[NoSkillz]

Sat. December 5, 2020

Barclays Premier League
Newcastle (4-4-7, 16 points, 14th) vs. Dover (11-0-4, 33 points, 3rd)
St. James' Park, Newcastle, UK

Betting Odds: Newcastle: 4-1 Draw: 5-2 Dover: 4-7 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 2L

After qualifying for continental play in 2018-19, Newcastle were distracted enough to finish 18th and thereby get relegated out of the Premier League and back to the Conference. Perhaps our last opponent, Hudddersfield, are having the same issues. I believe this is the first away game of the season where we are favoured and by a considerable margin as well.

Newcastle came back and finished first last year to earn immediate promotion back to the top flight and they are doing well in 14th, coming off an impressive 3-1 home win versus Arsenal in their last game. Their top striker is Andy Carroll, who has four goals in 12 games thus far but they don't have any real stars on the team. They play a defensive style and usually go with a flat 4-4-2.

I'm going to go with one striker today and our 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) with a control philosophy. Cameron Murray will be in for the injured Arsene Bamba, otherwise there are no changes.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Rodriguez, P. Tjiuoro, J. Kuciak
M - A. Rocca, N. Cairney
AM - C. Murray, Z. Bardi, G. Bolis
S - G. Gesios
Bench - T. Andersen, J. Varga, D. Pratley, Mancini, M. Prochazka, L. Craig, G. Escobar

As expected, Newcastle start with a flat 4-4-2. I tell the lads I expect a win today.

5' - Off a cleared corner, we get the ball to a retreating Paulus Tjiuoro and he sends a rocket just over the bar. I didn't know he had that in him!

11' - We get another corner and Cristian Rodriguez just skims the crossbar!

22' - We seem to be dominating possession and certainly the highlights. We build up a nice attack and it's Neil Cairney, who has been all over the field so far, sending a lovely through ball to Bardi but his shot hits the post and rattles out. So close!

25' - Bardi gets a yellow card.

26' - Off the ensuing free kick, the ball gets into our area and their left midfielder Maclennan gets off a weak shot that Wilke misjudges but Tjiuoro is there to clear the rebound.

27' - We work the ball up to Gesios who sends a delightful ball through to a charging Gianluca Bolis. He's got half a step on the defenders but slots the shot just wide. He should have done better with that.

31' - We win a corner and get a great chance when Tjiuoro's header gets bobbled by the Newcastle keeper. Gesios is there but is tackled hard and goes down. He needs to come out. Damnit. Gerardo Escobar is in for Gesios.

44' - Escobar is a house of fire since coming on, with loads of energy. He beats the Newcastle defence to a long ball and his blast is saved by Alnwick, their keeper. However, there is a big rebound and Bolis is there but the Newcastle keeper recovers just in time to stop it as it was about to go into the net. Another great chance.

HALFTIME - Newcastle actually edge us in possession 51% to 49% but we have a huge 11-3 (4-2 on target) shot advantage. I change to a flat 4-4-2 Control and tell the team they can win this game.

47' - We work a counter attack and Bardi sends a gorgeous long pass up the right flank to Bolis. He is able to cut in toward the goal but his low blast is way wide past the far corner. Bolis hasn't been effective today.

49' - Bardi gets two glorious chances at goal, having one stopped by Alnwick and the other is sent wide. So wasteful today...

54' - Bardi heads a ball upfield and Escobar uses his fresh legs to latch onto it first. The Newcastle keeper charges out and seems to be out of position but gets enough of Escobar's hard shot to just deflect it behind the net. Rocca's corner kick is headed by Tjiuoro right at Alnwick and he makes the easy save.

59' - We continue to get plenty of chances from distance, this time from Cairney, who sends a curling shot from well outside the area just wide.

70' - Cameron Murray is given a yellow card.

71' - I take out Murray and put in veteran Liam Craig.

75' - They get a free kick from a dangerous area just outside the box but the shot over our wall is stopped by WIlke.

77' - We waste another shot from distance, this time from Escobar, as he needlessly shoots from afar when he could have continued his dribble into the area. I bring out a very ineffective Zoltan Bardi and bring in captain Darren Pratley. I move back to a 4-2-3-1, putting Andrea Rocca in the AMC slot.

78' - Yellow card for Cristian Rodriguez.

81' - This is just not our night by the looks of it. After some sloppy midfield exchanges, we win the ball and send it long up the middle. Escobar is in the area with the nice first touch but left foots it just wide past the diving Newcastle goaltender. Wow - we just can't finish tonight.

83' - Again, we get the ball upfield after some tackles on both sides and this time it's Bolis charging in from the right but like everyone else, his shot is off target. COME ON!

86' - We FINALLY find the back of the net, courtesy of a Bolis header but he's ruled offside. The replay shows that the refs got the call right.

87' - Oh boy. On the ensuing free kick, the GK kicks it upfield and their striker somehow gets past our defence. Cristian Rodriguez catches up and takes him down from behind. He already has a yellow and is given the straight red for the takedown! Oh my. We're down to ten men.

I move to a counter attack obviously and am forced to drop MC Darren Pratley into a central defending position.

88' - Wilke makes a diving stop of the ensuing free kick from just outside the area.

90'+2 - We steal possession and send Escobar up field. He's got fresher legs than the defenders and dribbles past before sending a low blast just wide of the bar. Sigh.

Disappointing result.

Newcastle 0 - 0 Dover
Goals - None
Assists - None
Man of the Match - Jak Alnwick (Newcastle GK)
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.3), Jozef Kuciak (7.3), Paulus Tjiuoro (7.9), Cristian Rodriguez (7.5), Renato Gaucho (7.1), Neil Cairney (7.2), Zoltan Bardi (5.5)
Attendance - 32606

Their keeper rightfully gets man of the match. We dominated the game, winning the possession battle 52% to 48% and outshot them by a ludicrous 24-7 (7-4 on target) margin. Just way, way too many shots missing the net. I tell the team I'm disappointed with the result - by the way, that was our first draw of the season. Bardi was terrible today after the Newcastle manager came out in the press the day before saying they'd have to stop him to have a chance. Well, they did their job. Escobar wasn't much better (6.0) even though he looked as lively as I've ever seen him - he simply wasted too many opportunities. I just hope that Gesios is okay…

-- Giorgos Gesios sustained only a bruised rib in the match and will only miss four or five days. Whew. He's definitely out of form right now though, having gone four games in succession without a goal.

-- Cristian Rodriguez is suspended for one game due to the red card. Hopefully he isn't banned anything more than that - it was a straight red he was handed (as opposed to two yellows) so I'm sure it will be looked at.



Dover U18 Update

-- The kids continue to win, defeating Oxford 3-0. Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz, Carlo Cerbone and Gregoire Lambert, who just returned from injury, scored the Dover goals.



-- Liverpool lost again, this time to lowly Norwich and Man City crushed Arsenal 5-1. Boy, Man City is unstoppable - not only do they have the incredible Enrique but they have another incredible "Wonderkid" striker named Jelle Hoegee, a Dutch international who has 14 (!!) goals in only 11 games in the league. City play a lot of 4-5-1 formations so Hoegee is the BACKUP. We move into a temporary tie with United at 34 points but they play a Sunday matinee. Chelsea is four points back of us with two games in hand.

-- United win 2-0 over Tottenham on Sunday to maintain their 2nd place positioning and Chelsea also win to creep within one point of us. I haven't shown the standings at all to this point so I'll do that now:

ALL TEAMS AT 16 MATCHES PLAYED, UNLESS NOTED

1. Man City - 42 points
2. Man United - 37 points
3. Dover - 34 points
4. Chelsea - 33 points (1 less played)
----------------------------------------------------
5. Aston Villa - 25 points
6. Everton - 24 points (1 less played)
7. Reading - 23 points (1 less played)
----------------------------------------------------
8. Arsenal - 22 points
9. Liverpool - 21 points
10. Middlesbrough - 20 points
11. Sunderland - 19 points
12. Norwich - 18 points (1 less played)
13. Tottenham - 17 points
14. Newcastle - 17 points
15. Stoke - 17 points
16. Sheffield Wednesday - 17 points
17. Derby - 14 points
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18. Huddersfield - 12 points (1 less played)
19. Fulham - 12 points (1 less played)
20. Bolton - 12 points


-- On the following Wednesday, our next opponents, Fulham, hold Chelsea to a 1-1 draw. Chelsea ties us on points but we maintain our hold on 3rd place due to a better goal differential.



-- We get word that our work permit application for Argentinian U19 international Claudio Contreras has been granted! I'll have more on this youngster when he arrives at Dover on January 1st but again, my hope is that current Dover defender Cristian Rodriguez is happy with this move and that having a fellow countryman here at the club will help him settle in. The worry is that neither speaks English...



Next Up

-- We have our grand re-opening of the newly expanded Crabble Athletic Ground as we welcome Fulham to Dover. A record crowd is expected for the match, with hopes of seeing over 15,000 supporters in attendance!