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.