Extra Time Heartbreak
FA Cup 2020/21, 5th round proper: Manchester Utd 1 West Ham Utd 0
after extra time
Manchester United nach Zitterpartie im FA Cup weiter
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/55951207:
It was another disappointing Old Trafford night for former Manchester United manager David Moyes.
Other than during his own ill-fated eight months in charge, it is a ground he has never won at, either with Everton, Sunderland or West Ham.
Before kick-off, the Scot had a good chat with current boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and doubtless wished he had been granted the same time afforded to the Norwegian, who is attempting to win a trophy after losing four successive semi-finals.
Moyes’ hopes of stopping the hosts in their tracks were badly affected by injuries that now threaten to derail what so far has been an excellent season.
The sight of Angelo Ogbonna hobbling down the tunnel with his left boot removed, after being stood on by Martial, did not look great, and the manner of Diop‘s exit with a concussion suggests Moyes will be without two central defenders for Monday’s encounter with Sheffield United.
With their only orthodox striker, Michail Antonio, also missing, West Ham never really gained any momentum and were not helped by yet another injury – this time to Antonio’s replacement Andriy Yarmolenko – early in the second half.
Said Benrahma had the Hammers’ only effort on target, but even if he had beaten Dean Henderson with a close-range header at the end of extra time, it would almost certainly have been disallowed for offside. (BBC)
David Moyes back to Manchester
On Tuesday night West Ham manager David Moyes returns to Old Trafford for the Hammers’ FA Cup 5th round tie against Manchester United. It was at Old Trafford where the Scot endured an ill-fated eight-month stint as Alex Ferguson’s chosen successor in 2013-14. If his team could proceed to the quarter final of the FA Cup with a win at Old Trafford he could finally leave behind these times of failure and even more restore his reputation.
West Ham have vastly improved under David Moyes since he came back to the Hammers last season and saved them from relegation for a second time within three years. They are now fifth in the Premier League table and could have been fourth if they had won at Craven Cottage instead of drawing 0-0 with relegation strugglers Fulham on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Though West Ham’s supporters can console themselves with the knowledge that ttheir team have their highest points tally after 23 games since 1986 – and have now matched the 39 they accumulated in the whole of last season. Moyes deserves much of the credit for this.
Maybe West Ham played more “the West Ham way” in Manuel Pellegrini’s first season, but in the end it didn’t work out and the Irons found themselves in a relegation battle in Pellegrini’s second year. Pellegrini was replaced by his predecessor when everything went wrong in his second season, and now it’s David Moyes who tries to change the “West Ham way” of underachieving and blowing bubbles that burst too quickly.
When Moyes’s contract runs out at the end of the season, it is regarded as a given that an extension will be agreed. If the Scot could beat the club where so much went wrong for him some years ago and reach the quarterfinal of the FA Cup that would finally restore his reputation and also would convince some of the West Ham faithful who are still not all in Moyes’s camp.
Come on you Irons!
Alpha in Vienna
Ab dem 25. Februar findet immer am Donnerstagabend ab 18:30 Uhr ein Alpha Kurs über Grundfragen des Glaubens im ICF-Wien in der Lerchenfelder Straße 35 statt.
Der Alpha Kurs ist eine Abfolge von mehreren Abenden, bei denen in zwangloser Atmosphäre wichtige Fragen des Lebens und des christlichen Glaubens behandelt werden. Die wöchentlichen Treffen, die an den Donnerstagen bis Ostern stattfinden, beginnen üblicherweise mit einem gemeinsamen Imbiss. Darauf folgt ein Film mit einem Input und anschließend tauschen sich die Teilnehmer unter dem Motto „Und was sagst du dazu?“ aus.
In den Filmen hören wir immer wieder Nicky Gumbel, den Vikar von Holy Trinity Brompton (London) und Pionier von Alpha. Auch sein trockener britischer Humor macht diese Filme sehenswert. Besonders ist es aber die gelungene Mischung von Information und dem deutlich hervorleuchtenden Ziel, dass jeder Teilnehmer eine persönliche Beziehung zu Jesus aufbaut und vertieft, was mich am Alpha Kurs fasziniert.
Anmeldung: https://www.icf-wien.at/de/angebote/alpha/
Austria vaccinated only 2,65% so far
The vaccination rate of the UK is 16,9%, miles ahead of the EU’s figures (above).
Austria is even more behind with only 2,65 people out of 100 vaccinated so far. Only 6 of the 27 EU member states have a lower rate than Austria.
The UK’s much quicker authorisation and roll-out of vaccines could be seen as a vindication of Brexit and a strong argument against the power of the EU at least in the sector of health care.
West Ham Win Away at Villa
That could hardly have gone any better! West Ham immediately bounced back from their disappointing defeat against Liverpool last Sunday and won 3:1 at Villa Park on Wednesday night.
West Ham gave a superb display from back to front and were rewarded with all three points. Loan signing Jesse Lingard (above) was man of the match and really brought quality in to the team.
Tomas Soucek got us going six minutes after the break, before Jesse Lingard (28), on loan from Manchester United since January, took over with a debut double. With Lingard West Ham had a “Grealish” of it’s own.
And Villa’s Jack Grealish got two “securities” on “his” left side of the park, a perfect move from West Ham manager David Moyes.
West Ham remain fifth, two points behind fourth-placed Liverpool who lost 1-0 at home to Brighton, while Villa stay ninth, six points behind the Hammers.
Best season since 1986
The win on Wednesday gave West Ham 38 points, their highest tally after 22 matches of a top-flight season since 1985-86.
The Hammers have won three consecutive away league matches for the first time since December 2018 and have already beaten last season’s total of 10 Premier League victories with their eleventh win last night! A brilliant season so far – exceeding all our expectations!
In David Moyes we trust!
O Captain, our Captain!
In the 1989 movie “The Dead Poets Society“ by Peter Weir, the poem “O Captain, my captain“ by Walt Whitman is referred to several times. The poem was written in 1865 about the death of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. In Weir’s movie it is the respectful address of the club’s students for the popular English teacher John Keating (Robin Williams). When Keating is fired and returns to collect his belongings, the students stand on their desks and address Keating as “O Captain! My Captain!”
Now the first line of it was used by a commentator in The Telegraph by telling us about the death of 100 year old Captain Tom Moore. The WWII veteran had raised almost 40m Pounds for the NHS in spring by walking 100 laps in his garden in Bedfordshire.
Captain Sir Tom Moore rallied the nation’s morale at a low moment during the spread of coronavirus. He wasn’t a knight then, of course. “One small soul like me won’t make much difference,” he said as he set out to do 100 laps of his garden in the days before his 100th birthday. He did it, and he raised more than £32 million. It was not the money that made him lovable, but straightforward decency. This was a man who loved restoring fast motorbikes, and then did his duty as a despatch rider in Burma in the war. Duty meant risking his life. And what could have been more moving than to see the Queen knight him with her father’s sword? She knew well what duty meant. It was no irony that he succumbed to the virus against which he had found something noble to do. That is the hero’s way.
Remarkable Captain Tom was the very best of us (The Telegraph)
West Ham Still Number One…
The Hammers are still number one of the six London Premier League clubs. Despite their disappointing defeat to Liverpool (1:3) on a rainy Sunday afternoon, they remain fifth in the table, in front of Tottenham, because Spurs were beaten in the evening game by Brighton and have now lost twice in a row. In contrast, FC Liverpool have now taken six points within four days from their last games in London against Spurs and West Ham and have moved up to third in the table.
After West Ham’s six wins in January so far, I had hoped for a better result, remembering a 3:1 win over Liverpool back in 2014 which I have witnessed myself in London at Upton Park. Sam Allardyce was West Ham’s manager then, and the Reds were coached by current Leicester manager Brendan Rogers.
Well, it was a 3:1 again – but it was Liverpool that scored three goals (two of them coming from man of the match Mohamed Salah) and West Ham’s Craig Dawson could only add a consolation when the score was already 3:0. West Ham manager David Moyes had decided to approach this game with a very defensive strategy which worked in the first half, but West Ham really never looked like they truly believed they could extend their run of six straight wins in all competitions against the reigning champions.
Chelsea with their new coach Thomas Tuchel also played on Sunday. Their lunchtime kick-off game brought the first win for their new manager with a 2:0 win over Burnley. The Blues are sixth, level on points with Tottenham and two points behind West Ham.
On Saturday Crystal Palace beat Wolves, and Arsenal and Fulham drew their respective games. Arsenal are tenth, the Eagles moved up to thirteenth and Fulham with manager Scott Parker remain in the bottom three after a 2:2 draw with fellow strugglers West Brom. Albion have replaced manager Slaven Bilic with Sam Allardyce to little effect so far and are 9 points from safety. The Cottagers are 7 points behind Brighton in 17th.
In the Championship London club Brentford which had been beaten by Fulham in the 2020 play-off final is again chasing promotion and sit third in the Championship table after trashing Wycombe 7:2 this weekend.
West Ham v Liverpool 1:3 (0:0)
Match report (BBC): www.bbc.com/sport/football/55769215
2021: Played 6, won 6
West Ham’s superb run continues: the Hammers beat Crystal Palace 3-2 away on Tuesday evening and have now won all of their six games in 2021.
On Sunday Liverpool will come to the London Stadium for West Ham’s last game of January.
For tonight the Hammers, that were a joy to watch in this game which will live in the memory of what’s become a seriously memorable season, are fourth of the Premier League table. They have leapfrogged last season’s champions and their London rivals Tottenham and will stay ahead of them until Thursday when these two clubs meet at Spurs:
Goals: www.whufc.com/news/articles/2021/january/26-january/goals-crystal-palace-2-3-west-ham-united
Extended Highlights: Extended Highlights: Crystal Palace 2-3 West Ham United | West Ham United (whufc.com)
Don‘t want to know about…
… the worst case scenario. The best case scenario says that lockdown will end in spring. The Times tells us when lockdown could be finished.
Glastonbury may be off but Wimbledon, Glyndebourne and other staples of the British summer could be back on — albeit with social distancing. Then, with luck, by the autumn — perhaps even after two weeks in a Covid-approved destination — we will all be vaccinated. In the best case, look forward to strawberries and cream. Just don’t share a spoon.
Third Lockdown Extended
EXTRA TIME 
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