Vacation Viewing

As expected, I only saw a few games, watching on my phone or computer after everyone else had gone to bed.  Another Saturday on which both Newcastle and the Union get a win.  

Things Undone

Arsenal are no longer perfect.  We had expected (hoped) Brighton would play the Gunners tough but did not foresee the 3-0 thrashing they gave last year's champions.  The highlights and the stats lead me to believe that Brighton did not steal this one but simply outplayed Arsenal.  Shots were 14/6 and shots on target were 6/1; only xG makes it seem close at 1.73/1.32.  Man City, which played sloppy but entertaining football in a 5-3 win over Sunderland are the only perfect side left.

Hull City are no longer unbeaten. Newcastle jumped on the Tigers quickly and had a 2-0 lead by the 7th minute.  We make Lewis Hall's goal this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Should have been 3-0 at halftime but Wissa's PK was saved.  The second half was an exercise in hanging on, especially after Cho made it 2-1 at 67 minutes.  Overall, I think we have to count the Mapgies lucky to get all three here.

And, looking at this table from Opta, we should count Newcastle as lucky to be sitting ninth.  

There are some other big spreads in there but Newcastle are by far the largest.  Probably should remember that we're only five matches in so we're dealing with the problem of small numbers.

Going back over expected goals numbers for the five matches so far, I could argue that the Magpies would be expected to have zero or, at most, one point.  Most of the difference is they've scored more than expected, not allowed more than expected.  We can hope that it's better quality finishing but will worry that we've just been lucky.

Aston Villa are no longer winless.  Spurs pretty much pushed Aston Villa around the whole first half so of course Villa took the halftime lead with a stoppage time goal from Manzambi.  They added second half goals from Jackson and Buendia and were cruising to victory.  To make things interesting though, they allowed goals at 86 and 90+8 to create the impression that this was a close match.  It really wasn't.

Coventry saved by Jesus transgression

Coventry are no longer goalless, pointless or winless.  They only needed one goal to dispatch Nottingham Forest.  A late equalizer by Jesus was ruled out for a foul he committed gaining possession of the ball; some felt it was light but there was contact on the foot.  Oliver Glasner is probably on the hot seat with Forest now in 13th, given Marinakis's track record in sacking managers.

Spurs are no longer goalless but do remain winless as noted above.

I would be remiss if I didn't note that Brentford did indeed keep Friday afternoon's match with Chelsea from turning into a nap.  Like Brighton's win over Arsenal, there wasn't anything lucky about the 3-0 final; the Bees were just better.

The Dreaded Three Goal Lead

I was prepared for this section to be entitled The Bubble Burst or something like that after the Union fell behind quickly to Sporting KC.  When I checked my phone they were down 3-0 score at 20 minutes.  When I checked in later I see the score is 3-2 and before I could get the game live on my phone it was 3-3.  Amazingly, Damiani, Cavan Sullivan and Iloski had scored at 64, 66 and 68 minutes.  The turnaround was completed by a Bassong own goal at 73 minutes. You can see the highlights of this comeback here (should open to about the 63rd minute).  Spent the final 20 minutes or so thinking about what a shame it would be to not come away with the win.  Fortunately, they held on.  Note that Quinn Sullivan doesn't appear on the scoresheet but many accounts say the game turned upon his entry into the contest at halftime.

The damn glass half empty people are pointing out that SKC has the worst record in MLS and were level with Cincinnati at 59 goals allowed going into the weekend.  The Union come back put them alone in first in that regard.  The don't talk to me about the glass people simply note that the U are now in 6th.

Bad Time for International Break?

Whether you're happy that we now head into an extended international break depends on who you are.  Newcastle, somewhat banged up, will be in a much stronger place when EPL action returns Saturday October 10th so this is a welcome break.  For the Union, maybe not so much.  First problem is that despite the break, they have a match on Saturday against Orlando, the side just two points behind them in the table.  But they will be missing Cavan Sullivan, Frankie Westfield, Neil Pierre, Andre Blake and Danley Jean Jacques - um, that's over half the starting line-up.  Second, the way they are playing I'm guessing they just want to keep this rolling.

I'm normally not a friendly guy (I mean about watching international friendlies, not my demeanor) but I'll likely try to catch USMNT fixtures to see what contributions Sullivan, Pierre and Westfield make.  The schedule is:

9/26 4:30 pm Peru

9/29 8 pm Chile

10/3 10 pm Mexico

10/6 8 pm Canada

That's all I got this week.  Will be taking next week off and will return 10/9.

Post script:  Dennis has alerted me to ref cam footage available on the EPL website. The commentary from Rob Jones here while he does the Newcastle - Bournemouth match is fascinating, especially his commentary on the Harvey Barnes goal.