Scott Murray's Blog, page 138

April 28, 2018

Liverpool 0-0 Stoke City: Premier League – as it happened

Liverpool were unable to break down a resolute Stoke defence.

3.11pm BST

That’s all from Anfield today, then. Over to Simon Burnton for the 3pm kick-offs ...

3.06pm BST

And now here’s Anfield’s Paul Lambert. “I think it’s a brilliant result, coming here. Liverpool played a lot of their big hitters. We were outstanding. We defended strongly and could have nicked it. We were excellent. I can’t ask any more. I think it would have been really harsh for the referee to give the penalty, it would have been incredibly harsh. If the team had played like that all season, Stoke City wouldn’t be in this position. Everyone’s written us off, but we’ve got a chance. The lads have been playing well. We gave them an absolute fight.”

3.02pm BST

A post-match word from Jurgen Klopp: “It was not the performance I wanted, we could play much better. Stoke defended deep. But I take the point, it is one more point. It could have been worse. Obviously it looked for me like a penalty, but we didn’t get it. We have to take that. In the Champions League one or two times against City we were lucky. Now we have to carry on. It’s an important point. We need another three. If football is fair, we will take those three points! We are not in the most comfortable situation squad-wise, but I have heard nothing serious has happened [today] so let’s carry on.” A very smiley interview there, Klopp clearly trying to take the pressure off his players ahead of Roma by raising the mood a bit.

2.48pm BST

Here’s Paul Wilson’s report from Anfield:

2.41pm BST

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has a different opinion, you’ll be surprised to hear. “I think we should have won. We dominated. It looked like a clear penalty, and I’ve looked again on the telly, it’s a blatant penalty, if he doesn’t touch it with his hand Alberto Moreno is there for a tap-in. It’s a really poor decision from the referee and the linesman. They’ve ultimately cost us the three points. We’ve got to take it, move forward, and we’ve a couple of games left to try to get to next season’s Champions League. I should be fine for midweek.”

2.38pm BST

Stoke City’s Joe Allen on Georginio Wijnaldum’s cross hitting Erik Pieters’ arm in the box during the closing moments of the match: “No, that’s by his side, and it happens, it shouldn’t get given. We’d have felt hard done by if that had been given. Defensively you can’t ask for more.”

2.31pm BST

So here’s where that leaves both teams. Liverpool stay in third on 72 points, nine points ahead of fifth-placed Chelsea, who have played two fewer games. Chelsea-Liverpool next week could be a doozy. Though their superior goal difference over the Londoners suggests a win at home in their final game over Brighton should be enough to guarantee them a top-four spot, whatever happens at Stamford Bridge.

Stoke meanwhile move up to 18th, on 30 points. They’re three points shy of Swansea in 17th, having played two games more than the Welsh side. They’ve also played two more than West Ham, Huddersfield and Southampton, so they surely have to win their last two games against Crystal Palace and Swansea to have any chance of survival.

2.26pm BST

It’s all over. Stoke have defended brilliantly against an under-par Liverpool, and grab a point that could yet be precious in their desperate battle to avoid the drop.

2.25pm BST

90 min +6: A half-chance for Salah, as Ndiaye misjudges a bouncing ball to the right of his goal. But the ball doesn’t drop for him. Then Pieters and Firmino grapple under a high ball. Anfield desperately cry for a penalty, but they’re never getting that.

2.23pm BST

90 min +5: Salah and Firmino buzz about the edge of the Stoke area. They’re desperately trying everything, but Stoke are holding their shape.

2.22pm BST

90 min +4: Milner, out on the right, dinks one into the middle. On the penalty spot, Wijnaldum twists his body but can only send a header harmlessly over the bar.

2.21pm BST

90 min +3: Meanwhile on the pitch Stoke continue to hold firm. Henderson tries to lash home from 25 yards, but settles for a corner.

2.20pm BST

90 min +2: ... while John Achterberg, Liverpool’s goalkeeping coach, has been sent to the stand for protesting the non-penalty decision a bit too much.

2.20pm BST

90 min +1: Van Dijk has been booked, incidentally, for a transgression in midfield ...

2.19pm BST

90 min: Moreno tries to convert a left-wing Wijnaldum cross with a 15-yard backheel. Nope. There will be six added minutes.

2.18pm BST

88 min: And then Stoke are inches away from scoring! Ndiaye wins a header on the edge of the Liverpool box. Diouf powers down the left, then hooks across the face of goal. For a second it looks like creeping into the bottom right. Shawcross slides in, hoping to make sure. But he can’t connect properly. What a glorious chance, gone begging!

2.16pm BST

87 min: Liverpool work the ball to Salah on the right. Salah feeds Wijnaldum down the channel. Wijnaldum crosses hard into the middle. The ball slaps into the arm of Pieters. That looked a good shout for a penalty, because Pieters’ arm was well away from his body ... though he was trying to pull it away. You can see both sides, though you’ve also seen them given more often than not.

2.14pm BST

86 min: Liverpool pass it around a lot. Eventually Clyne opens his legs down the right and earns yet another corner.

2.13pm BST

85 min: ... Stoke push up quickly to catch Clyne offside. Stoke have been very impressive at the back this afternoon. They’ve hardly given Liverpool a sniff, Salah’s early chance excepted.

2.12pm BST

84 min: Van Dijk has a blast from 30 yards. It’s deflected out for a corner on the right. The set piece leads to another. From which ...

2.12pm BST

82 min: Stoke are first to everything right now. The game’s all played out in the midfield, but Stoke will be happy enough with that, the clock very much their friend now.

2.09pm BST

81 min: It’s Stoke’s turn to push their opponents back. Liverpool can’t get out of their final third right now.

2.09pm BST

80 min: Moreno gets up. So, eventually, does Ndiaye. Paul Lambert is ten minutes, plus stoppages, away from doing another number on Liverpool at Anfield.

2.08pm BST

79 min: Moreno skitters down the left. He’s stopped unceremoniously - but fairly - by an excellent sliding crunch from Ndiaye. Both players are hurt as a result, but there was nothing wrong with a perfectly timed tackle. The physios trot on and do their thing.

2.06pm BST

77 min: Liverpool win another corner down the right, Ndiaye getting a toe in to stop a romping Clyne. There’s a half-arsed shout for a penalty, as van Dijk is nudged under a high ball by Ndiaye, but it’s not given. And then there’s another corner, which is a total non-event. Liverpool are seriously struggling as an attacking force today.

2.03pm BST

75 min: Moreno, deep on the left, curls a dangerous ball towards the far post. Salah is hovering. Zouma is forced to get in the road and hack out for a corner. The resulting set piece comes to nothing.

2.02pm BST

73 min: Liverpool’s game has gone very scrappy. Milner rakes a dreadful crossfield pass in the general direction of Clyne on the right touchline; Clyne has no hope of keeping it in. It’s the Stoke fans making the most noise now, for the first time this afternoon.

2.00pm BST

71 min: Van Dijk nudges Diouf in the back, in the centre circle. Stoke take their sweet time to restart the game, understandably so from their point of view. Anfield has fallen a bit flat, nerves and anxiety having won the day.

1.58pm BST

69 min: Liverpool are pressing Stoke back again. But despite the best efforts of Clyne, Firmino, Henderson and Moreno, nobody’s teed up for a shot. At one point a bouncing ball rears up onto the hand of Ndiaye, but it’s accidental and never a penalty.

1.56pm BST

67 min: Van Dijk, deep on the left, rakes a diagonal ball towards Clyne, bursting into the Stoke box from the right. Clyne tries to cushion a header inside for Firmino; he’d have been better taking a shot. Then another attack ends with Moreno yanking a low shot wide right from a position out left. It’s Liverpool’s 14th effort of the day; they’ve only managed two on target.

1.54pm BST

65 min: Liverpool make a double change: Clyne replaces Alexander-Arnold, while Milner comes on for Ings. Meanwhile Stoke make their second swap of the afternoon, Crouch making way for Fletcher, formerly of Manchester United and welcomed accordingly.

1.52pm BST

64 min: Ings chases a long, high ball down the middle. He comes together with Bauer, just inside the box. All fair, though the increasingly agitated home support wanted a penalty kick. Nope.

1.51pm BST

63 min: Salah and Firmino take turns to do a lot of bustling on the edge of the Stoke area. The visitors are holding firm.

1.50pm BST

62 min: Salah dribbles in from the right and aims a curler for the top left. It’s blocked the second it leaves his boot.

1.49pm BST

60 min: Stoke have conceded 32 goals in the final 30 minutes of matches this season. That’s the worst record in the division; West Brom are next up on the list with 28. That might give Liverpool succour. They certainly need something; they’ve been very flat since the restart.

1.47pm BST

58 min: Sobhi strides down the left and cuts inside. He looks to curl one powerfully into the bottom right, but his shot is blocked by a fine lunge from Gomez. Klavan clears the loose ball. Stoke are well up for this.

1.45pm BST

57 min: Liverpool might be misfiring this afternoon, but their fans are doing their bit. A fine atmosphere in Anfield right now, as the home support urge their team on. Not much in the way of response from the players, it has to be said. On the touchline, Klopp has his grim face on.

1.44pm BST

55 min: A game of pinball down the Liverpool left. Eventually the ball squirts out to Wijnaldum, who makes room to shoot. But not enough, because when he eventually pulls the trigger his effort is blocked. Liverpool try again, Salah battling Pieters under a long ball just inside the area. Salah wilts to the floor but he’s never getting a penalty for that. Pieters had stood his ground, nothing more.

1.43pm BST

54 min: Sobhi’s first act is to dribble with purpose, past Gomez down the left. He reaches the byline but can only scoop the ball into the arms of Karius at the near post. A few hearts in mouths around Anfield for a couple of seconds.

1.42pm BST

53 min: Diouf challenges Moreno down the Stoke right. He wants a corner, but it’s a goal kick. He argues with the linesman, then clips Moreno on the ankle after the restart. Having already been booked, he wants to be a wee bit more careful.

1.40pm BST

52 min: Martins Indi is helped off the field, to be replaced by Sobhi.

1.39pm BST

51 min: Martins Indi is now down, requesting treatment. He’s clutching his groin, and Pieters is performing the universal mime for Substitute This Man. Allen is still moving gingerly, incidentally, though seems determined to battle through his own problem.

1.38pm BST

50 min: ... Salah blasts well wide from the left-hand corner of the box.

1.37pm BST

49 min: After a spot of treatment, Allen is back on. When play restarts, Gomez sends a long diagonal pass to Moreno, tight on the left touchline. Moreno earns a corner. From which ...

1.36pm BST

47 min: Allen is down, left boot off, holding his toe. There was no contact, he went down while in full flow. A concern for Stoke now.

1.34pm BST

And we’re off again! Liverpool get the ball rolling for the second half, now kicking towards the Kop. No changes, which suggests Henderson took a sore one on the ankle, but nothing more. Alexander-Arnold had been discussing a sore thigh with Klopp before the break, too, so it’s all welcome news for Liverpool with their midweek trip to Rome in mind.

1.21pm BST

Half-time soothing balm for anxious Stoke fans:

1.18pm BST

A scoreline that doesn’t particularly please either team. Though Stoke will be a lot happier with life at the moment.

1.17pm BST

45 min +1: Firmino drifts into space down the right and curls into the Stoke box. There’s nobody there in red. Butland gathers, though only after a nervous fumble.

1.16pm BST

45 min: Henderson continues to receive treatment. He eventually gets up, and limps off the field, but is immediately back on. There will be three added minutes of this fascinating first half.

1.14pm BST

44 min: Some real concern for Liverpool here, as Henderson goes over on his left ankle. He might have taken an accidental kick from Shaqiri, and Liverpool will hope that’s a sore whack rather than a twist. Anfield falls quiet. Their captain is grimacing quite a lot.

1.13pm BST

42 min: Diouf is booked for a totally pointless hack at Moreno’s ankles. Both of the players were off the pitch, the ball having gone out for a throw.

1.12pm BST

41 min: Liverpool put the ball in the net, but the flag’s up for offside. Firmino bustles past Crouch down the left, then Wijnaldum bests Allen down the same channel. Wijnaldum’s shot is deflected to Ings on his left. From an incredibly tight angle, Ings lashes home. But he’s an inch offside. It’s a really tight decision, but the correct one.

1.10pm BST

39 min: A bit of space for Shaqiri on the right. He hooks low into the middle. Diouf is waiting to meet the cross from close range, but Klavan dives in to clear with a very necessary header.

1.09pm BST

38 min: Anfield is tense, but it’s not gone quiet. The home fans try to lift their team with a run through the songbook. The ruse doesn’t work. Stoke look comfortable right now.

1.08pm BST

36 min: Crouch is booked for a poor tackle on Firmino in the centre circle, his leg cynically dangled across the marauding Brazilian.

1.04pm BST

34 min: Alexander-Arnold strokes the ball down the right for Salah. Butland, coming out to claim a heavy pass, should claim, but he fumbles, allowing Salah to take up possession just outside the area. Salah looks to dribble back inside, but he’s obstructed by Pieters. Free kick, which Salah whips towards the top right. It’s inches wide, though Butland had it covered. It’s not been Salah’s day so far, but he’s not stopped working.

1.02pm BST

32 min: Liverpool are beginning to push Stoke back. They’ve enjoyed 63% of possession in the last ten minutes. Butland hasn’t had to make a save of note during that period, though.

1.01pm BST

30 min: It’s gone scrappy. Salah dribbles through the centre circle, then passes to nobody. Crouch strides off with the ball before giving it up in short order.

12.59pm BST

28 min: Better from Liverpool, as Firmino diddles his way past Ndiaye on the left to reach the byline. His chip inside is deflected to Wijnaldum, just to the left of the D. Wijnaldum snatches at his shot, pulling it wide left of the goal. Butland might have been in trouble had that been tucked towards the bottom left.

12.58pm BST

27 min: Moreno is sent into plenty of space down the left. He’s got options forward and right, but clanks a pass into a white shirt, then repeats the trick when he’s gifted the rebound. More noises of concern, and we’re not even at the half-hour mark. The business end of the Premier League, ladies and gentlemen.

12.56pm BST

26 min: Van Dijk rakes a pass down the right in the hope of finding Salah. The ball flies straight through to Butland. Anfield groans. Frustration abounds. This game is now set up exactly how Stoke want it.

12.54pm BST

24 min: Stoke are playing very well indeed. Shaqiri is busy and brilliant. Liverpool are hesitant, not their normal selves at all. Firmino has hardly had a touch of note.

12.53pm BST

22 min: Liverpool are a bag of nerves. Shaqiri romps down the right and lashes a low cross through the six-yard area. Crouch is an inch away from connecting with one of those telescopic legs. Had be managed to get a toe on the ball, he’d have scored from close range, because Karius was on walkabout. Van Dijk, pressurising Crouch from behind, gets the credit for Liverpool’s let-off.

12.52pm BST

21 min: Wijnaldum, deep on the left, swings diagonally for Salah, who cushions a pass inside from the right for Alexander-Arnold. Alexander-Arnold tries to dink over the advancing Butland, but the keeper blocks well.

12.51pm BST

20 min: Gomez over-commits in a tackle down the Stoke left, allowing Bauer to escape down the wing. He’s got acres to romp into. He crosses deep for Diouf, who heads into the side netting from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Gomez really got away with a headless-chicken lunge there.

12.49pm BST

19 min: Anfield has already succumbed to nerves. An aimless hack upfield by Karius doesn’t help, and Liverpool are fortunate that Crouch doesn’t control properly 30 yards out, with the home defence all over the place, and Shaqiri and Diouf in close attendance.

12.48pm BST

17 min: Diouf slides in late on Henderson. Again, it’s clumsy, rather than aggressive, but the next robust Stoke challenge might give the referee a decision to make.

12.47pm BST

16 min: Liverpool knock it around the middle of the park awhile. Stoke line up in two banks of four. Nothing to report.

12.45pm BST

14 min: Zouma comes through the back of Ings in the midfield. It looks clumsy rather than nasty, so he only receives a talking-to, rather than a yellow. You’ve seen them given, though to be fair Ings doesn’t complain once he’s finished grimacing with the sting of the tackle.

12.42pm BST

12 min: Moreno, deep on the left, very nearly releases Salah into the Stoke box down the middle with a glorious curling pass. It’s an inch or two too heavy, and Salah can’t connect. I hesitate to say this, but I’ll do so anyway: there’s surely no way this game is going to end goalless. It’s very open, with both teams wasting no time in getting on the front foot.

12.40pm BST

10 min: There’s a nice, open feel to this game. Both teams playing very much on the front foot. Shaqiri tries to release Diouf again from deep, but Karius comes out of his box to clear with his head.

12.39pm BST

8 min: Shaqiri is seeing plenty of the ball early doors. He skitters down the right but can’t get past Moreno. Then he nearly sends Diouf free down the middle, having dropped deep to act quarterback. That’s intercepted, but he looks in the mood today.

12.37pm BST

6 min: BREAKING NEWS: MO SALAH IS ONLY HUMAN! Henderson sends him scampering away down the inside-right, Pieters having been caught too far upfield. He’s clean through. Surely this is the opening goal ... but the chip he dinks over Butland floats wide right. That’s some miss from a player who has scored on his previous seven appearances at Anfield. To be fair, he’s got a bit of moral credit in his back pocket.

12.35pm BST

4 min: Firmino chests down on the edge of the Stoke box and slips a pass along the inside-right channel for Alexander-Arnold. For a second it looks like Alexander-Arnold might get a shot away, but there’s pressure from Pieters behind, and he miscontrols out of play. He clashes with Butland, and takes a while to get up, but he’s fine.

12.33pm BST

3 min: Shaqiri hits the corner too long, but Liverpool only half clear, and Stoke win another corner, this time down the right, thanks to Bauer. But again Shaqiri smacks the corner over everyone. A let-off for sleepy Liverpool. And a fast start for the visitors, who may have decided that there’s really nothing to lose this afternoon.

12.32pm BST

2 min: Van Dijk plays a simple pass straight out of play for a throw. The first groan of the day, and perhaps an early sign of nerves. On the touchline, Klopp smiles, a little frost around the teeth. And no wonder, because Stoke immediately earn themselves a corner. down the left flank.

12.31pm BST

And we’re off! Stoke get the ball rolling. They’ll be kicking towards the Kop in this first half. It looks as though Alexander-Arnold is playing in midfield today, with Moreno at left-back and Gomez on the other side of the defence.

12.27pm BST

The teams are out! Liverpool wear their storied red shirts; Stoke therefore swap their famous red-and-white stripes for third-choice white. A fine Saturday lunchtime atmosphere greets the players. A burst of You’ll Never Walk Alone, and we’ll be off before you know it!

12.19pm BST

Paul Lambert has won at Anfield with Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He’s drawn here with Norwich City. He’s never been beaten as a manager at this stadium. He’s also, like Jurgen Klopp, a Borussia Dortmund legend. Plenty of Kop-bothering stories that could be written here today, and that’s before we get to Peter Crouch and Joe Allen returning to their old stomping ground. Anyway, here’s Lambert talking to Sky: “We come here without any fear. It’s about our team, and what we can try to achieve. We’ve done everything we could to get results, but we need more than that. We have to get after it, get on the front foot. We have to put a marker on the game. It’s a difficult place to come, but on any given day we can win.”

12.11pm BST

Jurgen Klopp speaks to Sky Sports. “We have no choice but to make these changes. Each game is a Champions League game for us; this game against Stoke is for qualification next year. We want to be a part of it again. The next game is a semi for this year’s Champions League. My first thought was to pick a line-up that will beat Stoke. This group are ready, and ready, and ready again. We have filled our toolbox, and now we have to use the right tools. We know Stoke are fighting for survival. It’s a big target. We need to defend at the highest level and create our moments. It is clear they are strong in attack. We need the crowd and I hope they are on their toes.”

12.04pm BST

A nice touch by the Liverpool players in support of Sean Cox, the fan critically injured before the Roma match last week. They’ve hung the shirt of his GAA team, St Peter’s, alongside the kit of Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino in the Anfield dressing room. Rodgers and Hammerstein had a song about that sort of gesture. Everyone in football will be wishing Sean the speediest of recoveries.

11.44am BST

Liverpool make five changes to the team sent out against Roma in midweek. Dejan Lovren, James Milner and Andrew Robertson drop to the bench; no risks are taken with Sadio Mané; and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is of course sadly injured. In come Joe Gomez, Ragnar Klavan, Alberto Moreno, Georginio Wijnaldum and Danny Ings. That man Mo Salah therefore continues his bid to become 2017-18’s leading Premier League scorer.

Stoke City by comparison keep it real. Just the one change from the side that drew with Burnley last week. Kurt Zouma comes in for the injured Glen Johnson, who is denied a run-out at his old place of work.

11.33am BST

Liverpool: Liverpool: Karius, Gomez, van Dijk, Klavan, Alexander-Arnold, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Moreno, Salah, Firmino, Ings.
Subs: Clyne, Lovren, Milner, Mignolet, Robertson, Solanke, Woodburn.

Stoke City: Butland, Zouma, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Pieters, Shaqiri, Allen, Ndiaye, Bauer, Diouf, Crouch.
Subs: Ireland, Adam, Cameron, Fletcher, Haugaard, Sobhi, Campbell.

3.03pm BST

Liverpool should finish the season in the top four of the Premier League. They should. But then again, they might not. The concession of a couple of sloppy late goals at the Hawthorns last weekend, at the cost of two precious points, has made their task harder, more stressful, more in-the-balance than was strictly necessary. Another misstep here, and if Chelsea go on to ... well, there’s no need for us to do the maths. Liverpool fans have already worked out all the permutations, poring over the table and fixture list, fingernails bitten to the quick. They know the score. Hey, at least it took the mind off Roma.

Stoke City have their own concerns. They’re near the relegation precipice, and defeat this lunchtime will set them teetering on the furthest edge. Their chances of registering the win they undoubtedly require today seem slim: they haven’t won since January; they’ve lost their last four games against Liverpool; and they’ve never, ever, ever won at Anfield in the top flight of the English league system. But to counter that (in ascending order of relevance): they did win three League fixtures at Anfield during a four-year period in the 1950s, albeit in the old Second Division; they won here a mere two years ago in the semi-final of the League Cup, though subsequently lost that two-legged tie on penalties; Paul Lambert has never lost at Anfield as a manager, winning three and drawing two of his five matches.

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Published on April 28, 2018 07:11

April 12, 2018

World Cup stunning moments: Diego Maradona's Hand of God | Scott Murray

The 1986 quarter-final between England and Argentina is famous for one of football’s most iconic moments. But there was more to this goal – and match – than a single act of larceny

High noon, one blistering Sunday in Mexico City, and a quarter-final shootout between two arch rivals who hadn’t met in a World Cup for 20 years and had grievance on their minds. Rattín’s Revenge! Or, in the offices of various tabloid newspapers and the heads of the slow: Falklands II. Here are 10 things that happened during a first half everyone’s long forgotten about:

1) Just before kick-off, instead of focusing on the players warming up in the oppressive sun, the Mexican television director chose to zoom in on a topless man necking the final third of a plastic cup of lager while sucking hard on a cheroot, having clearly been caught in two minds over which craving to sate first. A wonderful tableau of the relaxed atmosphere in the Azteca before kick-off, both sets of supporters in good humour, the Argentina team handing each England player their own personal pennant. A lovely touch, a small gesture of friendship, and to think everyone had been banging on about bad blood caused by the Malvinas conflict.

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Published on April 12, 2018 02:03

April 3, 2018

Juventus 0-3 Real Madrid: Champions League quarter-final first leg – as it happened

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a bicycle kick for the ages as the European champions ripped Juve apart.

9.51pm BST

9.36pm BST

Ronaldo misses a sitter, free in the middle, ten yards out. A wild blast over. See, kids, he is human after all. Then Juventus nearly claim a consolation, first through Higuain and then Cuadrado. But they can’t force the ball home, and it’s all over. The reigning European champions are as good as in the semi-finals already, having ripped last year’s runners up to bits. The icing on the cake: Ronaldo’s sensational bicycle kick, a goal you’ll be seeing again, and again, and again, and again. And you’ll not get sick of it either. Three in a row suddenly seems a very real prospect.

9.32pm BST

90 min: Ronaldo dribbles down the left with hat-trick scoring intent. He enters the box and fires hard towards the bottom left. Buffon tips the ball round the post. The corner leads to nothing. But Real come back at Juve again. Asensio has a whack from just inside the area. Buffon gathers a poor attempt easily enough.

9.30pm BST

88 min: Kovacic is booked for a thoroughly pointless slide on Higuain in the midfield.

9.30pm BST

87 min: Real are toying with Juventus now. They ping the ball hither and yon. Eventually it’s teed up for Kovacic, who twangs the crossbar from the edge of the area.

9.28pm BST

85 min: Ronaldo races down the inside-left channel and tries to flick over Buffon, but doesn’t work out his angles correctly this time.

9.27pm BST

84 min: Marcelo strides down the left and crosses deep. Ronaldo rises high at the far post, in search of his hat-trick. Buffon, whose dream of completing his set with a Champions League medal is in ruins, rises higher to claim.

9.24pm BST

82 min: Asensio romps down the left and pulls one back into the centre for Modric, who tries to flash an outside-of-foot worldie into the top right. It’s wild. And it’s his last act of the evening. He’s replaced by Kovacic.

9.23pm BST

80 min: A sense that we’re running down the clock now. Just 100 minutes of this tie to go.

9.22pm BST

78 min: Quite a few Juve fans have chipped off already. The many who remain have fallen silent. But credit where it’s due: their collective sporting reaction to Ronaldo’s goal reflects very well on them. Ronaldo accepted their applause graciously too. A lovely moment, though bittersweet as hell for the bianconeri.

9.20pm BST

76 min: Cuadrado replaces Khedira, while Asensio comes on for Isco. “Pele’s goal in Escape to Victory was just a little bit better,” claims David Bull. Who could argue?

9.18pm BST

74 min: The thing is, Juve haven’t done that much wrong. They’ve just been run ragged by the reigning champs. Again. Few teams would have an answer to this.

9.16pm BST

Marcelo cuts in from the left and one-twos with Isco to his left. Then he one-twos with Ronaldo to his right. Then he rounds Buffon on the right and pokes into an empty net. That’s a wonderful goal, though it looks slightly ordinary in the context of what Ronaldo’s just done. Still. Juve’s hearts are broken.

9.14pm BST

71 min: Ronaldo shanks a shot wide right from 12 yards. He’s only human after all. “I’m not much of a Juve fan, but seeing reaction shots of Buffon looking sad makes my heart ache,” writes Kári Tulinius. “I rarely root for him, but it takes a heart of stone to root against him.”

9.12pm BST

69 min: A double change by Juve: Douglas Costa and Asamoah off, Matuidi and Mandzukic on.

9.12pm BST

68 min: Ronaldo lets a smile play across his lips. He’s earned the right. That bicycle kick was beyond brilliant. You’ll be seeing it a few times.

9.09pm BST

66 min: A high kick into Carvajal’s ribs, in the middle of the park. It looked more clumsy than aggressive, but that’s a second yellow, and Juve’s Champions League campaign is falling to bits in double-quick time.

9.08pm BST

Chiellini and Buffon get into a tangle, the former poking the ball past his own keeper as he rushes from his line. Ronaldo gets onto the loose ball, and threatens to shoot from a tight angle on the left. He can’t find space, so tees up Vazquez instead. Vazquez shoots for the top right. Buffon, recovering, parries magnificently. The ball breaks to the right. Carvajal hooks it back into the centre ... where Ronaldo, his back to goal on the penalty spot, sends an overhead kick into the top right! He steered that magnificently! Perfection! Buffon was rooted, and had no chance! And the Juve fans stand as one to applaud the sheer brilliance of the man. That was sensational!

9.04pm BST

62 min: Space for Asamoah on the left. He’s got men in the box, but blooters his cross over the area and to safety on the other wing. Marcelo waltzes off with the ball.

9.03pm BST

60 min: Something of a lull, which will do the European champions nicely. Juve need to up the tempo here.

9.02pm BST

58 min: The first change of the evening: Lucas Vazquez replaces Benzema.

9.01pm BST

57 min: Barzagli fannies about on the edge of his own box. Isco barges him off the ball and Ronaldo is clear on goal! But the referee gives Juve a free kick. That’s pretty generous. Juve breathe again.

8.59pm BST

56 min: Dybala looks to flip one over the wall and into the top right. Navas goes off after it. But the ball deflects off the wall - Ronaldo, by the looks of it - and flies in the other direction! It’s surely going to nestle into the unguarded left-hand side of the net. Time stands still ... and the ball somehow flies out of play for a corner, to the left of the post. That didn’t look physically likely. And the resulting corner comes to nothing.

8.57pm BST

55 min: Dybala dances down the middle of the park. He’s cynically barged from behind by Ramos, who is shown a yellow card. Real Madrid’s captain will now miss the second leg. And this is a free kick, just outside the Real D. Dybala springs up. He fancies this all right.

8.55pm BST

53 min: Ramos takes his sweet time to get back on his feet. The Juve fans don’t appreciate his time-management skills.

8.55pm BST

52 min: Carvajal knocks Higuain to the ground, and this is a chance for Juve to load the box. The ball’s pumped into the mixer. Bedlam. Navas accidentally whacks his own man Ramos upside the head. Ooyah, oof. Higuain snatches at an effort from outside the area: it’s well over the bar.

8.53pm BST

50 min: Benzema robs Bentancur in the midfield, then races down the right. He bursts into the area but can’t quite sort his feet out for a shot. No worries. The ball breaks to the right for Ronaldo, who shoots low from an absurd angle, his effort nearly nestling into the bottom left. The ball flies inches wide of the post. So close to a second that would put Juventus in all sorts of bother.

8.51pm BST

48 min: Now Costa skitters down the right, putting Real very much on the back foot. He curls one across the face of the Real goal. Nobody in black and white stripes anticipates the fine cross. The ball bounces apologetically out of play to the left of the goal.

8.49pm BST

47 min: Douglas Costa spreads a ball down the left for Asamoah, who briefly threatens to break into the Real box. Not quite. But Juve have come out with the air of men who know they realistically need something in the next 45 minutes.

8.47pm BST

And we’re off again! The hosts get the second half underway. No changes.

8.35pm BST

Half-time reading:

8.33pm BST

Both teams have been lively in attack. But it’s the visitors who have the precious away goal. That Cristiano Ronaldo, huh? A scorer now in ten consecutive Champions League games!

8.32pm BST

45 min: Dybala tries to nip through a gap between Casemiro and Modric on the edge of the Real box. He goes over Casemiro’s leg. Too easily, says the referee. Booking.

8.31pm BST

44 min: Dybala takes it himself, looking for the top left. But his shot smacks Varane flush in the face. Juve launch another attack. Chiellini flicks it into the area from the edge of the box. Casemiro intercepts with his chest. A suggestion it’s struck his arm. Chiellini certainly makes that suggestion, with force. But nothing doing. The players are too close together. The pressure is finally relieved on Real when Dybala sends an ambitious volley miles over the bar.

8.28pm BST

43 min: Dybala dribbles in from the right. He’s not really threatening to open Real up, but Modric clumsily clatters into him, and this is a free kick just outside the D in a central position. Very dangerous.

8.27pm BST

41 min: Bentancur has a shot from 25 yards. It just about stays inside the stadium.

8.26pm BST

40 min: It’s a small wonder that there’s only been one goal in this match. Both teams have been full of beans in attack.

8.24pm BST

38 min: Dybala earns a corner down the left. The set piece is hit long ... and drops to Chiellini, six yards out, level with the right-hand post. He must score! But he doesn’t get his header right at all. It skids wide right, and is hacked out of play for a second corner which comes to nothing. What a chance!

8.23pm BST

36 min: Real nearly score a second! Kroos latches onto a loose ball, 25 yards out, and launches an instant riser towards the top left. On target, and Buffon was beaten. But it’s a fraction too high, and twangs off the crossbar and out for a goal kick. Such a wonderful effort! So unlucky!

8.22pm BST

35 min: Marcelo goes down having been brushed in the face - accidentally - by Dybala. Again, not much in it. But the referee awards a free kick, which irritates the home fans further. Dybala’s not happy at all.

8.20pm BST

34 min: De Sciglio races down the inside-right channel and shoots low and hard towards the bottom left. It’s always going wide, though Dybala nearly connects with a toe, sliding in.

8.19pm BST

32 min: Carvajal tries to burst into the Juve box, but is stopped in his tracks by Asamoah. He goes down clutching his face. There doesn’t look a great deal in it, but having claimed the penalty, he’s forced to stay down. Dybala thinks about launching a move up the other end, but sportingly plays the ball out. The home fans are beyond livid with that decision, sure that Carvajal is trying it on. He’s soon up and about again.

8.16pm BST

30 min: At the corner, Ramos is penalised for a wee shove on Chiellini. Here, that first half-hour zipped by quickly.

8.14pm BST

29 min: Khedira glides down the left with extreme prejudice and forces a corner. Dybala’s delivery isn’t all that, and Real launch a counter attack. Benzema and Isco combine down the right and win a corner down the other end.

8.12pm BST

27 min: Casemiro bursts into a gap down the middle of the park. Juve are retreating at pace, so Bentancur slides in from behind to put a stop to his gallop. The referee awards the free kick, but more importantly books the Juve midfielder, who will miss the second leg as a result.

8.11pm BST

25 min: The rain continues to pelt down in Turin. This is positively Mancunian. Dybala and Khedira one-two their way down the middle. The ball’s slipped right to Douglas Costa, who drops a shoulder with a view to cutting back inside and shooting. But his first touch is heavy. Clank. Cleared.

8.09pm BST

23 min: Higuain earns a free kick off Carvajal as he bustles down the left. The set piece is curled viciously into the area by Dybala. Higuain rises to meet it, six yards out, sidefooting a volley goalwards in acrobatic fashion. It’s surely the equaliser. But it’s stopped on the line by a stunning point-blank save from Navas! Not sure how he kept that out. But keep it out he did. Wonderful play all round.

8.07pm BST

21 min: Dybala nearly spins round Varane on the edge of the Real box, but the defender sticks out a telescopic leg to recover, just as it looked like he’d been sold the dummy.

8.06pm BST

19 min: Isco is in a busy mood. He races after an overhit Ronaldo pass down the left, and earns a corner he had no right to win. But he tap-takes it too quickly and Real lose possession. Juve don’t look sure of themselves down this flank at all.

8.03pm BST

17 min: Isco drops deep on the right. He loops a diagonal one towards Benzema. De Sciglio gets an eyebrow in the way, just as the Real striker was contemplating a van Bastenesque volley.

8.01pm BST

15 min: Real stroke it around the middle awhile, just because they feel like it. It frustrates the home support, who had been watching their team get a foothold in this match.

7.59pm BST

13 min: Bentancur dribbles upfield from deep, getting Juve out of a spot as Real pressed hard. It’s a lovely burst that turns panicked defence into threatening attack. He one-twos with Higuain, and attempts a powerful sidefooter into the bottom right from the edge of the Real box. It’s blocked the second it leaves his boot. But a fine move. Beckenbentancur.

7.57pm BST

11 min: Carvajal romps down the right and earns the first corner of the match. Kroos curls it into the mixer. Varane wins a free header on the penalty spot; he should have got it on target, but the ball sails harmlessly over the bar.

7.56pm BST

9 min: Higuain chases after a long looping pass down the left, but can’t quite spring the Real defence. Juve have seen plenty of the ball since the goal. It’s been a good response to that early shock.

7.54pm BST

7 min: Dybala tries it on down the inside-left channel again. He feeds Chiellini. Carvajal is on hand to put a stop to the move. A couple of nice, slick moves, though.

7.52pm BST

6 min: But finally the home side wake up, Khedira and Dybala one-twoing down the inside-left channel to earn a corner. For a second, it looked as though Dybala had made space to shoot, but he was closed down quickly by Ramos. The resulting corner comes to nothing.

7.51pm BST

5 min: That’s not exactly silenced the Juventus Stadium - the Real fans are making the sort of noise you’d expect them to after that fast start - but the home faithful are stunned. Juve don’t tend to let in many goals, and here they are trailing already.

7.50pm BST

Well this didn’t take long! And it’s easy as you like! Marcelo flicks a pass down the left for Isco, who rolls a pass inside for Ronaldo, on the left-hand edge of the six-yard box. For some reason, all the Juve lads are on the right-hand edge of it, in a huddle. Ronaldo meets the cross, and fiercely flicks an unstoppable first-time shot into the right-hand portion of the net. Crisp and clean. Buffon had no chance!

7.48pm BST

2 min: The pitch is sodden. A few loose passes at the moment. Benzema’s poor square ball in the midfield nearly allows Douglas Costa to run free down the right. Costa can’t keep control. Ronaldo probes down the left, but his hopeful cross is nowhere near a vivid teal shirt, and Chiellini clears with ease.

7.46pm BST

And we’re off! The reigning European champions Real Madrid get the party started. Casemiro shanks a simple pass into the stand. Juve give up possession from the resulting throw in short order. The only way is up.

7.45pm BST

The teams are out! Juve and Real take to the pitch at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on an evening that would do a British bank holiday proud: it’s cold, wet and miserable. Juve wear their black-and-white-striped homage to Notts County, so Real Madrid are forced into their Tetris-inspired third-choice “vivid teal” shirts. Vivid teal. Number three on the list of football colours that don’t quite stir the soul, behind ecru and mauve. Anyway, there’s one heck of an atmosphere in Turin - the Stadio delle Alpi this ain’t - and we’ll be off in a minute!

7.15pm BST

Pre-match reading: The good doctor, Sid Lowe, considers the long history between the current champions of Spain and Italy.

7.00pm BST

Juve make four changes to the team that won 3-1 against Milan on Saturday. Mattia De Sciglio, Douglas Costa, Alex Sandro and Rodrigo Bentancur take the places of Stephan Lichtsteiner, Blaise Matuidi, Mehdi Benatia and the suspended Miralem Pjanic.

Real Madrid only name five players from the starting XI that won 3-0 at Las Palmas three days ago: Keylor Navas, Raphael Varane, Karim Benzema, Luka Modric and Casemiro. That means a return for Dani Carvajal, Toni Kroos, Marcelo, Isco and Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s the same team that started last year’s final. Gareth Bale is on the bench, no doubt contemplating options.

6.48pm BST

Juventus: Buffon, De Sciglio, Barzagli, Chiellini, Asamoah, Khedira, Bentancur, Costa, Sandro, Dybala, Higuain.
Subs: Szczesny, Cuadrado, Marchisio, Matuidi, Mandzukic, Rugani, Lichtsteiner.

Real Madrid: Navas, Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Kroos, Casemiro, Isco, Modric, Ronaldo, Benzema.
Subs: Casilla, Vallejo, Bale, Hernandez, Vazquez, Asensio, Kovacic.

12.25am BST

It’s a repeat of last year’s final! And of the 2014/15 semis, the 2004/05 Round of 16, the 2002/03 semis, the 1997/98 final, the 1995/96 quarters, the 1986/87 second round, and the 1961/62 quarters. These sets of lads have quite the history together.

Real Madrid had the upper hand in last year’s final, you’ll remember. They beat Juventus 4-1 in Cardiff last May, and in doing so became the first club to retain Europe’s biggest prize in the Champions League era. That made it two from two in finals for Madrid against the Old Lady: they prevailed in Amsterdam in 1998 too.

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Published on April 03, 2018 13:40

March 31, 2018

Everton 1-3 Manchester City: Premier League – as it happened

Manchester City tore Everton apart, their dominance not reflected in the scoreline, and can now win the title next weekend with victory over Manchester United

7.35pm BST

Here’s Andy Hunter’s match report from Goodison:

7.22pm BST

Does a 3-1 victory ever constitute a thrashing? It does now. City were utterly dominant, the bosses of Everton from the get-go. They were sensational, with David Silva and Leroy Sane the star turns. Mind, to a man they were magnificent. Everton shouldn’t self-flagellate too much, because few could live with City in this mood. Pep Guardiola’s side can win the title against Manchester United next weekend. A penny for the thoughts of Jose Mourinho, who will have been furiously taking notes while watching this masterclass. Repeat that last sentence for Jurgen Klopp, whose team have quite the Champions League poser to solve in midweek. Wow.

7.18pm BST

90 min: Sane tries to dribble upfield from his own goalline. He’s very nearly dispossessed and embarrassed by Niasse. A bit over-confident, despite all his brilliance. Anyway, he gets away with it. There will be three added minutes. Everton have been dreaming of this moment for the last hour and a half.

7.15pm BST

88 min: Fernandinho tries to Rooney one in from the halfway line. It’s off target, while Pickford had spotted the danger anyway, and would have got back in time.

7.13pm BST

87 min: Danilo comes on for Laporte.

7.13pm BST

86 min: Good running by Walker down the right, but the corner he earns comes to nothing.

7.12pm BST

84 min: Everton finally string a few passes together. This is much better. Eventually Walcott flings in a cross from the right. Niasse throws himself at it, and flashes a spectacular header goalward. Ederson reads it well, though, and the striker’s offside anyway. Thing is, it’s not as though Everton haven’t asked any questions of City at all. You do wonder if they could have been a little more proactive, certainly since Bolasie pulled one back. Because in football, you never know.

7.09pm BST

82 min: More City passing.

7.08pm BST

80 min: Keane launches long. Walcott tries to flick a header on for Coleman, out on the right, but the ball flies out for a goal kick. “The comparison between Sterling and Walcott in this match isn’t particularly encouraging for Walcott,” suggests Charles Antaki. “It’s true that he’s seen almost nothing of the ball, and I know that this is a parochial interest, but Arsenal fans will note with sympathetic acknowledgement that trees remain rooted at his new club.”

7.06pm BST

79 min: Tosun - whose last act was to grapple with Kompany in a futile battle to make ground in the City half - is replaced by Niasse.

7.04pm BST

77 min: De Bruyne is replaced by Gundogan. Some bench City have, huh?

7.04pm BST

76 min: City have enjoyed 89% possession in the last five minutes. As good as they have been, they’ve been helped by Everton sitting back. The home side have made little attempt to search for a second that might get the visitors thinking.

7.02pm BST

75 min: Fernandinho tries to curl one into the top left. He’s inches away. Pickford wouldn’t have got there. And then Calvert-Lewin is replaced by Baningime.

7.01pm BST

73 min: City continue to stroke it around the middle. The clock ticks on. This is a very measured, grown-up response to conceding that goal. No panic whatsoever.

6.59pm BST

71 min: Walker and Jesus play a long-range one-two down the right. It’s this close to opening Everton up. Not quite.

6.57pm BST

69 min: Fernandinho dribbles down the middle, and suddenly the Everton defence opens up in the Red Sea style. He should enter the area and bang a shot on goal, but loses his nerve and flicks to the left for Sane. Or was the pass meant for David Silva? Either way, it’s a dreadful ball, and it whistles out of play for a goal kick.

6.55pm BST

68 min: City cleverly take the sting out of the game with some ball-hogging in the middle of the park. They’re going nowhere, but that’s not the point. This is smart game management, and Goodison has lost a little of its recently rediscovered roar already.

6.54pm BST

66 min: Kompany clanks the ball out of play down the right for a corner for Everton. That was totally unnecessary. City can’t be nervous after all this, can they? Well, maybe. The corner’s hit long, and Tosun slams a header wide left from close range. He should have done better. Thing is, if Everton score another ... well, it’s something everyone in Goodison has worked out, because there’s quite a noise in the old place now!

6.51pm BST

64 min: City respond by replacing Sterling with Bernardo Silva.

6.51pm BST

Out of nothing, and against the run of play, Everton score! Bolasie takes up possession to the left of the City D, and decides to buy a raffle ticket. He hammers a low shot through Walker’s legs, off the base of the left-hand post, across the face of the goal, and into the other corner! Just the two goals in it, all of a sudden!

6.49pm BST

61 min: Sterling threatens to break down the inside left channel but Keane does very well to stay strong and hold him off.

6.47pm BST

59 min: Sane and Sterling combine down the left. Sterling’s low cross isn’t anticipated by anyone in purple. City recycle possession. Fernandinho chips down the right to release Jesus into the box. The flag goes up for offside, though that was very tight. Jesus’s attempt to squirt the ball past Pickford and into the bottom left from a narrow angle flies across the face of goal anyway.

6.45pm BST

58 min: Tosun goes racing after a slack Walker pass down the Everton left. A chance to cause City some bother, but he hesitates and allows Otamendi to pick his pocket.

6.45pm BST

57 min: Rooney - who has been anonymous except when fuming - is replaced by Davies.

6.43pm BST

56 min: Ferdandinho has a dig from 25 yards. The shot takes a big deflection, and Pickford does very well to change direction and ensure the ball doesn’t nestle into the bottom right. That’s a fine reaction save.

6.42pm BST

55 min: De Bruyne spreads a glorious pass down the right for Walker, who pulls back from the byline for Jesus. Once again, the striker can’t quite get on the end of it. We’re talking inches every time, though.

6.41pm BST

53 min: City continue to attack Everton from all angles. Silva lobs a ball up for Sane near the Everton left-hand post. Sane heads down but can’t quite tee up Jesus. Then Walker has a romp down the right. His low cross is knocked behind by Jagielka, just before Jesus can get there. The corner comes to nothing, but Silva is soon conducting once again, very nearly finding Jesus with a cute flick through the middle. It’s relentless.

6.38pm BST

51 min: City restore the old order with some more metronomic passing in the middle.

6.38pm BST

49 min: This could be quite an interesting half of football. Everton are clearly trying to restore some pride; going at it too hard, though, might result in further pain. Tosun bustles to earn a corner down the right. But from it, City threaten to break clear upfield. Jesus looks like departing into the Everton half at speed; Jagielka makes what was in effect a last-man tackle 70 yards from his own goal.

6.36pm BST

48 min: Jesus, out on the left, tries to slip a pass inside which would have released Sane on goal. His pass hits Jagielka’s heel. Everton breathe again.

6.34pm BST

47 min: City spend the first couple of minutes of the second half hogging the ball again. Goodison is very quiet right now.

6.33pm BST

And we’re off again! City - who enjoyed 82% of possession in the first half - restart the party. (Everton made 59 passes.) No changes.

6.20pm BST

Half-time reading: That will have been a long 45 minutes for Everton fans. And on that subject ...

6.16pm BST

A few boos around Goodison, but Everton can’t beat themselves up about this. City are going to be crowned champions of England very soon, and they’ve been simply sensational. Nobody could live with this.

6.15pm BST

44 min: Fernandinho attempts to float a chip down the inside left to release Silva. The pass is just a little bit too strong. Silva was inches away from being clear on goal.

6.13pm BST

42 min: More bedlam in the Everton box, Laporte nearly setting up Jesus near the right-hand post. Everton really need to hear the half-time whistle. Tell the truth, they really need to hear the full-time whistle, it’s been one of those days for them so far.

6.12pm BST

40 min: The corner’s hit long. Laporte tries to recycle possession near the right-hand corner flag. Pickford races out of his area to blooter clear. He’s nudged over by Laporte, and springs up. He offers Laporte a square go. A slight over-reaction, given there was little in the challenge, which came at the end of a fair footrace. But Everton will be collectively fuming at present, so it’s understandable if not strictly legal. The linesman steps in to calm everything down.

6.10pm BST

39 min: City win a corner on the left, Sane running hard at Everton again. From the set piece, De Bruyne one-twos with Sane and strides into the area from the left. He shoots towards the bottom left. Coleman deflects it out for another corner.

6.08pm BST

On the halfway line, Sane flicks a ball down the left wing to release Silva into acres. He drives towards the Everton box, then rolls a pass across the front of goal. It eludes Jesus but not Sterling, who races in behind and slams a sidefoot home. Too easy, though Everton were looking for the offside flag for the initial pass.

6.07pm BST

36 min: A rare period of possession for Everton, and in the City half as well. Rooney encourages Coleman to drive down the right but his cross is easily cleared. Bolasie has a look on the left, but his centre is brought under control by Ederson.

6.04pm BST

34 min: Sterling dribbles at ludicrous pace towards the Everton box. He thinks about shooting but defers to Silva, who from the left-hand side of the D very nearly steers a magnificent diagonal drive into the bottom right.

6.02pm BST

32 min: Jesus plays a sweet backflick down the inside-right channel to release Sterling on a run towards the box. Sterling shoots, his effort deflected over the bar by the outstretched leg of Jagielka. The corner comes to nothing.

6.01pm BST

30 min: Sane nutmegs Rooney. De Bruyne then flicks the ball past him. Rooney barges into his back, a little frustration threatening to boil over. He pulls back from the brink, but there’s a suggestion that one or two Everton players aren’t enjoying being given the runaround.

5.59pm BST

29 min: Jagielka and Schneiderlin take turns to put in a couple of crowd-pleasing challenges. Anything to get the crowd going. The referee tells Schneiderlin to calm down a bit.

5.58pm BST

27 min: This is attack versus defence. Silva is running the show. Sane is a constant threat as well. The pair combine to set up Sterling on the penalty spot. Sterling hacks wildly over the bar.

5.57pm BST

25 min: Ederson races out of his goal and confuses Laporte. The pair nearly let Calvert-Lewin zip past them down the right, but Laporte remembers where he is before the Everton man can get clear, and mops up the mess.

5.55pm BST

24 min: City have so far played 164 passes to Everton’s 22.

5.54pm BST

23 min: Jesus picks up the ball in acres of space, 40 yards from the Everton goal. He loses his balance, which is fortunate for Everton, because had be kept himself steady, he’d have played Sterling clear down the inside-right channel with the simplest of balls.

5.52pm BST

22 min: De Bruyne causes all manner of bother down the right. A corner is the end result. From the set piece, Otamendi rasps a volley wide right of the target. City are playing some sensational stuff right now. Penny for Sam Allardyce’s thoughts. Penny for Jurgen Klopp’s, come to that.

5.51pm BST

20 min: For all City’s domination, this game could easily be 2-2. Then again, it could easily be 0-4 as well, because now Silva plays a nutmeg pass through Coleman’s legs to release Sane, who crosses to Walker. The full back scuffs his shot, when it looked easier to score from ten yards.

5.49pm BST

18 min: Walcott tries to make something happen for Everton by running left-to-right across the face of the City box. He’s unceremoniously bundled to the turf by Laporte. This is a free kick in a very interesting position, just to the right of the D. Baines takes, and looks to curl one over the wall and into the top right. It’s inches wide. Such a wonderful effort. Everton really needed it to fly in.

5.48pm BST

17 min: One corner leads to another. From the second, Silva saunters left to right across the front of the Everton box, then tees up Sterling, who looks to curl low and hard into the bottom right. It’s wide, but not by much. Pickford was rooted to the spot.

5.46pm BST

16 min: City stroke it around the middle of the park, just because they can. Everton are being run ragged. Sane, Laporte and Silva triangulate down the left. It’s so quick, crisp and pretty. Silva tries to beat Pickford at the near post. His battered shot is turned out for a corner.

5.44pm BST

14 min: A free kick for Everton out on the left. Baines hoicks it into the mixer, hoping to find Tosun, but that’s easy pickings for Ederson.

5.44pm BST

Calvert-Lewin bursts down the Everton right from a throw. He crosses for Bolasie who must score from six yards. But he heads over. A few seconds later, Sane is helping a ball down the inside-right channel for De Bruyne. De Bruyne loops into the middle. Jesus blasts a header home from six yards, giving Pickford no chance. Everton should be level, but now look. Jesus indeed.

5.41pm BST

10 min: City are pressing fast and hard, all over the pitch. Sometimes too fast and hard: Walker clips Baines in an over-eager frenzy, then Sane sticks out a hand to intercept at all costs down the Everton right. A chance for Rooney to whip in a free kick. Jagielka rises at the far post, but can only eyebrow an effort well wide left. But small acorns and all that.

5.39pm BST

8 min: City continue to stroke it around in the regal manner. On the touchline, Pep Guardiola is moaning quite a lot at his men. He’s clearly not happy with something. A hard taskmaster. A little snapshot which explains quite a lot.

5.37pm BST

6 min: A shot of Wayne Rooney reacting to that blooter. A look of drained resignation. It could be a long evening for Everton if City are in this mood. The home side have hardly had a touch since kick-off.

5.36pm BST

This is simply wonderful! City ping it around, as they do. Then Silva plays a mid-distance one-two with Laporte down the left. He reaches the byline and crosses for Sane, 12 yards out and level with the right-hand post. Sane shapes and pearls a volley into the right-hand side of the net. Pickford had no chance, that was a belter of a connection. And it all looked so easy ... though if it was so easy, everyone would be doing it.

5.33pm BST

2 min: Sane cuts in from the left but can’t find Jesus in the area with a cheeky flick down the channel. The City fans are cranking out a rendition of We’re Gonna Win The League. The “they ain’t gonna believe us” bit isn’t delivered with too much passion or feeling, mind. They know everyone knows, and has done for some time.

5.30pm BST

And we’re off! The home heroes get the ball rolling. And it’s pumped out of play within five seconds or so. The only way is up.

5.27pm BST

The teams are out! Everton wear their famous blue, so Manchester City are forced into second-choice purple. A rare old atmosphere at Goodison. We’ll be off in a minute!

5.17pm BST

Pep talks! “Last season was one game. We lost. They were so clinical. We were not good enough. But it is a long time ago, it makes no sense to compare the games. We have improved since then. We still have eight games to play and need six or eight points, so if as soon as possible we can get them, good. If not, we keep going.”

5.16pm BST

Big Sam speaks! “I’ve just been trying to work their line-up out. It seems to be a back three, with Laporte coming in, which we didn’t quite expect! But whatever they play is absolute quality, and we just have to try to do our best to stop them. We have to protect our home record, which is very good, against the best team in the league. The object of the exercise is about defending well, but what possession we have is most interesting to me. We cannot waste it. It will be limited but if we don’t use it we’ll find it difficult. The best game from the team will give them a few problems; anything less and they’ll struggle.”

4.40pm BST

Both of these teams are coming off the back of victories at Stoke. Everton make two changes to the team that won 2-1 at the Bet 365 Stadium a fortnight ago: Morgan Schneiderlin, making his first start since the Arsenal humiliation, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin take the places of the hamstrung Idrissa Gueye and Tom Davies, who drops to the bench.

Manchester City won 2-0 in the Potteries three weeks back. They just make the one change to the side named that day: Aymeric Laporte comes in at the expense of Alexander Zinchenko, who is named as a sub this evening. John Stones sits it out due to concussion protocols, while Sergio Aguero is still nursing a sore knee.

4.32pm BST

Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Jagielka, Keane, Baines, Schneiderlin, Rooney, Walcott, Calvert-Lewin, Bolasie, Tosun.
Subs: Martina, Niasse, Funes Mori, Davies, Vlasic, Robles, Baningime.

Manchester City: Ederson, Otamendi, Kompany, Laporte, Walker, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva, Sane, Sterling, Gabriel Jesus.
Subs: Bravo, Danilo, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Adarabioyo, Zinchenko, Nmecha.

9.23am BST

Next Saturday evening, the 2017-18 Premier League champions elect can secure their long-awaited, much-anticipated prize with a victory over, of all people, Manchester United. But their snook-cocking dream can only become reality if they first win at Everton tonight. No pressure, then!

You’d fancy City in pretty much any other fixture. We’re at the cusp of April, yet Pep Guardiola’s side have only lost two meaningful matches all season: at Liverpool in the league, and at Wigan in the cup. They’ve won 26 of the 30 league games they’ve so far played. It’s absurd. They’re relentless. They’re amazing.

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Published on March 31, 2018 11:22

Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool: Premier League – as it happened

Mo Salah scored his 29th Premier League goal of the season as Liverpool came from behind to grind out a win against Palace.

2.48pm BST

Right here.

2.23pm BST

Zaha bursts down the left again but his low cross is snaffled by Karius. And that’s Palace’s last thrust. The whistle goes, and Mo Salah has done the business for Liverpool again. They didn’t play well at all today, but ground that one out, and may consider that what goes around, comes around: Sadio Mane was unlucky not to win a penalty in the first half; he was very fortunate to escape a red card in the second. Palace remain a couple of points above the relegation zone, while Liverpool move into second for an hour or two at least, a point ahead of Manchester United having played two games more.

2.21pm BST

90 min +3: Benteke wins a header and sends the ball down the middle. McArthur threatens to break into the box but Lovren deals with the danger.

2.20pm BST

90 min +2: Zaha doesn’t deserve to be on the losing side; he’s been sensational. He teases Alexander-Arnold down the left, but his cross is too deep and Robertson deals with it on the other flank.

2.19pm BST

90 min +1: Benteke tries to spin round Lovren, who has a bit of his shirt in his hand. Robertson gets involved, to usher the ball out of play as Benteke falls to the ground. He wants a penalty but isn’t getting it.

2.18pm BST

90 min: There will be four added minutes.

2.16pm BST

89 min: Fosu-Mensah’s first act is to send a dribbler of a shot harmlessly wide right from 25 yards.

2.16pm BST

88 min: Fosu-Mensah comes on for Wan-Bissaka.

2.15pm BST

87 min: Liverpool are struggling to hold onto the ball. Salah over-elaborates again in the midfield, allowing Palace to stop a counter-attack. It’s very scrappy right now.

2.14pm BST

85 min: That’s Salah’s 29th goal in the Premier League this season. Will it earn the three points for Liverpool? Well, Palace win a corner down the right, Liverpool clear, then Salah plays a cushioned header backwards and puts his own team in trouble. The visitors hack clear again. This isn’t over!

2.12pm BST

It’s that man again! Oxlade-Chamberlain crosses deep from the right. Robertson knocks it back into the middle, first time. Salah takes a touch to take the sliding Sakho out of the game, and flicks into the bottom left from six yards.

2.11pm BST

83 min: A long right-wing cross is dropping to Firmino on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Wan-Bissaka eyebrows it away from danger just in time, then refuses Firmino space to turn and attack again. Fine defending. Alexander-Arnold ends up blasting over ambitiously from a deep position on the right.

2.10pm BST

82 min: Robertson’s low cross is nearly deflected into his own net by Wan-Bissaka. The resulting corner comes to nothing.

2.09pm BST

81 min: Zaha plays a ball forward down the left for Townsend. He’s taken out by Matip as he does so. The move breaks down immediately and Palace don’t get the free kick. The Selhurst faithful explode in anger. The referee hasn’t really pleased anyone today.

2.07pm BST

79 min: Alexander-Arnold whips a cross towards Firmino at the near post. Firmino can’t connect, and Salah hasn’t gambled on a run in the middle. Palace clear again.

2.06pm BST

77 min: Wan-Bissaka dribbles down the right and earns a corner off Robertson. Lovren heads the set piece clear. Liverpool go up the other end through Oxlade-Chamberlain and Milner. The pair combine well down the inside right. Milner enters the box and centres. Salah is waiting to poke home, but Sakho reads the play marvellously and hacks clear. Good luck calling the winner of this match.

2.04pm BST

76 min: Palace are winning most of the 50-50s right now. The excellent Milivojevic strips Firmino in the middle and nearly threads a pass through to release Townsend. Liverpool deal with it, but the margins are slim.

2.02pm BST

74 min: Zaha glides away from Matip and enters the Palace area. He stands one up for Townsend on the penalty spot, but the ball doesn’t drop to allow a shot. Robertson smacks clear.

2.01pm BST

73 min: Liverpool have already made all of their three changes; Palace make their first. Loftus-Cheek comes on for Cabaye.

2.00pm BST

72 min: Some possession for Liverpool. They’re going nowhere. The Mane affair, followed by the Lallana injury, has taken the wind out of their attacking sail. Alexander-Arnold tries to find Firmino in the middle from the right. His cross is wild, but nearly drifts over Hennessey and into the top left. Not quite.

1.57pm BST

70 min: Lovren comes on in Lallana’s stead.

1.57pm BST

69 min: Milner comes across to pat his stricken team-mate on the chest as the stretcher comes on. Lallana gets up and limps off under his own steam, but this is a blow for Liverpool as they enter a crucial phase of the season.

1.56pm BST

68 min: Lallana goes into a 50-50 with Milivojevic. He lands awkwardly on his right knee, and goes down in some pain. This doesn’t look promising for the injury-dogged midfielder. They’ve got an ice pack out. He’s only been on the pitch for four minutes.

1.54pm BST

66 min: This game is on a knife-edge now. Palace are aggrieved that Liverpool aren’t down to ten men. Van Aanholt gets involved with Salah over a throw in the midfield. Everything’s being contested. This could be a fun finale.

1.52pm BST

64 min: Now Mane does leave the field, but only because he’s hooked for Lallana. And it’s a double change for Liverpool, as Wijnaldum is replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain.

1.51pm BST

62 min: Van Aanholt pearls the free kick towards the top left. Karius saves at full stretch, and the resulting corner comes to nought. Liverpool have got away with one there.

1.50pm BST

61 min: Palace want a second yellow for Mane, and one of their players performs the mime. Henderson gets involved. The referee isn’t interested in any further punishment. Well, well.

1.49pm BST

60 min: Mane is tripped just to the right of the D by Townsend. He wants a free kick but isn’t getting it. So he grabs the ball. It’s a free kick for intentional hand ball, in a very dangerous position.

1.48pm BST

59 min: Palace should be leading II. A clumsy van Dijk is stripped by Townsend, who tears down the right. He’s got Benteke and Zaha on his inside. Benteke takes charge ... and loops the ball over the crossbar. What a pair of terrible misses.

1.46pm BST

58 min: Palace should be leading again. Milner’s pass inside from the right is blocked by Milivojevic. The ball loops to Townsend, who heads down for Benteke. He’s one on one, with Karius off his line. But he leans back and shanks it wide right.

1.44pm BST

56 min: There may be the odd question about Alexander-Arnold at the back, but he’s impressive going forward. He floats a ball into the Palace box from the right, and nearly finds Salah. Hennessey comes off his line to claim confidently.

1.43pm BST

54 min: Liverpool knock it around in the metronomic manner. Suddenly Robertson breaks down the left and fires a low ball through the box. Alexander-Arnold returns it. Salah is on hand, waiting to sidefoot home, but Sakho gets there just in time to clear.

1.41pm BST

52 min: Alexander-Arnold earns a corner down the right off McArthur. From the set piece, van Dijk attacks the ball. Milivojevic had a fistful of his shirt, and Liverpool want a penalty, but they’re not getting it. As a result, van Dijk’s header isn’t all that.

1.39pm BST

51 min: Salah, to the right of the D, tries to float a chip over Hennessey and into the top left. It’s really not that far away. Just over. Liverpool appear to have had a half-time talking-to.

1.38pm BST

Mane bursts down the right, then pulls back for Salah, who chips to Milner on the left. Milner turns Wan-Bissaka this way and that, then fires low into the centre. Mane had drifted in, and slams a sidefoot home from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Palace were stretched to breaking point there.

1.35pm BST

47 min: Benteke bests van Dijk in the centre circle, then spreads the play wide left for Van Aanholt. Liverpool are light at the back, but Van Aanholt clanks a pass straight through to Karius, with Zaha and McArthur in good positions. A lively end-to-end start to the half.

1.34pm BST

46 min: Liverpool were out early, and they’re on the attack early. Mane probes down the left. Alexander-Arnold on the right. Nothing doing in the middle.

1.33pm BST

And we’re off again! Liverpool get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes. Incidentally, Sky showed both penalty incidents at half-time. Karius really did suffer from a rush of blood coming off his line to wipe Zaha out, though he wasn’t helped by more dozy defending by Alexander-Arnold. Meanwhile there was definitely contact by McArthur on Mane, who would have won a penalty had he gone down immediately. But his delayed artistic fling convinced the referee otherwise. You can be sure Klopp will mention that incident if they go on to lose this game.

1.21pm BST

Half-time reading: This isn’t the only big Premier League fixture in London Town today. Here’s our man Jacob Steinberg ahead of a big showdown out east later on.

1.18pm BST

Jurgen Klopp rants in the expressive style on the touchline. And then the whistle goes. You can bet his half-time team talk will be quite the event. Roy Hodgson looks content, though: his plan is working well, thanks to Loris Karius’s rush of blood and Luka Milivojević’s cool penalty kick.

1.16pm BST

45 min: McArthur is booked for a late clip on Milner. He complains, but you can tell his heart’s not in the argument. A fair enough decision.

1.15pm BST

44 min: The set piece is whipped in from the right. Mane, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box, flashes a header towards the bottom left. It’s a fine effort, but unfortunately for Mane, Hennessey stretches out to tip the ball away from danger. A superb save. It’s not been Mane’s half.

1.14pm BST

43 min: Mane battles hard to win the ball on the edge of the Palace box. Firmino and Mane take turns to fashion snapshots under pressure. The ball deflects out for a corner.

1.12pm BST

41 min: Salah cuts in from the right and looks for the top left. It’s an easy take for Hennessey.

1.11pm BST

39 min: Firmino flashes a wild effort miles off target. Then Benteke clatters into van Dijk for the third time in as many minutes. This time it’s an accident, though the defender rubs his ankle in pain. He looks OK to continue, though.

1.09pm BST

38 min: Benteke is lectured for waving an arm in van Dijk’s grid. Then seconds later, he’s booked for cynically clipping the heel of the same player. That’s the height of stupidity, having just been talked to by the ref. The official had no option.

1.07pm BST

36 min: Milner wastes a corner on the left. Henderson floats a pass in from the right; Mane can’t control on the edge of the box. Liverpool look frustrated. Roy Hodgson’s plan is working sweetly.

1.06pm BST

34 min: Liverpool continue to hog the ball, but Palace are holding their shape impressively. “If Henderson’s spectacular pass flew into the crowd then it really was Gerrard style,” writes Felix Wood, before adding: “HONK.”

1.03pm BST

32 min: Mane, to a chorus of boos, skates down the left. His cross is too long, but hooked back into the mixer by Alexander-Arnold. Hennessey is all over the shop, but with Firmino lurking, and waiting to head into the unguarded net, Kelly flicks away from danger. Great last-ditch stuff from the Palace man.

1.01pm BST

30 min: Good work by Alexander-Arnold, Milner and Salah down the right. The ball is worked to Firmino, just to the right of the D. He shoots. The ball deflects off Sakho for the corner. Firmino wins a header from the set piece. It’s sailing harmlessly towards the left-hand side of the net. Hennessey has it covered, but Mane flicks it on ... and in! But it’ll not count, because Palace had pushed up as Firmino won the first header, and Mane is offside.

12.59pm BST

28 min: Salah gets his first sniff of the afternoon. He’s found by Alexander-Arnold in the area on the right. He turns Van Aanholt and looks to curl one into the bottom left. But he can’t get the shot across Hennessey, who smothers.

12.58pm BST

27 min: Milner charges Benteke to the floor in the middle of the park. Palace camp on the edge of Liverpool’s box. But again the free kick is wasted, Van Aanholt rolling one in the direction of Zaha down the left, but only sending it through to Karius again.

12.57pm BST

26 min: Liverpool are pressing Palace back, Mane probing down the right. But his cross inside is to nobody in particular, and Hennessey gathers.

12.56pm BST

24 min: A series of PlayStation flicks by van Dijk, Mane and Salah. Mane then bursts into the Palace box down the right. McArthur slides in on him, and knocks his leg. Mane thinks about it, then goes to ground in exaggerated fashion. He wants a penalty, but the delayed contact means he’s getting booked for simulation instead. Firmino and Sakho, both standing nearby, burst into laughter.

12.53pm BST

22 min: Henderson tries to release Alexander-Arnold down the right with a spectacular Gerrard-style diagonal pass. It flies straight into the crowd, much to the amusement of the locals. Full marks for ambition, though.

12.51pm BST

20 min: The rain’s coming down in south London. An afternoon for slick passing. Liverpool are doing the majority of it, but all in the midfield. Palace are looking extremely comfortable.

12.49pm BST

18 min: Milner tries to free Mane down the left, but Kelly is across to intercept and clear. Milner then dinks a pass down the middle, in the hope of releasing Salah into the area. But Van Aanholt is over to shepherd the ball back to Hennessey. That’s fine covering by the Palace defence.

12.47pm BST

16 min: With the Liverpool box loaded, and the visitors’ knees knocking, Milivojevic gently chips the free kick into the arms of Karius. That’s kind of him.

12.46pm BST

15 min: Selhurst is bouncing now. Liverpool have had 75% possession, though much good it’s done them. Firmino has a whack from distance, but it’s no good. Then van Dijk plays a heavy back pass to Karius, which the keeper shanks upfield. Milner is forced to knock Cabaye to the ground, 30 yards from goal. Free kick. Liverpool look rattled.

12.44pm BST

Milivojevic slams the ball into the bottom left, sending Karius the wrong way. The keeper wasn’t getting to that even if he’d decided correctly. What a clinical penalty! Palace take the lead ... and deservedly so.

12.43pm BST

12 min: Benteke flicks a long ball on down the inside-left channel. Zaha is ahead of Alexander-Arnold again. He brings the ball down inside the area, but is taken out by Karius! An obvious decision, and a booking for the keeper.

12.42pm BST

11 min: Mane chases a long ball down the left and threatens to turn Sakho inside out. But the defender sticks to his man, and blocks the eventual cross out for a corner. From the set piece, van Dijk rises above Sakho. It’s on target, but Hennessey is probably saving it, so Mane tries to flick it on, and into the top corner. It’s wide.

12.41pm BST

9 min: The corner is a complete waste of time. But Palace were very close to taking the lead there. Fine direct play.

12.40pm BST

8 min: McArthur, in the centre circle, plays a long pass down the middle. Zaha gets in ahead of Alexander-Arnold. For a second it looks as though he’s going to do a Rashford on the defender, bringing the ball down and looking for the top right. But Karius turns the ball round the post with his chest (!). Corner.

12.37pm BST

6 min: Mane drops deep, then spreads a glorious low diagonal left-to-right pass to spring Palace’s defence and get Alexander-Arnold racing into space. The young wing-back’s cross isn’t up to much, because he didn’t have much pitch to run into. Palace sitting deep.

12.36pm BST

5 min: Palace are sitting back, holding their shape. Van Dijk and Matip pass it this way and that at the back, having yet to work out how to pick the lock. It’s early, everyone’s finding their feet.

12.34pm BST

4 min: Benteke drops a little deep on the left and hooks a fine reverse pass down the middle. Robertson guides the ball back to Karius, under pressure from Townsend, who claims a hand ball on the edge of the area. He’s not getting the decision.

12.33pm BST

2 min: Benteke goes up with Henderson in the midfield. He wins the physical battle. Mane picks up possession soon enough, though, but can’t find Salah down the right. All a bit scrappy so far.

12.31pm BST

And we’re off! Palace get the ball rolling. Kelly launches it long. Alexander-Arnold pumps it back upfield. The Premier League is back!

12.29pm BST

The teams are out! Crystal Palace wear their red-and-blue striped shirts, which pushes Liverpool into second-choice green-and-white quarters. There’s quite a noise at Selhurst Park, as there always is at one of the most atmospheric grounds in the land. Some hand-clasping in the tunnel beforehand, as Mamadou Sakho and Martin Kelly renew acquaintances with Jordan Henderson. Not 100 percent convinced the Liverpool captain was in the mood for friendly chat then, especially as Palace had kept his team waiting in the corridor, taking their own sweet time to come out of the dressing room. Roy the mind-games master.

12.13pm BST

To while away the time until kick-off, here’s a stat they’ve just flashed up on the television. Christian Benteke is renowned for bothering Liverpool’s defence. But where does he stand in the modern pantheon? Here are the players who have scored the most Premier League goals against Liverpool since August 2012:

7: Jamie Vardy
6: Christian Benteke, Jonathan Walters
5: Sergio Aguero, Olivier Giroud, Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku

11.50am BST

Jurgen Klopp speaks to Sky. “A good result today would make all the difference, but it would not give us an excuse for not performing in the next few games. So we have to separate it from other games and stay fully focused. We are playing for the League. We know the difficulty of the challenge but that is why we are here and we will try to win the game. We could have made another line-up, but we have four days until the next game, there is no reason. It is a hard job, Wilfried Zaha is back, he is a big player for them. It will be hard work. We will be fully focused on defending, the first line of Palace is not a line-up fighting to stay in the League, it is crazy. It is strong, strong, strong.”

11.40am BST

The big news for Palace: Wilfried Zaha has conquered his knee problem and starts. That means Roy Hodgson names a team with just two changes from the win at Huddersfield: in come Martin Kelly and Yohan Cabaye, replacing James Tomkins and Jeff Schlupp. Kelly is one of four former Liverpool employees facing their old club today, along with Mamadou Sakho, Christian Benteke and of course Hodgson. These things can pan out either way, can’t they.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp doesn’t shuffle the pack too much, either. Joe Gomez and Emre Can are injured, so their places are taken by Trent Alexander-Arnold and James Milner. Other than that, it’s the same starting XI as the Watford game.

11.31am BST

Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Wan Bissaka, Kelly, Sakho, Van Aanholt, McArthur, Milivojevic, Cabaye, Townsend, Benteke, Zaha.
Subs: Loftus-Cheek, Lee, Cavalieri, Souare, Fosu-Mensah, Delaney, Riedewald.

Liverpool: Karius, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson, Milner, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Clyne, Lovren, Moreno, Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mignolet, Ings.

9.19am BST

Of course we all love international week ... but it’s rather nice that the Premier League is back, yes? And it’s back with a bang, a fixture that has huge implications at both ends of the table. Crystal Palace are just a couple of points above the relegation places; Liverpool are desperate to secure a berth in next season’s Champions League. Both teams would desperately love the three points today ... but nobody will be feeling totally confident about securing them.

On the one hand, you’d expect Liverpool to win this match. They beat Palace at Anfield earlier in the season, while they’ve won on their last three visits to Selhurst Park. They’ve tasted victory in nine of their last 12 Premier League matches; Palace have lost four of their last five. They’ve rattled in 73 goals so far in this campaign; Palace have only managed 30.

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Published on March 31, 2018 06:24

March 29, 2018

World Cup stunning moments: Scotland's 1978 rollercoaster | Scott Murray

Scotland flew to the 1978 finals on a wave of hype before reality hit but the win over Holland will be remembered for generations

“My name is Ally MacLeod, and I am a born winner!” And we all know how this story pans out.

Let’s cut the man some slack, though, for he wasn’t quite the congenital loser he’s usually painted as. True, the high-water mark of his playing career as a willowy, crowd-pleasing left winger – a man-of-the-match performance for Blackburn Rovers in the 1960 FA Cup final described as “magnificent” by this paper – earned him nothing more than personal plaudits and a runners-up medal after a comprehensive 3-0 defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers. But there were notable achievements when he hung up his boots and clambered into the dugout. First, a couple of promotions with Ayr United, a club he very nearly took into Europe in the early 1970s. Then tangible success at last: a Scottish League Cup with Aberdeen in 1976, the club’s first triumph in the competition for two decades and only their second major trophy in an otherwise barren 20-year stretch. Dons’ supporters who still singing hosannas to Derek McInnes will know how good a League Cup can make you feel.

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Published on March 29, 2018 05:06

World Cup Fiver | Closing his eyes tight and drifting off to his safe space

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Last October, in the final round of the Conmebol World Cup qualifiers, Lionel Messi scored a sensational hat-trick in Ecuador to salvage Argentina’s campaign when all seemed lost. On Tuesday night, as he sat in the stands at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, watching on impotently as his international team-mates were humiliated 6-1 by fellow La Liga types, he could be forgiven for wondering why on earth he bothered. Would it have been so bad had Argentina missed out on the World Cup? The last time they did that, in 1970, the tournament ended up being pretty enjoyable anyway. Admittedly that might not be a commonly held view in Argentina itself, but we’re looking at the bigger picture here.

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Published on March 29, 2018 04:01

March 28, 2018

The Fiver | Kicking the tin can of subjectivity down the road

So enough evidence has been gathered for one thing to have become certain: VAR is going to start a nuclear war this summer. Whether you’re broadly in favour of the system or think it’s a philosophically flawed pursuit of a circle that can never be squared, you’re just kicking the tin can of subjectivity down the road, it causes more problems than it solves, I mean come off it, is it really worth getting a smattering of borderline decisions right at the cost of hours of NFL-style VT rock-and-rolling and days of interminable, semantic, legalistic post-hoc arguments over the exact definition of “clear and obvious error”, and for what, the dream of a perfection that can never realistically be achieved anyway, what price the soul of football, look, you’re not listening to me, listen to me, stop talking over me, stop shouting, did you just take a swing at me, take your hands off me, that’s the only rational conclusion to be drawn.

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Published on March 28, 2018 08:04

March 27, 2018

England 1-1 Italy: international football – as it happened

Lorenzo Insigne’s late penalty denied England, who had led thanks to Jesse Lingard’s quick thinking and Jamie Vardy’s powerful strike

Read Daniel Taylor’s match report Who is on the plane and whose World Cup dreams are at risk?

11.48pm BST

9.57pm BST

And that’s that! England will feel disappointed right now, having come so close to victory, only to be denied late on by James Tarkowski’s clumsy clip on Federico Chiesa and Lorenzo Insigne’s calm penalty. But they’ve won in Holland and now held Italy. They’d have surely taken those results, both of which will give them confidence going into the World Cup. Speaking of which, it’s not going to be quite the same without Italy in the summer, is it? Missing them already.

9.55pm BST

90 min +4: Italy spend the best part of a minute slowly stroking short passes upfield. Suddenly Chiesa is free down the right. He loops a dangerous cross into the England area, but nobody in blue has taken a chance.

9.54pm BST

90 min +3: Did I say assured?! He nearly dribbles himself into trouble, with Sterling closing him down. But he scoops the ball away from danger at the last second.

9.52pm BST

90 min +2: The set piece is worked to Cook on the left. His cross is plucked from the sky by the assured Donnarumma.

9.51pm BST

90 min: There will be five added minutes! Plenty of time for one of these sides to find a winner. And both look up for searching for it. Sterling races down the left and very nearly frees Rashford with a flick inside.

9.50pm BST

89 min: Chiesa goes chasing a long ball down the middle. For a second it looks as though he’s got the better of Walker, but the England defender’s power and pace wins the day. And the flag goes up for offside anyway.

9.48pm BST

There’s a long pause as Walker finds himself in the middle of a big argument. Then finally Insigne steps up, and whips hard into the bottom left. Butland guessed right, yet had no chance to save a superbly struck penalty kick. England finally concede, after going five matches without letting one in!

9.47pm BST

86 min: ... then performs the international mime for TV, and points at the spot! VAR has its knockers, but that’s the correct decision.

9.46pm BST

85 min: VAR decision. Chiesa dribbles at speed down the left, and into the England box. He goes over screaming. Has Tarkowski stepped on his right boot? If so, this could potentially be problematic for England. The ref has a gander at the screen ...

9.45pm BST

83 min: Young is booked for a glorious act of cynicism. He slips as he slides into a tackle by the left touchline, hurting his knee as he clanks off the pitch. Then to stop Italy taking a quick throw, he rolls back onto the pitch, demanding treatment. Which he gets, along with a yellow card and a lecture from the referee. Looks like he’ll be OK, which is the main thing.

9.43pm BST

82 min: Sterling bustles down the left yet again. He slips Cook away on the overlap. Cook’s cross so nearly drops for Rashford, who is leaping and pulling his neck back in the centre. But Rugani eyebrows it away from danger.

9.41pm BST

80 min: Gagliardini comes on for Pellegrini. Bonucci sends a long ball down the middle for Belotti, who very nearly takes it down spectacularly on the edge of the box. Not quite, but Italy are proving a threat all of a sudden.

9.40pm BST

79 min: Italy put together their best move of the match. Insigne lays off to Jorginho, then races off down the inside-left channel. Jorginho chips over the England back line. Insigne meets the dropping ball and nearly sends a dipping, screeching volley across Butland and into the bottom right. What a goal that would have been!

9.38pm BST

77 min: Italy are seeing more of the ball now - they’re not getting pushed back as they once were in this second half - but they’re not doing a great deal with it.

9.36pm BST

75 min: Rashford is quickly into the thick of things, advancing on the Italian box. He’s got Sterling on the left, but opts to go it alone, and in doing so is crowded out and can’t get a meaningful shot away.

9.34pm BST

73 min: Before the free kick can be taken, Henderson replaces Stones, who remains dizzy after being blootered in the face. Dier will drop back into the defence. Insigne looks to bend the free kick into the top right, but gets it all wrong.

9.33pm BST

72 min: Pellegrini turns on a sixpence, baffling Walker into a shirt tug that concedes a free kick just to the left of the England D - and earns the England defender a booking.

9.32pm BST

70 min: Stones takes a Zappacosta cross flush in the coupon. Ooyah, oof. That’s gotta hurt. While he gets some treatment, England swap Vardy and Lingard for Rashford and Cook.

9.31pm BST

68 min: Pellegrini dribbles with purpose and determination down the middle. The ball rebounds to Belotti, who nearly breaks through a weak Young challenge. Not quite. But there’s a little more desire in the Italian attack.

9.28pm BST

67 min: England play a series of one-twos down the inside-left channel, Lallana, Lingard and Sterling the entertainers. Sterling enters the box, leans back and, in looking for the top right corner, makes a rugby conversion. A poor finish to a very crisp move.

9.26pm BST

65 min: Rose hooks the free kick into the Italian box. Belotti heads it clear. Dier comes sliding through Chiesa, a heavy challenge that’s not appreciated. But neither does it result in a free kick. Chiesa shrugs in an expressive manner, half-amused rather than irritated.

9.24pm BST

64 min: Italy are struggling to get out of their half right now. De Sciglio is betrayed by his frustration as he hangs out a leg and upends Lallana down the right. A free kick, and a chance for England to load the box. But first Immobile is replaced by Belotti.

9.22pm BST

62 min: Sterling has a crack from distance on the left, but there’s no force behind it and that’s easy meat for Donnarumma.

9.22pm BST

61 min: Young and Vardy combine well down the right to earn a corner for England. From the set piece, Lallana tries to Le Tissier a gentle volley into the top corner, but that was never as easy as the Southampton legend used to make it look.

9.21pm BST

60 min: ... while Rose replaces Trippier. He’ll be the left wing-back while Young moves to the right.

9.20pm BST

59 min: Sterling’s incessant pressing forces Donnarumma into hacking out of play under pressure. That allows England to make a double change. Lallana comes on for the impressive Oxlade-Chamberlain ...

9.18pm BST

57 min: Sterling buzzes again down the left, causing Italy no end of heartache. He really is a marvellous player. The best England have got? There’s a case for it. He slips a pass inside for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who checks back to the left before sending a shot straight down Donnarumma’s throat.

9.17pm BST

56 min: Candreva is replaced by Chiesa, whose first act is to take a speculative shot from the right-hand corner of the Italian box. It’s blocked at source.

9.16pm BST

54 min: Sterling battles hard down the left to win the ball off Rugani. He had no right to snatch possession there, but that showed superb determination. He flicks the ball inside for Young, who sways into the box, a lovely slalom. He works a nanosecond’s worth of space to shoot from a tight angle, and does so, but his effort’s blocked by a sliding Bonucci.

9.13pm BST

53 min: ... nothing in particular occurs.

9.13pm BST

52 min: England continue to play it patient. Trippier slides a pass down the right for Vardy, who earns a corner. From which ...

9.11pm BST

50 min: Walker strokes a glorious crossfield pass towards Young, who sets off down the left and nearly releases Lingard into the area. Not quite.

9.10pm BST

48 min: Walker plays a loose ball down the England right. It’s intercepted by Insigne, who chips forward first time for Immobile. There’s a little too much on the pass, and Butland snaffles. But once again, England have been slack at the back. On another day, they’d have been punished severely for this nonsense.

9.07pm BST

47 min: England spend the first minute of the half stroking the ball about the back in the aesthetically pleasant style. Then suddenly Lingard bursts down the left. Pellegrini knocks him to the ground, fairly, to put a stop to his gallop.

9.05pm BST

And we’re off again! England get the party re-started. There have been no half-time changes.

8.51pm BST

Half-time reading:

8.50pm BST

A decent half of football from England, who lead thanks to the quick wit of Jesse Lingard. A sharper striker than Ciro Immobile might have had a hat-trick, of course, but let’s not start pulling at threads.

8.47pm BST

44 min: Sterling clips a cute pass down the inside-left channel for Young, who can’t quite bring the ball under control and break into the box. After a bad start, England look impressive in attack, causing Italy all sorts of problems, coming at them from many angles.

8.45pm BST

42 min: The free kick is no good. “I don’t know if I am OK,” reports Giulio Ongaro. “I hate to be proven right in this case.”

8.44pm BST

41 min: And now Young goes flying in on Zappacosta near the England right-hand corner flag. It’s a wild challenge, and though it’s a free kick, he’s very lucky not to join Oxlade-Chamberlain in the book.

8.43pm BST

40 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain tussles with Bonucci down the right. He’s flagged for a garden-variety shirt tug. But he doesn’t like the decision - he’d have been free in acres otherwise - and so boots the ball away in frustration. A silly yellow card.

8.42pm BST

39 min: Italy are once again caught short at the back as Sterling drives with purpose at the visiting defence. He feeds Young outside on the left. Young opens his body and tries a sidefoot across Donnarumma and into the bottom right. The ball clips off Zappacosta and is taken around the right-hand post. The corner’s no good.

8.40pm BST

37 min: Nothing much happens from that. “Dare I say it, but the kind of quick witted opportunism that Lingard just exhibited is exactly the kind of thing that England have been naively hopeless at in tournaments passim,” writes Phil Sawyer. “If you want me I’ll be hammering planks over the windows to try to keep that pesky beggar Hope out.”

8.39pm BST

36 min: From the set piece, Tarkowski finds the ball at his feet on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. He can’t quite sort himself out to shoot. No matter, because England are soon coming back at Italy again. Sterling races down the right, reaches the byline, and earns another corner off Bonucci.

8.38pm BST

35 min: A lovely move starts with Young cutting in from the left. Lingard and Sterling take turns to advance on the Italian box. Then Oxlade-Chamberlain chips a cross into the mixer from the right. Bonucci is forced to knock the ball out for a corner.

8.36pm BST

33 min: More space for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who romps down the right and tries to pull the ball back for Vardy in the centre. Not quite, but after a very slow start, England are looking busy and threatening in attack.

8.34pm BST

31 min: Immobile goes dribbling in from the right and very nearly curls a low shot into the bottom left. There’s a deflection, and so that’s a corner. The ball’s worked back to Parolo, who very nearly Pirlos a pearler into the top left from distance. It’s inches over the bar. Had it been on target, I’m not sure Butland was getting to it.

8.33pm BST

29 min: For a second, it looked as though the referee was going to spend an age over the quick free kick on the VAR. But he’s quickly pointing to the centre spot. That was such smart thinking by Lingard. A fine finish by Vardy, too, but that goal was all down to the midfielder.

8.31pm BST

This is wonderful quick thinking. Lingard robs Pellegrini in the midfield and slips a pass forward for Sterling, who is upended by the same clumsy Italian. Free kick. Italy stop, waiting for a big fuss to be made over the setting up of the free kick. But Lingard stoops amid the fuss, puts his hand on the ball, and takes a super-fast free kick, flicking the ball to the right for Vardy, who steps into the area and smashes into the top right!

8.29pm BST

26 min: Dier rises highest to meet the corner, and heads down towards the bottom right. But Donnarumma is behind it all the way. Never mind, though, because ...

8.28pm BST

25 min: And this is a really good period for England, as Oxlade-Chamberlain is nearly teed up for a shot 20 yards from goal, but De Sciglio hassles him out of it. Then Oxlade-Chamberlain goes on another run to earn a corner on the right.

8.27pm BST

24 min: Sterling makes good down the middle and slides a pass down the inside right for Vardy, who strides into the area and shoots low. Donnarumma hacks clear with his feet.

8.26pm BST

23 min: A free kick for England out on the right. Trippier whips it to the near post, where Dier competes but comes off second best to Donnarumma.

8.26pm BST

22 min: Trippier releases Oxlade-Chamberlain down the right. It’s a powerful run, and he makes it to the edge of the area. Then he tries to nip in between Pellegrini and Bonucci, and falls to the ground. The crowd want a penalty but nobody in an England shirt claims seriously.

8.24pm BST

20 min: Bonucci, quarterbacking from deep, sends a long pass down the inside-right channel and nearly releases Parolo. There’s too much on the pass, and that’s a goal kick, but England looked ragged again at the back.

8.22pm BST

18 min: A free kick for England out on the left, and a chance to load the box. It’s hoicked into the mixer, but Tarkowski gets hands-on with Bonucci and that’s the pressure on Italy relieved in a single shove.

8.21pm BST

16 min: Immobile misses a sitter. Candreva whips a glorious cross to the far post from a deep position on the right wing. Immobile meets it, eight yards out, free. He flashes his header over the bar. Butland should have had no chance. Immobile should already have a hat-trick. He bashes the ground in frustration, after spurning a third fine opportunity to open the scoring. I hope Giulio Ongaro is OK.

8.19pm BST

15 min: The corner leads to nothing. Italy have quietened Wembley a little with all their possession, though.

8.17pm BST

14 min: Italy are stroking it around the back, hogging the ball. For a side down on their luck at the moment, they exude confidence on the ball. Some lovely triangulation down the right, involving Immobile, Zappacosta and Jorginho earns a corner.

8.15pm BST

12 min: On another day, this could have been 0-1, 0-2, 1-0, 2-0, 1-1 or 2-2. But here we are.

8.14pm BST

10 min: Tarkowski, deep on the left, slips a fine pass inside for Lingard. It sends England on a fast attack. Lingard shuttles the ball down the middle for Vardy, who has his leg cocked ready to shoot, just inside the area. But De Sciglio slides in brilliantly to toe-poke the ball back to Donnarumma. What a saving tackle, just as though England looked like taking the lead.

8.11pm BST

8 min: Italy knock the ball around in the midfield for a while, but go nowhere special. That’s the first period of calm play in this game so far. It’s been an interesting start.

8.10pm BST

6 min: Suggestions on the slow-mo that Stones pulled Immobile back after being stripped of the ball. Meanwhile England go up the other end and win a corner down the right. The set piece is sent long, and Tarkowski is able to win a header on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. He’s got time to think about it - not sure what the Italian defence is doing - but can only send a looper over the bar. He should have done better. Donnarumma nearly runs into the post while tracking back after it.

8.08pm BST

4 min: The set piece comes to nothing. Stones has already put in two goal-saving blocks, yet he still needs to have a little think about what he’s done. His positioning for the very early chance wasn’t all that.

8.06pm BST

3 min: Immobile is preposterously ponderous. Stones tries to take him on, just outside the England area. Immobile strips the ball off him, and he’s again striding clear into the box! But once again he faffs around instead of getting a quick shot away, and Stones is able to redeem the situation at the cost of a corner.

8.05pm BST

And we’re off! Italy get the ball rolling. And within 30 seconds, Immobile is sent clear down the inside-right channel! Wembley waits for the flag to go up, but Jorginho’s chip down the channel has released the striker legally into the area! Luckily for England, Immobile pauses and lets the ball clank between his feet instead of shooting. That allows Stones to come over and block. What a start that could have been for Italy.

8.02pm BST

Before kick-off, a moment in memory of three English and Italian heroes. Jimmy Armfield, Cyrille Regis and Davide Astori have all passed away since the last time England have played at Wembley. They’re remembered with some warm and generous applause. It’s a beautiful, bittersweet moment.

7.56pm BST

The teams are out! It’s an 84,000 sell-out at Wembley, and there’s an atmosphere to match the occasion. The 1966 World Cup winners are in their famous while shirts; the 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006 world champions wear their equally storied blue. We’ll be off in a minute! But before we get going, time for a quick pipe-clearing blast of steam. “GRRRRR!!!” bellows Giulio Ongaro. “Why still have Immobile and Insigne who actually have not lived up to their form in international play? I want to see Verdi, Cutrone, Cristante. Let’s give them a chance. But I am happy Buffon is not playing. Sorry, Gigi. You need to give some experience to the other goalies.” Incidentally, VAR’s in operation tonight, so that may or may not be the last GRRRRR of the evening. But let’s all keep an open mind.

7.46pm BST

Gareth Southgate talks to Independent Television! “We’ve picked the team we have because we want to keep some stability. We made some good progress the other night. Obviously we need to look at some other players as well, but tonight is a really good test for us. James Tarkowski has done really well with us and his club, and he fits the way we want to play. We’ve also got to look at options at centre-back: we’re very happy with the players who have played there up until now, but we need to see other guys who could come in. Jack Butland knew he was playing at the end of last week: most of his caps have come away so it’s nice for him to play here. Jesse Lingard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were excellent the other day: they can break forward and score goals. Dele Alli’s not been able to train fully, but of course he’s a very important player for us. We need a little bit more composure with the final ball, but we’ll create chances and we have the guys who can finish them. We want to finish this week on a high.”

7.20pm BST

Burnley defender James Tarkowski does indeed make his England debut. He’ll line up on the left of Gareth Southgate’s fancy new back three, replacing Joe Gomez / Harry Maguire. Meanwhile Jack Butland takes his turn in goal; Ashley Young takes the place of Danny Rose at left wing-back; Eric Dier comes in for Jordan Henderson; and Jamie Vardy replaces Marcus Rashford up front. Dominic Fifield saw you right.

Italy make four changes to the side that lost to Argentina on Friday night. Davide Zappacosta of Chelsea takes the place of Roma’s Alessandro Florenzi at right back. PSG midfielder Marco Verratti makes way for young Lorenzo Pellegrini of Roma. Inter winger Antonio Candreva replaces Fiorentina’s Federico Chiesa. And the big one: Juve keeper Gianluigi Buffon, 40 years old with 176 caps, makes way for 19-year-old, four-cap Milan sensation Gianluigi Donnarumma.

7.01pm BST

England: Butland, Walker, Stones, Tarkowski, Dier, Trippier, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lingard, Young, Vardy, Sterling.
Subs: Hart, Pickford, Pope, Rose, Henderson, Maguire, Mawson, Livermore, Lallana, Cook, Alli, Rashford, Welbeck.

Italy: Donnarumma, Zappacosta, Rugani, Bonucci, De Sciglio, Pellegrini, Jorginho, Parolo, Candreva, Immobile, Insigne.
Subs: Buffon, Perin, Ferrari, Darmian, Ogbonna, Bonaventura, Verratti, Belotti, Spinazzola, Verdi, Gagliardini, Cutrone, Cristante, Florenzi.

5.06pm BST

And here’s some early breaking team news from our man Dominic Fifield:

Dele Alli is expected to be among the England substitutes against Italy with Gareth Southgate set to start this evening’s friendly with the same forward-thinking midfield combination of Jesse Lingard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

7.13pm BST

England welcome the fathers of catenaccio to Wembley tonight. Italy enter a bizarro world, in which the other team have the stellar defence: England haven’t conceded a goal in 537 minutes of play, since Stanislav Lobotka scored early on for Slovakia in a World Cup qualifier last September that Gareth Southgate’s side went on to win anyway. That run’s subsequently featured draws with world champions Germany and five-time World Cup winners Brazil, plus a first victory in the Netherlands since 1969. England are in a good mental space right now.

Italy ... well, not so much. Having failed to qualify for the World Cup finals for only the second time in their history, it’s a struggle to get going right now. In their first match since failing to get past Sweden in the qualification play-offs, they went down meekly in Manchester last Friday, 2-0 against an Argentina side who didn’t need to call on Lionel Messi. They’ve also had to deal with the devastating loss of defender Davide Astori, the poor young man having passed away three weeks ago. Everything in proportion, of course, but the Azzurri could do with a little something to smile about again.

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Published on March 27, 2018 14:00

The Fiver | Oh Enzo! Vittorio! Ferruccio! Marcello! How has it come to this?

The national team of the Netherlands finally seem to be getting their act together. It’s been a hell of a struggle for them over the years, as a quick flick through history illustrates: an 8-2 loss to England in 1946, a 4-0 loss to France last year, while roughly in between times they lost a World Cup finals match against Scotland, a result which leads The Fiver to assume they couldn’t have been any good in the seventies either. But on Monday they swatted aside Portugal 3-0 in Geneva. Wow! That result also puts England in a good light, because having beaten the Dutch last Friday, simple playground logic dictates that Gareth Southgate’s side must be at least four times better than the reigning European champions. At least. Stands to reason, don’t it. The World Cup’s pretty much in the bag. England! Give us your bike.

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Published on March 27, 2018 07:52

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