Scoring with the last cliché

Scoring with the last kick of the game is a standard of football phraseology, but its rarity may lead to misapplication.  Newcastle United beat Anzi Makhachkala 1-0, with Papiss Demba Cissé heading home with seconds remaining before the referee blew his whistle.  But as the tie was still deadlocked at 0-0 over both legs, extra-time would have ensued.  Consequently, it was the last kick of normal time plus injury time.  A true sense of ‘last kick of the game’ came in Euro 2008’s quarter-finals, when Turkey equalised against Croatia in the 121^st minute (penalties to decide the match being outside the parameters of ‘open play’).  With no time to resume the match, it leaves the team who have just conceded utterly deflated.

Newcastle’s season would not have been over had they lost as league survival is still not guaranteed but to progress is a delightful fillip, matching an achievement last made in 2005.  That time, the Magpies also faced Portuguese opposition in the quarter-finals, losing to Sporting Lisbon on aggregate.  Given the parallels with AZ Alkmaar and Anzi, I am hoping they can defy their track record from 2005.  The travel is not onerous (unlike Chelsea who have to play Rubin Kazan potentially deep in central Russia in the Republic of Tatarstan) but Benfica did eliminate Bordeaux in the previous round, the French side having topped Newcastle’s group in December.  Since then, the black-and-whites have strengthened so it will be pleasant for the side to compete at the real Stadium of Light (Estadio da Luz).

Amusingly, the Chelsea announcer acknowledged the Steaua Bucharest fans by extending "A warm welcome to our visitors from the Czech Republic."  This understandably brought boos from the away fans but it wasn't as bad when Michael Jackson on tour told a Bucharest crowd, "I love you Budapest," confusing them with the capital of Romania's arch-rivals, Hungary. 

As for the Champions League, no English team did make it to the quarter-finals of that competition and the three Spanish clubs who I mentioned had registered negative results overcame these difficulties (I had forgotten about Valencia but they confirmed my predicted trend by going out to Paris St. Germain – the only one to do so).  It reaffirms that Spain is the best European league – for now.