Newcastle United vs. Manchester United (played last Saturday, November 26th) – The boys from the Northeast again traveled to Manchester, however this time it was to play second place United. Although I was in rural Iowa visiting my family for the Thanksgiving weekend, I got to watch the game live as it was ESPN’s Premier League match of the week. Some of my family, uninterested as they may have been, did even watch some of the match with me.
It was good match as well. Newcastle really held their own against a Man U side of superior players. The first half was scoreless, but the Red Devils broke it up in the second with Chicharito, Javier Hernandez, scoring a goal in the 49th minute. In the 62nd minute, a foul call in the box went Newcastle’s way and they were rewarded with a penalty kick. After two minutes of the United players arguing the call, Demba Ba converted the penalty and leveled the game.
I was hoping to get a winning goal from then on, but instead Newcastle picked up a red card. Midfielder Jonas Gutierrez committed his second yellow card offense and was sent off in the 79th. The Magpies then of course had to hold off Manchester United with only ten men, never an easy feat. I was pacing around my parent’s living room for that last ten minutes and change, but luckily the Toon defense held firm and, more importantly, held onto the draw.
Newcastle United vs. Chelsea – This game back home for Newcastle would finish up the tough stretch of matches all against top of the table teams. While Chelsea is not as high in the tables as the Manchester squads, the Blues however were really gunning for this match to take the pressure of their team and their new manager for not performing up to expectations.
Well, Chelsea would end up getting their wanted win, much because it just wasn’t Newcastle’s day. First, just a few minutes into the game, one of Chelsea’s defenders fouled Demba Ba as he was breaking away into the box on what looked to be a goal scoring run. Normally what would be an automatic red card offense, the Chelsea defender somehow got away with just a yellow. Many a Geordie boo and whistle came down from the stands with that call. Even Chelsea fans had to wondering how it wasn’t a red.
The one bright spot for the Magpies would be goalkeeper Tim Krul. His big highlight of the day would come in the 14th minute. Newcastle’s Cabaye gave up a clumsy foul in the box, giving Chelsea a penalty. Their Frank Lampard lined up to take the kick. Maybe it was because the ESPN announcer jinxed Lampard by saying “he has only missed five penalties in the last decade” but the tally would go to six. Krul made a fantastic save to stop Chelsea from taking the lead. However, that save was really Newcastle’s only highlight of the day.
Later on in the half Chelsea would score, with Didier Drogba heading a strong one into goal in the 38th. And it all went downhill from there for the Toon. I’ll just sum the score line up by saying that Chelsea would score two more goals, in the 89th minute and in the second minute of stoppage time, to win the game 3-0. Unfortunately the closest Newcastle could come to equalizing those three goals would be to have three shots hit the bar. It was that kind of day.
A larger story than the loss for Newcastle though would be the injury list post match. Two mainstays of the defending back line left the pitch with injuries. Fabricio Coloccini was substituted in the 28th minute because of possible continuing back issues. Steven Taylor left the pitch limping in the closing moments of the game. Right now it seems like Newcastle is preparing for the worst as it is an Achilles, one that could keep him out for many months.
Oh, and I guess I should mention that Newcastle have now fallen from their 4th position in the standings two weeks ago to 6th currently. They could fall to 7th if Liverpool win their match against Fulham on Monday.
[Edit – Reports on Sunday revealed that Coloccini’s injury was a thigh strain which could keep him out for next week’s match verses Norwich. The larger story though is that Steven Taylor’s injury will keep him out for the rest of the season with surgery needed on his Achilles. Not good news from the northeast of England.]
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Oxford United vs. Cheltenham Town (played last Saturday, November 26th) – All I can say is bring on December. November has not been a good month for the Yellows. This game would continue that trend.
Following the Newcastle game on TV at my parents, I didn’t follow this match too intently but could tell Oxford just wasn’t in it. Cheltenham went up 1-0 just eight minutes into the game and basically just controlled things from there. Oxford’s Liam Davis didn’t help matters either in the second half getting sent off with two yellow cards in just nine minutes time. That red card came in the 55th minute and Cheltenham needed little time to take make use of the one man advantage scoring just a minute later. Oxford would pick up a consolation goal with a Peter Leven goal in the 82nd. Cheltenham though would seal their win with yet another goal in the 86th making it a 3-1 loss for Oxford.
The Yellows had this weekend off because of FA Cup matches, but it’s a much needed break to regroup. With the loss last weekend, they slipped down to the 10th spot in the standings. Next weekend they play Morecambe who sit just two positions higher in the league table, so a win looks at least a little more promising at this point.
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FC Nurnberg vs. Kaiserslautern (played last Saturday, November 26th) – Der Club finally broke up their winless streak and pulled at a 1-0 win over Kaiserslautern. American leftback Timothy Chandler scored early on in the 13th minute and Nurnberg then just defended the rest of the game to take the win.
FC Nurnberg vs. Hamburg SV – This was a Sunday fixture so it received my undivided attention. Well, I did wake up a bit late for the start, but started a live stream maybe fifteen minutes in. I left for just a few moments to grab a cup of tea and right as I sat down at the 23rd minute Hamburg scored. Not a great start.
It seems like anytime I watch or listen to a Nurnberg game instead of just following the match tracker, they play horribly. After they were down by a goal, their play was just depressing. For the life of me I can’t figure out how Nurnberg has scored the few goals that they have. They can’t make that final pass or two in the attacking third to really make a threat on goal. It doesn’t look they can score.
In fact they indeed wouldn’t score in this game. Hamburg would score a second goal in the 62nd and that’s how things would end, Hamburg 2 and Nurnberg 0. With the loss, Der Club fall back down from the 14th spot in the standings last week to 15th. They continue to stand on the stair steps leading down to the relegation zone basement.
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