NO FA CUP FAIRY TALE SEND OFF TO ANOTHER GALAXY FOR STEVEN GERRARD.
Editor’s Note: Guy Bailey writes columns for The Yanks Are Coming throughout the Barclay’s Premier League season. In those columns, he’ll discuss the happenings overseas in the world’s most popular sports league, as well as The Championship, where many Americans ply their trade. Guy offers a unique perspective on the league as a Brit who lived for a long while in the United States before moving back to Teeside a year ago. He can be reached at guyrbailey@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter all EPL season.
Guy Bailey
Three weeks of football to wrap so let’s dive right in, starting with the most recent week.
Unhappy Birthday
Steven Gerrard is one of the icons of English football. Captain of club and country, he is coming to the end of his storied tenure with the club, winning the Champions League, UEFA Cup, League Cup, FA Cup – everything except the Premier League, although he got within slipping distance last season. This years final was going to be on his birthday, a perfect send off for the skipper before he heads west to the Hollywood Hills and the LA Galaxy. As we saw over the course of both semi finals this weekend, the football gods aren’t fair.
Liverpool saw themselves comprehensively outfought, outthought and outplayed and for Gerrard, the biggest insult of all as Villa’s younger and hungrier midfield out Gerrarded the man himself, first Fabian Delph and then the latest heir apparently Jack Grealish who both took turns tormenting the old master as revitalised Villa overcame Coutinho’s opener with man of the moment Christian Benteke adding to his growing tally and Delph sealing the famous victory for the Villains, their first FA Cup appearance in 15 years and the possibility of a Europa League appearance into the bargain. Gerrard can now look to inspire his team and himself in an increasingly forlorn chase for fourth place although on the biggest stage possible, Brendan Rodgers was proven to have got one of his big calls this season right in not offering his captain a contract extension.
The other semi final was equally dramatic.
A howler after an inspiring performance sunk Federici and lifted Alexis Sanchez and Arsenal to a final.
Alexis Sanchez gave Arsenal the lead before halftime but Championship Reading fought back deservedly with an equalizer from Mccleary early in the second half. The Royals held on through some sterling work of veteran goalkeeper Adam Federici who was heading for a man of the match performance made it into extra time and continued to defy the holders until Sanchez hit a hopeful shot which Federici allowed to go through him tamely and crawl over the line for the Chilean’s 22nd goal of the season and the one that took them to their 15th FA Cup Final – more than any other team.
The big game of the day in the EPL proper was Man Utd visiting Chelsea to gauge their progress and they made a pretty good fist of it only allowing Footballer of the Year elect Eden Hazard to unlock them with a smart first half finish to claim a narrow 1-0 victory to lift them 10 points clear of Arsenal, requiring only two more wins to seal the title. Utd huffed and puffed to little avail but held onto third place despite City managing a routine 2-0 against West Ham on Sunday. The Hammers have been less good since opponents determined they need to gameplan around Stewart Downing. The good news is West Ham were well off to the races and safe before teams figured that out.
Southampton failed to take advantage of the pursuing pack, losing 2-1 at Stoke while at the bottom, Leicester were big 2-0 winners over Swansea, more so as Burnley lost 1-0 at Everton and West Brom also secured their place in the EPL next term with an upset 2-0 win at form team Crystal Palace.
Mike Ashley looks on as Newcastle fans show their (un)appreciation.
The big story on Sunday saw Spurs travel to the North East to face a badly out of sorts Newcastle, on a five defeat losing streak but also facing an unprecedented fans boycott to protest the parsimonious management of Mike Ashley. The official crowd was reported as 43,000 but the huge gaps in the seats indicated a different story as many fans have begun to realise that the only way you hurt a multi millionaire is in the pocket. The team couldn’t replicate their efforts, sliding to a meek 1-3 defeat and being thankful for the 35 point haul they already have achieved which looks like it could be critical in their survival sum.
Next week’s schedule sees some pivotal games at top and bottom.
For the gold, Chelsea visit Arsenal with a last chance to slow the big Blue machine and the champs elect visit Leicester in midweek to make up a game. Man Utd have a tough local encounter at resurgent Everton, Man City will welcome Aston Villa looking for a couple more points to ensure their survival while Southampton and Spurs face off at St Mary’s in a battle for sixth and Europa league football.
At the other end, Hull really need to wake up in time as a tough trip to Crystal Palace is quickly followed by a home game against Liverpool on Tuesday evening. Newcastle have a chance to get to the beach with a home game against Swansea while crowing near neighbours Sunderland could do their own survival chances no harm if they can get anything at Stoke. QPR welcome West Ham in a West/East London scrap while the pivotal game sees Burnley at home to Leicester City in a game where both teams really require the win although a loss won’t be quite fatal at the moment, it would certainly feel like it at ten to five on Saturday afternoon.
In Eden Hazard, Chelsea have a player who helps them win even on off days.
The missing 1% 16/04/2015
Football like life is seldom fair.
You can work like a trojan, giving a mathematically impossible 110% then one minor lapse and everything you have worked for goes up in smoke leaving you in a worse position than you started. So it was for QPR last weekend who stood up to and in many cases surpassed visiting neighbours Chelsea in nearly every phase of the game except the most important one – goals. Even the manner in which they conceded was ridiculous – Robert Green kicked the ball out but it got held up in the high winds, rebounded down to Hazard and Oscar before Cesc Fabregas finished it simply in the final minute to break Superhoops hearts although their performance will give them heart for the coming matches.
Their mood wasn’t helped by Leicester’s surprise win at West Brom. The Baggies had declared it Jeff Astle day after their legendary striker and changed their kit to resemble the one they wore in the 1969 FA Cup Final which they won with Astle scoring. They twice took the lead before being pegged back by a resilient Leicester who then also took advantage of some lax defending and concentration to bring them back into the relegation escape equation. Burnley battled hard at home to Arsenal but lost 0-1 although all the bottom three will be delighted that Hull continue their precipitous decline 2-0 at Southampton while Sunderland hit new heights of ineptitude losing 1-4 at home to Crystal Palace with Alan Pardew clearly enjoying a final victory of his Wearside nemesis, Sunderland fans reenacting their fire drill exit against Aston Villa some weeks previously, departing the ground en masse at half time when they were trailing 3-0. Perhaps it wasn’t Jozy Altidore after all?
Tim Sherwood is enjoying being a manager again almost as much as he enjoyed his return to White Hart Lane.
Speaking of Villa, football’s inevitability drive cranked back into life as Tim Sherwood returned to White Hart Lane and was gifted a vital three points in a 1-0 win, inspired by this year’s Adebayor model – Christian Benteke. No matter what else Sherwood does this year, inspiring previously misfiring strikers into life just in time to keep a team up or get into Europe is quickly becoming his signature – that and bodywarmers over sweaters and ties although the former is the more effective.
The biggest game of the weekend saw a returning balance of power in Manchester as resurgent United won their first derby in the previous five. It started so well for the blues when Aguero, one of the few bright spots of the season, put them in front. Then it was the turn of the symbols of the revitalised United, Ashley Young and Fellaini – two men who would willingly have been driven out of town last year are now lauded shoulder high in Salford – capped their returns to form with goals. Juan Mata and Chris Smalling doubled the advantage and while Aguero scored what really couldn’t be described as a consolation. Pellegrini has survived many scrapes this season but this might be the tipping point result. Now four points clear of City, Man United entered a duel with Chelsea only a point off second place although this is less impressive when you see the yawning chasm Chelsea have created for themselves over the following, rather than pursuing pack.
Christian Benteke has also keyed the Villa revival.
Goal of the Weekend 9/4/15
Some weekends themes come along naturally – we were spoiled in the EPL this week with two – amazing outrageous goals and the dead seemingly coming back to life.
QPR started the party treating West Brom like Ned Flanders if he wandered into Moe’s Tavern – roasting them 4-1 with Clint Dempsey’s old wingman, Bobby Zamora scoring the pick of the bunch with an exquisite cross chip from the edge of the box that sailed into the far top corner. Leicester spent the afternoon banging on West Ham’s door while leaving their own back one wide open so a pulsating end-to-end, win-or-bust encounter finally went there way late on with the odd goal in three.
Aston Villa ended up slipping closer to the bottom losing 2-1 at Man Utd courtesy of a stunning trap, touch and volley from Wayne Rooney that any other weekend would have stolen goal of the month itself. Christian Benteke showed some resistance pulling a goal back before the end and he kept the burner going into Tuesday evening with a possibly priceless hat trick to rescue a point against a rampant looking QPR in a pulsating 3-3 draw. Hull City went down 3-1 at Swansea and will be looking nervously over their shoulders after losing 3-1 at Swansea and seeing David Meyler sent off for a nasty follow through. They remain two points clear of QPR and Burnley but with a game in hand over the former. Burnley could only draw 0-0 with Spurs on Sunday while that was how one of the most turgid and pedestrian North East derbies in living memory was heading until Jermaine Defoe took the last touch of the first half to remind everybody- even cynics in Toronto- what a scintillating finisher he could be, smashing an unstoppable volley into the top corner from 25 yards. Wiping tears from his eyes as he went in at half time, possibly due to the emotion oof the occasion but mainly because he realised that he’d have to spend another 12 months in Sunderland. The only thing missing from Newcastle’s performance were Tiki shirts and sunshades, so anemic and elsewhere were they, although probably safe it must have been demoralising for lifelong Newcastle fan John Carver to see the esteem his team hold him and his chances of full time management in.
At the business end, Chelsea went seven points clear after beating Stoke 2-1 although the plaudits rightly went to the Potters’ Charlie Adam with an audacious lob from his own half to equalize Eden Hazard’s opener before Loic Remy kept up his super sub routine nabbing the winner. Arsenal already looked like they had too much to do to catch their West London rivals despite throttling Liverpool 4-1 earlier in the day. 3-0 in eight first half minutes, an underpowered, overwhelmed Liverpool pulled a penalty back before Emre Can gave a pitch perfect sending-off masterclass, wrapping his legs firmly around Danny Welbeck and trying to ride him like an eight year old playing horsies with his grandpa. Man City continued their slow-motion tumble down to fourth place with a 2-1 defeat at a rapidly improving Crystal Palace. Alan Pardew proving that there might be more to him than met the eye.
They made up for it in the week beating Blackburn Rovers in their FA Cup Final Replay to keep one of the more annoying tropes of the season – Steven Gerrard playing his last game in the FA Cup Final – alive, though alas, it wasn’t ultimately meant to be, and Steven Gerrard will depart for another football galaxy (yes, that’s what I did) without that fairytale ending.
As noted, Guy Bailey writes on the Barclay’s Premier League for The Yanks Are Coming. Want more Guy Bailey? We highly recommend his new book, Blessay From America, a collection of writings on football and life made while living in America, where he married a southern belle and saw his son born, which you can purchase here.