Scott Murray's Blog, page 14

England 2-0 Finland: Nations League – as it happened

Harry Kane got both goals at Wembley on his 100th cap as England broke down stubborn opposition in the second half

Finland get the ball rolling. England soon take it off them. Wembley is not full.

A moment to celebrate Sven-Göran Eriksson, a life well lived. The applause also commemorates Kevin Campbell, Craig Shakespeare and Bolton defender Tommy Banks, an FA Cup winner in 1958, and who until his passing in June was the oldest surviving England international.

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Montenegro 1-2 Wales, France 2-0 Belgium and more: Nations League – as it happened

Two goals in the first three minutes sent Wales on their way to victory in Montenegro

Wales get the ball rolling in Nikšić. They’re in second-choice yellow tonight, with the hosts Montenegro in red. France meanwhile are in their white change strip this evening, despite hosting Belgium in Lyon. The visitors red devils as usual.

Peep! Peep! Peep! Peep! Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go, then.

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Portugal 2-1 Scotland: Nations League – as it happened

More late heartbreak for Scotland whose winless streak in competitive matches now stretches to eight

5 min: … nothing much. But that’s a decent couple of minutes for Scotland, who hadn’t had much of a sniff beforehand. Hopefully it’ll settle them.

4 min: McTominay takes a quick free kick in the middle of the park and sends McGinn skittering off down the left. The referee considers pulling play back – the ball was probably rolling when McTominay took the free kick – but decides against it, and McGinn wins a corner. That corner leads to another, which leads to …

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Nations League: Wales 0-0 Turkey, France 1-3 Italy and more – as it happened

As Craig Bellamy made a solid start as Wales boss in Cardiff, Italy were busy making history in Paris

The teams are out all across Europe. Patriotic folk music blaring out all over the shop. The rain’s pelting down in Cardiff. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.\

France and Italy were both disappointing at Euro 2024, in their own distinct but not particularly eye-catching ways. The journey onwards and upwards begins tonight at the Parc des Princes, and despite everything that went on back there in Germany, it’s still a showdown to whet the appetite. Here are how the teams line up.

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Scotland 2-3 Poland: Nations League – as it happened

Scotland came from 2-0 down at half-time to level but lost to a stoppage-time penalty at Hampden

6 min: McLean snaps into a couple of tackles in the middle of the park. Twice he strips the Poles of possession; twice his team-mates fail to react by snaffling the loose ball. He gesticulates in mild irritation, but that’s good tenacious play by McLean. Onwards and upwards.

4 min: That was a crisp little move down the left, and Scotland continue to start in a confident manner, giving Poland no time on the ball while knocking it around neatly themselves. More of this, please.

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Everton 2-3 Bournemouth, Leicester 1-2 Aston Villa: Premier League – as it happened

Everton fell to pieces against Bournemouth, while Aston Villa secured their second win of the campaign at the King Power

… so here’s what the Premier League looks like going into today’s 3pms. Should Forest stick four past Wolves without reply, they’ll go top, top, top … for a couple of hours at least. It’s almost as if none of this really means anything until November or so, but hey, you try filling up the internet at 2.43pm on a Saturday in August.

There’s also an early batch of results in from the Championship …

Burnley 1-1 Blackburn Rovers

Cardiff City 0-2 Middlesbrough

Coventry City 0-1 Norwich City

Blackpool 2-2 Wycombe Wanderers

Rotherham United 2-1 Huddersfield Town

Gillingham 1-0 Chesterfield

Port Vale 2-3 Doncaster Rovers

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Women’s British Open: Lydia Ko wins title after Nelly Korda fades – as it happened

Lydia Ko added the Women’s Open to Olympic gold by seeing off Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu at St AndrewsOfficial leaderboard

Jiyai Shin can’t make her birdie putt on 1. Par will suffice. It certainly will for Lilia Vu, who chips to eight feet and rattles in the par saver with supreme confidence. Meanwhile Lottie Woad, having narrowly missed birdie at 3 after setting herself up with a sensational long bunker shot, drops a stroke at 4. The world number one amateur slips back to -2.

-7: Jiyai Shin (1)

-6: Vu (1)

-5: Jenny Shin (1), Korda (1)

-4: Ko (1)

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Saturday clockwatch: Manchester City 4-1 Ipswich, Spurs 4-0 Everton and more – as it happened

Ipswich made the mistake of taking the lead at the Etihad, while Everton crumbled to another big defeat

FULL TIME: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Manchester United. Jonathan Wilson was at the Amex this lunchtime to witness Brighton, who have now won five of their last six league meetings with United, get yet another slice of revenge for the 1983 FA Cup final. Here’s his verdict.

Let us repair to Scotland, where Simon McMahon awaits. “Hello Scott! Hello Clockwatchers! Dundee United v St Johnstone at Tannadice today. United, with draws in their opening two league games, are unchanged after their victory over St Mirren in the Scottish League Cup last week, meaning another start in midfield for Kevin De Bruyne Holt. A win would see Jim Goodwin’s men leapfrog their visitors into the top six, and dreaming of Europe. Hey, it’s still August, so dreams are allowed, right? Today’s other SPL fixtures include Rangers v Ross County and Hibs v Dundee.”

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Leicester City 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Premier League – as it happened

Jamie Vardy’s second-half header pegged back Spurs after Pedro Porro had opened the scoring at Leicester

A knee of equality is taken … then Spurs get the ball rolling. The final match of the opening round is underway.

Before the match starts, there’s a minute of warm applause in memory of Craig Shakespeare, who passed away earlier this month. Shakespeare was an integral part of Leicester’s title win in 2015-16, assisting Claudio Ranieri, and went on to manage the club himself. A banner in the crowd reads “rest easy”.

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Ipswich Town 0-2 Liverpool: Premier League – as it happened

Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah gave Arne Slot the perfect start as Liverpool boss

2 min: Hutchinson applies pressure to the Liverpool back line and intercepts Van Dijk’s pass. He shoots. Quansah slides and blocks. No whirlwind start for Ipswich in the Premier League either.

1 min: Liverpool are on the front foot immediately, Diaz and Robertson probing down the left. No whirlwind start for Arne Slot, though, as Ipswich hold their shape.

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