Scott Murray's Blog, page 118

Hearts 1-2 Celtic: 2019 Scottish Cup final – as it happened

Hearts put in a shift and took the lead at Hampden, but Odsonne Edouard scored twice as Celtic bounced back to secure the treble Treble

5.38pm BST

And that brings this MBM to a close. Commiserations to Hearts - who put so much into this final, but whose seven-year wait for silverware goes on - and to their boss Craig Levein, still to win a trophy in his 38-year professional career. So close but yet so far. But congratulations to Celtic, who simply can’t stop winning trophies: that’s nine major Scottish competitions in a row now ... an unprecedented treble Treble! It’s one heck of an achievement, and one that’ll no doubt be toasted with the odd treble nippy sweetie in the east end of Glasgow tonight. Sláinte! A quadruple treble next year? You wouldn’t bet against it, the way they’ve been carrying on of late. Thanks for reading this MBM; enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Related: Celtic win the treble treble as Édouard’s double beats Hearts

5.31pm BST

Here’s a very dejected Craig Levein, whose pauses for so long between sentences that viewers just tuning in to BBC Scotland could be forgiven for thinking they’ve stumbled across the transmission of a Harold Pinter play. “It was competitive. We tried as hard as we could to win the match. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to do that, either for ourselves or for our supporters. We played the same way as we played at Celtic Park last week. And it did work, we frustrated Celtic for long periods and broke quickly when we regained possession. But we’re playing a good side and we did lose moments of concentration. You could count them on one hand, but that’s what cost us. ”

5.19pm BST

Report’s in! Alan Campbell was our man witnessing history at Hampden Park this afternoon. Here’s his take on events!

Related: Celtic win the treble treble as Édouard’s double beats Hearts

5.13pm BST

A treble treble, though! Lennon’s right, we’ll not be seeing this sort of thing again any time soon. Next on Celtic’s wish-list: the completion of a nine-in-a-row title sequence for the second time in the club’s long and storied history. No biggie.

5.11pm BST

The prize-giving ceremony. It’s pleasingly quick. No faffing around, as Hearts go up to collect their runners-up medals, poor old Craig Levein still pot-free. Then Celtic go up and lift their cup. Captain Scott Brown shares the job with Mikael Lustig ... some reward for the defender, whose long header upfield it was that sent Odsonne Edouard clean through for the winner! The cup’s hoisted by the entire team - yay, yay, yay for each member - but particularly big cheers for the two-goal hero Edouard, the unused 16-year-old sub Karamoko Dembele, and of course the manager Neil Lennon, who teases the crowd by holding back for a beat before lifting the famous trophy into the Glasgow sky!

5.06pm BST

And here’s the caretaker manager Neil Lennon. “It’s emotional. It’s probably the most emotional I’ve ever felt at this club. You’ll never see this again. It’s all about them. I hadf to whip them a bit at half-time because we didn’t turn up in the first half. And then ... we said if Hearts score, we’d come again. And we needed Hearts to score to get our energy levels up. And the response from then on was brilliant. I said Hearts wouldn’t let us off easy, and it was a very good final. Edouard is a superstar now. That’s nine trophies out of nine. It is remarkable. They have done the club so proud.” So will he get the job full time? “It’s a bit too early to start talking about that, it’s not about me.”

5.02pm BST

Now a word with Celtic’s two-goal match-winning hero Odsonne Edouard! “I am very happy to score today. But more important is the team.” Was he nervous when taking the penalty? “No. I am not nervous. I am never nervous! When I take the penalty, I know I score the penalty! It is a very good atmosphere today. With the fans, I win the treble one more time, and I am very happy for this.”

5.00pm BST

Neil Lennon crumples to the floor, on the verge of tears, before gathering himself and racing down the touchline in celebration. Uche Ikpeazu and Scott Brown briefly go nose to nose, in a full and frank exchange of views, but it all seems to quieten down quickly enough. Brown then talks to BBC Scotland: “It’s phenomenal. Hearts gave us a great game. But our quality, yet again! For the fans it’s phenomenal. And that’s people saying we’ve had a poor season! We’ve done the treble yet again, the third one in a row, and now we push on next season. If we turn up, we win the game.”

4.55pm BST

Half a chance for Hickey to hit one from the edge of the box. But he hesitates, is closed down, and the whistle goes! Celtic have won the 2019 Scottish Cup! It’s their third Scottish Cup in a row ... their ninth domestic trophy in a row ... and along with the league and League Cup, it means they’ve won the treble Treble!

4.53pm BST

90 min +4: Ikpeazu, to the right of the D, turns on a sixpence but can’t get a shot away. Celtic clear. Hearts come back at them. Hickey curls in from the right and Berra wins a header, but in looking for the top right of the goal, can only find the top right of the stand.

4.52pm BST

90 min +3: Another minute passes. Hearts can’t keep hold of possession. Celtic are 120 seconds away from yet another Treble!

4.51pm BST

90 min +2: Hearts have thrown everyone forward. Mulraney whips in high from the right. Berra goes up with Bain at the far post, and clumps the keeper upside the head. Bain needs no second invitation: down he goes for treatment, and the clock ticks on in Celtic’s favour.

4.50pm BST

90 min +1: Bain is booked for time-wasting. It’s only the two keepers who have been booked this afternoon. When did that last happen in a match, never mind a cup final?

4.49pm BST

90 min: Celtic play the corner short but give up possession quickly. Hearts hoick the ball upfield, but lose it in the midfield. A throw for Celtic, which becomes a big production, but who can blame them? There will be five added minutes. Can Hearts salvage their Scottish Cup dream?

4.48pm BST

89 min: Before the corner can be taken, Hayes is replaced by Bitton. Celtic take their own sweet time over the substitution in the classic game-management style.

4.47pm BST

88 min: Hearts are throwing everything at this, desperation having kicked in since going behind. Ikpeazu is shoved over by Brown, giving Hearts another chance to load the box. The free kick leads to a game of head tennis, but Celtic eventually clear and Sinclair zips down the left, cutting inside and sending a low shot that’s deflected out for a corner.

4.45pm BST

86 min: Mulreaney curls a delicious hanging cross in from the left. Ikpeazu rises on the penalty spot but he’s crowded out of it by three Celtic defenders and can’t connect. The ball sails out harmlessly for a goal kick.

4.44pm BST

85 min: The free kick, just to the right of the Celtic box, is whipped in. Berra sends an unconvincing header goalwards. There’s no real danger, but Bain takes no chances and tips over. Nothing comes of the resulting set piece, though.

4.43pm BST

84 min: Hearts come back at Celtic. Djoum finds a bit of space down the right and is bowled over by Sinclair from behind. That’s clumsy and a chance for Hearts to hit back immediately.

4.42pm BST

But this match might not be going to extra time! Out of nothing, Edouard is sent clear down the middle! A long Lustig header isn’t cleared by Berra, who hesitates fatally. The ball flies through to the striker, who draws Zlamal and whips a shot past the keeper and into the net from the edge of the box! Out of absolutely nothing!

4.40pm BST

81 min: Hearts use up their last substitute. Haring makes way for Bozanic. They’ll get one more if this match goes to extra time, though.

4.39pm BST

79 min: Here comes the big man! Hearts replace Maclean with Uche Ikpeazu. He wasn’t deemed fit enough to start ... but is he fit enough to make a telling contribution to this cup final?

4.37pm BST

78 min: McGregor trundles a cross down the corridor of uncertainty from the left. It’s just a yard ahead of Forrest and Edouard in the centre, who can’t bundle home. So close to the perfect cross.

4.36pm BST

77 min: This is being played at 110mph now, and passes aren’t sticking. Both sides are betraying some nerves, as they arrive at the business end of this final. The tension at Hampden is palpable.

4.33pm BST

75 min: Hearts make their first switch, replacing Clare with Wighton.

4.33pm BST

74 min: Hayes whips a lovely cross into the mixer from the left, but with plenty of green-and-white shirts lurking, Souttar rises to blam a header clear. Fine play all round.

4.30pm BST

72 min: And now Celtic make their second change. Johnston - who scored twice against Hearts last weekend, but has been quiet today - makes way for Sinclair.

4.29pm BST

70 min: The first change of the afternoon. Celtic, who haven’t been able to establish their usual dominance in midfield, replace Rogic with Ntcham.

4.27pm BST

68 min: Haring meets the corner, free, eight yards out. He’s got to work Bain at the very least, but powers his header well over the bar. A glorious chance for Hearts wasted.

4.26pm BST

67 min: Maclean wins a long ball on the edge of the Celtic box, but Clare can’t get onto the knockdown. But Celtic can only half-clear, and Clare is soon winning a corner down the right off Simunovic.

4.24pm BST

65 min: Djoum is booked for a fairly agricultural block on Hayes.

4.23pm BST

64 min: That’s a fine response by Celtic, who came straight back at Hearts from the moment they fell behind. Hampden is bouncing as a result. Both teams will think they can go on to win this now.

4.21pm BST

Edouard whips the penalty into the bottom left. Zlamal guessed correctly, and got a good hand to the ball, but didn’t keep it out. He probably should have done better, though Edourard will argue that he got enough power on his kick anyway. Whatever: Celtic have drawn level in short order!

4.20pm BST

61 min: Edouard bursts into the Celtic box on the left! Zlamal comes out rashly, and takes the striker out with a slide tackle! The referee points at the spot. Zlamal is then booked for wasting time as Edouard waits to take the spot kick.

4.19pm BST

59 min: A free kick for Celtic out on the right. The champions load the box. McGregor flies it over everyone and out on the left for a goal kick.

4.18pm BST

57 min: Celtic have a job on their hands now. Hearts have won their last three Scottish Cup finals. And only one team since 2004 has lost a Scottish Cup final after scoring first. On the plus side for Celtic, that was Aberdeen two years ago, and the Hoops were the beneficiaries. Brown dribbles into the Hearts box from the right and pulls back for Edouard, who can’t connect. The ball deflects off Rogic and harmlessly through to Zlamal.

4.15pm BST

55 min: That was a fine goal, a mixture of sassy and scrappy. Hickey’s pass in from the left to Djoum, as he burst through a couple of Celtic players, was exquisite. Djoum did so well to make himself some space for a shot, even if what resulted wasn’t too great. But Clare’s sense of what was around him was magnificent, and Edwards forced his opportunity home with great feeling. The Hearts faithful are giving it plenty.

4.13pm BST

They’re not groaning now! Hickey, just 16, bursts in from the left. He lays off to Djoum, who drops a shoulder to the left of the D. A shanked shot ends up with Clare on the penalty spot. Clare is surrounded, but notices Edwards behind him, so backheels ... and Edwards slams home from ten yards! Hampden erupts!

4.11pm BST

51 min: Some space for Smith to attack down the right ... but he’s forced to check back and the ball ends up at the feet of Zlamal in the Hearts goal. Their fans groan in great frustration.

4.09pm BST

49 min: Then Celtic break upfield, and Hayes again pops up, this time firing a long-distance shot over the bar from distance.

4.08pm BST

48 min: This is gloriously open. It’s as though both managers have released the handbrake at half-time, telling their players to go for it. Mulraney makes good down the left and crosses; with three Hearts men in the middle, Hayes does very well to win the header and clear.

4.07pm BST

47 min: Hearts go up the other end. Some more pinball, and for a second it looks as though the ball will find its way to Clare, alone in an absurd amount of space on the edge of the Celtic box. Celtic are able to clear, though.

4.06pm BST

Here come the teams again! Celtic are sent out early, forced to wait until Hearts deign to turn up. Neither manager has made a half-time change. The Jambos get the second half underway, but Celtic are soon enough on the attack. Hayes crosses from the left. The ball nearly finds Edouard six yards out, but Souttar has it at his feet. He’s not exactly sure what to do with it, though, facing his own goal. He’s lucky to see his eventual hack away pinball off Rogic and out for a goal kick.

3.56pm BST

Half-time entertainment ... in lieu of goals at Hampden.

3.48pm BST

The whistle goes for half time. Neither goalkeeper has had any serious work to do. Hearts will be a lot happier with this state of affairs than Celtic. Neil Lennon stomps off down the tunnel, perhaps with a view to delivering a full and frank team-talk. Craig Levein will presumably ask his troops for more of the same; their gameplan is working well.

3.46pm BST

44 min: And then Smith makes himself busy down the right, earning a corner. From the set piece, Smith earns a throw, which is flung into the mixer. The danger to Celtic, such as it is, ends when Berra shapes to shoot but slips, allowing the ball to be blootered clear.

3.45pm BST

42 min: Hearts are keeping Celtic pretty quiet. The game is similarly subdued.

3.43pm BST

40 min: A minute’s applause by the Hearts fans in tribute to fan Alex Currie, who died aged just 39 after suffering a stroke while watching his son playing football. A lovely tribute. Incidentally, Celtic are wearing 5 and 9 on their shorts, in memory of departed legends Billy McNeill and Stevie Chalmers, who wore those numbers in the 1967 European Cup final.

3.40pm BST

38 min: Hickey continues to patrol the left flank in a progressive manner. He nearly releases Mulraney down the wing, but the pass doesn’t quite come off. He’s looked scarily accomplished going forward for such a young player.

3.38pm BST

36 min: The game continues in a bitty, fractured manner. Hearts are quite happy to pootle along. Celtic are getting a little agitated, trying to force it whenever they get the ball and giving up possession hastily. It’s not much of a spectacle at the moment.

3.37pm BST

34 min: Simunovic bowls Mulraney over near the centre circle. Another opportunity for Hearts to gather themselves and reduce the overall temperature. It takes a good while for them to take the free kick. On the touchline, Neil Lennon wears a furrowed brow. It’s not quite going to plan, Celtic unable to play the game at their own pace.

3.34pm BST

32 min: A long throw by Smith from the right. A little bit of head tennis in the Celtic area ends when Clare weakly eyebrows an effort into the arms of Bain. Hearts will be pretty pleased with the way this has gone so far, on balance.

3.33pm BST

31 min: Hearts take a little bit of the sting from the game, faffing around over a throw. Smart game-management, given the way the last ten minutes have panned out.

3.32pm BST

29 min: Forrest drives down the Celtic right but loses possession. The ball’s quickly whipped back upfield, Mulraney charging along the Hearts left. He crosses, and Ajer doesn’t deal with it in a particularly convincing fashion. Maclean gets a head to the loose ball, but there’s neither power nor direction to his header and Bain claims with a yawn.

3.29pm BST

28 min: Now Forrest probes down the right and crosses. Souttar heads this one away. Hearts are hanging on a bit.

3.29pm BST

27 min: Hayes once again makes good down the left. His long, deep cross finds Forrest, just inside the box on the right. He tries to cleverly guide a curler into the bottom left, but Souttar hoicks clear.

3.28pm BST

26 min: A cute McGregor backheel releases Hayes down the left. A low, hard cross nearly finds Edouard coming in at the near post, but Berra is positioned well and slams clear just in time.

3.27pm BST

25 min: Celtic are beginning to ask serious questions now. Forrest nearly breaks clear again down the right but is ushered out of play. So much for that move, but there’s a real sense that Celtic have moved up through the gears.

3.26pm BST

23 min: A let-off for Hearts here, as Johnston dinks a pass down the inside-left channel for Edouard. He’s clear! His attempted chip over Zlamal is clawed away, but as the ball breaks loose, the flag goes up for offside. That didn’t look a great decision, with the inexperienced Hickey playing Edouard onside from the left-back position. But Hearts breathe again.

3.24pm BST

21 min: Celtic haven’t been on the rack, exactly, but they’ve been pressed back. Suddenly they break, though, McGregor sending Rogic into acres of space down the right. Rogic shuttles the ball further down the channel to Edouard, who enters the box and shoots. But Berra blocks it for a corner, from which nothing occurs. A reminder to Hearts, though, that Celtic can spring into action in short order, and committing too many men upfield is always asking for trouble.

3.22pm BST

19 min: Hearts are disrupting Celtic’s flow right now, pressing and harrying. On a couple of occasions already, Bain has been panicked into sending clearances out of play. Most un-Celtic. At the moment, a Hearts shock is no pipe dream. Could it be a first career trinket for their boss? “Craig Levein was manager of Dundee United in 2009-10 when the tangerines won their second Scottish Cup, but left halfway through the season to take the Scotland job,” writes Simon McMahon. “Assistant Peter Houston (reluctantly) took over at Tannadice and led United to Scottish Cup glory at Hampden. Still, I’m sure the thrill of a last minute winner against Liechtenstein, and a 0-0 draw in Lithuania more than made up for it, eh?”

3.19pm BST

17 min: A Smith hoick into the Celtic box from the right causes some momentary bother. Celtic deal with it, but only after a fashion. Hearts are flinging in the crosses from both flanks, and asking a few questions of the champions. It’s a decent start.

3.18pm BST

16 min: Hickey’s confidence is growing. First he has a shot from distance that’s smothered by Bain. Then when the keeper slams a kick upfield, Hickey traps with his back to goal and turns away from the attention of Forrest in one smooth movement, clearing upfield. He’s 16!

3.17pm BST

15 min: Hickey’s well up the field again. He slips a pass down the left flank for Mulraney, who hooks a delicious hanging cross into the area. Haring goes up for it, but Hayes does extremely well to rise above the Hearts man and head clear.

3.15pm BST

13 min: Celtic knock it around the back again. Patient stuff. Eventually the ball’s worked left to McGregor, but he can’t find Johnston with a through-ball down the channel. Zlamal gathers. A quiet period of play, but Hampden continues to rock.

3.12pm BST

11 min: It’s a nice, open, end-to-end start. The 16-year-old Hickey, betraying no nerves, progresses down the left. He flicks the ball to Mulraney, who reaches the byline and whips low into the box. Simunovic does very well to hook clear while under pressure from Maclean.

3.10pm BST

9 min: One corner leads to another, and the second comes to nothing. Zlamal claims easily enough.

3.09pm BST

8 min: Forrest, standing still, suddenly turns on the jets and nearly burns his way past Souttar on the right. He’s forced to settle for a corner, but was so close to getting away there.

3.08pm BST

6 min: Celtic suddenly spring into life, and Johnston and Hayes work well down the left. Hayes fizzes a low cross into the mixer, forcing Souttar, facing his own goal, to slam the ball behind, wide left of goal, just, for a corner. The resulting set piece comes to nothing, but hearts were in Hearts mouths for a second there.

3.07pm BST

4 min: There were quite a few fireworks, flames and smoke bombs during the pre-match show. The smoke is only just clearing. Fans having a good old squint to see what the hell’s going on. Why do the authorities bother with all this pre-match nonsense? Is there a fan living anywhere, one fan, who enjoys or actively wants it?

3.04pm BST

2 min: Clare and Djoum combine well down the left. Eventually the ball’s whipped into the middle. Edwards has made a run from deep, and connects 12 yards out, but the ball flies harmlessly wide left. Early promise for the underdogs.

3.02pm BST

And we’re off! Celtic get proceedings underway, and stroke it around the back for a bit. All a bit overly hectic in the early exchanges, as the rain falls in the Scottish style.

3.01pm BST

The teams are out! It’s a dreich day at Hampden. No summer sun for the cup final. But that’s not put the dampeners on the atmosphere. The champions will sport their storied green and white hoops, but for the pre-match pleasantries they’re wearing white tracksuit tops emblazoned with the names of club legends Billy McNeill and Stevie Chalmers, the captain and match-winner of the Lisbon Lions, who both passed recently. Hearts will be in their equally famous maroon. Meanwhile, jings, crivens, help ma boab, here’s

Maw Broon
Luke Forrester. “With John ‘Soapy’ Souttar in defence, it’s a bit of surprise that Hearts haven’t fielded the rest of their strongest formation, which would be Fat Bob in goal, Wee Eck as wing-back and Oor Wullie hi’self as the number 10.” We’ll be off in a minute.

2.52pm BST

Should Celtic hold onto the famous old trophy this afternoon, it’ll be the 39th time they’ll have won the competition. They’re already well clear of Rangers. Hearts would be lifting the cup for the ninth time, and that would nudge them closer to Victorian amateur sensations Queen’s Park.

38: Celtic
33: Rangers
10: Queen’s Park
8: Heart of Midlothian
7: Aberdeen
3: Vale of Leven, Clyde, St Mirren, Kilmarnock, Hibernian
2: Renton, Third Lanark, Falkirk, Dunfermline Athletic, Motherwell, Dundee United
1: Dumbarton, St Bernard’s, Dundee, Partick Thistle, Greenock Morton, Airdrieonians, East Fife, St Johnstone, Inverness Caledonian Thistle

2.40pm BST

And now it’s Neil Lennon’s turn. “I think this is a great place to be, on the cusp of something very special. So the players need to forget about what comes afterwards, and enjoy the game. Obviously it’s a great occasion but we have to play.” Was Kieran Tierney close to fitness? “Yes and no. He felt OK, but the longer the session went on he began to struggle. So it’s a real shame for him because he’s given us everything again. He’s an important player obviously, but we’ve got a great deputy in Johnny Hayes to fill in. Mikey Johnston is a great talent and he showed all his talent last week. We want him to do that again. He’s a goal threat, he can break the lines, and he’s got good pace about him.” And will young Dembele get a run-out if things are going well? “We’re not here for sentiment, we’re here to win a cup final. But we’ll see how the game goes.”

2.28pm BST

Hearts boss Craig Levein speaks. “Aaron Hickey has had a really good season, culminating in coming off the bench against Aberdeen and then starting at Celtic Park last week. In both of those games he was unflappable and I was really impressed by his composure. There’s no doubt he’s in the team because Ben Garuccio is injured - he’s probably out until November and obviously we’re desperately disappointed for Ben - but when one door closes another opens, and Aaron has an opportunity. Uche Ikpeazu is injury free, but he’s not done a lot of training. And the way he plays the game is 100 miles an hour from the moment he puts his foot on the grass! So I didn’t want to have him in the team, see him do well, then have to take him off after 45 minutes or so. I think he’ll have a bigger impact coming off the bench, but we shall see. The incentive for us is to win a trophy. Whether that stops Celtic or not is irrelevant. The intention today is to go home to Edinburgh with the cup.”

2.15pm BST

A tale of two 16-year-olds here at Hampden today. Hearts name Aaron Hickey at left-back; he’ll be up against the Scottish player of the year James Forrest. Meanwhile on the Celtic bench: young Karamoko Dembele. The diminutive winger - he’s only five foot three - made his debut for the Hoops last weekend in the league against Hearts, so he’s already picked up one title-winners’ medal. By contrast, Hearts manager Craig Levein, in the game since 1981, hasn’t won a single piece of silverware in his entire career, either as a player or manager. Life’s not meant to be fair, is it.

2.06pm BST

Hearts: Zlamal, Michael Smith, Souttar, Berra, Hickey, Haring, Djoum, Edwards, Clare, MacLean, Mulraney.
Subs: Shaughnessy, Bozanic, Doyle, Wighton, Ikpeazu, Cochrane, Burns.

Celtic: Bain, Lustig, Simunovic, Ajer, Hayes, Brown, McGregor, Forrest, Rogic, Johnston, Edouard.
Subs: Toljan, Bitton, Sinclair, Ntcham, De Vries, Benkovic, Dembele.

1.10pm BST

Heart of Midlothian and Celtic last met each other in the Scottish Cup final 63 years ago. Celtic sent out an unfamiliar team at Hampden Park that day in April 1956, without the injured Jock Stein and Bobby Collins. Hearts by contrast were in fine fettle, and could name the famous attacking Terrible Trio of Alfie Conn, Willie Bauld and Jimmy Wardhaugh, plus Dave Mackay at the back, middle and everywhere, and the Golden Vision of Alex Young on the wing. They ran out easy 3-1 winners, Ian Crawford scoring two and Conn the third, and were paraded around Edinburgh on an open-top Scottish Omnibus emblazoned with the bespoke logo Hearts Are Trumps.

And Hearts were trumps back then. The 1956 Scottish Cup win came at the start of a golden age during the late fifties and early sixties in which the Jambos won the League twice, came runner up twice, and lifted the League Cup on four occasions.

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The Fiver | Don't call it a comeback

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Yesterday, 4.10pm The last line of the Fiver reads: BANNED UNDER A FORMER REGIME, THE ‘HOW WE WORK’ FIVER CAME PERILOUSLY CLOSE TO A COMEBACK

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Football transfer rumours: João Felix to Real Madrid or Manchester United?

Today’s tittle-tattle gives it to you straight

Manchester City’s good-tempered collective post-treble party will finally end in a comedown when Leroy Sané is bundled out of the door. But to where? Not sure. Pulitzer, please!

BREAKING NEWS: Eden Hazard is for the off from Chelsea!

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US PGA Championship 2019: third round – as it happened

After two low-scoring days, Brooks Koepka went into battle mode as Bethpage Black bared its teeth ... and he goes into the final round seven clear, a PGA Championship record.

11.59pm BST

Brooks Koepka wasn’t at his best today by a long chalk. But a battling birdie at 13 settled him just as his game was beginning to get a tad scrappy. Nobody made serious inroads, and he goes into the final round with a massive seven-shot lead. That’s a PGA Championship record. But a player has come back from seven behind at the 54-hole stage to win before: John Mahaffey in 1978. The man who let that one slip was Tom Watson, so if he can crumble, anyone can. But of course chances are we’ll all be turning up for a procession as this outstanding player looks to retain his title and make it four majors in the last eight. See you tomorrow afternoon! Thanks for reading! Nighty night!

-12: Koepka
-5: Varner III, Janewattananond, List, D Johnson
-4: Matsuyama, Wallace
-3: Schauffele, Cantlay, Scott, Spieth
-2: van Rooyen, Kang
-1: Fowler, Lee
E: Willett, Glover, Bjerregaard, Reavie, Fleetwood, Rose

11.52pm BST

... leaves it a couple of feet short. But that’s par, and he’s putting his name to a 70.

11.51pm BST

Two putts for Jordan Spieth. Par, and a disappointing 72. He’s still -3, though, and still inside the top ten. Koepka then lines up his birdie putt and ...

11.48pm BST

Koepka rips his drive down the 18th. Up on the green Scott pars and signs for a 72; he’s -3. A disastrous 78 for Daniel Berger, who clatters down the standings to +4. Then Spieth and Koepka find the green in regulation. The leader will have a look at birdie from 15 feet for a 69.

11.43pm BST

Koepka leaves his 25-foot birdie putt four feet short. He’s missed from a shorter distance than this today. But he’s not doing it twice. In it goes. Dustin’s scrappy finish ensures his seven-shot lead is restored. Koepka’s been poor by his own stratospheric standards today, but nobody’s made a serious move towards him. Although to be fair, Bethpage Black is beginning to live up to its reputation again.

-12: Koepka (17)
-5: Varner III (F), Janewattananond (F), List (F), D Johnson (F)
-4: Matsuyama (F), Wallace (F)

11.40pm BST

It’s Dustin Johnson meltdown time! He quits on his flop, and sends his ball falling softly into the bunker in front of him. OK ... it’s not quite a complete capitulation, because he flops out from sand to kick-in distance, limiting the damage to bogey. But it’s extremely damaging nonetheless. He signs for a 69, -5 overall, and the chance to go toe-to-toe with Koepka tomorrow in the final group - perhaps the only real chance of applying pressure on the runaway leader - has been carelessly frittered away.

11.36pm BST

Dustin arrows his second at 18 straight at the flag ... but it’s half a club short, and lands not in the sand, as he’d have hoped, but on a hillock between the bunkers guarding the front of the green. That’s in deep nonsense. Meanwhile over on 17, Koepka gently eases his tee shot into the heart of the green. I think we all know which way this is going.

11.34pm BST

Koepka tugs at his par saver, and that’s a totally needless bogey. The lead’s only - only! - six now. It’s a big last hole for Dustin Johnson now, if he’s to retain any scrap of hope going into the final round. And he’ll probably need Koepka to stumble further as he plays the final two holes. The next 30 minutes will decide whether we’ve got the semblance of a mano-a-mano duel tomorrow, or the procession that we’ve been expecting.

-12: Koepka (16)
-6: D Johnson (17)

11.31pm BST

Dustin wangs his drive at 18 into the List Bunker down the right. He won’t want to be making bogey here - well, duh - but the thing is, par will ensure he goes out in the last group with Koepka. If he does drop a shot, Harold Varner III will be going out in the last group instead.

11.29pm BST

DJ taps in for his par, but List can’t make his. It’s a miserable bogey-bogey end to List’s round, and he’s forced to settle for a 69. Koepka meanwhile finds the 16th in regulation, but only just, the wind having picked up. And he’s left with a long putt that he leaves six feet short. A bit of work to do there.

11.24pm BST

List clips his sand shot at 18 to six feet. A chance to save par. DJ chops gently from the back of 17 to two feet, and will surely save par. Wallace nearly drains his birdie putt, but he’ll have to settle for par. It’s a 70 today, and he ends the day at -4.

11.20pm BST

List’s drive at 18 finds sand down the right. He’s got a good lie, but doesn’t quite catch his second and ends up in more sand front right of the green. Wallace splits the fairway and finds the centre of the green. He’ll have a medium-length look at birdie. Koepka meanwhile blooters a big one down 16, while DJ flies another par-three green, this time at 17.

11.14pm BST

On 17, List flops high, and flops well, but it’s all he can do to stop his ball 12 feet past the hole. Work to do for his par. He can’t make it. He slips to -6. Wallace gets up and down for his par. Koepka meanwhile looks like making his birdie putt on 15, but the ball stops one turn short. It couldn’t have been closer. Ditto for DJ on 16, as a birdie putt from 30 feet shaves the right of the cup.

-13: Koepka (15)
-6: List (17), D Johnson (15)

11.10pm BST

Koepka’s ball is buried deep in the rough. But he doesn’t spend all that time in the gym for the sake of it. He powers through the filth and whips his ball into the heart of the green. He’ll have an uphill look at birdie from 12 feet. Sensational. By way of contrast, Spieth tries a similar shot from a similar position, but can only hoick his ball into the bunkers at the front, and nearly falls backwards in doing so. Koepka is almost playing a different game, like Tiger all those years ago. As the great man suggested himself in his press conference last night.

11.05pm BST

Wallace’s tee shot at 17 disappears into the thick stuff to the right of the green. He’s not far from the pin, so not much green to work with. List follows Wallace over there. He’s further wide, and with the pin tight on the same side, that’s a real test. Koepka meanwhile misses another fairway, this time left at 15, but the way he wedged from the thick stuff at 13, does it really matter?

11.02pm BST

Dustin makes bounce-back birdie at 15. His reward for a wedge to five feet. He’s -6 again. Matt Wallace scrambles a par at 16 having found himself out of position from the tee. He’s -4. This’d be quite a bunfight if it wasn’t for SuperBrooks.

-13: Koepka (14)
-7: List (15)
-6: D Johnson (15)
-5: Varner III (F), Janewattananond (F)
-4: Matsuyama (F), Wallace (16), Spieth (14)
-3: Schauffele (F), Cantlay (F), Scott (14)

10.58pm BST

A wonderful end to the round for young Jazz Janewattananond! He whips his approach at 18 pin high to eight feet, and rolls the straight birdie putt in with confidence. He signs for a superb 67 and at -5 will be performing at the business end of the tournament tomorrow. Meanwhile a no-fuss par for Koepka at the 14th.

10.54pm BST

Harold Varner III birdies the last in textbook fashion: a perfect drive, an approach hit to five feet, and a putt rolled gently in. He signs for a flawless 67 and moves into a tie for third. The 28-year-old from Ohio, whose best performance at a major is a tie for 66th at the 2016 Open at Troon - is the new clubhouse leader.

-13: Koepka (13)
-7: List (15)
-5: Varner III (F), D Johnson (14)

10.50pm BST

Koepka is able to get a clean swish at his approach, and bundles a lovely shot to 12 feet. He judges the right-to-left trickler perfectly, and that’s a birdie met with a broad smile. He knows he got away with that drive. Tiger Woods got a couple of extremely fortunate breaks in the trees at 11 en route to winning last month’s Masters. Koepka, who missed out at Augusta by one shot, might consider that payback time by the golfing gods.

10.46pm BST

Bogeys at 10 and 12 look to have derailed Matt Wallace, but he’s just sent his approach at 15 from 160 yards to 18 inches. A kick-in birdie that takes him to -4. Jazz can’t get up and down from sand at 17 after dunking his tee shot into the bunker front right. He’s also -4, though going the wrong way. And DJ putts his second effort up from the bottom of the bank at 14. It goes flying 12 feet past, but he rolls in the one coming back to limit the damage to bogey. A two-putt par for List at 15.

10.42pm BST

At the par-five 13th, Koepka has a route through the trees, and powers his second down the right side of the fairway. He gets to within wedging distance, though his ball’s snagged in the rough, so he’ll struggle for control. Meanwhile List finds the 15th green in two, having found himself lying decently. And on 14, DJ flops up from the back onto the green ... nearly, but his ball topples back from the top of the bank towards his feet! Trouble here.

10.38pm BST

It’s all getting a bit scrappy as Bethpage Black bears its teeth at last. Koepka flays a dreadful drive into the trees down the right of 13. List finds the rough to the right of 15. And Dustin flies his tee shot over the green at 13, and he’s in a bit of trouble down the swale at the back. That went 20 yards long! In some much-needed competence news: Jazz gets up and down from sand at 16 to save his par.

10.36pm BST

A disappointing 72 for Tommy Fleetwood. He’s level par. His partner Louis Oosthuizen signs for an equally deflating 73. He’s +1. Also looking a bit glum: Dustin Johnson, who sends his drive into the rough down the right of the par-five 13th, and has to settle for par. He stays at -6.

10.32pm BST

Another birdie for Luke List, who moves into second place all by himself! After picking up shots at 12 and 13, the 34-year-old from Seattle - whose best performance at a major to date is a tie for 33rd at the Masters 14 years ago - makes it three in a row at the short par-three! He sends his tee shot to 13 feet and strokes in the putt with great confidence. Back on 12, Koepka’s birdie putt stops one turns short of dropping, and suddenly his lead is only five. Birdie for Spieth: he’s -3.

-12: Koepka (12)
-7: List (14)
-6: D Johnson (12)
-5: Janewattananond (15)
-4: Matsuyama (F), Varner III (16), Scott (12)

10.27pm BST

Koepka rediscovers his mojo at 12. He’s forced to step away from his approach when some doofus yells out during his backswing. But then he sends a high draw into the green from 200 yards, leaving himself a 12-footer for a birdie. If that goes in, it’d seriously demoralise a field that, momentarily, had a whiff of hope, albeit as faint as they come.

10.24pm BST

Jazz goes leftfield - Ornette, anyone? - as his drive at 16 flies into the gallery. He gets a lucky bounce off some poor punter’s bonce, and that’s a fortunate break, because his ball was flying towards the fescue.

10.21pm BST

Birdie for Hideki Matsuyama at 18. He signs for 68, and he’s -4 going into the final round. Nothing really happened for his partner Rickie Fowler today; a 71 for the perennial major bridesmaid, and he’s -1.

10.19pm BST

Koepka’s 25-foot birdie putt is always missing miles right, from the second it leaves the face of the flat stick. He’s got the speed all wrong too, sending it five feet past. Given what happened on 9, this is a test coming back. But he makes it ... just, the ball catching the cup on the extreme right. That should have steadied the ship a little, though he may note that his lead is now only six - only six! - because it’s a birdie for Dustin Johnson at 12, who puts an end to a post-turn wobble of his own. He’s -6 ... as is Luke List , whorattles in a reasonably straight 40-footer on 13.

-12: Koepka (11)
-6: List (13), D Johnson (12)

10.13pm BST

Koepka looks to have steadied himself with another monster bash down 11. But he pulls his wedge in. He leans after it anxiously. The ball pitches on the bank to the left of the green. Thick rough. But it sneaks out, just, and nestles on the fringe. That’s a friendly little bounce, rather than a huge break - he wasn’t too far off line - and he should be able to make par easily enough from there.

10.10pm BST

But nobody seems prepared - or able - to launch any sort of challenge that’d further crank up the pressure on Koepka. Janewattananond can’t get up and down from the fringe at the front of 14. Bogey, and so the gap at the top remains seven strokes. A long putt drained by Adam Scott at 11 bucks the general trend of backwards movement, though: a birdie that brings him back to -4 after going out in 37.

-12: Koepka (10)
-5: Janewattananond (14), List (12), D Johnson (11)
-4: Varner III (14), Scott (11)
-3: Schauffele (F), Cantlay (17), Matsuyama (17), Wallace (12)

10.05pm BST

Koepka’s second at 10 flies out left from the rough. He hopes to find his ball in the bunker, but it’s snagged in the grass to the side. A weak chip leaves him plenty to do for his par. But we’ve been here before with Koepka. A 20-footer for his par. But that one slips by the right, and this is the first serious spot of turbulence he’s hit all week. To further illustrate, before that missed tiddler at 9, he was 33 out of 33 from five feet and in.

10.02pm BST

Thing is, Koepka can afford a wee stumble. Nobody’s making a move. It’s back-to-back bogeys for Dustin, who finds rough from the tee box at 11 and is always out of position. He’s -5. Janewattananond fails to hit a birdie putt on 13, then sends his 7-iron at the par-three 14th into the deep rough at the front. Luke List joins the chasing pack, though, chipping in at 12 to rise to -5. And Harold Varner III is going along nicely, and under the radar to boot: birdie at 4 and then another at 13, and he’s in fifth spot at -4.

9.58pm BST

Then Koepka sends his birdie putt a couple of feet past the hole ... and pulls the par putt! It horseshoes out! An audible collective sharp intake of breath from the gallery. But that’s SuperBrooks! SuperBrooks? A super-rare bogey. And now he’s missed the fairway at the difficult 10th, his drive sneaking into the thick stuff down the right. The only way Koepka won’t win is if Koepka sets about throwing it away. He won’t be panicking yet, but he’s played quite a few scrappy holes in a row since making birdie at 5. Time for a deep breath.

-13: Koepka (9)
-6: Janewattananond (13), D Johnson (10)
-4: Varner III (13), Wallace (11), List (11)

9.52pm BST

Justin Rose sends a tramliner into the cup at 12. That wipes out the bogey he’d made at the previous hole. He’s -3. A huge smile on his face as the gallery celebrate that wild and wonderful putt. Jordan Spieth meanwhile makes a dog’s dinner of 9, finding greenside sand, leaving himself a 50-foot putt, sending it six feet past. He can’t make the bogey putt, and the double sends him crashing down to -2.

9.47pm BST

Jazz Janewattananond nearly drains a 30-footer on 12, but par will suffice. He’s the real deal, this young man. A star in the making, and -6. Another huge prospect, Xander Schauffele, signs for a 68 and ends the day at -3. And Dustin Johnson yips a three-footer for par on 10, and this is officially now a procession. Especially if Koepka knocks in the 20-footer for birdie he’s set up for himself at 9.

9.38pm BST

Koepka bounces his ball down from the bank and nearly rolls it home for a chip-in birdie. He’s got nerves of steel. In fact he might be 100 percent steel. He retains his seven-shot lead, and he’s not even playing that well ... by his own standards, that is. A superhuman superhero. Is it a Tiger? Is it a Golden Bear? No, it’s SuperBrooks. Par for Spieth too. Wallace meanwhile misses a short par putt on 10 and walks off in a funk. He slips to -4.

9.32pm BST

Birdie for Dustin Johnson at 9. Big drive, wedge close, putt in. Koepkaian. He reaches the turn in 32, moving to -7. Meanwhile Koepka himself tries to work his tee shot at 8 off the bank on the right - Adam Scott nearly holed in one using this tactic a few minutes ago, only to miss the birdie putt - but the ball snags in thick rough. A tricky up and down ... for most people, but look what he did at the last.

-14: Koepka (7)
-7: D Johnson (9)
-6: Janewattananond (11)
-5: Wallace (9)
-4: List (9), Scott (8), Spieth (7)

9.27pm BST

Koepka’s luck is in. Sort of. He’s got a decent enough lie, all considered, and a route between the trees to the green. But he gets a flyer and his ball bounds through the back. He’s in the thick stuff. He punches out to 15 feet ... and drains the par saver. He’s got the lot, this guy. What moxie. Spieth meanwhile makes a good long two-putt from the fringe at the front. They’re still -14 and -4 respectively. And a fine par saver for Janewattananond at 11. He remains at -6.

9.24pm BST

Adam Scott missed a tiddler on 17 yesterday. He’s just repeated the trick at 7 today. He slips back to -4. Par for Mickelson at the last, and he’s signing for a 76. Jazz sends his second at 11 straight at the flag, 25 feet short. He sends the birdie putt on the right line, too, but overhits it and the ball ends five feet past. A tester coming back.

9.17pm BST

If there’s going to be any sort of drama tomorrow, there’s going to have to be a hell of a lot of it today. In other words, Brooks Koepka will have to do quite a few stupid things. Like this, perhaps. He aims well right on the 7th tee, hoping to draw his ball back onto the fairway ... but sends it straight towards the trees. Much will depend on the lie, but he could be in a spot of trouble there. Meanwhile Spieth sends his down the track with much less fuss.

9.13pm BST

Koepka’s birdie putt is always missing on the high side. Never going in. Par. A chance for Spieth to close that ten-shot gap, but he misreads, sending the putt way too much to the right, and that’s a miserable par in the circumstances. They stay at -14 and -4 respectively. Meanwhile on 10, Janewattananond curls in a 15-foot left-to-right birdie putt, and moves into a share of second!

-14: Koepka (6)
-6: Janewattananond (10), D Johnson (7)
-5: Wallace (8), Scott (6)

9.08pm BST

Jordan Spieth has clearly decided that he may as well go for broke. His tee shot at 6 finishes on the downslope and in the first cut. But he still manages to get some spin on an attacking approach. His ball lands six feet in front of the flag, takes three bounces, and very nearly goes in for an eagle two. But he ends up four feet past. That’s a great chance for birdie. Problem is, his playing partner hits his 14th consecutive green in regulation. Koepka will have a ten-footer for another birdie, too.

9.05pm BST

Phil Mickelson has made one par since the turn. He’s played eight of the holes on the back nine. Sadly, he’s made just the one birdie, at 15. He’s dropped shots at 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 and now 17. Here’s to Pebble Beach being kinder as the veteran Californian tries to complete the career slam on home turf. He’s +6, and at least he should be able to hit the road fairly early tomorrow afternoon.

9.00pm BST

Spieth bashes his ball out of the sand, but he can’t get any action on the ball and it whistles 25 feet past the hole. A test to save par now. And he can’t pass it. A bogey that drops him back to -4. So that’s him ten shots behind Koepka, who converts his birdie chance.

-14: Koepka (5)
-6: D Johnson (6)
-5: Janewattananond (9), Wallace (7), Scott (5)
-4: List (7), Spieth (5)

8.56pm BST

Spieth hasn’t brought his A-game at the weekends lately. His average round on Thursday and Friday this year has been 69.1; his scores on Saturday and Sunday have averaged 73.1. It looks like that might be playing on his mind, because from the middle of the fairway at 5, he dumps his approach into the bunker at the front ... and his ball is well plugged. A fried egg. In true match-play style, Koepka puts the boot on Spieth’s throat by wedging to two feet. An almost certain birdie.

8.50pm BST

DJ takes iron off the tee at 6 to leave himself a full wedge into the green from the top of the hill. Smart play, because he lifts his second to six feet. Not so smart is pulling his birdie putt to the left of the cup. A little twitch of the putter before he made his stroke. He stays at -6. What a chance gone! Meanwhile Daniel Berger continues to struggle: having bogeyed 3, he drops another at 5 and he’s down to -2.

8.48pm BST

Up on 6, Luke List holes out from a bunker for birdie, to cancel out the bogey he’d made at 3. He’s back where he started at -4. His playing partner Matt Wallace makes birdie too, his second in three holes, and he’s in red figures for his round now after making bogey at 1. He’s -5 overall. Belated news of Adam Scott: he’d birdied 4 to grab back the shot he’d dropped at 3.

-13: Koepka (4)
-6: D Johnson (5)
-5: Janewattananond (8), Wallace (6), Scott (4), Spieth (4)
-4: List (6)

8.44pm BST

Spieth takes his medicine at 4, flipping into the centre of the green, settling for a likely two-putt par. He stays stuck at -5. But Koepka has a buffer to play with, so despite not having much green in front of him, he whips out of the sand to 12 feet, leaving himself a birdie putt. It shaves the left side of the hole, a dimple away from dropping. Just pars for the final pair, one of the few really good birdie opportunities spurned.

8.37pm BST

A downhill ten-footer for DJ at 5. A birdie chance that trundles past the hole. His first par of the round, after opening birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey. He’s -6. Back on 4, Spieth sends his approach well left, down a swale covered in the thickest, most verdant grass. He’s not got going yet at all. Koepka meanwhile finds a bit of trouble himself, having driven into the first cut down the left. His 8-iron lands in a bunker at the front of the green. A little chink of light for the field, perhaps?

8.35pm BST

Par for Janewattananond at 7. He remains at -5. So here’s the shape of Jazz to come, swiped from yesterday’s blog. Nicknamed after his dad’s penchant for be-bop, swing and scat, the 23-year-old from Bangkok has only played in one major tournament before, last year’s Open at Carnoustie. He missed the cut, but the young man is tipped for great things. He’s already got three wins on the Asian Tour, the latest victory at this year’s Singapore Open, where he saw off Paul Casey with a weekend’s work of 65-65. His first win came at the 2017 Bangladesh Open, a triumph he credited to a fortnight spent as a monk inside a Thai temple.

8.32pm BST

And with that, John has left us. He’s done one! We’ll see him again tomorrow. Whether we’ll see any sort of drama tomorrow is another issue. But all is not lost, because we’ll be able to run the rule over young Jazz Janewattananond instead. Birdies at 3, 4 and 6, and the young Thai is the hottest property out on the course. He’s -5, and looking in the mood to announce himself, Sergio ‘99 style.

-13: Koepka (3)
-6: D Johnson (4)
-5: Janewattananond (6), Spieth (3)

8.26pm BST

Koepka’s tee shot on the par-three third was another piece of precision engineering. Spieth’s was hit with a far lower trajectory and he will be doing the sand dance in the bunker. He looks to be feeling the burn of playing alongside Brooks, as did Tiger yesterday and on Thursday, ending up finishing 17 shots down. DJ, meanwhile, has grabbed another birdie. He’s in second at -6, just the seven shots down on Koepka.

8.22pm BST

As it stands, after Scott makes bogey at the third.

-13: Koepka (2)
-5: Spieth (2), Johnson (3)
-4: Scott (3), Jazz (5), Wallace (4),Kraft (3), Berger (2)

8.17pm BST

Koepka’s lie was just fine, you know, and his second was excellent, far better than Spieth’s near-shank. Another birdie chance for the leader while Spieth makes a further mess of his birdie attempt from distance and has to putt before his playing partner has his third. Spieth does make par before Koepka sinks his birdie to go to -13. Moving Day for him too, then? DJ meanwhile, who has been eventful, wallops a drive into what looks like heavy-ish rough. Justin Rose makes up for his three-putt with birdie on the fourth.

8.06pm BST

Koepka at the second whacks his tee shot down the fairway. Has it landed in a pitching mark? Let’s see. Spieth’s wood shot loops to the left and is in far less danger than he thinks; he is unsighted by some trees. Dustin Johnson goes to -5 by making a birdie. Justin Rose has dropped to -3 after three-putting the third.

8.01pm BST

Well well! Koepka misses his birdie putt at the first, pulling it to the left. There is plenty of noise from the gallery. The putt for par is far more solid. But he could have been further ahead. Spieth plays it safe and claims par.

7.58pm BST

Spieth plays it safe to the first green. Koepka steps up almost immediately as Spieth’s ball settles and his chipped iron shot is within birdie range. More of the same from him. This is approaching Manchester City at Wembley status, a procession.

7.56pm BST

Adam Scott plays a pearler of a third shot to give himself a chance of par. Berger, meanwhile, seems to have damaged the hole with his rim-shot of a second. The ref has to intervene to make sure all is fit and proper. Scott duly steps up to sink it. Berger makes par, meanwhile. DJ, on the second, can’t keep his chip from the semi-rough down and has to fringe-putt. He can’t make it count and loses the shot he gained on the last.

7.52pm BST

Here comes Koepka in the final pairing, and he will go first ahead of Spieth. His drive lands on the fairway, as expected and within 40-50 yards of the green. Spieth takes his shot, and it whips right and then curves back to land on the left-hand fairway. Berger, meanwhile, hits the flag with his second on the first and suffers for it. The ball drops down the flag but bounces a decent way out. Hideously unlucky. Adam Scott, meanwhile, had to dig out his ball from the rough for a lay-up. Jazz Janewattananond has gone to -4 with a neat putt for birdie.

7.43pm BST

Kelly Kraft takes advantage of a drop to play a decent second to the green but misses his birdie putt. DJ booms one in close, far closer and claims a birdie to go to -5. The radar seems to be working for him. Adam Scott, who hit that 64 yesterday, tees off on the first. “Uh oh,” says a spectator as it lands in some heavyish rough. Daniel Berger goes next, with a total wally in the crowd punning hard with “burgers for everyone!” - (geddit). Despite that, Berger goes dead centre of the fairway.

7.38pm BST

Matt Wallace gave himself chance of par at the first, with a nice chip shot, then missed his putt. He drops down to -3. That all looked a bit nervy for someone who needs to make a charge. Adam Scott approaches the first with Jordan Spieth. Adam Scott needs to begin like he did yesterday, with three birdies on the first three.

7.33pm BST

DJ is out and about! And he crashes his opening drive down the middle of the fairway. He’ll be going round today with Kelly Kraft, who is only playing because Justin Thomas withdrew with a wrist injury. He’s looking to grab this opportunity with both hands, John Daly ‘91 style, though flaying his first drive into the punters down the left isn’t the best start. This pairing could be a lot of fun.

And with that, I’ll hand you over to the lovely John Brewin. See you again in a bit!

7.30pm BST

But he doesn’t make it. Van Rooyen sends his putt a couple of feet past, and has to settle for par. Better news for Justin Rose, who booms a big drive down 1, wedges to five feet from 100 yards, and tidies up for a lovely opening birdie. Simple when you do it like that. He’s -4. Time for our first updated leader board of Moving Day, then!

-12: Koepka
-5: Spieth, Scott
-4: Rose (1), Berger, D Johnson, Kraft, Wallace, List
-3: Schauffele (7), Matsuyama (5), van Rooyen (3)

7.25pm BST

So having said all that, it’s another birdie for Xander Schauffele, who sends his second at 7 to 12 feet, and calmly guides the birdie slider into the hole. He’s -3. And it looks like Erik van Rooyen might be making his second birdie of the day at the par-three 3rd, nearly slam-dunking his 4-iron straight into the hole. He’s six feet from moving to -4.

7.20pm BST

Pretty much as expected, there’s not been a load of hot scoring action today. Plenty of decent scores - 68s for Shane Lowry and Kiradech Aphibarnrat, 69s for Adam Long, Abraham Ancer, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and Tony Finau - but nothing sensational. And of all the lads out there right now, it’s only Lucas Glover who’s as good as two under for his round. This could be a day for the purists.

7.13pm BST

A birdie for Erik van Rooyen at the opening hole. A lovely approach to six feet by the 29-year-old South African. He’s -3. Patrick Cantlay picks up his first shot of the day at 4; he’s -2. Hideki Matsuyama pitches to four feet at the par-five 4th and he’ll convert for birdie to move to -3. And Tommy Fleetwood, having gone close with birdie putts at 1 and 2, creams his tee shot at 3 to four feet. He should make his first move of the day ... but he tugs the short one to the left, and remains at -2. Very poor. The wheels came off Tommy’s truck on the back nine yesterday, and this hasn’t been the ideal start.

7.05pm BST

The Ryder Cup’s going to be here in 2024. These galleries! It’s going to be sensational.

7.03pm BST

A nice splash of local colour on the 9th green. Tyrrell Hatton lets a six-foot birdie chance slide by, and spins around 360 degrees, arms out in despair, wondering why it didn’t drop. A lone voice in the crowd rasps loud and clear in a thick New York accent: “Aw c’maaaaaaaan! Wha’da we pay foooooorrrrrrr?!” Perfectly timed to pierce the silence. Hatton taps in and trudges off, hush descended again, a lovely understated denouement to the skit. Hatton’s +1 by the way.

6.51pm BST

Lucas Glover’s having a good week here. No wonder, seeing he won the US Open at Bethpage Black in 2009. He’s out in 33, after birdies at 8 and 9, -1 overall. The 39-year-old South Carolinian’s only other showing of note in the majors was a fifth-place spot in the PGA, a couple of months after his US Open win, 2009 very much his annus mirabilis. Nowt since, though it’s easy to forget he was a very early adopter of the hipster’s beard, so hats off to him for that.

6.45pm BST

Finally a little movement nearer the top of the leader board. Birdie for Hideki Matsuyama at the 1st, and he immediately rises to -3. Xander Schauffele meanwhile picks up a shot at 3, and he’s -2. Schauffele’s record at the majors is outstanding, by the way. The 25-year-old Californian has only played in eight previously, and he’s already got two top-six finishes at the US Open, and ties for second at both the Open and last month’s Masters. This is the manner in which Brooks Koepka was quietly gathering major-championship experience at a similar age. Just sayin’.

6.40pm BST

Another bogey for Phil, who might not be going in the right direction but at least is giving his loving punters bang for their buck. Another comically bad drive, this time down the left of 6, forces him to hack out into greenside sand. He doesn’t go particularly close with his splash out, and he slips into the black at +1. The thing is with Mickelson, even when he’s no longer a factor, it’s difficult to take your eyes off him. What a carry-on. We’ll miss the old boy when he’s gone.

6.35pm BST

Rory pars the last and that’s a 69. He’s +2, having left a few shots out there on the greens. Meanwhile Brooks Koepka has arrived on site. He’s sauntering around in the carefree manner of a man in his slippers popping down the shop for a can of chocolate Nurishment, a Pot Noodle and 20 Bensons. He’s probably not done that exact thing himself too often, but you get the picture. Point is, he’s looking extremely chilled out, and that doesn’t augur well for the field. Or the poor bugger who has to keep rewriting those damn record books.

6.27pm BST

Mickelson, his head just about poking out of a wild thicket, somehow manages to hoick his third shot into the centre of the 5th green. But he can’t escape with a par, the 20-footer he’d left himself too much. His last four holes have featured two birdies and two bogeys. Whither a par? Speaking of which, here’s how Lucas Bjerregaard started his round: birdie, double bogey, bogey, eagle. That’s some way to stay put at level par. That’s entertainment, folks. Next stop Broadway.

6.21pm BST

Another birdie for Mickelson, who nearly drains a monster eagle putt on 4. He’s -1. So what’s he done next? Flown his drive into deep rough down the left of 5, that’s what. He then slashes his second into even thicker, taller stuff to the right of the green. God speed Lefty. Meanwhile McIlroy sends his tee shot at 17 over the flag to ten feet; he’ll have a look at birdie. But the putter remains cold. Par. He’s +2.

6.16pm BST

Sam Burns bogeys 11. That means there’s no player out on the course doing better than two under for his round today. (Burns is level par overall.) That rain earlier in the week really softened up the course for the first two days of this tournament, allowing Brooks Koepka and, to a slightly lesser extent, Adam Scott and Danny Lee to fill their boots. Anyway, the early signs suggest the scoring will be higher today. Time will tell. Less movement on the leader board perhaps, although if that’s the case it opens up the possibility of someone putting a freak card together and making a charge at the king. I’m grasping at straws in the hope of outrageous drama, aren’t I.

6.05pm BST

It’s been a bit of a struggle for poor old Rich Beem today. Having carded the lowest score on the back nine all week yesterday - 30 shots - he came back in 43 today. A double bogey at the last put the tin lid on it, the result of being forced to chip out from a greenside bunker sideways, away from the hole, due to his awkward lie. But the 2002 champ is still all smiles, soaking up the warm applause from a loving gallery, despite signing for an 82 and propping up the entire field at +16. Like we said earlier, he’ll always have Hazeltine.

6.00pm BST

Rory’s flat stick is letting him down. This isn’t breaking news. First up on 14, a six-foot par putt is sent marginally offline, and slingshots round the cup and back towards him. Bogey. Then a birdie chance on 15, from similar distance, is prodded gingerly and meekly dribbles off to the left. Two shots carelessly sent into the ether, and he’s +2 when he really should be up at level par. Factor in that bogey at 10 from prime position in the centre of the fairway, and the two-time PGA champ still isn’t quite on it this week.

5.56pm BST

Phil the Thrill continues along his own unique path. His tee shot at the par-three 3rd, a 6-iron, is sliced 30 feet off line down a bank to the left. It’s a proper jungle down there, and from knee-high fescue he batters out as best he can. He’s now in shorter stuff by the green, though shorter most definitely doesn’t mean short. It’s still thick nonsense. He does extremely well to whip his ball to a couple of feet, but that’s the shot he’s just picked up handed back to the field. He’s level par again. We wouldn’t have him any other way.

5.51pm BST

An absolutely ludicrous birdie by - who else? - Phil Mickelson! He sends his drive into deep filth down the left of 2. No worries! He socks his second pin high to 17 feet, then curls in the putt to send the gallery wild. He’s -1, and a high finish this week will set him in good stead for next month’s tilt at his personal holy grail at Pebble Beach. Jason Day nearly gets away with a wild one as well, at 15, spraying his drive into the concession stands to the right of the hole, then finding the deep bunker front left, and splashing out along a huge left-to-right break to eight feet. Exquisite. But he yips the par saver. Shame, for that escape would have been truly daft. He’s +2.

5.45pm BST

In lieu of meaningful action, here’s today’s essay from Hubert O’Hearn. “That -12 looms in front of the field like an iceberg in front of an ocean liner. We need to be honest in that Brooks Koepka would have to have an almighty collapse to lose from here as I doubt anyone else will reach that score. He’s not Greg Norman with all those horrible memories to contend with as when he tossed away the lead against Nick Faldo at the Masters. If – if – Koepka is going to lose this, the precedent would be Arnold Palmer at the 1966 US Open at Olympic Club. Arnie had blasted and swashbuckled his way to a six-stroke lead until he got hung up with the idea of breaking Ben Hogan’s record for largest win, most strokes under par and so forth. Hubris went to war with common sense and, as it does, hubris won. Palmer started clattering drives into trees, eventually handing the trophy over to Billy Casper. He of course didn’t know it at the time, but that was Arnold’s last real good chance at a Major save for a heroic attempt at Oakmont a few years later. Personally, I hope Koepka doesn’t get caught up in the dramatic and repeat that failure. Golf has lacked a real, authentic, consensus #1 player for a few years now and I’d like to think the grand old game has found one again.” Anyone desirous for even more on the King’s pain can click below.

Related: The Joy of Six: Sporting chokes | Scott Murray

5.35pm BST

Young Sam Burns is enjoying his debut at the PGA Championship. The 22-year-old from Louisiana briefly hovered near the top of the leaderboard on Thursday, eventually posting 70. He followed that up with a 72 yesterday. Now he’s opening up for fun: birdies at 6 and 7, followed by a 40-footer for another birdie on 9. He reaches the turn in 32, and he’s -1 for the tournament. He’s also the hottest player out on there right now, proof that while the course may be toughening up, it’s still possible to make a score.

5.30pm BST

Bethpage Black appears to be a tougher proposition today. It’s been three days since the rain now, and the sun’s beating down in the summer style. That means the fairways and greens are harder. Great for distance, but only if you’re going arrow-straight; some of these fairways are pretty narrow and a bigger bounce either way could dispatch the ball into the thick stuff. Then of course there’s the added difficulty in holding the greens, and there’s plenty of cabbage-related trouble around those too. So plenty of potential for fun ahead. Of course, the way things have been going, Brooks Koepka may become only the 11th player in history to shoot a sub-60 round on the PGA Tour anyway, just to prove a point. We sort of jest, but you wouldn’t necessarily rule it out completely, would you.

5.20pm BST

One of the very early starters, Shane Lowry, is in with a 68. That goes very nicely alongside yesterday’s 69; he’ll be ruing that opening-day 75. He’s +2. None of the pyrotechnics of last year’s second-round 64 at Bellerive, but it’ll do. Kiradech Aphibarnrat will also heave a sigh whenever he thinks of Thursday. He shot 76 on day one, but has followed it up with a pair of 68s. Like Lowry, he’s in the clubhouse at +2.

5.10pm BST

After a fair old period in the doldrums, the 2012 US Open champion Webb Simpson’s career is firmly back on track. Last year he won the unofficial fifth major, the Players, and made the top ten at the US Open. Last month he finished in the top five at Augusta, by some distance his best showing at the Masters. And he’s just outside the top 20 here, having made birdie at 3 to move to level par. Meanwhile back on 1, the 27-year-old Dane Lucas Bjerregaard, conqueror of Tiger at the WGC Match Play, curls in a massive left-to-right breaker on 1 to immediately rise to -1.

5.00pm BST

Rory drops a shot at 10, failing to get up and down from greenside sand. He nearly repeats the trick at 11, but splashes out well from a plugged lie to ten feet, about the best that he can do, and rolls in a gentle left-to-right par saver. He’s +1.

4.55pm BST

The 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett is having a decent week. Opening rounds of 71 and 70, and he left a couple of shots out on the greens too. He opens today with birdie, the reward for an approach from 120 yards to eight feet. He’s level par overall. This is shaping up to become a most welcome confidence builder, given he’s done very little of note in the majors since his signature Sunday at Augusta. Meanwhile coming behind him, his compatriot Paul Casey drains a long putt on 1 to move to level as well.

4.50pm BST

So how are these doughty PGA pros doing today? Both Labritz and Vermeer started the day at +4. The former has slipped down the rankings after going out in 37, then making a double at 10. He’s +8. The latter has been much steadier: he’s one over for his round through 12. Jertson, in the best nick of the three after 36 holes, has started badly with double at 1 and bogey at 2, and slips to +3. A wild tee shot cost him at 1. “This week doesn’t benefit the straight hitter who hits it short, and doesn’t benefit the long hitter who hits it crooked,” he explained earlier this week. “You need to do both here.” Having worked on 125 patents for Ping, he knows what he’s on about.

4.40pm BST

Three PGA professionals have made the cut. That represents the largest contingent of pros to make the weekend since the PGA introduced the 20-player Club Professional exemption 13 years ago. Marty Jertson, vice-president of fitting and performance at Ping, designed the manufacturer’s 410 driver, and used it while shooting 72 and 69 on the opening two days. Rob Labritz, the director of golf at GlenArbor in Bedford Hills, New York, shot 69 yesterday too, a big improvement on Thursday’s 75. And Ryan Vermeer, director of instruction at Happy Hollow in Omaha, Nebraska shot 70-74, saving himself yesterday by making a six-footer on the 18th.

4.30pm BST

Should Brooks Koepka close this out - and as our man Ewan Murray writes, “if he does not successfully defend the Wanamaker Trophy, he will have suffered one of the most serious major capitulations of all time” - he’ll join a star-studded list of multiple PGA champions. Just two solid rounds, and he’ll be popping up at the bottom of this list:

5: Walter Hagen, Jack Nicklaus
4: Tiger Woods
3: Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead
2: Jim Barnes, Leo Diegel, Denny Shute, Paul Runyan, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Dave Stockton, Ray Floyd, Lee Trevino, Larry Nelson, Nick Price, Vijay Singh, Rory McIlroy

4.20pm BST

The best performer on the back nine this week? No, not Brooks Koepka. It’s the 2002 champion Rich Beem. The 48-year-old veteran barely plays these days, though never turns down his guaranteed invite for this tournament as a former winner. Nobody expected Beem to make the cut, not least the man himself, who assumed he’d be picking up the microphone over the weekend for his usual duties as a very entertaining and informative pundit on Sky Sports. But he came roaring home yesterday, with birdies at 13, 14, 16, 17 and 18. Back in 30, and that’s a best-of-week total over those last nine treacherous holes! He survived the cut by one shot, though might be questioning the sagacity of doing so right now: bogeys at 1, 2, 7, 8, 10 and now 11, and he’s propping up what’s left of the field at +10. Hey, he’ll always have Hazeltine.

4.10pm BST

Here we go, then, folks. It’s a gorgeous day at Bethpage Black. It’s Moving Day! The leading bunch won’t be out for a couple of hours, so let’s while away the time on the relative whimsy of the earlier starters. Rory McIlroy, the pre-tournament second favourite ahead of Brooks Koepka for some reason, was one of those. He just about managed to bodyswerve the cut yesterday with a blistering run of birdies towards the end of his round, at 4, 5, 6 and 8. All hope of winning gone, the shackles off, he’s giving it plenty today. Two big cracks to find the green at the par-five 4th, followed by a 35-foot putt, and that’s an eagle. Then a quite stunning 5-iron into the par-three 8th, a gentle fade that stops 21 inches from the hole. Too little, too late, of course, but it’d be good to see the Players champion finish strongly with next month’s US Open in mind. He’s up to level par.

12.18pm BST

It seems like only yesterday when Gary Woodland set a new record for the best 36-hole score at the PGA Championship, starting 64-66 at Bellerive last August. But Brooks Koepka is rewriting everything. At Bethpage Black - where a combined total of six players finished under par in the 2002 and 2009 US Opens - he’s shot 63-65. That’s overtaken Woodland’s 130 by two; Koepka’s cakewalk is, at 128, the lowest 36-hole total in major-championship history.

It doesn’t end there. Here’s the defending champion’s last five rounds in PGA Championship competition: 63-66-66-63-65. His current seven-shot lead is the largest at this stage in PGA Championship history, knocking Nick Price’s five-shot 36-hole advantage in 1994 out of the park. And putting the tin lid on it, since the 2016 PGA, Koepka’s cumulative score in the majors is 67 under par. This is absurd. Preposterous. Homeric. The man is on a plane of his own right now.

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Derby 0-1 Leeds: Championship play-off semi-final, first leg – as it happened

Kemar Roofe was Derby’s nemesis yet again as Leeds took a big step towards the play-off final.

7.25pm BST

No doubt we’ll hear more of all that in due course. But in the meantime, here’s the verdict of your pal and mine, Paul Doyle, who was at Pride Park to witness another controversial stramash between these two famous rivals. Enjoy, enjoy. Thanks for reading this MBM. We’ll see you on Wednesday for the return!

Related: Kemar Roofe razes Derby County to leave Leeds spying play-off final

7.19pm BST

To be fair to the referee, it’s pretty difficult to come down definitively either way regarding the non-penalty incident. Bogle put his hand on Harrison’s back and pushed. Harrison was going to kick the ball at the time. Bogle then put his leg in from behind ... but who kicked who as the pair tangled? And with what intent? They’ve rock and rolled it on Sky for a while, and nobody in the studio can say for sure. Anyway, I’m sure everyone on the internet, whatever their own viewpoint and interpretation, will agree to disagree.

7.15pm BST

Derby surround the referee at the final whistle, livid about the penalty kick that was awarded then withdrawn. Richard Keogh is particularly incensed, hollering at whoever will listen with great feeling. Jack Harrison, interviewed about it on Sky, is much calmer. “He came from behind me. I was a bit surprised they called the penalty, but it’s all about perspective. I was going to play the ball and had no intention to take him out. You try and play a fair game.” As if this rivalry needed spicing up any further! Wednesday night is going to be great.

7.10pm BST

That’s a big result for Leeds, who have beaten Derby for the third time this season.

7.08pm BST

90 min +5: Harrison dribbles his way down the right and plays keepball. That’s mighty fine game management.

7.06pm BST

90 min +3: Mount tries to beat Casilla from distance, the keeper spotted a way off his line. But he gets the effort all wrong.

7.06pm BST

90 min +2: Bennett crosses from the right but it’s almost instantly blocked by Dallas. Clarke draws a foul from Wilson and there’s the clock ticking round apace.

7.04pm BST

90 min: There’s going to be another five minutes of this. And a second leg at Elland Road! That’s going to be fairly tasty, the way tempers have unravelled towards the end of this one.

7.03pm BST

89 min: Now Huddlestone is booked for sticking his elbow on the side of Dallas’s head. That could easily have been a red too, it was a clear second movement to make the contact.

7.02pm BST

87 min: Huddlestone comes on for Lawrence. Then Klich goes down in a tangle with Tomori on the edge of the Derby box. Derby clear. Tomori leans over Klich and has a word. Klich gets up and limply sticks his head in Tomori’s chest, a poor man’s Zidane. Tomori is livid and demands a red card’s shown. It’s so soft, the ref decides it’s just yellow. Grown men and all, the lot of them.

6.59pm BST

86 min: Space for Ayling out on the right. He fizzes a ball along the corridor of uncertainty, but Leeds haven’t thrown too many men up in support and there’s nobody to convert.

6.58pm BST

85 min: Leeds slow the game down. Derby’s frustration and irritation is palpable.

6.57pm BST

83 min: Leeds instigate a game of head tennis in the Derby box. The flag eventually goes up for offside. But the clock ticks on. Leeds have Derby where they want them ... a long way from their goal.

6.55pm BST

81 min: Shackleton is found in space on the right. He hammers a shot goalwards. Roos parries, Harrison slaps the rebound into the side netting, and the flag goes up for offside anyway.

6.54pm BST

80 min: Jack Clarke, Leeds’ young player of the year, replaces Roofe.

6.54pm BST

78 min: Not a penalty, then! It looks as though Bogle had gently pushed Harrison in the back before being taken out himself. It’s a big let-off for Leeds ... and Derby are naturally beside themselves with impotent fury.

6.52pm BST

77 min: Penalty for Derby as Harrison bundles Bogle to the ground in the box, chasing a diagonal Wilson pass. But hold on! The linesman wants a word. Keogh is livid as Leeds surround the ref to point that out. Flapping around in irritation, Keogh nearly lands an accidental haymaker on Dallas and is pretty fortunate that he swishes through thin air!

6.48pm BST

75 min: This is all very bitty again, and that’ll suit Leeds. Derby are unable to work up a head of steam.

6.48pm BST

73 min: In the dugout, Frank Lampard cuts a frustrated figure. He knows Derby need something desperately: no team has ever got through to a play-off final after losing the first leg at home. Then again, this is the season of absurd comebacks, so there’s another record that could soon be broken.

6.46pm BST

71 min: Ayling knocks Wilson to the ground. The resulting free kick, out on the right, is hoofed clear by Roofe, but the ball comes straight back at Leeds. Mount, on the left, whistles a fine ball straight through the six-yard box. Nobody in white is able to turn it into the net.

6.43pm BST

69 min: Holmes is replaced by Bennett.

6.43pm BST

68 min: Holmes is the latest to see yellow as he handles the ball to stop a Leeds attack. The resulting free kick, out on the right, is hoicked into the mixer. Cooper goes down theatrically, much to Derby’s collective annoyance. They want Cooper booked - he’d be walking if it happens - but the ref’s not interested. You’ve seen those decisions made. Cooper taking a hell of a chance there.

6.41pm BST

67 min: Keogh blocks a Roofe run and he’s in the book as well. A 1975-style 20-man bench-emptying brawl still not out of the question.

6.40pm BST

66 min: Now Cooper is booked as Wilson makes good down the inside right and is tugged back. It’s a free kick just to the right of the D. Wilson looks to curl it round the wall and into the top left, but Phillips is well positioned behind the wall and heads clear.

6.38pm BST

64 min: Berardi is booked for an earlier lunge while Derby were attacking. Then Nugent is replaced by Marriott.

6.37pm BST

63 min: This is better from Derby. Lawrence sashays down the right. He can’t quite get a shot away and lays off to Wilson, who wedges down the inside for Mount. A cute Cruyff turn nearly earns space for a shot, but Shackleton blocks well. And soon Leeds are on the break, Shackleton bearing down the right. He reaches the byline and cuts the ball back for Hernandez who must score but ... somehow mistimes his run and misses the ball!

6.35pm BST

61 min: Harrison bowls Bogle to the floor out on the Derby right. Another opportunity to load the box. Mount takes, but it’s a dismal wafted effort and so easy for Casilla to pluck the ball from the sky.

6.33pm BST

59 min: Derby look dazed. They’re still struggling to string more than a couple of passes together per move. They need to snap out of this quicksmart, or Leeds may take this tie away from them in the next half-hour.

6.31pm BST

57 min: Derby are rocking. Roofe is allowed to run towards the box, make himself some space, and batter a low shot towards the bottom right. Fortunately for Derby, Roos is their only player not in a daze, and a strong hand parries the shot to save the day.

6.30pm BST

56 min: Lawrence is booked for his challenge in the build-up to the goal.

6.29pm BST

When the opening goal came, it was so simple. Phillips is clattered in the midfield by Lawrence, but the referee waves play on because Harrison is romping down the left. Harrison curls a sensational pass inside for Roofe, who can’t miss, slipping a shot into the bottom left. That’s a glorious goal, made by Harrison’s wonderful ball inside that cut Malone, the final defender, out of the picture altogether.

6.27pm BST

54 min: Ayling bundles Wilson over, out on the Derby right. A free kick, and an opportunity to throw men into the box. Wilson gets up and takes the set piece himself. It doesn’t beat the first man. Wilson has shone for Derby all season, but he’s been poor so far today.

6.26pm BST

52 min: Roofe clips Keogh as the defender runs down the right. Keogh lands awkwardly on his shoulder, but after rubbing it and grimacing quite a lot, he’s up and about again.

6.24pm BST

51 min: This is pretty scrappy. Premier League spot in the balance here, chaps!

6.22pm BST

49 min: Two-pass Derby moves are at a premium right now.

6.20pm BST

47 min: Space for Klick down the right. He hooks into the middle. Harrison comes in from the left and connects. A shot on target, but it comes off Bogle’s backside and deflects out for a corner. The resulting set piece isn’t up to much. But for a second back there, Derby hearts were in mouths.

6.18pm BST

It’s the second half! Derby get the party restarted under the evening sun. There have been no half-time changes.

6.05pm BST

Half-time entertainment. Another big game tomorrow, eh?

Related: Old Firm derby turns spotlight on Steven Gerrard’s first Rangers season | Ewan Murray

6.04pm BST

There’s just enough time for Harrison and Roofe to combine down the left and pull the ball back for Dallas, who pulls a shot wide right from the edge of the box. But no matter, because the ball had previously gone out for a goal kick. And that’s the end of a scrappy first half. Plenty of room for improvement.

6.02pm BST

45 min: Harrison swans in from the left and sends a long ball towards Roofe at the far post. Derby are forced to concede a corner. Phillips takes, and takes dreadfully. Soon enough, the ball’s back on the halfway line.

6.00pm BST

43 min: Holmes is bundled over by Phillips just inside the Leeds half. Derby load the box. Mount sends the free kick straight out for a goal kick. That just about sums up Derby’s performance so far, that early promising burst aside.

5.59pm BST

41 min: Roofe romps towards the Derby area, through a lot of space in the midfield, but loses a bit of confidence when he approaches the box. A promising move peters out. Derby were very light at the back there. Leeds have been the better side, but the final pass has been consistently poor.

5.57pm BST

40 min: Ayling probes down the right again. He’s got team-mates in the box, but floats harmlessly towards the far post, where Roos stands alone and plucks the ball from the sky with a yawn.

5.56pm BST

38 min: A sensational run down the right by Ayling, who nutmegs Malone then knocks the ball past Tomori and rounds him. Ayling enters the box and cuts the ball back to ... nobody. Shame, because that build-up play would have made for a fine goal.

5.54pm BST

37 min: Lawrence runs hard at Leeds down the left, but runs out of steam before he gets to the box. He lays off for Wilson, who attempts to return the ball with a cheeky lifter over the Leeds backline, but it’s not cheeky enough and the visitors are able to clear.

5.53pm BST

35 min: Leeds continue to dominate both in terms of possession and territory, but they’ve yet to force Roos into serious action. At some point they’ll have to make it count.

5.52pm BST

33 min: Tomori slides in with two feet on Shackleton. The young winger leaps over the challenge and keeps going. No contact. An older, wiser, more cynical player might have made sure of contact there and purchased a free foul. And Tomori would have been in a world of trouble, because he was out of control, studs showing. When play finally stops, the referee has a quiet word, telling the young defender to watch himself. Good fuss-free refereeing.

5.48pm BST

31 min: Another strong run by Holmes, this time down the inside-left channel, but just as Leeds were beginning to look vulnerable he overhits a through ball intended for Nugent and Casilla is able to come out and smother.

5.47pm BST

29 min: Harrison dinks a clever pass down the inside-left channel to release Klich into the box. Klich reaches the byline and tries to find Roofe in the middle, but Tomori is able to flick away. Derby were once again nearly opened up there.

5.44pm BST

27 min: Shackleton races down the left and is nearly set free into the box by a sliderule Harrison pass. Keogh slides in to hook the ball clear, a superb challenge just as the young sub was preparing to shoot.

5.42pm BST

25 min: Holmes tears down the inside-right channel, making it from the halfway line to the edge of the box. A one-two with Nugent nearly comes off, but Leeds bundle the ball away just in time. The first promising Derby move for a little while.

5.40pm BST

23 min: Forshaw is down injured. It doesn’t look as though he’s going to continue. He gets up and holds his hamstring. Then trudges off. On comes the 19-year-old Jamie Shackleton.

5.38pm BST

21 min: Leeds are well on the front foot now. Dallas rumbles down the left and slips a pass forward to Harrison, who earns yet another corner. Phillips sends another ball through the Derby six-yard box, but yet again nobody in blue can take a decisive touch. Derby’s defence is all over the shop at these set-pieces.

5.36pm BST

19 min: A simple long ball down the middle nearly does for Derby, Roofe quickly racing after it with the home defence plodding. Roos hesitates in coming out to meet it, too. But the ball takes a hot bounce and runs away from Roofe, just as it looked as though the striker might be able to get a shot away.

5.35pm BST

18 min: Another Leeds corner down the right, this time won by Hernandez. Phillips takes. It’s half cleared. Klich shanks a shot from distance. Roofe tries to rescue the situation with an improvised bicycle kick as the ball squirts towards him, but can only send his effort well wide left.

5.33pm BST

16 min: Ayling’s low cross from the right is deflected out for a corner. Derby don’t deal with it, the ball sailing through the six-yard box, but fortunately for the home side there’s nobody in blue to force it home. Derby eventually clear their lines, but after a dominant period they’ve ceded the initiative to Leeds.

5.31pm BST

14 min: A slight lull after a hectic start. Everyone deserves a break.

5.30pm BST

12 min: Leeds are growing into the match at last. Dallas, striding in from the left, sends a power curler towards the top right. It’s only just over the bar. Roos probably had that covered, had it been on target, though the shot was travelling some so it would have had to be a strong hand.

5.28pm BST

11 min: Harrison crosses from the left, and Malone concedes a needless corner, chesting out under no pressure whatsoever. The resulting set piece isn’t anything to write home about. But a little better from Leeds, who have been quiet so far.

5.27pm BST

10 min: Derby pin Leeds back. Lawrence has a dig from distance. It’s blocked. Holmes has another go. That one’s blocked too. Mount tries to set up Wilson with a cushioned header, but it’s cleared. Of the two teams, Derby have started much better.

5.25pm BST

8 min: A beautiful flowing move by Derby, Mount at the centre of it. Wilson then sails in from the right flank and plays a cute pass down the channel for Nugent, whose shot is deflected over for a corner. Nothing comes from the set piece, but that’s very promising for the home side.

5.23pm BST

7 min: Bogle shuttles in from the right and rolls a pass across to Lawrence, who hits a first-time curler towards the top right. It’s always going to be miles wide, and Casilla ushers it calmly out of play.

5.22pm BST

5 min: Wilson rips down the right and looks to have been bundled over by Dallas, but there’s nothing doing. Wilson springs up in fury, but the referee’s not changing his mind. We play on.

5.20pm BST

3 min: A free kick for Derby out on the right. Mount hoicks it into the penalty box. The ball skims off the top of Tomori’s head and Leeds are able to clear their lines.

5.19pm BST

2 min: Roofe sends a cross into the Derby area from the right. Hernandez shapes to meet the dropping ball with a volley, but he’s closed down just in time.

5.18pm BST

We’re off! Leeds get the ball rolling, and keep hold of it awhile. Just about. It’s all high-speed scrappiness in the very early stages.

5.17pm BST

The teams are out! A rare old atmosphere at Pride Park. Just as Lampard and Bielsa prepare to shake hands, Sky cut to some betting advert or other. We do see Lampard shake hands with everyone else in the Leeds dugout, so that’s something. We’ll be off in a sec!

5.07pm BST

Frank Lampard talks! “They’re a good team and caught us cold early in the season, and we didn’t turn up at Elland Road, we didn’t play our game. So what we need to do is bring our personality to the party. Those two games should be in the back of our mind, but we’re in a different place now, so we can approach this game differently.”

Marcelo Bielsa speaks! “Every game is different, even if it’s the same rival. The fact that we won the last two games doesn’t indicate a specific trend for this game.”

5.03pm BST

Spygate revision notes.

Related: With his ‘spygate’ PowerPoint, Marcelo Bielsa has enhanced his legend | Jonathan Wilson

5.00pm BST

Kit watch. Derby will wear their famous white shirts today. I’d hoped to post a snap of them wearing that kit during their 1970s pomp, but our retro Derby archive isn’t as comprehensive as one would hope. So here they are enjoying that aforementioned bit of rough-house with Leeds in 1975. In, er, black and white. Imagine Leeds in yellow. Still, the official caption for the pic is quite magnificent.

4.40pm BST

Pre-match reading. Our man Ben Fisher has been chatting to Fikayo Tomori, Derby’s player of the season. Here are the fruits of that conversation. Click and enjoy!

Related: Fikayo Tomori: ‘Chelsea’s loanees want the same thing but I’m focused on Derby’

4.28pm BST

Derby County boss Frank Lampard makes a single, enforced change to the team he picked for the 3-1 win over West Bromwich Albion last week. David Nugent deputises for the injured Martyn Waghorn.

Marcelo Bielsa of Leeds United also makes just the one alteration, and this is enforced as well. Gaetano Berardi replaces the injured Pontus Jansson, otherwise it’s the XI selected for the 3-2 defeat at relegated Ipswich Town last week.

4.20pm BST

Derby County: Roos, Bogle, Tomori, Keogh, Malone, Mount, Johnson, Wilson, Holmes, Lawrence, Nugent.
Subs: Carson, Jozefzoon, Marriott, Evans, Bennett, MacDonald, Huddlestone.

Leeds United: Casilla, Ayling, Berardi, Cooper, Dallas, Phillips, Hernandez, Forshaw, Klich, Harrison, Roofe.
Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Brown, Shackleton, Clarke, Struijk, Gotts, Bogusz.

2.50pm BST

Leeds versus Derby, then. Marvellous.

Continue reading...

Aston Villa 2-1 West Brom: Championship play-off semi-final, first leg – as it happened

Conor Hourihane and Tammy Abraham turned this first leg around in Villa’s favour, as Baggies scorer Dwight Gayle was sent packing for two yellow cards.

2.59pm BST

Nick Miller was our man at Villa Park. His report has landed. Enjoy, enjoy. Thanks for reading this MBM, and see you for the big Derby-Leeds stramash in a couple of hours!

Related: Advantage Aston Villa after Tammy Abraham penalty downs West Brom

2.57pm BST

James Shan’s turn. “I thought we were very very good. I thought we frustrated them for long parts of the game. It was a shot from distance and a penalty. We frustrated them. But we could have been a bit more patient in possession. I’ve looked back at the decision to send off Gayle. It’s not one that I agree with, and I think we were hard done by massively. We’ve got 90 minutes still to play, and our approach will be very different, because we need to win the game. I’m sure our crowd will get behind us and give us a big lift.”

2.48pm BST

Dean Smith talks. “I think we deserved to win the game. I thought Albion came to sit behind the ball and slow the game down, and take their time over throw-ins and goal kicks. We had to try to open them up. We found it difficult, we were nowhere near our best but we found a way to win. It took a good strike to open them up. I don’t think West Brom will play like that at the Hawthorns on Tuesday!”

2.42pm BST

That’s the first time this season West Brom have lost a match having taken the lead. What a time to do it! It all unravelled quicksmart: they spurned a fine opportunity to make it 2-0, then immediately conceded twice. Losing their most potent attacker Dwight Gayle to a second yellow card, and having a very decent penalty shout ignored, put the tin lid on it. Credit to Villa for turning up the heat in the second half, and to Conor Hourihane for scoring a pearler. Could their three-year Premier League exile be coming to an end?

2.31pm BST

It all went wrong for West Brom in short order, and Aston Villa take a lead into the second leg at the Hawthorns.

2.30pm BST

90 min +6: Abraham’s quick feet on the edge of the box nearly set up Kodjia. Then Grealish slips a pass down the right channel. Green has a bash that’s deflected over the bar. The resulting corner comes to nothing. Villa so close to a third goal that would put Villa in control of this tie.

2.27pm BST

90 min +4: Hourihane tries to pass the ball into the bottom right from the edge of the box. A tame effort that’s deflected away from danger. West Brom hanging on.

2.26pm BST

90 min +3: It’s all Villa now, as they probe in pursuit of the third goal that would sicken West Brom.

2.24pm BST

90 min +1: But there’s plenty of it left. Seven minutes! El Ghazi can’t continue, and he’s replaced by Kodjia.

2.23pm BST

90 min: El Ghazi and Mings are both on the turf getting treatment. Villa’s turn to run the clock down.

2.22pm BST

88 min: Morrison is sent scampering down the right by Murphy’s cute flick. Morrison whips low into the box. Gayle slides in, hoping to poke home, but clatters into Steer instead. It didn’t look malicious ... but it was clumsy, and the referee has no option but to show a second yellow and then the red.

2.19pm BST

86 min: Space for Rodriguez down the left. He sprays a pass wide right to ... absolutely nobody.

2.17pm BST

84 min: Johansen goes down, and can’t continue. He’s replaced by Morrison.

2.15pm BST

82 min: Gayle flings a throw into the mixer from the left. Some head tennis. Then Abraham clatters into Holgate when contesting a high ball. That’s surely a penalty, but the referee doesn’t give it! Villa have swerved one there.

2.13pm BST

80 min: How costly Gayle’s loose pass towards Murphy looks now. One good ball there, and it most likely would have been 2-0 to the Baggies. But now look!

2.12pm BST

One of the coolest penalty kicks you’ll see. Abraham picks his spot, the bottom right, and tucks it right into the corner, having sent Johnstone the other way. What a turnaround!

2.11pm BST

78 min: The free kick is poor, but only half cleared. Grealish dribbles back into the box from the right, and is clipped by Gibbs, who has had a nightmare 60 seconds. Penalty kick, no question.

2.10pm BST

77 min: Gibbs is booked for wafting a hand into the face of Green. And this is a free kick out on the right. West Brom suddenly under serious pressure.

2.09pm BST

What a strike this is! Grealish dribbles up and down the inside-right channel. Then he pulls the ball back to Hourihane, who sends a first-time heat-seeker into the top left! Johnstone had no chance, and Villa Park finds its voice once again!

2.07pm BST

74 min: McGinn shoots from distance. The ball deflects out for a corner on the right. Grealish takes. Tuanzebe tries to flick a header goalwards but can’t get it on target. West Brom break, Hegazi finding Gayle in space down the left. There’s a simple pass on back inside to release Murphy, but Gayle underhits it, allowing Mings to divert the ball away for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece. A waste.

2.05pm BST

72 min: West Brom win a corner down the right. Brunt takes long. Bartley wins a header at the far post, sending the ball back across goal and out for a goal kick. Villa didn’t deal with that particularly well.

2.04pm BST

70 min: Gayle goes down again, having taken the swinging arm of Hourihane in the face. He doesn’t get much sympathy from the home crowd, who are fairly convinced that he’s wasting more time. But to be fair, he did take a whack in the grid, albeit accidentally.

2.02pm BST

69 min: The game goes a bit scrappy as the new men find their feet.

2.00pm BST

67 min: Changes ahoy! West Brom replace Phillips with Murphy, then Villa make a double substitution: Hourihane and Green on, Whelan and Adomah off.

1.59pm BST

65 min: This has suddenly become quite feisty. Johansen barges into Abraham, who reacts in a robust manner. Then Gayle goes down, seemingly with cramp. The ref runs over and tells him to get up. He’s testing the ref’s patience.

1.56pm BST

63 min: Gayle clunks into Grealish. A garden-variety foul, but Dean Smith springs off the Villa bench to complain. The ref’s not interested in brandishing a second yellow, though.

1.55pm BST

62 min: Another throw for West Brom. Gayle once again faffs around, and is booked. He shakes his head in pantomime confusion, but will know full well that he’d already been warned about time-wasting.

1.53pm BST

60 min: El Ghazi drops a shoulder to glide in from the left, but having made space sends his shot from distance well over the bar.

1.52pm BST

59 min: Grealish jigs across the face of the West Brom box, right to left, and eventually pulls the trigger, sending a shot towards the bottom left. The ball takes a deflection en route, but Johnstone handles well nonetheless.

1.50pm BST

57 min: West Brom take their own sweet time over a throw. The ref tells Gayle to get a wriggle on. Gayle eventually flings the ball into the box, Bartley’s presence earning a corner for the Baggies. The set piece leads to some head tennis, Bartley and Brunt both lurking with intent. But Villa eventually get round to clearing their lines.

1.48pm BST

55 min: El Ghazi loops a cross in from the right. Abraham gets the jump on Bartley, but flicks his header, intended for the top left, high and wide. Villa are beginning to ask some questions at last.

1.47pm BST

53 min: The corner leads to some end-to-end wildness. First up, West Brom clear and counter, Gayle nearly latching onto a long punt. Steer comes out of his area to head clear. Then back up the other end, Whelan has a whack from distance, eager to atone for his mistake that led to the goal. The shot’s blocked. But the home fans sense their team have upped their game since the restart, and holler accordingly.

1.45pm BST

52 min: Abraham turns on the jets and wheechs past Hegazi down the right. He reaches the byline and makes it into the area, then shoots low for the bottom right. Johnstone turns it round the post for a corner.

1.43pm BST

50 min: Adomah dribbles down the right and crosses. Brunt is right next to him, and the ball hits him on the elbow. Villa scream for a penalty, but they’re never getting that one.

1.42pm BST

49 min: To Bartley’s relief, the corner comes to nought. The ball’s pulled back to McGinn, who fires high into the Holte End.

1.41pm BST

48 min: Grealish curls it long. Bartley should leave it to drift harmlessly out of play, but heads behind to concede a corner. No shout.

1.40pm BST

47 min: Villa stroke it about for a bit. Hegazi gets fed up and slides in on Adomah, and that’s a booking. A free kick out on the right, too, and a chance to load the box.

1.38pm BST

Here we go, then ... for your leisure and pleasure ... the second half! Villa get the ball rolling again. West Brom have made a change, Craig Dawson having failed to recover from the knock he took late in the first half. Tyrone Mears comes on in his place.

1.28pm BST

Half-time entertainment. Another big day tomorrow, huh.

Related: Premier League’s freakish finale leaves no margin for error | Jonathan Wilson

1.23pm BST

West Brom have scored one. They’ve hit the bar. They look very comfortable at the back. Villa will be glad of the opportunity to think up some new ideas.

1.20pm BST

45 min +3: Gayle tries to turn Tuanzebe, the ball having been launched long. He falls and claims a free kick, but the referee’s not interested. Just as well for Villa, because Tuanzebe was the last man.

1.19pm BST

45 min +2: Dawson’s back on. Mings has a belt from 25 yards; it’s easily snaffled by Johnstone.

1.18pm BST

45 min: Dawson’s chatting to the physio, and he’s preparing to come back on. There will be five added minutes.

1.17pm BST

44 min: He might have taken a smack in the mouth, because as he’s escorted off the pitch, looking fairly dazed it must be said, he’s gingerly probing his gums.

1.15pm BST

43 min: Dawson goes down. He was nowhere near the play, so not sure what happened. He’s getting some treatment, and looks fairly queasy.

1.13pm BST

41 min: And now a period of patient West Brom passing further frustrates the home side.

1.11pm BST

39 min: West Brom are holding their shape well. Villa can’t find a way through. The hosts have had plenty of possession, but they’re doing very little with it. Villa Park has fallen very quiet now as a result.

1.09pm BST

37 min: El Ghazi has been bright. Another run down the left. He whips in a great cross, with Adomah and Abraham both lurking, but Hegazi eyebrows the ball away just in time. A fine last-ditch header.

1.07pm BST

35 min: One corner leads to another. The second leads to nothing.

1.06pm BST

34 min: Grealish whips it in, and fails to beat the first man. Brunt heads clear. Then West Brom are breaking three on three! Phillips has two opportunities to send Gayle clear down the inside-right channel, but can’t find the pass. He settles for a corner instead.

1.05pm BST

33 min: Phillips takes an air swipe at an attempted clearance, and suddenly McGinn’s putting Holgate under pressure down the left. Holgate bundles his man over, and is booked for his trouble. A free kick, just to the left of the West Brom box.

1.04pm BST

31 min: Hegazi passes long. Gayle brings the ball down on the edge of the Villa box, then flicks a pass towards Rodriguez on the left. Rodriguez goes for the first-time spectacular, and shanks it miles wide right, and high to boot. A second goal for the Baggies would really put the cat among the pigeons here.

1.01pm BST

29 min: McGinn goes on a jink down the inside-left channel. He thinks about shooting a couple of times. When he eventually does, the ball’s deflected out for a corner. From the set piece, Grealish dances in from the left and larrups a wild shot over the bar.

1.00pm BST

28 min: Elmohamady wins a corner down the right. McGinn takes it short towards Grealish, but Gayle is onto it like a flash and hooks clear. What a waste.

12.58pm BST

26 min: Phillips goes flying in on McGinn, out on the Villa left. He doesn’t make contact, which is just as well. The ref could easily book him for that, but settles for a lecture instead. No more chances, I’ll be bound.

12.57pm BST

24 min: El Ghazi goes on a blistering run down the left. He steams past a couple of opponents, but as he enters the box he’s shepherded out of play by Bartley, who stayed on his shoulder and didn’t make any sort of challenge that would have resulted in a penalty. Goal kick. That was nearly a hell of a solo goal, though.

12.54pm BST

22 min: It’s fair to say that goal has quietened the home crowd quite a bit. And the Villa passes suddenly aren’t sticking, some anxiety entering their play. It’s all a bit scrappy right now.

12.52pm BST

20 min: An ominous stat for Villa: West Brom have won 17 of the 21 games in which they’ve taken the lead this season, and drawn the other four.

12.51pm BST

18 min: Villa respond immediately, Grealish running at the West Brom defence. Rodriguez tackles him hard and fair. The ball breaks to El Ghazi, who shoots for the bottom left from the edge of the box. Johnstone gathers well, the ball having taken a deflection en route.

12.49pm BST

Grealish passes backwards to Whelan, who takes a fresh-air prod at the ball. Gayle springs into action and races off with it. He bears down on goal and lashes a shot into the bottom right. Steer had no chance. First blood to the Albion!

12.47pm BST

15 min: This is great fun. Adomah crosses from the right. Abraham spectacularly bicycle kicks over the bar. And then ...

12.46pm BST

14 min: The free kick’s hoicked into the mixer. Mings and Hegazi tussle and fall over. Villa Park claims a penalty but Mings doesn’t. No penalty.

12.45pm BST

13 min: West Brom are beginning to work their way into the match. They win a corner out on the left. Some head tennis in the box. But then it’s Villa’s turn to launch a counter. Grealish dribbles up the park and draws a foul. A free kick and a chance to load the West Brom box.

12.44pm BST

11 min: Gayle is fouled by Tuanzebe, 30 yards out. The free kick causes mild bedlam in the Villa box, Steer flapping, Mings hacking out for a throw. Then the ball’s worked to Rodriguez just outside the box. Rodriguez opens his body and shapes a fine shot towards the top right. It’s heading in, but Steer gets a fingernail to it and deflects the ball onto the bar! Gayle tries to poke the rebound home, but fails, and he’s flagged offside anyway. Great football all round!

12.42pm BST

9 min: Adomah sashays in from the right and attempts a curler towards the top left. The ball finds the top left of the stand behind the goal.

12.40pm BST

8 min: The corner’s not up to much, and West Brom are quickly flooding up the other end on the counter. Phillips skedaddles down the right but the move peters out as Grealish tracks back and sticks to him like glue. A bright, open start to this match.

12.39pm BST

7 min: El Ghazi zips past Holgate with great ease down the left. His cross is headed away by Brunt, but Grealish and Elmohamady combine down the other flank to win another corner.

12.38pm BST

5 min: Villa have started brightly. McGinn, deep on the left, sprays a diagonal pass towards Adomah, cutting in from the other flank. Adomah can only shank wide from a tight angle, and the flag goes up for offside anyway.

12.36pm BST

4 min: Quickly taken corners are this week’s thing. This one’s slipped cheekily to Grealish, who stands one up for Whelan. The resulting header flies over the bar. That was a chance, because West Brom were snoozing like Barcelona there.

12.35pm BST

3 min: Now Bartley clatters Abraham, and this is a free kick in West Brom territory. The set piece is worked out wide left to Taylor, who wins the first corner of the game.

12.34pm BST

2 min: Grealish Gascoignes his way down the middle of the park and is unceremoniously barged to the ground by Johansen. A statement challenge is probably the best way to describe it.

12.32pm BST

And we’re off! The visitors get the party started, like the best guests do. The ball’s launched long. It’s sent straight back upfield. Villa Park is bouncing. It’s the play-offs!

12.30pm BST

The teams are out! A fantastic atmosphere at Villa Park, just as you’d expect for a promotion play-off, and a West Midlands derby. We’ll be off in a minute, but first a word from Tom Levesley, who is lost in nostalgic reverie: “It’s a classic kit alright. Here’s me modelling it with the classic golf trouser and afro combo. Not sure why Laurie didn’t pick this look.”

12.21pm BST

James Shan praises the returning Chris Brunt and Matty Phillips. “Their level of experience is going to be key today, the quality both players provide for us. Chris has been a key player, he offers a lot, and Matty gives us so much going forward. And both players are key to our set-play delivery as well.”

12.19pm BST

Dean Smith speaks to Sky. “It’s a different Aston Villa now to the one that West Brom played in February. We’re in a really good run of form. Confidence is high but we know this is a tough game today. The players are ready and there’s a freshness about them. There’s certainly a lot of belief as well.”

11.58am BST

Kit watch. A classic look to this match today. Victorian aristocrats Villa will sport their famous claret and blue ...

11.41am BST

Villa power up after taking it easy in the final match of the regular season against Norwich. Ahmed Elmohamady, Tyrone Mings, John McGinn, Anwar El Ghazi, Tammy Abraham and captain Jack Grealish return to the starting XI.

The Baggies make two changes to the team that lost at Derby on the final day. Chris Brunt and Matty Phillips are back, replacing Jacob Murphy and Rekeem Harper.

11.34am BST

Aston Villa: Steer, Elmohamady, Tuanzebe, Mings, Taylor, Whelan, Adomah, McGinn, Grealish, El Ghazi, Abraham.
Subs: Hourihane, Jedinak, Davis, Green, Kodjia, Kalinic, Hause.

WBA: Johnstone, Dawson, Bartley, Hegazi, Holgate, Brunt, Johansen, Gibbs, Phillips, Rodriguez, Gayle.
Subs: Morrison, Mears, Townsend, Montero, Bond, Field, Murphy.

11.13am BST

West Bromwich Albion had the better of this particular fixture back in February. Goals from Hal-Robson-Kanu and Jay Rodriguez sealed a 2-0 win for Darren Moore’s side. Villa didn’t look much like promotion prospects back then.

But then they embarked on a spectacular run as Dean Smith’s work started to bear fruit. A draw at Stoke was followed by ten wins on the bounce, a sequence that pretty much guaranteed a play-off spot. West Brom meanwhile got shot of Moore and replaced him with caretaker James Shan, to no great artistic improvement, though the results have kept ticking over.

Continue reading...

Ajax 2-3 Tottenham (agg: 3-3): Champions League semi-final, second leg – as it happened

Tottenham looked down and out, but Lucas Moura’s dramatic second-half hat-trick earned them a place in the final with Liverpool

3.58pm BST

Related: ‘A fairytale with a very bad ending’: Ajax and Netherlands in disbelief

1.48pm BST

An amazing night: in pictures

Related: What a night part two! Spurs' stunning comeback against Ajax – in pictures

11.33am BST

Jonathan Wilson on what this week’s comebacks mean

Related: Belief fuels era of remarkable Champions League comebacks | Jonathan Wilson

12.51am BST

Related: Spurs live a north London fantasy to break apart Ajax’s butterflies | Barney Ronay

11.47pm BST

Related: Ajax 2-3 Tottenham (3-3 agg): Champions League player ratings

10.41pm BST

Post-match press conferences: live!

10.34pm BST

Lads, that was Tottenham. The 2019 version, that is. Seconds away from being knocked out, Dele Alli played a cute pass to Lucas Moura, who completed a three-goal second-half comeback - and a hat-trick! - with pretty much the last kick of the match. A quite brilliant performance by Mauricio Pochettino’s side, seeing off this magnificent young Ajax team with their passion, drive and no little talent. The hosts crumpled to the floor as one, hearts broken, their dreams snatched away, while Spurs move on to Madrid and a final with fellow escapologists Liverpool. It promises to be one heck of a game. You’ll join us for that one, right? If it ends 0-0 we’ll all be livid. In the meantime, congratulations to Spurs, commiserations to Ajax, and thanks to all of you for reading this MBM. Nothing more to see here, so may I direct you to Daniel Taylor’s match report? Nighty night!

Related: Tottenham comeback stuns Ajax and sets up final against Liverpool

10.25pm BST

Mauricio Pochettino, smiling broadly now, talks! “It is still difficult to talk. I am a bit emotional. Thank you football, thank you my players, they are heroes. In the last year I am telling everyone that I have a groups of players who are heroes. The second half was amazing. Thank you football! I am so emotional now. I thank our fans and the people who believe. When you work and feel the love, it’s not a stress, it’s a pleasure. We showed passion against Manchester City and against today. It was tough, but this is a magic competition. I am so grateful to be a coach! All of my players are heroes, but Lucas Moura is a super-hero! [momentarily breaks down again] I want to remember my family, this is for them too.” What a job this man has done. The emotion pouring from him. Lovely to see the pure joy. Pochettino versus Klopp ... the final’s going to be quite an intense ride, isn’t it.

10.17pm BST

Here’s an uncharacteristically serious post from MBM regular Phil Sawyer. “Can I highlight one thing that has irked me about both last night and tonight? Greedy bloody TV. Last night it was Jordan Henderson. Tonight, Christian Eriksen. Interviewing players when they want to be celebrating. I know TV needs those interviews, but surely better to watch the celebratory scenes first then get the interviews afterwards? I really felt for Jordan last night, having to do an interview while the chorus in front of the Kop went on. And again for Eriksen tonight. Come on, BT, i know you live to sell content but show some heart.” Fair point well made. Baby steps, but at least we’ve come a long way since this broadcasting outrage ...

10.12pm BST

The 2019 Champions League final: Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool. Saturday 1 June. Who’d have thought this could happen at 9pm last night, never mind 9pm tonight?! But here we are!

10.10pm BST

BT Sport want to talk to Mauricio Pochettino, but he’s still in floods of tears. A maelstrom of emotion. No, that interview’s not going to happen. The Spurs manager’s off down the tunnel to compose himself. Maybe in a bit.

10.07pm BST

And now Danny Rose, who was excellent this evening. “Well, we saw Liverpool last night, and it goes to show it’s not over until it’s over. We were still disappointed from the first leg. There were a few words said at half-time. The gaffer doesn’t mind losing, but we have to lose in the right way. Even if we hadn’t have won tonight, he’d have been very proud of how we finished the game. And now we are in the final!”

10.05pm BST

Christian Eriksen, calm and frank as ever, talks to BT Sport. “It was a ridiculous game. We were far down and fought back, and we were just lucky. I feel sorry for Ajax, because they played better football than us over two games. But we created more chances. We were lucky and we scored. It’s a relief, and it’s great to be in the Champions League final. We wouldn’t have been able to look ourselves in the mirror afterwards if we’d lost four or five-nil. The ball fell in the right direction. It was tactics-free! Heart plus Lucas Moura. I hope he gets a statue in England after this. An English final will be fun!”

10.02pm BST

Spurs cavort in delight! They can’t believe what’s just happened. What a performance by Spurs, and in particular Lucas Moura! They thought it was all over when Fernando Llorente flashed his header over the bar ... but something kept Tottenham going, and they’re going to Madrid to face Liverpool in the final! Mauricio Pochettino is in floods of tears. So are several of the Ajax players, but theirs are of the bitter variety.

10.00pm BST

Glory, glory Tottenham Hotspur! And you thought last night at Anfield was dramatic!

9.59pm BST

90 min +7: This game’s taken a long time to restart. Time for one last Ajax attack?

9.58pm BST

They’ve done it! Moura has just guided a shot into the bottom right from just inside the box. Llorente headed a long ball on. Alli slipped the ball towards Moura, who turned and whipped his shot past Onana and in!

9.56pm BST

90 min +4.30: Onana is booked for taking his sweet time over the goal kick.

9.56pm BST

90 min +4: Eriksen combines with Moura down the right and earns a corner. This is surely it for Spurs. Lloris comes up for the set piece. Llorente rises highest ... and sends the ball miles over the bar from 12 yards. Oh dear. That could be it for brave Tottenham Hotspur. They’ve really given this a go.

9.54pm BST

90 min +3: Lloris makes a save that keeps Spurs in it. Space for Ziyech just inside the Spurs box on the left. He hammers a shot straight at the keeper. The Ajax fans are making plenty of noise, trying to get their heroes over the line. Can Spurs deny them at the death?

9.53pm BST

90 min +2: Ajax try to waste time by keeping the ball near the corner flag. They don’t waste much of it. Lloris can launch the ball up the other end. But Alderweireld flays a dismal pass out of play on the left. Time marches on.

9.52pm BST

90 min +1: Tadic romps down the right. He slips a ball down the channel for de Jong, who attempts to hook goalwards from a tight angle, but is denied by Alderweireld. It’s a corner, though.

9.51pm BST

90 min: The first-leg match-winner Donny van de Beek is replaced by Lisandro Magallan. There will be five added minutes. Five! Spurs still have time.

9.51pm BST

89 min: A free kick for Spurs on the halfway line. Davies loops it in, but de Ligt whacks clear. Eriksen, just inside his own half, plays a loose pass out for a throw in his own half. No real danger comes from this chain of events, but the clock ticks on.

9.49pm BST

87 min: ... Eriksen curls it in. Llorente rises. The ball breaks off his shoulder to Vertonghen, who heads goalwards, unopposed, from six yards! But his header comes off the bar. Vertonghen gets to the rebound and stabs goalwards from close range, but Veltman hacks off the line! Oh my goodness. Spurs inches away from the final!

9.48pm BST

86 min: Sissoko nearly loses control out on the right, but somehow the ball breaks to Son, just inside the box. Son turns and shoots, his effort deflected over the bar. Corner out on the right. And from the set piece ...

9.46pm BST

84 min: Moura works his way down the right and cuts the ball back for Llorente, who is just inside the box. The big striker can’t sort his feet out to shoot, and he’s soon swarmed by red-and-white shirts. Ajax clear. But they’re hanging on here. Spurs were totally out of this at half-time! And now look. Just one last push and their first Champions League final could become a reality.

9.44pm BST

83 min: Pochettino plays his last card. Rose, already booked and on a rolling boil for a while, makes way for Davies.

9.43pm BST

82 min: Ajax are sitting deep. Too deep? Llorente nearly works space to shoot inside the area. Not quite. Then Eriksen curls in from the right, but Blind volleys away.

9.42pm BST

81 min: But time’s running out for Spurs, and they need that third goal to win this tie on away goals. And so Trippier is sacrificed in favour of Lamela. It’s all-out attack for Spurs now!

9.41pm BST

79 min: Van de Beek is given all the time in the world to shoot from the edge of the box. His effort is blocked. Van de Beek thinks about another go, but feeds Ziyech to his right instead. Ziyech creams a wonderful effort towards the bottom right. It’s beaten Lloris, but springs off the base of the post and away! Another sign that this could be Tottenham’s night?

9.39pm BST

77 min: Ziyech is booked for a late lunge on Rose. Tempers are fraying as the tension rises to almost unbearable levels.

9.38pm BST

76 min: Rose blatantly handles the ball in the midfield. It’s nothing more than a free kick, but upon hearing the whistle he picks up the ball and spikes it into the ground with an angry fist. A totally pointless booking is the inevitable result.

9.36pm BST

74 min: Trippier’s corner is met by Alderweireld, who sends a header towards the top left ... but just wide. A former Ajax player nearly breaks his old club’s heart.

9.35pm BST

73 min: This is a wild end-to-end affair now. Trippier finds more space down the right and earns yet another Spurs corner. From which ...

9.34pm BST

71 min: Ziyech floats a ball into the box for Sinkgraven, in space to the left of the six-yard box. A corner’s earned. From the set piece, the ball is worked to de Ligt on the right flank. He drops a shoulder to move into space inside the box, and hammers a low ball along the corridor of uncertainty. Lloris parries, and he’s very fortunate not to tee up the lurking Tagliafico. The ball went through his legs; he’d have been presented with a tap-in otherwise! Spurs clear, and breathe again. The sort of break that suggests this could be your night?

9.31pm BST

69 min: Ajax try to slow things down, stroking it around just inside the Tottenham half. Eventually Ziyech runs it out of play along the right. They’ve not managed to calm themselves down, though, and Ziyech wags his finger in Alli’s face after being clipped on the heel. Alli responds with a poker face.

9.29pm BST

67 min: Another defensive move by Ten Hag. Dolberg, who has done nothing of note tonight, is replaced by Sinkgraven.

9.28pm BST

66 min: Tripper zips down the right on the overlap, sent into space by Moura, and wins another corner. Nothing comes of that, but Spurs now look dangerous every time they pile forward!

9.27pm BST

64 min: And now Moura is one de Ligt block away from slamming home a ball dropping on the penalty spot! Good luck guessing which way this is going to go, because these teams have seemingly taken the decision to give up defending as a way of life.

9.25pm BST

63 min: Ajax are inches away from restoring their two-goal lead. Mazraoui slips a pass down the left for Tadic, who nears the byline and pulls one back for Ziyech. A first-time slapshot whistles inches wide of the right-hand post.

9.23pm BST

62 min: Llorente enjoys a rush of hot blood to the head and fires miles over the bar from 25 yards. It’s fair to say it’s all happening now!

9.23pm BST

61 min: Just the 24 hours since we’ve witnessed a sensational second-half comeback. Ajax are rocking. Schone is replaced by Veltman as Erik Ten Hag looks to shore things up. But has the horse already bolted?

9.22pm BST

This is sensational! Son slips the ball wide right to Trippier, who is in acres on the right. He enters the box and slams low and hard into the middle. Llorente flicks hard but is denied from close range by a sensational Dudek-esque point-blank strong arm from Onana. But Schone gets in the road as Onana looks to fall on the ball and smother. It breaks to Moura, who twinkle-toes his way around de Light, turns, and slams into the bottom left! This is on!

9.19pm BST

57 min: For the first time this evening, you can hear a rendition of Come On You Spurs. The home supporters respond with some noise of their own. But it’s a more nervous Johan Cruyff ArenA now. Another goal for Spurs and this tie suddenly takes a sharp left turn!

9.18pm BST

And here’s that goal! Rose beats de Ligt on the halfway line and feeds Alli, who drives down the middle. He passes towards Moura, on his left shoulder. Moura takes a touch into the box and fires low and hard into the bottom right! There’s the first goal, and here comes hope!

9.16pm BST

54 min: Spurs finally make Onana work! Eriksen floats a diagonal ball, left to right, towards Alli, cutting into the box from the right and free. The ball sits up awkwardly, and Alli is forced to twist his body unnaturally to slam a shot goalwards. He connects well, and the ball’s heading for the top right. Onana parries with a strong hand. A corner, which is headed over harmlessly by Llorente. But a goal now, and you never know.

9.14pm BST

52 min: Son buzzes around the front of the Ajax box. Eventually the ball’s worked in towards Llorente, and the ball’s flicked out for a corner. That’s better. But Eriksen’s set-piece delivery hasn’t improved, and again he fails to beat the first man. Very poor. Meanwhile here’s Dan Hamilton with some more bright-side patter: “Very charitable, Scott, to encourage hope for Spurs. Plainly, they are running on empty after the longest of seasons for most of their players. They’ve done massively well to come this far and barring a last-day catastrophe, will return to this tourney next season. And have you seen the size of their coj-err, coc-umm-uhh, co-efficient? Big as its ever been and enough to slide them into in pot two for the group draw.”

9.11pm BST

50 min: Dolberg is booked for a late clank on Rose. No complaints.

9.11pm BST

49 min: Rose embarks on another strong run down the middle of the park, having breezed past Ziyech. He’s earned the right to shoot from the edge of the box, but opts to find Alli inside him instead. The pass is awful and Ajax clear without fuss. A chance to work Onana spurned there.

9.09pm BST

47 min: Not as far as Spurs are concerned. Eriksen’s corner fails to beat the first man. A clearance pure and true.

9.08pm BST

46 min: Ajax’s fans start the half by belting out a version of Three Little Birds by Bob Marley. Don’t worry about a thing ... but a long pass into the Ajax box causes de Ligt to panic and toe the ball out for a cheap corner for Spurs. Is every little thing going to be alright?

9.06pm BST

We’re off again! Ajax keep Spurs waiting, taking their sweet time to leave the tunnel. They get the second half underway, 45 minutes from a Saturday 1 June final with Liverpool. Spurs need three goals, and so they throw on Fernando Llorente in place of Victor Wanyama.

8.58pm BST

Half-time bright-side patter. “I guess Pochettino won’t be moving on after winning the Champions League,” writes Peter Littley. “Maybe Trippier and Alli will.”

“Tadic kicked Trippier in the face in the lead-up to the second goal,” opines Evan Crocker. “That’s something I think I could technically be mad about, since there’s a big difference between 1-0 and 2-0. But either scenario requires Spurs to score more than one goal and that is proving to be wishful thinking. It’s like Tadic kicked me in the face as well, and for that I thank him.”

8.50pm BST

Spurs require three second-half goals if they’re to make it to Madrid. It’s a hell of an ask. But as Liverpool proved last night, a quickfire one-two can change everything. No point in giving up hope now.

8.47pm BST

45 min: Spurs clear it easily enough. There will be two added minutes.

8.46pm BST

44 min: Ziyech floats the set piece into the box, forcing Spurs into conceding a corner. From which ...

8.45pm BST

43 min: Wanyama lands on Schone’s foot in a 50-50 challenge. Once again he’s a little fortunate not to see yellow. Next time perhaps. Anyway, this will be a free kick, 35 yards out, just to the left of centre.

8.44pm BST

42 min: Rose romps into an awful lot of space down the middle. He’s got options, and flicks a ball towards Alli on the left. Alli miscontrols and Ajax, momentarily light at the back, breathe a sigh of relief.

8.42pm BST

40 min: Space for Moura on the left. He crosses, but there’s nobody in the box. Spurs will have to start taking chances at some point, but the handbrake hasn’t been released yet.

8.42pm BST

39 min: Spurs gamely push Ajax back into their final third, just as they did after the opening goal. But they can’t find the final ball. Spurs now need three goals, and Ajax look accordingly comfortable.

8.40pm BST

37 min: The noise in the ArenA is pretty much at the level you’d expect. Ajax’s first final since 1996 is within touching distance for the Amsterdam giants and four-time winners. Number five could be on its way soon. What response do Spurs have this time?

8.39pm BST

Tadic beats Trippier to a ball in the midfield, wafting a leg near his face. No foul. Van de Beek glides down the inside left, then slips the ball wide to Tadic, who cuts back for Ziyech, just to the left of the D. Ziyech sends a rising screamer across Lloris and into the top right. A sensational strike, and Spurs are in all sorts of trouble now.

8.37pm BST

34 min: De Jong, the young man tasked with the job of fixing Barcelona next season, bowls up the middle of the park. A wonderful run, and he’s crudely checked by Wanyama, who is lucky to escape a caution.

8.36pm BST

33 min: The home fans have found their voice again. It’s a gloriously old-school European noise. Ziyech, to the right of the centre circle nearly finds Tadic on the left with a wonderful diagonal rake, but Trippier is back to intercept. A great read, and it looks as though he’s moving fine again.

8.34pm BST

31 min: Wanyama had stayed down after being barged off the ball by van de Beek. But he’s up and about again now, after a quick pat down with the magic sponge.

8.33pm BST

30 min: Wanyama is robbed in the centre circle by van de Beek. De Jong then sprays a ball wide left to Tadic, who bombs towards the box and shoots low and hard towards the bottom right. Lloris is beaten, but the ball fizzes inches wide of the post.

8.31pm BST

29 min: Incidentally, Trippier has been holding the top of his right thigh and glancing over to the bench quite a lot. In the technical area, Pochettino responds by looking thoughtful in the 1940s movie-star style.

8.30pm BST

28 min: More Spurs passing, but this time further up the field. They work the ball this way and that, and eventually Rose earns a corner out on the left. Rose’s corner doesn’t beat the first man. The clearing header drops to Moura, who slices wildly wide from 25 yards.

8.28pm BST

26 min: Some sterile Spurs possession in the middle of the park. It frustrates the home fans, who strike up a cacophony of whistles. Music to Tottenham’s ears.

8.27pm BST

24 min: Now Moura sashays his way into the box down the inside left and sends a fierce shot straight at Onana. Spurs will be a little frustrated with their finishing so far, but otherwise happy: they’re making chances.

8.26pm BST

23 min: Ah this is much better! Eriksen heel-flicks down the Spurs left, dispatching the ball from a tight spot and allowing Rose to make down the wing. He’s fouled, but the ball breaks to Alli, who shuttles it inside for Son, just inside the box. He’s just got Onana to beat, but shoots weakly for the bottom right and Onana claims.

8.25pm BST

22 min: This is being played at 100mph. Plenty of pressing, not so much successful passing.

8.24pm BST

21 min: Ziyech swings the set piece into the box. Moura clears with ease. Eriksen attempts to release Son down the right on the counter, but Tagliafico mops up.

8.22pm BST

20 min: One thing Sissoko can’t afford to do is snooze 30 yards from his own goal. He does that here, is stripped of possession, and is forced to foul Tagliafico. A free kick out on the left.

8.21pm BST

18 min: It’s all become a little bit scrappy. Understandably so. Two tense teams tussling for the big prize.

8.20pm BST

16 min: Sissoko goes in a little strongly on Tagliafico as the pair challenge for a loose ball down the Tottenham right. It’s a yellow card, and the combative midfielder is now walking along the old disciplinary tightrope. Not great news, but an early yellow didn’t stop Fabinho putting himself about last night for Liverpool, repeatedly getting on Luis Suarez’s nerves to boot. Proof that this needn’t be the end of the world.

8.17pm BST

14 min: Eriksen is seeing plenty of ball in these early exchanges. He flicks a pass down the left in the hope of releasing Moura into the area. Not quite, and the ball bounces through to Onana. Spurs will be extremely pleased with their response to the goal; the home fans have quietened a little as a result.

8.14pm BST

12 min: That early goal means there’ll be no extra time or penalties tonight. One way or another, this will be decided in the regulation 90 minutes. Plus stoppages of course. So who will face

Barcelona
Liverpool in the final?

8.12pm BST

10 min: Spurs might be losing, but they’ve been the better side on balance so far. That’s football. First Alli bursts down the middle, and is only stopped by an excellent tackle from Schone. Then Eriksen flicks a pass down the left channel for Alli, who shanks a shot wide right from just inside the box. The flag was up for offside anyway, but this is promising for Spurs.

8.11pm BST

8 min: Spurs have responded well to the early concession, pushing Ajax back into their final third. Blind is lucky not to be booked for bundling Sissoko to the ground. The free kick, out on the right, is wafted into the mixer by Trippier. Ajax don’t deal with it immediately, but eventually clear their lines with Moura and Son hovering.

8.09pm BST

6 min: A terrible start nearly turns into a fantastic one, as Son works his way down the left and tries to beat Onana at his near post with a low shot. He does beat the keeper, but the ball clanks off the base of the post and away from danger, just outside of Eriksen’s reach. What a start to this game!

8.08pm BST

The 19-year-old Ajax captain rises above Alli on the penalty spot and plants a header to Lloris’s right and in! Easy as that! A brief check with VAR, as Vertonghen might have been wrestled to the ground by van de Beek, but it’s correctly deemed fair. A terrible start for Spurs.

8.07pm BST

4 min: Ajax come straight back at Spurs. Tadic finds himself in a lot of space down the inside-left channel. He pearls a diagonal shot towards the bottom right. Lloris tips round the post magnificently for a corner. And from the set piece ...

8.06pm BST

3 min: Tadic would have been playing through the middle had Neres not injured himself. But now he’s out on the left, torturing Trippier. The ball is worked into the Spurs box. A little bit of pinball. Then van de Beek has a whack from distance. Wanyama blocks.

8.04pm BST

2 min: Now Spurs get a go to knock it around the back. Vertonghen is wearing his protective mask, by the way. Sensible Jan.

8.03pm BST

1 min: Spurs give up possession quickly enough, allowing Ajax to stroke it around the back a while. A chance for a few members of this young team to get a feel of the ball.

8.02pm BST

And we’re off! Spurs get the party started amid one hell of a racket. One big boost for Spurs before kick-off: Ajax lost the talented young Brazilian David Neres in the warm-up, so Kasper Dolberg takes his place.

7.59pm BST

The teams are out! There’s a blistering noise being made in the Johan Cruyff ArenA. The home fans giving it plenty: flags, a brass band, the lot. What an atmosphere! Tottenham’s to-do list: listen to Uefa anthem, clasp hands, win coin toss, swap pennants, kick off, silence crowd as soon as possible. A reminder, not that you need it, that Spurs are 0-1 down after the first leg. An early away goal would change everything, and really put the cat among the pigeons. As Liverpool proved last night, anything is possible in the Champions League. Especially when both sets of players appear a little tense in the tunnel. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!

7.46pm BST

Mauricio Pochettino speaks to BT Sport! “It is a fantastic night. There is not much to talk about, we just have to play football. We still miss some players, but it is important to recover Son. I don’t know if Vertonghen is going to play with a mask. The game is open, it’s 1-0 down. We can win the game in the first or last minute. We need to be ready, to concentrate and focus, and try to score from the first minute.”

7.36pm BST

Joe Meek Earworm dept.

Related: Telstar striker sacked for throwing a sickie to watch Ajax against Tottenham

7.24pm BST

While we’re on the subject of former Ajax players, here’s a couple more. Marco van Basten on the left, and Johan Cruyff on the right. Cruyff is wearing a Feyenoord shirt, you’ll notice. He’s playing for them out of spite, because the previous summer Ajax had refused to give the 36-year-old a contract. So off to the old arch-rivals he popped. He inspired Feyenoord to the title that season. Of course he did. The full story here.

7.17pm BST

Pre-match video entertainment II. And it’s more ABN AMRO era sauce. “Ahh the old innocent days, when Suarez had only bitten one person at work,” quips Zach Neeley. “Anyway, while we’re thinking of former Ajax players ...”

7.11pm BST

Pre-match video entertainment. Here’s Mauricio Pochettino in inscrutable form during yesterday’s press conference. The most enigmatic performance by an Argentinian this side of Ricardo Darin.

7.04pm BST

Ajax make one change to the XI named in north London last week. Noussair Mazraoui takes the place of Joel Veltman, who drops to the bench.

Spurs make two changes to last week’s starting XI. The previously suspended Son Heung-min is back, while Moussa Sissoko, who came on as a sub for the stricken Jan Vertonghen and did much to steady a listing ship, plays from the get-go this time. Fernando Llorente drops to the bench, while Davison Sanchez misses out altogether with a thigh problem. Erik Lamela returns from injury to take a sub spot, while the aforementioned Vertonghen has recovered from that harrowing concussion to play.

6.56pm BST

Ajax: Onana, Mazraoui, de Ligt, Blind, Tagliafico, Schone, van de Beek, De Jong, Ziyech, Tadic, Neres.
Subs: Bruno Varela, Veltman, Sinkgraven, Huntelaar, Magallan, Dolberg, de Wit.

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Sissoko, Wanyama, Alli, Eriksen, Lucas Moura, Son.
Subs: Gazzaniga, Lamela, Dier, Llorente, Foyth, Davies, Skipp.

6.51pm BST

Kit watch. Ajax will be wearing their famous white shirts with broad vertical red stripe. They are beautiful, though never as perfect as the editions with the old vertical ABN AMRO sponsorship. Quirky and stubborn and speaking of which, who’s this cheeky scamp wearing it?

3.28pm BST

Here’s the bad news for Tottenham Hotspur. Of the 17 teams to lose the first leg of a semi-final during the Champions League era at home, only one has turned it around to make the showpiece event. It’s none other than Ajax, back in 1996, when the reigning European champions went down 1-0 against Panathinaikos, only to win the second leg in Greece 3-0.

But here’s some better news. While the aforementioned turnaround is one of only four instances of a team going through after losing at home in the first leg of a Champions League knockout, two of those results have happened this season: Ajax against Real Madrid, and Manchester United against PSG. It’s in vogue. These kind of things come in threes ... sometimes.

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Ajax 2-3 Tottenham (agg:3-3): Champions League semi-final, second leg – as it happened

Tottenham looked down and out, but Lucas Moura’s dramatic second-half hat-trick earned them a place in the final with Liverpool

12.51am BST

Related: Spurs live a north London fantasy to break apart Ajax’s butterflies | Barney Ronay

11.47pm BST

Related: Ajax 2-3 Tottenham (3-3 agg): Champions League player ratings

10.41pm BST

Post-match press conferences: live!

10.34pm BST

Lads, that was Tottenham. The 2019 version, that is. Seconds away from being knocked out, Dele Alli played a cute pass to Lucas Moura, who completed a three-goal second-half comeback - and a hat-trick! - with pretty much the last kick of the match. A quite brilliant performance by Mauricio Pochettino’s side, seeing off this magnificent young Ajax team with their passion, drive and no little talent. The hosts crumpled to the floor as one, hearts broken, their dreams snatched away, while Spurs move on to Madrid and a final with fellow escapologists Liverpool. It promises to be one heck of a game. You’ll join us for that one, right? If it ends 0-0 we’ll all be livid. In the meantime, congratulations to Spurs, commiserations to Ajax, and thanks to all of you for reading this MBM. Nothing more to see here, so may I direct you to Daniel Taylor’s match report? Nighty night!

Related: Tottenham comeback stuns Ajax and sets up final against Liverpool

10.25pm BST

Mauricio Pochettino, smiling broadly now, talks! “It is still difficult to talk. I am a bit emotional. Thank you football, thank you my players, they are heroes. In the last year I am telling everyone that I have a groups of players who are heroes. The second half was amazing. Thank you football! I am so emotional now. I thank our fans and the people who believe. When you work and feel the love, it’s not a stress, it’s a pleasure. We showed passion against Manchester City and against today. It was tough, but this is a magic competition. I am so grateful to be a coach! All of my players are heroes, but Lucas Moura is a super-hero! [momentarily breaks down again] I want to remember my family, this is for them too.” What a job this man has done. The emotion pouring from him. Lovely to see the pure joy. Pochettino versus Klopp ... the final’s going to be quite an intense ride, isn’t it.

10.17pm BST

Here’s an uncharacteristically serious post from MBM regular Phil Sawyer. “Can I highlight one thing that has irked me about both last night and tonight? Greedy bloody TV. Last night it was Jordan Henderson. Tonight, Christian Eriksen. Interviewing players when they want to be celebrating. I know TV needs those interviews, but surely better to watch the celebratory scenes first then get the interviews afterwards? I really felt for Jordan last night, having to do an interview while the chorus in front of the Kop went on. And again for Eriksen tonight. Come on, BT, i know you live to sell content but show some heart.” Fair point well made. Baby steps, but at least we’ve come a long way since this broadcasting outrage ...

10.12pm BST

The 2019 Champions League final: Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool. Saturday 1 June. Who’d have thought this could happen at 9pm last night, never mind 9pm tonight?! But here we are!

10.10pm BST

BT Sport want to talk to Mauricio Pochettino, but he’s still in floods of tears. A maelstrom of emotion. No, that interview’s not going to happen. The Spurs manager’s off down the tunnel to compose himself. Maybe in a bit.

10.07pm BST

And now Danny Rose, who was excellent this evening. “Well, we saw Liverpool last night, and it goes to show it’s not over until it’s over. We were still disappointed from the first leg. There were a few words said at half-time. The gaffer doesn’t mind losing, but we have to lose in the right way. Even if we hadn’t have won tonight, he’d have been very proud of how we finished the game. And now we are in the final!”

10.05pm BST

Christian Eriksen, calm and frank as ever, talks to BT Sport. “It was a ridiculous game. We were far down and fought back, and we were just lucky. I feel sorry for Ajax, because they played better football than us over two games. But we created more chances. We were lucky and we scored. It’s a relief, and it’s great to be in the Champions League final. We wouldn’t have been able to look ourselves in the mirror afterwards if we’d lost four or five-nil. The ball fell in the right direction. It was tactics-free! Heart plus Lucas Moura. I hope he gets a statue in England after this. An English final will be fun!”

10.02pm BST

Spurs cavort in delight! They can’t believe what’s just happened. What a performance by Spurs, and in particular Lucas Moura! They thought it was all over when Fernando Llorente flashed his header over the bar ... but something kept Tottenham going, and they’re going to Madrid to face Liverpool in the final! Mauricio Pochettino is in floods of tears. So are several of the Ajax players, but theirs are of the bitter variety.

10.00pm BST

Glory, glory Tottenham Hotspur! And you thought last night at Anfield was dramatic!

9.59pm BST

90 min +7: This game’s taken a long time to restart. Time for one last Ajax attack?

9.58pm BST

They’ve done it! Moura has just guided a shot into the bottom right from just inside the box. Llorente headed a long ball on. Alli slipped the ball towards Moura, who turned and whipped his shot past Onana and in!

9.56pm BST

90 min +4.30: Onana is booked for taking his sweet time over the goal kick.

9.56pm BST

90 min +4: Eriksen combines with Moura down the right and earns a corner. This is surely it for Spurs. Lloris comes up for the set piece. Llorente rises highest ... and sends the ball miles over the bar from 12 yards. Oh dear. That could be it for brave Tottenham Hotspur. They’ve really given this a go.

9.54pm BST

90 min +3: Lloris makes a save that keeps Spurs in it. Space for Ziyech just inside the Spurs box on the left. He hammers a shot straight at the keeper. The Ajax fans are making plenty of noise, trying to get their heroes over the line. Can Spurs deny them at the death?

9.53pm BST

90 min +2: Ajax try to waste time by keeping the ball near the corner flag. They don’t waste much of it. Lloris can launch the ball up the other end. But Alderweireld flays a dismal pass out of play on the left. Time marches on.

9.52pm BST

90 min +1: Tadic romps down the right. He slips a ball down the channel for de Jong, who attempts to hook goalwards from a tight angle, but is denied by Alderweireld. It’s a corner, though.

9.51pm BST

90 min: The first-leg match-winner Donny van de Beek is replaced by Lisandro Magallan. There will be five added minutes. Five! Spurs still have time.

9.51pm BST

89 min: A free kick for Spurs on the halfway line. Davies loops it in, but de Ligt whacks clear. Eriksen, just inside his own half, plays a loose pass out for a throw in his own half. No real danger comes from this chain of events, but the clock ticks on.

9.49pm BST

87 min: ... Eriksen curls it in. Llorente rises. The ball breaks off his shoulder to Vertonghen, who heads goalwards, unopposed, from six yards! But his header comes off the bar. Vertonghen gets to the rebound and stabs goalwards from close range, but Veltman hacks off the line! Oh my goodness. Spurs inches away from the final!

9.48pm BST

86 min: Sissoko nearly loses control out on the right, but somehow the ball breaks to Son, just inside the box. Son turns and shoots, his effort deflected over the bar. Corner out on the right. And from the set piece ...

9.46pm BST

84 min: Moura works his way down the right and cuts the ball back for Llorente, who is just inside the box. The big striker can’t sort his feet out to shoot, and he’s soon swarmed by red-and-white shirts. Ajax clear. But they’re hanging on here. Spurs were totally out of this at half-time! And now look. Just one last push and their first Champions League final could become a reality.

9.44pm BST

83 min: Pochettino plays his last card. Rose, already booked and on a rolling boil for a while, makes way for Davies.

9.43pm BST

82 min: Ajax are sitting deep. Too deep? Llorente nearly works space to shoot inside the area. Not quite. Then Eriksen curls in from the right, but Blind volleys away.

9.42pm BST

81 min: But time’s running out for Spurs, and they need that third goal to win this tie on away goals. And so Trippier is sacrificed in favour of Lamela. It’s all-out attack for Spurs now!

9.41pm BST

79 min: Van de Beek is given all the time in the world to shoot from the edge of the box. His effort is blocked. Van de Beek thinks about another go, but feeds Ziyech to his right instead. Ziyech creams a wonderful effort towards the bottom right. It’s beaten Lloris, but springs off the base of the post and away! Another sign that this could be Tottenham’s night?

9.39pm BST

77 min: Ziyech is booked for a late lunge on Rose. Tempers are fraying as the tension rises to almost unbearable levels.

9.38pm BST

76 min: Rose blatantly handles the ball in the midfield. It’s nothing more than a free kick, but upon hearing the whistle he picks up the ball and spikes it into the ground with an angry fist. A totally pointless booking is the inevitable result.

9.36pm BST

74 min: Trippier’s corner is met by Alderweireld, who sends a header towards the top left ... but just wide. A former Ajax player nearly breaks his old club’s heart.

9.35pm BST

73 min: This is a wild end-to-end affair now. Trippier finds more space down the right and earns yet another Spurs corner. From which ...

9.34pm BST

71 min: Ziyech floats a ball into the box for Sinkgraven, in space to the left of the six-yard box. A corner’s earned. From the set piece, the ball is worked to de Ligt on the right flank. He drops a shoulder to move into space inside the box, and hammers a low ball along the corridor of uncertainty. Lloris parries, and he’s very fortunate not to tee up the lurking Tagliafico. The ball went through his legs; he’d have been presented with a tap-in otherwise! Spurs clear, and breathe again. The sort of break that suggests this could be your night?

9.31pm BST

69 min: Ajax try to slow things down, stroking it around just inside the Tottenham half. Eventually Ziyech runs it out of play along the right. They’ve not managed to calm themselves down, though, and Ziyech wags his finger in Alli’s face after being clipped on the heel. Alli responds with a poker face.

9.29pm BST

67 min: Another defensive move by Ten Hag. Dolberg, who has done nothing of note tonight, is replaced by Sinkgraven.

9.28pm BST

66 min: Tripper zips down the right on the overlap, sent into space by Moura, and wins another corner. Nothing comes of that, but Spurs now look dangerous every time they pile forward!

9.27pm BST

64 min: And now Moura is one de Ligt block away from slamming home a ball dropping on the penalty spot! Good luck guessing which way this is going to go, because these teams have seemingly taken the decision to give up defending as a way of life.

9.25pm BST

63 min: Ajax are inches away from restoring their two-goal lead. Mazraoui slips a pass down the left for Tadic, who nears the byline and pulls one back for Ziyech. A first-time slapshot whistles inches wide of the right-hand post.

9.23pm BST

62 min: Llorente enjoys a rush of hot blood to the head and fires miles over the bar from 25 yards. It’s fair to say it’s all happening now!

9.23pm BST

61 min: Just the 24 hours since we’ve witnessed a sensational second-half comeback. Ajax are rocking. Schone is replaced by Veltman as Erik Ten Hag looks to shore things up. But has the horse already bolted?

9.22pm BST

This is sensational! Son slips the ball wide right to Trippier, who is in acres on the right. He enters the box and slams low and hard into the middle. Llorente flicks hard but is denied from close range by a sensational Dudek-esque point-blank strong arm from Onana. But Schone gets in the road as Onana looks to fall on the ball and smother. It breaks to Moura, who twinkle-toes his way around de Light, turns, and slams into the bottom left! This is on!

9.19pm BST

57 min: For the first time this evening, you can hear a rendition of Come On You Spurs. The home supporters respond with some noise of their own. But it’s a more nervous Johan Cruyff ArenA now. Another goal for Spurs and this tie suddenly takes a sharp left turn!

9.18pm BST

And here’s that goal! Rose beats de Ligt on the halfway line and feeds Alli, who drives down the middle. He passes towards Moura, on his left shoulder. Moura takes a touch into the box and fires low and hard into the bottom right! There’s the first goal, and here comes hope!

9.16pm BST

54 min: Spurs finally make Onana work! Eriksen floats a diagonal ball, left to right, towards Alli, cutting into the box from the right and free. The ball sits up awkwardly, and Alli is forced to twist his body unnaturally to slam a shot goalwards. He connects well, and the ball’s heading for the top right. Onana parries with a strong hand. A corner, which is headed over harmlessly by Llorente. But a goal now, and you never know.

9.14pm BST

52 min: Son buzzes around the front of the Ajax box. Eventually the ball’s worked in towards Llorente, and the ball’s flicked out for a corner. That’s better. But Eriksen’s set-piece delivery hasn’t improved, and again he fails to beat the first man. Very poor. Meanwhile here’s Dan Hamilton with some more bright-side patter: “Very charitable, Scott, to encourage hope for Spurs. Plainly, they are running on empty after the longest of seasons for most of their players. They’ve done massively well to come this far and barring a last-day catastrophe, will return to this tourney next season. And have you seen the size of their coj-err, coc-umm-uhh, co-efficient? Big as its ever been and enough to slide them into in pot two for the group draw.”

9.11pm BST

50 min: Dolberg is booked for a late clank on Rose. No complaints.

9.11pm BST

49 min: Rose embarks on another strong run down the middle of the park, having breezed past Ziyech. He’s earned the right to shoot from the edge of the box, but opts to find Alli inside him instead. The pass is awful and Ajax clear without fuss. A chance to work Onana spurned there.

9.09pm BST

47 min: Not as far as Spurs are concerned. Eriksen’s corner fails to beat the first man. A clearance pure and true.

9.08pm BST

46 min: Ajax’s fans start the half by belting out a version of Three Little Birds by Bob Marley. Don’t worry about a thing ... but a long pass into the Ajax box causes de Ligt to panic and toe the ball out for a cheap corner for Spurs. Is every little thing going to be alright?

9.06pm BST

We’re off again! Ajax keep Spurs waiting, taking their sweet time to leave the tunnel. They get the second half underway, 45 minutes from a Saturday 1 June final with Liverpool. Spurs need three goals, and so they throw on Fernando Llorente in place of Victor Wanyama.

8.58pm BST

Half-time bright-side patter. “I guess Pochettino won’t be moving on after winning the Champions League,” writes Peter Littley. “Maybe Trippier and Alli will.”

“Tadic kicked Trippier in the face in the lead-up to the second goal,” opines Evan Crocker. “That’s something I think I could technically be mad about, since there’s a big difference between 1-0 and 2-0. But either scenario requires Spurs to score more than one goal and that is proving to be wishful thinking. It’s like Tadic kicked me in the face as well, and for that I thank him.”

8.50pm BST

Spurs require three second-half goals if they’re to make it to Madrid. It’s a hell of an ask. But as Liverpool proved last night, a quickfire one-two can change everything. No point in giving up hope now.

8.47pm BST

45 min: Spurs clear it easily enough. There will be two added minutes.

8.46pm BST

44 min: Ziyech floats the set piece into the box, forcing Spurs into conceding a corner. From which ...

8.45pm BST

43 min: Wanyama lands on Schone’s foot in a 50-50 challenge. Once again he’s a little fortunate not to see yellow. Next time perhaps. Anyway, this will be a free kick, 35 yards out, just to the left of centre.

8.44pm BST

42 min: Rose romps into an awful lot of space down the middle. He’s got options, and flicks a ball towards Alli on the left. Alli miscontrols and Ajax, momentarily light at the back, breathe a sigh of relief.

8.42pm BST

40 min: Space for Moura on the left. He crosses, but there’s nobody in the box. Spurs will have to start taking chances at some point, but the handbrake hasn’t been released yet.

8.42pm BST

39 min: Spurs gamely push Ajax back into their final third, just as they did after the opening goal. But they can’t find the final ball. Spurs now need three goals, and Ajax look accordingly comfortable.

8.40pm BST

37 min: The noise in the ArenA is pretty much at the level you’d expect. Ajax’s first final since 1996 is within touching distance for the Amsterdam giants and four-time winners. Number five could be on its way soon. What response do Spurs have this time?

8.39pm BST

Tadic beats Trippier to a ball in the midfield, wafting a leg near his face. No foul. Van de Beek glides down the inside left, then slips the ball wide to Tadic, who cuts back for Ziyech, just to the left of the D. Ziyech sends a rising screamer across Lloris and into the top right. A sensational strike, and Spurs are in all sorts of trouble now.

8.37pm BST

34 min: De Jong, the young man tasked with the job of fixing Barcelona next season, bowls up the middle of the park. A wonderful run, and he’s crudely checked by Wanyama, who is lucky to escape a caution.

8.36pm BST

33 min: The home fans have found their voice again. It’s a gloriously old-school European noise. Ziyech, to the right of the centre circle nearly finds Tadic on the left with a wonderful diagonal rake, but Trippier is back to intercept. A great read, and it looks as though he’s moving fine again.

8.34pm BST

31 min: Wanyama had stayed down after being barged off the ball by van de Beek. But he’s up and about again now, after a quick pat down with the magic sponge.

8.33pm BST

30 min: Wanyama is robbed in the centre circle by van de Beek. De Jong then sprays a ball wide left to Tadic, who bombs towards the box and shoots low and hard towards the bottom right. Lloris is beaten, but the ball fizzes inches wide of the post.

8.31pm BST

29 min: Incidentally, Trippier has been holding the top of his right thigh and glancing over to the bench quite a lot. In the technical area, Pochettino responds by looking thoughtful in the 1940s movie-star style.

8.30pm BST

28 min: More Spurs passing, but this time further up the field. They work the ball this way and that, and eventually Rose earns a corner out on the left. Rose’s corner doesn’t beat the first man. The clearing header drops to Moura, who slices wildly wide from 25 yards.

8.28pm BST

26 min: Some sterile Spurs possession in the middle of the park. It frustrates the home fans, who strike up a cacophony of whistles. Music to Tottenham’s ears.

8.27pm BST

24 min: Now Moura sashays his way into the box down the inside left and sends a fierce shot straight at Onana. Spurs will be a little frustrated with their finishing so far, but otherwise happy: they’re making chances.

8.26pm BST

23 min: Ah this is much better! Eriksen heel-flicks down the Spurs left, dispatching the ball from a tight spot and allowing Rose to make down the wing. He’s fouled, but the ball breaks to Alli, who shuttles it inside for Son, just inside the box. He’s just got Onana to beat, but shoots weakly for the bottom right and Onana claims.

8.25pm BST

22 min: This is being played at 100mph. Plenty of pressing, not so much successful passing.

8.24pm BST

21 min: Ziyech swings the set piece into the box. Moura clears with ease. Eriksen attempts to release Son down the right on the counter, but Tagliafico mops up.

8.22pm BST

20 min: One thing Sissoko can’t afford to do is snooze 30 yards from his own goal. He does that here, is stripped of possession, and is forced to foul Tagliafico. A free kick out on the left.

8.21pm BST

18 min: It’s all become a little bit scrappy. Understandably so. Two tense teams tussling for the big prize.

8.20pm BST

16 min: Sissoko goes in a little strongly on Tagliafico as the pair challenge for a loose ball down the Tottenham right. It’s a yellow card, and the combative midfielder is now walking along the old disciplinary tightrope. Not great news, but an early yellow didn’t stop Fabinho putting himself about last night for Liverpool, repeatedly getting on Luis Suarez’s nerves to boot. Proof that this needn’t be the end of the world.

8.17pm BST

14 min: Eriksen is seeing plenty of ball in these early exchanges. He flicks a pass down the left in the hope of releasing Moura into the area. Not quite, and the ball bounces through to Onana. Spurs will be extremely pleased with their response to the goal; the home fans have quietened a little as a result.

8.14pm BST

12 min: That early goal means there’ll be no extra time or penalties tonight. One way or another, this will be decided in the regulation 90 minutes. Plus stoppages of course. So who will face

Barcelona
Liverpool in the final?

8.12pm BST

10 min: Spurs might be losing, but they’ve been the better side on balance so far. That’s football. First Alli bursts down the middle, and is only stopped by an excellent tackle from Schone. Then Eriksen flicks a pass down the left channel for Alli, who shanks a shot wide right from just inside the box. The flag was up for offside anyway, but this is promising for Spurs.

8.11pm BST

8 min: Spurs have responded well to the early concession, pushing Ajax back into their final third. Blind is lucky not to be booked for bundling Sissoko to the ground. The free kick, out on the right, is wafted into the mixer by Trippier. Ajax don’t deal with it immediately, but eventually clear their lines with Moura and Son hovering.

8.09pm BST

6 min: A terrible start nearly turns into a fantastic one, as Son works his way down the left and tries to beat Onana at his near post with a low shot. He does beat the keeper, but the ball clanks off the base of the post and away from danger, just outside of Eriksen’s reach. What a start to this game!

8.08pm BST

The 19-year-old Ajax captain rises above Alli on the penalty spot and plants a header to Lloris’s right and in! Easy as that! A brief check with VAR, as Vertonghen might have been wrestled to the ground by van de Beek, but it’s correctly deemed fair. A terrible start for Spurs.

8.07pm BST

4 min: Ajax come straight back at Spurs. Tadic finds himself in a lot of space down the inside-left channel. He pearls a diagonal shot towards the bottom right. Lloris tips round the post magnificently for a corner. And from the set piece ...

8.06pm BST

3 min: Tadic would have been playing through the middle had Neres not injured himself. But now he’s out on the left, torturing Trippier. The ball is worked into the Spurs box. A little bit of pinball. Then van de Beek has a whack from distance. Wanyama blocks.

8.04pm BST

2 min: Now Spurs get a go to knock it around the back. Vertonghen is wearing his protective mask, by the way. Sensible Jan.

8.03pm BST

1 min: Spurs give up possession quickly enough, allowing Ajax to stroke it around the back a while. A chance for a few members of this young team to get a feel of the ball.

8.02pm BST

And we’re off! Spurs get the party started amid one hell of a racket. One big boost for Spurs before kick-off: Ajax lost the talented young Brazilian David Neres in the warm-up, so Kasper Dolberg takes his place.

7.59pm BST

The teams are out! There’s a blistering noise being made in the Johan Cruyff ArenA. The home fans giving it plenty: flags, a brass band, the lot. What an atmosphere! Tottenham’s to-do list: listen to Uefa anthem, clasp hands, win coin toss, swap pennants, kick off, silence crowd as soon as possible. A reminder, not that you need it, that Spurs are 0-1 down after the first leg. An early away goal would change everything, and really put the cat among the pigeons. As Liverpool proved last night, anything is possible in the Champions League. Especially when both sets of players appear a little tense in the tunnel. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!

7.46pm BST

Mauricio Pochettino speaks to BT Sport! “It is a fantastic night. There is not much to talk about, we just have to play football. We still miss some players, but it is important to recover Son. I don’t know if Vertonghen is going to play with a mask. The game is open, it’s 1-0 down. We can win the game in the first or last minute. We need to be ready, to concentrate and focus, and try to score from the first minute.”

7.36pm BST

Joe Meek Earworm dept.

Related: Telstar striker sacked for throwing a sickie to watch Ajax against Tottenham

7.24pm BST

While we’re on the subject of former Ajax players, here’s a couple more. Marco van Basten on the left, and Johan Cruyff on the right. Cruyff is wearing a Feyenoord shirt, you’ll notice. He’s playing for them out of spite, because the previous summer Ajax had refused to give the 36-year-old a contract. So off to the old arch-rivals he popped. He inspired Feyenoord to the title that season. Of course he did. The full story here.

7.17pm BST

Pre-match video entertainment II. And it’s more ABN AMRO era sauce. “Ahh the old innocent days, when Suarez had only bitten one person at work,” quips Zach Neeley. “Anyway, while we’re thinking of former Ajax players ...”

7.11pm BST

Pre-match video entertainment. Here’s Mauricio Pochettino in inscrutable form during yesterday’s press conference. The most enigmatic performance by an Argentinian this side of Ricardo Darin.

7.04pm BST

Ajax make one change to the XI named in north London last week. Noussair Mazraoui takes the place of Joel Veltman, who drops to the bench.

Spurs make two changes to last week’s starting XI. The previously suspended Son Heung-min is back, while Moussa Sissoko, who came on as a sub for the stricken Jan Vertonghen and did much to steady a listing ship, plays from the get-go this time. Fernando Llorente drops to the bench, while Davison Sanchez misses out altogether with a thigh problem. Erik Lamela returns from injury to take a sub spot, while the aforementioned Vertonghen has recovered from that harrowing concussion to play.

6.56pm BST

Ajax: Onana, Mazraoui, de Ligt, Blind, Tagliafico, Schone, van de Beek, De Jong, Ziyech, Tadic, Neres.
Subs: Bruno Varela, Veltman, Sinkgraven, Huntelaar, Magallan, Dolberg, de Wit.

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Sissoko, Wanyama, Alli, Eriksen, Lucas Moura, Son.
Subs: Gazzaniga, Lamela, Dier, Llorente, Foyth, Davies, Skipp.

6.51pm BST

Kit watch. Ajax will be wearing their famous white shirts with broad vertical red stripe. They are beautiful, though never as perfect as the editions with the old vertical ABN AMRO sponsorship. Quirky and stubborn and speaking of which, who’s this cheeky scamp wearing it?

3.28pm BST

Here’s the bad news for Tottenham Hotspur. Of the 17 teams to lose the first leg of a semi-final during the Champions League era at home, only one has turned it around to make the showpiece event. It’s none other than Ajax, back in 1996, when the reigning European champions went down 1-0 against Panathinaikos, only to win the second leg in Greece 3-0.

But here’s some better news. While the aforementioned turnaround is one of only four instances of a team going through after losing at home in the first leg of a Champions League knockout, two of those results have happened this season: Ajax against Real Madrid, and Manchester United against PSG. It’s in vogue. These kind of things come in threes ... sometimes.

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The Fiver | As cold Tuesday nights go, Lionel Messi has had better

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Last week in Camp Nou, little Leo Messi whacked a free-kick into the top corner then wheeled off in celebration, ending up sat on the turf, arms wide and legs akimbo, soaking up the adulation, the king of All Football and master of his domain. Spool forward six days, and there he is, prone on the grass again, only this time he’s being clipped round the lug by Andy Robertson, like a misbehaving four-year-old, a confused and disoriented look on his grid that could best be described as glaikit. Robertson’s early strategic skelp fair took the wind out of Messi’s sail, and that was pretty much that. He spent the rest of the evening stood in the centre circle, either sulking or performing a perfectly choreographed tribute to the warm-up routines of Anthony Martial, The Fiver’s not sure which. And they say a week’s a long time in politics.

Related: ‘Shame. There is no other adjective’ – Spanish press on Barcelona’s defeat

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Cardiff City 2-3 Crystal Palace: Premier League, as it happened

Palace were too slick for Cardiff to handle, and so the Bluebirds will be playing Championship football next season.

7.49pm BST

Stuart James was at the Cardiff City Stadium to see the home side’s Premier League hopes slip away. Here’s his report. Commiserations to the Bluebirds, and congratulations to Brighton & Hove Albion, who will be playing in the top division next year. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!

Related: Cardiff relegated after Wilfried Zaha leads Crystal Palace to victory

7.33pm BST

It’s Cardiff’s last home fixture of the season, so the players give a shy, subdued lap of honour. A small tear running down the cheek of Neil Etheridge. But the fans aren’t subdued. They know how difficult it’s been for Cardiff to compete in the Premier League, and they holler hosannas in honour of their team, who fought from the get-go to the very end. It’s a celebration, not a wake. Bluebirds captain Sean Morrison says that he’s “immensely proud of our city and the boys” and that the squad want Neil Warnock to stay for next year’s promotion push. “We adore him.”

7.28pm BST

A magnanimous Neil Warnock smiles and shakes Roy Hodgson’s hand. Then he gives a brief but emotional interview to BT Sport, as the fans sing his name. “They were better than us up front. We had our chances. We haven’t had the rub of the green. But you’ve heard this lot, fantastic, they’re unbelievable. I’m proud of the lads, they’ve tried hard. We’ve showed our limitations, that’s why we are where we are. But the club’s arrived again, it’s alive and kicking and that’s the main thing. When we first came here, it was almost gone.”

7.24pm BST

The whistle goes, and Cardiff City are relegated. The home fans sing their hymns and arias. Crystal Palace are the saviours of their rivals Brighton & Hove Albion. Football’s funny like that.

7.23pm BST

90 min +3: Cardiff can’t get the ball. “Always loved the Palace me!” smiles pre-match patter merchant Simon Dobinson.

7.22pm BST

90 min +2: Sako runs down the clock by taking the ball for a walk along the right wing.

7.21pm BST

90 min +1: There will be three added minutes. The first flies by without incident.

7.21pm BST

On the stroke of the 90, Reid cuts in from the right and curls a delicious shot into the bottom right. Guaita, at full stretch, couldn’t get a finger on it. A lovely strike, but it’s too little, too late.

7.19pm BST

89 min: Mendez-Laing pulses down the right and lashes a shot towards the bottom right. Guaita tips the ball onto the right-hand post and out for a corner. The set piece doesn’t come to much.

7.18pm BST

88 min: Kouyate has a look from 25 yards, sending the ball off down the M4.

7.16pm BST

86 min: Mendez-Laing romps down the right, reaches the byline, and dinks a sensational cross to Hoilett, coming in from the left and on the edge of the six-yard box. Hoilett meets the ball on the half-volley and spoons it over the bar from close range. No, it’s not to be Cardiff’s day.

7.14pm BST

84 min: That’s Townsend’s last contribution tonight. He’s replaced by Kouyate, having been a constant thorn in Cardiff’s side.

7.12pm BST

83 min: Zaha pushes the ball past Morrison and beats him in a footrace. He can’t beat Peltier as well, though. But the ball breaks to Townsend, who arrows a shot towards the top right from distance. Etheridge does very well to gather.

7.12pm BST

81 min: Cardiff win a corner down the left. Hoilett takes. The ball ends up with Morrison out on the right. Morrison returns it to Hoilett, on the edge of the box on the left. He skelps a shot straight down Guaita’s throat.

7.10pm BST

80 min: Zaha makes good down the right. He curls to Sako at the far post. Sako contorts himself into a very strange shape and volleys clumsily wide. The flag goes up for offside, so it didn’t really matter. Murphy comes on for Hoilett.

7.09pm BST

79 min: Another long throw by Gunnarsson on the left. More head tennis. Palace clear. Cardiff need three goals in the last ten minutes if they’re to have any realistic chance of Premier League survival.

7.08pm BST

78 min: A corner for Palace out on the left. McArthur meets it at the near post, and flicks it on. The ball loops over Etheridge and nearly nestles in the far corner. It flies out for a goal kick. Then Meyer comes on for Ayew.

7.07pm BST

76 min: Gunnarsson throws in from the left. Morrison has the ball at his feet in the Palace box. He swivels and tees up Mendez-Laing, bombing in down the inside-right channel. Mendez-Laing shoots low and hard towards the bottom left. It deserves a goal, but McArthur’s on the line to hook clear. It’s just not Cardiff’s day.

7.05pm BST

75 min: A free kick for Cardiff just inside the Palace half, out on the left. Murphy plays it long for Morrison, who heads across the goal wonderfully. But there’s nobody in blue taking a gamble, and Guaita can gather. Then another attack, as Mendez-Laing skitters down the left and wallops a low ball into the middle. Dann does extremely well to stick out a leg and block for a corner.

7.04pm BST

74 min: Batshuayi is replaced by Sako.

7.03pm BST

73 min: The Cardiff fans know the jig is up. Their team are going down. But the fans rise as one for a chorus of There’s Only One Neil Warnock. They know what a brilliant job he’s done for the club. It’s a lovely bittersweet moment.

7.02pm BST

72 min: A free kick for Cardiff out on the right. Murphy swipes it to the far post. Morrison rises but can only send his header harmlessly wide left.

7.01pm BST

Cardiff are on the brink now. Townsend sashays in from the right. He thinks about shooting. Thinks about shooting. Thinks about shooting. Then eventually creams one towards the bottom-right corner. He beats Etheridge. The ball bounces off the bottom of the post, across the line and into the other corner. Consider: Murphy’s shot in the first minute hit that very same post, but bounced out. The small margins, huh.

6.59pm BST

68 min: Cardiff have been much more dangerous since the restart, but Palace are beginning to

6.57pm BST

67 min: A free kick for Palace in the middle of the Cardiff half. Milivojevic has an ambitious dig. The ball pinballs out for a corner. Milivojevic takes that set piece too, but it’s easily cleared by Mendez-Laing.

6.56pm BST

66 min: It’s end to end now. Batshuayi dribbles at Morrison down the left, and nearly makes it into the box, but the Cardiff defender stands his ground well.

6.55pm BST

65 min: Reid splits the Palace defence with a fine ball down the inside-right channel. Zohore’s clear! He only needs to carefully round Guaita and he’ll be walking that in. But he opts to slide the ball under the keeper instead. It’s half saved, and the loose ball’s put out for a corner by Kelly. The set piece leads to nothing. Cardiff should be on terms.

6.53pm BST

63 min: Good work by Mendez-Laing down the left, sent on a dribble by Reid. He cuts back for Murphy, who opens his body and shapes a shot towards the bottom right. It looks to have beaten Guaita, but Kelly makes himself big and blocks. What a stop! That plenty makes up for the own goal.

6.52pm BST

61 min: Wan-Bissaka crosses deep from the right. Zaha chests down at the far post, but he’s bugged by Peltier and can’t get a shot away. Eventually the ball squeaks through to Etheridge. Cardiff constantly on the brink of conceding the third goal that would surely condemn them.

6.50pm BST

60 min: Cardiff make their second change of the match, their first by choice. Zohore comes on for Ward.

6.49pm BST

59 min: A long ball down the middle. Kelly dallies and nearly lets Ward in, but just about manages to shepherd the ball back to Guaita.

6.48pm BST

57 min: Palace push Cardiff back. Ayew has a shot from a tight angle on the right. Zaha dribbles down the left. Townsend takes a dig from 20 yards. Nothing quite comes off, but Cardiff look extremely vulnerable whenever Palace run at them.

6.46pm BST

55 min: Space for Mendez-Laing down the right. He performs a glorious stepover to swan past Ward, then sends a long cross towards Murphy at the far post. The ball drops perfectly, but Murphy snatches at the shot, dragging it wide left from six yards. What a cross that was, and what a chance to haul Cardiff back into this match.

6.43pm BST

53 min: After their fast start to the second half, Cardiff’s momentum has stalled a little. Their fans do their best to whip them into action with songs of defiance.

6.42pm BST

51 min: Palace’s Ward makes off down the left at speed. He pulls a low ball into the centre for Batshuayi, who swipes a first-time shot over the bar from the edge of the box. A very loose feel to this game now, with Cardiff obliged to pile forward. This isn’t going to end 1-2, is it.

6.40pm BST

49 min: Cardiff have come out for this second half on the front foot. They’re getting to most of the loose balls first right now. And they win a free kick on the halfway line. Bennett launches it into the Palace box. Ward takes it down, swivels, and from the right of the D hits a rising shot. It’s high and wide, but it gets the crowd going.

6.38pm BST

48 min: Incidentally, neither manager made a half-time change.

6.37pm BST

47 min: Murphy copped a sore one there, foul or not, and he requires a bit of treatment. He’s soon up again though.

6.37pm BST

Here we go, then. Cardiff’s membership of the Premier League is hanging by a thread. They’ve got 45 minutes to find the one goal that will mathematically keep them in with a shout of survival, and the two that would give them a realistic chance. Palace get the ball rolling again, and Murphy is soon chasing it down the Cardiff left. Wan-Bissaka comes sliding in. He gets the ball and hooks it away. Murphy goes down, caught on the follow-through, but there’s nothing wrong with the challenge. Not that you’ll get agreement with the Cardiff fans on that.

6.22pm BST

Half-time reading. A reminder that it’s the Women’s FA Cup final today. Manchester City take on West Ham United, and Alex Hess has the latest.

Related: Manchester City v West Ham United: Women's FA Cup final – live!

6.20pm BST

Palace are doing their arch-rivals Brighton & Hove Albion a big favour here. Unless Cardiff can find a goal in the second half, they’ll be playing Championship football next season.

6.19pm BST

45 min +4: Zaha dribbles down the left and torments Peltier. Eventually he lays off to Milivojevic, whose shot from 2o yards is blocked.

6.18pm BST

45 min +2: After mopping up a long, lame Manga free kick, Palace stream upfield on a dangerous counter once again. Batshuayi, Zaha and Townsend all take turns to look for space to shoot; Ayew eventually does, to little effect.

6.15pm BST

45 min: Batshuayi clattered into Etheridge during that Palace break. He’s down receiving treatment. And now he’s back up. There will be four minutes tacked onto the end of this very lop-sided half of football.

6.14pm BST

43 min: This game was dismal for 27 minutes; it’s brilliant fun now! Cardiff win a corner down the left. Manga wins a header that’s tipped over by Guaita. Then a corner on the right leads to a melee at the far post. Morrison can’t quite get his header into the bottom left. Reid can’t flick it in. Palace counter at speed, Zaha nearly bundling in from 12 yards only to be denied by Etheridge, Townsend lashing over from distance. What a wild and crazy 60 seconds!

6.12pm BST

41 min: Palace were this close to putting Cardiff in all sorts of bother. McArthur works his way down the right, dancing his way past Murphy. He pulls back for Zaha on the penalty spot. Zaha must score, but slams the ball straight at Ayew, his own man doing the defending Cardiff seemed incapable of.

6.11pm BST

Some good work from Zaha out on the left. The ball’s worked inside for Batshuayi on the edge of the box. Batshuayi executes a smart one-two with Ayew, and whips an unstoppable shot into the top right!

6.09pm BST

38 min: Zaha glides in from the right and shapes to shoot. But instead he dinks a cute pass down the channel for Batshuayi, who seems a little surprised to be put in. He’s forced to turn back and is eventually robbed of possession. But no worries, because ...

6.07pm BST

37 min: Another Milivojevic free kick, this time from the right. It’s hit deep, and Dann’s presence forces Bennett into conceding a corner. The set piece is hit long. McArthur tugs at Morrison’s arm, and that’s the pressure off.

6.06pm BST

35 min: Townsend dribbles down the inside-left channel and is clipped illegally by Mendez-Laing. Milivojevic hoicks the ball into the mixer. There’s a spot of head tennis, then Batshuayi leans back and sends a shot high over the bar, a nonsense that will at least earn the respect of a few local rugby purists.

6.04pm BST

33 min: So that escalated quickly. This game had been bloody dreadful for the first 27 minutes.

6.03pm BST

What a fiasco this is! Bacuna crosses from the right. Ward is lurking on the edge of the box, but Guaita comes out to claim. Unfortunately, Kelly gets there first, in front of him, and pokes the ball backwards, haplessly slicing it past the outrushing keeper and into the empty net! That is appalling, though to be fair Bacuna’s cross was a teaser and needed to be dealt with.

6.01pm BST

30 min: That was Zaha’s sixth goal on the road this season. It’s a 2018-19 Premier League record he shares with Gerard Deulofeu of Watford and Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy.

5.59pm BST

That last move got Zaha’s juices flowing. He picks the ball up deep, and one-twos with Townsend down the inside-left channel. Zaha, on the edge of the box, takes a touch inside to make himself some room, before twisting and slamming a shot into the bottom corner! A fine goal that puts Cardiff in serious bother now.

5.58pm BST

27 min: A throw for Cardiff deep in Palace territory down the right. Gunnarsson launches it long. Morrison flicks it on to nobody, and Palace clear. And then, at last, a moment of quality as Milivojevic creams a lovely pass through a gap down the inside-left channel to release Zaha, who twists and turns and slaps a shot just wide of the bottom-left corner. The best moment of the match so far, though it’s not been a high bar to clear.

5.56pm BST

26 min: Gunnarsson gifts possession to Batshuayi, who looks for a second like getting the better of Bennett down the right. But he doesn’t have any confidence to drive at his backtracking opponent, and eventually turns tail. Townsend tries to rescue the attack with a deep cross from the right, but it’s no good.

5.54pm BST

24 min: Gunnarsson, having gone off, comes back on. I’m stringing this out so I’ve got something to report. Nothing is happening. This is miserable fare.

5.54pm BST

23 min: Gunnarsson goes down having taken Batshuayi’s arm in the mush. The referee stops the game.

5.52pm BST

21 min: A frisson of excitement as Ward nearly closes down Dann, who dithers over a backpass. Eventually Dann makes the backpass and Guaita clears. And the flag goes up for offside anyway. Excitement here a relative concept.

5.49pm BST

19 min: Palace are beginning to dominate the midfield. All very sterile at the moment, but baby steps. They’ve gained a smidgen of control.

5.47pm BST

17 min: This continues to be a gentle affair. The Palace fans making what little noise there is. Cardiff’s support understandably nervous.

5.46pm BST

15 min: Zaha dribbles hard at Gunnarsson down the right. He very nearly twists his way past the Cardiff midfielder, but Gunnarsson sticks to him like glue. Zaha slips, Gunnarsson goes to clear, and draws a foul. Danger over. That’s good football all round.

5.44pm BST

14 min: Mendez-Laing flicks a cute pass down the right to release Ward into a little space. Ward shoots for the bottom left, but his low diagonal hammer is blocked well by Dann. The resulting corner is a non-event. The set pieces haven’t been up to much so far.

5.42pm BST

12 min: It’s not really happening yet, this match. No juices flowing. The atmosphere’s now a little flat as a result.

5.40pm BST

10 min: Camarasa is down again. He’s surely unable to carry on. He took quite a whack off Ward, a total accident in a fair 50-50 challenge. Off he goes, grimacing with pain. Straight down the tunnel. Bacuna comes on in his stead.

5.38pm BST

8 min: The Cardiff corner comes to nothing. Camarasa comes back on, his leg heavily strapped. Then he takes the strapping off, and throws it off the pitch.

5.37pm BST

7 min: Camarasa is down receiving treatment, having hurt his right leg sliding into a shot from distance. He’s won a corner in doing so, but at what cost? He limps off, and it’s not certain he’ll be able to run that sore one off.

5.36pm BST

5 min: Incidentally, before kick-off, Neil Warnock looked extremely relaxed as he took his place in the dugouts. At one point he lunged towards BT Sport’s roaming camera with the simian come-on-then-let’s-’ave-ya gait of Liam Gallagher. I wonder if he’s been on the Manc Walk 2000 course?

5.33pm BST

3 min: ... Ayew latches onto a long corner and works his way down the right. He reaches the byline and stands one up for Kelly, who wafts a weak header straight at Etheridge. A lively start, this!

5.32pm BST

2 min: What a start that would have been! The resulting corner comes to nothing, then Palace go up the other end and win one of their own. From which ...

5.32pm BST

37 seconds: Josh Murphy hits the post! A bit of space down the inside-left channel. He shifts the ball to the left and from 25 yards sends a dipper towards the bottom right. Guaita is beaten, but the ball takes a little deflection and clanks off the base of the post.

5.30pm BST

And were off! Cardiff get the ball rolling. A huge passionate roar pierces the air. And once more with feeling. It’s all on the line for the hosts now. Remember, if Cardiff lose, they’re down. And while a draw won’t technically condemn them, it’s not really much use, given that, as well as the four points that cut them adrift, they’re currently 14 goals worse off than 17th-placed Brighton.

5.27pm BST

The teams are out! Cardiff are in their famous blue shirts, while Palace sport second-choice white with Team of the Seventies sash. Anticipation and nerves crackle around the stadium. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes. “As a Brighton fan I’m already nervous and completely rooting for Palace,” admits Simon Dobinson. “It doesn’t feel right, the whole world is out of kilter at the mo! It’s not a comfortable feeling.” Ah the singular joy of the business end of the football season. It’s been nine months in the making, all this.

5.22pm BST

Here’s his opposite number Roy Hodgson! “I don’t think my players will ease up. I have every faith in them, they have been fantastic so I have no reason to doubt them. They will be giving their all to get a result. Between the 14 players I can use, I hope we can give a good performance. Cardiff have everything to play for, it’s their last chance, so we have to expect a fast start and a strong and aggressive approach, because if we were in their situation that’s what we would be trying to do.”

5.20pm BST

Not sure whether we’re going to hear from Neil Warnock before the game. Time will tell. But he has done a pre-record with BT Sport, and during it rather marvellously declared that he won’t miss the Premier League if Cardiff are relegated. “I don’t think I’d miss it that much if I’m honest. It’s a great league but there are a lot of minuses. But I won’t go into that because I can’t afford it.” Full marks for honesty, having been painstakingly teed up to give England’s top division the big sell. Not having it. He then launched into a paean in honour of VAR, just in case you missed the subtleties inherent in his statement. He’s not letting the referees off the hook, is he. Warnock might not miss the Premier League if his team go down, but the Premier League sure will miss one of football’s great pantomime villains. He’s great value and always entertaining, whichever way you look at it.

4.42pm BST

Cardiff make three changes to the team that went down 1-0 at Fulham last weekend. Josh Murphy, Danny Ward and Bobby Reid take the places of Leandro Bacuna, Junior Hoilett and Oumar Niasse.

Crystal Palace make four swaps from the side named for last week’s goalless draw with Everton. Joel Ward, Michy Batshuayi, Andros Townsend and Jordan Ayew replace Patrick van Aanholt, Cheikhou Kouyate, Max Meyer and the injured Christian Benteke.

4.32pm BST

Cardiff City: Etheridge, Peltier, Morrison, Ecuele Manga, Bennett, Mendez-Laing, Gunnarsson, Victor Camarasa, Josh Murphy, Reid, Ward.
Subs: Richards, Zohore, Bacuna, Cunningham, Brian Murphy, Healey, Hoilett.

Crystal Palace: Guaita, Wan Bissaka, Kelly, Dann, Ward, Townsend, McArthur, Milivojevic, Zaha, Batshuayi, Ayew.
Subs: Van Aanholt, Meyer, Kouyate, Hennessey, Wickham, Sako, Riedewald.

12.53am BST

It’s not over, not quite yet. Cardiff City haven’t done themselves too many favours during the run-in – eight defeats in ten, the last a miserable attack-too-late effort at everyone’s whipping boys Fulham – but there’s still hope.

They may be four points behind 17th-placed Brighton & Hove Albion with just two games to play. However the Seagulls face Arsenal and Manchester City in their final matches. True, Cardiff’s last fixture is away at Manchester United ... but this is 2019 not 1999. And three points today would give the Bluebirds a genuine chance of scraping to safety on the final day. There’s still hope.

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