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Soccer Saturday: Your Running Commentary

AltidoreNewcastle (Getty Images)

By JUSTIN FERGUSON

This Soccer Saturday will start with a bang as Newcastle United host USMNT forward Jozy Altidore and Sunderland in the always competitive Tyne-Wear Derby to open a day filled with action from all over the world.

The last time these two rivals met in English Premier League play, Sunderland notched their first win of the season thanks to a late goal from Fabio Borini. The Black Cats have continued to improve from their horrid start, as they have only lost two of their last 13 matches across all competitions, climbing out of the relegation zone in the process. On the other side, Newcastle United have only won once in their last five league matches and will need to find someone to step up in the midfield after the sale of Yohan Cabaye to Paris Saint-Germain.

In other EPL action, seventh-place Manchester United will look to keep their momentum going on the road at Stoke City. Tottenham will try to bounce back from their big loss against Manchester City with a road result at Hull City, who have not scored in four straight losses after routing Fulham 6-0 in December. There will also be a battle of American goalkeepers at Goodison Park as Tim Howard and Everton host Brad Guzan and Aston Villa on Merseyside.

Elsewhere, first-place Barcelona will put their perfect home record at Camp Nou on the line when Valencia comes to visit. Manager Clarence Seedorf and AC Milan host Torino in Serie A competition, and second-place AS Monaco will look to maintain their position behind league-leading PSG when they visit Lorient. In Mexico, the derby match between nearby rivals Tigres and Monterrey will highlight a busy night of Liga MX action.

If you will be watching today’s action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action. (Today’s schedule is after the jump):

SATURDAY SOCCER ON TV

7:45am – Newcastle vs. Sunderland – NBC Sports Network

7:45am – West Ham United vs. Swansea City – Premier League Extra Time

9:30am – Schalke 04 vs. Wolfsburg – GolTV USA

10am – Stoke City vs. Manchester United – NBC Sports Network

10am – Barcelona vs. Valencia – beIN Sports USA

10am – Hull City vs. Tottenham – Premier League Extra Time

10am – Fulham vs. Southampton – Premier League Extra Time

10am – Everton vs. Aston Villa – Premier League Extra Time

10am – Cardiff City vs. Norwich City – Premier League Extra Time

10am – Partick Thistle vs. Dundee United – Fox Soccer Plus

10:30am – Lorient vs. AS Monaco – Univision Deportes

12pm – Cagliari vs. Fiorentina – beIN Sports USA

12pm – Levante vs. Rayo Vallecano – beIN Sports en Español

12:30pm – Hannover vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach – GolTV USA

2pm – Evian TG vs. Ajaccio – Univision Deportes

2pm – Getafe vs. Real Valladolid – beIN Sports en Español

2:45pm – AC Milan vs. Torino – beIN Sports USA

4pm – Malaga vs. Sevilla – beIN Sports en Español

5pm – USA vs. South Korea – ESPN2/UniMas

5:30pm – Racing vs. Nacional – GolTV USA

6pm – Club America vs. Atlante – Univision

6pm – Santos Laguna vs. Toluca – Univision Deportes

6pm – Veracruz vs. Puebla – Univision Deportes 2

8pm – Chivas de Guadalajara vs. Cruz Azul – UniMas

8pm – Monterrey vs. Tigres UANL – Univision Deportes

8pm – Pachuca vs. Atlas – Univision Deportes 2

10pm – Chiapas vs. Queretaro – Univision Deportes

Comments

  1. Another great game from Sunderland and now a mid-table team (which I called a few weeks ago 😉 but I never thought it would happen this fast). Jozy was awesome and playing ruff games like that will pay dividends in Brazil and against big physical teams like Germany and Ghana.

    Luuk de Jong looked shell-schocked after the game, playing just 48 hours after his move from Gladbach. Big mistake, I think, for him to go to Newcastle.

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  2. Great game.

    Jozy did wonderfully EXPECT for that missed opportunity. It’s going to haunt him.

    If Sunderland can keep it up, they may just manage to survive the season.

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      • No question they do, but with Jozy’s drought, the lack of service at Sunderland and the addition of Scocco, I’m a bit worried about him.

      • if he’d been scoring even close to consistently, i think you’d be right. but that was as clear an opportunity as he’s going to get at sunderland, and he flubbed it.

        he had the right idea (round the keeper), just didn’t take it far enough.

        the problem is, he doesn’t “miss all the time”; he just doesn’t get many opportunities at all. especially with scocco coming in, there’s really no guarantee he’ll “get another chance” like that.

      • and really, it might make it even worse that this is one of the best games i’ve seen him play. he did almost everything right. but that one screwup could make it a wash, in his mind. it shouldn’t, but it might.

      • True, but only he can know that for sure. I think getting great performances in and having the full trust of your coach and growing trust of your teammates will do wonders to help with negative thoughts, That kind of support can get the worst out of any kind of funk.

      • He’s getting there. He’s getting closer and the team are figuring out how to play with him. I am not worried one bit. He’s a striker and he’s going through a rough patch. It won’t last forever and once he’s past it I am sure he’ll remember how to score.

        Sometimes plays like this happen and sometimes it bounces off of your backside and goes in. I choose to look at the full body of work he’s putting in instead of lingering on a play that he’s probably waaaay over right now. They got the points against a rival in a game he’s put in a great shift – all things that can help you forget misses like that.

  3. As good a passer as Ki is, he’s completely unable or unwilling to play a decent through ball. Time after time, Jozy or another player makes a run up the middle and Ki holds and holds and shuffles it off to the wing. I think he only wants to make safe passes and doesn’t have that killer pass mentality.

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  4. I think with all the great work he’s put in today, as a forward, he’s entitled to get that type of ball more than once a game…

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  5. Now the impressive thing is Sunderland added to their first half energy by playing a more complete second half..
    Even though the game opened up some the defense didn’t bend and their build-up and counters had more purpose…

    And Jozy could have said this would have been his most complete performance if he’d finished that . I hope everyone won’t waste their energy destroying him…

    There’s no apology for missing that one.. just gotta move on

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  6. Jozy just standing around in the last few minutes. Looks like he’s not getting his goal today. Too bad, heck of a game again, can’t believe he blew that chance. As the commentator said at the end Wednesday, you really will him to get that goal because he deserves it with all the great work he’s put in.

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  7. Since Jozy missed his last chance Ki has chosen every pass possible. At least 3 times he chose a flat ball rather put on forward to jozy which appeared to be an easy pass. Then Colback gets the pss on the break rather than giving it to the striker. Maybe i am reading into things.

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  8. Such a shame he won’t bag a gaol today. This is so much more like this team should be playing. He’s much more connected and less isolated than he’s been previously and he’s been dominating the ball in the final third. His confidence would have been very well served there.

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  9. Well, other than that, haven’t seen too many lapses by Sunderland in the second half. Playing well on both sides of the ball. Nice to see them possess and pass the ball around!

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    • Why so obsessed? I was busy watching the match and then had, you know, things to do. I never said Jozy couldn’t pull off a good trap or lay off but MOST of the time it lets him down in key moments/positions.

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  10. I’m concerned all the positive Jozy had today will be completely negated by screwing that up. Built some confidence and threw it all away.

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    • I think the Jozy of a year or two ago would… but I don’t think so now.
      Just think about it like this, Jurgen didn’t call him in when he wasn’t giving effort and had a negative attitude..even though he was scoring goals
      Now he’s not scoring, and Jurgen is backing him 100% and remains very positive about his move and his attitude and hustle even though his team sux..

      I don’t think today will be a step back

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    • Lackluster? No it wasn’t.

      It was a miss late in a game where he’s put a ton on the line. He’s been kicked and fouled like you’d never understand. He’s down on his luck and didn’t think as fast as he should have but lackluster is not the way I would put it.

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  11. He’s played great today, but Jozy’s GOT to score there. Right move to go around the keeper I think, just not quite deceptive enough or maybe the touch was just a bit too fine.

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    • You clearly haven’t seen my posting over the last six months.

      I am usually one of his biggest supporters. I am just fed up with his lacking of scoring.

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  12. Good possession and I’m not mad at that shot by ki (although sunderland generally settles for long shots like a high school variety team…)

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  13. Jozy getting better every week at not only winning the ball against big, strong PL defenders (often in multiples) but also at making an unpredictable move while winning the duel. Early in the season, he might win the ball but have no place to go afterwards. Now he’s starting to flick win, fake one way with his shoulders and flick the ball in the other direction so he’s got a bit of a chance to make something happen. Such is the life of a lone striker in the BPL.

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    • That weird stuff in the Sunderland box? I almost feel like he didn’t call that weak pro Sunderland call that happened outside the box then he just decided to call nothing. Strange by the ref. It was like 3 weak fouls in a row. Prolly should have just called the first one so you don’t end up in a situation like that.

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      • Yeah, it seemed to me that there was at least one foul amongst that mess.

        I agree: Just call the first one to avoid problems.

  14. After the first half:
    – Jozy has looked good, great vision on the flick and a really nice move down near the end line
    – The biggest difference in Sunderlands play is not really the quality as much as the halftime commentators gave them credit for… it’s that their energy level and ball pressure has been very positive.
    They should have created several more chances, it still looks like nobody makes proper runs off the ball consistently … but they are making up for it with high energy and they look like they’re playing with purpose….

    Now let’s see if they can do it for 90

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    • I agree. Energy looks great, announcers finally aren’t hating but yes, the runs off the ball are almost never there. Improvement is improvement tho

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