Down to the final weekend for the EPL with lots to play for. All the other relevant sides got three points this weekend so not the best set of results for Newcastle. Two more wins for the Union.
Still A Loss
There was much to applaud in Newcastle's performance against Arsenal on Sunday. Unfortunately, the result - an 0-1 loss - was not one of them. Shots were 14/12, shots on target 5/4 and most notably xG was was 1.89/.84, all in favor of the Magpies. Certainly a draw would have been a fair result here.
Silver lining was that with Newcastle facing Arsenal away and Chelsea taking on Man United at home, there was every chance the Magpies +4 goal differential was going to be wiped out and maybe even flipped. Instead, with both results at 1-0, Newcastle retain a +2 over Chelsea, which could play into the final placings after Sunday's matches.
No Help Elsewhere
Everybody else in the hunt for the Champions League spots got W's. Aston Villa had a very controlled 2-0 win over Spurs, Man City took care of Bournemouth, Chelsea got their win over Man United, and Nottingham Forest bested West Ham 2-1.
The Arsenal win over Newcastle clinches second place for them. Third through seventh remain wide open. The scenarios are mind-numbingly complex and are explained here. Some of the clearer points
Man City, Newcastle and Chelsea finish top five with wins
Man City finish top five with a draw
Newcastle finish no worse than 6th even with a loss (assuming it's not a blowout)
Aston Villa need to win and have some others lose or draw
Crystal Palace Hoist FA Cup
And basically destroy the hopes of Brighton and Brentford. Distracted viewing means I can only recall two key moments - Palace keeper Dean Henderson not getting a red card for DOGSO and then Henderson making a PK on Marmoush to preserve the 1-0 win.
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The Turning Point? Henderson pushes the ball away from Haaland Jan Kruger - The FA/The FA via Getty Images |
First, the possible DOGSO. Haaland was running onto a long ball over the top as Henderson came out to the edge of the area. Haaland tried to play the ball but Henderson swatted it away from the Norwegian. Good idea, except though he was still in the box, the ball was outside the box. This little detail was missed by the AR so play continued. VAR cannot intervene on that basis alone but the possibility that this was DOGSO and red card situation did offer the chance for a review. The decision was that as the ball was going away from Haaland, you could not call this an obvious goal scoring chance. Of course, the ball was going away from Haaland because Henderson had illegally swatted it. The second part I guess is that we don't know exactly where Haaland's touch would have left the ball so again, the "obvious" part of the equation is tough to nail down. The minimum correct call here would have been a free kick just outside the box but that was not an option for VAR.
That Henderson was still on the pitch for the PK must have been particularly galling to City. That he then saved Marmoush's attempt made it worse. You can see the save
here.
In times like these, we do like to point out BFS First Rule of Refereeing, namely that the referee did not cost you the match. Despite dominating with 23 shots and six on target, City did not score, even given the PK to do so. Crystal Palace played them tough and earn the Europa Cup place.
Before proceeding to trash the accomplishment, let me acknowledge that winning the Europa Cup is a "Major Award." There are eight group stage matches, three two-leg knockout rounds and then the final. This is fit in between the regular EPL schedule, the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.
However, it is still difficult explaining European football to the casual observer. So you have this competition that pits the best of European club teams from different countries. Well, it's not actually the best. The best (top four in the case of the EPL) go to the Champions League. And they qualify for this year's tournament based on last year's results. So this year the two finalists - Spurs and Man United - struggled mightily sucked in the EPL. In any other year, they would be fighting relegation. But now, by virtue of their 1-0 win, Spurs qualify for next year's Champions League, despite their 17th place in the EPL. It's actually easier to explain what happens on the dropped third strike in baseball.
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Micky van de Van saves Spurs' bacon |
Anyway, so they had this final. The good news for Spurs is they found some defensive resolve when it
mattered. Ben Johnson's barest of touches was enough for the only goal. Actually, Dennis and I think it was really an own goal off the shoulder of Luke Shaw. The biggest play though was probably Micky van de Ven's clearance off the goal line, seen here as this week's
YouTubeableMoment, that preserved the slim lead. Man United did mount a charge in the closing minutes, providing some of the most interesting moments of the match, but they could not break through.
Free Parking, Primo Hoagies and a Union Victory
Sure it was about 50 degrees and raining Wedneday night but things couldn't have gone better. I parked my Forester in the FREE Subaru parking lot which is much closer to the stadium than the lot we used to frequent. Most of the concession stands were closed (I guess because it was a mid-week US Open Cup match?) so Jeff H and I wandered the concourse and discovered there's a Primo Hoagies stand on the northside. Then the Union proceeded to defeat the Pittsburgh River Hounds 4-1 with a heavily rotated line up.
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Handling or not? Tough call |
We couldn't really see the handling that gave the Union an early PK. With no VAR, the call on the field stood. I found the picture from the match highlights; not sure I would have called that but also not sure that VAR would have enough to overturn. There were also some times when the U just seemed to be treading water against a weaker opponent. But they got the goals they needed and the 4-1 final felt about right.
That was their second victory of the week, having stymied Atlanta 1-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday. I only saw the highlights so can't tell you much. Looks like fill-in keeper Andrew Rick has the same habit as Andre Blake - a key save somewhere in the match to preserve the Union lead. With Columbus and Cincinnati playing to a 1-1 draw, the win puts the U top of the table.
All-time Keeper Howler
Dennis's team, Sportif Allentown, is off to Canada to defend their Friendship Cup title. On the eve of their departure, Dennis informs me that their goalkeeper has let his passport expire. D'oh. Sounds like something that would happen to the Union.
BFS Artistic Director Laura O sends along
this clip that feels like the British equivalent of the kids from The Sandlot finding the
treasure trove of baseballs in Hercules' yard.
TVs, Computers and Phones
With so many meaningful positions in the table still unsettled, four matches are definitely relevant and two more could be. All matches are at 11 am Sunday on the various NBC affiliated stations or Peacock. We may end up with a game on the TV and maybe one or two on the computer and/or phone. We also note the schedulers seem to be more about the status of the teams as opposed to which matches are shunted to Peacock.
Our choice will of course be Newcastle hosting Everton. We like our odds here (68/14/18) and if they play like they did last week at Arsenal this should be a win. Oh if it was only that easy. Also, this match should be one of the TV games instead of, say, Liverpool - Crystal Palace or Southampton - Arsenal; seriously, neither of those matches has any meaningful relevance to the table.
For the neutral, we are torn between recommending Man United - Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest - Chelsea. At least the schedulers got these right, as the former is on CNBC and the latter on USA. Opta likes Villa, even at Old Trafford (52/25/23) and that seems right. Chelsea are also favored on the road but not as much (43/32/25). Brighton and Brentford certainly care about both of these matches as Chelsea must lose and Villa win or draw for 8th place to have any shot at next year's Europa Conference League. In theory Man City - Fulham also matters but does anybody see the Cottagers taking all three points here?
Brighton will secure the sort of coveted 8th place with a win or draw over Spurs, who might still be hung over from their Europa Cup win. Brentford need Brighton to lose and must beat Wolves at Molineux, which sounds like a tall order. Of course, we won't know if 8th even matters until the matches are finished.
The Union get a stern test at Subaru Park Saturday night as they face Inter Miami. The table says we're first and they're seventh, seven points back but I'm not buying it. A draw would be a solid result here.
Don't forget Conference League final on Wednesday with Chelsea vs Real Betis