Beefy Bites 16th December 2024
Your Monday munchables from a weekend in the world of football
Welcome to Beefy Bites.
Read on for Newcastle United taking flight, Sunderland coming back from the dead, Celtic topping Rangers, Hibernian on the up and Adelaide United staying unbeaten.
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The Magpies bop the Foxes
Every now and again, Newcastle United just seem to be unplayable at St James’ Park. Sometimes it’s not even the full game. They just get into a rhythm. Saturday’s dissection of Leicester City was one of those games.
Newcastle battered Leicester, winning 4-0 by way of four goals in half an hour off the back of 3.85 expected goals (xG) versus 0.19 and eleven shots on target versus one.
Jacob Murphy slotted in the first Newcastle goal at the end of a planned set piece move. Bruno Guimarães rose unchallenged to head home the second. Alexander Isak stooped to nod in number three. Murphy, fed by Isak, smashed in the fourth.
This was the first defeat for Ruud van Nistelrooy but it shouldn’t knock his planning off track. Better teams than Leicester find themselves on the end of this kind of Newcastle groove. It’s not easy to resist.
Sunderland storm back to beat Swansea
The game of the day in the EFL Championship on Saturday was in South Wales, where Sunderland came from two goals down to beat Swansea City 3-2 with a little time to spare.
Liam Cullen’s free kick to give the Swans a 2-0 lead in the first half was a scorcher but Sunderland’s Dan Neil equalised in the second half with a goal that might have been even better, firing in off the crossbar from 25 yards out. Jobe Bellingham’s poacher’s finish won it with quarter of an hour left.
The Black Cats shaded most of the underlying metrics in a game whose low xG was knocked into a cocked hat by two blistering goals from distance.
The win leaves Sunderland two points outside the automatic promotion spots while Swansea remain resolutely in mid-table – no bad place, if the history of Championship teams surging in the spring is any indication.
Celtic edge Old Firm final for the ages
While the Manchester derby distracted most sensible football supporters, my inability to watch Manchester City by choice sent me towards what proved a sensational Premier Sports Cup final between Celtic and Rangers at Hampden Park.
I dread to think what it must have been like for people who actually cared who won.
The Gers took the lead through Nedim Bajrami in the first half and squandered a glorious four-on-one chance to double their lead in the second. Within minutes, Celtic were 2-1 up. Greg Taylor’s shot deflected past a rooted Jack Butland before Daizen Maeda’s sharp finish.
But there were twists to come. Mohamed Diomande’s turn and shot equalised for a Rangers side who looked beaten. Incredibly, they did it again.
Nicolas Kühn arrived late in the box to put Celtic back in the lead with just a couple of minutes remaining but Rangers went straight up the other end and Danilo headed in the sixth goal of the game – it arrived 21 seconds after the fifth to take the final into extra time.
The final went to penalties and Rangers went first but Celtic scored all five spot kicks to claim the trophy.
Kasper Schmeichel saved Rangers’ fourth from Rıdvan Yılmaz and that was that. Reo Hatate blasted in to put Celtic 4-3 up. Goalkeeper Jack Butland matched him to make it 4-4. All that was left was for Maeda to roll in the winner and Callum McGregor to lift the Bhoys’ 22nd League Cup.
Two wins in three for recovering Hibs
It’s not so long ago that the Edinburgh clubs could barely be separated at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership but Hibernian ended Saturday four places higher than Hearts in eighth place in the table.
Okay, so things were tight. Hibs were only two points ahead of their rivals and eleventh-placed Kilmarnock, who played each other on Sunday. Killie’s win (with ten men for 84 minutes) dropped Hibs back down to ninth but what matters most to David Gray and Hibs is that they won two of their last three after winning just once before that.
Saturday’s win over Ross County was a walk in the park at Easter Road. After going behind early, Hibs equalised through Dwight Gayle’s deft glancing header in first-half stoppage time and edged in front through Élie Youan’s penalty, their second attempt from the spot. Substitute Josh Campbell killed the game deep into added time with a simple finish on the counter.
Mariners hit choppy waters
I spent my Friday morning working in front of the television with the A-League fixture between Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United proving a fun distraction. I’d wager the Mariners supporters in Gosford didn’t enjoy it quite so much.
Adelaide were utterly dominant (and the Mariners were woeful) in their Zach Clough-inspired 4-0 win and should really have scored a few more.
Archie Goodwin’s well-worked opener was followed in a second-half barrage by goals from 19-year-old Panagiotis Kikianis and Stefan Mauk to make it 3-0. Yaya Dukuly’s crisp strike off the post was the pick of the bunch and made it four.
The win took unbeaten Adelaide into second place and was their fifth in seven in the A-League this season.
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