Seven more days, two more matches. All good.
We’ve earned €28 million for getting to the semi-final, which is more than the other three clubs have. It’s about time we got what we deserved.
In an attempt to make a few extra quid we’re charging £20 to watch England play at the Warehouse in the World Cup. Also in attendance will be Aston Villa and England legend Gabby Agbonlahor. Bargain.
The rest of the games moved for TV have been announced and in short, they’ve all been.
One game on TV that was never going to have viewers on edge of their seats was the formality of beating Bologna again. Three-one up from the first leg and there was never any chance of letting that slip no matter how worried we were before kick-off. The team was at full strength, injuries permitting, and their attitude was totally professional.
The first goal was sublime, a twelve-pass moved finished off by Ollie Watkins for his hundredth goal. Then we got a penalty, missed it and Emiliano Buendia scored, all within the space of the same attack. Morgan Rogers got another and that was it for the first half. There wasn’t a lot more after the break with the tie won and no point doing any more than we have to. It might have cost a fortune to get in but there were no real complaints about the most expensive training session of all time. Ezri Konsa scored our fourth and nobody got injured.
We’ll be playing Nottingham Forest, which will probably take longer to get to than Bologna. The other semi will be Freiburg v Sporting Braga.
We’re apparently having the grand total of 1,048 tickets at Forest. That’s the number going to the ordinary supporters; the posh seats might well have a few more. But well done Villa for dropping the prices for trhe second leg.
The latest teams interested in Morgan Rogers are Bayern Munich and Spurs, although whether he’ll be able to do it on a Wednesday night in Lincoln is open to question. Real Madrid are after Unai again.
Carney Chukwuemeka played ninety minutes for Borussia Dortmund. It was the first time he’s managed it in his career. He’s played in 104 matches.
Sunderland were the sacrificial victims on Sunday. Ollie got some serious appreciation for his hundred goals and scored another couple by way of thanks although they scored in between. No worries, though, because Morgan Rogers scored right after the restart; having him back on form is another good sign for the rest of the season. We could have got another couple although it didn’t seem too serious because yet again we were doing just enough to stay in control.
The idea of bringing substitutes on was supposed to be about conserving energy and bringing on fresh legs. It really shouldn’t be a way of bringing a bit of excitement into the match. They scored, then they scored again and they should have scored another except for Emiliano Martinez doing his usual then Tammy Abraham getting the winner in the 94th minute. It made the end a bit more interesting and we’re getting closer.
