"Weekly" Football Post #80.

It wasn't all just the Old Firm this weekend in my soccer world. It was just "mostly" Old Firm.

Celtic 1 - 3 Rangers

This was the game we had been waiting for all SPL season. And, while it held up it's end of the bargain in passion and intensity, it certainly didn't come through as far as results.

As so often happens in huge sporting events these days, the referee took center stage. Bodies were clashing, and yellows were being handed out right and left early in the match. Not enough yellows, however, as Rangers got away with a bookable offense when the game was even at nillers. Rangers middie Lee McCulloch, who was booked very early on, clashed with Samaras right outside the box, preventing his clear path in on goal. Celtic players and coaches screamed for a card, which would have put us one player up, but the rookie ref left it in his pocket. It wouldn't be his worst offense. Despite the no call, Gary Hooper put us through before half time with a game opening goal.

4 minutes into the second half, Celtic would score again, only this time it was into their own net. Attempting to clear it out, Glenn Loovens sank Celtic hearts with an own goal that brought the Protties level. After that, it was the Kenny Miller and referee show. In the 55th, Miller took advantage of a poor clearance attempt by keeper Fraser Forster, and pounced on the ball. From 16 yards out, Miller put it past the Celtic goalie to take the lead. 10 minutes later, he'd get a little help from the ref. He awarded a penalty after a challenge in the box that was replayed to show barely any contact. It was really a Celtic-killing call, as it put Rangers ahead by 2 and ended any dream of a comeback bid.

The call was so bad that the ref may be asked to step down by the SPL officials per some reports. After the game, Celtic skip Neil Lennon was irrate, but any way you slice it, we lost to Rangers and our undefeated run is over.

At 8-1-0 (24), we sit 3 points back of Rangers (obviously), and have an 8 point cushion on #3 Motherwell. We now try to regroup with back to back matches against St. Johnstone (Scottish Cup tomorrow, and SPL on Saturday), and hopefully two straight wins will do something to erase the memory of this first loss. St. Johns are 3-4-2 on the year, and seem to pose little threat, unless we are weakened in our resolve by our loss in the Old Firm.

Let's crush those Saintees and get back on track!

Newcastle 2 - 1 West Ham

Despite all the distractions surrounding the Magpies lately, what with Andy Carroll's assault charges and car torching, the assistant coach leaving, and rumors about Landon Donovan arriving, the Toon were somehow able to focus and get the road win against West Ham.

West Ham actually came out as the possession dominators early on in the game, with Newcastle barely escaping falling down in the single digits of elapsed time. 12 minutes in, however, all that Hammie pressure would pay off. West Ham's Mark Noble put a through ball perfectly into the onrushing offense, and Carlton Cole was left to tap it in from 5 yards out. It really, really looked like offsides, until they played the replay. 10 minutes later, though, the game would tilt in our favor. 10 minutes later, we'd have a goal connection from two new roommates. Joey Barton sent an impressive cross to the ultra-leaping Andy Carroll, and our #9 nodded the ball to the awaiting captian, who buried it. Nolan embraced Carroll after the goal, showing some love for the teammate he has allowed to move in with him because of Carroll being out on bail and needing a place to crash away from his worries. Tim Krül held strong until the break, keeping West Ham from striking back.

Newcastle took to dominating the second half, with Gutierrez and Shola Ameobi getting close to carrying the Toon to the lead. 20 clear from end time, though, it was Joey Baton assisting yet again. He sent another brilliant cross to the head of Andy Carroll, who was this time unmarked (I think he scared the Hammers defenders off with his frogman-like leaping abilities). Carroll bashed it home to make all things right after a week that went so wrong, and 'Castle were off with a big 2-1 win.

 At 3-4-2, the Magpies vaulted up the EPL table to #9, with their 11 points and +1 goal differential. We trail #7 Sunderland and #8 Bolton by just a single point. Tomorrow we get a Carling Cup battle at home against Arsenal, and hopefully we can impress as we have in the Cup so far. Then, back to the EPL on the weekend, we have a Halloween game against the aformentioned losers from Sunderland, with a chance to bust ahead of them in the standings. Time to make the most of our opportunities. 

That's right, there is no rest for the Toon Army when the Tyne-Wear derby is on the horizon. The only good Mackem is a defeated one. 

Chivas 1 - 4 Chicago

Can we just be glad that the season is over? It was a game that virtually had zero Goat highlights, as the game itself highlights our sixth loss in our final seven matches. Despite Maldo-gol connecting on a header to get us our lone goal in the 58th from 7 yards out, it was mostly the Fire putting on the show and shutting our mouths. So much for Jonathan Bornstein's final game in Red and White. Have fun in Mexico, Bornie.

Chicago tallied goals from Brian McBride (in his final MLS game), Freddie Ljungberg, Calen Carr, and Bagglio Husidic (all pretty great names), and exploited the weakness of a Chivas team that has barely shown a drip of effort in recent memory. By the way, this is all WITH Zach Thorton is goal, not Kevin Guppy, which may show that this'll end up being ZTB's final game in a Chivas uniform as well.

So, if all were fair game, who on the squad that played against Chicago will be around after this team gets blown up? 

Keepers: Braun, Nagamura, Espinoza, Zemanski, Padilla, and Trujillo.

Adios amigos: Maldonado, Flores, Borja, Jaziç, and Thorton.

Look, big changes have to be made if we want to improve on our last place 8-18-4 showing this season. Big changes. And I didn't even mention that Martín Vasquéz should be considered as one of those on the potential chopping block. How long are we going to accept his excuses? With all the transfers, I just wonder how he was never able to put it together. Keep an eye out.

So, we'll regroup around El Rebaño, and we'll be back next season with a run for the MLS Cup in 2011. Get ready, because we'll be strong, we'll be reloaded, and we'll be winners.

¡Arriba las Chivas...next year!

Enjoy the rest of your week, soccer heads.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē