Beefy Bites 2nd December 2024
Your Monday munchables from a weekend in the world of football
Welcome to Beefy Bites.
Read on for Brentford doing bits, the FA Cup, Hull City in trouble, and Japan’s title race going down to the wire.
Keen-eyed readers will notice there are only four items this week. The fifth was due to be about Fiorentina v Inter, the match of the weekend in Serie A, which was abandoned when Edoardo Bove collapsed. I’ve chosen not to write it or replace it.
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Brentford continue to bang ‘em in at home
Much has been made of the difference between Brentford’s form at home and away. It’s the reason they went into Saturday’s game against Leicester City in mid-table. They ended that game as the joint second highest scorers in the Premier League, one behind Tottenham Hotspur.
That’s better than 1.5 goals per game. Compare home versus away, though, and Thomas Frank’s plan for the season becomes clear. 22 of their 26 goals have been scored at the Gtech Community Stadium – more than three goals per game and the highest home tally in the league by far.
As a result, the Bees are unbeaten at home in the Premier League this season, winning six out of seven. They’ve lost five out of six away games, drawing only once and winning none. Given the aggressive attacking tactics involved in that home form, one suspects Frank would be happy with just a minor upturn in their fortunes away.
FA Cupdate (shut up)
It’s FA Cup Third Round draw day – one of the best days in the English football calendar. The ties will be drawn from 7.00pm on BBC Two and will introduce the 44 Premier League and Championship teams along with two from the National League.
Tamworth won a penalty shoot-out at third-tier Burton Albion after both teams scored in extra time on Sunday. Dagenham & Redbridge won 2-1 to knock out Wimbledon at Plough Lane on Saturday.
The cup trail ended in the Second Round for the other non-league sides. Gainsborough Trinity lost at Harrogate Town. Wealdstone were beaten at home by in-form Wycombe Wanderers. Oldham Athletic lost in extra time at Leyton Orient. Brackley Town were defeated at Stockport County.
But both Step Three (tier seven) clubs took EFL opposition to extra time. Kettering Town lost at home to League Two Doncaster Rovers, while Harborough Town were beaten 5-3 after keeping pace with Reading for 90 breathless minutes in Berkshire.
Tigers raw
It’s fair to say that Saturday’s results in the Championship didn’t go as Hull City would have liked. They made the trip over to Middlesbrough without a manager and were beaten 3-1 thanks to Finn Azaz being Finn Azaz and Tommy Conway grabbing a poacher’s double. The Tigers were the only team in the bottom three to be beaten.
The bottom two each gained a point on them. Portsmouth would have wanted more after going two goals up at Swansea City but quickly squandered their lead. Queens Park Rangers held sixth-placed Watford to a goalless draw at Vicarage Road.
There were also losses just outside the relegation zone for both Plymouth Argyle, who were beaten 4-0 at Bristol City, and Luton Town, who also conceded four in a 4-2 defeat at Norwich City. Cardiff City are 20th after a draw at Coventry City.
J1 League title race reaches a three-way shoot-out
At 5.00am UK time next Sunday, three teams will kick off their final game of the J.League season with hopes of being crowned champions two hours later.
Leaders and reigning champions Vissel Kobe drew at the weekend to leave the door open at the conclusion of a season in which it’s seemed, at times, like nobody really wanted to win the thing.
Vissel conceded first against Kashiwa Reysol. With just a couple of minutes left they were awarded a penalty – it was the correct decision, technically, but also a shocking example of VAR re-refereeing – but it was missed by Yuya Osako. Yoshinori Muto equalised in the tenth minute of stoppage time.
Machida Zelvia’s 1-0 home win against Kyoto Sanga was a pretty ugly own goal in the middle of the second half, while Sanfrecce Hiroshima reclaimed second place with a comfortable 5-1 win against relegated Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo.
The upshot of all that? Vissel are top with 69 points and a goal difference of +22, Sanfrecce second with 68 points and a goal difference of +31, and Zelvia are third with 66 points and a goal difference of +22.
Their fixtures on the last day: Vissel Kobe at home against Shonan Bellmare, Machida Zelvia away to Kashima Antlers, and Sanfrecce Hiroshima away to Gamba Osaka. It’s Vissel’s to lose. But you just never know.
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