A Few Things Left To Do

Some doors were closed but there are still some open issues. We'll review the week chronologically.

Villa Seal Champions League Spot

Neither Dennis nor I had any expectations of a result from the Liverpool match, though Dennis did note that Liverpool have been almost as inconsistent as Villa.  And it was the Reds who came up way short in this one, with Aston Villa running away to a 4-2 win.  The match didn't feel that close.  Villa got a late first half goal from Rogers but van Dijk leveled things at 51 minutes.  Then the rout was on as Villa poured in three unanswered (two from Watkins, one from McGinn).  The stoppage time goal from van Dijk was a footnote.  

The win guaranteed no worse than fifth place for Aston Villa and a spot in Champions League.  Liverpool was left vulnerable.

Feh Cup

Another boring domestic cup final.  Seriously Chelsea, you could only manage five shots, two on target for an xG of .49?  At least the winning goal, seen here, had a touch of class, with Haaland setting up Semenyo.  At this point, Man City still had a chance at the domestic triple.  Also, since City already have a spot in Europe, this means that Europa League spots will go to sixth and seventh place (or just seventh if EPL cop a sixth spot in Champions League) and eighth gets you Conference League.

Walking Into A Minefield

Speaking of 6th through 8th place, the Sunday 10 am time slot was a disaster area for many of the sides still clinging to hopes of a spot in Europe.  Brentford could only manage a 2-2 draw at home versus Crystal Palace, a club presumably with nothing to play for except the Europa Conference League final in 10 days.  Frankly, the Bees were lucky to even get a draw.  Fulham could also only get a point at Wolves.  But at least those two teams got something.  Everton were soundly beaten 1-3 at home by Sunderland and Brighton lost 1-0 at Leeds.  Everton's and Fulham's hopes are basically gone; Brighton and Brentford made their lives considerably more difficult.  Sunderland, on the other hand, put themselves firmly into the equation.

Bournemouth and Chelsea, who were both off for the weekend due to FA Cup matches, benefited from the strategy discussed in the 1983 film War Games (link corrected).  

Newcastle Leave West Ham Little Hope

Osula doubles Newcastle lead; we'll leave out the picture
of his questionable gesture after scoring
Richard Lee / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

The Magpies got after West Ham early and were up 2-0 by 18 minutes.  Nuno made a tactical change that did make the Hammers more competitive but it didn't do much for the score.  Osula's second of the day made it 3-0 at 64 minutes and this one was pretty much over.  The Dane's late season development has taken away a bit of the sting of the Woltemade, Elanga and Wissa disappointments.  West Ham were now dependent on Chelsea beating Spurs to stay alive.  The three points weren't all that helpful to Newcastle, as their goal differential pretty much puts eighth place out of reach.  It was a good way to close out the season at Saint James' Park though.

Arsenal Do Their Part, Barely

We might have expected more than a 1-0 win for the Gunners over Burnley but it got the job done.  In truth, it was a bit more comfortable than the score suggests, as Burnley did not manage a shot on target.  The win meant that anything less than a win for Man City against Bournemouth tomorrow would seal the EPL title for Arsenal.

No Domestic Triple For Man City

Man City's vision of the domestic triple (League Cup, FA Cup and Premier League Title) lasted three days.  Bournemouth took a first half lead, blew some incredible chances to put the match away, but still came away with a 1-1 draw.  The result was fatal to City's title hopes.  They are four back of Arsenal with one to go.  The draw wasn't of much use to Bournemouth either.  Three points would have given them a shot at fifth place.  Now, because of their goal differential compared to Liverpool, sixth is the best they can do; it did take eighth place off the table and they are guaranteed a spot in the Europa League.

Spurs Still Not Safe

Needing only a draw against Chelsea to effectively fend off relegation, Spurs came up with another lackluster outing.  They fell behind early, then surrendered another goal in the second half.  Richarlison got one back at 73 minutes to make the end of the match interesting but an equalizer was not in the cards.  The relegation battle goes on to the last week.

UEL Stands for Unai Emery League

Um, can I just keep it this time?
Getty Images

Really it stands for UEFA Europa League but they might as well name it after the Spaniard, as this was his fifth win.  Aston Villa were clear favorites and played like it, though it did take a while for the dominance to show on the scoreboard.  At 40 minutes Tielemans delivered an awesome volley off a Rogers cross.  In first half stoppage time, Buendia fired in a marvelous shot from just outside the box.  Buendia and Rogers combined on a deft play to put the thing to bed at 57 minutes.

Since Villa already had a Champions League spot, the win leaves a sliver of hope for a sixth Champions League spot but only if Villa drop to fifth in the table.

Union - Columbus Highlights

1) The more efficient way to order the sausage sandwich is to have them put the peppers and onions in the roll first, then put the sausage in.  This keeps the toppings from spilling onto your lap and each bite of the sandwich has the proper sausage to toppings ratio.  I have applied for a patent.

2) The Heineken Zero was free.  Technically it's called Heineken 0.0, which was the Union's xG in the first half.

3) Our row neighbors had to slip by us about at about 65 minutes - ice cream run the mom said.  I said vanilla would be great.  Classy row mates that they are, they got me and Jeff K a bowl of vanilla soft serve.

This is much simpler than a point by point
 elaboration of what the Union need

Okay, the Union goal was pretty good too, with Anello slipping a great pass to Iloski in the box. We make it this week's YouTubeableMoment, but only because I have no video of the sausage sandwich being assembled.

The first half was awful.  Cavan Sullivan couldn't have had more than five touches.  There was simply no play down the right hand side.  Whether it was Carnell's halftime talk or bringing on Anello, the second half was at least watchable.  Sullivan started to see more of the ball and the scoring chances started to come.  The Iloski goal came at 69 minutes and with the Union in the ascendancy, we held out some hope for a W.  The Union did have some chances - as did Columbus - but 1-1 was the final and seemed correct.

With one game before the WC break, the U sit in last place, four behind Atlanta who have a game in hand.  So many things need to be addressed, one despairs that anything good will come of this season.

Southampton Ain't No Saints

The alleged spy: Seriously, hiding behind a tree?
 (Photo: The Athletic)

In case you missed it, the participants in this Saturday's most lucrative match in football (i.e. the Championship Playoff Final) have been revised.  Initially it was to have been Southampton versus Hull but due to "spying scandal" (explained here), Middlesborough will take the Saints' place.  The club has admitted to the infractions but has argued the sanctions are not proportional to the violations.  True, a $250m fine for spying might sound excessive.  Except, they admitted to multiple instances of spying during the season so even being in the playoffs is suspect.  That is, had Southampton been caught during the regular season, they would have likely faced a point deduction which might have been enough to drop them below sixth place, the last playoff spot. Not feeling sorry for them.  Also, their misbehavior may have cost Wrexham a spot in the promotion playoffs, though it is way too late to do anything about that.

Bullet Dodged - The "Special One" Is Not Coming to Newcastle

It's being widely reported that Real Madrid has agreed to a three-year contract with Jose Mourinho.  Phew, what a relief after a spring of hearing his name linked to a move to Saint James' Park. Not saying I think everything is hunky dory at Newcastle but I don't see how bringing him in would help the situation.

BFS Inbox

From former BFS Squash Champion Jeff K we got this excellent article about former Union center back Auston Trusty.  It's a long but worthwhile read about his journey from Media PA to the Union, to Colorado to Sheffield United and then Celtic.  A small nit - couldn't we have gotten one picture of something in Philly?

BFS Track and Field Consultant Jack W sends along oldie but goodie from November 2024 in which Stanford buries a hail Mary in the final seconds to defeat Notre Dame 3-2.  Two side notes.  If I read the box score correctly, Notre Dame had leveled the match just 11 seconds before this play.  Second, in college the ball has to be across the goal line before time expires to count so this was barely in the nick of time.

"Decision Day"

Fair enough label I guess given there are a few things on the line.  All matches at 11; check your local listing for the NBC affiliate that has the game that interests you.  Here's the list, with a brief explanation of relevance, if any:

- Man City vs Aston Villa - Matters only if Villa lose and Liverpool win, in which case sixth place gets a CL spot

- Brighton vs Man United - Matters because Brighton still have shot at 6-8

- Fulham vs Newcastle - Not really as both sides have crappy goal differentials so even a win won't get them 8th

- Spurs vs Everton - Matters because Spurs need win or draw to avoid relegation; Everton goal differential likely too great to overcome

- Liverpool vs Brentford - Matters because a Liverpool win and Villa loss would get EPL a sixth Champions League spot and because Brentford have a legitimate shot at 7th or 8th

- Burnley vs Wolves - No as this is 19th vs 20th

- Nottingham Forest vs Bournemouth - Matters because Bournemouth need a point to clinch 6th place

- West Ham vs Leeds - Matters because West Ham must win and Spurs lose for Hammers to stay up

- Sunderland vs Chelsea - Matters as both sides have a shot at 7th or 8th

- Palace vs Arsenal - No because both will have their sights on European finals next week

This is actually better than I realized, as seven of the ten matches have something on the line.  Loyalty would dictate that I watch Newcastle but there are many better choices.  Although Opta says Chelsea are strong favorites, their match with Sunderland may be the best option as both sides have something to play for.  I imagine we'll have one game on the TV and one on the phone.

The Union have their final match before the WC break on Sunday at Miami.  Tough way to finish the first part of the season.

Don't forget Europa Conference League Final on Wednesday at 3 pm featuring Crystal Palace versus Rayo Vallecano (not a Spanish pop star).  Winner gets a spot in next year's Europa League.

Travel might dictate an early post next week, then a week off.