Scott Murray's Blog, page 154
April 29, 2017
Crystal Palace 0-2 Burnley: Premier League – as it happened
Burnley won on the road for the first time this season, deserved victors at Selhurst Park.
7.48pm BST
Related: Burnley leave Palace facing nervous finish as Andre Gray seals first away win
7.27pm BST
And that’s that! Burnley finally win on the road this season! They were worth their victory, which was hard-fought but contained one moment of brilliance: their second goal was a counter-attacking peach. Neither team is mathematically safe from relegation, of course, but both will be confident of Premier League football next season. A great day for the Clarets, who finally get to enjoy a coach ride home.
7.25pm BST
90 min +3: Zaha embarks on a technically brilliant skitter down the left. He reaches the byline and pulls the ball into the centre, but Campbell is lumbering in the style of a galoot, charges into the back of Keane, and the pressure is lifted. Zaha is the very picture of frustration. Palace haven’t been very good today, but he has.
7.23pm BST
90 min +2: Puncheon curls one into the Burnley box from the left. Flanagan is calm as you like, chesting the ball down for Heaton to gather.
7.22pm BST
90 min +1: Remy twists and turns on the edge of the Burnley D. He eventually manages to get a shot away, but it’s blocked pretty much at source and loops harmlessly into the arms of Heaton.
7.21pm BST
90 min: There will be four added minutes.
7.21pm BST
89 min: ... nothing much occurs. Burnley slap a few high-fives as a goal kick’s awarded. They’re very close to their season’s first away win - and almost certain Premier League safety - now!
7.20pm BST
88 min: Joel Ward races after a Townsend pass down the right and is shoved into the turf by the no-nonsense Flanagan. A free kick which is effectively a corner. It’s looped to the far post, where Zaha sidefoots purposefully towards the bottom left. Heaton sticks out a foot, a wonderful point-blank save. The ball’s turned round the post for another corner, from which...
7.18pm BST
87 min: Zaha sashays down the left, easing his way past a couple of challenges and into the Burnley box. His low fizzer inside is easily hacked clear by Keane, though.
7.17pm BST
They want to keep it that way all right! Palace ping it around the middle in sterile fashion. Boyd suddenly intercepts, and from a deep position inside his own half on the right, creams a ball up the wing with the outside of his boot. It’s a gorgeous pass which releases Gray, who enters the area and smashes a low shot into the bottom right! What a fine goal that was! And Burnley are very close now to winning on the road!
7.15pm BST
84 min: Incidentally, the last time Burnley failed to win a single league game all season was 114 years ago. They’ll want to keep it that way.
7.13pm BST
82 min: Zaha glides in from the left and looks for the top right. The ball flicks off the top of Lowton’s head and out for a corner. That might have beaten Heaton, at full stretch, otherwise. From the set piece, Van Aanholt tries something spectacular from distance. Nope.
7.12pm BST
80 min: Gray comes on for Barnes.
7.11pm BST
79 min: A loose ball in the Burnley box. Zaha has his back to goal and tries to control and shield. His pal Flanagan comes through the back. You’ve seen them given for that all right, though the referee will cite a small touch on the ball. That’s a generous decision in favour of Burnley.
7.10pm BST
78 min: Townsend twists down the left. He eventually whips in a fine cross, which Keane does marvellously well to clear. Up the other end, Barnes makes off down the right. He’s got nobody up with him, though. He reaches the byline, waits, and eventually pulls the ball back for Arfield, who falls over on the edge of the D.
7.07pm BST
76 min: From the set piece, Arfield fires a low cross through the Palace box. Nobody gets on the end of it. Joel Ward flicks it away from danger. Burnley recycle the ball from the left to the right, Boyd purchasing an easy free kick off Townsend. It wasn’t a foul, so justice is done when the set piece is wasted.
7.05pm BST
74 min: A flick on from Barnes, and Vokes turns Kelly brilliantly in the midfield. He’s clear on goal! But a heavy touch takes him wide right, allowing Kelly to come back and slide in to block as Vokes gets his shot away. It’s just a corner.
7.04pm BST
72 min: Hennessey’s heavy touch very nearly gifts Barnes a free shot on goal. But he recovers the situation well, and in the nick of time.
7.03pm BST
71 min: Palace make a double change. Benteke and McArthur make way for Campbell and Remy. Benteke looks disappointed but he did very little tonight. It was a similar story against Spurs the other day. Ah well, you can’t play Liverpool every week.
7.00pm BST
69 min: Corner for Palace down the right this time, McArthur and Zaha lively. They’re pushing Burnley back. Keane clears. Palace come back at Burnley. Some head tennis. Eventually Flanagan lashes clear. Barnes tries to hold the ball up, but it’s slim pickings for Burnley up front right now.
6.59pm BST
68 min: Van Aanholt and Townsend play a long-distance one-two down the left. The full back’s nearly sent clear on goal, but a heavy touch allows Tarkowski to come across and close him down.
6.58pm BST
66 min: A free kick for Burnley in the centre circle. Heaton comes to take, and launches the ball into the arms of his opposite number Hennessey. All part of English football’s charm.
6.56pm BST
65 min: The resulting corner ends in a common-or-garden penalty box melee. Goal kick.
6.56pm BST
64 min: Arfield slides in on Zaha and Palace have a free kick out on the right. It’s looped towards the far post, and Keane does well to keep it out. But it all results in a corner out on the left. The ball ends up dropping at the feet of Delaney, 12 yards out and level with the right-hand post. Delaney shapes like Zidane and crashes a fine rising shot goalwards. Heaton tips over acrobatically.
6.54pm BST
62 min: Palace are beginning to win the majority of midfield challenges. That wasn’t happening earlier. Could the tide be slowly turning? The home side have improved since the restart.
6.53pm BST
60 min: Allardyce is up and about and dancing again as Arfield lightly clips McArthur’s shin in a 50-50 challenge. It probably should be a foul, but it’s in the midfield and the decision’s hardly a game-changer. He might still be thinking about the Zaha-Flanagan set-to, in fairness. He’s going through quite a lot of gum, chewing hard then throwing it around in high frustration.
6.50pm BST
58 min: Corner for Palace down the left. The ball’s worked to Van Aanholt to the left of the D. He drags a shot into the thicket of players in the box, and a yellow shirt batters clear. This is a good old-fashioned scrap.
6.49pm BST
57 min: Flanagan strongarms Zaha out of the road as the winger looks to break down the right. But he’s penalised this time. The Palace fans cheer as though a goal has been scored. On the touchline, Sam Allardyce’s noggin looks ready to explode. Eff. Cee. A little spin in impotent rage. I think he might be trying to get the referee’s attention, and perhaps critique his decision making.
6.47pm BST
55 min: Milivojevic missed a sitter in the first half, but this is much better. He meets a loose dropping ball 30 yards from goal and sends a screeching dipper towards the bottom left. Heaton does very well to get behind it and hold on.
6.46pm BST
54 min: Vokes battles away on the left, robbing a sleeping Kelly of the ball. He very nearly speeds into the box. Burnley are not content with their one-goal lead. Palace are getting agitated already, with Zaha arguing wildly over a throw by the halfway line.
6.43pm BST
52 min: Barnes bustles down the left wing and very nearly releases Boyd into the area. Not quite. It’s a good old-fashioned tussle, this match.
6.42pm BST
50 min: Now Flanagan sticks a leg out and nips Townsend, who opts to try to stay on his feet down the right, as opposed to falling over and buying the free kick. As a result, the ref waves play on. Zaha runs the ball out of play for a goal kick, though he wants either a free kick or a corner and is a picture of wide-eyed apoplexy. He rages at the officials a while. The Palace support is also on a rolling boil.
6.40pm BST
48 min: Puncheon accidentally stands on Boyd’s foot and earns a good talking-to from the referee. That doesn’t improve Palace moods after the Flanagan challenge. From the resulting free kick, Tarkowski and Keane cause more aerial bother in the Palace box, but the home side eventually clear.
6.38pm BST
And we’re off again! Burnley get the ball rolling for the second half. They soon concede possession. Zaha looks to nip down the right but Flanagan’s not having it. At first glance, it looks as though he’s gone straight through Zaha from behind, but the challenge was slightly from the side and he got a touch on the ball first. So, no foul. On the touchline, Sam Allardyce is still in half-time rollocking mode as he questions the referee’s judgement using phrases beginning with eff and effing cee.
6.23pm BST
Half-time reading: In case you missed the 3pm kick-offs, here’s the big Premier League news. Sunderland, managed by positive thinking’s David Moyes, are down.
Related: Sunderland relegated from Premier League after defeat by Bournemouth
6.21pm BST
A corner for Burnley on the left. Keane wins a header, Tarkowski shoots for the top right, Hennessey parries. But it’s all for naught because Keane was a-shovin’. And that’s your lot for the first half. Palace started brightly but Burnley have been the better team overall, and thoroughly deserve their half-time advantage. They’re 45 minutes (plus stoppages) away from their first away win of the season!
6.18pm BST
45 min +2: Klassik komik kutz as Joel Ward looks to play a simple pass down the wing, accidentally kicks the ball with his left foot, and swishes through fresh air with his right. Swanee whistle please!
6.17pm BST
45 min +1: Stephen Ward makes way for Jon Flanagan.
6.16pm BST
45 min: Stephen Ward goes down again. He looks to have tweaked his knee, and might not even be able to make it to half time. Not least because there are going to be four added minutes.
6.14pm BST
43 min: Benteke is booked for wafting a straight arm into Tarkowski’s face as the pair go up for a high ball. It was clumsy rather than aggressive, but yellow card it is.
6.13pm BST
42 min: Stephen Ward launches a long throw into the Palace box. Barnes is penalised for pushing, but once again the Palace back line was creaking a little bit. They’re missing Mamadou Sakho.
6.11pm BST
40 min: Here’s another thing: Burnley have practically silenced the Selhurst faithful. That’s some achievement. This is one of the most atmospheric grounds in the country. Music to Sean Dyche’s ears, albeit music scored by John Cage.
6.10pm BST
38 min: Stephen Ward looks like he’s all right. He sends another cross into the Palace box from the left, and it’s met by Vokes, who wanted it more. He heads downwards from eight yards, but there’s not enough pace on the effort and Hennessey is able to snaffle. This is a highly entertaining match: Burnley could easily be a couple of goals ahead; Palace will think they should be level. Delicately poised.
6.08pm BST
36 min: Zaha wins a corner off Boyd down the left. That leads to a corner on the right. That set piece clanks off Boyd in the middle of his own goal, and sits up nicely for Milivojevic on the penalty spot. Milivojevic must score! But he amazingly blooters wide right and into the crowd! What a miss! Some poor young Palace fan might have copped that one in the mush. Hopefully not. But what a miss!
6.06pm BST
34 min: Zaha and Benteke combine down the inside-left channel. The ball breaks wide left for Van Aanholt, who tries to manufacture space for a shot but is closed down and can’t get one away. Burnley half clear, but soon enough Benteke and Tarkowski are battling on the penalty spot under a high ball. Benteke tries to hook it goalwards with a high boot but only succeeds in kicking it onto his opponent’s arm. It’s an accidental hand ball, Tarkowski had no idea what was happening, and Benteke isn’t getting the penalty he wants.
6.03pm BST
32 min: Stephen Ward is down getting a bit of treatment on his left peg. Looks as though he’ll be OK to continue. But that’s robbed this freewheeling game of a little momentum.
6.02pm BST
30 min: Arfield busies himself down the left, chasing a Vokes flick-down, and wins a corner. Arfield takes it himself, and hits a flat one that somehow evades everyone. Tarkowski recycles it out on the right and sends a long looper back in; that ends up back with Arfield on the left. He should shoot from the corner of the six-yard box but opts to fire it into the thicket of players in the middle instead. Bad decision. Palace clear.
5.59pm BST
29 min: Now it’s Palace who can’t get hold of the ball. Burnley are pinging it around very nicely. A long period of very pretty possession ends when Lowton crosses into the Palace box from deep, Vokes flashing a header over the bar from 12 yards. Burnley aren’t playing like a team who haven’t won away all season.
5.57pm BST
27 min: Westwood threads a gorgeous ball down the inside-left channel to release Hendrick into a large pocket of space in front of the Palace box. Hendrick shoots, and is closed down quickly. You can’t blame him for shooting, though Boyd was in acres to his right.
5.56pm BST
25 min: Heaton hoicks long. Barnes very nearly spins Delaney on the edge of the Palace area, and there’s a suggestion he might have been manhandled illegally. But the referee’s not interested. Burnley don’t appear to have settled for simply defending their lead, though. They’re spilling forward at every opportunity.
5.54pm BST
23 min: A long ball down the middle by Palace. Benteke wins a towering header. McArthur tries a clever flick out to the left, with a view to releasing Townsend into a lot of space. Not quite. There’s a nice, bright, open feel to this game.
5.52pm BST
21 min: Townsend hits it long. Benteke’s about to nut it into the top left when Tarkowski eyebrows it out for a corner on the left. Burnley clear the second one easily enough. This game is great fun. Surely there’s no way it’s going to end 0-1. More goals in this for sure.
5.51pm BST
20 min: Zaha runs half the length of the pitch down the right, taking four yellow shirts with him. He looks surrounded near the corner flag, but somehow nips out of the pocket and is fouled for his trouble. A free kick in a dangerous position.
5.49pm BST
19 min: A lively old start to this game, and our first lull.
5.48pm BST
17 min: Another big decision! Burnley win a corner down the left. It’s hit long. Keane wins a header, and it falls at the far post for Barnes, who turns and squirts a shot past Hennessey and over the line so very, very slo-o-o-o-o-o-wly. Burnley rush off and celebrate, but the goal’s eventually chalked off for handball as Barnes turned and met Keane’s dropping header. That flag took a while to go up.
5.46pm BST
15 min: Puncheon launches a simple ball down the middle. Zaha is free, and he’s onside, played on by a deep-sitting Stephen Ward. But the flag goes up. Palace will feel aggrieved, doubly so as Heaton came racing out of his area and clattered Zaha to the ground as he tried to round him.
5.44pm BST
13 min: Townsend whips a lovely cross in from a deep position on the left. Benteke, on the penalty spot, just needs to trap and turn, and he’s got a free shot on goal. But his touch lets him down, the ball clanking back upfield as he attempts to spin.
5.43pm BST
11 min: Townsend tries to get something going down the left, but allows the ball to run away from him. Sam Allardyce won’t be happy about that opening goal; his team were, pretty much to a man, uncharacteristically sloppy. They were standing around like showroom dummies as Barnes was permitted two strikes on goal.
5.41pm BST
9 min: Amid Burnley’s celebration, Tarkowski is clocked by a cigarette lighter hoyed by some clown in the crowd. He’s sponged down before the game restarts.
5.40pm BST
A simple long ball forward by Burnley is headed backwards by Barnes to Vokes on the penalty spot. Vokes hits a decent volley, but it’s blocked and cleared. No matter! Vokes robs Milivojevic 25 yards from his own goal. The ball’s slipped wide left to Stephen Ward, in space. Ward fires low into the centre. The ball clanks off the shins of Barnes, six yards out, but instead of flying away, sits up begging for a second chance. On the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, Barnes powers the ball under Hennessey! Burnley’s first away win of the season is on! Just 83 minutes to see out.
5.36pm BST
5 min: A lovely move by Palace as Townsend backflicks down the left to release Van Aanholt into space. Van Aanholt cuts the ball back to Benteke on the edge of the box; from the left of the D he curls powerfully towards the top right. It’s not quite high enough, and Heaton is able to palm away.
5.35pm BST
4 min: Burnley are struggling to keep a hold of the ball. It’s all Palace so far. This is what happens when a poor away record is allowed to morph into a complex.
5.34pm BST
2 min: The corner from the right is sliced hysterically out of play by Boyd. The next one is sent towards Milivojevic, to the left of the D. He tries to Steve Nicol a long-range header into the top left, but it’s not on target. Goal kick, and some impressive early pressure from Palace comes to an end.
5.32pm BST
And we’re off! Palace get the ball rolling, as some late-evening sun shimmers across the turf at a nevertheless chilly Selhurst. Space for Joel Ward down the right. He loops it long, and Lowton is forced to turn the ball behind for a corner with Townsend lurking. From the set piece, the ball sails towards Benteke at the right-hand post. Stephen Ward deflects his header out for another corner. Two corners already, with 48 seconds gone!
5.28pm BST
The teams are out! Crystal Palace are in their red-and-blue-striped shirts, forcing Burnley out of their famous claret numbers; the visitors wear yellow today. A rare old atmosphere at Selhurst Park as ever. No pre-match word with Sam Allardyce, by the way, BT Sport making do with a pre-recorded chat. So, y’know. He was particularly happy with the win at Chelsea, that was pretty much the gist of it. Anyway, we’ll be off in a minute! Just some time for a quick advert encouraging people to bet, bet, bet. Penny for Joey Barton’s thoughts.
5.20pm BST
Sean Dyche speaks! And he’s asked whether he would care if Burnley go the whole season without an away win, providing they stay up. “Nope! There’s no ego involved in our journey this year. It’s just about getting points on the board. It’s a tough challenge and we’re under no illusions that our next four games are big. We’ve had some decent draws and we want to turn one into a win. Today’s changes are about finding out if we can do that. We don’t know if Joey Barton’s absence will hurt us, but we knew something was coming and we made plans.”
4.42pm BST
Crystal Palace make two changes to the XI sent out against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night. Mamadou Sakho is injured and Jeffrey Schlupp drops to the bench, so Damien Delaney and Patrick van Aanholt take their places.
Burnley meanwhile give their starting line-up a good old shoogle in the wake of their home defeat to Manchester United. Ben Mee has an injured shin, Robbie Brady and Andre Gray drop to the bench, and Joey Barton has been banned by the Ladbrokes-funded FA. James Tarkowski, Ashley Westwood, Scott Arfield and Sam Vokes step up.
4.32pm BST
Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Ward, Kelly, Delaney, Van Aanholt, McArthur, Milivojevic, Puncheon, Zaha, Benteke, Townsend.
Subs: Speroni, Flamini, Remy, Campbell, Lee, Sako, Schlupp.
Burnley: Heaton, Lowton, Keane, Tarkowski, Ward, Boyd, Westwood, Hendrick, Arfield, Vokes, Barnes.
Subs: Flanagan, Gray, Brady, Defour, Gudmundsson, Long, Pope.
11.31am BST
Having recently slayed Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, and given Tottenham Hotspur a good run for their money, Crystal Palace are one of the most in-form teams in the land. Burnley, not so much. They’ve only won one of their last 12 games, a run which has seen them plummet down the Premier League table, as well as knocked out of the cup at home by non-league Lincoln. The Clarets are in a wee spot of trouble as a result.
Should Palace win their seventh match in ten games today, they’ll be pretty much on the beach. They’re almost certainly safe anyway, but you can never be too careful. However Burnley started the day just five points clear of the drop zone. How they could do with three points this afternoon. Thing is, of course, they’ve not won away all season. Oh!
Continue reading...Rangers 1-5 Celtic: Scottish Premiership – as it happened
Celtic scored five goals at Ibrox for the first time in their history, humiliating their old rivals in an embarrassingly one-sided affair.
2.11pm BST
Read Ewan Murray’s match report:
Related: Celtic humiliate Rangers 5-1 to equal their biggest victory at Ibrox
1.51pm BST
The referee blows up with barely 20 seconds of added time played. Celtic care not. They’ve utterly humiliated their great rivals on their own patch! This matches their biggest-ever triumph at Ibrox, a 4-0 win back in 1897. It’s the first time they’ve ever scored five here. They could have had many more. That’s why they’re champions, their fans will sing; their second 5-1 Old Firm victory this season! The players dance and cavort in front of the away end; the rest of the ground is deserted. Celtic were at their brilliant best today. Rangers have a lot of thinking to do this summer.
1.48pm BST
Life imitating art: my computer comes out in sympathy with Rangers, and crashes just as Lustig goes dancing down the middle and curls a lovely shot into the bottom right!
1.47pm BST
82 min: Waghorn is booked for a frustrated lunge on the excellent Tierney. Could Kieran Tierney become the best Celtic full back since Danny McGrain? Is he the best thing to come out of the Isle of Man since Mindhorn?
1.42pm BST
This is a fine goal, the 37-year-old Miller driving down the middle, laying off to Garner on his left, and receiving a perfectly weighted ball back that sits up invitingly on the penalty spot. Miller opens his body and sidefoots into the bottom right. That’s a sliver of respectability for Rangers - only a sliver, mind - and it’s 10 in 20 Old Firm goals in a blue shirt for Miller.
1.39pm BST
80 min: Windass has a dig from distance. It loops up and drops harmlessly into the arms of Gordon. Garner, chasing the shot down, can’t put the brakes on quickly enough and softly crashes into the keeper. The pair fall to the ground. The crowd holler in anger, but they get up smiling.
1.38pm BST
79 min: Boyata bundles Garner to the ground under a high ball. It’s not much, but having already been booked, he’ll need to watch himself in case the referee is hot on totting up. The free kick’s launched long, and Garner takes a fresh-air swipe 12 yards out.
1.36pm BST
77 min: Armstrong drops a shoulder and shimmies right to left through the Rangers D. He whips a shot towards the top left; it’s inches away. And it’s his last act of the afternoon. Tom Rogic comes on in his stead.
1.35pm BST
75 min: Celtic have taken their foot off the pedal. Boyata gifts Rangers a clumsy free kick out on the right. Tavernier curls one into the mixer, but the ball’s cleared easily enough. Griffiths tries to reinvigorate the visitors with a delicious back-heel in the centre circle, but the quick break he’s instigated breaks down with a loose McGregor pass.
1.33pm BST
73 min: Windass adroitly turns Brown on the right-hand edge of the Celtic D, by some distance the best piece of skill from a man in blue today. Fire engine to wrong fire stuff. It deserves something, a goal perhaps, but his low shot is blocked, the rebound loops up to Waghorn, 12 yards out, and he heads lamely wide right with the goal gaping.
1.31pm BST
72 min: Roberts makes way for James Forrest.
1.30pm BST
71 min: Some scrappy nonsense. Nothing much doing. Rangers will take that right now.
1.28pm BST
69 min: Boyata slides in on Garner as the latter makes his way down the Rangers right. A booking for the goalscorer, and a chance for the hosts to load the box. The free kick’s just to the right of the Celtic area. Tavernier loops it towards the far post. Simunovic rises to head clear.
1.27pm BST
67 min: Roberts flicks a ball down the right wing to send McGregor into the Rangers box. McGregor hoicks high over the bar. The potential for embarrassment here is high.
1.26pm BST
Another free kick for Celtic, this time out on the right, Beerman having bundled McGregor to the ground. Griffiths whips it in. Foderingham doesn’t bother to come for a ball that’s surely his, and Boyata sends a downwards header through his legs and into the net. This equals Celtic’s biggest-ever winning margin at Ibrox. And there’s a quarter of the game still to go!
1.23pm BST
64 min: A yellow card for Halliday, who bundles over McGregor as the Celtic man tears down the inside-right channel. A free kick just outside the Rangers box in a very dangerous position. But Griffiths, looking for the top right, clears the bar by some distance. Rangers breathe again. They’ll be desperate not to concede another goal; Celtic’s record win at Ibrox is 4-0, back in 1897.
1.21pm BST
62 min: Tavernier flings a couple of long throws into the Celtic box from the right. Then a cross. Gordon claims. He throws out quick, catching Brown a little by surprise. Miller slides in to win the ball, a wonderful challenge, then slips it past Tierney on the right. But his whipped cross, along the corridor of uncertainty, hasn’t been anticipated by anyone in blue. Gordon smothers and looks a little sheepish.
1.19pm BST
60 min: A pinball deflection drops to Miller, just to the left of the Celtic D. He takes a first-time whack, a decent connection but one which sends the ball straight at Gordon.
1.17pm BST
58 min: Griffiths bustles down the right, sent away by McGregor, but lashes over from the edge of the box. Then he romps clear down the left, and batters a high shot into the top left from a tight angle. But it’s no goal, he’d mistimed his run and the offside flag goes up. Every time Celtic go forward, something looks on.
1.16pm BST
56 min: On the touchline, Pedro Caixinha looks anguished. He decides to replace Hyndman with Joe Garner.
1.14pm BST
54 min: Miller busies himself in an attempt to get something going for Rangers up the other end, but it’s a futile pursuit. Rangers are finding it impossible to keep hold of the ball.
1.13pm BST
If a goal’s ever been coming, this is is. McGregor comes at the backtracking Rangers back line. His shot pings off Hill and back to Roberts, who thinks about a go himself but returns the ball to McGregor, on his left. McGregor takes a touch, then another to deceive Tavernier, and threads a shot across Foderingham and into the bottom right! Cool as you like. This now has the potential to turn into something very embarrassing for Rangers. If it isn’t that already.
1.10pm BST
51 min: Tierney comes again down the left and hooks low into the centre for Griffiths, who swings weakly at the ball from the penalty spot and sends it trundling into the arms of Foderingham. But the chances continue to come thick and fast for the champions.
1.10pm BST
50 min: It’s all Celtic again, though right now in the middle of the park, in the sterile style. Tierney eventually bursts down the left and skips Wilson’s challenge on the edge of the box. He probably should have gone over Wilson’s rashly hung-out leg, but opts to stay on his feet, and the move peters out.
1.08pm BST
48 min: Celtic come again, but this time McGregor is caught offside as he tries to break into the Rangers box. The home side go up the other end, Tavernier winning a corner off Boyata down the right. But the set piece is a non-event.
1.06pm BST
46 min: It’s still raining quite a lot. Within a minute, Hyndman clatters into Brown. It should be a free kick, but the referee waves play on. Armstrong strides down the left and sends a ball into the centre. McGregor tries to bundle home, but the ball’s deflected wide left for a corner that leads to nothing.
1.04pm BST
And we’re off again! Rangers make a change, bolstering their midfield with Andy Halliday at the expense of Joe Dodoo. Celtic get the ball rolling for the second half.
12.51pm BST
Half-time reading: In case you missed it, here’s a glorious must-read piece by Daniel Harris on the famous Dundee United side of the 1980s. Warning: contains the phrase “He was an absolute fucking bampot.”
Related: The forgotten story of ... Dundee United's glory years under Jim McLean | Daniel Harris
12.49pm BST
From a Rangers throw deep in Celtic territory, Brown breaks upfield and feeds McGregor down the left. He skips past Tavernier and tries to find Griffiths in the middle with a low cross. Hill does very well to intercept and clear. Rangers go back up the other end in basketball style, Windass cutting in from the left and feeding Miller, who creams a shot towards the top left from 25 yards. It’s inches away, by far the best moment of the game from Rangers. At which point the whistle blows for half time. The players troop off, one set with a notable spring in their step, the other with shoulders slumped. It’s fair to say Rangers need a little time to regroup.
12.45pm BST
44 min: Another corner for Celtic, this time down the right, earned by Roberts. This one doesn’t clear the first man. If there’s a criticism to be made of Celtic, it’s that they’ve been terribly profligate, almost recklessly so given their utter superiority in this game.
12.44pm BST
42 min: Celtic ping it around the midfield. The away support shout “Olé!” quite a lot. Perhaps they’re referencing their favourite John Coltrane album. Griffiths makes off down the left and whips a low cross into the centre. Hill dives and is lucky not to send a header crashing into his own net. Instead it skims off the top of his head and out to the right. A trick of sorts. Olé!
12.41pm BST
40 min: Some space for Roberts down the right. Three rugby points. But the chances are coming thick and fast for Celtic.
12.40pm BST
38 min: Armstrong sends the free kick towards Lustig at the far post. It flies harmlessly into the stand behind the goal. Brief respite for Rangers. But Sinclair is quick to come again down the left. He nearly breaks clear, but is forced to check back and lay off to Tierney, who nearly busts free into the area himself. Some neat footwork, but he can’t quite get a shot away. Rangers clear.
12.38pm BST
37 min: Tierney is a force of nature. He works his way down the inside-left channel and purchases a cheap free kick of the rash Hyndman. A chance for Celtic to load the box.
12.36pm BST
35 min: ... the ball is worked to Roberts, 20 yards out on the left. He sends a rising shot inches over the crossbar. Foderingham probably had that one covered, but at the risk of sounding like a broken record, Rangers can’t keep on like this. They’re lucky it’s only two.
12.35pm BST
34 min: Tierney and Sinclair are running riot down the left wing. They nearly open Rangers up yet again with crisp passing and determined overlapping. Not quite this time. But Celtic are soon coming back and win another corner down the same flank. From which...
12.33pm BST
32 min: This is a little better from Rangers. Tavernier loops a long ball into the Celtic area from the right. Dodoo rises high at the far post to head back across. He had no right to reach that ball, a fine header to keep the move going. But the ball drops to Lustig, who clears with Miller sniffing around.
12.32pm BST
31 min: The ever-impressive Tierney wins a corner with his cross from the right. From the set piece, Foderingham comes through a crowd to punch clear with great intent. But every time Celtic go forward, they look like scoring.
12.30pm BST
29 min: From the resulting free kick, Armstrong curls one from left to right. It drops to Sinclair, a couple of yards out, by the far stick. He must score! But somehow he shanks it wide. He really should have a hat-trick already. Rangers are all over the shop. If they’re not careful, this could be the 1957 League Cup final all over again. Celtic are utterly dominant, and could easily be four to the good.
12.29pm BST
27 min: Windass is booked for a late tackle on Sinclair, who was making off down the left. That’s a fair decision, but coming off the back of the Simunovic-Miller affair, it’s not a popular one at Ibrox. There’s a brief philosophical debate involving 15 or 16 players, but it all calms down soon enough.
12.27pm BST
25 min: How are Celtic not three up? Griffiths turns on a sixpence to the right of the Rangers D, and curls a wonderful effort towards the top left. Foderingham is beaten all the way, but the ball batters the crossbar. It drops to Sinclair, who should convert the rebound, but he slashes his shot across the face of goal and wide right. Rangers are livid because that attack sprung from a robust Simunovic challenge on Miller in Celtic territory. They wanted a foul, perhaps a booking. It looked hard but fair.
12.25pm BST
24 min: Miller and Waghorn combine well down the right. Miller looks to break into the Celtic box, but Boyata slides across to block. It’s a corner, though. A chance for Rangers to strike back? Well, yes, but Tavernier blooters a hopeless set piece high over the box and out of play on the other side, halfway back up the pitch. Rangers’ heads have been addled by Celtic’s wonderful start.
12.23pm BST
22 min: Armstrong picks the ball up 20 yards out, and shoots for the bottom right. His effort is deflected wide of the left-hand post for a corner. Sinclair takes, Hill clears. But Rangers are struggling to get out of their own box. First Griffiths has a shot that’s blocked, then Lustig, out on the right, crosses deep for Sinclair, who connects with a volley on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. He blazes over, and was offside anyway. But if Rangers keep on like this, they’ll be on the end of a spanking.
12.21pm BST
20 min: Armstrong causes a lot of bother down the left, and very nearly squirts the ball through a crowded box to Griffiths, six yards out. Celtic are rampant here. Rangers are rocking.
12.19pm BST
What a strike this is! Griffiths comes at Rangers down the left now, sent away by Armstrong. Upon reaching the edge of the area, and with nothing on in the middle, he opts to lash one towards the top right. And it’s in! Wallop! Foderingham might have done a bit better, but that was hit with such venom that you can’t blame the keeper for that. Rangers in real trouble already.
12.17pm BST
16 min: Sinclair diddles his way past Tavernier down the left. He reaches the byline and very nearly finds Griffiths in the middle, six yards out, with his dinked cross. Not quite. Wilson half clears. Tierney attempts a Zidane style dipping volley from 25 yards out on the left. Not quite. Goal kick. Celtic come back quickly, Griffiths running at pace down the right before being unceremoniously halted on the edge of the Rangers box by Tavernier’s block tackle.
12.15pm BST
14 min: It is pelting down at Ibrox. The sort of day when a man could mistime a sliding tackle.
12.13pm BST
12 min: The rampaging Tierney scoots down the inside-left channel to feed Sinclair once again. Sinclair slips the ball inside for McGregor, who can’t quite get a shot away. Rangers romp up the other end through Miller, but he can’t get his cross into the area with Dodoo lurking in the centre. This match is trundling along at 100mph.
12.12pm BST
10 min: Brown and Miller go up for a high ball. Brown’s arm goes across Miller’s face. No real power in it, the arm wasn’t thrown. Miller wants the referee to take action, though, and makes his point using words that start with eff and cee. The ref tells him to pipe down. No doubt these two lads will come together again later in this match.
12.09pm BST
8 min: A couple of bampots rush the pitch, according to Sky. We’re not shown any of it. The police deal with them in quick order.
12.08pm BST
Sinclair scores his fourth goal in six Old Firm games, slotting the penalty into the bottom right, Foderingham going the wrong way. What a cool finish! What a preposterous challenge by Beerman!
12.07pm BST
6 min: Roberts chases a ball down the right. He’s just inside the Rangers area, but running away from goal. No danger. Or so it seems! Beerman comes crashing in at a daft pace, scything down his man. It’s a no brainer, in more ways than one!
12.06pm BST
5 min: McGregor, out on the right, sashays across the front of the Rangers box. He lays off for the excellent young Tierney, coming in from the other flank. Tierney feeds Sinclair out on the left. Sinclair runs out of room. A pretty move, though.
12.05pm BST
3 min: And now Rangers have a go at Celtic, Windass and Miller exchanging crisp passes down the inside-left channel. Windass finds himself in an awful lot of space, and looks to curl one into the top right from 25 yards. It’s a half-decent effort, no more. Wide right. But this has been a fast, enjoyable start, both teams going at it with purpose.
12.03pm BST
And we’re off! Rangers get the ball rolling. Soon enough, though, Celtic are coming at the hosts. Sinclair cheekily backflicks to release McGregor into the box down the left. That’s a gorgeous touch. He thinks he’s one on one with Foderingham, but Hill comes sliding across to block. The ball hits Hill on the top of his arm as he slides through, but it wasn’t intentional. No penalty.
12.02pm BST
The teams are out! You don’t need to be told any of this, but for the sake of completism: Rangers are in royal blue; Celtic wear green and white; the Big O is blasting from the speakers; both sets of fans are giving it plenty. What an atmosphere! A friendly handshake between Caixinha and Rodgers. We’ll be off in a minute!
11.56am BST
Brendan Rodgers speaks! “It will be a tough game. We expect they will change their system and play with a diamond, so that will be interesting. But we come into this with confidence, although we will have to work hard. Leigh Griffiths is a terrific player and a terrific goalscorer, he’s always going to be a threat. Scott Brown is the most influential player in Scotland, he wants the ball, and is a great catalyst for the team. It’s a plus to have him.” Brown is of course only playing today because the SFA rescinded his red card for clattering into Liam Boyle of Ross County the other week. If the pre-match chat from both of the managers is anything to go by, expect the influential Celtic captain to be in the thick of it again today. Although did we need any pre-match chat to tell us that?
11.51am BST
Pedro Caixinha speaks! “You want to know the formation? I can tell you! We are going in a 4-3-1-2 in order to retain the build-up. Especially in the division play, which is going to be Scott Brown, they’re going with the same team. We want to be more aggressive and explore more spaces, created with our pressure and also when we have the ball. This is Ibrox, and we need to do much more to win the game!”
11.38am BST
And for fans of unbeaten runs... this JoS includes mention of Celtic’s 62-game stretch between November 1915 and April 1917, plus for balance Rangers’ 100-percent campaign of 1898-99.
Related: The Joy of Six: football unbeaten runs | Scott Murray
11.29am BST
Pre-match reading: Everyone has their favourite Old Firm memory. Perhaps yours is included in this old Joy of Six? Something here for everyone.
Related: The Joy of Six: the Old Firm | Scott Murray
11.16am BST
Rangers make three changes to the team named for the cup semi last weekend. Clint Hill, Josh Windass and Joe Dodoo start this time, while David Bates, Andy Halliday and Joe Garner drop to the bench.
Celtic make just the one enforced change from the XI sent out to beat Rangers at Hampden. Moussa Dembele is hamstrung, so in comes Leigh Griffiths.
11.12am BST
Rangers: Foderingham, Tavernier, Danny Wilson, Hill, Beerman, Windass, Holt, Hyndman, Miller, Waghorn, Dodoo.
Subs: Alnwick, Garner, McKay, Forrester, Halliday, Bates, O’Halloran.
Celtic: Gordon, Lustig, Simunovic, Boyata, Tierney, Brown, Armstrong, Roberts, McGregor, Sinclair, Griffiths.
Subs: Bitton, Gamboa, Rogic, De Vries, Sviatchenko, Forrest, Eboue.
4.35pm BST
Look at it one way, and this is the rarest of Old Firm fixtures: one that really doesn’t mean very much. Celtic are already the champions of Scotland, and while Rangers are unlikely to beat Aberdeen into second spot, they’re equally unlikely to be pipped to third and the second Europa League place by St Johnstone. Whatever happens at Ibrox this afternoon, things’ll be pretty much as you were.
But things are never that simple when Scotland’s co-dependent behemoths get together. Both Rangers and Celtic have an unbeaten season to their name: Celtic in 1897-98, a 100-percent Rangers the very next year. But that was when there were only 18 games to a campaign. This time, Celtic are five games away from invincibility in a 38-match season, an achievement of an altogether different stripe. Rangers, needless to say, will be desperate to stop them.
Continue reading...April 28, 2017
Premier League and much more: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Romelu Lukaku has a big chance to make an impact against Chelsea, Hull City battle against history and Rangers seek to end Old Firm derby drought
Related: Tottenham clash with Arsenal takes Pochettino back to another demolition derby | David Hytner
Related: Joey Barton’s ban for gambling on football was ‘shortest possible’, says FA
Continue reading...April 27, 2017
The Fiver | Sat there underachieving with a face on
Today: the Manchester derby, Leyton Orient brave-facing it and Sam Fox
What a coup it’s been for English football, and for the metropolitan borough of Manchester, to play host to Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho, two of the most famous managers in the world! There they’ve sat, all season, underachieving with a face on, while the Premier League title race has passed them by. And so the second Manchester derby of the 2016-17 league campaign isn’t quite the crucial showdown we’d all hoped for. Though it is sort of important, kind of. Who will get the upper hand in the chase for a precious berth in Big Cup next season, securing fourth spot, and maybe even third? Coo! That’s £175m and £150m well spent! And so much joy, verve and entertainment along the way. Well done, everyone.
Related: José Mourinho in war of words against wounded Manchester United players
Continue reading...Football transfer rumours: Manchester United want Mbappé, Oblak and Varane?
Manchester United always loved a glamorous European transfer chase. Back in the summer of 1962, Matt Busby only managed to secure the big-money signature of Denis Law after zig-zagging back and forth across the continent, racing after Torino president Angelo Filippone, who was playing silly buggers just for the hell of it. Meetings in Amsterdam and Lausanne were mooted but not held. Another snap chat was called in Turin, requiring Busby to fly from a training camp in Majorca to Geneva, then screech over the Alps at high speed in a sports car. You can almost smell the martinis and hear the John Barry Orchestra, can’t you.
Anyway, United eventually got their man. They’ll probably land at least a couple of glamour names this summer, too: Kylian Mbappé, James Rodríguez, Jan Oblak, Willian and Raphaël Varane have all been mentioned in dispatches today. But these deals will be struck in boardrooms by agents and chief executives. We progress, but do we really go forward?
Related: Football transfer rumours: is David de Gea’s Real Madrid move on once more?
Continue reading...April 26, 2017
Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Premier League – as it happened
Christian Eriksen kept Tottenham’s title chase alive with a late goal that secured victory in a hard-fought affair.
10.11pm BST
Match report:
Related: Eriksen closes the gap for Tottenham with precious winner at Crystal Palace
9.55pm BST
And that’s that! Christian Eriksen’s stylish snapshot is enough to secure victory! It wasn’t much of a match, but matters of style are very much secondary at this stage of the season. Tottenham move to within four points of leaders Chelsea, with five games remaining! The title race is alive and kicking! Who’s next, then? Ah look, it’s Arsenal at White Hart Lane on Sunday. Can you wait? No, us neither!
9.53pm BST
90 min +7: Son breaks down the left and is hauled back by Zaha. A free kick which surely sees Spurs home and hosed. Zaha is booked for booting the ball away in impotent frustration.
9.53pm BST
90 min +6: Walker romps down the right but can’t find a team-mate in the middle. Cabaye tries to launch a counter attack but gets the pass forward all wrong.
9.52pm BST
90 min +5: Sissoko and Eriksen turn faffing into an art form. It’s professional, they’re chasing Chelsea in the hope of winning the title, you can’t blame them for it. Eventually it’s a goal kick, which is time for the subs board to go up. On comes Trippier, once Alli has ambled off.
9.51pm BST
90 min +4: Spurs eventually take it. Eriksen and Sissoko faff around awhile, playing it short and eventually earning another corner. Another opportunity to faff!
9.49pm BST
90 min +3: Sissoko meanders down the right and earns a corner off Schlupp. Spurs don’t rush to take it.
9.49pm BST
90 min +2: Puncheon embarks on a playful romp down the left, and makes it all the way to the byline. It’s a marvellous bustle, and his high cross would have been meat and drink to the departed Benteke. But it’s Campbell in there instead, and the ball’s cleared from danger.
9.47pm BST
90 min: There will be seven minutes of added time, the legacy of the injury to Mamadou Sahko.
9.46pm BST
89 min: This game is still being played at 100 miles per hour. The Premier League! It might not always be the most refined, but it is good fun.
9.44pm BST
88 min: Palace go up the other end and earn a corner out on the right. Puncheon takes, but Dier clears easily enough.
9.43pm BST
86 min: Palace are struggling to get out of their own area. Davies manufactures space for himself down the left, but his cross for Kane isn’t much cop. The busy Puncheon clears.
9.42pm BST
85 min: Alli dribbles down the right and earns a corner. Superb tenacity. Eriksen takes. Delaney heads it out for a second corner. Eriksen takes again. Delaney blocks a Dier flick and it’ll be take three. Eriksen’s delivery causes a bit of a kerfuffle. Eventually Alderweireld, under a dropping ball, swivels on the penalty spot and very nearly guides a shot into the bottom right. That would have been quite the poacher’s strike by the defender.
9.39pm BST
83 min: There’s a load of pushing and shoving in the area before the corner can be taken. Eventually the corner’s taken, and Puncheon creams a header clear.
9.38pm BST
82 min: Kane spins round Ward on the left and bustles into the Palace box. He nearly manufactures a shooting position but has to settle for a corner. From which...
9.38pm BST
81 min: Benteke has done nothing whatsoever tonight. But then he’s not playing against Liverpool. He’s hooked in favour of Campbell.
9.37pm BST
80 min: Milivojevic is booked for a late clip on Alli.
9.37pm BST
The deadlock is broken, and this is out of nothing. Spurs ping it around in the middle of the park. The ball lands at Eriksen’s feet, courtesy of Kane, 25 yards out in a central position. Puncheon closes in on Eriksen. Hennessey can’t see through his team-mate, and Eriksen uses the cover of Puncheon to bash a no-backlift snapshot into the bottom left! What a strike! What opportunism! What an important goal this could be in the title race!
9.35pm BST
77 min: Walker hoicks a ball into the Palace box from the right. Kane can’t quite get a head on it, but it falls to Son, 12 yards out and level with the left-hand post. A first-time shot would cause bother, but he hesitates and the chance is gone. Davies tries to get the move going again with a cross from the left. Kane heads softly into Hennessey’s arms.
9.33pm BST
76 min: Spurs have been pushing, but Zaha breaks up their rhythm with a couple of snappy tackles in the centre of the pitch. Relentless tracking back and harrying.
9.31pm BST
74 min: Dier meets the corner at the near post, but flashes the ball well wide right of goal. Palace attempt to move the ball at pace up the other end. Puncheon purchases an easy free kick in the centre circle, going over the clumsy outstretched leg of Sissoko. The home fans fancy a yellow card, but one isn’t forthcoming.
9.30pm BST
73 min: Walker and Eriksen combine down the inside-right channel to release Kane. The striker’s just got Hennessey to beat, but the angle’s tight, so he looks to slip the ball into the centre. The ball doesn’t find another white shirt; instead it’s bundled out for a corner.
9.28pm BST
71 min: Eriksen has that determined look in his eye. He attempts to bust clear of Schlupp down the right, but is dragged back illegally. He restarts play quickly, and feeds Son down the left, but Son runs the ball out of play, Ward always on top of that situation. This promises to be a very interesting final 20 minutes.
9.26pm BST
69 min: Spurs are beginning to pick up the pace and press harder. Time is not their friend right now. They really need a winner if they’re to keep the pressure on Chelsea in the title race. Davies and Ward launch into a block tackle down the Spurs left, deep in Palace territory. Hard but fair, fair but hard. Ooyah. The business end of the season, right here.
9.24pm BST
68 min: Kane attempts a dribble into the Palace box from the right. He’s one dragback away from busting clear, but Puncheon steps in to rob the ball.
9.23pm BST
66 min: Son cuts in from the left, laying off to Walker, who lashes wildly to the right of goal. Walker goes up the other end and shoulderbarges Zaha off the pitch. No foul. The punters don’t like the decision, and go ballistic when Son makes off down the Spurs left, is tugged back by Ward, and the Palace man sees yellow. This is a London derby all right.
9.22pm BST
64 min: Cabaye gets involved immediately, and nearly releases Townsend in the Spurs box down the left. Vertonghen ushers the ball out of play. For a second, it looks as if he might grapple with Townsend in the basic style. But the situation doesn’t spark. There’s a wee undercurrent to this game. It wouldn’t take much.
9.20pm BST
63 min: Palace make a swap: McArthur, who started brightly but faded, is replaced by Cabaye.
9.19pm BST
62 min: Eriksen, sitting deep and dictating play, floats a ball down the middle and nearly finds Alli. Then another phase as the same two players combine, the former cutting in from the right and finding Alli to the left of the D. Alli turns and sends a shot towards the right-hand portion of the net, but Hennessey is behind it.
9.18pm BST
60 min: Kane is booked for a highkick on Puncheon, a loose contribution to a 50-50 challenge. A few Spurs tempers are indeed beginning to fray. It’s a mild bubble rather than a raging boil. But a sense of it nonetheless.
9.16pm BST
58 min: Spurs should be leading. From the right, Walker curls a delightful ball to the far post. Alli only needs to trundle it in, but somehow sends it back across the face of goal under pressure from Kelly. How did he miss that?!
9.15pm BST
57 min: Sakho is eventually carried off, Delaney coming on in his wake. A huge reception for the departing hero, Selhurst wishing God speed.
9.14pm BST
55 min: Sakho is still getting loaded onto the stretcher. Play went on after the Kane-Sakho incident, by the way - there was no foul - and Alli dragged a shot wide left from the edge of the box.
9.11pm BST
53 min: Sakho and Kane tussle for a loose ball down the inside right channel. Kane threatens to break free so Sakho stretches out a leg. His knee jars as he lands. That looks like a serious injury, as the big man calls for help immediately. The stretcher’s coming on, and on the touchline, Sam Allardyce shakes his head sadly.
9.09pm BST
51 min: Zaha embarks on another skitter up the left, latching on to a dreadful crossfield pass by Alderweireld. This time he’s stopped in his tracks by Sissoko. A foul in the midfield, nothing more, no card. But Spurs have come out in combative mood, and there’s a slight sense of a collective short fuse smouldering.
9.06pm BST
49 min: Alli slides a clever ball down the inside-left channel for Davies, who reaches the byline at pace and fizzes a low one in towards Kane. The Spurs striker shapes to shoot, but the ball is hoicked out for a corner. The set piece is uneventful, save Alli and Milivojevic wrestling in the six-yard box. Alli goes down under a very light push, and claims a penalty, but he’s not getting that.
9.04pm BST
47 min: Zaha drops a shoulder with a view to tearing off down the left wing. Walker comes across and barges him into the advertising hoardings. The Spurs defender is booked for that one: a little too much force in the challenge, coming in from behind. He can have no complaints. Zaha eventually gets up. The resulting free kick is a waste of time, because while Palace load the box, Milivojevic tugs at Kane’s shirt and the pressure is lifted.
9.02pm BST
And we’re off again! Spurs make an extremely proactive double change. Wanyama, so close to a red card in that first half, is hooked, as is the labouring Dembele. Sissoko and Son come on in their stead. Palace get the ball rolling for the second half.
8.51pm BST
Half-time reading: Tottenham’s north London neighbours Arsenal are playing host to Leicester; they’ll be starting the second half right about now. Meanwhile Barcelona have rattled seven goals past Osasuna; Paul Doyle was on hand to witness Javier Mascherano score his first goal for the club in seven years of toil. Enjoy! But remember to come back, won’t you.
8.48pm BST
Dier swishes through fresh air as he looks to blooter a clearance upfield. That allows Benteke to make good for the Spurs box. He lays off to Zaha, who earns a corner. That leads to nothing, and the whistle blows, but Palace have ended the half on the front foot, with Spurs losing their rag a little. Alli’s short fuse, for example, has just been lit by a no-nonsense Puncheon challenge. The visitors are glad to hear the whistle, and Pochettino rushes off to the dressing room with regrouping very much in mind.
8.45pm BST
44 min: Dembele, who hasn’t been himself since Puncheon clipped him in the first minute, is limping around, gesticulating to the bench. He looks like he wants to come off. The Spurs management tell him to wait for a half-time assessment.
8.43pm BST
42 min: Walker loops one into the Palace box from the right. Alli, coming in from the left to meet the ball, can’t get it under control. A little bit of frustration written across a couple of Spurs faces right now, three points a must this evening, all that.
8.42pm BST
41 min: Spurs ping it around nicely, 35 yards from the Palace goal, for the best part of a minute. It’s all very pretty. Then Eriksen allows the ball to run under his foot, and possession is lost. Kind of sums up Tottenham’s evening so far.
8.40pm BST
39 min: ... the ball lands at Sakho’s feet, eight yards out. But he can’t dig it out and get a shot away. Spurs clear, but Palace come straight back at the visitors, Townsend launching a dipping, screeching shot inches over the bar from 25 yards.
8.39pm BST
38 min: Palace step it up a bit, enjoying the lion’s share in the midfield for a couple of minutes. Zaha teases Walker down the left and earns a free kick near the corner flag. From which...
8.36pm BST
35 min: The resulting free kick, out on the right, leads to a little head tennis in the Spurs area. But Alli takes the ball away from his own box and earns a free kick that snuffs out the danger.
8.35pm BST
34 min: Wanyama comes sliding in from the side on Townsend. He’s already been booked, remember. The home fans certainly remember. The referee is under pressure to show a second yellow, but while it was a mistimed foul, there wasn’t much contact at all, and Wanyama wasn’t out of control. A lecture, and the right decision, though he’ll have to watch himself now.
8.34pm BST
33 min: Sakho isn’t that ring rusty. Here he is, dealing with pressure from Alli by backheeling out of a pocket of trouble towards his own goal. He knows Ward is there behind him, and Ward mops up. “Sign him up,” holler the home fans.
8.32pm BST
31 min: Davies earns a corner off Ward after being sent scampering down the left by Wanyama. Kane gets his head on the set piece, but it’s a weak effort and it’s blocked by Milivojevic. In any case, Alli has been shoving folk around this way and that, and the flag goes up for a free kick.
8.30pm BST
29 min: Walker and Eriksen one-two down the right, the former entering the box and shooting from a tight angle. The shot breaks back to Eriksen, who has a dig himself, reclaims the rebound, then loops a cross into Hennessey’s arms. Spurs are beginning to show in attack, although it’s all a bit rushed and hectic. But it’s an improvement.
8.28pm BST
28 min: Zaha slips a fine ball down the inside-left channel to the feet of Benteke, just inside the area. The striker can’t get a shot away. Benteke is currently in his Playing For Liverpool mode, rather than his Playing Against Liverpool one. He’s been sluggish so far today.
8.27pm BST
26 min: Wanyama is booked for a late slide on Milivojevic as Palace attempt to break upfield from their own area. Zaha wanted the advantage to be played as Spurs were a little light at the back, but the referee fancied waving his card around, so here we are.
8.26pm BST
25 min: Eriksen curls a vicious cross into the Palace box from a deep position on the right. It’s a wonderful ball, and sliced clear in a hysterical panic by Kelly, six yards out, in front of his own goal. Walker completes a bad couple of minutes by committing a needless foul on Schlupp out on the right, the pressure on Palace relieved.
8.24pm BST
24 min: McArthur plays an appalling back pass towards his own left-hand corner flag. Hennessey has no chance of reaching it before Eriksen, who curls in a cross. Sakho’s clearing header isn’t up to much, dropping at the feet of Walker, 12 yards out and level with the right-hand post. Walker’s attempt at a screeching, dipping volley is really quite bad. He holds his head in his hands; he had time to take that one down. Sakho maybe a little ring rusty there after his weekend off.
8.22pm BST
22 min: Spurs have enjoyed 78% of possession during the last ten minutes of this match, but have done very little with it. They haven’t really tested Hennessey yet. Alderweireld has a blast from distance, but it’s wild and high.
8.21pm BST
19 min: Dier quarterbacks a delightful pass from deep towards Walker out on the right touchline. Schlupp is nowhere to be seen, so Walker has time to think. He batters a slightly lame low cross into the side netting. Spurs should have done better with that, with Palace uncharacteristically slack at the back. On the touchline, Sam Allardyce responds by waving his arms around in the frantic style, throwing in a few curse words for good measure.
8.18pm BST
18 min: After that end-to-end start, we experience something of a lull. Selhurst still bouncing though.
8.18pm BST
16 min: Alderweireld, under no pressure, plays a weird and dangerous short pass into no-man’s land, just outside his own area. A strange pocket with nobody anywhere near it. An even stranger pass. He’s fortunate that all the Palace forwards are dozing too, and eventually Walker strolls into the area to claim the ball and usher it away from danger.
8.15pm BST
14 min: Palace go up the other end, Townsend dribbling across the face of the Spurs box, left to right, before laying off to Benteke, who from the right of the D shoots low and hard towards the bottom left. Lloris is behind that one all the way.
8.14pm BST
13 min: Wanyama goes on a determined dribble down the inside-right channel. He makes it all the way to the byline, and attempts a shot from a ludicrously tight angle. It hits the side netting, but it wasn’t so far off. Hennessey probably had it covered, but a decent enough attempt nonetheless.
8.13pm BST
12 min: Zaha twists and sends in a low cross from the right. McArthur, who has been very lively in the opening exchanges, can’t quite trap and shoot from ten yards. Eriksen threatens to co-ordinate a quick break upfield, but the move fizzles out soon enough. Good luck guessing the opening scorer of this match, though.
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10 min: After a bright, open start on a crisp, clear night at Selhurst, things get a bit high-tempo and scrappy. The home fans still like it, like it, like it. Always a cracking old-school atmosphere at this ground.
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8 min: Working in space the size of a postage stamp, Kane digs the ball out from under his feet and sends a snap shot towards the top right from 20 yards. It’s high and wide, but a decent effort nonetheless, created out of absolutely nothing,
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7 min: Dembele, perhaps still rocked by that early Puncheon challenge, allows himself to be stripped of possession 25 yards from his own goal. Good work by McArthur, who then slides the ball down the inside-left channel with a view to releasing Benteke in the box. But the big striker has rather dimly wandered offside.
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6 min: Ward goes on another Power Jaunt down the right, and very nearly breaks into space. Davies does well to step across his man and shepherd the ball out of play for a goal kick. But Palace’s tails are up. No wonder after their recent results.
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4 min: Spurs don’t clear after the Walker challenge, though. Zaha very nearly dribbles through along the right, then Ward fizzes a dangerous ball along the face of the Spurs goal. None of his team-mates on the front foot there. Spurs looking a bit shaky. That was some ball from Ward, who was under pressure near the right-hand corner flag.
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3 min: A brisk, bright start, this! Townsend wheechs down the left and is sent tumbling by Walker. A free kick, and a chance for Palace to load the box. Townsend whips it in low, and this time there’s a brouhaha in the Spurs box as the visitors struggle to clear. McArthur tries to plough a furrow down the inside-left and he’s stopped unceremoniously by a Walker tackle that had to be spot on. Fine challenge. No penalty.
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2 min: ... a brouhaha develops in the Palace box. All very scrappy as nobody clears. Eventually Kane gets the ball at his feet on the penalty spot, but can’t get a decent shot away.
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And we’re off! Spurs get the ball rolling, and ping it around the back awhile. The home fans giving it plenty. Dembele is upended in the midfield by a Puncheon reducer, but play goes on and Alli earns a corner down the right. From which...
8.00pm BST
The teams are out! Crystal Palace are in their red-and-blue stripes, while Spurs are decked out in their trademark lilywhite. Selhurst Park is as atmospheric as ever, the dependably noisy home support entertaining themselves with Alan Pardew’s 1990 take on the works of the Dave Clark Five. Glad All Over was the signature song of the Tottenham Sound, wasn’t it? Everyone friends together.
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Anyone for a two-screen experience? Before we kick off, a reminder that Tim Hill is covering the game between last year’s champions and (sorry, Spurs fans) runners up.
Related: Arsenal v Leicester City: Premier League – live!
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Sam Allardyce talks! “It’s our catch-up game. Anything we get out of this will be a massive bonus for us. It will be hugely difficult as they are in magnificent form. It’s a big ask again. We’ve exceeded expectation recently but let’s not get carried away, this will be a hugely tough match. If we can achieve anything it would be absolutely outstanding. Hopefully our best will be good enough, but sometimes against a team as good as Tottenham it’s not. Our win at Liverpool has given us a bit of breathing space, but hopefully it’s not going to stop us going out in front of our fans and trying to upset one of the big boys again.”
7.45pm BST
Maurico Pochettino speaks! “Now it is important after Chelsea won yesterday to win. We need to perform. We need to close the gap to four points. Every game is a big test, and it is important we move on after Saturday. We were disappointed but in football you cannot stop, you have to compete again and be ready to fight. This will be a tough game because they beat Chelsea, they beat Liverpool, they beat Arsenal, they are very confident and are a good side.”
7.42pm BST
So yes, Tottenham would usually fancy their chances against Palace, having won their last seven Premier League matches, a first title since 1961 a live possibility with six games still to play. But 56 years of hurt take their toll after a while, and Palace’s recent scintillating form isn’t helping their fans settle down either. “My old Dad used to say, it’s not who you play it’s when ya play ‘em,” recalls Michael Aston. “Spurs might just be meeting ‘em at the worst time. Sigh. I so hope Spurs win this, there has to be some respite.”
Gene Mackie adds: “As a nervous Spurs fan, I’d much rather be playing Arsenal at home right now than Palace anywhere. Sam Allardyce is working with one of the most talented squads he’s had in years, and it’s showing. Palace have a track record of spoiling title races (see Liverpool 13-14) and were statistically supposed to lose hard at both Chelsea and Liverpool. We all saw how those went. I trust our forward line, our defence and Dembele, but the longer we go without scoring, the more chance for narrative. Still finish ahead of Arsenal though.”
7.14pm BST
Palace make two changes to the starting XI sent out to irritate Liverpool last Sunday. James Tomkins was tonked by Marko Grujić at Anfield, and is out injured. Chances are he would have been replaced by Mamadou Sakho anyway; the French defender returns having been forced to sit things out against his parent club. Meanwhile Yohan Cabaye drops to the bench, making way for James McArthur.
Spurs make a couple of swaps as well. Kieran Trippier and slapstick stand-in left back Heung-Min Son started the FA Cup semi against Chelsea, but both are substitutes today, Kyle Walker and Ben Davies taking their places.
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Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Ward, Kelly, Sakho, Schlupp, Milivojevic, McArthur, Townsend, Puncheon, Zaha, Benteke.
Subs: Speroni, Van Aanholt, Flamini, Cabaye, Campbell, Sako, Delaney.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Walker, Wanyama, Dembele, Davies, Eriksen, Alli, Kane.
Subs: Son, Janssen, Nkoudou, Trippier, Sissoko, Wimmer, Pau Lopez.
5.59pm BST
Crystal Palace’s current form is nothing short of sensational. Locked into a groove under the preposterously under-rated tutelage of Sam Allardyce, they’ve won six of their last eight Premier League matches. So far this month, they’ve tasted victory at title-chasing Chelsea, thrashed Arsenal, swatted aside Liverpool with not much fuss, and rescued a draw from two goals down against the reigning champions Leicester City. It’s a run which has all but guaranteed their Premier League survival. The Alan Pardew era seems an awfully long time ago.
There are only three teams in the division with better recent records. The aforementioned champs Leicester. Jose Mourinho’s hyper-resilient Manchester United. And tonight’s visitors to Selhurst Park, Tottenham Hotspur, whose seven-game winning run in the Premier League has given us a title race after all. They’re still seven points behind Chelsea, after Antonio Conte’s side saw off Southampton last night, but an eighth win in a row would keep them in the hunt.
Continue reading...The Fiver | Having Chas and Dave play Hot Shot Tottenham in a minor key
In today’s Fiver: Mauricio Pochettino’s rallying cry and Joey Barton’s childishness
As those who spent all last night battling insomnia by watching whatever was on Challenge TV and aren’t functioning properly today as a result will know, the early ATV-produced editions of Bullseye are something of a curiosity. The set is sparse, the mood austere. The questions are too difficult. Jim Bowen spends half of the programme tediously explaining the rules. There are no “Iiiiiiinnnnnn one!”s hollered during the prize-board round. And each contestant is presented with a complimentary brass chalk holder, which is very nice and all, it’s useful for keeping score, but where’s their Bendy Bully? Where’s their bus fare home?
Continue reading...April 22, 2017
Chelsea 4-2 Tottenham Hotspur: FA Cup semi-final – as it happened
Chelsea won a six-goal Wembley thriller, Nemanja Matić scoring one of the sweetest Wembley goals.
7.26pm BST
Match report:
Related: Eden Hazard comes off the bench to clinch semi-final thriller for Chelsea
7.10pm BST
And that’s that. Chelsea reach their first FA Cup final since 2012; Tottenham’s 26-year wait goes on. The scoreline reads like a rout, but this match was in the balance until Chelsea’s two spectacular late strikes. A wonderful game which ebbed and flowed all evening. Spurs can be very proud of their contribution to a classic FA Cup semi, though that won’t keep them warm tonight. Ah well, time to concentrate on the league. As for Chelsea, they were simply magnificent, Antonio Conte’s selection and subsequent substitutions playing out perfectly. A league and cup double is a very real possibility now.
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90 min +4: ... they so nearly do! Kane batters a low shot towards the bottom left, full of vim and frustration. It squirts under Courtois’s body, and should by rights trickle over the line. But - the final insult for Spurs, this - the ball screeches to a stop on the line, and spins back into the keeper’s arms! Invisible string. Phil Mickelson wouldn’t be able to impart as much spin on a ball as that!
7.08pm BST
90 min +3: Alli dribbles down the middle and slips past Luiz. He’s then clipped from behind by Kante, on the edge of the D. Kante is booked. Spurs simply have to score from the free kick. And...
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90 min +2: Eriksen, to the right of the Chelsea D, attempts a snapshot towards the bottom left. It flies harmlessly wide.
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90 min: There will be four added minutes, but there’s no sense of Spurs launching a late recovery. Chelsea are in control.
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89 min: Walker curls a dangerous ball into the box from the right. Courtois punches clear with purpose. Spurs have run out of ideas, the wind taken from their sail. You can’t blame them. They’ve been excellent this evening, but Chelsea sucker-punched them with two amazing goals.
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86 min: Space for Fabregas to the right of the Spurs goal. He dinks one inside for Costa, who should bury a header from close range, but clanks it wide right under no pressure whatsoever.
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85 min: Now Costa has a run at a dispirited Spurs back line. He’s eventually crowded out, but only just.
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83 min: Spurs don’t deserve to be on the end of a rout. But there’s a danger of it, as Hazard scampers after a long ball down the left, gets to it first, rounds Lloris who races out of his area, and pulls back for Alonso on the edge of the box. Alonso’s attempt to replicate Hazard’s goal is blocked.
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82 min: Amid the celebrations of that crazy strike, Kurt Zouma’s face on the bench was Wow personified. Poor Spurs. They’ve been brilliant. It’s just that Chelsea have been even better.
6.58pm BST
Oh my word. Fabregas and Hazard nearly open Spurs up down the inside right. Not quite. Hazard lays the ball back for Matic, who is 25 yards out, a little bit left of centre. Matic catches the ball first time, and sends an unstoppable bullet into the very top-right corner. Lloris was rooted to the spot, but had no chance whatsover. That was as sweet a strike as Wembley has ever seen. Slightly reminiscent of Billy Bremner’s peach at the same end in the 1965 FA Cup final. But further out. Football purity.
6.55pm BST
79 min: Wanyama is replaced by Nkoudou.
6.53pm BST
78 min: Dier Beckenbauers his way up the middle of the park and looks to release Kane down the middle with a threaded pass. But Luiz is wise to the grift and eases Kane out of it.
6.52pm BST
77 min: Spurs come straight back at Chelsea and earn a free kick in the heart of the Chelsea half. They load the box. Eriksen floats the ball into the area; it skims off the top of Luiz’s head and out for a corner on the left. The resulting set piece is battered miles upfield by the head of Costa. Spurs are clearly in no mood to take this lying down. But do they have a third equaliser in them?
6.50pm BST
Chelsea win their first corner of the match, down the right. It’s half cleared by Walker. Hazard, to the left of the D, takes a touch and, despite three white shirts swarming, threads a stunning low fizzer through a thicket of players, across Lloris, and into the bottom right! What a finish that was! What a game we have on our hands here!
6.49pm BST
74 min: Conte has now played his hand: Fabregas comes on in place of Pedro.
6.48pm BST
73 min: Spurs are on top in terms of possession and territory. But then Chelsea like to play on the break. Here they come on the counter after a period of Spurs probing. Moses tears through the midfield, with Spurs light at the back. Alli clips his heels and takes the booking.
6.47pm BST
71 min: Willian is back on the bench now, and to be fair doesn’t have a face on any more. Out on the pitch, Spurs press Chelsea back in their own box. The ball’s pinged this way and that. Eventually Walker wins a corner on the right. From the set piece, Costa nearly accidentally tees up Kane, but clears; then Pedro is close to scarpering free down the left, but Dembele shoulder charges him out of the way.
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69 min: Spurs rejig their defence, taking off Son and throwing Walker on. Trippier will shift over to the left, Walker taking up his spot on the right.
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67 min: Kane and Alli combine well down the left. Kane very nearly breaks into the Chelsea box, but stumbles and can’t regain his poise. It’s a double shame as Tripper was clear on the right, an option if Kane didn’t fancy shooting himself.
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65 min: Wanyama has a dig from the best part of 30 yards. Nope. But you can forgive players for getting a bit giddy in this atmosphere. It’s a rollicking cup tie, and Wembley can’t get enough of it.
6.39pm BST
63 min: Alonso tries to find Costa in the Spurs box with a long throw. Spurs break upfield, Alli making good down the left. He looks to return the favour to Eriksen with a glorious curling cross into the Chelsea box from a deep position on the wing. If Eriksen had opted to volley that, the net could have come off. But he decides to guide a header goalwards instead, and that’s easy pickings for Courtois. A sparkling counter attack, though.
6.36pm BST
61 min: No hat-trick for Willian, then. He doesn’t look too happy as he’s hooked, along with Batshuayi, and heads off straight down the tunnel. Hazard and Costa come on. This match really is perfectly poised. Just wonderful entertainment.
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59 min: A couple of corners on the left for Spurs. Both are easily cleared by Chelsea, and Alli turns down the pressure with a very ambitious attempt to chip Courtois from 30 yards. Nope. Spurs are asking questions, though.
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57 min: Pedro runs at a Spurs defence light on numbers. For a second it looks as though he might scoot clear, but the ball stays behind him for a second. He recovers and dribbles to the edge of the box, before shuttling it wide right to Willian. The Chelsea winger looks for his hat-trick with a low fizzing shot, but it’s blocked at source by Alderweireld.
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56 min: Wembley is bouncing. What an atmosphere! And no wonder: an FA Cup semi, a London derby, four goals, a few contentious decisions, and we’re not even an hour in! Marvellous.
6.30pm BST
54 min: Immediately from kick off, Alli turns Aki and enters the Spurs area down the inside-right channel. He goes over Aki’s leg, but the defender, coming back at Alli from the side, gets a faint touch of the ball. No penalty. But boy that was close.
6.28pm BST
Chelsea allow Spurs to ping it around the midfield. It all looks very sterile. But then Eriksen, just to the right of the centre circle, sprays a long curling pass forward, towards the Chelsea box. Alli is cutting in from the left. He’s ahead of Luiz, and meets the perfectly judged quarterbacked pass first time, blasting it into the top right from ten yards! What a finish ... but that was all about the pass. Wow.
6.26pm BST
51 min: Spurs have started the second half with purpose, though. Chelsea seem happy enough to sit back, but there’s no disguising Tottenham’s energy.
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50 min: ... it’s komik kutz as Eriksen plays it short to Son, whose return stab goes straight to Kante. The Chelsea man blooters clear with glee.
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49 min: Kane strides down the right after a throw, skating past Matic as though he wasn’t there. Time to cross, but there’s nobody in the middle so he purchase a corner instead. From which...
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47 min: Kane tries to spin around Azpilicueta down the inside-left channel. He’s upended, but the Chelsea defender doesn’t get booked for the slightly wild clatter. Then Luiz cynically bodychecks Alli, but there’s no free kick. The Spurs fans make their displeasure known; the decisions not going their way right now.
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And we’re off again! No changes made by either side. Chelsea get the ball rolling for the second half.
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Half-time reading: There’s a big semi-final north of the border midday tomorrow. Here’s our man Ewan Murray looking forward to light lunch with the Old Firm.
Related: Celtic v Rangers: breaking down the Scottish Cup semi-final
6.06pm BST
Alonso finally goes in the book for pointlessly kicking the ball away after a common-or-garden free kick was awarded in the midfield, just before the half-time whistle is blown. What idiocy. And that’s that for the first half. Chelsea lead, but that was finely poised before Son’s ludicrous challenge on Moses. Chelsea are 45 minutes away from their first final since 2012; Spurs have 45 minutes to turn this around and scratch that 26-year itch.
6.03pm BST
45 min: Lloris comes to the edge of his area to collect a loose ball. He slides out of the box and, under pressure from Batshuayi, pats the ball back into the area before smothering. A clear hand ball, but the referee opts to avoid making a difficult decision minutes after awarding a penalty. Lucky Lloris.
6.02pm BST
After a long debate over who’ll take the spot kick, Conte orders Willian to do his thing. He smacks the penalty into the left-hand side of the net, Lloris no chance!
6.00pm BST
42 min: Spurs have been well on top for some time, so here come Chelsea on the counter. Moses is found in space down the right. He enters the area, taps the ball past a recklessly sliding Son, goes over the player, and cleverly purchases a cheap penalty kick. Spurs complain forcefully, but Moses did what he had to do. What a stupid challenge by Son.
5.58pm BST
40 min: A poor crossfield pass by Azpilicueta is intercepted by Eriksen, 35 yards from the Chelsea goal. Eriksen sends a looping shot towards the top left, but Courtois is behind that all the way.
5.57pm BST
39 min: Vertonghen pitching-wedges a lovely pass down the inside-left channel and isn’t far away from sending Son clear in the Chelsea area. Luiz is quickly over to hack away, though, and the flag goes up for offside anyway. Spurs are soon coming back at Chelsea, with Trippier given a chance to send one of his dangerous Beckhamesque crosses into the box from the right. Courtois plucks it from the sky in confident fashion, with Kane lurking.
5.54pm BST
37 min: Yes, Spurs are gaining the ascendancy. Trippier rakes a glorious long ball down the right and very nearly releases Kane on goal. Ake comes across to cover marvellously, hounding Kane out of it on the edge of the Chelsea box and dealing with the danger.
5.54pm BST
36 min: Eriksen whips the free kick into the Chelsea box, looking for Kane at the near post. A corner’s earned, from which Dembele is not far away from connecting with a header in the middle, six yards out. Instead, Vertonghen recycles the ball on the left, and swings a high one into the area. Dier rises highest and attempts to feather a header towards the bottom right. It only just sails wide of the post. Not entirely sure Courtois had that covered were it on target.
5.51pm BST
34 min: Alonso slides in late again, this time on Trippier down the right. Another loose challenge and he’ll surely go in the book. Meanwhile a chance for Spurs to load the box.
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32 min: This is a very entertaining game. It’s not wide open as such, but there’s a nice breezy feel to it, both teams looking to be positive at every opportunity. Spurs are slowly beginning to get the upper hand in terms of possession.
5.48pm BST
30 min: Son makes good down the left and earns another Spurs corner. Eriksen has three goes at finding someone with a cross, but nothing pays off. Still, if you don’t buy a ticket, and all that. “Gee, Harry Kane in the box and not taking the corner kicks,” observes Hubert O’Hearn. “Who would have thought such a radical strategy might pay off in a goal?” Breaking news: Roy Hodgson is still unemployed.
5.45pm BST
27 min: Dembele tries to play his way out of his own box. He nearly allows Willian in on goal, the Chelsea man not falling for his dropped-shoulder dummy. The pair wrestle, which is asking for trouble. Son bashes clear. Up the other end, Kane tries to dribble his way straight down the middle, but is stopped in hearty fashion just inside the Chelsea box by Luiz. He doesn’t claim a penalty kick, though the Spurs fans do.
5.43pm BST
25 min: Luiz gets some treatment. He’ll be OK to continue. “After an unfortunate shift to the right, the result is a decisive outcome on the left,” begins TW3’s Andy Gordon. “Is Hugo Lloris predicting the French elections, a Paul the octopus de nos jours?”
5.42pm BST
23 min: Chelsea passes aren’t sticking all of a sudden. Son makes a couple of driving runs down the left, but can’t find anyone in the middle. Then a third cross, and he nearly finds Alli, but Luiz clears with a sliding tackle. Alli then stands on his ankle during the follow-through. A complete accident, he was looking the other way and didn’t know where Luiz had landed. Luiz writhes in pain. He’ll need some treatment.
5.37pm BST
20 min: Spurs have their tails up now. Eriksen dribbles down the right and is clumsily upended by a sliding Alonso. Free kick. Eriksen over it. Kane lurking. But this delivery doesn’t beat the first man. This is a match now!
5.36pm BST
Chelsea looked comfortable, but now look! Kane earns a free kick 25 yards out from Kante. Eriksen and Kane try to work space for a shot down the right channel, but can only win a corner. From that, Eriksen twists and turns on the right wing, and whips a ball towards Kane, level with the right-hand post, 12 yards out, his back to goal. Kane stoops, and back-flicks a rather brilliant header across Courtois and into the bottom left. What a response!
5.32pm BST
15 min: Pedro makes a rare old nuisance of himself down the right wing. A cross into the mixer, and Batshuayi heads goalwards from six yards. It’s a powerful downward effort, but it’s smothered by Lloris on the line, and the young striker was offside anyway.
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13 min: In the air, a plane trailing a banner with, for once, a positive message: “Antonio! Antonio!” It’s not quite the Graf Zeppelin hovering over the 1930 FA Cup final between Arsenal and Huddersfield, but it’s a welcome distraction during a scrappy phase.
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11 min: Chelsea are stroking the ball around in the confident style, as you’d expect after their fast start. Spurs are struggling to get a sniff right now.
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9 min: Having said that, their heads might not have totally cleared. Vertonghen plays a loose pass just outside his own area, allowing Batshuayi and Kante to exchange crisp passes which very nearly open Spurs up. But Alderweireld and Dier swarm, and the danger is snuffed out. Spurs were so close to going two down.
5.25pm BST
7 min: Spurs attempt to come straight back at Chelsea. Kane flicks a ball down the inside-left channel for Eriksen, but the midfielder can’t quite break into the area. Another phase of play, though, and Alli earns a corner off Azpilicueta. The set piece is eased away from danger by Ake, but Spurs fans will be pleased to see their team haven’t gone into their shell, their so-called recent Wembley curse and all that.
5.22pm BST
And how costly it is! Willian whips a stunning free kick around the right of the wall and into the right-hand side of the net! Lloris was nowhere near it ... though he arguably should have been. It was his side of the goal, but he’d taken a needless step to the right. But how about Willian, a shock selection ahead of Hazard, huh? That Conte knows a thing or two, it would seem.
5.21pm BST
4 min: Pedro takes down a loose ball in the midfield and drives down the inside-left channel. He makes for the box and is unceremoniously upended by Alderweireld on the edge of the area, to the left of the D. That’s a cynical slide and a yellow card. And a free kick in a very dangerous position.
5.19pm BST
2 min: Alderweireld rises at the near post, but can’t make contact. Chelsea clear their lines, and Willian goes bowling down the right wing. He very nearly breaks clear but loses control as he tries to circumvent acting wing-back Son. The ball breaks through to Lloris, who clears for a throw that’s eventually mopped up. A lively end-to-end start!
5.18pm BST
And we’re off! Spurs get the ball rolling. And with 13 seconds now elapsed, both teams have managed to avoid the old Hibs false start. Spurs move forward down the right, Kane winning a corner off Ake. From which...
5.16pm BST
The teams are out! A magnificent atmosphere, as you’d expect at Wembley, and ahead of a London derby and an FA Cup semi-final. A huge roar. Chelsea are in their famous royal blue, Tottenham Hotspur in their equally storied lily-white. We’ll be off in a little while. But before we kick off, a minute of the warmest applause for Ugo Ehiogu. His old team-mate Gareth Southgate looking very pensive in the stand. Bittersweet chants of “Ugo” ring around the stadium. It’s the most emotional of moments.
5.08pm BST
Mauricio Pochettino is up next, and first he pays his respects to the memory of Ugo Ehiogu. “It is so difficult. A big loss for us. For all the Tottenham family. I want to say to Ugo’s family and friends all my best, because it is a terrible moment for us. And now we play football. It is very tough and difficult, but we will live and adapt with that pain in our heart. We will give all our support to his family.”
And then onto the game: “For us the system it is not important. We want to win, and will put a very offensive set-up, try our best and try to win the game. That is our challenge.”
5.03pm BST
Antonio Conte speaks! “I took this decision about our starting XI. I think at this moment, at this part of the season, you play another game, it’s very important for us ... it’s important to have a play in your mind. And then to take the decision, yeah. You risk, in the same way you start with Eden and Diego, or to come on, it’s the same. It’s important to have an idea of the team and your players and to make the decision.” A free-jazz ramble, basically. Obviously Conte isn’t speaking in his first language, so nobody’s knocking him for that. One suspects he didn’t really fancy explaining himself to the BBC, that’s all, and decided to straight-bat the questions with a series of meaningless phrases and non sequiturs. Hey, if Theresa May’s allowed to get away with it...
4.50pm BST
The sun is shining, spring has sprung, it’s FA Cup semi-final day! Ah look, here comes Jonathan Watts, author of the Spursy Scenarios, and there’s a black cloud of doom hovering ominously over his poor head. “As a Spurs fan - long starved of trophies - the next seven or eight games, starting with today’s FA Cup semi-final, have more promise than any season in my life. But years of misery also suggest the possibility of disaster. Three scenarios:
“1) We win the semi-final on Saturday, a psychological blow from which Chelsea are unable to recover and they suffer an end-of-season collapse. Spurs surge to the league title and end the season winning the FA Cup by beating Arsenal 9-0 at Wembley with a hat-trick of hat-tricks by Harry Kane. Having beaten our two London rivals to secure the double, 2016-17 goes down in club history as The Mother of all Seasons.
4.27pm BST
Antonio Conte has indeed given his Chelsea XI a good hard shuffle. Eden Hazard and Diego Costa are two of five changes to the team sent out to their fate at Old Trafford last weekend. They drop to the bench, along with Asmir Begovic and Kurt Zouma, while Gary Cahill misses out altogether as he’s suffering from gastroenteritis. Stepping up: Thibaut Courtois, Nathan Ake, Marcos Alonso, Willian and Michy Batshuayi.
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettinho makes an altogether less dramatic tweak to his team. From the XI selected for the thrashing of Bournemouth last weekend, Ben Davies and Kyle Walker drop down to the bench, with Kieran Trippier and Victor Wanyama taking their places.
4.17pm BST
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Ake, Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso, Willian, Batshuayi, Pedro.
Subs: Begovic, Zouma, Terry, Chalobah, Fabregas, Hazard, Costa.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Trippier, Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Wanyama, Dembele, Son, Eriksen, Dele, Kane.
Subs: Lopez, Davies, Walker, Wimmer, Sissoko, Nkoudou, Janssen.
4.05pm BST
While we wait for the confirmed team news - has Antonio Conte really rested Eden Hazard and dropped Diego Costa, as rumoured on the old social media? - how about getting your semi on with this classic Joy of Six? Starring a Welsh wine bar owner, Gazza, Alan Cork’s beard and Merseyside’s answer to Arie Haan?
Related: The Joy of Six: FA Cup semi-final memories | Rob Smyth
1.21pm BST
A dozen days before the release of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea met in the very first all-London FA Cup final. Showing scant regard for the audible range of yer actual Bow Bells, the big 1967 showdown was dubbed the Cockney Cup Final. Spurs, though not a patch on the team of the Blanchflower-White era, which had manufactured 411 league goals in four seasons (!) between 1960 and 1964, were hot favourites nevertheless, on the back of a 23-match unbeaten run. Chelsea by contrast were out of form, “playing badly enough to win the cup” according to the Guardian’s football correspondent and chief wag Albert Barham, cracking wise.
Charlie Cooke, John Hollins and Bobby Tambling fought the good fight for Chelsea. But Bill Nicholson’s team boasted too much quality: Dave Mackay, Jimmy Greaves, the Alans Gilzean and Mullery. A young Joe Kinnear overlapped relentlessly and won many plaudits; Jimmy Robertson and Frank Saul scored the goals that secured Spurs their third cup in six years.
Related: Ugo Ehiogu: a warrior on the field but a gentle giant off it
Continue reading...April 19, 2017
Monaco 3-1 Borussia Dortmund (agg 6-3): Champions League quarter-final – as it happened
Monaco started fast, then resisted Dortmund’s attempt at a spectacular comeback to reach their first semi-final since 2004.
9.41pm BST
And that’s that. It proved too much for poor Dortmund in the end: last week’s awful fear and worry, the hassle of a quickly rearranged game, tonight’s thoroughly unwelcome delay on the team bus. But let’s take nothing away from Monaco, who were brilliant over the two legs. Tonight’s match might have panned out differently had Thomas Tuchel started with their superstar-in-waiting Ousmane Dembele, but his team were two down by the time he was thrown on. Monaco will grace the semis with a superstar-in-waiting of their own, Kylian Mbappe. And the way they’re playing, they could go one better than their team of 2004. Alongside Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Juventus in the pot, they’ll be the choice of many a neutral.
Related: Mbappé and Falcao blaze Monaco trail past Borussia Dortmund into semis
9.37pm BST
90 min: Raggi comes on for Silva. There will be two added minutes.
9.37pm BST
88 min: The superstar-in-the-making Dembele nips down the right and causes a mild kerfuffle in the Monaco box, very nearly threading a pass through a thicket to find Aubameyang six yards out. So clever, but not quite.
9.36pm BST
87 min: Pulisic turns on the right-hand edge of the D and sends a fairly lame snapshot off target.
9.34pm BST
85 min: Schmelzer rakes a ball down the left, and Aubameyang batters a shot towards the top left from 25 yards. What an effort, but Subasic is behind it and tips round for a corner. From the set piece, Monaco clear, and suddenly Silva is one on one with Burki! But Papastathopoulos races back and executes a fantastic saving tackle on the edge of the box. Get that one wrong, and he was off. Marvellous defending (even if his misjudged header had set up Silva in the first place).
9.32pm BST
83 min: Dortmund try to pick themselves up and push again, but you can tell the heart’s not in it. A few passes in the middle of the park, but no poke forward.
9.30pm BST
Piszczek loses the ball in the middle. Lemar makes good down the left, then curls low into the box for Germain, who sidefoots under Burki. He’s been on the pitch 21 seconds! And he’s put paid to any Dortmund notions of a great comeback.
9.28pm BST
80 min: Mbappe is replaced by Germain. Who, with his first touch...
9.28pm BST
79 min: Especially as Monaco continue to pass up chances to really seal the deal. Lemar is found in a preposterous amount of space down the left. He’s in the area, but facing a slightly tight angle, so instead of shooting, lays off inside for Mbappe. But the ball is a risible nonsense, behind Mbappe, free on the penalty spot. Dortmund scurry around and mop up.
9.26pm BST
78 min: Dembele once again causes all manner of mayhem down the right. He looks for Reus, but there’s not quite enough space to get a shot away. One more, though, and that would really test Monaco’s resolve.
9.24pm BST
76 min: Bakayoko, in a tangle of players, backflicks out of trouble to Mendy on the left. Mendy ships the ball inside for Silva, who enters the area and shoots from a tight angle. Papastathopoulos sticks out a leg and very nearly diverts the ball into his own net. It hits the side netting. From the corner, Bakayoko heads over tamely from close range.
9.22pm BST
74 min: Dembele, playmaking from deep down the inside left, scoops a gorgeous chip further down the flank. It’s teed up for Reus, who lashes one goalwards from the edge of the box. Either side of Subasic and that one was flying in. But the keeper can parry the fierce shot, and Monaco survive.
9.20pm BST
73 min: Mendy rather saucily stands on both of Dembele’s ankles as the pair scrabble around in the midfield. Before the resulting free kick can be taken, Pulisic comes on for Guerreiro. Finally the free kick is a complete waste of time, Dortmund having loaded the Monaco box and all.
9.18pm BST
71 min: Something of a lull. Monaco don’t do many lulls, though, do they?
9.17pm BST
69 min: Toure, out on the right, slips a ball inside for Mbappe, who screeches into the Borussia box. He shoots low and hard towards the bottom left. Burki, at full stretch, fingertips brilliantly around the post. Monaco don’t get the corner, much to Mbappe’s chagrin.
9.16pm BST
68 min: Falcao’s miss was his last contribution this evening; he’s replaced by Dirar. But his goal tonight was his 45th in 50 European appearances, which is some rate of scoring. He’s put in a shift.
9.14pm BST
67 min: Dembele embarks on a George Bestesque left-to-right diagonal dribble which very nearly opens up into a shooting chance. Eventually he looks to pull the ball back for Reus, but it’s cut out by Jemerson and cleared. Then another phase of attack, and Schmelzer creams a shot straight at Subasic from 25 yards.
9.13pm BST
65 min: Falcao should have wrapped this up! A simple long ball by Glik sends him clear down the inside-right channel. He stops on the edge of the area, sits Ginter down with a drop of the shoulder and a shuffle inside, chips the advancing Burki ... and sends the ball sailing over the bar.
9.11pm BST
63 min: Schmelzer earns Dortmund another corner down the right. The set piece is poor, allowing Mbappe to tear off up the left wing. He’s stopped in unpretentious fashion by Papastathopoulos. At first it looks like a cynical block, with Dortmund very light on numbers at the back. But the referee waves play on, a good decision regarding an honest 50-50 clatter.
9.09pm BST
61 min: An increasingly rare attack by Monaco, as Lemar digs out a cross from the left. Falcao meets it with another diving header, but Papastathopoulos is pressurising from behind and his effort flies wide left.
9.08pm BST
60 min: Falcao clumsily hacks down Kagawa, the Dortmund man otherwise going nowhere down the left. But this is now a chance to load the box. Reus takes the free kick, but fails to clear the first man. Not so good. Dortmund were making this easy for Monaco in the first half. Not so now.
9.07pm BST
58 min: Aubameyang wins a corner off Jemerson down the right. Guerreiro whips a delightful cross over the front of the six-yard box. The ball clanks off the back of Toure and very nearly drops to Aubameyang by the far post. But the striker can only help it on out for a goal kick.
9.04pm BST
57 min: Another storming run by the absurdly talented Dembele. He drifts in from the right and is inches away from releasing Aubameyang into the area with a sliderule pass down the middle. Glik’s telescopic intervention saves the day for Monaco.
9.03pm BST
55 min: Schmelzer is given far too much time down the left to pick a pass. He shuttles the ball forward for Reus, who uncharacteristically hesitates upon entering the area. That allows Toure to come across and block an eventual cross-cum-shot, and the ball clanks back off Reus and out for a goal kick. Monaco are suddenly looking nervous, though, with Dortmund dictating the play for the first time this evening.
9.00pm BST
52 min: Yes, Monaco have certainly been shaken into action after conceding. First Falcao flashes a header wide left from the edge of the area, then Mbappe is nearly sent scampering clear by a through ball. Burki comes out to claim. Already a sense that this could turn into a basketball match. Certainly until we find out who scores the next goal.
8.58pm BST
50 min: Monaco, shocked awake, come back at Dortmund. First Mbappe causes all manner of bother down the inside-left channel. He can’t quite get a shot away. And then from a corner, Toure beats Papastathopoulos to a header from 12 yards, and nearly finds the top right. Burki tips over, and resulting set piece comes to nothing.
8.56pm BST
What a run by Dembele! He eats up half of the pitch down the right with a ball-on-string dribble, beating Mendy all ends up. He tears towards the byline, then pulls a ball into the centre for Reus, who roofs a shot into the top right from ten yards! It’s not on, is it? It could be on!
8.54pm BST
47 min: Dortmund need something soon, and they come flooding towards Monaco with purpose. Kagawa has options left and right, but opts to thread a shot towards the bottom left from 25 yards. It’s easily gathered by Subasic.
8.52pm BST
And we’re off again! Monaco get the ball rolling for the second half. Dortmund have made a second change: Sahin is replaced by Schmelzer, who takes over at left back, with Guerreiro pushing further forward.
8.42pm BST
Half-time reading: In case you missed this masterpiece by Daniel Harris, be about your business, clickety click. You won’t regret it, promise. Warning: some readers may be offended by the phrase “He was an absolute fucking bampot.”
Related: The forgotten story of ... Dundee United's glory years under Jim McLean | Daniel Harris
8.39pm BST
And that’s that for the first half. Monaco were threatening to rattle up a cricket score, and you wouldn’t rule out their scoring another couple of goals. But Dortmund dug in, and since the introduction of Ousmane Dembele, have looked pretty dangerous on occasion themselves. Also, how Nuri Sahin’s free kick stayed out is a question for the scientists. But the visitors need three goals in the second half simply to survive. We’ve seen some comebacks in the Champions League this season; this would be right up there.
8.36pm BST
45 min: Mbappe sends Mendy into more space down the left. Dortmund all over the shop again. But this time the offside flag saves them.
8.34pm BST
43 min: Pizczek rolls a glorious pass down the right flank for Dembele, who takes a touch at high speed, enters the box, and runs out of pitch before he can dig out a cross. Dortmund have been so much better since the introduction of Dembele; hats off to Thomas Tuchel for recognising his initial selection error. A brave switch ... but was it too late?
8.32pm BST
41 min: Kagawa buys a free kick off a clumsy Silva, just to the left of the Monaco D. Reus looks for the top left with the free kick, but Subasic is behind it all the way.
8.31pm BST
40 min: Dembele again lights a fuse, gliding in from the right. He finds Kagawa on the edge of the box. Kagawa switches play to the left, where Guerreiro is free by the corner of the six-yard box. He should shoot, and probably would score, but elects to sidefoot a cross towards Reus in the middle. Bad decision. It’s hacked clear.
8.29pm BST
38 min: The brilliance of Dembele nearly opens Monaco up. He cuts inside from the right, slipping past two challenges and exchanging passes with Kagawa. Dembele’s suddenly central, 30 yards out, and fires a lovely low forward pass to Reus, just inside the area. But time is a factor and Reus can’t get a shot away. A lovely move, though.
8.27pm BST
36 min: Kagawa slides a fine pass down the inside-left channel to send Aubameyang clear of a high Monaco line. But the pass was delayed, and the striker went too early, and the flag went up. Aubameyang wears a look of great frustration.
8.25pm BST
33 min: Now Mbappe should be sent scampering away down the left, but Mendy somehow finds Reus. Dortmund are leaving themselves exposed again and again, though given they require three goals simply to force extra time, they’ve probably got little choice.
8.22pm BST
31 min: Dembele is already making his presence felt. Another charge down the left, and this time he’s dragged back by Moutinho. A free kick, and a chance to load the box. But the delivery was hopeless. Monaco break upfield, three on two, and Silva should send Mbappe clear down the right. He plays what should be a simple pass straight at Guerreiro, and once again Dortmund escape.
8.21pm BST
30 min: Dembele picks up possession 30 yards out on the left, and very nearly finds Aubameyang in the middle with a clever chipped cross. But Jemerson claps a clearing header upfield.
8.20pm BST
28 min: Lemar begins a run from deep in his own half on the left. He plays a long-range one-two with Mbappe, and reaches the corner flag. He crosses towards Falcao, who is once again in space, six yards or so from goal. But the ball is a couple of inches too high. Monaco were so close to a third there. That would have been a peach. But the visitors are offering very little resistance.
8.17pm BST
26 min: A disappointed Durm is hooked for Dembele, who was something of a surprise omission in the first place. Durm doesn’t look particularly happy about it.
8.15pm BST
24 min: It’s fizzed low, towards the near post. Bakayoko flicks it on. Durm, facing his own goal, swings a leg in panic and nearly shins one into his own net. It flies off to the left of goal, and the second corner from that side, by Moutinho, is way too long.
8.14pm BST
23 min: Moutinho Cruyff Turns his way into space down the right and very nearly releases Mbappe on goal. The striker settles for a corner. From which ...
8.12pm BST
21 min: Mbappe and Falcao try to one-two their way down the middle of the park. They very nearly open Dortmund up again. Monaco are in full Sashay Mode right now.
8.11pm BST
19 min: Not sure what Ginter was doing there. He gave Falcao far too much space, allowing Lemar to pick him out with ease. Burki had no chance. Dortmund are all over the shop, and you have to wonder whether the 22-minute delay to get into the stadium has understandably affected them.
8.09pm BST
It’s astonishing all right! Lemar exchanges passes with Mbappe on the left-hand edge of the Dortmund box. He pitching wedges a chip into the centre, where Falcao hovers and dispatches a diving header into the bottom right!
8.07pm BST
16 min: Dortmund pass it around the middle of the park in the pretty style. I suppose that counts as a lull. This match has been astonishing so far.
8.06pm BST
14 min: Glik drags down Aubameyang as the pair tussle under a high ball to the right of the Monaco D. Free kick in a very dangerous position. Sahin takes, and clatters an astonishing effort towards the top right, off the inside of the angle, across the face of goal and away! How on earth did that brilliant free kick stay out?! It was a couple of millimetres away from perfection.
8.04pm BST
13 min: Monaco come straight back at Dortmund. Toure crosses from the right. Falcao stoops at the near post but can’t contort his body to guide a header on target. It flies wide right. Then Mendy makes good down the left again. He crosses deep. Silva, coming in from the other side, batters a downwards header towards the bottom left but Burki gathers.
8.02pm BST
11 min: Mandy is causing a lot of trouble down the left. Another dangerous cross, this time a high one, and Ginter has to eyebrow clear with Falcao in the immediate environs.
8.01pm BST
9 min: Subasic, dealing with a backpass, tries to sell Aubameyang a dummy. He drops a shoulder and nearly has the ball stolen from him. He gets away with that one. But that gives Dortmund succour. First Reus swings a cross into the Monaco box from the left. Then Durm whips one in from the right. Both are cleared, but the visitors come again. Durm is found in space on the right. He slips a ball inside for Reus, who slams an instant shot goalwards from the penalty spot. It’s straight at Subasic, who gathers. Much better from the visitors.
7.59pm BST
7 min: Dortmund are pulled this way and that by Mendy down the left. He reaches the corner and fires low towards the near post. Falcao nearly gets a toe to the ball, but some very determined holding off by Ginter, followed by a boot clear, negates the danger. But if Dortmund keep on like this, the tie could be out of sight soon.
7.57pm BST
5 min: A fine run by Mendy, that, and such a cool finish by the astonishing Mbappe. But frankly appalling goalkeeping by Burki. Dortmund look visibly rattled.
7.55pm BST
No, this didn’t take long. Mendy goes on a power romp down the inside-left channel. He unleashes a rising drive from 25 yards. Burki parries. The ball drops in front of him, breaking to Mbappe, who opens his body and sidefoots cleverly into the bottom left. What a start!
7.53pm BST
And we’re off! Dortmund get the ball rolling. In the stand, Marc Bartra is here to watch his team-mates, lovely to see. And within 30 seconds, he’s watching Reus breaking into the Monaco box down the left. He’s in an awful lot of space, so much that he seems to hesitate with surprise. The ball’s whipped off him, and Monaco go up the other end through Toure down the right. Toure whips a cross into the box. Burki claims with Falcao lurking. That was on the 57-second mark. Not even a minute on the clock, and both teams have looked threatening in attack, and not particularly adept at the back. Tee hee! [MBM writer rubs hands in anticipation]
7.48pm BST
The teams are out! Monaco in their famous red-and-white sash, Dortmund their storied bright yellow. The atmosphere at the small Stade Louis II is magnificent, helped along by a rendition of the BVB anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone, a nice touch by Monaco and their fans. Plenty of smiles as Dortmund go along the line shaking hands; hopefully they’ll have relaxed now after tonight’s unwelcome delay. We’ll be off in a minute!
7.40pm BST
While we’re waiting, a reminder of how the first leg panned out. Kylian Mbappe, some talent huh.
Related: Kylian Mbappe gives Monaco crucial edge against Borussia Dortmund
7.36pm BST
Dortmund had to wait on their bus for 22 minutes, in fact, while the police ran a few special checks on the vehicle. So the kick-off has been delayed by five minutes. That’s not ideal preparation at all for poor Dortmund, who will have been put through the emotional wringer again.
7.27pm BST
Thomas Tuchel insisted his players had put the events of last week behind them, but their journey tonight might have understandably got the nerves jangling again. It seems local police kept Dortumnd on their team bus for a full 20 minutes before they were allowed into the stadium. No reason has been given why. Those 20 minutes will have seemed like hours. The team are on the pitch now, warming up. A few furrowed brows among the players. Certainly not too many relaxed, smiling faces.
7.00pm BST
The hosts Monaco make two changes to the team sent out to contest the first leg at the Westfalenstadion last week. Benjamin Mendy replaces Andrea Raggi, who drops to the bench, while Tiemoue Bakayoko comes in for the suspended Fabinho.
The visitors make three changes to last week’s starting XI. Erik Durm, Nuri Sahin and Marco Reus step up, while Sven Bender, Marcel Schmelzer and Ousmane Dembele step down to the bench.
6.55pm BST
Monaco: Subasic, Toure, Glik, Jemerson, Mendy, Bakayoko, Moutinho, Silva, Lemar, Falcao, Mbappe.
Subs: Sanctis, Jorge, Dirar, Germain, Raggi, Cardona, N’Doram.
Borussia Dortmund: Burki, Ginter, Papastathopoulos, Durm, Piszczek, Kagawa, Weigl, Sahin, Reus, Guerreiro, Aubameyang.
Subs: Weidenfeller, Bender, Dembele, Pulisic, Merino, Castro, Schmelzer.
10.52am BST
The 2017 Champions League quarter-final between Borussia Dortmund and Monaco will always be associated with the shocking attack on the BVB team bus before the first leg. But the bombers don’t get to dictate the whole story, and what will also be remembered is: Dortmund’s outstanding bravery in playing the postponed match 24 hours later; the defiance of Marc Bartra, looking upon his injured wrist with “pride, thinking that all the damage they wanted to do to us stayed in this”; the Dortmund fans offering Monaco supporters beds for the night; the Monaco supporters joining the Dortmund fans in a heartwarming chorus of You’ll Never Walk Alone. Friendship and humanity trump divisiveness and terror yet again. Funny how these things never pan out the way the perpetrators want.
“It’s out of our system ... we’re more stable emotionally ... we’re ready and focused.” Thomas Tuchel is looking forward, so let’s do that too. The Dortmund coach is “confident” that his team can overturn their 3-2 first-leg deficit in this return at the Stade Louis II. “All that happened last week has made us stronger. Now we have to play well and I’m convinced we can do that. We’re ready and focused. We know it will be very tough, but we have the energy and confidence we need to get a result.”
Continue reading...The Fiver | Performing donuts in the centre circle in a car with square wheels
In today’s Fiver: Vidal goes in two-footed, a Fiver letters north-south divide special and a Hanson reference
So Leicester City’s dream of joining Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa in the pantheon of unlikely European champions is over. A terrible shame but on the flip side they don’t look like becoming irrelevant second-tier mediocrities any time soon, so it’s swings and roundabouts. And in any case, last night’s display against Atlético Madrid ensures they take their leave of the continental stage with heads held high. “What a great performance from Leicester,” swooned Atletico manager Diego Simeone. “It was almost a pleasure to compete against them. We were living in fear all night of what they might achieve.” Forcing Diego Simeone to live in fear! They should strike Leicester a few shiny medals just for that.
Continue reading...Scott Murray's Blog
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