While We Were Away...

Limited and choppy viewing combined with a busy schedule means I missed a lot and don't remember some of what I saw.  Also, the sun was in my eyes.

Newcastle Did Not Miraculously Improve

Osula was not lying down on the job, he was scoring

In fact, they sang the same old song.  Get a 1-0 lead, play sloppy, give up late goals and lose 2-1. The Magpies goal was a marvel of coordination by Osula while lying on the pitch.  Of course, they never added to the lead and when Mateta came on at 66 minutes, the feeling of dread ramped up.  He leveled things at 80 minutes with a nice header.  A draw still seemed to be the most obvious outcome until Sven Botman's brain cramp in the box in stoppage time (more on that below) gave Palace a PK, which Mateta promptly dispatched.

Certainly the Magpies did not deserve a win here and arguably not even a draw.  They add three more to their league-leading tally of 25 points dropped from winning positions, five better than second worst West Ham.  With so much talk about possible summer departures of key players like Tonali, Guimaraes, Gordon, Livramento and Hall, you wonder where this team is heading.

Things Could Be Worse

We could be Spurs.  With a 1-0 loss to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light and West Ham's 4-0 win over Wolves, Spurs are now squarely in the relegation zone, two points behind the Hammers.  Certainly with six matches to go, this is far from over.  They have fixtures with Brighton, Wolves, Aston Villa, Leeds, Chelsea and Everton so there are some possible points to be garnered.  I'd say West Ham and Nottingham Forest have relatively similar run-ins, so this could be quite close.

The Sheen Is Coming Off the Gunners' Season

They had already lost in the League Cup final and two weeks ago they fell to Southampton in the FA Cup quarterfinals.  Their seeming stranglehold on the Premier League doesn't look so solid anymore either after a 2-1 loss at home to Bournemouth.  We'll make Alex Scott's 74th-minute gamewinner this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Yes, they do have a six point lead over Man City but City have a game in hand (vs Crystal Palace).  And look at this, the two face off this Sunday!  

Champions League went a little better but not all that much.  They squeaked by Sporting 1-0 on aggregate, getting a goal late away but not adding any insurance back at the Emirates.  They'll face Atletico Madrid in the semis and will have to do better than this to get to the final.

FA Cup

I did see most of the quarterfinal action, which varied widely in quality.  There was nothing to recommend in Man City's 4-0 trashing of Liverpool or Chelsea's beat down of Port Vale.  Things got more interesting from there. Southampton gave Arsenal a very tough time at St. Mary's.  Arsenal got a 68th minute goal from Gyokeres to level things but Shea Charles stunned the Gunners with the game winner at 86 minutes.  West Ham - Leeds was an absolute barnburner.  Leeds carried a 2-0 lead into stoppage time.  The Hammers proceeded to score two to send the match to extra time.  When that failed to produce a winner, they went on to PKs, which Leeds won 4-2.

The semis on 4/25 and 4/26 are set with Man City playing Southampton and Chelsea squaring off against Leeds.

 

The View From Europe

Four Premier League teams still alive in European competitions.

As mentioned above, Arsenal advanced, but just barely.  Liverpool were not so fortunate, putting up symmetric 2-0 losses home and away for a 4-0 loss on aggregate to PSG.  Barcelona managed to get red cards in both of their quarterfinal matches against Atletico Madrid and fell 3-2 on aggregate.  Probably should have watched the Bayern - Real Madrid series.  Bayern brought a 2-1 lead home from the first leg.  They proceeded to cough up that lead three times in the second leg before two late goals gave them a 6-4 win on aggregate.  Bayern will take on PSG in the semis.

In Europa League, Aston Villa had little trouble with Bologna winning 3-1 on the road and 4-0 at home for a 7-1 aggregate.  Nottingham Forest got a 1-1 draw away and a 1-0 home win for a 2-1 overall win to advance to the semis where they'll face Villa.  Braga and SC Freiburg is the other semi.

In Conference League, Crystal Palace's 3-0 home win held up to a 2-1 road loss to Fiorentina so they advance to the semis to take on Shaktar Donetsk.  The other semi is Rayo Vallecano versus Strasbourg.

A Rant on Grabbing

Botman is caught red and blue handed

Sven Botman gave away penalty in stoppage time thanks to a shirt pull.  I can't believe he didn't get a yellow for this.  And then a second yellow for vehemently protesting his innocence.  The shirt is pulled at least six inches away from his back.  In what world is this not a penalty?  Seriously, what is he thinking?  Newcastle are still whining about this being a soft penalty because Lerma went down so easily and suggesting maybe it should have gone to VAR.  Sorry, but the plumage don't enter into it.  Rob Jones could easily see that Botman had a fistful of shirt and Lerma was going in the opposite direction.  There is an easy way to avoid this - don't grab the shirt.

Martinez grabbing some pony tail

Then we have the straight red card for Lisandro Martinez's tug on Dominic Calvert-Lewin's pony tail during Man United's 2-1 loss to Leeds.  This was not spotted by Paul Tierney and he was sent to VAR to make the determination.  Cue the outrage.  Even color commentator Graeme LeSaux was not thrilled with the call.   LeSaux went on about how little it affected the play and wasn't thrilled that it was a VAR intervention. Except, as explained here by ESPN, Tierney had no choice - hair pulling, regardless of force, is considered violent conduct. The ESPN article does discuss whether there will be some modification this summer to that directive.

I hope they leave it alone.  There's no excuse for grabbing the hair.  Frankly, I'd be fine if they issued a directive that said if you close your hand around any part of the uniform or body part other than the face, it's a foul regardless of force.  There is simply no legitimate reason to grab.  But, but, there will be calls on every corner.  Fine, if it stops this nonsense.  Also every time I start getting soft on VAR, a play like this reminds me of the value of letting players know you likely won't get away with this stuff.

There, I feel better.

Union Split

I did see the 2-1 loss at Charlotte but all I remember now is being annoyed that it was Zaha who got the game winner.  I saw highlights of the 2-1 win at Montreal.  So the Union are on the board.  How much we make of the win is up for speculation since the U were neck and neck with them for the worst team in the Eastern Conference.  

Get Ready For Musical Chairs

Oliver Glasner has already announced he'll be leaving Crystal Palace at the end of the season.  This week we heard that Andoni Iraola will be saying goodbye to Bournemouth when his contract expires when the 25-26 season concludes.  He is being mentioned as a possible replacement for Glasner but has also been linked with the Spanish side Athletic Club.  Eddie Howe's future at Newcastle is far from certain.  Right now it looks like he makes it to summer but not clear after that.  What's this?  Mourinho is being mentioned as a replacement?  Just shoot me now.

This Week

Just a regular match week for the EPL.  The 7:30 Saturday match between Brentford and Fulham probably won't be an incentive to get up early.  Just two matches at 10 am.  We'll be taking in Newcastle - Bournemouth with minimal expectations at this point.  Your other choice is Leeds - Wolves, which probably qualifies as relegation-relevant though Leeds are looking pretty safe at this point.  The 12:30 feature match is a critical test for Spurs as they host Brighton.  Yikes, Opta has Spurs as underdogs even at home.  The special 3 pm match is also important, with Man United facing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge; that one has Champions League implications written all over it.

Sunday at 9 am is a busy time slot.  You can go for the relegation-relevant Nottingham Forest vs Burnley, a Merseyside Derby or Aston Villa - Sunderland.  Good reasons to go with any of those choices.  Then we have one vs two with Man City hosting Arsenal at 11:30, a six pointer if ever there was one.  Opta says 40% City, 34% Arsenal, 26% draw.  Hope this one lives up to its billing as last time (League Cup final) it was not all that interesting.

The match week concludes Monday with a London derby with relegation implications.  Crystal Palace are safe but West Ham are in the thick of a relegation battle so this one at Selhurst Park should be good.

The Union go for two in a row against DC United at Subaru Park.