This was Jon Champion's characterization of the weather in England but it could easily apply to the fortunes of any football fan. Fortunately, it can work the other way too. If you're patient, the sun will eventually return. Usually.
Draws of varying degrees of satisfaction for Newcastle, Aston Villa and the Union. Noted football pundit Rosie Perez explains it all here:
A Good Draw
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| Joelinton was the unsung hero against City (Getty Images) |
I'll give "most improved" to Joelinton, who had been largely been disappointing in recent outings. On Saturday he was both a "destroyer" interrupting City's offense and a playmaker composing the best attacking plays, including the pass that sprung Gordon loose for the penalty. Newcastle no doubt benefitted from the absences of DeBruyne and Rodri but that takes nothing away from the intensity that we saw from the Magpies.
A Bad Draw
The opposite of Newcastle's "good draw" was Aston Villa's 2-2 tie with Ipswich. Yes it was on the road but this was Ipswich, a side looking for its first win. Aston Villa fell behind early but they do not panic in that situation. Indeed, Rodgers and Watkins had them up 2-1 by the 32nd minute. The problem was that the Villans seem to want to coast from there. They paid for it when Delap got his second at 72 minutes. The most disturbing stat from the match was that Villa had just seven shots and only three on target. Not good enough for a team looking to repeat in the top four again.
The Worst Draw
If the Aston Villa draw was disappointing, the Union's 1-1 result at home against Atlanta was border line soul crushing. They looked decent enough in the first half but couldn't convert any of the decent scoring chances. Harriel got them the lead at 61 minutes but as is their tendency, the Union conceded a goal on sloppy defending in the 72nd minute. That would be Atlanta's only shot on target, though curiously Atlanta had the better xG 1.8-1.0.
Though the point lifted the Union into 9th place, they really needed all three based on the schedules.
Playoffs? Playoffs? (apologies to Jim Mora)
But as bad as the Atlanta draw was, the 2-1 loss in Orlando was even worse. Again, they looked decent enough but eventually found themselves down 2-0 by 64 minutes. Sullivan came on as a sub and cut the deficit in half. Harriel had a couple of golden chances to level the match which probably explains why xG was close at 2.6-2.3. Not to be though and the loss combined with results elsewhere dropped the Union to 10th. The silver lining is that they are level on points with 9th place Toronto with a game in hand. Balance that against the fact that DC United are also tied on points but have New England and Charlotte as their final two fixtures.
Results Elsewhere
The approaching deadline means I can only offer limited observations on the other EPL action.
- Cole Palmer had a hat trick by the 31st minute, then added a 4th by the 40th minute in Chelsea's 4-2 win over Brighton (their first loss of the season by the way)- Arsenal looked headed for a draw with Leicester but got two stoppage time goals (one an OG) for a 4-2 win- Spurs handed Man United another loss (3-0) but the talking point from that match - the red card to Fernandes - is addressed below
We Sort of Carabao It
Well, we chose Newcastle's Carabao Cup match with AFC Wimbledon over some Champions League matches like Arsenal - PSG or Slovan Bratislava - Man City. In the end, none look like a very good choice. The Magpies did pretty well dominated their League Two opponent but the 1-0 win (on a PK at that) doesn't look all that impressive. Their reward is a Round of 16 home match against Chelsea, which actually could be an interesting fixture.
A Famous Win
Multiple EPL teams were in action Tuesday-Thursday but the big news has to be Aston Villa's 1-0 win over Bayern. This is probably the biggest victory for Aston Villa since 1982, when they beat Bayern to win the Champions League final. The hero? Super sub Jhon Duran of course. Check out his goal here as this week's YouTubeableMoment; the clip includes bonus footage of several Martinez saves that kept the match 0-0.
Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool also won their Matchday 2 fixtures, all with shutouts like Aston Villa.
In Europa Cup action, Man United stumbled again with a 3-3 draw at Porto. Pretty wild with United up 2-1, then down 2-3 before Maguire rescued a draw with a stoppage time goal. We note that Bruno Fernandes was sent off again, this time for two yellows. Spurs got a 2-1 win over Ferocious Fevervirus Ferencvaros. In Europa Conference League, Chelsea got a Matchday 1 win over Gent.
This Week in Refereeing
Late in the first half of the Man United - Spurs contest, Bruno Fernandes attempted a weird and ugly challenge on Maddison. You can see the play here. The call by Kavanaugh on the field was red and it was supported by VAR Bankes. Though lacking excessive force, the height of the leg and the studs up lunge were enough for those two. The league statement shortly after the match backed up that view. But the red card was overturned on appeal and viewed as incorrect by the Key Match Incident panel. My view was that even as he was slipping, Fernandes went for a pound of flesh with that lunge. The law references excessive force but it also includes the phrase "endangering the safety of an opponent." Fernandes was out of control and I don't have a problem with either Kavanaugh or Bankes actions, even if the appeal was successful. Neither does the EPL as both have assignments this week. As we noted last week, the consequences for serious foul play and attempted serious foul play are different even if the intent is the same.
Dennis reports that in a Champions League match, Anthony Taylor gave a player a yellow card for waving an imaginary yellow card. Good to hear that Taylor was not cowed by the abuse he took for issuing 14 yellows in the Bournemouth - Chelsea match.
Speaking of not being cowed, check out this clip of a referee from one of the lower divisions of English Football sent along by BFS Artistic Director Laura O via BFS Historical Archivist Mackenzie W. We think he may be ready for the big time.
More locally, I sadly report that the Chestnut Hill Youth Sport Club had to suspend a U-10 Girls coach for running out on the field to confront a referee about a call. FFS, this is intramural soccer where we don't keep standings or even the scores. Maybe this explains why I'm so willing to throw the book at players and coaches who misbehave. My question is does the behavior at the younger levels come from watching the professionals or do the professionals do it because they gotten away with it since they were at the U-10 level? Or maybe:
A Break
The international break will temporarily bring an end to the nonstop action. All we have are full match weeks for the EPL and MLS. And some international action.
Most interesting match of the weekend for me (and arguably for neutrals) is Aston Villa vs Man United at 9 am on Sunday (USA). Opta has Villa as prohibitive favorites (42-33-25) and this is an important test for both sides.
The weekend opens at 7:30 Saturday morning with a possible mismatch of Crystal Palace vs Liverpool. The Eagles are all of a sudden a relegation candidate off a terrible start which finds them winless through six matches.
Five to work with at 10 am. USA would have you watch West Ham - Ipswich but that doesn't sound all that great. Actually none of them do. I might go with Leicester - Bournemouth. Certainly Arsenal - Southampton or Man City - Fulham don't look competitive. Brentford - Wolves might be the second choice. The 12:30 "feature match" on NBC is Everton - Newcastle, which looks closer than I would like (31-44-25).
Up against the Aston Villa contest is Chelsea - Nottingham Forest on Peacock. Meh. The 11:30 match looks better with Brighton hosting Tottenham; Spurs likely prevail here but need to be ready.
The Union are in Columbus, which does not look like a promising oppotunity for points. Toronto have Miami so that's not good for them. Atlanta have Red Bulls at home so that could be a point. Montreal are on the road at Charlotte which isn't an obvious result for them. Ditto for Nashville at NYCFC. However, DC United get 14th place New England, albeit on the road. Worst case scenario could see the Union in 11th at the end of the weekend.
There are two USMNT friendlies that will mark the debut of Mauricio Pochettino as their coach on the horizon - vs Panama on 10/12 and Mexico 10/15. Not a big friendly viewer but will likely look in on those two matches.
There are also two matchdays of Nations League competition if you want some European action. Check your local listings.
Are we there yet?
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