FA Cup Potpourri

Not every match was awesome but there were plenty that had that certain "je ne sais quoi" which makes the FA Cup sometimes watchable.

Everybody Hates VAR Until They Don't

Newcastle and Aston Villa squared off in the toughest match of the fourth round.  VAR, or the lack thereof (it's not used until the 5th round), quickly became a talking point.  Villa got an early lead on a free kick lofted over the Newcastle defensive line to Tammy Abraham, who deftly trapped it and scored.  Real time I thought he was offside and replay confirmed that.  Not by a lot but enough that the AR should have gotten it right.  Oh well.  Flash forward to later in the half when Luca Digne makes a rash challenge on Jacob Murphy.  Kavanaugh immediately went with yellow which seemed okay real time.  The replay wasn't as kind.  Many think it should have been red and that VAR would definitely have upgraded the card.  I'm less convinced.  Sure, it left a mark on Murphy but that might just be because he uses shin guards the size of credit cards.  Anyway, the worst was yet to come.

Kavanaugh and his team's bad awful
day in three pictures

Newcastle started the second half with a man advantage thanks to a massive brain cramp by Villa keeper Bizot, who drew a straight red for DOGSO on Murphy.  The Magpies seized the initiative but without immediate results.  Then, Trippier sent a ball into the box which Digne promptly handled for a PK.  Well it should have been but neither Kavanaugh or his assistant believed the handling was in the box.  They are the only two in the world who saw it that way.  Martinez punched the free kick out to the top of the box where Tonali rifled a shot that took a massive deflection into the net.  So they got a goal anyway. You can see the whole thing here as this week's YouTubeableMoment; Jon Champion called it "natural justice" but for me it was the coolest version of "ball don't lie" I've ever seen.  Tonali later scored on another long shot and Woltemade added insurance for the 3-1 final.

The match inspired a lively should we/shouldn't we use VAR.  The pro VAR side would seem to have a clear upper hand based on this situation but the antis got some good shots in.  Sure there were some bad calls here but life went on and wasn't it great not to have those lengthy interventions.  Maybe, but its a lot easier to be all like "shit happens" when the bad calls did not prevent the correct team from advancing.  Not sure you'd be hearing as much support for ditching VAR if Newcastle hadn't moved on.  Further, while you could argue this stuff evens out over the course of the season that is not the case in where you are bounced with a single loss.

Some unfortunate notes for Newcastle.  Guimaraes is out for up to 10 weeks with a hamstring problem and Wissa is hurt now too.  They need 1) Joelinton to return from injury b) Miley to return from injury iii) Ramsey to significantly lower his transfer fee/goals scored ratio or 4) all of the above.  Also, furthering conspiracy theory talk in the FA draw process, Newcastle get Man City in the next round.

Hope Spring Eternal Until the Well Runs Dry

The minnows generally gave a good accounting of themselves but only Mansfield Town was able to pull off the upset over Burnley.  We're not counting Newcastle over Aston Villa or Wrexham beating Ipswich because those sides are so close in their respective tables.  Burton gave West Ham fits, sending the match into extra time.  The Hammers scored at 95 then had a man sent off at 101; that gave Burton 20+ minutes to get an equalizer but it never happened.  Macclesfield clearly benefited from the home field advantage (i.e. the artificial surface) but it was Brentford that got the own goal game winner.  Wolves and Grimsby Town played 0-0 for a while in the muck (see below) until Wolves slipped in the game winner at at 60 minutes.  Birmingham had plenty of chances but it was Leeds that won the PK shootout.

That's Not What They Mean By Pitch

pitch

 1: a black or dark viscous substance obtained as a residue in the distillation of organic materials and especially tars

Grimsby Town vs Wolves: Some called it a "throwback" but
 mostly it looked like boys playing in the mud (Getty Images)

As in the pitch for the Grimsby Town - Wolves match looked like it was covered in pitch. Seriously, this was one step from being unplayable.  Or maybe it was unplayable.  There were several occasions when the ball simply didn't move after getting stuck in the mud.  Wolves probably deserve some credit here for just playing through the conditions to get a 1-0 win to advance to the 5th round.  It's about the only thing that's going right for them this season.

We Knew Them When

The Birmingham - Leeds match featured Union ex-pats Kai Wagner and Brenden Aaronson.  Both acquitted themselves well I thought.  Wagner did his usual thing of dumping mostly decent crosses into the box and blocked a potential goal in the box with a diving stop.  Leeds had struggled for most of the match and seemed to do better when Aaronson came on at 68 minutes.  Brenden also converted his PK in the shoot out, which Leeds won 4-2.  Aaronson also got in a fairly hefty challenge on Wagner, which earned him a foul but nothing more as seen here.

My Dog Ate My Homework

Leeds keeper Lucas Perri was all set for the PK shoot out with Birmingham, armed with paper that listed the tendencies of the Birmingham shooters.  Alas, it proved useless to him because, as detailed here, he couldn't recognize the players.  He still stopped one of the shots while a second soared over the bar, allowing Leeds to advance.  Also in the category of not using the resources available to you, it appears that Kai Wagner tried to tell his keeper which way Aaronson was going on his PK but as related here, the keeper ignored his advice.

Baku Is Lovely This Time of Year

Anthony Gordon gets the first of four against Qarabag

Well sure it is when you score in the first three minutes and have a 4-0 lead by 33 minutes.  Such was Newcastle's experience as they basically outclassed the Azerbaijani side Qarabag FK in a 6-1 rout in the first leg of their Champions League playoff.  Heading back to Saint James' Park for the second leg with that hefty lead leaves me optimistic that Newcastle will advance to the knockout phase of the competition.  But the Mapgies seem to be able to find a dark cloud behind the silver lining.  Newcastle already had 4-0 lead when Gordon was fouled by the keeper in first half stoppage time.  Now, Gordon is the designated taker of penalty shots but Kieran Trippier was trying to talk Gordon (who already had a hat trick) into letting someone else take the kick.  Gordon did not relent and converted the kick.  That wasn't quite the end of it, as the two had to be separated by teammates as they made their way to the locker room at half time.  Things appeared to be patched up by the end of the match but apparently we can't even enjoy a rout.

Not A Good Scene In Lisbon

Things were not so pleasant in Lisbon, where Real Madrid was taking on Benfica.  This was a scoreless but intriguing match until the 50th minute, when Vinicius Jr launched a laser past the Benfica keeper.  Things degenerated from there.  First, Vini got a yellow card for excessive celebration.  Then, Benfica's Prestianni lifted his shirt to cover his mouth and said something to Vini.  The Brazilian believed it was a racist comment and immediately ran to the referee to notify him.  In response, the ref raised the crossed wrists to indicate that the racist abuse protocol had been initiated.  You can see some of the events here.  The BBC provides more narrative on the incident here.  This looks frustratingly like it will end up as unresolved because it will come down to he said/he said.  All around just bad scene.

Don't Give Up Your Day Job

As Dennis noted a few weeks ago, Defence Force F.C. (the Union's opponent in the first round of CONCACAF Champions Cup) is made up of officers, soldiers and sailors from the Trinidad and Tobago army and coast guard.  I hope they are better at their real jobs because they did not defend on the pitch very well in a 0-5 loss in the first leg of Round One.  Goal scorers for the Union included Iloski, Alladoh, Makhanya and Damiani (2).  As Jeff H notes, pretty good for the first match of the season playing away from home.  I thought it was a good chance for us to get started on learning the new names.  The second leg is next Thursday in Chester.  Forecast says mostly clear skies and 43 degrees at kick-off.

The Weekend and Week

We have match week 27 and the second leg of all the European competition playoff series.

No 7:30 match - that's a good start.  There are three at 10 and our choice is clear - Aston Villa hosting Leeds.  Other choices are Brentford - Brighton or Chelsea - Burnley.  The "feature" 12:30 match, which really can't be called feature because it's not even on TV is West Ham - Bournemouth.  Saturday finishes with a 3 pm match that leaves Magpie fans quaking - a trip to the Etihad to face Man City.  Not going to even bother doing the research, pretty sure that one usually does not work out well for us. Opta has it 57/21 with 22% chance of a draw.

No truth to the rumor that Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will now be
called the House of Tudor now that Igor has been named manager
Photo: Getty/London Standard

Sunday at 9 is crowded with Crystal Palace - Wolves, Sunderland - Fulham or Nottingham Forest - Liverpool.  I like Palace and Wolves but I'm guessing Sunderland - Fulham will be the more competitive game.  The Tudor era begins for Spurs at 11:30 with the North London derby against Arsenal. Even with home field advantage, Opta doesn't give Spurs much of chance (60/19/21 - ouch). The match week concludes with Everton - Man U at 3 on Monday.  

For the European competitions, basically reverse everything from last week.  And there will be the second leg of Union versus the Trinidad and Tobago army.