I had a busy Saturday morning with Newcastle and Oxford playing at 9 am and then Nurnberg playing at 11:30. There was a bit of time between the first two and the last match, so what did I do? Played Fifa 11 on Wii.
Newcastle United vs. Wolverhampton Wolves – Newcastle would be looking to take out their frustrations on struggling Wolverhampton following the Toon’s stomping by Tottenham in their last match. The poor Wolves too, not only are in a fight against relegation but also this was the first match for their temporary manager (for the rest of the season) as the previous manager was fired in the week prior to the match.
Newcastle got out of the gates very well and it helped that the Wolves were struggling. At the 6th minute, Newcastle stole the ball from a Wolves defender just outside the 18-yard box and a cross was fired to Ba in the box. Ba tried a cheeky heel click shot at goal that would’ve been on many highlight reels, but alas the keeper stretched out just enough to keep it out. The ball however found its way to the feet of Tiote who shot at goal, but his effort was blocked by a defender. Cisse though would be third time lucky for Newcastle though when it came to him and he was able to get it past the Wolves keeper for a 1-0 lead.
It wouldn’t be long after and Newcastle would have their second goal of the match. After the cross from a corner bounced outside the box, Jonas Guiterrez found himself completely free, set himself, and uncorked a sniper-like shot to the top left corner. The Toon would take the 2-0 lead into halftime.
Unfortunately, this match was one of those with very different halves. While Newcastle was in control the first half, Wolverhampton saw much more of the ball in the second. The front two of Newcastle, Ba and Cisse, just weren’t running and creating anything anymore. This created some stability for Wolves and they used that to make things interesting.
Wolves seemed to spring to life when in the 50th minute. They took a shot that unfortunately took a perfect deflection of Newcastle defender Danny Simpson. He was trying to block the shot of course, but instead just nipped it so that it curled completely far past the reach of Krul and into the net. Newcastle were still up 2-1 and things still looked weighted towards them to win.
The half though kept being more and more Wolverhampton. Anything done by Newcastle seemed to be mistakes. In the 66th, Wolves got a free kick and set piece situation in their own attacking third. The ball was played in, but Newcastle failed to clear it well, allowing the ball to bobble around the box, eventually finding a Wolves player who puts it away for the leveler. Newcastle Manager Alan Pardew made a double-substitution just before the free kick was taken, so possibly the lads didn’t know who was marking who? Whatever the issue was, it was a disgrace to watch how Newcastle were crumbling, allowing Wolves back into the match.
Ben Arfa, one of those subs prior to the free kick, would come close twice in getting the goal ahead goal, but I have to wonder how many more decent chances Newcastle would have gotten if he would look up to pass the ball instead of taking the selfish shot. Regardless the second half was just a flop for Newcastle. You couldn’t have guessed which team was fighting relegation (Wolves) and who was a team in the top six of the league. Newcastle should probably consider themselves lucky that they kept the final score at a 2-2 draw.
They still remain in 6th place in the standings, three points behind Arsenal.
Oxford United vs. Macclesfield Town – I didn’t follow the Yellows’ match much as this was running at the same time as Newcastle’s – and I was watching a live stream of that. Seeing the little bit of the match tracker and reading match reports late though – oh, what might have been!
Things right away didn’t start off well. Oxford gave Macclesfield the lead in the 9th with an own-goal, via the hands…or head of Veteran defender Michael Duberry. If you follow, you may remember his odd hat-trick a few weeks back (2 own-goals, one actual goal). Well, he was at it again unfortunately, planting an attempting clearing header into his own net.
Just before halftime though, in the 42nd minute, Oxford would get something to be proud of before the interval. Oli Johnson hit a shot from the right, outside the 18-yard box, and got it past Macclesfield’s keeper to make things even again once again for the second half.
As Newcastle’s match was going down the tubes, I was following Oxford’s match more in the second half. From what I saw on the match tracker, I really thought they would get a game winning goal. Looking back at the stats for the latter half, Oxford took eight shots, five of those on goal. They just couldn’t get it past the goalkeeper though. Yet again, in a game that Oxford should have won, they go home with a draw.
This might be the week too that these poor results catch up to them. Oxford right now still hold the last promotion play-off spot in 7th place, but they now fall back to being only three points ahead of 8th place Port Vale.
FC Nurnberg vs. Werder Bremen – Going into it, this would be a tough match for Nurnberg, playing a Werder Bremen side that were in 5th in the standings. In their previous meeting this season, Werder and Nurnberg drew. Although Werder sit in fifth before this match, Nurnberg would not have any of their starting eleven out with injury, and would also be able to start both of their transfers from January. This would allow them to play their ideal 4-2-3-1 lineup.
I think it was due to that ideal lineup that Nurnberg kept Werder at bay from the whole first half. Der Club really were keeping pace I thought with their opposition, with Werder just edging them out a bit. Most importantly though Nurnberg kept them scoreless.
Nurnberg would get their chance in the second half. In the 65th, they got a quick break up the right hand side and a ground-cross was fired into the box. The cross bypassed everyone, including Werder defenders, and went to a wide open Esswein on the left. We fired the ball past the Werder keeper for a lucky 1-0 lead.
Now it was time for Nurnberg to just hold on for the final 25 minutes. Right away though in the 70th minute, they had their first close call. Der Club’s right back Feulner committed a foul just barely outside the box. Luckily, it was just a free kick that was given and not a penalty, and even more lucky that Werder didn’t manage anything from the free kick either.
Werder kept attacking though, but it seemed Der Club would hold on, with every Nurnberg fan on the edge of their seat. Things went into injury time, and that’s of course when Werder would have their best chances. They tested keeper Schaefer with one shot that put him way out of position when they shot a second from the rebound. Luckily, a Nurnberg defender was there to clear it off the bounce just before it crossed the line for a goal. I think it was Adam Hlousek with the last moment dramatic clearance, but couldn’t be sure from the live feed I was watching. Whoever it was, they sealed the deal and made the final score a 1-0 win for Nurnberg, shocking the Werder Bremen fans in the Bremen stadium.
With the close win, Nurnberg get their second in a row and now move up to 10th position in the Bundesliga table. This is the best position they’ve been since they were in 9th following their defeat to Monchengladbach way back on September 24th. (They happen to also play Gladbach this weekend.) More important than their standing, the win also gives them a greater buffer from relegation, being now eight points away from the relegation zone.
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