Before I get behind (again), I thought I better post
something about this past week’s matches before this weekend’s matches get
underway tomorrow. [Edit: I just realized that the major leagues are on
international break so it’s only Oxford playing this weekend.] I’m also half watching a World Cup qualifying
match between Ireland and Kazakhstan, so I thought I might as well write while
that goes on.
I’m still working my way into the season and not too much of
a hardcore fan yet – scheduling my weekend around the matches and always
watching a live feed or following a match tracker for the full 90 minutes. However I did watch bits of two matches last
weekend.
I did catch a live feed of the tail end of Nurnberg’s draw
with Borussia Dortmund. Although it wasn’t
a win, a draw against Dortmund – last year’s league and cup winners – can be
considered just that. Der Club should
have gotten beaten handily. This was
probably the best result of the weekend for me, but also is probably considered
to be Nurnberg’s best result so far.
(Although it was just their second fixture… but it’s still better than
their 1-0 win over Hamburg.) It’s also
worth mentioning that somehow the live feed I found online was not in German,
but in English! Extra points for best
match of the season so far.
On Sunday I again had good luck finding a live stream of
Newcastle’s match against Aston Villa.
If it wasn’t for a wailing long range goal from Ben Arfa, the Magpie’s
would have lost, but luckily that made the result a 1-1 draw. Aston Villa always is a plucky team that you
can never ever take a win (or a draw) for granted. However Newcastle really needs to get some
momentum in the next few matches before they play Manchester United on October
7th. Luckily the schedule has
them playing what should be mid-to bottom-level sides in the standings until
then – Everton, Norwich City, Reading.
Leaving Oxford United for last, the Yellows have had a bit
of a mixed week. On Saturday they
suffered a disappointing 3-1 loss to York in a regular league match. I think that result had all Oxford fans
wondering a bit. After beginning the
season with three straight wins, this bad loss occurred and maybe brought
expectations down a bit.
Tuesday though brought a big chance for retribution. They played local rivals Swindon Town in a round
of the Johnstone Paint Trophy cup – a knockout cup for the 48 teams of League
One and League Two. Besides just being a
heated local rivalry for a cup, this also had an extra bit of flair with the
fact that Swindon was promoted to League One last year but Oxford remained in
League Two. The Yellows would want to
stick it to their rivals a bit.
And indeed they did.
It looked as though the match would for sure be going into extra time,
but as some players start coasting towards the end of 90 minutes, it’s when
things can happen. Luckily for Oxford,
Swindon was the one on their heels.
Swindon’s defenders got their signals crossed in the box, giving Alfie
Potter a goal at 88 minutes. The final
whistle sealed the deal and Oxford United would progress onto the next round of
the JPT cup whereas Swindon would rue their loss, especially their, shall we simply
say controversial, coach Paolo Di Canio who ridiculed his players in the media
(again).
Tomorrow will be a proving match for Oxford, playing current
2nd placed team Exeter.
Although it would be nice for the Yellows who are just below in third to
move that little bit up in the table, it will be more important to just play
well against a decent side. If they play
like they did Tuesday night against Swindon they’ll do just fine.
Really, as long as they don’t look as bad as Ireland does in
this match against lowly Kazakhstan, I’ll be happy. It’s the Euros all over again…
[Mandatory edit:
After writing that insult to the Ireland side, what do they do? They win their match in dramatic
fashion. They were losing 1-0 in the 85th
minute, but after a converted Robbie Keane penalty in the 88th minute,
the ball almost magically fell to Kevin Doyle in the middle of the box who put
it away for an 89th minute
goal. Two minutes, two goals, 2-1 win. Dare I say it?
Luck of the Irish.]
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