By JUSTIN FERGUSON
Second-place Chelsea will have another chance to pull ahead of Liverpool–at least for a temporary basis–as they host a relegation fighter Saturday at Stamford Bridge.
Before their tough set of road matches next week, Chelsea will take on last-place Sunderland, who are desperate to pick up any points in their race to get out of the bottom of the English Premier League. Chelsea are still unbeaten in home league matches under manager Jose Mourinho, and they have also posted six straight shutout wins at the Bridge. Sunderland should have a bit of momentum after their 2-2 draw with Manchester City but have struggled away from the Stadium of Light in recent weeks.
Sixth-place Tottenham Hotspur will also host another team fighting for survival Saturday when Fulham visit White Hart Lane. Tottenham are still battling to keep their Europa League spot, but Fulham are two points from safety heading into their London derby match. In other EPL action, 19th-place Cardiff City host Stoke City in another match that could have a huge impact on the relegation battle.
Elsewhere, Fiorentina face AS Roma in a top Serie A clash in Italy. There is also a first vs. worst battle in the Bundesliga when league champions Bayern Munich visit Eintracht Braunschweig.
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 TV schedule is after the jump):
7:45am – Tottenham Hotspur vs. Fulham – NBCSN
9:00am – Parma vs. Internazionale – beIN Sports USA
9:00am – Milan vs. Livorno – beIN Sports Play
9:00am – Udinese vs. Napoli – beIN Sports Play
9:30am – Eintracht Braunschweig vs. Bayern Munich- GOLTV USA
10:00am – Aston Villa vs. Southampton – NBC Sports Live Extra
10:00am – Cardiff City vs. Stoke City – NBCSN
10:00am – Newcastle vs. Swansea City – NBC Sports Live Extra
10:00am –  West Ham vs. Crystal Palace- NBC Sports Live Extra
10:00am – Osasuna vs. Valencia – beIN Sports Play
12:00pm – Levante vs. Getafe – beIN Sports Play
12:30pm – Chelsea vs. Sunderland – NBC
12:30pm – Juventus vs. Bologna – beIN Sports USA
2:00pm – Real Sociedad vs. Espanyol – beIN Sports Play
3:00pm – Fiorentina vs. Roma – beIN Sports Play
4:00pm – Philadelphia Union vs. Houston Dynamo – MLS Direct Kick
4:00pm – Chicago Fire vs. New England Revolution – NBCSN
6:00pm – Colorado Rapids vs. San Jose Earthquakes – MLS Direct Kick
6:00pm – America vs. Queretaro – Univision
7:00pm – Vancouver Whitecaps vs. LA Galaxy – MLS Direct Kick
7:30pm – Columbus Crew vs. DC United – MLS Direct Kick
8:00pm – FC Dallas vs. Toronto FC – MLS Direct Kick
8:00pm – Santos Laguna vs. Chiapas – Univision Deportes
8:00pm – Pachuca vs. Puebla – Univision Deportes 2
8:00pm – Monterrey vs. Veracruz – UniMas
8:30pm – Sporting KC vs. Montreal Impact- MLS Direct Kick
9:05pm – Leon vs. Tigres UANL – Telemundo
9:30pm – Real Salt Lake vs. Portland Timbers – MLS Direct Kick
10:00pm – Atlas vs. Toluca – Univision Deportes
10:30pm – Chivas USA vs. Seattle Sounders – MLS Direct Kick
NBC commentators are whitewashing Jozy’s play, saying ti wasn’t a dive, even if not a penalty. I think Jozy knew exactly what he was doing.
It was far from a dive where a player just runs into the box and his legs go out from under him. The question is does Jozy stick a foot out looking for the contact? It’s hard to say because Jozy has his back to the player sliding in. Perhaps it wasn’t a PK or a dive, but the ref made the call.
There is definitely contact, but I do think Jozy made sure of it after it seems defender went to ground without making contact.
perhaps but looks to me like Jozy’s eyes are on the ball the whole time, I don’t know, difficult call
Yes fishy, he clearly used his mind control to force the defender into an ill advised slide tackle then used his mind control again to force the ref and all the commentators to see it as a penalty. Now he’s using it to influence all the pundits to also follow suit. Thank God the haters are immune to his pernicious influence.
No, TomG — he was hoping to draw some contact and when he saw the defender sliding past him, he reacted by sticking his leg in and going down.
He didn’t force anything — though he made it awfully tough on the referee, who was screened off by the defender’s backside.
Wow. You’re being kind of a…well, it rhymes with sick.
As for all those commentators – I’m not sure which ones you mean. If you mean the two during the game, who only had an instant to look at the only replay that shows what happened, then, yes, ALL the commentators agree with you. If you mean other commentators who had more time to review the replay after the game, then, no, you’re wrong. I haven’t heard one person after the game say it was a correct call.
I’ve heard many say it was after reviewing several replays. Get over it
One thing I’ll say about Sunderland is that by point differential they wouldn’t be in the bottom 3. If they can get 3 more points than Norwich the’ll stay up.
Sunderland has Cardiff, Man U, West Brom, Swansea, 3 of which are at home, while Norwich has Liverpool, ManU, Chelsea, Arsenal, just 2 at home, so it could be done
Jozy owns Chelsea. What’s that, two goals and two penalties earned in his career?
Pretty much everyone in the world, minus sunderland and some guys on this page, agrees its not a penalty
everyone in the world … what did you take a poll?
Nah i just checked the twitter world, its the next best thing
You forgot Liverpool fans
Haha.
haven’t seen a replay, but if it’s indeed how it’s being described on here (azpili slides in, doesn’t get ball, his sliding foot causes jozy to slip), then it could very easily be a legitimate penalty.
for it *not* to be a penalty, the ref would have to judge that jozy intentionally stepped on azpili’s sliding leg. if that wasn’t the case, then it’s still a matter of a defender impeding the run of an attacker, and it should be a penalty.
You’re right in your analysis, but, as you say, you haven’t seen a replay. To me, it looks as if his trailing leg might have entirely missed or just clipped Jozy’s lead foot — and then Jozy deliberately picks the foot up reaches that foot out to come down on the defender’s leg and then falls back on his arse.
Happens very fast and looks like ref was screened by the defender’s backside.
just saw a replay, and…well, i don’t actually know what to think. it looks more like jozy slips first, which is why his foot goes out so far and lands on the defender’s. so if i was a ref, i think it’d be a no-call for me; but i’m still not sure he actually got it wrong.
i think it ends up being one of those situations where you say the defender, by recklessly sliding in the box, is taking the risk that something bad could happen.
If you step on the leg of the defender who slide tackles you its a penalty. Duh. Also every commentator in the match and post match said it’s a clear penalty.
Both things you said are false. Jozy is the one who makes the contact and slides off the defender, azi’s tackle never touched altidore until he stepped on him
I don’t understand how so many people are saying this penalty wasn’t drawn intentionally. He clearly steps out unnaturally onto the leg of the defender who is sliding by, almost two feet away from him.
As much as I dislike diving, I can’t be mad at Jozy. It was quick thinking, and the rewards far outweighed the risks. He needed it, his club needed it. At least he went down from contact. Some people are throwing stones from glass houses, and it makes it feel like their dislike of Jozy goes deeper than this one incident.
This whole “Jozy intentionally steps on the defender” stuff is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s the equivalent of when punching someone saying you threw your face onto my fist. It’s a bang bang play and the defender goes to ground in the box–he’s responsible for whatever contact he makes in the path of his slide; that’s the risk that any defender takes and knows they are taking if they go to ground in the box.
Honestly, really dumb stuff being said about intentionally stepping on his leg–laughably so.
Cheers
If a guy slides under you and contact is made it is a penalty.
Yeah especially when the one being fouled steps on the other guys leg huh?
and that other guy is recklessly sliding on the ground behind you. Amazing the stupidity being shown about this call, and for what, to uphold some ideological notion that Jozy isn’t any good?
He slides to stop the cross? and not sure how debating it wasnt an actual foul describes whether a player is good or not, what kind of logic is that??? You say my stance on the penalty is stupid when obviously its not clear and because i dont agree its a foul you think im saying altidore is a bad player? haha yeah im the stupid one.
No, what I’m calling stupid is your description of the play. Jozy stepping on a players leg makes it sound like the other guy was just mind his own business and Jozy ran onto his leg and fell. It completely misses the context of the play. Slides to stop the cross? What are you implying? Why he slid is irrelevant. At a fundamental level, the defender is obviously sliding for a reason, a defensive reason. But the question is does he execute the intent? And the simple answer is no. He doesn’t get ball and he clips the offensive player from behind…in the box no less which any defender knows is an even greater risk.
Good for Jozy earning a penalty. But, it definitely wasn’t a penalty. Jozy stepped on the defender and fell down.
Spot on……But good things happen to those that attack the box. The rest is up to the referee
+1, wasnt a penalty, but there is never a call if jozy dosent take advantage of the defenders mistake and runs into the box
What bothers me is that Jozy is not making any friends with his flopping — and he’s getting a terrible reputation. Yeah, he did what he had to do to get the win, but it’s not fair and in the end, it will work against Jozy.
It was a foul. Plain as day.
Hopefully as well as it’s helped Luis Suarez!
LOL … did you even watch the replay? The guy took out Jozy’s left peg.
I did watch the replay. The guy missed Jozy’s left leg — and Jozy quickly reacted by throwing his left leg into hte defender’s sliding legs and then fell down.
No, jozy stepped on his leg
Just like you put your foot in your mouth just now.
How?
Jozy pretty clear went out of his way to hit the defender and then just collapsed to the ground.
Why defend it?
Jozy was running at full speed and looking at the goal keeper and the defenders while seeing if any teammates were in the box. And you think he had time to deliberately get in the way of a diving Azpilicueta? Nobody thinks that fast. Maybe it wasn’t a penalty, but it was no dive. You must be so anti-Jozy as to be delusional.
Don’t argue the delusional. He’s already made up his mind. If Jozy pulls it back and rockets it upper 90 he would still complain about how it could have been done better.
He didn’t do that though.
“Controversial penalty call helps Sunderland beat Chelsea”
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/04/chelsea-sunderland-penalty-call-altidore/
Vine of the dive in that clip too. Jozy very clearly sticks his left leg WAY out into the defender and just goes down.
It’s a blatant dive. Quit being a d*mn homer.
About ten people had slipped in that part of the field–including the slip that Jozy took advantage of. It looked to me like he slipped, then stepped on the foot. Not a dive. Probably not a foul. And given it was also flagged by the linesman not a perfect but not a horrible call. Stuff like this happens.
Too me the vine shows that it was not a dive. I think he was getting close to the touchline and stuck out his leg to block off the defender from the ball
@ Will Smith, agreed…stuff like this happens but it wasn’t a dive
I can see how badly guys like Suarez, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dempsey, Neymar, and for that matter Klinsmann, suffer for their diving.
Do you really think anything other than results matter to these guys?
That is what they get paid to produce NOT adhere to some allegedly moral standard than is poorly defined and subjective in the extreme.
In case you were not aware JK practically re- introduced diving as an art form to the British back in 1994 when he joined Spurs. He has never apologized for his attitude on that and never will. Perhaps you don’t understand just how much he wants to win.
And this is the man who is in charge of the immortal,moral soul of the USMNT.
Defenders play dirty too. Someone mentioned Crouch getting a letter on his Jersey pulled off earlier. The game isn’t clean and isn’t played by the rules but its on both sides of the ball. I still hate it but I don’t think its cheating.
There are people here who seem to think Jozy intentionally stepped on the defender’s leg. I don’t see how you can prove “intent”. When you can’t see the defender coming, that is giving an awful lot of credit to Jozy’s speed of thought.
What you give Jozy credit for is the aggression to go in and what you blame the defender for is letting Jozy past him in the FIRST place so that he has to go to ground to stop him.
When that happens in the penalty box then the defender should not be surprised if he has to pay for it.
.
The point is as long as you have refs having to make instantaneous decisions on high speed situations where his view may or may not be excellent then you will get controversy.
The only way to avoid this is to introduce instant replay into it and good luck with that.
JOZEY BEAT CHELSAE GOOD JOB JOZEY
Ahh so on the penalty jozy steps on azi’s legs and slips
Jose seems… not to be angry with Poyet. I’m sure he will say all sorts of mean garbage in the Press Conference but oddly on the field not seething. It’s really kinda an act from him.
Jose? HHAAAA!!!!
Altidore was given a good pass to shoot imside the box but takes too long and just passes it back instead. Overall solid showing, maybe could have done better but he did get the penalty
No way. The other guy took too long on the pass and then proceeded to play it too long. He had two options on a 3 on 1 and messed it completely up. At that point, Jozy should have take it to the corner. The back pass wasn’t the smart play.
yep … Sunderland’s midfield is atrocious. They take 3-4 touches when 1-2 is needed. If Jozy is played in early it’s a 1 vs 1 with the keeper. Instead, the midfielder holds the ball for an extra couple of seconds. There were several other occasions when Jozy slipped inside the central defenders and Sunderland didn’t even look his way.
Did the guy take too long? Yeah probably but it still wasnt a bad pass at all, jozy had a pretty decent look at goal
He was maintaining possession. A shot there would be ridiculously foolish.
^^^
no need to try to go up by two goals
It would be foolish to try and score and seal the game? He had a good angle, it was not a very difficult shot
The pass to him was poor and not in stride
Two defenders were in good position in front of the goal by the time he got collected on the ball
Look at it again
I did see it, he could have shot it one touch
Easy for you to say.
It was not an easy shot, and on his left, but still one he should be capable of putting on target. Yes, it would’ve been easier had the pass come earlier and yes it was probably smarter to maintain possession. But the willingness to take that shot is the biggest thing missing from his game.
Come on, man. It was not an easy shot at all.
Where did i say it was easy?
Not difficult means a doable shot, how are you guys honestly interpretating that as easy?
Jozy’s run was to narrow, but the pass wasn’t great either. It took away any shooting angle he had.
The run appeared narrow because the midfielder held onto the ball way too long. An early through ball would have made the angle look correct.
which is what that midfield always does
Yeah he did alright, but he needs to show more drive. Jogging around is not going to win you a starting spot. I know he can run faster.
They were already in the lead, why take a shot and give away possession in the injury time (against a team fighting to be 1st place) when you can hold and secure the lead. JA made the correct choice.
Whether or not Jozy was legit fouled, can’t US fans be psyched that he made an impact with his run. I don’t think any of the tv angles suggest a clear cut view so ya know what… if he sold it, then good nuff.
No. Not with the traditional USMNT hysteria that befalls nearly all over our better players at one point or another.
No, he dove.
Two things, Jozy looks hungry. Working his ass off. And how are people saying that was a dive? His legs were completely taking out from under him.
I don’t think it was a dive, but if you look at the angle from behind the play, Azpil slides and then Jozy’s left foot steps on Azpil’s leg, which causes Jozy to go down.
There’s only one replay where you can actually see what goes on with their feet. It looks to me that the defender swept his foot but caught air as Jozy was pulling up. And, it looks to me that Jozy initiates the contact, stepping on the defender’s sliding foot and then allowing that to pull his leg away and then go down. You could say that one leg was taken out, but it definitely wasn’t “legs.”
You’re right. I only saw the flattering angle. Just saw the other angle. Tough call but at full speed, the ref has to make that call. However, still not a dive in my eyes.
because it wasn’t a dive. in fact, it’s the kind of play many commentators would call experienced and smart, like Mustoe did this morning at halftime of Spurs match
Does Chelsea have no chance of winning the league if they drop points here?
No, but they will need others to drop points for here on.
The Liverpool game becomes a must win then I guess…
It means Liverpool can lose a game, which is bad as Liverpool play Chelsea. Well bad for Chelsea.
It was a legit penalty. Dumb play by the defender.
Yep, defender should not have went to the ground as the NBC tv guy said.
just read all the flies coming out to call it a dive tho…says it all about this blog and Jozy. pathetic
World Class dive by Jozy
Jozy’s diving skills on display. He reaches his leg out and steps on the defender’s sliding foot and then slides down to the ground.
Liverpool fans will sing paeans to Jozy’s slide.
As a Liverpool fan I was jumping for joy, also awesome to see Borini (Liverpool Loanee) send Shwarzer the wrong way. Just unbelievable season so far and handed Mourinho’s first ever loss at the Bridge. Thank you Sunderland!!! YNWA!!!!!!
Gotta say it…think he was going down already. Good win of the penalty though…
GOAL Sunderland!
Goal sunderland
Altidore steals the ball from azipiliciyrsysatya.., and runs and and slips, penalty for sunderland
Azpilicueta went to ground and caught Jozy’s lead foot as he tried to plant. Chopped him down. Definitely a penalty.
Mourinho’s assistant is cursing out the 4th referee and being restrained as he is sent off.
Jozy wins a penalty!
Altidore winning some headers. Also headed a good pass to one of his teammates who for some reason clears the ball w/out much pressure on him
As a Liverpool and USMNT fan, Jozy scoring here would be…nice.
Giac and JA in with 20+. How many posts until we get ‘Jozy doesn’t run’ or ‘Sunderland never pass’ comments?
Sunderland has the worst touch of any EPL team.
JOZEY ALITDROE IS ON THE GAME HE MUST SCORE JEURGEN
Jozy in.
jozy on for wickham
Can Crystal Palace crack the top 10? I hope so!!! Tony Pulis is the manager of the year. CP has smallest payroll in EPL and when Pullis arrived, CP had just 4 points. To be at 43 points with 3 games remaining, is nothing short of miraculous!
Jozy may be coming on here in the next ten minutes.
He has a better chance of contributing to this blog than he does scoring today. Face it fanboys, Jozy just isn’t quality enough for English football. The fact that a late season replacement is outperforming him speaks volumes.
Earning a penalty ain’t too shabby for a substitute.
Wickham’s been with Sunderland all season. The team sucked, he got his chance.
Jozy better see if the MetroStars will take him back
Wickham’s success is really highlighting how poor a season Jozy had. Jozy’s hold up play has definitely improved, but his quickness and decisiveness in the box is just gone. Here’s hoping JK can figure out a way for him to find his form again in the friendlies.
After that goal from Wickham I wouldn’t be surprised if Jozy has already played his last game of the season for Sunderland.
Crap. Wickham scored.
So I guess I need to cheer for more Chelsea goals so they’ll have to bring on Jozy?
Ugh.
More Wickham on tap for Sunderland.
2 goals last week 1 today so far and he is 21 years old. Not good for JA.
That FC Dallas Totonto FC l game looks tasty. I’ve really been impressed with FCDs midfield thus far. Pareja has them playing a fluid type of football. I would like to see how MB90 & Co. Stack up against them.
I dont even care if jozy plays anymore. Im done with sundersuck. Horrible.
Doesn’t look like Green was on the Bayern squad today.
Green WILL NOT be seeing playing time for Bayern this season.
Pep made it plenty clear when he played a few youngsters and Julian wasn’t one of them.
If you watched the Mexico game you’d understand why.
Um. False. Green is recovering from a shoulder injury. That was made clear when it was publicly announced he would be out for the remainder of the season.
that is NOT true. you completely made that up. he’s out injured with a dislocated shoulder…
Julian was injured at the time and then Pep took a lot of heat in Germany for starting those young players after they loss.
Love this comment.
The entire thing was made up. Entire thing. Why do people act like this?
Altidore is on the bench.
Any chance Jozy or Julian see the field today?
Altidore is not even in the U21 roster.
He is starting for the u14 this week
Hat trick?
Great! Hopefully he won’t get out jumped and out muscled against them.
Only if they buy tickets.
There might be riots if an Odemwingie dive that somehow earned a penalty… strong emphasis on somehow as it was blatant… relegates Cardiff.
Gotta somewhat disagree. Tough call to take, but odemwingie drew the contact by stepping in the path of the defender. I believe it was a legit penalty. Definitely an argument can be made either way though.
To be rewarded for standing it front of someone (or actively moving into them) and hoping they make enough contact with you to justify falling is not a skill set I find satisfying to watch. My EPL watching is complete for the day.
so the best mls game (rsl vs portland isnt on TV again)
this is why i pay for MLS Live. i never miss a game.
Except for blackouts is why I never miss paying that much for MLSlive
yeah, but luckily any channel that a game is on that would lead to a blackout, i also have. Univision, Unimas, and NBCSN. and TW Sports Net has the Galaxy games, so good there too.
also, i believe i paid $50 this year. cheap, IMO.
MLS Live is fantastic
only qualms with it:
(1) Unimas (Sunday) games should not be blacked out; that channel is offered in many places but not near enough to be considered “national” IMO
(2) Give an option for just the stadium/crowd sound like MLB.tv does; sans a couple of commentating duos the tv announcers are awful. You learn a lot more about the game on your own without the commentary.
Anywhere to see highlights from us u20’s vs fluminese?
There are highlights of all the goals at Bigsoccer in the youth nt forum, but I would think they will posted here before the end of the weekend
Tried looking for them there but couldn’t find them. Link?
Try socceroverthere.com
Awesome, thanks!
In all fairness, Crouchie is so bum ugly, that referees can’t look at him directly for more than 3 seconds without getting violently ill so it’s tough to catch those fouls.
Yeah, and his wife is real dog also 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_Clancy
Ha, yes. Just goes to show how money trumps looks… And brains….. And personality….. And pretty much anything else, I suppose. Maybe she is just as dopey as he seems, though it doesn’t seem possible.
Crouch was asked what he would be if he was not a footballer and his response was “I’d be a virgin”.
He’s not so stupid this guy.
one of my favorite quotes
Ha. Good one. He doesn’t seem so bright in his interviews but looks can be deceiving I suppose.
Peter Crouch tries to go up and get a cross by Cameron, but two Cardiff defenders are flanking him, each with an arm on his shoulder. Crouch jumps but just falls forward because both defenders are literally holding him to the ground in a completely non-football move and Crouch is called for a foul.
One defender had such a handful of jersey/back that he ripped the “O” off the jersey. Peter Cr uch.
I thought the MLS was supposed to be the “super physical league.”
Sad to say but thats why players fall over acting hurt. You don’t get fouls unless it looks bad.
Truth. Although, we both know MLS is a wild wild west.
I just love that the defender literally tore the ‘O’ off the jersey.
That does take some effort. Gotta dig in hard with those fingernails. Next time get them to pull the Cr off.
Ouch might get the call. heh
Well done. Hah.
Your season is basically on the line… and Sidwell takes your PK over Rodiega and Karagounis?
No wonder Fulham is about to be relegated.
whose the guy in Blue up top? is that the Belgian footballer who joined a year or 2 back but never played much
It doesn’t seem like the staff for this site is ever properly vetted.
fabian starting, gyau on the bench. brooks on bench for hertha berlin.
This isn’t Altidore related it doesn’t belong on here
touché
Gyau made the bench? Is that a first?
2nd week in a row.
ESPNFC says Brooks started and played 90.
“Sixth-place Tottenham Hotspur will also host another team fighting for survival Saturday when Fulham visit Craven Cottage.”
Isn’t Tottenham’s stadium White Hart Lane?