Goodbye QPR and Reading. These two teams have been officially relegated from English Premier League this weekend. Reading was just promoted to EPL last season, while Queens Park Rangers barely avoided being relegated. Most people had a feeling that QPR would get relegated, even in the first half of the season. The team has many talented players, but for some reason, they just weren’t able to get the results to stay in England’s top league.

Who else will join QPR and Reading? The three clubs fighting to stay in EPL are Wigan Athletic, Sunderland and Newcastle United. Personally, I hope Newcastle stays in EPL for another season. They have a lot of talent on that team and they can play some great football.

What else happened this weekend? Well, Liverpool won against Newcastle 6-0. Yes, you read that right. Liverpool won 6-0. Newcastle had an off day. This was Liverpool’s first match without Luis Suarez, who will be banned for 10 matches after biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic last weekend. Most people might have expected Liverpool to struggle, but that wasn’t the case.

While both Manchester clubs have qualified for Champions League next season, there are still two spots up for grabs. The three clubs fighting for those two spots are three London based clubs- Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. I would love to see Chelsea and Spurs qualify. Juan Mata, David Luiz, Ivanovic and Gareth Bale are some footballers that I think are very talented and would like to see them playing in Champions League. Spurs missed out this season, due to Chelsea winning Champions League.

This weekend, the one match everyone will be watching is Manchester United v. Chelsea. Don’t miss out; that match will be on May 5th at 11 a.m. EST.

Today we have lots of news coming from jolly old England, which is fitting as this is the first week of Premier League action.  Find out who is going (and not going!) where.  That and more in Tuesday’s Daily Kick Around!

EPL

Tottenham Hotspur announced today that they have completed the transfer of Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City.  Ade had been on loan with Spurs during the past season and finished as their top goalscorer.

Swansea, on the other hand, has confirmed that they are in the process of preparing to sell winger Scott Sinclair to Man City.

Despite also being linked with City, Italian midfielder Daniele De Rossi has made it clear that he will not be leaving Roma any time soon.

Alright, enough about Manchester City!  Let’s talk about United already!  Billionaire George Soros has taken a piece of the pie, disclosing Monday that he owns 7.85 percent of Manchester United’s Class A shares.  Not sure exactly what that means, but I am pretty sure it’s worth quite a chunk of change!

Finally, who can forget the somewhat comical shoving of the assistant referee by Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew during Saturday’s match against Tottenham?  Clearly the FA was not entertained, charging him with misconduct for his actions.  To his credit, he admitted that what he had done was “absolutely ridiculous.”

Image courtesy of TheOriginalWinger.com

Photo via sportinglife.com

Unbelievable. That’s one word you could use to describe, not only how the EPL season ended, but also how Manchester City won their first league title since 1968.  They did it, at home, by coming back to win 3-2 against QPR.

Manchester City got off to a slow start, just like they had against Newcastle United. It was getting close to half time and the City-QPR game was still scoreless. City needed to score soon, as Manchestr United had already scored against Sunderland. At the 39th minute, City fans finally got the goal they were waiting for. Pablo Zabaleta scored the first goal of the game, as well as his first goal of’f the season, to give City a 1-0 lead as they headed into half time.

The second half got off to a good start, when City came close to scoring their second goal within a few minutes. However, a few City mistakes ended up leading to QPR equalizing in the 48th minute, with the goal being scored by Djibril Cisse.

The drama would continue as Joey Barton, who was slightly provoked by Carlos Tevez, elbowed Tevez in the face and was sent off immediately in the 55th minute. Barton decided to lash out on Tevez’s teammate Sergio Aguero, and hit him. As Barton was walking out, Mario Balotelli was one of the players who tried to calm him down. In my opinion, that was a disgraceful thing for the footballer to do – he had already been sent off for his elbow on Tevez, but to take it out on another player like that? Thre’s no excuse for that.

QPR would have to play a man down for the next 30+ minutes. At the 59th minute, Aguero almost gave City the lead, but the ball didn’t cross the line, so it wasn’t counted. It looked like QPR would have a tough time playing 10 v. 11, but in the 66th minute, surprising everyone, Jamie Mackie scored and gave QPR the lead. Even though, QPR was playing a man down, they were now up 2-1 against City.

It was looking more and more likely that Manchester United would win their 20th league title. QPR was doing a great job of defending; after all, they were playing to stay in EPL and not get relegated. At the 90th minute, the score was still 2-1 in QPR’s favor. However, thanks to what had happened with Barton earlier, 5 minutes of additional time were added on. Nobody, including me, believed that City would be able to score 2 goals in the next 5 minutes.

In fact, United players and their fans had already started celebrating what would’ve been their 20th league title. In the 1st  minute of added time, Edin Dzeko scored the equalizing goal. No one really celebrated though, because only a win would be good enough. Two minutes later, Sergio Aguero scored one of the biggest goals of his Manchester City career. City was now up 3-2 and the stadium went crazy. They had finally won the league title.

City would go on to win the title, while United was in 2nd place. A few weeks ago, if you had asked me if I thought City would win, I would have said no way. United had an 8-point lead, but City fought back and won in one of the craziest ways imaginable. Not only were City fans excited about this win, but so were fans of other clubs, like Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea etc. It was about time that someone else had won the title.

City won the league double, beating United 6-1 at Old Trafford and 1-0 at home. Now with the league title, Manchester, at least for this season, was blue.

Yaya Toure scored a brace to secure a win for Manchester City at Newcastle United at what could be one of the most important games of the season.

The match was a very important game for both teams. City was trying to stay ahead of Manchester United in the race for the title, and Newcastle was trying to qualify for Champions League.

City had started off strong at the beginning of the season, but in the past few weeks had been struggling to beat teams that appeared, on papar at least, to be easy for them. Although City had a huge gap over their rivals Manchester United, they were unable to keep that gap and United was soon able to take over first place in EPL. United went on to have an 8-point advantage over City. Fortunately for City and their fans, United wasn’t able to keep that lead either. City won the Manchester Derby 1-0, thanks to a Kompany header from a Silva corner.

City closed the gap on United and both teams have the same number of points, with City on top because of the goal difference. Newcastle has also had an incredible season, thanks to players like Demba Ba, Papiss Demba Cisse, Hatem Ben Arfa, and their keeper Tim Krul. They’ve won 19 of 37 games, tied for 3rd most games won by an EPL club this season. They were on a 5+ unbeaten streak before this game. Newcastle is also currently one of three teams fighting for 3rd place along with Tottenham and Arsenal.

Both teams started off sloppy at the beginning of the game. Although they both created many chances, City wasn’t able to finish and Newcastle couldn’t find a way to score because Joe Hart was a wall, as usual. David Silva and Kun Aguero are two of the best players on City, but today wasn’t their day. Silva wasn’t playing his best and though Kun had opportunities to score, he mishit and mistimed many of the shots. The first half ended 0-0.

Second half started off the same. In the 61st minute, Mancini made a change that angered many City fans. He took out Samir Nasri, a playmaker, for Nigel De Jong, who’s normally used as a defensive player. It would appear that Mancini was changing the lineup to a more defensive side. However, as someone on twitter mentioned, the sub allowed Yaya Toure to move up and become more of an attacking threat.

This substitution would soon pay off. The traveling City supporters would have to wait until the 69th minute to see their team score, but I’m sure many were happy to wait. Toure scored an incredible goal with the perfect curve on it. It was obvious it was a huge goal for the City players who all embraced each other after it was scored. City knew they couldn’t rely on that goal, so they kept attacking, trying to score another.

However, Newcastle wasn’t going to sit back after that goal. They also started to attack more, but Hart was able to block/save every shot that came his way. In the 74th minute, Kun had the chance to end the game, but ended up shooting the ball inches wide. City supporters got more and more worried as time went on, but Toure scored his 2nd goal of the match in the 88th minute and won the game for City.

Manchester United also won their match 2-0, which means City and United are have the same number of points going into the final game. If City wins their home game against QPR, they will win the 2011-12 EPL League. Personally, I would be very happy if this were to happen. I’ve heard from Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea fans etc. that they want anyone but United to win. They might just get their wish this season.

Arsenal defender Laurent Kosielny is in agony over his team's draw with Norwich today

Arsene Wenger was hoping to celebrate his 900th match as manager for Arsenal with a win over Norwich today at Emirates Stadium.  But the North London team failed to get the results they were seeking, gaining only a single point with a draw in a game they were expected and desperately needed to win.

With title hopes lost long ago, Arsenal’s primary objective has been to qualify for Champions League.  After today, the Gunners have 67 points and remain in third place.  Tottenham and Newcastle United trail the Gunners by only two points and will play some deciding  matches tomorrow.  The results from Tottenham at Aston Villa and Newcastle United against Manchester City may very well decide which team gets a Champions League berth.

Normally the league’s top four teams advance, but this season, third place is the coveted position being sought by Arsenal, Newcastle and Tottenham.  The three teams are focusing on the spot  because of Chelsea’s stellar performance in Champions League this year.

Chelsea is currently too far back in the league to finish in the top four, but they may be able to sidestep their way to next season’s CL.  On May 19th, they play Bayern Munich in the Finals of Europe’s elite tournament.  Should the Blues win, they  automatically qualify for next year’s CL , leaving only the EPL’s top three teams to advance.

The significance of Arsenal’s loss today – ok it was a draw, but they needed three points to solidify third place – is immense, devastating and just plain frustrating.  This was a team that were being discounted as finished in January.  Fans were asking for Wenger’s resignation and a general feeling of despair amongst the players was apparent despite the phenomenal performance by Robin van Persie.

The injection of Thierry Henry in late January sparked feelings of hope and confidence into a team riddled with injuries and poor defense.  After his departure, it was uncertain how the team would perform, but the squad seemed to gel.  Arsenal started winning, and not always at the hands, or should I say foot, of RVP.

The red and white North London team came back from the middle of the table and overtook their arch rivals, Tottenham, who seemed quite comfortable in third place for much of the season.  The Gunners have been on fire for most of the latter part of the season, that is, until the last few weeks.

Arsenal are missing Mikel Arteta’s play-making abilities in the middle and to be fair, van Persie has not been scoring a goal a game as he usually does.  It isn’t fair to be dependant on their Captain to consistently bail out the team, but the players couldn’t have done it without him this season and it shows.

Ironically, van Persie did score today.  He smashed in his 30th goal of the season, equaling Henry’s record with the club.  It looked to be the game-winning goal in the 72nd minute as his run met Alex Song’s clever pass.  The Dutchman side-footed a volley across goalkeeper John Ruddy but the 3-2 lead didn’t last long.

Five minutes later, Norwich’s Steve Morison leveled the game.  And in the final minutes, the Gunner’s couldn’t get past Ruddy.  He made a fine close-range block, denying van Persie who was looking to tap in the ball at the far post.

During today’s match, there were questionable pushes and possible penalty kicks that should  have been awarded on both sides, but the result remains the same.  Now we cross our fingers for tomorrow’s matches, of which the one involving Spurs seems most threatening.

The Spurs have never finished above Arsenal in the league and have never qualified for Champions League.  It will be a rough day for Gunners and Gooners alike if the Spurs win tomorrow and take third place.

As “a Gunner til I die”, I never give up hope so we shall see.

Well it’s finally Thursday soccer fans!! One league title is pretty much wrapped up after yesterday’s games and MLS teams had an interesting midweek battle. Also, there’s an Italian manager in trouble for attacking a player and the USMNT adds another date to their friendlies this year. Here’s your Daily Kick Around!

La Liga

They’ve done it! Yesterday after their 3-0 win against Bilbao, Real Madrid – unofficially – could call themselves champions of La Liga. To say it’s been an easy road to get here would be an understatement. It’s the 32nd league title for the Spanish giants and our own Tamara Reinhart, hardcore Madridista, has the run down of the match and some very excited Real Madrid players.

Major League Soccer

What a night for midweek soccer! Have you heard of this San Jose team? If you haven’t, you need to get with the program! The Quakes are on FIRE this season, and they added another win to the tally last night as they notched 5 goals to D.C. United’s 3. The Seattle v. L.A. rivalry heated up last night too, with the Sounders finally coming out on the plus side against the defending MLS Cup champs; Eddie Johnson and Fredy Montero each hit the back of the net to finish off the Galaxy 2-0. New England and Colorado faced off last night too and it would be the Revs that would get the three points, beating the Rapids 2-1.

If you are wondering what in the heck is going on with this Simon Borg guy, check out my post from earlier this week about his remarks that MLS female “super fans” might be unappealing to the opposite sex. Fortunately, MLS responded to his remarks and suspended him for seven days. There’s been a lot of talk from both sides on this issue, and I’ll wrap up my opinion by saying this – diverse opinions and debate in the league is a good thing, it’s what you want. But to be diverse, you don’t have to lash out at half of your fan base. And just because Borg has a reputation for saying remarks such as the ones he uttered April 30 doesn’t make it right to let him continue.

English Premier League

Chelsea may be in the final of the Champion’s League, but they are definitely on the outside looking in when it comes to the EPL. Newcastle defeated the Blues Wednesday 2-0 and it’s quite possible Chelsea will finish below the fourth spot for the first time in 10 years. While it’s clear the club has something – they are in the CL finals after all – it looks like there is still a little struggling at Stamford Bridge.

Serie A

Fiorentina manager Delio Rossi landed in hot water with his club recently when he apparently went after one of his players and slapped him! During Fiorentina’s match with Novara, Rossi subbed out Serbian forward Adem Ljajic. When Ljajic complained about the substitution, Rossie physically attacked him for the remark. While the manager said he would apologize, the power that be at Fiorentina fired him. Can’t say I wouldn’t blame them.

U.S. Men’s National Team

If you are USMNT fan in the midwest, get excited! The team will be back in Columbus, FINALLY, taking on Jamaica Sept. 11 at Columbus Crew Stadium. As a USMNT fan and a Crew fan, I have to say, I’m really excited about this match up!

Canadian rivalry is taught at a young age.

It’s the weekend! For today’s DKA, we’ve got tons for you, from all the matches you’ll wanna catch this weekend, to the new Canadian rivalry in MLS and Newcastle United’s sudden run in EPL. Here’s your Daily Kick Around!

English Premier League

There are many that would be surprised to learn that Newcastle United  are fifth in the Premier League. Yup, that’s right. Their rise on the table is partly thanks to striker Papiss Demba Cisse, who has a total of nine goals. His brace this week help but Newcastle two points behind Tottenham.  Quite the feat!

Here are your list of EPL games this weekend!
Sunderland v. Tottenham
Norwich City v. Everton
Bolton v. Fulham
Chelsea v. Wigan
Liverpool v. Aston Villa
West Brom v. Blackburn
Stoke v. Wolves
Manchester United v. QPR
Arsenal v. Manchester City

Major League Soccer

The L.A. Galaxy have had a rough start to the season. But they’re hoping to turn the swing back in their favor this weekend against Sporting K.C. They’ll have a little help though in the return of captain Landon Donovan. However, they had to leave David Beckham back in LA. We’ll just have to see what having Donovan back can do for the Galaxy.

Everyone loves a good rivalry right? With the inclusion of Montreal in the fold of MLS teams now, it brings one timeless Canadian rivalry to the league: Toronto v. Montreal. Need to brush up on the battle of Canadian teams? Check out this article. And watch the two face off today at noon ET.

Need your MLS fix this weekend? Here’s the matches!
Montreal v. Toronto
Columbus v. New York
Sporting KC v. LA Galaxy
San Jose v. Vancouver
D.C. United v. Seattle
Real Salt Lake v. Colorado
Portland v. Chivas USA

La Liga

I heard an interesting argument yesterday on World Football Daily’s Friday broadcast. The topic was the question of which league in the world is the best, or sporting the best football. Usually you would hear replies of EPL immediately, or the German Bundesliga. However, this season the Spanish La Liga is boasting a pretty damn good season too. Especially with their teams dominating in European competition. The Bleacher Report takes an interesting look at La Liga, with the apt title “La Liga Proving That Spanish Football Is More Than Just a Pretty Face.” What do you think? EPL? La Liga? Bundesliga? Serie A? Let us know!

La Liga isn’t just popular in Spain or throughout Europe. It’s become pretty prominent in other continents as well, including Africa.

Serie A

AC Milan might still be a little shook up over their Champion’s League loss this week against Barcelona. But they will have some good news going into this weekend’s game, as Antonio Cassano, who suffered a stroke on a flight from Rome in October has been cleared fit and available for selection against Fiorentina.

Michael Bradley became the second American ever to score in Serie A as he notched the opening goal in Chievo Verona’s 3-2 win against Catania. Congrats to MB90!!

Italian and New York soccer legend Giorgio Chinaglia passed away today at the age of 65.

It’s been a busy weekend in the soccer world, and it’s not over yet. Today’s news runs the gamut from shocking to hilarious, sad to inspiring.

We’ve got an MLS roundup for you of all the action in this fourth week of the season, including several stunners in the Western Conference. A couple MLS teams revealed new alternate kits this week – one an homage to the past and the other a nod to the future. In more somber news, today we heard about the passing of an international soccer legend, Giorgio Chinaglia, at the age of 65.  And we learned about an illness that one U.S. Women’s National Team member has battled and kept secret for the last 10 years.

Giorgio Chinaglia

Sad news broke today for both Italian and American soccer fans with the passing of Giorgio Chinaglia, a legend with the Italian club Lazio and the North American Soccer League’s New York Cosmos, from “complications due to a heart attack.” Chinaglia was the NASL’s leading scorer with 242 goals, and remained involved with the club after its 2010 reincarnation. Here’s a terrific video montage of his career. R.I.P, Giorgio.

English Premier League

Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov is about to begin treatment for leukemia, but isn’t letting that discourage him. Petrov is taking inspiration from Fabrice Muamba, and has received incredible support from teammates and around the league.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina was booted from his team’s match against Newcastle United today, over a controversial call that he headbutted an opposing player. Reina could miss the club’s FA Cup semifinal vs Everton if the three game suspension stands. Newcastle won the match 2-0.

Major League Soccer

There were quite a few stunners in the Western Conference yesterday. On a rainy night in L.A., MLS Champions L.A. Galaxy couldn’t get anything going at home against the New England Revolution, who put up two goals inside the first 15 minutes, then added the dagger in the 65th minute to win 3-1.  Meanwhile, in Portland, the Timbers came back from halftime deficit to lead 2-1 by the 60th minute, only to let it slip away to Real Salt Lake for a 3-2 loss. You can see all the goals here. And finally, the San Jose Earthquakes defeated the Sounders in Seattle 1-0 behind a Chris Wondolowski converted penalty kick.

Meanwhile, in the Eastern Conference, it wasn’t so crazy. DC United and the New York Red Bulls rolled at home with United defeating Dallas 4-1 and New York cruising past  Montreal 5-2 behind a Thierry Henry hat trick. The Philadelphia Union are still winless after a scoreless tie with the Vancouver Whitecaps, and the Chicago Fire, who are undefeated (that’s not an April Fool’s joke) put their record on the line tonight against the Rapids.

FC Dallas revealed a new alternate jersey called the “Century Kit,” and it’s the first sleeveless jersey in MLS. The rationale behind a basketball jersey look on the soccer pitch?

“We wanted to be bold,” said FC Dallas president and CEO Doug Quinn. “This new jersey is exactly that and will help our players stay cool during the summer. It’s the best of both worlds.”

But Dallas isn’t the only one making a bold statement with their alternate kits in MLS, as the Portland TImbers are honoring the club’s history with a retro-style, environmentally-conscious new jersey:

 The Portland Timbers and adidas… unveiled the team’s official third uniform design for the 2012 season. The retro-inspired jersey is produced from 100 percent recycled materials and was designed and manufactured in Portland.

U.S. Women’s National Team

The U.S.A faced Japan today for the third time in the last nine months in the opening match of the Women’s Kirin Challenge Cup. The U.S. hoped to avenge losses to Japan in the World Cup Final and Algarve Cup, but managed only a 1-1 draw, struggling to maintain possession throughout much of the match. In case you weren’t up early enough to watch, we’ve got a full recap. You can also view highlights and post-game quotes from Pia Sundhage and the players, courtesy of ussoccer.com.

During halftime of the match, ESPN aired a piece about U.S. midfielder Shannon Boxx that shocked many with the news that in 2002 Boxx was diagoned with Sjögren’s Syndrome, and in 2007, lupus. Not wanting coaches or teammates to use this against her, Boxx kept her diagnois a secret for the better part of the last 10 years. Despite her illness, Boxx has hardly slowed down, maintaining her position as a stalwart, dependable presence in the U.S. central midfield through three World Cups and is heading into her second Olympics this year.

World Soccer

The news has been pretty heavy today, so here’s something a little more lighthearted. Poor FC Magdeburg. The German association football team hadn’t scored in five matches, so their fans wanted to make sure they knew where the goal actually was.

…just to make sure their players still knew where the ball should be kicked, Magdeburg fans brought oversized arrows to a game last weekend.

The also unfurled a banner behind the opposing team’s goal that translated roughly as, “Don’t worry, guys, we’ll show you where the goal is!”

Follow @AerysSoccer on Twitter for more reactions to all the weekend’s soccer news!

Robin van Persie's 26th league goal of the season was assisted by Tomas Rosicky.

Arsenal Gunners won another match this afternoon.  This time it was against Newcastle United.  It’s the North Londoners’ fifth consecutive league win and four of those five matches were played against top ten teams.

The Gunners are on quite a roll these days, even if some of their victories are last-gasp efforts.  It makes it all the more satisfying — especially considering Arsenal are not a come-from-behind or late goal-scoring team.

Tonight was one of those uncharacteristic outcomes that surely must have boosted the squad’s confidence post-match.

Arsenal dominated from the start, but Newcastle opened the scoring in the 14th minute due to poor Arsenal defending.   Central defender Thomas Vermaelen gave the ball away, giving Hatem Ben Arfa room to streak down the right and cut inside right-back Kieran Gibbs.  The French winger curved his left-footed strike towards the near post, beating goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

The hosts replied within one minute with a left-footed Robin van Persie blast.  Midfielder Tomas Rosicky created the play and passed to Theo Walcott who centered for the unstoppable striker.  Newcastle’s Mike Williamson went the wrong way as van Persie rocketed the ball past goalkeeper Tim Krul.  Robin van Persie has now scored 26 league goals for the season, continuing his most-goals dominance in the premiership.

Other Arsenal chances were missed in both halves, but Newcastle were outplayed the full 90 minutes.  The Magpies struggled to keep up with the quick pace of a well-focused Gunner squad and it showed.

‘Keeper Tim Krul took his time between goal kicks giving the impression that Newcastle were content to end the game in a tie, but Arsenal were not.   The stalling led to he and Robin van Persie getting into a brief altercation, especially after Vermaelen’s goal secured the win.

In the fifth and final minute of stoppage time, Thomas Vermaelen, whose mistake allowed the only Newcastle goal of the match, redeemed himself.  From close range, the Belgium defender tapped the ball in, sending the 60,000 fans into a frenzy.

The victory puts Arsenal within a single point of their fiercest rival, Tottenham, who have been holding on to the third place spot for much of the season.  Chelsea are now three points back from the last automatic Champions League position which Arsenal happily occupy.  COYG.

Stay with Aerys Soccer for all your Gunners coverage!

Swansea revel in victory over Arsenal.

Swansea City have developed their own reputation for a similar and equally attractive style of play.  Today, Swansea were able to play their game, which usually belongs to the Gunners, and snatch three points with a 3-2 win.

In their first top flight season since 1982-83, Swansea City gave a remarkable performance.  The Swans made about 100 more passes than Arsenal and dominated possession.  Plain and simple, the South Wales club outplayed Arsenal offensively and held strong defensively.

Within four minutes of the start, Robin van Persie, back from a break last weekend, made a welcome return.  The Dutchman put the Gunners ahead with a ferocious finish at close range and gave him his 18th goal of the season.

Swansea winger Scott Sinclair evened things up eleven minutes later from the penalty spot.  Nathan Dyer was already taking a stumble as Aaron Ramsey’s foot got caught in the fall.  It was a questionable decision, but the ref awarded a foul in the box, making it 1-1.

In the 57th minute, Nathan Dyer involved himself once again. The forward put his home side in front with a venomous strike from the edge of the area, making it 2-1.

Arsenal winger Theo Walcott equalized in the 69th minute but the Swans came back immediately when Danny Graham took advantage of some slack defending to hit a 70th-minute winner.

Three deserved points were awarded to Swansea after beating the Gunners 3-2.  This win gave Swansea their third of three matches in 2012, putting them in the number ten spot in the standings.  The loss leaves Arsenal four points behind fourth place Chelsea.

Queens Park Rangers 0 – Newcastle United 1

In the first match of the morning, Queens Park Rangers traveled to Sports Direct Arena to take on Newcastle United. The only goal of the match came in the 37th minute when Newcastle’s Leon Best found the back of the net, assisted by Ryan Taylor.

Despite QPR having lots of shots on goal, the Rangers just couldn’t seem to finish any of them. A total of nine shots on goal, but none
found the back of the net. The Rangers desperation for a goal showed; they also played a scrappy match, with four QPR players receiving yellow cards.

The loss was not the result bottom-dwelling QPR was hoping to get, as they struggle to stay out of the relegation zone. The win pulls
Newcastle even on points with Arsenal, as both teams sit just outside of the top four teams on the league table

Stick with Aerys Soccer for all your EPL coverage this season!