USMNT 4-2 Jamaica (Nation's League quarters), and Some Arsenal Musings

 Three gorgeous goals and a deflected own-goal gave the USA plenty of room for error, and Demarai Gray put one great and one very good goal past Matt Turner (who made some difficult saves earlier) after we got a little sloppy in possession with a big lead.  Turner looked solid to me, and our defenders gave him plenty of help and made some swashbuckling runs forward.  We won most of the duels and the passing was sharp.  Pulisic, Pepi, and Weah struck the ball as well as anyone could--the first and last of those on the half-volley!--from far enough out to have made these difficult chances.  Pulisic created the second goal with a slightly wide effort that a Reggae Boy deflected past his keeper.  Gray's first goal was a lovely side-foot volley after he made space for himself to receive a cross near the penalty spot, and his second was to put in a rebound of a nice save from Turner.  We got away with a lot of floating cross-field passes all game, but Jamaica pounced on a few to good effect.  It's always tough to maintain shape in international games.  Subs come in and want to make an impact, and the players' unfamiliarity with each other leaves men out of position.  Lots of good stuff, but also some areas to tighten up before we play in the semifinal.  

https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/highlights-usmnt-defeats-jamaica-to-advance-to-concacaf-semifinal 

Mexico retrieved their situation by hammering Honduras at home 4-0, reversing the 2-0 beating they suffered in Honduras, which also saw their coach beaned by a beer can from the stands.

Canada and Panama are also in the semis.  We play Panama March 20, and will play in either the third place or championship game on March 23, in LA at the Kroenke's sporting palace in LA (home of the Rams).  (There was considerable envy expressed by the Arsebloggers after they attended a friendly there featuring Arsenal.  The Emirates is still a great place to play, but The House That Arsene Built is 20 years old now.)

I know I wrote off Arsenal's chances to win the league after the Newcastle loss.  We really did stink in that game.  But consider:  1) that we've dropped seven points in games in which we received highly controversial red cards;  2) we're looking up only at Liverpool (we're nine points back) and Man City (four);  3) Liverpool has had the easiest schedule by far, while we've had rather a tough one;  4) City has lost four games on the trot and look lost without Rodri (ACL--probably out for season); and  5) we have Odegaard back, finally.  Unfortunately, Ben White has just had knee surgery and won't be available for a while, Tomiyasu is a permanent fixture on the training table, Trossard's hamstring is twanged, Calafiori is still injured, Rice is hampered with some lower body injury, and Saka isn't completely back.  But maybe there will be some luck on the recovery front, or Gabriel Jesus will rediscover his form.  

https://youtu.be/KX5jNnDMfxA

SPI 1-1 GOT (3-0), Semifinal: Really Good Game at Audi Field...Plus Some Arsenal Stuff

 The Washington Spirit were almost out of the NWSL championships, but leveled the match in second half stoppage time.  Despite Gotham's losing a player to two yellows in the first extra time period, the Spirit didn't manage to score the winner, and Gotham had a chance or two.  But to PKs it went, and three worse PKs than Gotham kicked are hardly to be found.  All were saved rather easily by the Spirit GK; she had only to avoid diving the wrong way.  The Spirit kicks were quite good and beat the Gotham keeper, though two just barely.  On to the final!

Arsenal and Chelsea drew 1-1 at the Bridge in a game in which the Gunners (to my eye) looked a bit sharper.  It leaves us nine back of Liverpool and four behind City, who've lost four games running in all competitions.  There are 27 games to go, so there's a chance, if we can stay healthy.  We lost 1-0 in Milan to Inter in CL via a generous handball call.

NEW 1-0 ARS: Outthought, Outplayed, and Out of the Race

 It was a pedestrian display from the Gunners as they fell victim to a scrappy, aggressive Newcastle.  I don't blame anyone for the goal; it was a great cross and superb header.  Livramento canceled out Martinelli and our midfield was simply not up to the task of breaking the Magpies down.  I can't remember Nick Pope having to make a save, certainly no difficult ones.  Fair result.

Barring a miracle, Arsenal's chances of overhauling both Liverpool and Man City are extremely remote. They'll try, of course, but the focus may shift to the cup competitions.  I wondered what would happen if Odegaard had a long term injury, and now I know.

ARS 2-2 LIV: Great Game, Fair Result (if refereeing is ignored)

 Anthony Taylor is the new Mike Dean, apparently.  Right up until the end, when an obvious corner should have been awarded to the Gunners but wasn't, he gave Liverpool advantage after advantage.  But with all that, and with our injury crisis (we lost two defenders in this game as well), we played Liverpool even and probably should have won this game.  We're now five adrift of City and four behind 'Pool.  We need our top players back.  Saliba's suspension is over, but his CB partner looks to have suffered a knee injury.  

Liverpool played a very good game, but I don't see them as a juggernaut.  City seems a little off their pace from last year.  We've got to get through the festive period without further serious damage to our points haul or our players.  Then the run-in could see us through.  I hope we take all four competitions seriously.  Silverware is a requirement this season.

ARS 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk (ECL): Another Game, Another Injury

 We're sitting on 7 points after three games in the new Champions' League format after an uncomfortable win at the Emirates.  Our goal came courtesy of the opposition keeper's butt.  To be fair, he was excellent all game and this was just really bad luck, the hard first half  Martinelli shot coming back off the post and smacking him in the ass.  Trossard missed a penalty in the second half.  Raya made a great save late on (see below).  With the penalty save against Atalanta, that's three points our GK won for us just in this competition.  It's important for us to finish in the top eight out of the 36 teams in the ECL "league" so we avoid a two-legged playoff to get into the final 16.

Calafiori twisted his knee; it could be serious.  Sunday will be a struggle against Liverpool.

BOU 2-0 ARS: Self-Destruct Button Pushed Repeatedly

 Credit to Bournemouth, who looked as likely to score as we did when it was 11 vs 11.  I'm not going to rehash the series of poor mistakes that lost this game.  It was a sad display all around.  Saka was missed; Sterling was not in that class today.  We got very little out of him.  Kiwior has demoted himself to the bottom of the defensive pecking order; at this point, Arteta might send Tomiyasu out wearing a leg brace before playing Kiwior.

It's a humbling experience and a costly one.  In addition to the dropped points, Saliba won't be playing for a couple games, including Liverpool.

Mexico 2-0 USMNT

 This was far from the US's best squad.  There were a lot of injuries and Pochettino released players, presumably to take a look at more of the Americans vying for a spot.  He probably wasn't delighted at what he saw; we had one shot on target.  It was low stakes for CONCACAF's top dogs, since both are in the next World Cup due to being co-hosts (with Canada).  What do you think of the Mexico jersey?  I can't make up my mind.