck it, Hojlund raced to the stands, celebrating and no doubt expecting he would soon be mobbed by his teammates.  He might still be waiting.  Likely embarrassed that the match had even gotten to that point, the Man United players were slinking towards the sideline.  

Coventry - Man City would probably have been a terrible final but I doubt their fans would care.  Another Manchester derby may not be that much better, unless maybe United feel like they're trying to save ten Hag's job.  

Yes, That Was Vaseline

Watching a match a few weeks, Dennis and I both saw Man United keeper Andre Onana smear what looked like Vaseline on his goalie gloves.  Made no sense to either of us.  It's a lubricant.  Wouldn't it make the ball harder to hold on to?

BFS Artistic Director Laura O saw an article in The Athletic confirming that is was indeed Vaseline. The key paragraph:

 In the months since, I’ve done some research and learned the intricacies of why it’s effective. My understanding is that latex is a porous material, so over time, when the palm of the glove breaks down, it allows dirt and water to flood the latex and you end up losing grip. What Vaseline does is moisturise the latex of the gloves while also acting as a repellent to water and grime from covering the glove, allowing the latex to do the job it’s designed to do: grip the ball.

Better living through science.

And More Games

We have a full slate for the weekend, a random midweek London derby and European semi finals. At this point, it's difficult to have an EPL game that doesn't have implications for the league title, spots in next year's European competitions or relegation.  Wait, looks like Fulham - Crystal Palace might qualify; they both look safe from relegation and Europe.  Too bad because that might be the most competitive match of the weekend.  See, just because the game has "implications" doesn't mean it's going to be a good one.  

Clerking the Penn Relays on Saturday so might not get to much of the action.  A 7:30 match wtih West Ham vs Liverpool (USA).  Four at 10.  We'd be taking in Newcastle Sheffield United if we were home.  Hark to pick a great choice for the neutral.  Wolves - Luton Town? Man United - Burnley.  Feature 12:30 match is 15th place Brentford vs 16th place Everton.  There's a Saturday afternoon special with Aston Villa hosting Chelsea.  Actually that might be the best of the day.

North London derby with Tottenham hosting Arsenal 9 am Sunday. That one should be good as both sides have a lot to play for.  There's also Bournemouth Brighton.  At 11:30 Nottingham Forest might really have something to complain about as they host Man City.  Thern there's another random Thursday London derby between Chelsea - Spurs.

Champions League and all the other Europe stuff is back.  Tuesday is Bayern Real Madrid and Wednesday is Dortmund PSG.  On Thursday Aston Villa are hosts for the first leg of their ECL semi with Olympiacos.

And there's a Union match at Subaru Park vs Real Salt Lake at 7:30 Saturday.  It's behind the double pay wall of Apple TV plus MLS Season Pass.  Maybe radio again for me.

Again, I know I missed stuff but finals must be graded.

Don't Let the Passports Expire

Good results for the BFS home sides paired with helpful outcomes in other matches made for a good weekend.

Europe is Not Out of the Question

Isak makes it 3-0

Newcastle asserted themselves early and often against Spurs and were rewarded with a 4-0 win that can basically be taken at face value.  You know it's going well when they're still showing the replay of the first goal while your team is scoring again.  As seen in this week's YouTubeableMoment, they cut away from the replay barely in time to get back to live action to see Gordon bearing down on Vicario for the second goal.

I will confess that I was skeptical about Howe's decision to go with a back five, especially as it meant Dan Burn would be covering Brandon Johnson, which is about like matching me up with Usain Bolt.  To be fair, the wingbacks in the formation were Jacob Murphy and Elliot Anderson, both of whom can spark the offense.  In fact, the stats reveal how much a counterattacking master class this was; with only 27% of possession, the Magpies still outshot Spurs 18-11 and shots on target were 5-2.

Matched up with Man United's 2-2 draw with Bournemouth and West Ham's 0-2 loss to Fulham, Newcastle finished the weekend in 6th, which would mean a Europa League berth.  Obviously a long way to go but a spot in Europe is definitely in play.  

In other news, Michael B announced he no longer follows the EPL.

City Again?

Sigh.  While Man City were taking care of business with a 5-1 win over Luton Town, Liverpool and Arsenal were dropping points.  Liverpool looked lost falling 0-1 at home to Crystal Palace. Their xG was 2.74; I vaguely remember some good saves from Dean Henderson but I think a big part of this was poor finishing.  As for Arsenal, who fell to Aston Villa, astute readers might recall that I said the Villa side is rarely overmatched against any team and that the match could be fun.  Indeed it was - at least for Villa fans.  I didn't see the match and xG suggests Arsenal might have merited a draw.  Regardless, the score still reads 2-0 favor Villa.

So, City now have a two point lead and with both Arsenal and Liverpool looking shaky, this thing might be over.

You Know It's Not Your Night Year When...

You give up an own goal like this.  Burnley were about 15 minutes from grabbing all three points in a home match.  Instead, they only get one and are still six points from safety.

Or maybe when a fight breaks out over who's going to take the PK as happened during Chelsea's mauling of Everton.  Seen here, the incident maybe offers some explanation for Chelsea's disappointing season.

Mass Exit?

The EPL entered the quarterfinals of the three European competitions with five sides still alive.  When the dust settled, all but one were gone.  Man City gave up an early goal to Real Madrid, spent the rest of the match dominating play, got a late goal to send it to extra time but eventually lost on PKs.  City owned the stat sheet with shots 33-8,  shots on target 9-3 and corners 18-1; xG was closer, at 2.74-1.37.  No matter, they are done.  Arsenal were surprisingly tepid despite entering the second leg even with Bayern at 2-2.  The Gunners offered little in the way of offense and fell 1-0.  

Europa League was more of the same.  Liverpool only managed one goal against Atalanta and departed 1-3 on aggregate.  West Ham were briefly within a goal of Leverkusen but eventually went down 1-3 on aggregate.

Now the lone EPL representative is Aston Villa.  Frankly, they did not distinguish themselves against LOSC, giving up their first leg one goal lead and falling behind 3-2 on aggregate.  Only an 87th minute goal from Matty Cash got them to extra time and a PK shootout.  Emi Martinez was there to deny the French again as he saved two PKs and Villa advanced 4-3.

Did You Know?

Martinez in trouble with the ref - who would have guessed?

During the penalty shoot-out between Aston Villa and LOSC, Emi Martinez got a yellow because the referee felt he was taunting the home fans (you're shocked right?).  Martinez had been booked earlier for time wasting.  But he was not sent off because of the little-known clause in Law 10 which states:

warnings and cautions issued to players and team officials during the match are not carried forward into penalties (penalty shoot-out).

Very pleased that I knew that rule. 

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place But Didn't

Steve (upon switching over to Man City match for extra time): Where's Haaland?

Dennis: Northeast of Belgium

Better If I Don't Follow?

Harriel launches the throw that will turn into the equalizer
This is NOT a foul throw-in as his lead foot is still touching the line
Note that the AR is watching

For the second straight week, I was unable to take in the Union match and for the second straight week, they brought home an unexpected result.  Down 2-0 to Atlanta at their Little Shop of Horrors called Mercedes-Benz Stadium, they got goals in rapid succession from Uhre and Wagner.  Check out the equalizer here, a set-piece from a throw-in.  They even put another in the net only to see it ruled out for offside.  The stats say maybe a little lucky here but not by much; xG was 2.0-1.4 favor Atlanta. Still undefeated, the Union are in 3rd with a game in hand on second place Red Bulls and two games in hand on first place Miami.  Gee, maybe I should be watching them?

It's Apple's Fault

Late in the match with Atlanta, Uhre put a shot past Guzan for what would have been a 3-2 lead. On the field, Kathryn Nesbitt signaled offside. You can see the play here, though you have to fast forward to 5:23.  Since there was a goal it did go to VAR.  Except they have no tools to seriously review the call.  All they had was a camera angle that wasn't lined up with the last defender; in other words it was inconclusive so the call stood.  If you do go to the video, you'll see Nesbitt sprinting down the touchline, tracking with the next-to-last defender.  In other words, she was in position to make the call.  Nesbitt is also highly experienced, including covering some World Cup matches.  Thus, as the MLS handles offside and VAR, hard to argue with the call.

But that does beg the question as to whether MLS can do better on this issue.  Their practice stands in stark contrast to the fully automated systems in the major competitions or the semi-automated system used by the EPL (you know the blue, green and red lines?).  These systems assess the play down to the defender's toe nails, although some of the accuracy is phony because it depends on a somewhat subjective decision as to the exact moment the ball was struck.  Even with that weakness, I prefer the automated systems but understand that some feel it's overkill.

But wait, there is another option.  Jonathan Tannenwald notes:

If you really want to complain about something, take note that MLS runs into this problem too often. Curtin spent a heap of time talking about it on Sunday, but he was right on one point: Apple has the money to pay for extra cameras closer to the end line to fix the problem. 

It wouldn’t be “a 10-dollar camera” as Curtin jokingly claimed — but it can be done. And if it also takes a little construction work at some stadiums to install more camera decks, so be it.

I knew that somehow Apple was part of the problem.  We've said it more than once on this blog; when you watch an Apple/MLS broadcast you can't help but notice that the camera coverage simply isn't as good as EPL or other leagues.  

FA Cup Weekend

The weekend schedule is a little abbreviated but they make up for it with some weekday matches.  As for the FA Cup, Man City will play Chelsea at 12:30 on Saturday while Man United will play Coventry at 10:30 on Sunday.  Hmm, one of these is not like the others.  Those matches are on ESPN+.

Saturday is light on EPL action but does have a relegation special - Sheffield United hosting Burnley at 10 am on Peacock.  The TV game at 10 am on USA is Luton Town versus Brentford, which is sort of relegation related, though Brentford gave themselves some breathing room with a win last weekend over Sheffield United.  After the FA Cup match, you can watch Wolves-Arsenal at 2:30 on USA.

Sunday has a decent card, starting off with Everton-Nottingham Forest at 8:30 on USA.  They are 16th and 17th in the table, still way too close to the drop zone.  There are also games at 10 and 11:30, which sharp-eyed readers will note conflict with the FA Cup semi at 10:30.  Seems like an MLS move to me.

Six mid-week matches spread out over Tuesday - Thursday.  The Arsenal-Chelsea London derby on Tuesday (on USA) isn't as compelling as usual but does offer the Blues a chance to play spoiler in the title race.  Four more on Wednesday.  Since you never know with a derby, neutrals might do best with Everton - Liverpool.  We'll be taking in Crystal Palace - Newcastle; surprisingly that's the USA choice over the Merseyside Derby.  Aston Villa also face Bournemouth at the same time, as will Man United and Sheffield United.  Thursday has Brighton - Man City.  I didn't say they were all exciting matchups.

The Union are off this week so I won't have a chance to miss them.  

Is This Not Why You Are Here?

apologies to Maximus

Improbably road wins for Newcastle and the Union.  Entertaining Champions League matches.  Fun week.

Phire the Phucking Physio

Newcastle's season in one picture

We had low expectations for the trip to Fulham so the 1-0 win was a pleasant surprise.  In truth, a draw probably would have been the fairest result here.  Shots, shots on goal and xG were basically equal.  The difference was this shot from Bruno Guimaraes.  Nice behind the back pass by Barnes (?) but we also wonder if the keeper could have done better.

Of course, these three points did not come without a cost.  Joe Willock went down late in the first half and had to be replaced.  He's suffering from a continuing achilles heel problem and no return date was provided.  Teenager Lewis Hall also left late in the second half but that appeared to be a due to leg cramps.  Except aren't leg cramps somewhat preventable with proper training and nutrition?  Just sayin'.

Not Even A Partial Eclipse

This week's referee call under the microscope comes to us from the Wolves - West Ham contest.  With Wolves down 1-2 late, Max Kilman had appeared to level the match with a brilliant header.  Ruled a goal on the field, VAR told Tony Harrington to go to the monitor, at which point he changed his call to offside. You can see the play here.  No doubt that Chirewa is in an offside position.  He doesn't touch the ball but is he doing one of the following:

• - preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or

  - challenging an opponent for the ball or

  - clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent or

  - making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball

The only option here is the first one and that was the official explanation.  The ESPN weekly review was satisfied, citing previous, "similar," incidences that were called offside.  And a number of "experts" lined up behind that opinion.

There's no eclipse of the ball here

I am not one of them.  Neither is former referee Mark Clattenberg.  And I will argue that the "similiar" incidences chosen by the pro-offside aren't really similar.  They involve the player physically preventing the keeper from playing the ball or actually blocking his vision.  Neither happened in this case.  Check out the picture to the left.  Fabianski certainly seems to have his focus clearly on the ball.  Chirewa is not obstructing his line of vision.  That may be because Fabianski is 6'3" while Chirewa is 5'11".   The requirement for interfering with an opponent was not met.  I'm not willing to call it the worst decision of the year but I don't think the supposed clear and obvious error threshold for VAR was met here.  

Et Two Bruno

99.99% chance he's not hurt (Photo: AFP)

More than once in this space I have lamented the antics of Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes - the
overacting on fouls, the whining, the quick temper.  While watching the enormously entertaining 2-2 Man United -Liverpool draw, the performance of Bruno Fernandes reminded me that Guimaraes isn't the only annoying Bruno out there.  All the same annoying traits.  They're both excellent players who don't need that act. I asked Dennis who was worse and he said "Fernandes but only because Guimaraes hasn't been in the league long enough. Another year and it will be a tie."

When Harry Met Salah

Not Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal (photo: Reuters)

Bonus points to Graeme Le Saux for his description of the collision between Harry Maguire and Mo Salah.  Jon Champion could only groan in response.

Meanwhile...

Arsenal win over Brighton combined with Liverpool draw puts the Gunners back on top on goal differential.  Spurs win over Nottingham Forest combined with Aston Villa draw with Brentford means Tottenham are now fourth, also on goal differential though they also have a game in hand.  

At the other end of the table, just five points separate Luton Town, Nottingham Forest, Everton, Brentford and Crystal Palace in the struggle to avoid the last relegation spot.

Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel?

Dennis sends along this article on the conversion rate of PKs in the EPL. This year the success rate is 88.5%, the highest in EPL history.  Looking at the trend line, the rate has gone from about 74% in 93-94 to just over 80% today.  The graph below shows the change.

Source: Jonathan Manual/Data Analyst/Opta

Three theories advanced for the increase are the rule change requiring keeper to have at least one foot on the line when the kick is taken, use of VAR to identify keeper infractions, and an increase in the number of left-footed kickers taking the PKs.  

The View from Europe

Excellent Champions League action in all four of the first leg of the quarterfinal series.  Arsenal-Bayern drew 2-2 and Real Madrid - Man City were 3-3.  Atletico have a 2-1 lead on Dortmund while Barcelona bring a 3-2 lead over PSG to the second leg.  In other words, all to play for.

The EPL sides fared much less well in Europa League with Liverpool going down - at home - to Atalanta 0-3, while West Ham lost 2-0 on the road at Leverkusen.  Aston Villa did a bit better, taking a 2-1 win over LOSC in their Europa Conference League match.  

If The Union Win and I Don't Watch, Do They Get Three Points?

Most definitely.  I could only take in the highlights of the Union's unlikely 2-1 win over Nashville.  This would have been fine to enjoy live, as the Union got the game winner in the 90th minute on a header from Gazdag off a McGlynn corner.  We make it this week's YouTubeableMoment.  The delivery from McGlynn was superb.  How was Gazdag so wide open?  He barely moved on the play.  Having only seen the highlights, I can only go by the stats - which look basically even; the U did have a better xG at 1.8 versus 1.3.  I also saw some continued fine goalkeeping from backup Oliver Semmle.  

Hmm, the U are the only undefeated team left in MLS.  They sit second in the East, two points behind the New Jersey Red Cows with a game in hand.  Carranza and Gazdag are scoring.  Quinn Sullivan is wreaking havoc, by which I mean creating chances.  Blake has missed several matches but Semmle has done well as his replacement.  Wait, it's the hope that kills you.

Keep Plugging Away

Antoher full slate of EPL plus second legs of all the Europe competition quarter finals.  

I won't suggest this is the greatest set of fixtures for the EPL.  Newcastle host Spurs at 7:30 on Saturday on USA and that is one of the top choices for the weekend.  Opta has that as really close at 36/27/37; that feels a little light on the Spurs' chances to me.  Four matches at 10 am, none will get the blood going.  We'll likely go with Brentford - Sheffield United on Peacock given the relegation implications. The 12:30 "feature" match is Bournemouth - Man United, which could mean an early switch over to the Masters. 

Though Opta sees Arsenal as solid favorites, we're interested to see how Aston Villa do in this match (11:30 Sunday); they are rarely overmatched against any team so this could be fun.  

Definitely mark your calendars for Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons for the second legs of the Champions League quarterfinals.  Barcelona - PSG (Tuesday) and Man City - Real Madrid (Wednesday) are on CBS so you can watch live or DVR.  The other matches are on Paramount Plus.

The Union will head to Atlanta for a Sunday 2:30 match.  This one is on Fox. Suck it Apple!

The Rosie Perez School of Football Punditry

According to Ms Perez, the results may not be what you think.  She expounds on her theory here.  Let's look at this week's results applying those concepts.

Sometimes When You Win, You Actually Lose

We present as Exhibit A, Newcastle's improbable 4-3 decision over West Ham.  Sure, it was exciting to see them rally from a 3-1 deficit and we really needed the points.  The game winner from Harvey Barnes - seen here as this week's YouTubeableMoment - was clinical.  Just awesome in front of the 52,000 at St. James' Park.  But the cost?  Three more serious injuries.  Lacelles is out with ACL, Almiron left with a knee problem and Livramento hurt his ankle.  In the 1-1 draw with Everton on Tuesday, teenager Lewis Hall went out with a rib injury.  So we got as many points as injuries in the two matches.   

"I punched something."  Seems like a fair reaction of Nottingham
 Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo to the points deduction.
Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

Exhibit B might be Nottingham Forest.  They got a 3-1 win over Fulham to go with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace yet found themselves with the same number of points they began the week with thanks to a four point deduction for breach of profitability and sustainability rules.  The Guardian provides details here.  Of course Nottingham have appealed so there will be uncertainty hanging over the relegation fight until that is resolved.    

Sometimes When You Tie, You Actually Win

Best example of this is Burnley's 2-2 draw with Chelsea.  Late in the first half, Chelsea were awarded generous PK on what Dennis and I don't even think is a foul; you can judge for yourself here (should open to 6:39).  What's more, Darren England gave Assignon a yellow, his second of the match.  Needless to say, if you don't think it's a foul then it's certainly not a yellow.  But there it was and Palmer converted the PK.  Down a goal and down a man, things did not look good for the Clarets.  An early second half goal levelled things but a second Chelsea goal at 78 minutes looked like the end.  Then O'Shea provided a stunning equalizer in the 81st minute and Burnley held on for the draw, which under the circumstances had to feel like a win.

We'll include Fulham in this category as well after their come-from-behind 3-3 draw with Sheffield United.  The sides made up for a slow first half as Sheffield built up a 3-1 lead by the 70th minute.  The Blades had looked to extend the lead to 4-1 but had a goal chalked off for offsides in the 84th minute.  Turned out they really needed that as Fulham poured in two goals in the closing minutes.  

Sometimes When You Tie, You Actually Lose

Well, Exhibits A and B are Chelsea and Sheffield United as explained in the previous section.  Dropping two points like that had to be devastating for Sheffield United, who are 10 points adrift of safety.  

We will add Exhibit C, Man United's 1-1 draw with Brentford.  No doubt the Bees are tough at home. Man United couldn't break through until Mason Mount got what surely looked like a game winner in the 96th minute.  Nope, Ajer got the equalizer for Brentford in the 99th minute seen here.  The point is useful for Brentford to move farther away from relegation but the dropped two points really hurt Man United in their effort to catch Spurs in fifth.

Sometimes When You Lose, You Actually Win

Luton Town lost to Spurs but briefly moved out of the relegation zone because Nottingham Forest took a four point deduction for violation for FFP regulations.  But after a 2-0 loss on Wednesday to Arsenal, we are forced to conclude that sometimes a loss is a loss.  They are now three points from safety even after the Nottingham Forest point deduction.  

Sometimes When You Win, You Actually Tie

Not sure about this one

The pitch at Spurs Stadium prior to Luton Town match
Photo:Michael B

Rosie didn't have this category but sometimes when you win, you win.  Examples include Aston Villa (2-0 over Wolves), Spurs (2-1 over Luton Town) and Liverpool (2-1 over Brighton).  Also, sometimes when you tie, you tie.  Prime example there would be the 0-0 between Man City and Arsenal, though some might suggest that the Gunners would be the happier side with that result.   

Our point - and Rosie's - is that sometimes you have to look beyond the scoreline.

An American in England

Long-time BFS readers will remember
Simon (r), who again outdid himself with 
hospitality for American football fans

The Americans got a great welcome in London

It wasn't the Five Guys from the USA, just Michael B and his wife Susan, but they represented us well.  Some things were quite similar to that awesome trip in 2016 - taking in some football matches (Norwich vs Plymouth and Spurs vs Luton Town), some awesome hosting by Simon, walking around cool English towns, and of course taking in multiple pints of ale and cider.  As far as we know, Michael drove on the left side of the road without incident and as of this writing, has not received any tickets.    

Union Still Unbeaten

Mostly encouraging signs with the Union 2-0 win over Minnesota on Saturday. Countless forays down the right side by Quinn Sullivan made it seem like we dominated the Loons, even though the match was 1-0 for the majority of the time.  They were a couple of defensive breakdowns and I do remember a key save from Blake.  Minnesota did have more possession but much of it didn't feel that dangerous.  Frustrating part was probably the number of crosses that went into and then through the box untouched; we need to see this opportunities turned into shots.  The other bummer was Blake eventually having to leave with a concussion.  We'll see if he can go Saturday vs Nashville  

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomahto

Union fans might get to see Cavan Sullivan play here
before he heads off to Europe in a few years

Local phenom Cavan Sullivan (Quinn's younger brother) was in the news quite a bit last week as the Union and Man City negotiated details about his professional contracts.   But what we really wanted to know was how to pronounce his first name.  kahVAN? KAYvon? Fortunately, we were able to go to an inside source, the Sullivan family who sits behind us at the Union matches.  The correct pronunciation is KAvin, rhymes with cabin or the start of the Cavanaugh, as in the county in Ireland.  The good news is that it looks like we'll get to see him for a few years before he leaves for Man City.  Side note to the story is that Sullivan can't play for Man City until he's 18 because Great Britain is not in the European Union.

Keep 'em Coming

Full EPL slate Saturday and Sunday and all the European competitions have action mid-week. The EPL schedule is here.  We'll be stuck with Peacock for Newcastle at Fulham at 10 am on Saturday.  We do recommend Man United - Liverpool on Sunday at 10:30 on NBC.  

We do suggest you clear your Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons for Champions League Quarterfinal first leg matches.  Tuesday you can go with Arsenal - Bayern or Real Madrid - Man City.  Wednesday is PSG - Barcelona or Atletico Madrid - Dortmund.  All good looking fixtures. Thursday we'll go with Aston Villa vs LOSC in the first leg of their quarter final Europa Conference League tie.

Hard to remember the last time we didn't have football almost every day of the week.