A Little Bit of Everything

I will blame any inaccuracies or incompleteness on a busy schedule and poor memory.

On To Wembley

Reports of my demise were exaggerated

The FA Cup quarterfinals yielded four matches of varying degrees of interest.  Crystal Palace were surprisingly easy 3-0 winners over Fulham.  Nottingham Forest and Brighton did little to separate themselves over 120 minutes so that one went to PKs.  Forest prevailed 4-3 and their magic season continues.  Aston Villa dominated Preston but took their sweet time in getting it to show on the scoreboard; three second half goals - two from reclamation project Marcus Rashford - put that one to bed.  Bournemouth had an early lead versus Man City but there would be no cherry on top of this Sunday as the Citizens grabbed two second half goals for the win.

The semis at Wembley on April 26th will see Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace and Man City vs Nottingham Forest.

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place and Did

Steve: Check out the picture of the last time Aston Villa won the FA Cup (1957)

Dennis:  Here's one from the last time Newcastle won it

Steve: Hey wait, it's only been two years longer for the Magpies. They won it in 1955

Dennis: When were you born?

Steve: 1956

Dennis: If it was before you were born, by definition, it was back in the Stone Age

No Hangover

Isak gets his 20th league goal

Newcastle faced a tricky fixture against Brentford in their return to EPL action after the Caraboa Cup
win.  The good news it that they came out with plenty of confidence and did most of the attacking in the first half.  Looked like it would be for naught until Murphy put a great cross right onto Isak's foot that the Swede converted into a 1-0 lead right before halftime.  Some sloppy work by Pope led to a second half PK that was smartly converted by Mbuemo.  Brentford looked the better side for a time after that, hitting the post and generally having the better of play.  Tonali rescued the Magpies with this most unlikely of goals.  It was not a deflection but there is ongoing debate as to whether it was a cross or a shot.  I think (and Dennis agrees) it was a shot.  Newcastle survived a possible stoppage time foul in the box by Bruno G to hang on to the 2-1 win.  

Not the best of performances, especially the finishing, but good enough.  

The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight

Man United totally dominated Nottingham Forest and were rewarded with an 0-1 loss.  Possession was 68/32, shots were 23/8 and shots on target were 6/2.  The six shots on target seems low as I remember feeling like United blew chance after chance.  The xG - 1.74 to .57 - matches up with that sense.  The Red Devils simply did not take advantage of their opportunities.  Forest meanwhile benefited from an incredible solo effort by Anthony Elanga, an easy choice for this weeks YouTubeableMoment.  He only ran about 85 yards, eluded three defenders and calmly slotted the ball past Onana at the end of his lung-busting run.  Once again, Nottingham Forest have refused to turn into a pumpkin.  Note that they managed this win without top scorer Chris Wood and attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White.

Back Into the Mix

Not that they were really out of it but Aston Villa definitely established themselves as a contender for Champions League with a 3-0 win over Brighton.  I didn't see the game and Dennis didn't see all of it either.  The scoresheet says 3-0 but the stats make it sound like a draw.  

Leaving aside a trip to Southampton, the Villans now start a run of six-point fixtures against many of the other contestants for European slots, including Nottingham Forest, Newcastle (Fillebrown Derby!), Fulham and Bournemouth.  The tricky part will be managing that around this year's Champions League action (PSG is next) and FA Cup semis.  

Other Random Thoughts

The top six sides all got wins so there was no movement there.  Leicester managed a .08 xG in their 0-2 loss to Man City.  Hardly a statement win for City but they are now missing Haaland for about seven weeks.  Ipswich got a win over Bournemouth and Southampton took a point from Crystal Palace but Wolves got a 1-0 win over West Ham so the relegation situation didn't really change.  

A Cameo From the Special One

Jose Mourinho, now managing in the Turkish league, still finds a way to make news.  As seen here, he grabbed the nose of rival manager Okan Buruk after losing in the Turkish Cup quarter-final.  A cheeky moment no doubt but almost as good is how Buruk goes down writhing in pain.  Buruk claims it did leave a slight scratch.  Probably should get a rabies shot.

Bad News, Good News

Oh crap...
Photo: Rebecca Blackwell - AP

So the Union did not come home from Miami with any points.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that if you watched the game (Dennis did but I didn't as I was at the Wells Fargo Center eating a Federal Donuts chicken sandwich with fries) and look at the stats, you conclude that the Union definitely held their own here, despite the 2-1 scoreline.  Possession was 54/46 favor Miami but shots were 20/6 and shots on target were 6/3, both favor the Union.  Most tellingly, xG was 2.5-1.9 in their favor as well.  The killer was clearly Messi scoring a mere two minutes after entering the match to double the lead.  Gazdag got one back they couldn't find an equalizer.  

Their first serious test and you have to say they passed even if they didn't get any points.  If they can go toe-to-toe with Miami down there, they should be competitive.

Back on DST

England caught up to us so the times are back to normal.  Which means I may not be there for the 7:30 kick-off between Everton and Arsenal.  There's a clear choice in my mind for the 10 am matches and that would be Ipswich hosting Wolves.  This is realistically the last chance for the Tractor Boys to make a move to avoid relegation.  They'll start the day nine points short of the 17th place Wolves; even with a win they will still sit six back.  But a loss or a draw means they are 12 or 9 back with seven to play.  Opta sees that one as dead even (36/36/28).  Crystal Palace - Brighton could be an excellent match too since they don't like each other very much. West Ham versus Bournmouth is your third choice.

The feature 12:30 match (on USA, not NBC as they will be covering the Augusta Women's National Amateur golf tournament) looks good as Aston Villa will host Nottingham Forest.  Actually, Villa are solid favorites here, likely due to the home field advantage and the possibility that Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White will still be out with injuries.  But as we've noted, no one has really woken Forest from their dream yet.  

Three Sunday 9 am fixtures but nothing that really stands out - Brentford v Chelsea, Fulham v Liverpool and Spurs v Southampton.  There is the Manchester Derby at 11:30; given how both teams have largely disappointed this season, it could still be interesting.

Newcastle travel to Leicester for a Monday 3pm clash.  Given the Foxes recent form, anything less than three points here is a massive blow to the Magpies Champions League hopes.

I'll be at Subaru Park for the Union match vs Orlando Saturday night at 7:30.  They've done a bit better since losing to the U 2-4 on opening day.  We'll call this a useful test.

And don't forget the big mid-week of European football.  Arsenal host Real Madrid on Tuesday and Aston Villa travel to Paris to face PSG on Wednesday in the first legs of their Champions League quarter-final ties.  Thursday is crowded with Man United facing Lyon away and Spurs hosting Eintracht Frankfurt in their Europa League quarter-final matches, both at 3pm.  At least the Chelsea - Legia Warsazawa Europa Conference League quarter-final is at 12:45 if you're inclined to double dip.  

Eesh, bad week to be traveling so I envision I'll be taking in some by replay on my phone after hours.