Monday's Magic Goals

I finally found videos online of the two great goals from Monday’s matches. Sure, I was mainly looking so I could see them for myself, but I thought I would share them here for everyone too.

First up is Hatem Ben Arfa’s goal in Newcastle’s 2-0 win over Bolton. Ben Arfa doesn’t really do any fancy footwork in his breakaway run with the ball, but simply has perfect touches on the ball when defenders close in. With his first touch he pivots around a defender, but after that he basically runs a straight line toward goal. The last touch before kicking it home is just brilliant, tapping it just over the defender’s poke. This video also features manager Alan Pardew at the 52 second mark, applauding the goal how a proper Englishman should.

This second video is of Oxford United’s Adam Chapman scoring his direct corner kick goal in their draw with Torquay. Chapman seems either very unassuming or very cheeky in taking the kick. It seems like it was his plan all along to go at the goal as he sets the ball down, quickly takes a few steps back, and then unleashes the kick. The ball’s path didn’t look like it was meant for any teammates as it’s curling into the goal’s far top corner the whole time.

I also love this video for the pure rawness. It’s taken by some fan up in the stands during the game.

Happy Easter Monday!

Like Boxing Day after Christmas, the UK apparently also has a bank holiday for the Monday after Easter. Because of that, the English leagues had matches today. For me, Oxford and Newcastle played early in the day, 9 am my time. Of course this was during my work day – and a busy Monday no less – so I could only periodically check the match tracker. However, anytime I saw a goal for either the Yellows or Magpies I would give a large silent fist pump in the air.

Newcastle United vs. Bolton Wanderers – In the first half, but really for the whole match, this wouldn’t be a match with a large quantity of offense. In fact, in total for the match, Newcastle would take just eight shots (three being on goal), while Bolton would take nine (also with three on goal). The first half though seemed quite boring, as there wasn’t any goals, but not even any bookings either.

Newcastle would get going in the second half however. It also seemed that what offense they didn’t have in quantity was made up in quality. On fire men Hatem Ben Arfa and Papiss Demba Cisse would score for the Magpies. Ben Arfa would score off of a breakaway run through Bolton’s defense in the 73^rd, while Cisse would put the match away in the 83^rd following a ground cross into the box from Shola Ameobi. Newcastle would take the 2-0 win over Bolton, their fifth win in a row. Keeper Tim Krul also got his third clean sheet in a row, his fourth in this five-game winning run.

Chelsea also played today against Fulham, and came out with a draw. That means that Newcastle moved up to 5^th place in the standings, now two points above Chelsea. That fifth spot also is a qualifying spot for European competition, a spot in the Europa League. Even better, 4^th place Tottenham also lost their match against Norwich. While they are still in 4^th, their loss means that Newcastle is now tied with them on points. Tottenham do have a much larger goal differential though that breaks the tie. Still, things keep looking up for the Magpies, especially with them not only being able to keep the opposition’s goals out, but more importantly being able to score goals themselves.

Oxford United vs. Torquay United – While Oxford didn’t let Torquay score in the first five minutes (as the opposing side has in the last two matches), Torquay did score relatively early, going ahead 1-0 in the 17^th minute. From then of course, Oxford had to play catch-up. They finally leveled the score in the 59^th minute when midfielder Adam Chapman scored directly from a corner kick. (I would love to find a video of this, but keep trying to no avail.) Nine minutes later in the 68^th, Cristian Montano would score making the score 2-1. He’s now scored in two straight matches (I guess I shouldn’t have doubted him). Oxford’s chances of holding on to the win greatly increased in the 79^th minute when one of Torquay’s strikers got sent off with a second yellow card offense. However, sides that go down a man can often be the most dangerous. That would be the case today, as Torquay would score in the 90^th minute, leveling nearly at the match’s death. As much as I’ve complained about Oxford previously giving up goals in the first five minutes, they have now let the opposition score right at the end of the match – in the 90^th minute against Northampton and now in the 90^th against Torquay. Today’s match would luckily conclude at 2-2, giving Oxford the draw.

Oxford still maintained 7^th place in the League Two table, but things have only gotten tighter. Looking up, Oxford did catch up slightly to Cheltenham Town in 6^th place, now just two points down instead of three. Looking down, Crewe Alexandra is tied with the Yellows on points, but have a smaller goal differential than Oxford, keeping them in 8^th. There is bit off a gap to 9^th and 10^th, Gillingham and Rotherham respectively, both four points back. The Yellows, if nothing else, can hopefully increase their points lead over Gillingham when they play them this weekend.

Another Mixed Bag

It was a bit of an odd schedule of matches this weekend. As one can read in my past weekend match reports, the weekend matches of my three teams are usually a Saturday / Sunday affair. This weekend however Sunday was completely free as Nurnberg played in a normal Saturday slot, but the English teams, Oxford and Newcastle, played their matches on Friday. Of course, these matches were during my work day, but at least I was able to catch the end of Newcastle’s during my lunch on the match tracker.

Newcastle United vs. Swansea City – Time of possession is typically a good indicator of which team is winning or will win a match. The team that has the ball the most typically goes home the victor. Usually. Early on, just in the 5^th minute, Papiss Demba Cisse scored for Newcastle to put them up 1-0. They then just sat back and let Swansea have the ball. It never really mattered as it seemed as though Swansea were content to just pass the ball around. Sure they did have a handful of shots on goal, but if they weren’t directly at Newcastle’s keeper Krul, he was still able to make a save without much sweat. Swansea would rack up an impressive 77% of possession for the match, but having the ball doesn’t win the match. You need to score for that to happen and Swansea never did. Cisse would actually pick up a second goal in the 69^th minute for Newcastle, and they would coast to the 2-0 victory.

Chelsea won their match on Saturday, so Newcastle still remain even with them on points, but sit below them in 6^th position in the league table because of a lesser goal differential.

Oxford United vs. Northampton Town – For the second straight match in a row, Oxford United’s defense was apparently still in the locker room when the match started. Last week against Morecambe, they were scored upon in the 3^rd minute. Well, Northampton broke that record. They scored the first goal of the match in the 1^st minute. Half the stadium (in Northampton) was probably still taking their seats. Oxford isn’t helping themselves win matches by starting in hole.

The second half started better for the Yellows – they apparently had some coffee during the break and were able to wake up. Just five minutes into the half, in the 50^th minute, Cristian Montano scored for Oxford making things level at 1-1. It was just before he scored too that I was wondering why the heck he was in the starting lineup for the match. The front attacking three were Montano, Dean Rendell, and Dean Morgan (who just extended his one-month loan through to the end of the season). Rendell should be starting, the decision to start Morgan is fair enough, but Montano starting came out of nowhere. James Constable and Jon-Paul Pittman were on the bench. I guess Constable and Pittman were returning from injuries, but I was a bit baffled. I guess manager Chris Wilder made the right decision though as Montano did score.

After Montano’s goal, it was for the most part just substitutions and some yellow card bookings for both sides in the rest of the regular 90 minutes. Oxford would get a great chance for the lead in the 59^th minute. Midfielder Adam Chapman would be tripped up in the box, giving him a penalty kick for Oxford. What resulted however was a stop from Northampton’s keeper, keeping Chapman’s kick out, and keeping things all level. That’s basically when things started to go downhill for the Yellows. Well, to be more specific it really went downhill in stoppage time. In the first minute of stoppage time, Northampton scored to take the lead and eventually the 2-1 win. To make things even worse, Oxford defender Michael Duberry was given his second yellow card in the 4^th stoppage time minute and was sent off.

Following the loss to Northampton, a match that Oxford should have won, they drop back down to 7^th position in the league standings. Oxford really need to get their act together, otherwise they will find themselves out of the promotion playoffs. To keep the thought of promotion alive they cannot drop lower than 7^th. Currently they are three points behind Cheltenham in 6^th and five points behind Southend United in fifth. Much closer are the clubs behind them though. In 8^th and just two points behind is Crewe Alexandra. Gillingham in 9^th also has Oxford in their sights being just three points down. It’s very safe to say that Oxford’s match on Monday against 2^nd place Torquay United will be very pivotal in this winding down of the 2011/2012 campaign.

FC Nurnberg vs. SC Freiburg – Well Der Club started off this “battle of the –burgs” match well. Forward Daniel Didavi opened the scorebook up in the 8^th minute, giving Nurnberg the early 1-0 lead. Tomas Pekhart then bookended the half with a second goal for Nurnberg in the second minute of the first half’s stoppage time. Freiburg would come back in the second half though, much to the fault of a crumbling Nurnberg. Defender Per Nilsson committed a yellow card foul in the box in the 52^nd minute, giving Freiburg a penalty which they converted. Nurnberg was still up 2-1 but I had that feeling, that lump in my throat, that the penalty would signal a turning point. They would end up only getting one shot on goal for the entire half, but most of the team’s efforts were needed in defense to keep Freiburg out. Well, those efforts were not good enough, as Frieburg would level in the 79^th. Luckily, they would end their scoring there and keeping it at a come from behind 2-2 draw for them.

It may have ended a 2-2 draw, but as a Nurnberg fan it almost felt like a loss. I mean they were ahead 2-0 at halftime! To keep it on the positive side though, the draw finally broke the four game losing streak they had going into this match. Fortunately, they also didn’t lose any ground in the league table. Der Club still sit in 12^th place, three points up from the 16^th place relegation playoff spot.

Away for the Weekend

Compared to last weekend where I pretty diligently followed my three teams’ matches (plus Rangers – Celtic), this weekend was a different story. Just today I returned from being out in New Jersey for family reasons. We were traveling out there on Saturday morning and didn’t have too much going on Sunday morning, so I was able to check in on how the matches were going… that is checking the match tracker with my cell phone… periodically. Still, it least we have fangled technology now that does let me do just that, or even just check the final score line for that matter.

I’ll get to a very condensed weekend report in a moment, but I thought I would add one final thing about New Jersey that is football / soccer related. Besides Washington, DC, I’ve never been anywhere else to the east coast. With that said it was neat to see the vast New York skyline from Newark Airport’s AirTrain and be able to spot the Empire State Building. We got a better look as our plane took off and I was also able to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. Just a few seconds after seeing the patina Lady, the plane banked left and a spied another important landmark. While it wasn’t St. James’ Park, Anfield, or even Craven Cottage, I was excited to see Red Bull Arena, home of the New York Red Bulls. Sure, it was a bit childish to get excited seeing an MLS soccer stadium from a plane, but nothing even comes close to MLS soccer here in Wisconsin. I have reasons to get wound up over little things like that.

Anyway… here’s how the Yellows, Der Club, and the Toon did this weekend –

Oxford United vs. Morecambe – If I remember correctly, I first checked in on this match at the 73^rd minute. I was astonished to not only see the match tied at 1-1 (I was hoping Oxford would have a solid lead), but also when the scoring took place. Morecambe broke the scoring up in just the 3^rd minute of the match, but Oxford’s Scott Rendell was able to respond back in just the 5^th. You don’t see both teams score within five minutes of the opening whistle too often. Of course, in the minute it took to look up all that information, Morecambe took the lead 2-1. Unfortunately, they would take that 74^th minute lead to the final whistle, handing the Yellows a tough 2-1 loss.

Luckily for Oxford, Cheltenham also lost their Friday match, so Oxford still remain in 6^th place in the tables. Again, they are tied with Cheltenham on points, but go ahead because of a better goal differential. The Yellows did not do anything to help improve their standing though. The team above them in 5^th place is Southend United who won their weekend match (they were the team that beat Cheltenham on Friday). Oxford is now five points down from them.

FC Nurnberg vs. Bayern Munich – I have to be honest and say that although I’ll always put family first, it really pained me to watch this match – the Bavarian derby. Sure, Bayern Munich was probably going to win – which they did – but anything can happen in a derby, giving Der Club a chance.

As I said, Nurnberg did fall to the giants from Munich, but very respectfully. They didn’t get a 7-0 drubbing like Freiburg did in September, a 6-0 stomping like Hertha Berlin did last month, or even a 4-0 embarrassment that Nurnberg got on the first meeting this season. No, this was a loss that sort of wasn’t a loss. Nurnberg could leave Munich, heads held high, having only lost to Bayern Munich 1-0.

What is not a proud achievement however is that Nurnberg have now lost four matches in a row. Der Club was looking great having strung three wins together against Cologne, Werder Bremen, and Monchengladbach. It looked they were on the rise in the Bundesliga table. However since that Gladbach win, Der Club have fallen to Mainz, Wolfsburg, Stuttgart, and now Bayern Munich. Compared to last week, they not only dropped a position, from 11^th to now 12^th, but also lost a point of margin from relegation. They were four points clear of the 16^th relegation playoff spot, but now they are only three points from that spot. Nurnberg plays Freiburg this weekend who have the second worst defense (by goals against) in the league. Nurnberg does have the second worst scoring offense in the league though, but I’m hoping they edge out, breaking this losing streak with a win.

Newcastle United vs. Liverpool – This match, being played at St. James’ Park, would mark a return for two former Toon players – striker Andy Carroll and defender Jose Enrique. Besides being taunted severely by the Toon Army, the match did not go in the favor of Carroll, Enrique, or for the rest of the Liverpool side. Newcastle’s Papiss Demba Cisse was on target in the match, scoring a brace for the Toon. Cisse but away a header in the 19^th for his first and then tapped an easy one home for his second in the 59^th. The match would end a 2-0 win for Newcastle, but not before Liverpool would go into meltdown mode. Their goalkeeper, Pepe Reina, would get red carded and sent off in the 83^rd for a head butt on Newcastle’s James Perch. Having then already used their three substitutions for the match, who went into goal? None other than former Newcastle defender, Jose Enrique. My, he must have gotten mocked by many a Geordie at that point.

The win lets Newcastle further plant themselves in the top six of the Premier League table. They now sit a large ten points above Everton in 7^th. Staying in 6^th place though, gives the Toon nothing but bragging rights against the remaining fourteen teams in the league. They need to try to rise up to at least fifth to be able to qualify for European competition. Trumping Chelsea in 5^th place – who are tied on points with Newcastle – would get them in the Europa League tournament. Moving past Tottenham in 4^th – who are five points ahead – would get them into the Champions League. Tottenham might be too far off and too good of a side to catch, but catching Chelsea is very plausible. Newcastle’s next four fixtures look very likely for wins, having to play Swansea, Bolton, Stoke, and Wigan. After Wigan, they then play Chelsea in what could be the deciding match. We will have to wait and see, but I will definitely say that it would be nice to have one of my teams playing in European competition.