ARS 5 - 0 WOL and other good stuff

 I actually watched Peacock's Goal Zone show to see all the goals as they happened, and it was a super day for that.  Their feature game was Everton vs Bournemouth, which was a very good show as well as the most meaningful game of the day, given that the Toffees escaped relegation 1-0 due to the best goal of the day, a Doucoure screamer from 30 yards.  Plus, it had plenty of incidents and ten minutes of nail-biting injury time.

First things first:  Arsenal was magnificent in their final game, giving the fans a real show.  Xhaka, in his last game for us, scored two early.  Saka curled one in before the half, Jesus headed in from a Trossard cross, and Kiwior scrambled in from a corner for his first goal for us.  Fine end to a fine season.

Everton stayed up, which I wanted, and Villa kept Spuds out of Europe entirely by winning over red hot Brighton.  Leicester and Leeds got what they deserved, the former for not taking their danger seriously enough, and the latter for dumping Jesse Marsch when he might have kept them up.  Southampton went out with a bang, a 4-4 thriller against Liverpool.  City lost at Brentford, keeping their top players on the bench ahead of their ECL showdown with Inter.

Petty Concerns

With one game remaining, Chelsea and Crystal Palace are locked in a tight battle for 11th. Does this, should this, matter one whit?  Probably not, but it does to me, for reasons incomprehensible.  MU just demolished Chelsea 4-1.  That single goal equalized the goal differential between CP and Chelsea, but CP remains one point ahead, 44 to 43.  Why should I even care about such trivia, but I do.  No one reasonable gives a hoot who is number 11 or number 12, do they?   

The Slide Continues: NFO 1 - 0 ARS

 Arsenal never looked like scoring.  Arteta had us come out in a new formation that did not suit anybody in the team, no one played particularly well, and after a cheap giveaway from Odegaard led to a quick fortuitous 19' Forest goal, the outcome was inevitable.  Forest fans were ecstatic because it meant they are safe.  The game was meaningless for us, even though there had been a million-to-one chance for the championship had we won, and that's how Arteta managed and that's how we played.

Elsewhere, Spuds sank to 8th place as they were spanked by Brentford and Villa hung on for a draw.  A Man U win meant that top four is (almost) settled, so what remains is the scrap for European football, with 'Pool and Brighton in pole position for Europa League, with Villa, Spuds, and the Bees hoping to get into the Europa Conference League, and of course the relegation battle.  Everton got a last-second equalizer today that could be golden.  They're on 33 points, with Leeds on 31 and Leicester on 30, both with a game in hand on the Toffees.  Leeds plays at West Ham and hosts Tottenham; Leicester goes to Newcastle and hosts West Ham; and Everton plays Bournemouth at Goodison.  The Hammers will have a lot to say about who gets relegated, and they will be thinking about their June 7 Europa Conference final against Fiorentina, having secured safety a couple games ago.  I don't know how they'll approach their final two league games.

Notts County Is Back In The Football League

 In the most dramatic fashion imaginable, Notts County secured promotion to League 2, after five years in the National League, England's fifth tier.  They finished second to media darlings Wrexham, who got the automatic promotion slot, and had to go through the playoffs.  The came from behind in both playoff matches in the last minutes of regular time.  In the semifinal, they scored a very late extra time goal to avoid PKs.  In the the final against Chesterfield, they came from behind late twice (once in regular time, then in extra time) to force PKs, and won those 4-3 with the last kick of the game.

I came to follow County after meeting a transplanted Yorkshireman in New Zealand who was an avid County fan.  Notts County is the oldest football team in the world.  Their in-town rivals are Nottingham Forest, who seem likely to escape relegation from the EPL (though that's not assured just yet).  A succession of failed ownership models saw County sink several levels, but now they are on the up and will probably establish themselves as a mid-table or better League 2 outfit, and could advance further if their Danish owners invest more.  Anyway, I'm excited for their success.

Second place confirmed by dreadful performance against Brighton

 Fortunately, I was doing something else and did not see this mess.  I have to say that we looked as though we were riding our luck for stretches this season, and the team's mentality was worth a lot of points.  But eventually, injuries took their toll, and form was lost.  It was another late season collapse.  When a team beats you fairly easily three times in one season, as City did us, it's time to acknowledge that they're just better and deserve to finish above you.  The good news is that we were better than everyone else.

NEW 0 - 2 ARS (and ARS 3 - 1 CHE)

 I was at the beach for a week so did not watch either the City nor the Chelsea game.  The Blues are in such disarray that we'd have had to be in very poor form not to have taken three points off them.  We were good, apparently, especially in the first half, so we got back to winning ways.  I was not expecting such an easy time at St James's Park, though, and so it proved.  After ten minutes, I was telling my wife that we were being played off the park.  But the men turned it around and we got a well deserved three points in a very tough place.  This was only the second home game the Magpies lost.  Both teams missed very good chances to score.  Toon hit the posts twice and Martinelli hit the crossbar.  Both keepers made some excellent saves from close range.  It could have been 4-3 at least.  But as the game wore on, I thought the Gunners looked more in control.  Arteta finally switched Zinchenko out for Tierney early enough.  The Scotsman is a much better defender, and our Ukrainian was tired.  There was plenty of lovely football from both sides; it was one of the games of the season.

We're still a point behind City and they have a game in hand.  They'd have to drop five points (a loss and a draw) or more in their final four games, and we;d have to win all three of our games, for us to pip them to the title.  Yes, thjey have to play Real Madrid twice in there, but City has won ten league games in a row and put Bayern Munich to the sword recently.  They will probably win all four of their games.  Newcastle is still in good position for top four.  Let's take a look at the table:

Brighton and Liverpool seem to have the best chance of overtaking either Man U or Newcastle to crack top four, but they'd need help.  Spuds have a shot, but a faint one.  Their most likely outcome is a date with the Europa Conference League.  That might actually give them their best chance at silverware anyway, come to think of it.  West Ham's deserved win over United today makes them safe.  Southampton looks doomed, so two of Leicester, Leeds, Forest, and Everton will be playing in the Championship next season.  With one point separating them, it's anybody's guess who will survive.