Unfortunately I did not get the memo that last week’s EPL high adrenaline matches would be played on Saturday and not Sunday. I could not keep up with the high intensity fixtures between Manchester City vs. Sunderland; Aston Villa vs. Chelsea; Arsenal vs. QPR. Every time I changed the channel to check the scores, someone scored a goal. Between the City/Sunderland and Villa/Chelsea matches we had a total of 12 goals! Clearly I should have chosen these two fixtures as the matches of the weekend in my attempt to find good venues to watch football. Alas, I had no complaints in watching Liverpool vs. Newcastle at Q-Bar near Oysterbay.
Watching a match at 3:30pm when it is about 85 degrees outside does not really entice people to come and watch a game, there were about 10 people (split between fans of Liverpool, who were quiet the entire time, and Newcastle although I’m not sure if they were Newcastle fans or people that just wanted Liverpool and Luis Suarez to lose. I can’t blame them, especially after this). Those who were watching had a lot more energy than the Liverpool starting eleven. I really have no idea what to make about this team, I guess all you need to know about Liverpool’s performance is that Andy Carroll tried absorbing a penalty by the goalkeeper that was a blatant dive. Prior to this flop, Carroll was actually playing with an edge any former player has when facing an ex-team. My friend Mwemezi compared this edge almost to the ultimate ex-player ‘eff you’ performance of Emanuel Adebayor but then he dived and that was that.
Back to the venue, Q-Bar has some delicious food and is definitely worth checking out when more fixtures are on as they usually show matches simultaneously. They have a TV in the bathroom, which is an ultimate plus for any sports bar. I think in order to fully appreciate the atmosphere that it can present, you have to go when there are more games being shown and when Arsenal plays…I found out that the owner is an Arsenal fan. I’ll try to squeeze in another Q-Bar visit but there are many other spots to check out and the next session will be for Easter weekend which have a number of fixtures that will have significant consequences for the title race. At the moment the match of Easter weekend will be Arsenal vs. Manchester City.
Speaking of Manchester City, this is such a fascinating team to watch, as they can be absolutely dominant and also frustrating at the same time. It’s hard to see them winning the title at this point but they may be kept in the race if Manchester United draws at least twice. I think the most telling moment in this match and perhaps an indication that Roberto Mancini’s days are numbered was when Balotelli scored a brilliant goal to make it 3-2. He had the “I can’t believe how $#@%&^ talented this #$%*&^% is, if only he could grow the #$*^$*#* up.” Sorry for that, I don’t speak Italian but I’m assuming he was cursing in Italian.
Newcastle, on the other hand, are now tied with Chelsea with 53 points each. I had high hopes for Newcastle at the beginning of the season and they are really a fun team to watch. Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse are a dangerous pair, they could really make Newcastle compete next year or they could make one of the Big Four even more competitive after signing with them. Football can be cruel sometimes, especially if these guys move on to greener pastures, but you can’t help but admire and appreciate the style of play that Cisse and Newcastle demonstrated on Sunday.
