Premiership finish

Was a little upset on Saturday, when I realized I'd forgotten to set the DVR to record the Champions League final. So I didn't get to see Chelsea's improbable run there culminate. But I did see that I still had Man U's final game, against Sunderland, still sitting on the DVR, unwatched.

So I turned that on, and watched, seeing the in-game standings updates as various teams scored. That was sort of amusing, seeing the standings table updated so frequently. I must admit, it felt kind of silly, but it was certainly interesting to see.

The game itself didn't rate too much; although Rooney's twentieth minute goal stood up, Sunderland was only able to really challenge once or twice. Man U vastly controlled possession, and Sunderland's only chance(s?) was on the counterattack.

But it was interesting seeing the crowd reactions to results at Etihad Stadium, where City first led, then allowed an equializer, and then a go-ahead goal to a short-handed QPR. You don't really notice that kind of instant reaction from crowds in US games (it was loud enough to be heard as the background noise, and was before the announcers said anything). I'm really not sure what that says about British or US crowds, though it certainly indicates that the British are more likely to have a radio in their ear while watching a game.

And that's pretty much how the Man U game went. But it was interesting that the City game had more stoppage time, so it ended a couple of minutes after the Man U game. And City found a way to score two in stoppage time, to preserve their goal-differential edge over Man U to take the Premiership title.

So it was an interesting game to watch, even if the game itself wasn't really all that interesting. I wish I'd had the City game saved, but I forgot about it being on a different channel, so I hadn't set the DVR at all.

Oh, and I almost forgot that Chelsea winning the Champions League assures them of a spot in the Champions League again next year (which I knew), but also pushed Tottenham out (which I didn't). So the Spurs last-game victory ended up meaning nothing after all.

Spurious defeats

It wasn't planned, but I've caught the last two Tottenham games, versus Arsenal and versus Man U, and both were very entertaining games. The Arsenal game had Spurs go up two-nil, and Arsenal storm back with five unanswered goals. van Persie continues to impress me (I guess he better, since he's leading the Premiership in goals :) and the whole side looked quite good.

Today's Man U game was interesting from an entirely different angle. Spurs dominated the first half almost entirely; neither Rooney nor Nani got significant touches and Tottenham got a number of good chances (one goal called back on a hand-ball, even). But Rooney got his head on a corner kick in the waning moments, and the Red Devils took a small lead into the half.

Tottenham continued to play very well, still dominating play through the first third of the second half. But a defensive breakdown gave a dangerous cross to Man U, and Ashley Young caught the end of it and put it in the net on a nice volley. And nine minutes later, Ashley Young got the ball just outside the box with some time, and put it into the corner of the net. That left Tottenham basically out of it, almost completely deflated. They did score a late goal on a terrible giveaway by late substitute Giggs, but the outcome wasn't in doubt.

Tottenham have to be downcast; that ended their chance of putting themselves in the running for the title, and left them vulnerable to charging Arsenal. So they could find themselves barely qualifying for the Champions League for next season. The end of the season will be interesting.

And two more notes on Ashley Young: he looked terrible in the first half, but came back for the pair of goals in the second. And those were his third and fourth goals of the season; the first two were also scored in only one game (against Arsenal). Very funky.