[NoSkillz]

Sat. April 13, 2024

Barclays Premier League
Dover (25-6-2, 81 points, 1st) vs. Sunderland (12-10-11, 46 points, 11th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: Evens (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Sunderland: 11-5
Past Meetings: 5W 2D 5L

Sunderland have a win against us this year at Crabble, shocking us 1-0 in a FA Cup 5th round match. We’re looking for revenge today! Striker Craig Flett is their danger man with 17 goals in 30 matches but top midfielder Matt Barber is hurt and will miss today’s game. They are a solid club on a GREAT run of form, with only one loss in their last 18 matches!! Yikes!

My scouts say they struggle against the one striker formation so we’ll gamble and go with that today. Sunderland’s manager also called out struggling striker Chiquinho today so I’ll not even dress him today. Paul Moses is alone up front and the red hot Zoltan Bardi will sit behind him at AMC. We have some tired players due to fixture congestion so Gian Marco Fanfoni and Rafinha get starts today, as does Manuel Perez. Back to a control mentality for today’s game.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control
GK - M. Perez
D - Renato Gaucho, S. Nasri, R. Hamon, Rafinha
M - N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni
AM - A. Bamba, Z. Bardi, G. Allan
S - P. Moses
Bench - C. Guzman, S. Reed, M. Yilmaz, A. Rocca, E. Harvey, G. Bolis, A. Broomes

Sunderland are in a flat 4-4-2 with Flett and Lucas Alba up front. George MacKenzie is in midfield and Sam Cowler is in goal. Do it for the fans today!

2’ - Possession is exchanged a couple of times near midfield on head balls and it’s Neil Cairney finally heading up to Zoltan Bardi. Our in-form striker takes the ball, runs to about five yards outside the area, crosses with Paul Moses and delivers a rocket launcher that violently curls from right to left and goes just inside the far post! WHAT A SHOT from Bardi!!! DOVER GOAL 1-0

18’ - On a failed corner kick, Saber Nasri gets the ball and delivers a pass to Moses and he scores but the flag is up. Offsides! The replays confirm it - NO GOAL.

19’ - We immediately get the ball back and Allan gets away from a Sunderland defender. He’s fouled but the ref keeps play going and Allan is able to stay on his feet. He crosses into the box and Paul Moses is there to slot it home! DOVER GOAL 2-0

27’ - Arsene Bamba is sprung down the left and he’s got a step on his defender. He crosses into the area and a Sunderland defender JUST misses it but Paul Moses doesn’t, as he easily taps the ball home and he’s got another two goal game. Moses is SO GOOD! DOVER GOAL 3-0

38’ - Perez is called upon to make his first big save, stopping Alba on a hard blast from the outer edge of the area.

40’ - We’re playing a bit too offensively and suffer a breakdown, as Nuno Santos gets behind our defence and there again is Perez making a stunning save!

HALFTIME - Sunderland came on in the last 15 minutes and ended up with 54% of possession. Still, we outshot them 11-7 (5-2 on target) and of course, have a 3-0 lead. Keep ‘er going!

54’ - Moses is sent in on goal but Cowler makes a great stop on him to keep him from his hat trick…for now!

65’ - The excellent Zoltan Bardi is exhausted and I bring in Andrea Rocca for him.

68’ - Rayane Hamon with a yellow card.

69’ - On the ensuing free kick, Sunderland botch things up royally and we tackle the ball up field and we have an unprecedented TWO MAN BREAKAWAY! It’s Arsene Bamba and Andrea Rocca leading the charge. Bamba has it but a Sunderland defender catches up to him just as he reaches the area and tackles the ball away. However, it’s right to Rocca and he uses his weaker right foot to send the ball off the goal post and IN! Rocca scores right away and we’re up four! DOVER GOAL 4-0

74’ - Sunderland are down to ten men due to injury.

75’ - Paul Moses with an ugly challenge and it’s a yellow card.

We bring in Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz and take out Rayane Hamon.

77’ - We have possession and Neil Cairney delivers a glorious ball up to Arsene Bamba, who snuck in behind the defence. He cuts in from the left and shoots hard and low past Cowler and it’s IN! What a shot…what a pass…what a game! DOVER GOAL 5-0

87’ - Bamba with a yellow card.

89’ - Sunderland with a throw in deep down the left side and Connor Wickham owns a long, flat throw. He throws it into the area and it’s headed immediately by Jamie Holt and it’s past Perez and in. SUNDERLAND GOAL 5-1

We edge closer to our first ever Premier League title…

Dover 5 - 1 Sunderland
Goals - Paul Moses 2 (9.0), Zoltan Bardi (8.3), Andrea Rocca (7.3), Arsene Bamba (8.2)
Assists - Neil Cairney 2 (8.8), Graham Allan (8.3), Arsene Bamba
Man of the Match - Paul Moses
Other Dover Notables - Rafinha (7.1), Rayane Hamon (7.8), Saber Nasri (7.6), Renato Gaucho (7.7), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.3)
Attendance - 21,221

Sunderland edged us in possession 51-49% but we end up outshooting them 18-10 (8-3 on target). A resounding victory to make up for our FA Cup loss to them earlier this year.

-- Man City win 1-0 over Aston Villa and Arsenal win by the same scoreline over Everton. Fulham battles Chelsea to a 2-2 draw and second placed Spurs manage only a scoreless draw against Liverpool, which allows Man United to pass them when they destroy relegation candidates Birmingham 5-0. We need only a draw (one point) to clinch the Premier League title!


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 34 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Dover - 84 points
2. Manchester United - 73 points
3. Tottenham - 72 points
4. Manchester City - 67 points
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5. Chelsea - 64 points
6. Liverpool - 61 points
7. Arsenal - 58 points
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Dover U18 Update

-- WOW. Norberto Vazquez went NUTS against Brighton, scoring FIVE GOALS in our 5-1 win in U18 play!!! He is quietly up to 28 goals in 26 matches thus far for the youth squad. Felix Hernandez, fresh off scoring his first ever senior team goal in Champions League play, notched three assists.



Team of the Week

-- Graham Allan and Neil Cairney make the Premier League team of the week.



Premier League Update

-- There are four mid-week games and among the top teams, Man City and Spurs both win, with City knocking off Fulham and Tottenham beating Arsenal.



Next Up

-- We welcome surprise relegation candidates Sheffield Wednesday into Crabble Athletic Ground, needing a single point to lock up our first ever Premier League championship!