Waiting For the Puff of White Smoke

It's not overly dramatic to say that the most important piece of off-season business for Newcastle is to get Rafa Benitez a new contract.  Thus, The Chronicle's suggestion that waiting for the news that a deal has been inked is similar to waiting for the well-known signal that a new pope has been selected is apt.

Other than updates that Ashley and Benitez have talked face-to-face and electronically, news is frustratingly scarce.  The good news is that although we hear Benitez linked to other clubs like Celtic or Milan or Marseille, it's usually accompanied by a comment that Benitez really wants to stay and these are only possibilities if no deal is forthcoming.  The consensus seems to be we could likely hear that he's been signed before the end of the week but if that doesn't happen, we should be worried.  Very worried.


Leave Our Longstaff Alone

Man United may be preparing a bid for Newcastle's holding midfielder Sean Longstaff.  Magpie officials insist he is off-limits but I wonder what would happen if Benitez doesn't stay.  With Hayden, Diame and Shelvey not likely to be around next season, we really need to be keeping players of his quality and age.

Juan Mata's name has come up as a Newcastle transfer target.  His price will be right - he'll be a free transfer and his salary doesn't sound excessive.  But he certainly doesn't fit the strategy of acquire young, sell old.  He's just one of a dozen names being thrown around but at this point, we really can't expect anything until the Benitez contract issue is resolved.

On other fronts, we might see a bidding war between the Manchester clubs to acquire Leicester's Harry Maguire.  City need to replace the retiring Vincent Kompany and United need to put together a better team.  A price of £75 million might not be out of the question.


The Kompany You Keep

And it's time to wave goodbye to Vincent Kompany, who announced he's heading to Belgium side Anderlecht as a player-manager.  He goes out a winner but he would have done that regardless of his team's final results.  Just a quality player who lost more than his share of time due to injuries.  We wish him well.


Domestic Triple

For those who spent any time on the FA Cup Final, condolences.  It was a match for about 20 minutes, with Watford actually having better early chances than Man City.  But after goals at 26 and 38 minutes, you knew it was over.  The Citizens added four more in the second half and the 6-0 final is a fair reflection of the match.  I will say that things seemed to stall early in the second half until Guardiola switched in DeBruyne for Mahrez and the onslaught ensued.  So Man City become the first club to accomplish the domestic triple - the EPL title, the League Cup and the FA Cup.  No mean feat.


A Good or Bad Draw?

Two markers was usually not enough to keep Ilsinho under wraps

Going into the match, I would have been happy with a Union draw, even at home, with Seattle.  Afterwards not so much.  Seattle, tired from a midweek match and resting seven starters, parked the bus.  With Panamanian international Roman Torres anchoring the middle of the defense, it was more like parking the Mack double semi.  Geez he's huge.  So the Union had the run of play and almost all the chances.  Good on Sounder keeper Frei for a few good saves but bad on the Union for not putting more on net.  Aaronson missed a sitter, shuhBillko had one just miss while Monteiro and Picault were regularly well wide of the mark.  Great excitement when Ilsinho entered the match before the 60th minute and regularly shredded the Seattle defense; the anticipation of the crowd when he got the ball was audible.  And a good crowd it was - over 18,000 fully engaged.  A fun place to be even if the end result was mildly frustrating.  The 538 metrics suggest it was a rout but the Union need to be better finishers for that to become a reality.  And it's not like this hasn't been an issue.  Yes, they've been scoring a lot but they've been missing a lot too.

This was the first time I can remember the Union taking the play so directly to a club like Seattle.  Sure they were slightly undermanned but it's a pretty deep squad.  If they can handle a good side like that, the Union should do well in the Eastern Conference.  Results elsewhere were very kind to the Union.  DC lost, Montreal drew at home to New England, Toronto lost and Atlanta lost.  So they sit in first on goal differential with a game in hand.  Awesome.


Schedule

The Union continue a West Coast home stand, taking on Portland at Talen Energy on Saturday night at 7:30 and I get to go for the second week in a row.

Still some European action to finish.  Aston Villa (remember, Dennis's old team?) face Derby County for promotion to the Premier League on Monday at 10 am (ESPN+?).  Then the Europa League final between Chelsea and Arsenal is on Wednesday at 3 pm on TNT.  And we close out the club season with the Champions League Final a week from Saturday (6/1) with Liverpool-Spurs, at 3 pm, also on TNT.

We'll be taking the week off and will report back after the Champions League Final.  Our focus will include the Women's World Cup and the CONCACAF Gold Cup, plus continued tracking of the best Union season evah.

As It Stands Now...

...Man City are EPL champions.

The goal that would fermez Laporte on Liverpool's title hopes

On Sunday we heard that phrase more than "to the best of my recollection" during the Watergate hearings.  Man City were facing Brighton while Liverpool were taking on Wolves.  For the first 17 minutes - with both matches scoreless, as it stands now meant Man City were the champions.  At that point Mane scored for Liverpool to give them a 1-0 lead over Wolves.  So for the next 21 minutes, as it stands now, Liverpool were top of the table.  During that time Brighton made things real interesting by going up 1-0, meaning City needed two goals.  Aguero got the first quickly and at 38 minutes, Asymmetric America Aymeric Laporte (right) put Man City in the lead for good and as it stands now was how it would stand at the end.

No doubt that City deserve to be champions but what of Liverpool, who amassed 97 points only to finish second?  This is the most for a second place side in EPL history, far surpassing Man United's 89 in the 2011/12 season.  Liverpool didn't drop a point after a 0-0 draw at Everton on March 2nd.  But City didn't drop any points after a 1-2 loss to, ahem, Newcastle, on January 29th.  How do you beat that?

13th Is All Ours

Two thirds of the Three Amigos - hopefully both Perez
and Rondon will be back next year.

Well on goal differential anyway.  Newcastle finished the season with a 4-0 thumping of Fulham despite having the minority of possession.  They settled it early with goals at 9 and 11 minutes from Shelvey (making his final appearance for Newcastle?) and Ayoze Perez (making his final appearance for Newcastle?).   The points brought the Magpies level with Bournemouth but with a better goal differential, Newcastle claim 13th place.  Though the place was worse than last year (10th), they did manage one more point and a slightly better goal differential (-6 versus -8).

The season did feel like a step forward, though just a small one.   Now we must wait to see if Benitez is coming back.  Ashley, Charnley and Rafa are meeting today (Thursday) in London.  Things still seem up in the air though there is growing sense that Rafa will stay.  Let's hope so because Plan B, whatever it is, will be a giant step backward.

And the Winner of the Golden Flip Flop Is

Man United.  Okay, maybe that's harsh.  They had 74% possession, 26 shots, and 10 on goal.  Still the result was an 0-2 loss at home to Cardiff City.  Two points in the final five matches?  Sixth in the table?  If Watford beat Man City in the FA Cup Final on Saturday (long odds I realize), United won't even automatically qualify for group stage play in Europa League but will enter in the second round of qualifying.  Let the inquest begin.

Best Performance By a Newly Promoted Side

Wolves did not win their final contest but did finish 7th with 57 points.  Checking the EPL history books, we conclude that this was the 6th best record by a newly promoted side.  We have them behind Newcastle 93/94 and Nottingham Forest 94/95 (3rd place and 77 points for both), Ipswich Town 00/01 (5th place and 66 points), Blackburn 92/93 (4th place with 71 points [42 game season]) and Sunderland 99/00 (7th and 58 points).  The other two newly promoted sides - Fulham and Cardiff - did not fare as well and are now newly relegated.  Brighton managed to stay up despite not winning a match since March 9th.  Chris Hughton, Brighton's manager, was not so lucky, getting sacked the day after the season ended.

Best Value

From The Chronicle, we get the following table:

Recognizing that wage bill is different than the transfer fees involved in putting a team together, this still seems instructive.  Cardiff City may have been the "best value" but they are also no longer in the Premier League so is that really value?  Anybody could take the best value award easily if staying in the top division is not a requirement.  Michael B offered to do our kitchen for a much much lower price per square foot than any other bidder but would the kitchen be acceptable?

One would likely reach a common conclusion for teams 2-7 in this table - they did reasonably well given how much they spent.  Spurs in 8th would say we got a top 4 finish with a much lower wage bill than any of the other biggies.  Man City and Liverpool spent a lot but also got a lot.  Arsenal and Man United, not so much.  Chelsea may not have been good value but at least they'll be playing in the Champions League next year.  

And why did I choose to follow a cheap ass team?  The only clubs with a lower wage bill than Newcastle were Cardiff, Huddersfield, and Burnley.  

Good But Lucky Too

The Union went north of the border and actually took all three points from Toronto.  They did not look all that great and were carved up more times than is healthy but Toronto fortunately failed to convert many scoring chances.  The Union were much more efficient and came away with a 2-1 win.  Fabian looked rusty and Aaronson's entry into the match improved things.  Coronel made some great saves but also looks to be having some communication issues.  He was pretty much wiped out by Trusty when both went for the ball.  Fortunately, Coronel picked himself up and made a save before collapsing back to the ground.  Elliott and Wagner continue to do little wrong.  Same with Medunjanin - unspectacular but steady.  Monteiro also continues to impress; his goal was the game winner. 

DC United slipped back into first with a mid-week 0-0 draw with Toronto but the Union's points per game is better with the game in hand.  After a slow start, Atlanta are playing much better now, winning five straight and six of the last seven, all with clean sheets.  Nice that we got to play them down south when they were still struggling.  There's such a long way to go but this is so much better than recent seasons when we needed a strong June/July to make up for dreadful starts.

Dialing Back

With the EPL season over, viewing gets lighter but there are still things to watch.  On Saturday at noon, Man City, with the EPL title and League Cup in hand, will seek the third part of the domestic triple as they take on Watford at Wembley Stadium.  Surely such a momentous match will be on live TV in the US.  No, it won't, and stop calling me Shirley.  You'll need ESPN+ to catch this contest.  

The Championships division playoff final for the last promotion spot will be Monday May 27 at 10 am.  My guess is you'll need ESPN+ for that too.  Aston Villa return to the final after beating West Brom on spot kicks and will face Derby County, who took the measure of Leeds United in a marvelous back-and-forth contest that wasn't settled until the 85th minute of the second leg. 

The Europa League final (Chelsea - Arsenal) is Wednesday May 29th at 3 pm.  Spurs and Liverpool will square off in the Champions League final on Saturday June 1 at 3 pm.  We can see both on TNT.

The Union face Seattle at home on Saturday, the first of three straight home matches versus Western Conference opponents; they'll take on Portland on 5/25 and Colorado on 5/29.  The Sounders are tough as usual but the Timbers and the Rapids aren't exactly tearing the league up.  We should be thinking about a good point haul in this home stand.

In June we have the CONCACAF Gold Cup which kicks off the new World Cup cycle for the USMNT.  Group stage matches start 6/15 and the final is July 7th.  This is a reasonably robust competition that will provide some meaningful information on where the US team stands after the failure to make the World Cup.

The Women's World Cup will also take place over roughly the same time frame.  The first group stage match is June 7 with the final scheduled for...July 7th.  Well that's a crowded Sunday.  The USWNT is in a group with Thailand, Chile and Sweden.  They are expected to advance out of group stage and are the favorite to win the whole thing at 5-2 odds (France are closest at 7-2).

So it's not like we're going to face withdrawal.
   

Seven Days in May

A remarkable week in England and not just because the country went a week without coal power for the first time since 1882.  No, I mean the four days of EPL action that sorted out most of the important stuff, two incredible Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday and Wednesday, and two EPL teams grabbing the Europa League final berths on Thursday.  I'll cover it in chronological order.


Who's Wearing Flip Flips?

The short answer is not too many.  The expression "playing with their flip flops on" refers to that time of the year when there's nothing left to play for and the players are winding down for the summer.  One might have expected many to be in that particular style of footwear this weekend but surprisingly this was not the case.  Let's take a look at those who had little to play for but showed up anyway.

On Saturday, Bournemouth, heading for somewhere between 12th and 15th in the table, put what coulda/shoulda been a huge dent in Tottenham's top four chances with a 1-0 win.  Though a draw wouldn't have been great for Spurs, the loss meant they were no closer to clinching a CL spot.  That the winner was in stoppage time was also a killer.  We all stayed away from Michael B for a while.

This play could have been a real problem for Liverpool
had Newcastle not scored anyway

The late afternoon Newcastle-Liverpool match was even better.  Like Bournemouth, the only thing at stake for the Magpies was maybe a 12th place versus 15th place finish.  Newcastle rallied twice from a goal deficit and only Origi's goal in the 86th minute kept Liverpool's title hopes alive.  The hosts gave them all they could handle, which was more than we could say for Barcelona midweek (see below).  Three side notes.  Liverpool probably lucked out in that before the referee could whistle defender Alexander-Arnold for DOGSO, Rondo had put away the rebound.  Had Rondon not scored,  Newcastle would have had a PK and Alexander-Arnold would have been sent off.  The referee was correct in not sending him off but we are still puzzled why there was no yellow.  Second, Liverpool did not luck out as Salah sustained a head injury that was serious enough that he was taken off on a stretcher.  He missed the CL match versus Barcelona (spoiler alert, Liverpool scored four without him) but will be back for Sunday's final EPL.  Lastly, there was a disturbing amount of fan violence which has been attributed to Liverpool fans infiltrating Magpie sections and the Saturday evening start.

Huddersfield had sewed up not only relegation but last place in the table weeks ago yet there they were giving Man United fits on Sunday.  There was a bit of bad luck there too, as Pogba hit the woodwork twice.  Mbenza's goal in the 60th minute to earn a 1-1 draw came off a Luke Shaw mistake.  And thus endeth the fairy tale for Ole Gunnar - no CL for you, come back one year.

Did we really just draw with Brighton at home?

Brighton did the same thing to Arsenal later Sunday, grabbing a 1-1 draw from the Gunners.  The Seagulls' safety had been assured by Cardiff's loss to Crystal Palace on Saturday but no flip flops here either.  Arsenal did push them around quite a bit but could only manage a spot kick from Aubameyang.  That was matched by Murray's PK in the second half and the picture at left tells the implication of the draw for Arsenal.  Absent some incredible (impossible?) swings in goal differential and goals scored, they will not be finishing in the top four either.  At least they have one additional shot to next year's Champion's League via winning the Europa Cup final against Chelsea.  So Tottenham lose but basically clinch the fourth spot anyway.

On to Monday where Leicester faced Man City with nothing to play for except maybe protecting a top half of table finish.  So of course they played their hearts out and gave Man City a real hard time.  It took a wonder strike from Vincent Kompany in the 70th minute for Man City to get the 1-0 win.  We've always appreciated the fine work of Kompany and have watched as things maybe haven't gone the way he would have liked in recent years.  So though we are pulling for Liverpool for the title, there were no hard feelings here to see him help his team with a goal like that.  An easy pick at the time for this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Look how his foot cuts across the ball to put the proper slice on the ball that takes it away from Schmeichel and how it fits into the upper right hand corner of the net.  Fabulous stuff made better by the context.

I was going to award Watford the golden flip flop for their 0-3 loss to Chelsea but game accounts suggest that Watford were actually the better side in the first half so apparently they came to play.  Fulham lost 0-1 to Wolves but outpossessed them so they appear to have played hard too.  Everton-Burnley wasn't awful and didn't see West Ham's 3-0 win over Southampton but it's possible that the flip flops stayed in the locker room last weekend.

To sum up, the title is still on the line but Chelsea and Spurs look good for the Champions League and the relegation trio is Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield.


Superlatives Fail

Hope you got to watch both the Champions League semi-finals because there is no way I can do either justice.  Barcelona took a 3-0 lead to Anfield and seem poised to step into one of the final spots; I mean there's no way they surrender four unanswered goals, right?  But this is not your father's Barcelona.  Origi got the first at seven minutes.  Wijnaldum got two in three minutes (54 and 56 minutes) and Origi got the game winner at 79 minutes.  As Dennis pointed out, what are the chances that Liverpool score four and Mane' or Salah aren't involved?  Within minutes of the final whistle, Michael B wondered if Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde was on the chopping block.  The answer looks to be yes.

Pochettino looks for lost contact in the aftermath of
celebrating Champions League semi-final win

As incredible as that comeback was, Wednesday was even more unbelievable.  Recall that Spurs had fallen behind 0-1 to Ajax in London last week, not a good result but certainly not irretrievable as they headed to Amsterdam.  Apparently the task wasn't challenging enough so Spurs allowed two first half goals.  Walking into the locker room at half time, Ajax must have thought it was over.  Pochettino made a key adjustment, putting Llorente up top and having his players send long balls to the Spaniard, who was able to control and distribute them most of the time.  Took a little while to work but Moura scored twice in five minutes (55 and 59).  With the second away goal, an aggregate draw would be enough to send Spurs through.  But, after a long period of Spurs dominance, Ajax grabbed momentum back and seemingly had done enough to survive.  Then, one more long ball to Llorente, which he volleyed off his leg to Dele, who slipped a clever pass to Moura, who slotted the ball passed two defenders and the keeper and pandemonium ensued.  Did I mention it was in the 96th minute? We make it this week's  year's  millenium's   YouTubeableMoment.  Back in the studio, Stuart Holden and NBA great Steve Nash (long time Spurs fan) go beserk, this week's Bonus YouTubeableMoment.  Dennis asks what are the odds that Tottenham score three and Kane or Son are not involved?

So we have an all EPL Champions League final on June 1.


EPL Sweeps European Semis

With the two CL final spots sewed up, all that was left was for Arsenal and Chelsea to take their Europa League semis.  Which they did.  All four European competition spots go to EPL.  Chelsea had to go to spot kicks to take Eintracht but Arsenal took Valencia 7-3 over the two legs.  The London rivals will meet on 5/29 for that final.


First Place Union

After a dud of a first half that saw them lucky to escape with a 1-1 draw, the Union let loose on visiting New England with a five goal barrage in the second half.  Ilsinho got it started quickly, Santos added two, then shuh-BILL-koh and Accam each got in on the action.  Good to have Wagner back and third string keeper Carlos Miguel Coronel has done more than well enough in Blake's absence.  Toronto's mid-week loss to Atlanta means the Union are truly in first place.

The glass is one quarter empty side reminds me that New England are not very good and that this not very good side was carving us up for the first 45 minutes.  Happy to have the romp but we need to stay grounded.  Cory Burke it turns out is not in Jim Curtin's dog house but is having work visa issues.  He's out for at least three months, maybe longer.  Also, the Union sold David Accam to Columbus for $500k and an international roster slot and sold Derrick Jones to Nashville for $175,000.  The company line is that they need money and flexibility to do things like keep Monteiro for longer than a few months.  I'm okay with that rationale but do wonder what this means for the depth of the squad.  This is the first time I can remember Jim Curtin having multiple options within a game if things aren't going well and coverage when injuries (or visa problems) keep players out of the line up. 


Silly Season

With most matters wrapped up, teams can proceed immediately to the crazy/puzzling things they do in the summer transfer window.  Newcastle are out in front as they:

- haven't finalized a contract for Benitez
- look likely not to sign Rondon to a contract when his loan expires because Ashley doesn't like signing players 30 or older
- could easily lose Ayoze Perez to a "bigger" club

Other fun news is that on the heels of their down-up-but-ultimately-down season, Man United look poised to break transfer spending records.  We also hear that Eden Hazard may leave Chelsea for Real Madrid; this could be especially problematic for the Blues if the proposed two-window transfer ban for violating rules is sustained after appeal.  Yeah, should be a fun summer.


Only Two Matter

The upshot of last weekend's action is that all that's left to decide is the title.  Man City enter with a one point edge over Liverpool.  City travel to Brighton while Liverpool host Wolves.  Who knows what's left in the tank for Liverpool after Saturday's and Tuesday's matches.  Plus Wolves are a handful anyway.  Hard to imagine Man City not taking care of business in Brighton.  But a loss or draw would open things up.  Theoretically, a tie is still possible.  City would have to lose by four goals and Liverpool would have to draw Wolves but score four more goals than whatever City got in their match at Brighton.  In the words of Lloyd Christmas "So you're saying there's a still a chance."  If it does happen, there would be a one game playoff to decide the EPL title.

Newcastle will finish at Fulham, looking for a win that could yet net them 13th in the table.  Every other match (except the two noted above) is for similar stakes.  All matches kick off at 10 am.

The Union now have something to defend and will be tested this Saturday afternoon (3 pm) at Toronto.  On opening day, Toronto smacked the Union around pretty good in Philly.  This will be a tough match. Fabian is likely to return but probably not Blake.  Aaronson may be out as well.

Who needs a sports bar for multiple TV viewing?

Gonna rain all Sunday so plenty of time to watch.  With concurrent matches, viewing is a bit more tricky.  Fortunately, with kitchen renovation in full swing, our temporary set up may be perfect.

Thursday Night Football?

If you make the top four in the EPL you play in Champions League on Tuesday or Wednesday nights.  Finish 5th or 6th and you get Europa League (the NIT of soccer) on Thursdays. Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man United have recently been playing like they prefer the latter for some strange reason.

Arsenal are the worst offenders so far, as the Gunners' 0-3 loss to Leicester was their third straight defeat.  Man United haven't been much better.  The 1-1 draw with Chelsea was their only point in the last three matches.  Chelsea have managed two draws in the last three.  Tottenham are the only side with a win in the last three but blew a chance to punch their CL ticket with a 0-1 loss to West Ham.  For those of you keeping score at home, that means of 36 points on offer, the four sides have managed to garner six.  Spurs remain in the best position; in theory with their goal differential, draws in the final two matches get them in.  With a two point cushion over Arsenal, Chelsea control their own destiny; neither Watford at home or Leicester away would be considered a slam dunk at this point.  Arsenal and United basically need to win out and hope for stumbles elsewhere.  The Gunners host Brighton then travel to Burnley so that's not impossible.  United close at Huddersfield then home to Cardiff so that is likely too.  Could go down to the wire.

A quick note that Arsenal and Chelsea have a back up route to the Champions League via winning the Europa League.  Both begin their semi-final ties today.  If I read the rules correctly, should one of them win Europa and finish in the top four, that does not open up an additional CL spot for the 5th place side.

These are not radar maps of the two storm cells that delayed
action at the Penn Relays on Friday.

Liverpool and Man City held form so no changes at the top. Burnley bunkered in but City still managed to nick a 1-0 win. The heat map on the left shows how densely the Clarets packed their defense.  Liverpool made hash of Huddersfield in a 5-0 win.

Newcastle went to Brighton for a match that was of serious consequence mostly to Brighton, who remain in the relegation battle.  But the Magpies looked the much more interested side and took a 1-0 lead on another goal from Perez.  Brighton came out in the second half a bit more focused and did manage to level things.  But then they again seemed to dial everything back, like the single point was too precious to lose.  With Cardiff's loss to Fulham, maybe Chris Hughton figured the point was going to be enough; they are four points up on Cardiff. 


Disappointing Champions League

Spurs had an off night and missing Son didn't help.  Their crosses were either overcooked, straight to the keeper or easily cleared.  They were a bit lucky not to surrender more than one.  A 0-1 scoreline for the home leg is not great but they are still in this tie.  Not so much for Liverpool, who played well enough but were undone by the master, Lionel Messi.  Check out this week's YouTubeableMoment - multiple angles to appreciate how good it was.  Coming home to Anfield down 0-3 was probably not the plan for Liverpool.


The Ultimate In Sportsmanship

Leeds United played Aston Villa this weekend in the Championship Division.  Villa in 5th were assured a spot in the playoff for the third promotion spot while Leeds were in 3rd, assured of a playoff spot as well but also with an outside shot at 2nd place and the automatic promotion.  A Villa player went down with an injury and the Leeds players appeared ready to kick the ball out for a stoppage.  Except they didn't and went on to score.  This naturally inflamed the Villa players - to the point where one got a red card.  But Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa told his team to let Villa score from the ensuing kickoff.  Except his center back didn't get the memo and tried - unsuccessfully - to prevent the goal.  Glorious chaos which you can view here.

Union Spring

The Union grabbed four more points with a 1-1 draw in Vancouver and a 2-0 over Cincinnati at home.  That makes 17 points in the first 10 matches compared to just 11 at this point last year.  To be fair, they got two wins and a draw in the next three matches so they had 18 after 13.  So they sit in first place though note that Toronto actually have more points per game (and why have they only played seven matches to this point - an annoying point about MLS?).

Sure Vancouver are not great but for me any points garnered from matches played in the Pacific Time Zone feel like a bonus.  Plus they were missing Blake (injury), Fabian (injury) and Wagner (suspension).  But Freese looked fine as replacement for Blake and Mbaizo did well filling in for Wagner.  Last season's late acquisition - Kacper Przybylko (pronounced smith KATS-pehr Shuh-BILL-koh) - got the start and his first goal.

Check out defender's back leg - no offside

It used to be that we would think it's only a matter of time until the Union surrendered a goal.  Now we are thinking it's only a matter of time before we score.  Such was the case on Wednesday at home versus Cincinnati.  Good possession in the first half but just 2 shots on goal.  Second half they were peppering the Cincinnati keeper.  Finally at 63 minutes, Smith Przybylko deposited Mbaizo's beautiful cross into the old onion bag.  Note to Cincinnati fans - he was not offside.  Ilsinho helped add to the lead with a very deft outside of the foot pass to set up Picault, who did well on the finish to get his first goal of the season.  So instead of spending the summer making up for a terrible spring, the Union have something to build on as opposed to chase.


Four Day Weekend

So we have matches Friday through Monday plus Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Probably not too many will be following Everton-Burnley on Friday at 3 pm but you never know.  But seven of the 10 weekend matches do matter in one way or another.

Early Saturday match is the chance for Tottenham to clinch CL spot on the road against Bournemouth.  Just two 10 am matches - the other two without notable implications.  Cardiff host Crystal Palace for the 12:30 NBC match, fighting for survival.  Newcastle host Liverpool in a special 2:45 match on NBCSN.

Sunday brings three more important contests.  At 9 am we have Chelsea-Watford (CNBC) and Huddersfield - Man United (NBCSN).  At 11:30 NBCSN will have Arsenal - Brighton.  Monday rounds out the schedule with Man City - Leicester at 3 pm on NBCSN.  No room for error for any of the favorites in those matches.

The Union will try to keep things moving with a 7:30 home match on Saturday night against New England.  Don't want to get cocky here but the Revolution do sit at the bottom of the table.

Don't forget CL matches on Tuesday and Wednesday as Liverpool and Tottenham try to dig out out first leg messes. 

Home and Dry

Things went pretty well for BFS sides this weekend.


Newcastle Safe for Another Year

Defense wins championships, or in this case avoids relegation.
Paul Dummett has been rock steady in the back

Another roller coaster ride of a season but the Magpies are guaranteed safety after a 3-1 defeat of Southampton combined with Cardiff City's loss to Liverpool.  Two standouts were Ayoze Perez with a hat trick and Paul Dummett with frequent defensive interventions.  Always liked Perez's work rate but his finishing has been inconsistent and he can be outmuscled.  He's got six goals in six games so the finishing is better but against Southampton he also seemed to be able to hold onto the ball under pressure.  We'll make his second goal this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Frankly, I didn't think he could get to the ball much less put it on frame, especially with Southampton defender draped all over him.

Newcastle were totally dominant in the first half but not so much after the break.  Might be the first time I've seen Benitez outcoached.  The Magpies were under pressure most of the second half and were arguably lucky not to end up with a draw here.  Until Perez netted his third in the 86th minute, this felt like a match that was slipping away.  Metrics at 538 back up the impression that this was much closer than the score indicates.

A word on the yellow versus red for Ward-Prowse for his cynical foul on Almiron.  The laws list four factors for DOGSO:

distance between the offence and the goal
general direction of the play
likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball
location and number of defenders

Good on 2 and 3 but not on 1 and 4.  The offense occurred in the Newcastle half of the field, which is a long way from the goal.  There was also a Southampton defender in the center of the pitch, roughly even with Almiron at the time of the foul.  Benitez argued that there was also a second Newcastle attacker so the two on one should have warranted the red card.  But that's not so obvious a goal scoring opportunity.  Certainly felt like the Magpies were cheated but it was the right call.  Perez got the opening goal minutes later so it lost its power as a talking point.

Almiron went down with a hamstring injury and will miss the final three games of the season.  Fortunately those matches are just window dressing.  With the relegation threat decided, we will now turn to the drama surrounding Benitez's situation.  His contract expires on June 30th.  He's looking for more control over player transfers.  Whether Ashley will accede to that is unclear.  Also, several key players may not be returning, including Ritchie (old by Newcastle standards), Diame (same), Hayden (wants to be closer to home).  Should be a hectic June.


Status Quo

Neither Man City or Liverpool had an easy day of things but they still managed to get their three points. The City - Spurs rematch was a sequel almost worthy of the CL game earlier in the week.  Not quite as intense, some weary legs perhaps but still a good contest.  Tottenham will likely feel they could have nicked a point but lost 0-1.  Liverpool were never really in jeopardy but took their sweet time in putting Cardiff away.  Wijnaldum got the break through at 57 minutes and Milner's PK at 81 minutes sealed the deal.  The loss by the Blue Birds brought safety to four sides including Newcastle, Bournemouth, West Ham and Crystal Palace.


Easter Turkeys

Ooh boy, did the four teams competing for the last two Champions League spots put up some stinkers.  Teams in places three through six all dropped points.  Spurs, who had already dropped three points on Saturday against Man City, were looking like they would drop two more at home to Brighton until a well-placed shot from Eriksen in the 88th minute gave them a 1-0 victory.  That made them the only one of the four to get a win over this week and puts them in a commanding position for one of the spots.  Chelsea coughed up a lead to Burnley and could only manage a 2-2 draw.  Those dropped points could have been really costly except Arsenal and Man United lost twice.  Focusing on the Cardiff - Liverpool match, I didn't get to see the exciting derby between Arsenal and Crystal Palace.  Arsenal's 2-3 loss to the Eagles was followed by a 1-3 loss to those giant slayers Wolverhampton.  That gives Wolves 16 points versus top six sides in EPL play plus two wins in FA Cup play.  Their chances for a 7th place finish are good.

Man United was gutted 0-4 by Everton on Sunday.  To be fair, there were some sweet goals from the Toffees so it's not all on the United players. Sorry Jeff H but here's a compendium of the goals - the semi bicycle kick from Richarlson was pretty cool but so were the lasers strikes from Sigurdsson and Digne.  Still, there was a lot of finger pointing and ranting afterwards.  I had that one as a draw but it was also one of the few places United could have picked up extra points to boost their flagging chances. No one was expecting much from them in Wednesday's Manchester derby and you'd have to say they delivered with an 0-2 loss to City.  De Gea has been shaky but United haven't scored from the run of play since April 2nd, a stretch of 527 minutes.  Technically all four are still in it but Tottenham clinch with just two wins and given their favorable goal differential could possibly make it with a win and a draw.  Chelsea hold a one point lead over Arsenal so arguably control their own fate but need to beat Man United to maintain that advantage.


Whose Left in the Relegation Fight?

Technically Southampton and Burnley aren't finished yet.  Southampton added a point with a mid week draw against Watford, while Burnley got an unexpected point with the Chelsea draw.  They both look safe.  No, the real contest is down to Brighton and Cardiff.  Brighton managed a heroic draw 0-0 versus Wolves and were two minutes away from duplicating the feat at the new White Hart Lane before Eriksen's goal snatched that away.  But it was one more than Cardiff got.  In one way the odds favor Brighton; both teams probably only get one more point so Brighton's three point lead is safe.  But you could argue that Cardiff has the betters chances for upsets - wins over Fulham and Crystal Palace don't sound outrageous.  Brighton might beat Newcastle but they finish with Arsenal and Man City.  Also, the Seagulls haven't scored in 646 minutes, making it difficult to get points other than through 0-0 draws.  Brighton's better goal differential (-22 vs -35) does give them the tiebreaker advantage.


Union Hammer Montreal

Three reasons for Union improvement?
Monteiro, Wagner and Aaronson (l-r)

The first sign that maybe things will be different this year.  They got on Montreal pretty quickly with Burke finally putting a shot on frame.  Monteiro added to the lead with a PK and Bedoya settled things with a another at 57 minutes - putting away a cross that Burke totally flubbed.  Monteiro and Aaronson were more than capable in the midfield so we didn't especially feel the loss of Fabian.  Aurelien Collin (an unnoticed off-season acquisition) was absolutely steady as a replacement for Trusty (serving a one game suspension).  Wagner finally put a foot wrong but it wasn't what you think.  He was solid again on defense but made an absolutely unnecessary challenge late that got him a well-deserved red card. Blake picked up a groin injury late and had to leave.  But overall a great day at Talen Energy.  Not every personnel move is working exactly has planned but the sum of the parts seems to be good enough.


Still Plenty to Play For

Helping out at Penn Relays this weekend so viewing may be limited.  Unfortunately, with the title challenge, Champions League spots and relegation still unsettled, there aren't too many meaningless matches.

The most obvious place to start is Man United versus Chelsea at 11:30 on Sunday.  Could be curtains for one or even both if the match ends in a draw.  At the top Liverpool have the easier task, hosting Huddersfield (Friday afternoon), than Man City who must travel to Turf Moor to take on Burnley (Sunday at 9 am).  Spurs will need to be careful in the London derby with West Ham (7:30 Saturday) but so will Arsenal, who travel to Leicester (Sunday at 7 am).  And who decided we needed early matches on Saturday and Sunday?

Down lower, Cardiff get to face Fulham (10 am Saturday on NBCSN), their best chance at grabbing three points in the closing stages.  Except Fulham are on a two game win streak with two straight clean sheets.  Brighton host Newcastle (the 12:30 NBC match on Saturday), also the best chance for Brighton to get three points but will require they actually put the ball into the net.

Lost in the shuffle will be the battle for 7th in the table between Watford and Wolves (10 am Saturday but only on NBC Gold).  Both teams have done a fine job this season and play eminently watchable football.

Union are on the road to Vancouver.  They will be without Blake and Wagner and probably Fabian.  Not sure what Curtin does with Collin but he'll probably return Trusty to the starting line-up.  The Whitecaps have been less than impressive to date so this would be a great game to take a point on the road.

Don't forget Champions League semi-final first leg matches.  Tottenham Ajax on Tuesday and Barcelona Liverpool on Wednesday. Both are on TNT at 3 pm.

Almost There

An incredible month continues.  Factoring in the Champions and Europa Leagues, April will be fixtureless for Premier League sides only on 4/4, 4/19, and 4/25.


Only Really Scary Scenarios Remain

Newcastle were hardly dominant at King Power on Friday but still came away with a 1-0 road win over Leicester.  The only moment of quality from either side was the cross from Ritchie to Perez that yielded the game's only goal. Otherwise it was a contest of missed opportunities for both sides and especially careless passing by the Magpies.  But the three points are real and critical given some of the other results.  The scenarios that end with Newcastle getting relegated are increasingly few and decreasingly plausible.  I also enjoyed getting the result on the books on Friday afternoon, leaving the rest of the weekend to enjoyably take in the other matches as a neutral.


Holding Serve

Liverpool - Chelsea lived up to its billing.  The 2-0 final score overstates how evenly matched this seemed.  Liverpool goals came in a four minute flurry.  Mane's was good, but Salah's was even better.  Though passed over for the YouTubeableMoment, we still present the video here.  The loss leaves Chelsea at the mercy of other clubs; they could win out from here but will need upsets of Spurs or Arsenal to make up ground in the chase for Champions League spots.  For Liverpool, all the win does is keep pace with Man City.  They will likely run the table but without an upset of City, it will not be enough.

Form held at the top, though sometimes shakily.  Man City were steady but not awesome in a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace. Spurs were unpressed in the win over Huddersfield but the 4-0 final flatters them.  Man United failed to score during the run of play but prevailed over West Ham by 2-1 based on two PKs from Pogba; frankly one might not have survived VAR and the other came at 1-1 when the Hammers were looking the more dominant side.  But the shakiest of them all was Arsenal 1-0 over Watford. Here's the goal - a lackadaisical clearance (one pundit said he dithered over the ball) by Foster that Aubameyang blocked back into the goal.  Shortly thereafter, Deeney got himself sent off for a "blow" to the face.  Some will call it soft but the rules are different for contact to the face.  As opposed to "excessive force" the standard for contact by the arm to the face is "not negligible."  The Arsenal player made a meal of it but it sure looked like more than negligible.  Surprisingly, this did not help Arsenal's cause.  Tuning in without context, a viewer would have been surprised to hear that Watford were playing a man down, such was their command of the play.  But the 1-0 lead stood and Arsenal held serve, as it were.

Down at the other end, the relegation special between Burnley and Cardiff was intense if not quality football.  The 2-0 win is likely enough to ensure safety for the Clarets.  Southampton also bolstered their chances to stay up with a 3-1 win over Wolves, who may be losing steam as the season winds down.  Not so happy for Brighton as they were bombed 0-5 by Bournemouth.  Things only got worse when Cardiff took their measure on Tuesday.  In short, the Seagulls have been dragged back into the relegation battle.   The remaining fixtures for both are presented below:

Cardiff		Brighton
Liverpool		Wolves (A)
Fulham (A)		Tottenham (A)
Crystal Palace		Newcastle
Man United (A)		Arsenal (A)
		Man City

Brighton have a two point lead and a game in hand but nothing looks assured.  Maybe they get some points versus Wolves and Newcastle.  Cardiff's list ain't great either but Fulham and Crystal Palace offer potential results.


Sweet April-time - O Cruel April-time (Dinah Craik)

Champions League quarterfinals wrapped up on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Barcelona were too much for Man United.  Up 1-0 with an away goal, they put the issue to rest quickly.  Check out this goal from Messi, our choice for this week's YouTubeableMoment.  I admit that on video, the goal doesn't seem has impressive as I remember at the time but the combination of winning the ball, the touch to get past the defender, the next touch to set up the shot and the accuracy of the shot are all top shelf.  For United, things just went downhill from there.  My time would have been better spent watching the Cinderella team of the competition - Ajax - beat Juventus with a gutsy 2-1 road win to win 3-2 on aggregate.  As expected, Liverpool were not seriously threatened by Porto and took that quarterfinal with a 5-1 aggregate.

The ball probably did hit Llorente's arm but that doesn't
mean it was a handball

Guardiola realizes the quadruple is gone

But what to say about the fourth of the quarterfinals, the classic at the Etihad?  Recall that Spurs took a 1-0 lead over Man City into that second leg.  Sterling took less than four minutes to erase the lead.  But Son counted a bare three minutes later with an away goal to give Tottenham a big edge.  Another from Son at 10 minutes meant City was going to need a three more goals to advance.  Took them just one minute to get the first and another 10 minutes to get the second.  The third didn't come until 59 minutes but at that point they were up 4-3 on aggregate.  Spurs did not go quietly into the night.  Llorente got a messy looking goal off a corner at 73 minutes to tie the score, meaning Spurs would advance on away goals.  That score was not without controversy.  It probably did deflect off Llorente's arm but did not look like hand to ball to me or the referee (who did go to the video to check).  [Note that under rules set to go into effect on July 1, 2019, the goal would likely be disallowed as contact with the arm, accidental or not, on the way to a goal will be enough to see it waved off.] That set up a final 20+ minutes of all out attack from City.  As you might expect, they got the game winner in stoppage time after Eriksen's ill-advised back pass.  But the celebration was short lived.  Eriksen's ball had clipped off a Man City player on its way to a "standing in an offside position" Aguero.  VAR clearly showed the touch and there was no doubt as to the correct call.  The roller coaster ride was over.  And so are City's hopes of the rare "quadruple" - EPL, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League.  Spurs move on to face Ajax in the semis while Liverpool and Barcelona will tangle on the other side of the bracket.


To Live and Die in LA (musical accompaniment Wang Chung)

Mostly the latter for the Union in their trip to face the Galaxy.  Can't think of anything that went right and those of us staying up to 12:30 to see the match through didn't have much to cheer about.  Fabian went off with an injury at 23 minutes.  Ibrahimovic got the opener at 27 minutes.  I eventually satisfied myself that he probably didn't foul Trusty in the process but it was close.  Did Wagner foul the Swede in the box at 36 minutes?  Not so sure about that one.  We saw it plenty of times as the VAR process played out and I'm still puzzled how it stood up to review.  But Zlatan put the PK away for a 2-0 lead.  Not that Union looked in any danger of mounting a comeback but that was put to rest for good when Trusty got his second yellow at 76 minutes.  Shots were even at 11 but Union had just two on target compared to five for LA.  Just an incredibly flat performance.


Ya Done Good Mike

We do tend to beat up on Mike Dean a bit here so it's only fair we point out the positives too.  In the Burnley - Cardiff City match Claret defender Ben "F" Mee had the ball come off his arm twice in a matter of seconds.  I think it was on the advice of the AR that Dean signaled for a PK. But then he went for a consultation and waved the penalty off.  On the replays, which were not available to Dean, it looked like one was a close range shot that Mee had no chance to avoid and the other came off his head.  In short, Mr. Dean got this right and without the aid of VAR. Well done.


More April Soccer

Still 11 days left and 10 have matches.

No sleeping late this Saturday as the weekend gets off to a quick start with Man City hosting Tottenham.  Right, just three days after their epic clash in Manchester they meet again in Manchester.  Weird but there it is.  My forecasts say Spurs can afford to lose this one and still make Champions League but City can't afford to drop any points here if they want to finish ahead of Liverpool.  Will it be like a hangover?  Is the hair of the dog the best remedy?

The 10 am matches offer little except maybe to the relegation aficionados.  That would be the Wolves-Brighton match on NBCSN.  Brighton are significant under dogs here but other than their fixture against Newcastle, have precious few realistic chances to grab points; even a draw would be big and frankly Wolves have been subpar of late.

NBC's featured match at 12:30 will have my full attention as Newcastle host Southampton.  A Newcastle win combined with Cardiff draw or loss on Sunday would clinch Michael B's steak dinner.  But the Saints will be hungry too as any points here will move them closer to safety.

All three of Sunday's matches are important in one way or another.  Man United take on Everton (8:30 on NBCSN) needing all three points to keep their fading hopes of a CL spot alive.  A London derby featuring Arsenal and Crystal Palace at 11 is relegated to NBC Gold.  The Gunners are in command of their fate; this should be a safe three for them and they can't afford to let them slip away.  The 11 am TV match is Liverpool at Cardiff.  Unless Man City create an opening by losing to Spurs on Saturday, this is a must win for Liverpool.  Actually, if you want to be EPL champions, you have to beat Cardiff.  Chelsea host Burnley on Monday at 3 pm (NBCSN) to close out this match week.

How much would you pay for EPL action like that?  But wait, there's more.  Two on Tuesday and two on Wednesday.  On Tuesday, NBCSN has Tottenham-Brighton at 2:45 while NBC Gold will present Watford - Southampton.   Wednesday features Wolves - Arsenal at 2:45 (NBC Gold) and the Manchester derby from Old Trafford at 3 (NBCSN).  All four will have EPL title, Champions League, or relegation ramifications.

Somehow, we have to fit in Union-Montreal, which has been inconveniently scheduled for 1 pm on Saturday, in competition with the Newcastle match.  Good thing someone invented DVR.  Montreal are one point above the Union in the table.  This is a match that tells us what kind of season we may be facing - a high place in the table with an easy road to the playoffs or a season-long struggle.  Would be nice to break with tradition and go with the former.

Don't Put the Bernaise Sauce on That Steak Just Yet

In a long-standing tradition dating back to May 2018, I buy Michael B a steak dinner once Newcastle are mathematically safe from relegation.  He's been talking about how he can taste that steak now but I'm counseling him to keep his taste buds in check.  With their recent form, including the frustrating loss to Crystal Palace, Newcastle have not put the issue to bed.  In fact, they have gone from a negligible chance to a 1% chance of relegation according to 538.  Okay, not time for panic but we're not done here.

Milivojevic sends Dubravka the wrong way on PK

As for that frustrating loss, we rarely see Newcastle statistically dominant but they outpossessed Crystal Palace 54-46 and outshot them 18 (5 on target) to 3 (just 1 on target).  Unfortunately, they were outgoaled 1-0 on the strength of a Milivojevic PK in the 81st minute.  The call was deserved as Yedlin was just plain careless in the box. The reminders just keep piling up that Newcastle simply need more finishing quality.  Hopefully the lesson was not lost on owner Michael Ashley.

Newcastle's situation wasn't helped by the season ending injury to Florian LeJeune as he damaged his other ACL.  Fortunately, there is some depth there but LeJeune was definitely a first choice.  Also, there is continued (endless?) speculation about Rafa's contract, Rondon's future with the club, and persistent rumors about whether Ashley will sell.  Perfect backdrop to the relegation struggle. 


Toffees Gumming Up the Works

Everton, who just two weeks ago dealt a serious blow to Chelsea's top four hopes, put a crimp in Arsenal's Champions League plans with a stubborn 1-0 win over the Gunners.  Arsenal had been looking good enough for a third place finish but now look to be neck and neck with Chelsea for the 4th spot.  Chelsea got their three points this weekend on the back of Eden Hazard, who put in two in the 2-0 win over West Ham.  Liverpool struggled early at Southampton and didn't take the lead until the 80th minute on this incredible counterattacking goal from Salah. Jordan Henderson added another minutes later making the final 3-1 but it was much closer than that.  At the other end of the table, Burnley were dismantling Bournemouth 3-1 for their second straight win.  The Clarets jumped to 14th with their second straight win; two weeks ago they looked mired in the relegation battle but now are almost home.


Watchable FA Cup Semi Finals

The killer bee was at it again

Man City kept their quadruple hopes alive with a narrow 1-0 win over Brighton.  BFS favorites Wolverhampton couldn't hold a 2-0 lead and ended up losing in distressing fashion 2-3 in extra time to Watford.  At 79 minutes Gerald Deulofeu (left), who surprisingly was left out of the starting line up, cut the lead in half with a brilliantly placed shot.  Seconds from advancing to the final, Wolves surrendered a PK in the 94th minute that Troy Deeney absolutely buried to level things.  Deulofeu then added the game winner in extra time to send the Hornets into the final.



Champions League

A mixed bag for the Premier League.  Liverpool handled Porto well and take a 2-0 lead to the second leg in Portugal.  Spurs got a late goal from Son to take a 1-0 lead to the Etihad next week.  A quick rant here about players doubling as referees.  As you check out Son's goal here, notice how many City players raise their hands to indicate they thought - incorrectly we might add - that the ball was out, having gone past the goal line.  I count at least three, including Fabian Delph, who would have been much better off letting the refs do their job and focusing on keeping Son from getting a shot off.  No sympathy for the players who do that, love to see them get burned. Okay where was I?  Was hoping for more out of the Man United - Barcelona match up.  The Red Devils managed no shots on target and the only score was an own goal off Luke Shaw.  In the last quarter-final, Ajax and Juventus played to a 1-1 draw.  Second legs for those ties are next Tuesday and Wednesday.  All are still competitive, at least in theory, though Liverpool, Barcelona and Juventus may be in the drivers seats.


Union Comeback

The scene at Chester-on-Delaware was distressingly like the action at Newcastle-on-Tyne from earlier in the day.  The Union were all over Dallas, except that for all the possession and shots in the final third we weren't all that threatening.  Dallas carried the lead late into the match thanks to a first half free kick goal.  Then Curtin changed things around and every move worked.  We were giving away three inches and 30 pounds at every position so he switched out Picault for Burke.  We needed some dribble penetration so he switched out Accam for Ilsinho.  And we needed more offense so he switched out Gaddis for Monteiro and played with just three defenders.  Monteiro took the shot that was parried as high as the Commodore Barry Bridge.  Burke was tackled by two Dallas defenders to keep him from getting that rebound, resulting in a PK; Burke was also there to put away the rebound when Fabian was stymied on the PK attempt.  And Ilsinho did nice work to get the ball to Bedoya, who then did some nifty work of his own to get the game winner in extra time.  We offer two views of this week's YouTubeableMoment, here and a fan's eye view here.  Great fun to have that unfold right in front of us.


Schedule

Match of week "Top of Table Division" - Liverpool vs Chelsea (11:30 Sunday on NBCSN)
Match of the week "Relegation Division" - Burnley vs Cardiff City (10 am Saturday on NBCSN)

In the former match, neither has any room to give.  Chelsea have to pick up points in unexpected places if they hope to get to 4th; with Man City likely favored in all their closing matches, Liverpool can't drop any points either.  For the latter, Burnley have pulled their asses out of the depths and a win over Cardiff would all but mathematically give them another year in the top flight.

Newcastle have to travel to Leicester so we're not really expecting anything from that match.  They have a special Friday match (3 pm NBCSN) so we can get the misery out of the way early. We'll watch it so you don't have to.

Other fixtures at the top end include Man City traveling to Crystal Palace, Tottenham vs Huddersfield (we'll have to pull Michael B off the ledge if that's anything less than three points), Arsenal on the road to Watford and Man United hosting West Ham.  Frankly, it looks like status quo at the top, with the exception of the Liverpool Chelsea contest.

Don't forget midweek Champions League action.  Also, there's a relegation special on Tuesday at 2:45 with Brighton hosting Cardiff City on NBCSN.  With the right (or wrong depending on your perspective) set of results, Cardiff could actually pass Brighton and put the Seagulls into the last relegation spot.  On the other hand, Brighton might be able to just about put Cardiff out of their misery.

Union fans get a late night with a 10:30 pm West Coast match as they take on the LA Galaxy.  The four game unbeaten streak might not survive this one.  The good news is that currently Philly are 4th in the conference with 10 points, twice as many as they had after six matches last year.

Somehow have to fit Masters viewing into this too.  That burning smell is my dvr.