Scott Murray's Blog, page 158
February 21, 2017
The Fiver | Two decades giving English sides disrespectful cuffs upside the head
In today’s Fiver: Manchester City host Monaco as another ones bites the crust
The year 2016 will always be primarily remembered for Leicester City’s absurd triumph in the Premier League. But the Foxes were not the only underdogs to achieve amazing things last year. Hibernian won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 114 years, for example, becoming only the second team in history from outside the top division to lift the famous old trophy. Also north of the border, brave little The Pope’s Newc O’Rangers completed their journey to the big league (think of them as the Gretna de nos jours, albeit with slightly less secure finances). And most improbably of all, Manchester City finally had a long and meaningful run in Big Cup, a mere 48 years after Malcolm Allison promised to sweep the entire continent aside while playing like Real Madrid, only to get knocked out in the very first round while playing like Manchester City.
Related: Manchester City warned of Monaco ‘killers in the box’ with Falcao revitalised
Continue reading...February 18, 2017
Wolves 0-2 Chelsea: FA Cup fifth round – as it happened
7.25pm GMT
Chelsea simply possessed too much quality for Wolves to cope with in the long run, though the home side gave as good as they got in the first half. A fine team goal polished off by Pedro, and a clinical finish from the dependably brilliant Diego Costa has earned Antonio Conte’s side a deserved quarter-final berth. It wasn’t a classic, but Chelsea won’t care: the Double is still very much on!
7.22pm GMT
90 min +2: Loftus-Cheek and Ake combine down the inside-left channel to win a corner. A 0-3 scoreline would be cruel on Wolves. Chelsea faff about, so no worries on that front.
7.21pm GMT
90 min +1: Chelsea manipulate that clock with some midfield possession.
7.20pm GMT
90 min: There will be three added minutes.
7.20pm GMT
Doherty has a dribble into the Chelsea box down the left. But he’s stripped of possession by Kante. Chelsea wander up the other end, and fritter time away in the Wolves half. Suddenly Kante bustles down the inside-right channel and lays off for Fabregas, who finds Diego Costa on the spot. Costa swivels and lashes a fierce shot into the bottom left. Chelsea are in the quarter-finals alongside Lincoln City, Millwall and Middlesbrough!
7.17pm GMT
88 min: They do eventually take it, though. And Zouma gets his head on the ball, eight yards out. His poor effort goes well wide left.
7.17pm GMT
87 min: Moses goes on a lazy dribble down the right, eating up the clock and eventually winning a corner. Tick, tock. Chelsea are in no rush to take it.
7.16pm GMT
86 min: Loftus-Cheek comes on for Hazard.
7.16pm GMT
85 min: Saiss takes a shot from nearly 40 yards! There’s ambition, and then there’s ambition. And it nearly costs his side. His shot is blocked, Chelsea break through Diego Costa, and Fabregas has the chance to shoot from 12 yards. He should score, but fair’s fair, it’s Saiss who has tracked all the way back and deflects Fabregas’s effort wide left. The resulting corner is a waste of time, and that’s good enough for Chelsea.
7.13pm GMT
84 min: A last roll of the dice by Paul Lambert. He replaces Bodvarsson and Saville with Saiss and Ronan.
7.12pm GMT
82 min: Hazard switches play to release Ake into acres down the left. If Ake looks up, he’ll spot Diego Costa ready to spring clear in the middle. But he doesn’t. He hogs the ball, the chance is gone, and steam pours out of Costa’s ears.
7.10pm GMT
81 min: And that’s Willian’s final contribution tonight. He’s hooked in favour of Kante, and takes an age to depart in the professional style.
7.10pm GMT
79 min: It’s Willian versus Hause II. Fabregas spots Willian free down the middle. He quarterbacks a glorious pass to set Willian free. Willian takes a touch and prepares to shoot as he enters the area. But Hause comes across to nudge him off the ball with his shoulder, more fine defending.
7.08pm GMT
78 min: For a split second, it looks as though Willian has prised Wolves open down the middle. He drives towards the box, but Hause shepherds him out to the right, and the danger is gone. That’s superlative defending. Wolves go straight up the other end, Wilson’s first contribution sending Bodvarsson away down the right. The striker earns a corner, but nothing comes of the set piece.
7.06pm GMT
76 min: Weimann is replaced by the 19-year-old Donovan Wilson.
7.04pm GMT
74 min: Azpilicueta comes on for the goalscoring hero Pedro.
7.04pm GMT
73 min: Fabregas pitching-wedges a lovely pass down the right, releasing Moses into the area. Moses should shoot when clear, but hesitates slightly and his eventual effort is blocked. Moses would be a superlative player if he just had a little more belief in himself.
7.01pm GMT
71 min: Wolves should take heart from this, though. Bodvarsson makes good down the right and floats a dangerous cross into the Chelsea area. There are three old-gold shirts in the centre, but Zouma wins the battle of the eyebrows, and flicks away from danger. Still, there’s proof that Chelsea can still be troubled at the back. But the clock is not their friend. And if they make another slip at the back ... well, Diego Costa very nearly breaks clear down the right, but he’s flagged offside. That was borderline.
6.59pm GMT
69 min: Chelsea, to a man, look a foot taller and a yard quicker. The goal’s lifted them as it’s visibly deflated the hosts. The rollocking atmosphere has been somewhat punctured, too.
6.57pm GMT
67 min: Batth was booked for that skirmish with Diego Costa, incidentally. Not a good couple of minutes for the home side.
6.56pm GMT
Oh this is a glorious team goal. Diego Costa reaches the byline down the right. He cuts back for Hazard to the right of the D. Hazard lays off to Willian. He crosses deep for Pedro, who at full pelt guides a header into the bottom left. That was right out of the top drawer. They’re not leading the Premier League for nothing.
6.54pm GMT
64 min: Moses cuts in from the right and sends a weak shot straight at Ikeme. The real action is going on back upfield, where earlier in the move Batth and Diego Costa continued their running feud. They half-slap each other in the comedic style. The referee can’t be bothered to acknowledge it.
6.53pm GMT
62 min: A free kick for Wolves, deep on the left, and an chance to fill the Chelsea box. Helder Costa hoicks it long, towards the right-hand post. Batth rises and connects, but not with any great conviction, and Begovic claims. Chelsea go straight up the other end, Diego Costa running Batth this way and that down the inside-right channel. Batth goes to ground, allowing Costa a free shot from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. You’d expect him to finish, but instead he slams a poor effort into the side netting. He trudges back up the pitch looking pained.
6.49pm GMT
60 min: Fabregas sprays a wonderful ball wide right for Moses, who takes it down beautifully on the touchline and makes towards the box with great intent. It looks as though he’ll break into the area and get a shot away, but suddenly he seems to lose his confidence and checks a bit, allowing Weimann to hustle him out of it. But some of Moses’ touches tonight have been glorious.
6.48pm GMT
58 min: Chelsea are dominating possession now - 75% in the last five minutes - with Wolves penned back in their final third. But they’re not creating too much. Wolves keep their shape, and eventually Zouma gets fed up. The defender has a dig from 25 yards, and the ball flies 25 yards over the bar.
6.45pm GMT
56 min: ... Pedro has a dig from the best part of 30 yards. Nope! But full marks for ambition.
6.45pm GMT
55 min: Hazard goes skittering down the left wing. Near the corner flag, he’s kicked - clumsily, rather than maliciously - by Coady. Free kick. It’s effectively a corner, and it comes to nothing. But Chelsea come again, Moses sashaying down the right and shooting from 20 yards. It’s deflected out for a corner on the right. From which...
6.43pm GMT
53 min: Chelsea finally spring into life. Moses makes good down the right and cuts the ball back for Chalobah, whose first-time snap-shot from the edge of the box is blocked.
6.41pm GMT
51 min: Costa takes the free kick himself. He hits it long and deep, towards Hause at the far post. Zouma manages to head it clear, but then Moses gives the ball away, allowing Bodvarsson to run at Zouma down the left. Bodvarsson crosses into empty space, letting Chelsea off the hook. But this isn’t a particularly impressive start to the second half from the Premier League leaders. Wolves look more up for it right now.
6.39pm GMT
49 min: Helder Costa drops a shoulder to scoot past Pedro down the right. Pedro is booked for a cynical trip. A free kick for Wolves in a dangerous position. A chance to load the box, certainly.
6.37pm GMT
48 min: Otherwise, the start to the half has been pretty scrappy.
6.36pm GMT
47 min: A dreadful throw by Pedro, deep in his own half, gives Helder Costa the opportunity to skitter down the right wing. He reaches the by-line but his low cross is hacked clear by Terry. A bright start to the half by the home side, though.
6.35pm GMT
And we’re off again! No changes. Chelsea get the ball rolling for the second period.
6.21pm GMT
Half-time raffle: Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win!
Related: Win (home) tickets to Chelsea v Swansea City in the Premier League
6.20pm GMT
Helder Costa tears down the right and wins a corner off Terry, though it should have been a goal kick. Terry is beyond livid. Unhappily for those who enjoy tedious controversies, the corner comes to nothing, and that’s that for the first half. A lot of fun, with both teams going for it. Wolves are more than holding their own against the Premier League champions-to-be. It promises to be a fine second half, one way or another. No flipping!
6.18pm GMT
45 min +1: Moses drops a shoulder and wheechs past Weimann on the right. His hard, low cross finds Diego Costa, on the right-hand edge of the six-yard box. The ball’s a tad behind the striker, and though Costa contorts his body to get a sidefoot goalwards, he can only send it wide and high.
6.16pm GMT
45 min: There will be two additional minutes to this first half.
6.16pm GMT
44 min: Edwards and Price shuttle the ball left to right, releasing Helder Costa down the wing. Costa cuts back and, at the second attempt, gets a cross in. Terry is on hand to clear.
6.14pm GMT
42 min: Chalobah sprays a fine ball wide left for Pedro, who earns a corner off Coady. But the set piece isn’t brilliant, and Edwards clears with ease. Chelsea try to come back at Wolves with some crisp triangular passing, but the home team are still pressing with verve and passion, and eventually the move breaks down.
6.12pm GMT
40 min: Coady, Edwards and Helder Costa combine well down the right. There’s time for Coady to tease a cross into the Chelsea box. Terry blasts it clear, and Chelsea are off on the break. It’s Willian, Diego Costa and Hazard versus a couple of all-gold shirts; relief floods around Molineux as Hazard plays a loose ball to let the home team off the hook. No goals yet, but what an enjoyable, open game.
6.09pm GMT
37 min: A fine battle in the midfield between Price and Diego Costa. The Wolves man wins the tussle, and sends Saville zipping down the left. The resulting cross is no good. But Wolves continue to impress, and on their own terms too; it’s not as though Chelsea are playing badly.
6.07pm GMT
35 min: This is a lot better from Weimann, though. His clever no-eyes reverse pass down the left releases Doherty out of a hectic pocket. Doherty reaches the byline and creams a delightful cross through the six-yard box. For some reason, Bodvarsson doesn’t really bother jumping. He should have, because he was only six yards out, and would surely have planted a header home. Wolves have had their chances against the English champions-elect.
6.05pm GMT
33 min: Weimann is booked for a hilarious forward’s challenge on Willian. A sliding tackle which is late, clumsy and nowhere near the ball. He’d have a right cheek arguing about that one, so he doesn’t bother.
6.03pm GMT
32 min: And now a free kick for Wolves up the other end, on the right. Helder Costa swings it deep, and Batth nearly connects with a boot, sliding in at the far post. But he can’t guide the ball goalwards, and in any case the offside flag goes up. It’s not quite sparking into life, this match. But it might not take much. There’s promise.
6.02pm GMT
30 min: Corner for Chelsea down the left. Fabregas whips it into the mixer. Ikeme comes through a crowd to punch clear, despite intense pressure from Ake and Terry. He’s awarded a free kick by the referee, because that’s what happens, even though it looked like a fair contest all round.
6.01pm GMT
29 min: Chelsea ping it around the front of the Wolves box awhile. Eventually Moses has a shot from the right-hand corner of the area. It’s deflected off the leg of Doherty, and sails harmlessly into the arms of Ikeme.
6.00pm GMT
28 min: Edwards earns himself a little space 30 yards from the Chelsea goal with a clever turn and drop of the shoulder. Instead of an ambitious shot, he lays off to Helder Costa on his right. Costa cuts inside and curls a fine shot towards the bottom right. Begovic is behind it all the way.
5.58pm GMT
26 min: Fabregas hoicks a high ball down the right. Moses kills it stone dead, and tears towards the goal from a tight-ish angle. He zips past Weimann, but the Wolves man tracks back well and, as Moses shapes to shoot, gets a block in. The ball bounces back off Weimann, onto Moses, and out for a goal kick. Moses probably should have done better, but what a first touch.
5.57pm GMT
24 min: Fabregas tries to send Diego Costa clear down the inside-right channel. Batth comes across and shepherds the ball back to Ikeme. He tangles with Costa in doing so. Both players take turns to stick their hands in the other’s face. Baath goes down clutching his eye, and doesn’t accept Costa’s hand of friendship when it’s offered. This old-school battle could provide a lot of entertainment this evening.
5.54pm GMT
22 min: Saville busies himself to win a corner down the left. The set piece is hit long for Hause, who heads harmlessly wide right. This has been a good see-saw battle so far, with both sides effervescent in attack.
5.53pm GMT
20 min: Wolves still have Chelsea pinned back in their final third. Coady crosses from the right. Saville nearly gets a head on it. Weimann contests a 50-50 with Ake, who barges him off the ball from the side. Wolves want the penalty kick, but that was a fair side-to-side challenge. Willian threatens to break dangerously, so Saville pulls him back, taking a booking for the team.
5.49pm GMT
18 min: Good work from Bodvarsson, who works the left flank, pulls Zouma out of position, and pulls back for Doherty, who earns a corner. Begovic powerfully punches the set piece clear, but Wolves keep the box loaded and Chelsea pinned back. Coady, who has looked impressive on the right so far, loops yet another cross into the area. Edwards tries to guide a header goalwards, but his effort is well wide of the target.
5.47pm GMT
15 min: Willian, in the centre circle, sprays a pass down the middle to release Hazard. Ikeme is wise to the grift, and comes out of his area to beat Hazard to the ball and hoof clear. Chelsea are beginning to look pretty dangerous.
5.45pm GMT
14 min: Saville and Diego Costa clashed heads at the aforementioned corner, by the way. Both players are given the once-over, and are able to continue.
5.44pm GMT
12 min: Fabregas caresses a glorious ball down the inside-right channel to release Willian into the Wolves box. He’s one on one with Ikeme, and should really score, but doesn’t get enough purchase on his little dink over the outrushing keeper, who parries. Willian works to earn a corner, which comes to nothing. This game could, probably should, be 1-1. As it is, we’re still goalless. But it’s a bright, breezy, open match, and very enjoyable so far.
5.42pm GMT
11 min: Chelsea have allowed themselves to be harried and hurried during the early exchanges, but there are signs they’re working their way into a groove now. Fabregas is pinging passes hither and yon from deep, quite the quarterback, Pedro is buzzing on the left, while Moses is offering power and pace down the right. Wolves watch out.
5.40pm GMT
9 min: Of course, a livid Diego Costa is a supremely effective Diego Costa. Will Wolves live to regret baiting him?
5.40pm GMT
7 min: Batth and Diego Costa come together as the pair contest a ball sent down the Chelsea inside right. The Chelsea striker falls to the floor. He’s been clipped accidentally from behind by Baath, and should get a free kick just outside the box. But he doesn’t get the decision. Costa leaps up and springs around in a glorious fury like Zebedee. Time for tantrum! He is fuming. He’s in the right, of course, but the referee has to quietly tell him to simmer down.
5.37pm GMT
5 min: Wolves hit the post, though they should be in the lead! Coady, from a deep position on the right, swings another ball into the Chelsea box. Zouma panics underneath it, swiping at fresh air and letting it clank off his thigh, to Saville, free on the penalty spot! He has to score. He has to. But he slices his shot slightly, and although there’s plenty of power in it, the ball balloons off the left-hand upright and away. What a chance!
5.35pm GMT
4 min: Pedro embarks on a scamper down the left, and is knocked to the floor. The resulting free kick doesn’t lead to much, because Wolves are hunting in packs and disrupting Chelsea’s passing game.
5.33pm GMT
2 min: Coady bursts down the right and whips a high cross into the area. Begovic tips over the bar with Weimann hovering menacingly. The resulting corner comes to nothing, but Wolves have started very briskly.
5.32pm GMT
And we’re off! A paint-blistering atmosphere at Molineux. A full house. Hi-ho Wolverhampton. The home side get the ball rolling, and send it sailing out of play within 12 seconds. But Chelsea haven’t woken up yet, and from the resulting throw nearly allow Bodvarsson to bustle through the middle. Zouma gets in a crucial block, and the danger is over.
5.30pm GMT
The teams are out! Wolverhampton Wanderers are in their world-famous old-gold shirts. Chelsea face them in their equally storied blue. Two strips of old-school perfection. Can Wolves pay Chelsea back for taking the English title off their hands in 1955? That’ll be what’s uppermost in their minds, right? We’ll be off in a minute!
5.19pm GMT
Antonio Conte speaks! “The Lincoln result is the beauty of the FA Cup. In England, there is no easy game in the cup. It does not exist. We know the difficulty of the game. We want to go into the next round, but we know this game will be very tough. I have tried to make the best choices with my team. It will be very important to fight until the end, and try to win the trophy.”
5.10pm GMT
Paul Lambert speaks! “I thought Chelsea might have changed a bit more! But they’re still top class, they’re a top side. We’ve earned the right to play them, and we won’t change what we’ve done in the ties against Stoke and Liverpool. We’ll do our best, try to take Chelsea out of their comfort zone. We might cause them a little bit of trouble on the counter. We need to go over the top of them. I don’t think we can play in front of them.”
4.53pm GMT
Wolves have lost three on the bounce, so it’s no wonder Paul Lambert has shaken things up a bit. He’s made five changes to the starting XI sent out here against Wigan last Tuesday. Out go Richard Stearman, Lee Evans, Connor Ronan, Ben Marshall and Bright Enobakhare; in come Conor Coady, Kortney Hause, George Saville, Jack Price and Andreas Weimann.
Chelsea have gone a couple better, making seven changes from the side named at Burnley last Sunday. Resting up: Thibaut Courtois, Marcos Alonso, Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic; the only men left standing are Pedro, Diego Costa, Victor Moses and Eden Hazard. In come Asmir Begovic, Nathan Ake, Kurt Zouma, Cesc Fabregas, Nathaniel Chalobah, Willian and the club captain John Terry.
4.53pm GMT
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Ikeme, Coady, Batth, Hause, Doherty, Price, Saville, Helder Costa, Edwards, Weimann, Bodvarsson.
Subs: Stearman, Evans, Enobakhare, Saiss, Burgoyne, Ronan, White.
Chelsea: Begovic, Zouma, Terry, Ake, Moses, Chalobah, Fabregas, Pedro, Willian, Costa, Hazard.
Subs: Kante, Loftus-Cheek, Kenedy, Batshuayi, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Eduardo.
11.33pm GMT
Wolverhampton Wanderers have won the FA Cup four times. Though it’s been a while: their last two successes were under the yoke of Stan Cullis, a long time ago now. Another triumph - which would erase the memory of being given the bird by bored punters after beating Blackburn Rovers in the beyond-dull 1960 final - is long overdue. Having already registered one of the shocks of this year’s tournament by beating Liverpool at Anfield, Wolves are within their rights to dream.
Problem is, they face runaway Premier League leaders Chelsea at Molineux this evening. And the champions-elect, unencumbered by European commitments this season, don’t need to make wholesale changes. The Blues have also got recent history on their side: they beat Wolves 6-0 in the League Cup in their last encounter in 2012; they won on their last visit to Molineux, 2-1 in the league in 2012; and they’ve put 29 goals past Wolves in seven matches since the turn of the millennium, a rate of over four a game.
Related: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Chelsea: match preview
Continue reading...Burnley 0-1 Lincoln City: FA Cup fifth round – as it happened
Premier League Burnley were stunned by Lincoln, who deservedly became the first non-league team to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals in 103 years.
2.51pm GMT
What a cup tie! One of the greatest shocks - one of the greatest matches - in the entire history of the oldest major competition in world football! Lincoln City have become the first non-league side to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup since Queens Park Rangers managed it in 1914. (That was the year Burnley lifted the trophy, a lovely additional historical quirk.) Their victory was hugely deserved; the Imps were magnificent from front to back. Burnley weren’t at their best, but they simply weren’t allowed to be, as the comical rolling spat between an irate Joey Barton and the uncowed Matt Rhead illustrated. So Lincoln’s hero, the goalscorer Sean Raggett, has become an instant FA Cup legend, not least because of that post-match interview. “No time for celebrations, it’s North Ferriby on Tuesday.” The unique glamour of the FA Cup right there. What a goal! What a quote! What a cup tie!
Related: Lincoln City topple Burnley as Sean Raggett seals historic FA Cup shock
Related: Lincoln City FA Cup hero Raggett: ‘I’m lost for words, it’s mad, I can’t believe it’
2.41pm GMT
And now here’s Danny Cowley, the Lincoln manager. “We said it would be a one-in-a-hundred chance. And it was. Last eight of the FA Cup sounds pretty good. Not often I’m lost for words, but this is one of those occasions. It was a fantastic feeling! I’m mightily proud. About five or six of our players were saying ‘Tuesday night, Tuesday night now!’ We’ve got North Ferriby in the league, and that says everything about our group.”
2.31pm GMT
♫Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be, we’re going to Wem-ber-lee, que sera sera!♫ The Lincoln fans having had their say, here’s the goalscoring hero, History’s Sean Raggett! “I’m lost for words, it’s mad right now, I can’t believe it, but we’re a special group. I really didn’t know what to do with my celebration. They’re a top-quality side, they drew with Chelsea last week! It’s amazing! We didn’t come here for the occasion, we came here to win! It’s crazy! A non-league side in the quarter-finals?! It’s unheard of. No time for celebrations, though, it’s North Ferriby away on Tuesday.” What a delicious quote that last line is. The beauty of FA Cup football, right there. What a hero!
2.27pm GMT
Arfield has a shot from 30 yards. It whistles through a thicket of players, and back out! And that’s that! Lincoln have become the first non-league side to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup since 1914! This is one of the most incredible stories in the modern history of this grand old tournament!
2.25pm GMT
90 min +4: Arfield swings it in, but Waterfall clears! The ball’s blootered upfield. Lincoln are so close!
2.24pm GMT
90 min +3: But this isn’t over. Gray bursts into the Lincoln box down the left, and shoots from a tight angle. Farman smothers. Corner! Which leads to another corner. And another! From which...
2.23pm GMT
90 min +2: Turf Moor is bouncing. The Lincoln fans can be heard in Yorkshire. They’ve already seen their way through the first two of the five added minutes.
2.22pm GMT
Habergham hits the corner long. Waterfall, in acres of space to the left of the area, heads the ball back across the face of goal. Raggett rises, and heads into the top right! Heaton tries to scoop out, but can’t do it! The ball’s over the line, and the non-league side are five added minutes away from the quarter finals! This is astonishing!
2.20pm GMT
89 min: The corner’s looped long. At the far post, Waterfall rises and his presence earns another corner, this time from the right. And from that...
2.19pm GMT
88 min: Rhead and Arnold combine down the left to earn a corner. They couldn’t, could they? They load the box, that much we know.
2.18pm GMT
86 min: Boyd lifts the ball forward, straight down the middle. Gray is on it like a flash. But upon reaching the edge of the area, he shanks an awful shot high and wide left. Down the other end, Darikwa heads a long ball back to his keeper Heaton. There’s just enough power on it, though Arnold very nearly nipped in to make history. Wow. Burnley fans will have had their hearts in their mouths for a couple of nanoseconds there.
2.16pm GMT
85 min: Barnes dispossesses Power in the centre circle. Gray is given the ball, and he eats up a few yards before laying off to Arfield on his right. Arfield lumps a dismal effort over the bar from the right-hand corner of the D.
2.15pm GMT
83 min: Arfield arcs the corner deep. At the far post, Tarkowski looks for the top right with a close-range header, but somehow flashes his effort over. Lincoln are so close to a famous result, but they’re finally giving up chances.
2.14pm GMT
82 min: Westwood squeezes a clever ball down the inside-left channel for Boyd, who would have been clear had Waterfall not stuck out a leg to deflect the pass out for a corner.
2.12pm GMT
80 min: For the first time this afternoon, Lincoln look a little bit ragged. Darikwa sashays into the box from the right, and rolls a low pass inside for Gray, who takes a fresh-air swipe. No matter, the ball trundles on for Boyd, who must score, as he’s free, ten yards out. But he hesitates, put off by the nearby Barnes, and the Burnley pair allow Farman to rush out and break up the move. This is breathless!
2.10pm GMT
79 min: Westwood wins a header on the edge of the Lincoln box. The ball’s guided down to Barnes, who can’t quite get a shot away. But after being on the ropes awhile, the Premier League side are fighting back.
2.09pm GMT
78 min: Nope. At least not yet. Barton scoops the free kick to the far post, where Barnes heads harmlessly into the arms of Farman.
2.09pm GMT
77 min: Raggett drags Gray down, on the right-hand edge of the Lincoln box. Barton fancies this free kick. After spending most of the afternoon in the middle of a cartoon cloud with fists and boots coming out of it, he couldn’t land the killer blow creatively, could he?
2.06pm GMT
74 min: Lincoln have Burnley pressed back here. A cross into the right, Rhead nearly getting on the edge of it. A corner, and a scramble in the area. Burnley clear, but only after making a nine-course tasting menu of it. The ball brushes Keane’s arm, but that would have been a very harsh penalty. Doesn’t stop Lincoln asking the question, of course.
2.04pm GMT
72 min: Vokes is replaced by Barnes.
2.03pm GMT
70 min: Wahey! This has kicked off! Woodyard stumbles into the Burnley area from the right. He falls over, onto the ball, and that’s going to be a free kick to Burnley, a chance to clear their lines. But Flanagan and Barton try to kick the ball clear. Hawkridge rushes in. He cops one in the face from Barton, then is shoved by Flanagan. Then he falls, clutching his face. Barton is booked, as is Wood for getting involved in the resulting melee. Barton should probably have walked there, for clawing Hawkridge’s beak. But the Lincoln man’s cynical delayed reaction has probably saved the Burnley man.
1.59pm GMT
67 min: Southwell, out on the right, curls a cross to the far post, where Rhead rises highest. But the big striker can’t connect properly, and eyebrows harmlessly wide left. Burnley are beginning to look nervous, and with good reason: Lincoln are the better side right now, and are creating half-chances.
1.58pm GMT
65 min: Southwell comes on for Muldoon. He’s immediately in the thick of it, not quite able to convert a ball sent into the Burnley box from the right. The away side are up for this and no mistake.
1.57pm GMT
63 min: Now what’s happened here? Barton is rolling around on the floor, holding his head. Ah right. While waiting for a free kick to be delivered into the Burnley box, Barton’s stamped on Rhead’s foot, then went down, deliberately running into Rhead’s extended arm from behind and claiming a deliberate elbow. What sauce! What nonsense! The referee lectures the pair without sanction. Rhead is understandably aghast, though the two players share a joke and a smile afterwards.
1.53pm GMT
61 min: Westwood really should flick Vokes clear down the inside-left channel, but his pass on the turn is misplaced.
1.52pm GMT
59 min: Burnley earn themselves a corner on the left. The box is loaded. Arfield fizzes the ball towards the near post, but nobody in claret can connect. Keane is penalised for hand ball, though Raggett was climbing all over him, in spite of all the danger. This is a proper FA Cup scrap.
1.50pm GMT
57 min: This is getting a little lively. Tarkowski smacks into Rhead, a late challenge which should result in a yellow card, but doesn’t. Then Barton and Power compete for a high ball, the former winning the duel and clattering the latter in heading upfield. On the touchline, Lincoln boss Danny Cowley and Burnley coach Ian Woan enjoy a full and frank exchange of views over the merit of Barton’s challenge. This is marvellous fun.
1.46pm GMT
54 min: Wood curls a high ball down the right wing. Arnold spins Flanagan and shapes to make off towards the box, but the flag goes for a free kick. That’s a little bit generous to Burnley, Arnold was entitled to challenge for that.
1.44pm GMT
52 min: A free kick for Burnley out on the left. Barton swings a fine ball in towards the near post, where it drops over Gray’s shoulder. Gray should really poke home from six yards, but his stab goes wide left. Admittedly that’s not the easiest skill, but Gray was unchallenged, so that goes down as a fine chance spurned.
1.42pm GMT
50 min: Arnold makes good down the right and curls a low cross into the Burnley area. There’s no green shirts in there, and Darikwa can chest back to Heaton, though he makes a meal of it, and Rhead isn’t miles away from turning up late and stealing the ball. Heaton gathers.
1.41pm GMT
49 min: Muldoon looks to spin round Tarkowski on the right wing. He’d have been able to launch a quick attack, had he not been cynically hauled back. For some reason, the referee keeps his card in his pocket, but the Burnley defender should be punished for that. It’s just a free kick, which is worth absolutely nothing in the midfield.
1.39pm GMT
47 min: Burnley have come out with a new sense of purpose, though. Gray brings down the ball in the middle of the park and caresses a pass down the inside-left channel for Arfield to chase. Arfield enters the box; Farman comes out to smother. The pair collide, the poor keeper taking a knee in the mush. Completely accidental. Arfield apologises, Farman is mopped down with the magic sponge, and we continue.
1.37pm GMT
And we’re off again! Lincoln get the ball rolling for the second half. It’s lumped down the right; they’ve loaded that wing. Not totally unlike a restart in the Six Nations. And it’s effective, the ball nearly breaking towards Arnold on the edge of the Burnley box. Tarkowski heads clear.
1.21pm GMT
Half-time raffle: Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win!
Related: Win (home) tickets to Chelsea v Swansea City in the Premier League
1.20pm GMT
Nearly! A bit of head tennis on the edge of the Lincoln box ends with Arfield having a dig from the edge of the area. He really should get that on target, but the ball’s witlessly blootered over the crossbar. And that’s your lot for the first half. Burnley have been disjointed; Lincoln have been resolute and occasionally inspired in attack. They’ve been marvellous in this first half. Could a huge shock be on the cards? We’ll know in an hour or so. Don’t go anywhere, the second half promises to be a cracker!
1.17pm GMT
45 min: Rhead goes up for a high ball with Tarkowski, who leans on his shoulders and concedes a free kick. The set piece is hoicked into the mixer, Waterfall winning the first header. But three green shirts have jumped offside, and the flag goes up. There will be two added minutes. Can anyone break the deadlock before half-time?
1.16pm GMT
44 min: For a side with such a good home record, Burnley aren’t playing with much confidence right now. Arfield, on the left, sends a throw-in straight out for a goal kick.
1.15pm GMT
42 min: A long throw by Habergham from the left. Bother in the Burnley box! Arnold very nearly gets a shot away from 12 yards, level with the left-hand post, but he’s denied the chance at the very last by Keane. Lincoln continue to ask questions up front.
1.13pm GMT
40 min: This hasn’t been a classic by any stretch, not yet. But it’s a very enjoyable game nonetheless. Lincoln have been superb.
1.12pm GMT
38 min: Darikwa Garrinchas his way down the right, twisting Habergham this way and that. He reaches the by-line and whips in a decent cross, which is powerfully headed clear by Waterfall. But Barton’s rushing in, and he connects sweetly with the dropping ball, sending a pearler of a volley goalwards from 20 yards. It’s straight at Farman, though, and gathered with confidence by the Lincoln keeper. Fine play all round, that.
1.09pm GMT
36 min: Rhead is a handful. Once again he wrestles with Barton, and once again the Premier League player comes off second best. Having earlier taken one in his startled boat, Barton now rubs his shoulder with a grimace. This battle is from the old school, and much entertainment it’s providing too. Again, to be scrupulously fair to Barton, he’s not moaning about this. You suspect he’s rather enjoying the test, in fact.
1.07pm GMT
35 min: A long ball lofted into the Burnley box from the left. Rhead rises gloriously above Tarkowski to head down for Muldoon, who looks to spin on the penalty spot and get a snapshot away. Keane grapples, and Flanagan comes in to block and clear. But for a second, Burnley looked undone, and not for the first time this lunchtime. Lincoln have been excellent.
1.05pm GMT
33 min: Darikwa misjudges a high ball down the left, allowing Muldoon to scamper into space. But the Burnley defender makes up for his mistake by chasing Muldoon down and robbing the ball back off him.
1.03pm GMT
31 min: Arfield wins another corner off Wood down the left. It’s played short, and it’s a total waste of time. Boyd tries to salvage something by chasing down a loose ball on the other wing, but he eventually trips Hawkridge and the territorial pressure on Lincoln is lifted.
1.01pm GMT
29 min: Darikwa, deep on the right, hoicks a ball into the Lincoln box that can best be described as hopeful. But if you don’t buy a ticket ... and Farman hesitates in coming off his line. Instead of the keeper collecting, as he should, he allows Vokes to win a header. The ball loops over the crossbar, with the net unguarded. Burnley are beginning to make some inroads, though. The Lincoln fans respond by pointing out that they are top of the league.
12.59pm GMT
27 min: Burnley’s first real shot in anger. The first on target, at least. Gray works a little space down the inside-left channel, and wallops a low drive goalwards. It’s straight at Farman, whose handling is up to the task. Boyd was lurking.
12.58pm GMT
26 min: Muldoon flicks a ball over Flanagan’s head and zips down the right wing. He’s got the legs to beat the full back, but Tarkowski comes across to clear. From the resulting throw, Wood loops in a cross from the right. Muldoon nearly gets a boot to the dropping ball, but Keane hoicks it away from danger.
12.56pm GMT
24 min: Burnley have enjoyed 67% of the possession so far. They’ve not really done very much with it. On the touchline, Sean Dyche looks a trifle irritated. It’s not quite concern. Not yet.
12.54pm GMT
22 min: Arfield turns on the jets as he makes his way down the left. Wood just about keeps up, and concedes a corner. Arfield takes the set piece himself, whipping it towards the near post. From the corner of the six-yard box, Keane stoops and attempts to steer a header into the left-hand side of the net. His effort is well wide left. Farman in the Lincoln goal has had nothing to do yet.
12.52pm GMT
20 min: Gudmundsson can’t continue, having taken a rare old clatter there. He shakes his head sadly as he departs, a rare chance to impress gone. Boyd takes his place.
12.51pm GMT
18 min: Power is booked for a late slide on Gudmundsson. It was clumsy more than malicious, the Lincoln man sold a subtle dummy and mistiming his tackle. He can’t really complain. From the resulting set piece, lumped into the box, Vokes lashes high over the bar from the edge of the area.
12.50pm GMT
16 min: “We are top of the league,” chorus the travelling faithful. The Lincoln fans are enjoying this.
12.48pm GMT
14 min: The extremely busy Arnold makes his way down the right and earns a corner off a dawdling Flanagan. The set piece comes to nothing, Rhead getting a bit over-physical in the middle of the mixer. Lincoln aren’t exactly on top, but they’re creating the lion’s share of the bother.
12.46pm GMT
12 min: Habergham and Muldoon combine down the left, and slide the ball inside for Arnold, who sends a weak pea-roller towards the Burnley goal from 30 yards. It nearly turns into half a chance for the lurking Rhead, as Heaton and Tarkowski confuse each other in their attempts to gather/clear. The defender eventually zips the ball away from danger.
12.43pm GMT
11 min: Gudmundsson finds a little space in the Lincoln box to the right of the goal, but can’t find anyone with his hook-back. Lincoln will be delighted with their start: the Premier League side have yet to manufacture a shot on goal.
12.42pm GMT
9 min: Keane, from a deep position on the right, plays a gorgeous crossfield ball towards Arfield, who very nearly breaks into the Lincoln box. Waterfall is on hand to smother. Burnley come again, through Barton down the middle. Rhead, who is a big and uncompromising unit, crumps his arm in the midfielder’s coupon. Here I am! That’s a good old-fashioned challenge, and Barton, to his credit, doesn’t make a huge song and dance over it. The resulting free kick comes to nothing.
12.39pm GMT
7 min: The 3,000 travelling Lincoln fans are giving it plenty. Who says the cup doesn’t matter any more? People who don’t do very much thinking, that’s who.
12.38pm GMT
5 min: Oh they don’t look overawed! Arnold makes good down the right wing, chasing a long ball. He brings it down brilliantly, and turns Tarkowski with ease, before slipping a ball into the box for Muldoon. He’s clear on the penalty spot! But he has to take his shot first time, and in looking to sidefoot a curler into the top right, leans back and blooters it high and wide. But what a move! Burnley were undone there. Lincoln should be leading!
12.36pm GMT
3 min: Otherwise, Lincoln have started in a very orderly fashion. They don’t look overawed.
12.35pm GMT
And we’re off! It’s not long before Burnley are on the front foot, Gray causing a bit of concern for Lincoln down the inside-left channel. But with Vokes also lurking, the ball’s shepherded back to Farman by Waterfall, and the early danger is over.
12.31pm GMT
A fine FA Cup atmosphere at grand old Turf Moor. The teams take to the pitch, Burnley in their famous claret and blue, Lincoln in second-choice green. And you’ll be wiping away a tear or two of salty emotion, as Burnley’s players come out hand in hand with senior mascots instead of the usual kiddies, a special thank-you for a lifetime of support. We’ll be off in a minute!
12.21pm GMT
Six changes for Burnley, from the XI sent out against Chelsea last weekend, with Robbie Brady cup-tied, Steven Defour injured and Jeff Hendrick suspended. Lincoln meanwhile make two swaps from the line-up named for their win over Woking last weekend. Jack Muldoon and Alan Power come in for Billy Knott and Dayle Southwell.
12.18pm GMT
Burnley boss Sean Dyche speaks! “I don’t really do rotation. We always look to put out a team to win a game, and get the outcome we want. Lincoln are doing a great job, they’re organised, they get the ball forward to Rhead, who is their main pivot of attack. But you can’t underestimate the rest of their team. They’re very competitive, we have to match that, we have to go beyond that. Performance is key. We take everyone seriously, they’ve been good enough to get through, so we have to deliver a good performance.”
12.07pm GMT
Danny Cowley, the Lincoln manager, speaks! “The over-riding emotion is one of excitement. We try to take the emotion out of these games, we’ve got to make sure we focus and be the best version of ourselves. If it’s a one in a hundred chance, we have to believe it’s our moment. It’s a challenge, but we deserve to be here, and deserve the opportunity to play a Premier League team in the fifth round of the FA Cup. We’ve been inspired by the magnitude of the games, and it’s allowed us to connect with our supporters and the local community of Lincoln. I’ve got real respect for Burnley, they set a benchmark, and we’re looking to pit our wits against them.”
12.03pm GMT
Burnley: Heaton, Darikwa, Keane, Tarkowski, Flanagan, Arfield, Barton, Westwood, Gudmundsson, Gray, Vokes.
Subs: Lowton, Mee, Barnes, Robinson, Boyd, Ward, Agyei.
Lincoln City: Farman, Wood, Waterfall, Raggett, Habergham, Hawkridge, Power, Woodyard, Muldoon, Arnold, Rhead.
Subs: Southwell, Marriott, Long, Walton, McMenemy, McCombe, Ward.
12.01pm GMT
Before we bother with fripperies such as team news, let’s get to the heart of the matter. “Still no crest for Lincoln!” splutters Mark Taylor at our MBM layout. “Tell me if Lincoln get to the final that someone at the Graun is going to cut and paste the Lincoln crest. Granted, it’s weird, but it’s no uglier than Burnley’s.” We hear you, Mark, it is a most egregious omission. The flipside of being a non-league success story, I guess, but that’s no consolation. At short notice, this (below) is the best I can do to rectify the situation. It’s not ideal, but the lovable/deranged Imp is there for the world to see, and if nothing else the mise-en-scène has an old-school charm.
11.25pm GMT
They keep telling us the magic of the FA Cup is long gone. Well, maybe, but try convincing Lincoln City. The Imps have made it past Guiseley, Altrincham, three-time semi-finalists Oldham Athletic, 1983 finalists Brighton and Hove Albion and 1978 winners Ipswich Town to make it to the last 16 for the first time in 130 years. (They lost 3-0 in Glasgow against Rangers in 1887, for the record. Different times all right.) If they beat Burnley this lunchtime, they’ll become the first non-league side to reach the quarter-finals since Queens Park Rangers in 1914. The magic of the cup gone? Right you are.
Beating Burnley this lunchtime is a hell of an ask, mind. Sean Dyche might be tempted into making a couple of changes, but his comfortable Premier League team have lost just three of their last 29 matches at Turf Moor. Liverpool, Everton and reigning champions Leicester City have been seen off this season; champions-elect Chelsea were contained just the other week. And Burnley fancy recreating events of 1914 themselves; it was the year they won their only FA Cup. The magic of the old pot gone? Oh I don’t think so.
Related: Burnley v Lincoln City: match preview
Continue reading...February 16, 2017
Manchester United 3-0 St-Étienne: Europa League – as it happened
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, ever the scourge of Saint-Étienne, scored his first hat-trick in United colours to see off the brave French side.
9.58pm GMT
Pogba sends his free kick wide left, and that’s the final act of the game. A slightly strange match. United deserved to win it, no doubt, but Saint-Étienne probably didn’t deserve to be on the end of a 3-0 scoreline that in all likelihood has put them out and sent their opponents into the last 16. Thing is, though, they’ve just never had an answer to that Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Nighty night!
Related: Zlatan Ibrahimovic hat-trick drives Manchester United past St-Étienne
9.56pm GMT
90 min +3: Selnaes slides into Ibrahimovic, just outside the Saint-Étienne D. A free kick for United in a very dangerous position. Paul Pogba’s lining it up.
9.55pm GMT
90 min +2: Roux is once again very nearly sent clear down the middle. A late away goal would alter the picture somewhat, so United need to be careful.
9.54pm GMT
90 min +1: Lingard very nearly bursts clear down the left. A 4-0 scoreline would be very cruel on Saint-Étienne. This 3-0 one will sting enough. They’ve played well.
9.53pm GMT
90 min: There will be a minimum of four added minutes.
9.52pm GMT
Ibrahimovic completes his first Manchester United hat-trick by slamming the penalty into the bottom left. He really does have it in for Saint-Étienne, doesn’t he. Seventeen goals in 14 games!
9.50pm GMT
87 min: Ibrahmovic is going nowhere in the Saint-Étienne box. Theophile-Catherine obliges by running behind him and tapping his leg. There’s not much contact, but Ibrahimovic isn’t looking a gift horse in the mouth. Down he goes. The ref points to the spot.
9.49pm GMT
85 min: Mourinho replaces Martial with Ashley Young. United are suddenly sitting back a bit. Old Trafford falls a bit quiet for the first time tonight. Hamouma skitters around the front of the United box, but can’t work a shooting position or find a pass.
9.47pm GMT
84 min: Saivet takes the second free kick, and hammers it witlessly into the wall. He then more artfully flicks the rebound to the left of the wall, in an attempt to work a shooting position, but runs the ball out of play for a goal kick.
9.46pm GMT
83 min: Bailly bundles Vertout over, 30 yards from goal, a wee bit to the left of centre. A chance for Saint-Étienne to load the box, and take a whack. Saivet shoots. Martial sticks his arm up and deflects the shot. Hand ball, and another free kick, this time just outside the area.
9.44pm GMT
81 min: It’s all United now. Attack versus defence. The visitors are holding firm right now, but for the first time they’re beginning to look a little ragged. Can they hold on, and keep themselves in the tie? “Bit disappointed to see that Saint Etienne aren’t playing Sarah Cracknell in midfield,” quips Robert Wolf Petersen, because somebody had to.
9.42pm GMT
79 min: Florentin Pogba goes down with cramp. Brother Paul comes over to check on him. Florentin gets up, hugs his brother, and makes off for the bench. He’s subbed, with Robert Beric taking his place.
9.40pm GMT
77 min: A couple of minutes ago, it was nearly 1-1. Now it’s nearly 3-0. Football, eh? Valencia jinks down the right and slips a pass inside for Lingard, who is lurking on the edge of the D. He sidefoots powerfully towards the bottom right. Inches away. Inches.
9.39pm GMT
United have been quiet for a while, but suddenly: bang! Rashford bursts into life, scooting past two green shirts down the left. He reaches the by-line and fires the ball into the centre. Ruffier gets a gentle hand on the cross, but only deflects it to Guess Who? Ibrahimovic, that’s who. He taps in for his fourth goal in six Europa League matches, and his 16th in 14 games against Saint-Étienne!
9.37pm GMT
73 min: Saint-Étienne come so close to grabbing a crucial away goal! Selnaes doesn’t take long to make an impression, dinking a clever ball down the inside-right from a deep central position to release Roux into the area! Romero comes rushing out and does just enough. Roux dinks the ball over him, but overcooks it, the ball floating over the bar. But only just. United breathe again!
9.35pm GMT
72 min: Ole Selnaes comes on for Pajot.
9.34pm GMT
71 min: A rare excursion into United territory for Saint-Étienne. Roux curls in a cross from the right. Romero gathers. Saint-Étienne come back at United. Vertout is slapped in the face by Paul Pogba’s swinging arm. It’s another yellow card.
9.33pm GMT
70 min: Mata is replaced, Marcus Rashford coming on. It’s Rashford’s 50th appearance for this famous old club already! What a talent.
9.32pm GMT
69 min: Paul Pogba hits the bar! Blind floats the free kick into the mixer from the left. Pogba, at the far post, six yards out, should score, but keeps his header high. It clatters off the frame of the goal and away. If he’d headed that down at all, it was 2-0 to United.
9.30pm GMT
68 min: Martial skates down the left for the nth time. Saivet brings him down as he looks to step inside. A free kick for United, 30 yards up the flank, and a chance to load the box.
9.29pm GMT
67 min: Lingard is booked for crumping his studs into Perrin’s shin. The Saint-Étienne captain has put his body on the line tonight all right.
9.28pm GMT
65 min: Nolan Roux comes on for Jorginho. Paul Pogba and Martial exchange crisp passes down the left, the former breaking into the box. Pogba slashes the ball wildly wide left of the goal from a tight angle. Lingard, in the middle, asks a question.
9.27pm GMT
64 min: Pajot comes through the back of Herrera, and is booked for his trouble.
9.26pm GMT
63 min: After a brief lull, arguably the first of a very entertaining match, United spring forward. Paul Pogba, cutting in from the right, spins and lashes a majestic shot which only just sails wide of the left-hand post from 25 yards.
9.23pm GMT
60 min: A gorgeous Cruyff Turn down the right by Mata. Florentin Pogba beaten all ends up. Mata very nearly zips clear but he doesn’t have the pace. But that was a lovely piece of skill.
9.21pm GMT
58 min: Herrera is booked for a deliberate hand ball while sliding across the turf. His quick, albeit cynical, thinking stopped Jorginho tearing off down the right. He’s taken one for the team, because the yellow card means he’ll miss the second leg.
9.20pm GMT
57 min: For a split second, it looks as though Ibrahimovic will have time for a shot from the edge of the Saint-Étienne area. He’s crowded out of it, but lays off to Valencia on the right. Valencia’s first-time shot is deflected inches wide of the left-hand post. The resulting corner comes to naught.
9.19pm GMT
56 min: Another threatening run by Martial, who looks to be getting his mojo back after a quiet few months. He very nearly breaks clear down the left, but can’t quite escape the attention of Theophile-Catherine.
9.17pm GMT
54 min: Martial drives into the Saint-Étienne area from the left. It’s a powerful run, but stylish too, and at the end of his speedy sashay he blasts a fine shot low and hard towards the bottom left. Ruffier does very well to parry the ball away from danger. From the resulting set piece, Ibrahimovic heads over from close distance, but under severe pressure. After finishing the first half poorly, United are very much back on the front foot.
9.15pm GMT
52 min: Perrin gets up gingerly, and blinks hard. He walks off the pitch, but it looks as though he’ll return. Meanwhile Malcuit comes back on, and Paul Pogba has a shot from distance that easily clears the bar. And finally Perrin is back. A slightly stop-start second half so far.
9.14pm GMT
50 min: Vertout bundles Valencia off the ball near the right-wing corner flag. Free kick for United in a dangerous position. The ball’s hoicked into the box, and Smalling - accidentally, it should be stressed - smashes his head into Perrin’s. Smalling grimaces awhile; Perrin looks to have taken a bigger whack, though. Saint-Étienne are in the wars right now.
9.12pm GMT
48 min: Malcuit is off the field taking running repairs. A lot of blood coming out of his mouth. Meanwhile, Ibrahimovic puts the ball in the Saint-Étienne net, heading home a deep Mata right-wing cross from six yards. But the thin green line had stepped up to play Ibrahimovic offside, and the United striker didn’t even bother celebrating. Offside.
9.10pm GMT
46 min: Lingard’s very first touch sends Ibrahimovic scampering clear down the inside-left channel. He’s not got the pace to make it into the box, so lays off to Martial on the left instead. Martial is ushered wide by Malcuit, and takes an elbow in the mouth for his trouble. A yellow card for Martial, and that could easily have been a red.
9.07pm GMT
And we’re off again! Saint-Étienne get the party restarted. United will be haring towards the Stretford End in this second half. They’ve made one change: Fellaini is hooked in favour of Jesse Lingard.
8.55pm GMT
Half-time viewing: Arsenal took a bit of a thumping last night, in case you hadn’t heard. Here’s some detailed analysis courtesy of the rather magnificent When Saturday Comes illustrator Tim Bradford.
8.54pm GMT
And that’s that. United go in with the precious lead, but the visitors will be very pleased with their performance. They were the better team during the closing stages of that half and could, probably should, be level. This promises to be a very enjoyable second half, especially if United can regain their early sparkle.
8.51pm GMT
45 min: Jorginho skates past Martial as though the United man wasn’t there. He’s free on the right, and reaches the by-line. He pulls the ball back for Pajot, who is clear on the penalty spot. Pajot lets the ball roll over his boot, and United are off the hook.
8.50pm GMT
44 min: Veretout is permitted to romp towards the United box. So much space in front of the United back four. He lashes a fairly dismal effort well wide left of the goal from the edge of the area. But United need to shake themselves out of their lethargy. A good thing half-time is coming up soon. With this in mind, Mourinho departs for the changing room, and he doesn’t look particularly chuffed. He’s not a man to let things lie, so expect tactical tweaks.
8.49pm GMT
42 min: It’s a wonder Saint-Étienne aren’t level. Now Monnet-Paquet chips a pass down the inside-left channel to release Hamouma. He’s got the legs on Bailly, though he’s a fair bit wide of the goal as he enters the box, and no team-mate has been able to keep up with him. He tries to smash a spectacular shot into the top left, but it’s wild, wild, wild.
8.47pm GMT
40 min: Hamouma busies himself down the left, and his low cross very nearly finds Pajot six yards from goal. Romero smothers and the danger is over. But Saint-Étienne deserve to be on terms, on the balance of play.
8.46pm GMT
39 min: Another misplaced pass by Bailly and Saint-Étienne are on the attack again. The ball falls to the feet of the busy Hamouma on the penalty spot. He creams a shot on the turn towards the top left. It’s going in, surely, but Bailly blocks it at source, making up for his error.
8.45pm GMT
38 min: Pajot has a dig from 25 yards. It’s not a bad connection, but the aim’s off: the ball whistles harmlessly to the left of the target. Saint-Étienne aren’t letting this lie by any means.
8.43pm GMT
37 min: Valencia blooters a long pass down the right to release Mata into acres. But once again he’s gone off too quickly. The offside flag saves Saint-Étienne. Then Vertout tries the same trick down the left, attempting to send Monnet-Paquet away. The flag goes up again.
8.41pm GMT
35 min: Saint-Étienne are playing with confidence, despite the scoreline. A long period of possession in the United half ends with Hamouma nearly opening the home side up down the middle with a ball-on-string dribble. Not quite: he’s crowded out of it.
8.39pm GMT
32 min: This is a lot of end-to-end fun. Now Saivet sashays into the United box and sends a fairly poor shot wide left of the target when he should really have made Romero work.
8.38pm GMT
31 min: United go straight up the other end, Martial gliding in effortlessly from the left, beating three men and sending a low diagonal ball towards the bottom right. Ruffier sticks a foot out to stop the ball, which ricochets out to Ibrahimovic. Surely he’ll tap home from six yards? Nope! It’s all happening too quickly, and in too confined a space, even for Ibra. The ball balloons over the bar, and the big striker holds his head in his hands.
8.37pm GMT
30 min: Hamouma cuts in from the left and George Bests across the front of the box. He lays off for Saivet, on the edge of the D. Saivet drags the ball back and then sends a no-lift snapshot towards the bottom left. It’s beating Romero, but just wide left.
8.36pm GMT
28 min: Ibrahimovic leaves a foot in on Jorginho in the middle of the park. That’s a wee bit saucy. It’s just a free kick, though. And it’s taken quickly, hoicked straight down the middle, releasing Hamouma. He can’t control, though. Had he managed to gather it, he’d have been one on one with Romero.
8.33pm GMT
26 min: Valencia gives the ball away, allowing Monnet-Paquet to tear into the United area from the left. His cross is blocked at source by Bailly. But Saint-Étienne come back at United again immediately, this time through Florentin Pogba. Again, the cross is no good. But United don’t look completely solid at the back. Quite a few loose passes. Mourinho’s lid will be rattling right now.
8.31pm GMT
25 min: Paul Pogba has been brilliant so far. He drops back into the quarterback position, and Zidanes a pass down the inside-left channel to release Mata into the box. Mata’s first-time shot is smothered by Ruffier; the pair battle for the ball, which squirms to the left of the goal and out for a goal kick.
8.30pm GMT
23 min: Fellaini bustles away as Fellaini does, winning a corner on the right. Mata takes, but the delivery doesn’t clear the first man. This is good end-to-end fun. The Saint-Étienne support are still making themselves heard.
8.29pm GMT
22 min: Saint-Étienne have recovered from the shock of conceding the goal. Vertout romps down the middle of the field, causing United to slink backwards with care. Vertout misplaces his pass towards Saivet on the right, letting the home side off the hook. It’s still a very breezy game.
8.27pm GMT
19 min: Saivet and Jorginho combine down the right, the latter cutting into the box and shaping to shoot. Blind gets in the way, but doesn’t make a clean tackle. Jorginho strides past him, then crumbles to the ground. There was contact, but Jorginho took a couple of steps after it, and went down under his own steam. No penalty, though the referee clearly thought about it for a split second.
8.24pm GMT
17 min: Ibrahimovic has Saint-Étienne’s number all right. That’s 15 goals in 14 games against them now.
8.23pm GMT
Ibrahimovic gambles on the wall jumping, and hits the free kick low. The wall doesn’t jump. No matter! The ball, initially heading towards the bottom left, clanks off Pajot’s legs and into the middle of the net, Ruffier having followed the initial route of the shot. A farcical goal, but United have the early lead!
8.20pm GMT
14 min: Now Paul Pogba rakes one out towards Blind on the left. Blind slips the ball inside, and Ibrahomovic goes to ground in the vague environs of Veretout. There wasn’t much contact at all, but United get the free kick, in Ibra Territory, just to the left of the D. The big man steps up, and...
8.18pm GMT
12 min: Monnet-Paquet puts his head down and goes on a Power Burst down the inside-left channel. He’s stopped in his tracks by Fellaini, but for a second United looked light at the back there. A fair chance this game won’t end goalless.
8.16pm GMT
10 min: Martial creams a fine shot from a deep position on the left. It’s a precision curler towards the bottom right; Ruffier extends himself to parry clear with strong hands. Fine football all round. This has been a lively, entertaining start, with both teams contributing to an open game.
8.15pm GMT
8 min: Paul Pogba is the first of the brothers to show. He rakes a gorgeous high left-to-right diagonal pass towards Valencia on the right. Valencia cuts inside and chips forward for Mata, who runs down the channel and cushions a header backwards. Fellaini latches onto it, and dispatches the ball sweetly into the bottom left. A fine finish, but Mata was miles offside, and nobody bothers complaining.
8.13pm GMT
7 min: The Saint-Étienne fans are keeping up quite a rhythm right now. They’re lending this game a proper continental atmosphere. Magical. United continue to pass the ball around the middle of the park in the patient style. After that shaky start, they’re settling into the game.
8.12pm GMT
5 min: United take the opportunity to stroke it around the middle awhile. Calm. Deep breaths. They’re taking their manager’s advice.
8.12pm GMT
3 min: Now Bailly allows a simple upfield hoof to bounce, very nearly letting Hamouma in again! Romero is out quickly to deal with the situation. On the touchline, Mourinho acts out the internationally understood mime for Calm Down Will You, For The Love Of All That’s Right And Proper. An uncertain start by United, and Bailly in particular.
8.10pm GMT
2 min: Bailly’s mind is still in the dressing room. He’s just given the ball away twice in less than 90 seconds, allowing Monnet-Paquet to first fire a cross towards Hamouma at the near post - Smalling clears - and then plays a lame backpass which gives Hamouma the chance to stride into the box. Romero comes off his line to narrow the angle when it’s one on one, and does enough to put the Saint-Étienne man off.
8.08pm GMT
And we’re off! United get the ball rolling. Saint-Étienne will kick towards the Stretford End in this first half. A lot of smoke, the paying punters having thrown a pyro party before the game. It’ll clear. Although there might be a bit of smoke in Perrin’s head: he miskicks a simple ball wildly on the edge of his own area, but Malcuit mops up before a swarm of red shirts can cause any trouble.
8.04pm GMT
The teams are out! A cracking atmosphere for a European night at Old Trafford. The away fans are doing their bit, giving it plenty. Manchester United are in their storied red shirts and white shorts, while Saint-Étienne sport their famous green. The Pogba brothers embraced warmly in the tunnel, incidentally, and took to the pitch chatting away with the warmest smiles playing across their faces. A special night for them. We’ll be off in a minute!
7.57pm GMT
Before we concentrate on this game, news of England’s other Europa League survivor. Tottenham Hotspur travelled to Gent this evening, and they’ve found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreline. Tim Hill watched every kick of their 1-0 first-leg defeat.
7.53pm GMT
Jose Mourinho speaks! “Mkhitaryan arrived this morning ill. We have a final to play soon, but we must focus on the cup matches against St Etienne and Blackburn first. We have picked the best possible team. We will try to win against a difficult team. They are very well organised and will defend a lot. Probably it will be difficult for us. But sometimes we play at home and have eight, nine or ten chances, but draw. Perhaps tonight we will have fewer chances but score more goals. It will be a good test for both Paul and Florentin Pogba’s professionalism. It is a funny situation, but perhaps not for the mum, because she cannot choose!”
7.43pm GMT
Pre-match reading: In case you missed it, here’s Peerless Paul Doyle’s piece from last weekend’s Observer on Florentin Pogba, brother of Paul, who lines up for Saint-Étienne tonight.
Related: Florentin Pogba’s dream comes true as he prepares to face brother Paul
7.20pm GMT
Manchester United stick with the side which waltzed past Watford at the weekend ... more or less. Sergio Romero gets a European run-out in place of the rested David de Gea, while the poorly Henrikh Mkhitaryan is replaced by health’s Marouane Fellaini.
Saint-Étienne meanwhile stick with the entire starting XI sent out to stuff Lorient 4-0 in Ligue 1 on Sunday. Confidence abounds in both camps, then, with form horses backed.
7.15pm GMT
Manchester United: Romero, Valencia, Smalling, Bailly, Blind, Mata, Herrera, Fellaini, Martial, Pogba, Ibrahimovic.
Subs: de Gea, Rojo, Lingard, Young, Rashford, Schweinsteiger, Darmian.
Saint-Étienne: Ruffier, Malcuit, Perrin, Theophile-Catherine, Pogba, Jorginho, Veretout, Pajot, Monnet-Paquet, Saivet, Hamouma.
Subs: Moulin, Lacroix, Roux, Selnaes, Lemoine, Beric, Pierre Gabriel.
12.00pm GMT
Manchester United have a fine home record against French opposition. They’ve hosted teams from across the briny on 12 occasions, and have won nine of the matches, drawing the other three. One of those nine victories was against tonight’s opponents Saint-Étienne: 2-0 in the 1977/78 Cup Winners Cup. Admittedly that fixture was staged at Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park due to crowd trouble, but a technical home victory’s a home victory’s a home victory. Les Verts have the weight of history against them tonight.
United should also be buoyed by another quirk of history. Saint-Étienne have faced English sides three times in Uefa combat. On two of those occasions, the team from England has prevailed and gone on to win the trophy. Liverpool and David Fairclough won a famous European Cup quarter final in 1977, while Bobby Robson’s Ipswich Town battered Saint-Étienne 7-2 on aggregate at the same stage of the Uefa Cup in 1981, John Wark, Paul Mariner and Arnold Muhren causing all sorts of bother. Only United themselves buck the trend - they beat the French side 3-1 on aggregate in that aforementioned 1977 Cup Winners Cup tie, but lost in the next round to Porto. Even so, these statistics are stacked in United’s favour.
Related: How Manchester United ended up facing St Étienne in Plymouth because of a riot | Paul Doyle
Continue reading...The Fiver | Wandering around aimlessly in a somnolent daze
Today: that Bill Murray film, Simon Grayson’s environmentally unfriendly plate and the Clat Man
Bayern Munich are usually the hot favourites whenever they face English opposition. Take the time they welcomed Liverpool to the Olympiastadion for the second leg of their Big Cup semi-final in 1981. Or when they faced Aston Villa in Rotterdam in the 1982 final. Or when they travelled to Barcelona in 1999 confident in their ability to see off Manchester United. Or the time, full of expectation, they welcomed Chelsea to their Allianz Arena in 2012. Can you spot a pattern developing?
Related: Arsène Wenger admits Arsenal ‘mentally collapsed’ during Bayern Munich rout
Continue reading...Wandering around aimlessly in a somnolent daze
Today: that Bill Murray film, Simon Grayson’s environmentally unfriendly plate and the Clat Man
Bayern Munich are usually the hot favourites whenever they face English opposition. Take the time they welcomed Liverpool to the Olympiastadion for the second leg of their Big Cup semi-final in 1981. Or when they faced Aston Villa in Rotterdam in the 1982 final. Or when they travelled to Barcelona in 1999 confident in their ability to see off Manchester United. Or the time, full of expectation, they welcomed Chelsea to their Allianz Arena in 2012. Can you spot a pattern developing?
Related: Arsène Wenger admits Arsenal ‘mentally collapsed’ during Bayern Munich rout
Continue reading...February 15, 2017
Real Madrid 3-1 Napoli: Champions League last 16, first leg – as it happened
Napoli started strongly, but Real came back to win an entertaining encounter, Casemiro providing the highlight with an absolute stunner.
9.39pm GMT
And that’s that! Lorenzo Insigne’s stunning away goal may yet have currency in the return. But the reigning European champions are in the driving seat thanks to Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Casemiro, the latter scoring a stupidly good volley to cap a highly entertaining match. If the return leg in Naples is half as good, we’ll be in for a treat!
Related: Casemiro stunner hands Real Madrid the edge against brave Napoli
9.37pm GMT
90 min +2: Insigne hoicks the ball forward. Pepe blooters it back upfield with purpose. Koulibaly attempts to return the ball, but his launch is blocked by Vazquez, who scampers towards the Napoli box. Koulibaly makes up for his error by sliding the ball back to Reina, who catches the “pass”. The home crowd demand a free kick for picking up a backpass, but that was never going to be given.
9.34pm GMT
90 min +1: There will be three added minutes, of which this is the first. Would both teams take this 3-1 result? Probably.
9.33pm GMT
90 min: The excellent Diawara strips Kroos in the centre circle. He’s got options down both channels, but suddenly he’s swarmed by Madrid men and can’t get what might have been a killer pass away.
9.31pm GMT
88 min: This is better from Marcelo. He jinks and jives down the left before dinking a fine cross into the centre. Morata is waiting for the ball to drop, but Koulibaly is on hand to bash a clearing header upfield.
9.29pm GMT
85 min: Milik’s first task is to chase a clever flick down the centre by Mertens. It’s not a bad ball, but Navas is quickly off his line to smother. Real go down the other end, Morata making good down the right and finding Ronaldo on the penalty spot. Ronaldo selflessly lays off to his left for Marcelo, even though he had opportunity to shoot. Bad idea, because Marcelo drags a dreadful effort across the face of goal and out on the right. He then has the audacity to claim it was a cross, bollocking Morata, who understandably can’t be bothered to argue the point.
9.27pm GMT
84 min: Hamsik, who has been relatively quiet this evening, is hooked for Arkadiusz Milik.
9.26pm GMT
83 min: Real win a corner down the right. Kroos pulls it back to Modric, just to the right of the D. Modric leans back and, looking for the top right, clears the bar.
9.25pm GMT
82 min: Benzema is replaced by Alvaro Morata.
9.25pm GMT
81 min: Now it’s Napoli’s turn to string together some passes. Real can’t get out of their final third. And suddenly they piece a lovely move together! Diawara, to the right of the box, swings one towards Insigne at the far post. Insigne heads back across the six-yard box, and Callejon bundles home! But he’s a yard offside, and the flag goes up. The correct decision, but a lovely move nonetheless.
9.22pm GMT
79 min: Real string a few passes together, pressing Napoli back. Ronaldo very nearly releases Benzema into the box with a cheeky backheel, but the pass is smothered. Napoli look to break upfield, but Mertens is cynically checked by Casemiro. No booking for that. Real have escaped a couple of yellow cards tonight.
9.21pm GMT
78 min: Something of a lull. This match hasn’t had many.
9.19pm GMT
76 min: Mertens is booked for a late clank on Casemiro. As the Real man rolls around, Rodriguez is replaced by Lucas Vazquez.
9.18pm GMT
75 min: Allan comes on for Zielinski.
9.17pm GMT
73 min: Kroos, playing deep, spots a gap in a packed penalty area, slipping a ball down the inside-left channel to release Rodriguez. James swivels and tries to flick the ball past Reina, towards the right-hand side of the goal and in. But Reina sticks out a strong arm, and saves Napoli.
9.16pm GMT
72 min: Insigne robs a daydreaming Casemiro in the middle of the Real half. He advances towards the box. He’s got options, but clanks a poor shot miles over the bar from distance.
9.15pm GMT
71 min: Pepe comes on for Ramos.
9.14pm GMT
70 min: Another chance for Mertens, who is slipped into the box down the left by Ghoulam. Mertens takes a shot from a tight angle. It’s smothered by Navas, and the ball ricochets off Mertens and out for a goal kick. This is far from over. But Napoli need to score the next goal in this tie.
9.12pm GMT
68 min: A huge chance for Napoli! Diawara, in the centre circle, sprays a delightful diagonal pass towards Callejon, just inside the Real box on the right. Callejon cushions a gorgeous ball inside for Mertens, who is free on the penalty spot. He must round off a wonderful move, but blasts over, before falling to the ground in a state of grief. What a miss! That would have put a very different complection on this tie.
9.10pm GMT
67 min: Real stroke it around awhile. Eventually the ball is worked to Casemiro, who has earned the right to have another dig from distance. He looks to curl one into the bottom right from 25 yards, but it’s wide of the target, and Reina had it covered anyway.
9.09pm GMT
66 min: Benzema makes good down the left, then pulls the ball back for Ronaldo, who snatches at his shot from the edge of the box. It’d work in rugby, or NFL, but not here.
9.08pm GMT
64 min: Ronaldo dinks one in from the left. Koulibaly’s clearing header isn’t too hot. Marcelo tries to copy Casemiro from the other flank. Shank! Nope!
9.07pm GMT
63 min: Real have switched off a bit, here. They’re sitting back, inviting Napoli to come at them. The visitors can’t get anything going, but this isn’t too clever. A second away goal for the Serie A side would change the picture dramatically.
9.05pm GMT
62 min: ... and curls one over the bar, while aiming for the top right. A half-decent effort, no more.
9.04pm GMT
61 min: A free kick for Napoli in a dangerous situation, the increasingly reckless Marcelo coming straight through the back of Callejon, just to the right of the D, maybe a couple of yards further out. Yet again the Real full back escapes a booking. Not sure what he has to do. Anyway, the set piece. Ghoulam steps up ...
9.03pm GMT
59 min: Napoli aren’t totally finished yet, of course. Insigne floats a ball down the middle to set Mertens scampering towards the Real box. Mertens very nearly flicks the ball over the head of Varane to carve out a shooting opportunity for himself, but a combination of Varane and Ramos hound him out of it. In the end, he concedes a free kick. But at least that shows the fight isn’t over quite yet.
9.01pm GMT
58 min: Diego Maradona, formerly of Napoli - and Barcelona, of course - is pictured in the stands. He has a face on.
9.00pm GMT
56 min: This tie has suddenly run away from Napoli. Ghoulam tries to create some trouble by whipping in a cross from the left, but Navas has it covered.
8.59pm GMT
Real ping the ball back and forth across the front of the Napoli box. Albiol puts a boot in and hacks half clear. The ball drops to Casemiro, the best part of 30 yards out, down the inside-right channel. He meets the dropping ball with a lazy swish of his boot, and sends a dipping pearler past a helpless Reina and into the bottom left! That is a peach of a goal. Zidane would have been proud of that himself!
8.56pm GMT
53 min: Modric and Rodriguez combine well down the right. Modric has time and space, but there’s nobody in the middle so he settles for the purchase of one corner off Koulibaly. The set piece is worked back to Marcelo, 25 yards out. The resulting effort flies 25 yards over the crossbar.
8.55pm GMT
52 min: Modric is correctly booked for a late clatter into the back of Hamsik.
8.54pm GMT
51 min: Napoli respond bravely, Insigne making space down the left and curling low into the Real box, very nearly finding Callejon free on the penalty spot. But Varane is on hand to clear.
8.53pm GMT
This was beautifully simple. Ronaldo sashays past Koulibaly down the right and reaches the by-line. Benzema is screaming for the pullback in the middle of the box, but he’s ignored in favour of Kroos, who from the right-hand edge of the D steers a first-time shot into the bottom right past a planted Reina. That’s a wonderful goal, and so much for Napoli’s confident start to the half.
8.52pm GMT
48 min: Napoli have started the second half with confidence. They’re pinging the ball around nicely. After a long period of possession, Hysaj is released into acres down the right. But his pullback for Zielinski is poor, and Real clear.
8.50pm GMT
46 min: Mertens is flattened by Marcelo as he looks to receive a pass from Hysaj down the right. He’d have been away into space, so Marcelo is rather fortunate to escape a booking for a cynical bodycheck. The resulting free kick is too far up the park to result in anything.
8.48pm GMT
And we’re off again! Changes there are none. The visitors get the ball rolling for the second half.
8.35pm GMT
Half-time reading: A paean to the star of the 2016 Champions League final. Cristiano Ronaldo? Sergio Ramos? Gareth Bale? No, silly: Mark Clattenburg. Of course.
Related: Preparing for life without a foremost national asset, Mark Clattenburg | Marina Hyde
8.35pm GMT
And that’s your lot for the first half! Not a second of stoppage time is played, so breathless has the opening period been. Excellent entertainment. Real have been on top, but Napoli will be happier at this stage, with an away goal in their pocket. More, please, everyone!
8.33pm GMT
45 min: Rodriguez shows on the left. He scoops a gorgeous curler into the mixer, and it’s inches away from finding the head of Benzema. But Albiol eyebrows it clear.
8.31pm GMT
42 min: Ronaldo is sent scampering into space down the right. He rolls a stunning diagonal pass inside for Benzema, who zips into the Napoli box to meet it. He’s one on one with the advancing Reina, but his sidefooted shot spanks the bottom of the right-hand post and out for a corner. The resulting set piece sees Varane miss a header from close range, allowing Reina to gather. Real so close to taking the lead!
8.29pm GMT
40 min: Rodriguez breaks clear into the Napoli box down the left, but is flagged for offside. He was a good couple of yards ahead of the last man, but in an act of brazen chutzpah wags his finger theatrically at the referee. Saucy James.
8.27pm GMT
39 min: Zielinski is booked for a late slide on Casemiro. There might not have been too much contact there, and the Napoli man complains accordingly.
8.26pm GMT
37 min: Mertens embarks on a skitter towards the Real box. He lays off to the right for Callejon, who is in a lot of space. Callejon’s got nobody to look for in the middle, though, because Mertens was clattered to the ground by a combination of Casemiro and Rodriguez, and couldn’t continue his run. There’s no free kick, and Real mop up.
8.24pm GMT
35 min: Koulibaly brushes Ronaldo off the ball with great disdain, much to the displeasure of both home hero and crowd. Koulibaly cares not a jot, and goes rampaging up the left wing. For a second, it looks as though he might break through Real’s rickety back line, but eventually the dream dies. An entertaining cameo.
8.21pm GMT
32 min: Napoli have been on the rack for a few minutes, but they nearly regain the lead here. Zielinski rakes a pass out to the left for Insigne. He hugs the touchline, cuts inside, and lays off for Hamsik, who slaps a first-time shot inches wide of the left-hand post. Navas probably had that one covered had it been on target, though there’s a half-chance the pace of the strike would have beaten him.
8.19pm GMT
31 min: From the set piece, the ball is worked to Modric on the edge of the D. He looks for the top left, but his shot is deflected and nearly flies into the top right. The resulting corner is easily cleared by the visitors.
8.18pm GMT
29 min: Carvajal is upended down the Real right. A free kick, and a chance for the hosts to load the box. Rodriguez whips a cross in. Nobody can quite win a header. The ball comes back out and he has another go. Reina races off his line and half clears. The ball goes loose on the left this time, and Casemiro is bundled over by Hysaj. A free kick on the by-line, to the left of the Napoli goal.
8.16pm GMT
27 min: Ronaldo should score. Marcelo, Kroos and Modric combine down the inside-left channel to put Napoli on the back foot. Modric slides a pass further down the channel to release Ronaldo into the box. He’s one on one with Reina, but leans back and blasts wildly over the bar. He gesticulates at the linesman for some reason, before realising the gesture makes no sense, and puts his head in his hands instead.
8.14pm GMT
25 min: Casemiro attempts to release Kroos into the area with a pitching-wedge of a pass down the middle from deep. Not quite. Too much on the ball, and Reina can gather. This qualifies as a lull.
8.12pm GMT
23 min: Koulibaly exchanges crisp passes with Insigne down the Napoli left, playing his side out of trouble. He feeds Insigne into a little space along the wing. Insigne pushes the ball past Modric, who intercepts, but only just. Had Modric not been on his guard there, Insigne was away into a sparsely populated Madrid half.
8.09pm GMT
20 min: The Bernabeu had fallen a little quiet during the period between the two goals. Now, not so much. Napoli try to respond with a little front-foot posturing of their own, but despite a little period of possession in the Real half, passes don’t come off in the final third. Good luck guessing the final score of this one.
8.07pm GMT
Real looked rattled for a minute there. But no longer! All of a sudden, they’re level! Rodriguez makes good down the right. He reaches the by-line and pulls the ball back up the flank for Carvajal, who curls, with the outside of his boot, a stunning cross to the far post. On the edge of the six-yard box is Benzema, who rises and plants an unstoppable header past Reina, who couldn’t react. This is some match!
8.05pm GMT
17 min: Napoli ping it around the middle of the park awhile, their first period of calm, considered possession. The locals don’t enjoy it. Eventually an irate Ramos slides in rashly on Diawara. He’s booked for that, and can have no complaints. To be fair to the Real captain, he doesn’t bother making any.
8.03pm GMT
14 min: Ghoulam is flattened by the arm of Casemiro, which clacks into his throat. It looked accidental. Had the Napoli man been paying attention microseconds beforehand, he’d have slipped a simple pass down the middle to release Callejon into acres of space. Real are playing a dangerous game here; there are huge gaps in the heart of their defence. Ghoulam could - nay, should - have sprung the trap again.
8.00pm GMT
12 min: Zinedine Zidane is already prowling the touchline with a concerned look creasing his face. His mood is nearly lightened by Ronaldo, who diddles his way down the left, reaches the by-line, and chips a ball back for Benzema, six yards out. Benzema looks to plant a header into the top right, but doesn’t get enough purchase on it, and the ball drifts off harmlessly to the right.
7.58pm GMT
10 min: There are only 4,000 Napoli fans in the stadium. But you can hear them. Oh you can hear them. That was a stunning goal.
7.57pm GMT
Oh me, oh my! This is astonishing! Hamsik, in the centre circle, threads a glorious ball down the middle to release Insigne into the Real half. He’s 35 yards from goal, but Navas is miles off his line and out of position, so Insigne passes the ball early, past the stranded keeper, and into the bottom right of the goal! That’s a stunning piece of improvisation, an early-taken shot that’s stunned the Bernabeu! Insigne goes racing off in a joyous arc, as well he might!
7.54pm GMT
6 min: Diawara, with time in the centre circle, plays a simple ball straight down the middle of the park. It opens up a dozy Madrid back line, but unfortunately for Napoli, the ball hits Hamsik on the back. A foot or two either side, and Hamsik was latching onto that through ball, racing clear. But no. Real counter, Marcelo cutting in from the left and shanking a terrible shot away to the right. But this is already great fun. No bus parking here.
7.52pm GMT
4 min: This is a beautifully open start to the game. Napoli launch their first attack of the evening, Hamsik striding down the middle in acres before finding Mertens on the left. Mertens loops a cross to the far post, where Callejon awaits, but Navas is off his line quickly to claim. If it keeps going like this, we’re in for a classic.
7.51pm GMT
2 min: That was a fine run by Ronaldo, though Napoli rolled the red carpet along the left flank for him. The visitors - especially the right-back Hysaj - owe Reina a big one.
7.49pm GMT
Here we go, then! A minute of silence in memory of Madrid board member and former president Luis Gómez Montejano, who passed away on 5 February aged 94. And then we’re off. The hosts get the ball rolling. And within 20 seconds, Real nearly score! Ronaldo is allowed to skitter all the way down the left wing, He slips a simple ball into the box for Benzema, who looks for the top left from 12 yards. It’s a fine strike, but it’s met wonderfully by a strong hand from Reina. Quite a start, and a marvellous save by the former Barcelona keeper!
7.45pm GMT
Speaking of aesthetic treats, tonight’s teams are decked out deliciously. Real Madrid are, naturally, wearing their world-famous meringue whites. Napoli, by contrast, sport a third-choice all-black kit. Not one for the purists, admittedly - why aren’t the Italians in their normal Gulf-of-Naples sea blue? - but nonetheless it’s not a bad look.
7.25pm GMT
The scene of tonight’s match.
7.15pm GMT
Some pre-match reading? Why ever not. Here’s Sid Lowe with a little sweet something for all you Real Madrid supporters out there.
Related: Barcelona and Luis Enrique: is there any way back from this humiliation? | Sid Lowe
7.02pm GMT
Zinedine Zidane makes three changes to the starting line-up sent out at Osasuna last Saturday. James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos and Dani Carvajal are in; Danilo, Nacho and Isco step down.
Maurizio Sarri swaps two players out of the side he named at home to Genoa on Friday night. Christian Maggio and Emanuele Giaccherini lose their starting places to Elseid Hysaj and Jose Callejon.
6.52pm GMT
Real Madrid: Navas, Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Modric, Casemiro, Kroos, Rodriguez, Benzema, Ronaldo.
Subs: Casilla, Pepe, Nacho, Kovacic, Vazquez, Morata, Isco.
Napoli: Reina, Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam, Zielinski, Diawara, Hamsik, Callejon, Mertens, Insigne.
Subs: Cabral, Giaccherini, Allan, Jorginho, Maggio, Maksimovic, Milik.
3.47pm GMT
According to common consensus, the Champions League is a harder competition to win than the old European Cup. That may well be the case: nobody’s going to get to the final again any time soon by beating Union Luxembourg, Ipswich Town, Galatasaray and Dundee. (Milan ‘63, since you ask.) Still, look at it from another angle: the old boys had to win a domestic league in order to gain entry into the competition, and having come all that way, the draw could be as evil as it was often kind. One difficult first-round tie, and boom, it was all over, perhaps for ever: no group-stage safety net, no second chances, no nigh-on-guaranteed participation the following season. A giant club’s European dreams over in September. Imagine the pressure.
Imagine the pressure in September 1987, then. Real Madrid, reigning champions of Spain, the team of Sanchís, Míchel González, Miguel Pardeza, Rafael Martín Vázquez, and Emilio Butragueño, took on Diego Maradona’s Napoli, champs of Serie A, the strongest league in the world. In the first round of the European Cup. The first round! The good doctor, Sid Lowe, tells that tale here:
Related: No fans, five greats and a famous nutmeg – when Maradona’s Napoli last went to Real | Sid Lowe
Related: Will Napoli beat Real Madrid? With Marek Hamsik, anything is possible
Continue reading...Cheeks burning with the fire of 1,000 suns
In today’s Fiver: Big Cup (again), Ambassador Diego, Carli Lloyd and Marina Hyde on Mark Clattenburg
Big Cup is usually pitched to the public as a chance to watch the world’s greatest players strutting their stuff on the biggest stage. Of course, this is only half the attraction, as it’s also an opportunity to watch the aforementioned greatest having their pants unceremoniously yanked down, then watching them skulk off with faces like the contents of said pants, only slapped good and hard. Oh look! There goes 2012’s Lionel Messi, whose ponderous mistake led to the floodgate-opening goal in PSG’s epochal 4-0 win over 2009-2015’s Barcelona last night. Coo-ee! Over here, Lionel!
Continue reading...February 11, 2017
Arsenal 2-0 Hull City: Premier League – as it happened
Arsenal were far from their best, but two Alexis Sanchez goals gave them a much-needed victory over fast-improving Hull.
2.45pm GMT
Related: Alexis Sánchez hands Arsenal and Arsène Wenger relief against Hull
2.24pm GMT
Welbeck tries to put a sick twist on the scoreline from 12 yards, but screws his shot wide right. And that’s that! Arsenal make off with the three points, but they made hard work of that. Fortune smiled on them, too: Sanchez’s opener went in accidentally off his own hand, Gibbs could easily have seen red, and the Clucas incident wasn’t the most egregious of handballs. But you have to take your chances when they come, and Arsenal and Sanchez did exactly that. They go third, with a result that should change the mood music around the club ahead of some big games. Hull meanwhile stay in the relegation zone, but if they keep playing like this, they’ll stay up. That was a very entertaining match, from which both teams can take succour.
2.21pm GMT
And in it goes, slapped into the bottom left!
2.20pm GMT
Clucas hangs out an arm, stopping the ball on the line. He’s sent off, though given how Arsenal scored their goal, that will hurt because he didn’t make a huge movement towards the ball. Anyway, off he goes. Sanchez will take the spot kick.
2.19pm GMT
90 min: Robertson turns on the jets down the left, and earns a corner. Clucas takes. There’s a stramash in the Arsenal box. The ball’s raked clear. Sanchez is sent clear into acres down the left. Jakupovic races out of his area. Sanchez rounds him on the left, then sends a deep cross into the centre for Lucas, who heads goalwards from six yards. And then...
2.16pm GMT
88 min: Arsenal make a rare excursion into the Hull final third. Lucas throws a cross-cum-shot in from the right. Jakupovic punches clear with great uncertainty. But there are no red-and-white shirts on hand to take advantage. Hull clear.
2.15pm GMT
87 min: On the touchline, Marco Silva is doing quite a lot of loud shouting. Some semaphore shapes, too. He’ll be of the opinion that his team deserve to be level, I’ll be bound. He’s probably got a case. But his lads are running out of time.
2.13pm GMT
86 min: Markovic earns a corner off Welbeck, near the right-hand corner flag. Evandro hits it deep. Diomande rises miles above Bellerin on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. He should at least plant a header on target; he probably should score. But he sends the ball sailing miles over the bar. Arsenal with a serious let-off there.
2.11pm GMT
84 min: Markovic, making a nuisance of himself on the left, bustles hither and yon but can’t quite break through. Hull win a free kick out on the other flank. Ranocchia meets it with a header from the edge of the area, but can’t generate any power.
2.10pm GMT
82 min: Arsenal make a double swap. Iwobi and Oxlade-Chamberlain make way for Welbeck and Lucas Perez.
2.08pm GMT
81 min: Hull have enjoyed 77% of possession during the last five minutes. Arsene Wenger, up in the stands, is fidgeting quite a lot in his seat.
2.07pm GMT
79 min: Markovic slips a ball down the right for the overlapping Elmohamady, who earns a corner off Iwobi. The set piece is whipped hard and fast to Niasse at the near post. Niasse flashes a header into the side netting, with some power. Out-of-form Arsenal are beginning to retreat into their shell. The last ten minutes are suddenly a fingernail-bothering prospect for the Emirates faithful.
2.05pm GMT
78 min: Diomande comes on for Huddlestone.
2.05pm GMT
77 min: Hull come back at Arsenal after a quiet few minutes. Arsenal half-clear an Elmohamady cross from the right. Maguire swings it into the mixer again from the other flank. Markovic, ten yards out, tries to steer a header into the top left, but doesn’t generate much power and Cech gathers. But the crowd are getting nervous again.
2.04pm GMT
76 min: Sanchez, looking to beat Ranocchia on the right, dives over the defender’s hanging leg and is booked for simulation. He can have no complaints. But he makes one anyway.
2.02pm GMT
75 min: N’Diaye drops a shoulder and powers down the inside-right channel, winning a free kick off Koscielny. It’s a chance for Hull to load the box. Evandro takes the set piece, and finds Maguire at the far post. But the big defender has mistimed his jump, and lets the ball skim off the top of his noggin and harmlessly out for a goal kick.
2.00pm GMT
72 min: Arsenal have shifted up a gear here, and are pinging the ball around in a very determined style. Hull are on the back foot.
1.59pm GMT
71 min: Ozil sends Sanchez scampering down the left with the most delicate of passes. Sanchez earns a corner, from which Mustafi clumps a header harmlessly wide of the target.
1.57pm GMT
70 min: Ranocchia is rightly booked for standing clumsily on Sanchez’s foot.
1.56pm GMT
69 min: Theo ‘Just Let Me At ‘Im’ Walcott is replaced by Elneny.
1.55pm GMT
1.54pm GMT
67 min: Elmohamady comes on for Elabdellaoui.
1.53pm GMT
66 min: Robertson cuts in from the left before sliding the ball inside for N’Diaye. He’s got Markovic in space on the right, but goes for the big blooter towards the top right instead. From the best part of 30 yards, that’s ambitious. And way off target.
1.51pm GMT
63 min: Markovic opens his legs and zips down the right. His low cross, aimed for Niasse in the middle, is intercepted by a sliding Koscielny. A goal-saving tackle. It leads to a corner, from which nothing comes. It’s not easy to predict who’ll be scoring next. But it’ll be a surprise if this game ends 1-0.
1.50pm GMT
62 min: It’s end-to-end fun. Sanchez has the chance to send Gibbs clear down the right but misplaces his crossfield pass; Robertson overhits a through ball that would have seen Evandro free in the Arsenal box down the right.
1.48pm GMT
61 min: Evandro comes on for Grosicki, who started brilliantly before fading.
1.48pm GMT
60 min: Iwobi attempts to recreate Demarai Gray’s solo effort for Leicester against Derby in the week. He gives up on the dribble down the inside-left channel, one-twos with Ozil, and overcoooks a curler towards the top right. Neat play, mind.
1.46pm GMT
59 min: Markovic has looked good this afternoon. Aren’t Liverpool looking for a winger?
1.45pm GMT
57 min: There’s a pleasing febrile atmosphere at the Emirates now. Hull fans will feel hard done by; Arsenal’s know this game isn’t over yet, and are urging their team forward for what would surely be a decisive second. It’s an entertaining match.
1.44pm GMT
55 min: The resulting free kick comes to nothing.
1.43pm GMT
54 min: Kieran Gibbs is very fortunate not to see red here. A long hoick down the middle is met by Markovic, who would be clear with one touch. But he’s barged off the ball illegally by Gibbs. The referee only shows yellow, which is questionable to say the least. Anyway, that’s a big decision by Mark Clattenburg, and for the second time today Arsenal benefit from the rub of the green.
1.41pm GMT
52 min: Theo Walcott loses the place completely. He’s ushered out of play down the right, Maguire shepherding the ball away for a goal kick. Walcott wants a corner, and throws the ball away with theatrical annoyance. He’s going to get booked for that, for sure, but beforehand he faces up to Maguire in the physical style. It’s a mismatch, really, and Maguire seems highly amused. It’s reminiscent of Lallana v Toure at last year’s League Cup final. Some light relief.
1.39pm GMT
51 min: Markovic turns on the jets and sprints past Koscielny down the right. His cross finds Niasse on the penalty spot. The striker swivels and batters a shot towards the right-hand side of the goal. Cech parries around the post brilliantly. Hull so close to the equaliser. The resulting corner comes to nought.
1.37pm GMT
50 min: Otherwise, a subdued start to the second 45. Huddlestone has a chance to send Grosicki into acres down the left, but his crossfield rake doesn’t have enough on it.
1.36pm GMT
48 min: Ah, that might just have been a dead leg. It looked quite serious for a minute, and Elneny was warming up vigorously, but he’s going to try to run it off. Elneny stands down.
1.34pm GMT
46 min: Within 18 seconds of the restart, Oxlade-Chamberlain strides forward with extreme prejudice and slaps a shot wide left from 25 yards. Jakupovic ushers it wide. But at the start of the move, Coquelin stretched out a leg to challenge N’Diaye, and took a whack on the knee. He’s also holding his thigh. He looks in some discomfort.
1.32pm GMT
So we’re off again! Arsenal get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes. “The problem with Arsenal is they always try to palm it in,” quips Henry Stennett.
1.27pm GMT
Curtis Davies of Hull City is in the Sky studio, and here’s his admirably mature take on the Sanchez goal: “We’re disappointed obviously. If it goes in against you, you’re devastated. But if it happens down the other end, and it happens to Niasse, and comes off his hand and goes in, I’m celebrating like no-one else.”
1.19pm GMT
Half-time reading: It’s fair to say Sanchez’s goal won’t go down in Arsenal history. Here’s one that did, though.
Related: Golden Goal: Alan Smith for Arsenal v Liverpool (1989) | Nick Miller
1.18pm GMT
Hull earn a free kick out on the right. A chance to load the box. Bellerin clears the up-and-under easily enough. Sanchez goes up the other end and earns a free kick of his own, but there’s barely time to take it before the whistle blows. The teams traipse off to the changing rooms, Arsenal deservedly leading albeit in a slightly strange and fortunate manner, Sanchez’s close-range shot innocently ricocheting in off his own arm.
1.15pm GMT
44 min: Markovic, out on the right, hits a deep, deep, deep cross. It looks like it’s going out of play, but it’s trapped brilliantly on the line by the impressive Grosicki. He earns a corner off Bellerin. Arsenal are then fortunate that Hull balls up their quick set piece, because they were sleeping as a defensive unit.
1.13pm GMT
42 min: This half is petering out a little. Both teams sharing possession in the middle third. Arsenal seem happy enough to take what they have to the break. Hull probably aren’t too upset either; they’ve shown some promise up front and aren’t out of this by any means.
1.11pm GMT
39 min: No doubt there will be some confected controversy surrounding Sanchez’s goal. People gettin’ angry. But aren’t you so tired of it all? It’s old hat.
1.08pm GMT
37 min: That’s settled the home crowd a bit; they’ve found their voice. Whether it’s settled Arsenal or not is a moot point: they allow Grosicki, from the left, then Markovic, from the right, to hoick crosses into their area. Niasse’s nowhere to be seen, and Cech eventually steps in to gather.
1.06pm GMT
This had been coming. Though what a scrappy affair this is. Gibbs, to the left of goal, takes a shot in a crowded area. It’s blocked by Robertson on the line. The ball breaks to Sanchez, who bundles it over from a couple of yards. On second viewing, his shot rears up off Jakupovic, hits his arm accidentally, and goes into the net. Shades of Arsenal’s winner at Burnley, and a huge stroke of luck for the home side. But on balance they deserve their lead.
1.04pm GMT
33 min: A good old-fashioned stramash in the Hull area finishes as a Walcott snap-shot from 12 yards is blocked by Clucas. That hit Clucas’s hand, but it wasn’t deliberate - close range, back turned, all that - and Arsenal aren’t getting the decision. Then Arsenal come again, through Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scoops into the box. Maguire sends a bullet header towards his own goal, and he breathes again as Jakupovic claims!
1.02pm GMT
31 min: Gibbs tears into acres of space down the left. But with team-mates in the Hull box, he allows himself to be stripped of possession by the backtracking Markovic. The home side are beginning to seriously dominate now.
1.00pm GMT
29 min: Jakupovic miscontrols a simple backpass, and the ball very nearly squirts into the empty net. He tracks back and hacks clear. Arsenal, one way or another, should be ahead on the balance of play.
12.58pm GMT
27 min: Arsenal force a corner down the left. From the set piece, Oxlade-Chamberlain, on the edge of the D, wedges a pass down the inside-right channel for Sanchez, who tries to steer the ball into the top left. Jakupovic parries clear, and the offside flag goes up anyway.
12.57pm GMT
25 min: After a period of the old sterile possession, Arsenal work a bit of space down the left, Sanchez scooping a ball into the box, Ozil contorting on the penalty spot to volley high and wide left. That wasn’t too far away, though, and would have been picture-book had it wheeched into the net. Arsenal might not be playing with supreme confidence, but they’re still not far away from serving up some aesthetic delights.
12.54pm GMT
22 min: The first lull of the match. The crowd respond in kind. It’s very flat. And quite a few of those seats remain empty. Meanwhile here’s the very reverend Mike Gibbons: “The managers here have copped the full range of diabolical football opinion lately. Silva was on the end of that ill-informed, hot-faced bluster of Paul Merson and Phil Thompson, while the canteen food throwing of Arsenal fan TV sparked that tedious cyber spat between Gary Neville and Henry Winter this week. Long may they both run, thumbing their nose at their detractors and dismissing the above for the white noise it is.” Keep on preachin’, brother.
12.50pm GMT
20 min: Hull push Arsenal back a bit, with Grosicki showing a lot on the left. The home fans aren’t particularly pleased with what they’re seeing.
12.49pm GMT
18 min: Both teams are looking to ping the ball around at speed, and to feet. This has been a very entertaining match so far. All it needs is a goal.
12.48pm GMT
16 min: Even closer! The busy Oxlade-Chamberlain bustles into the Hull box from the right. He loses control but the ball breaks to Sanchez, level with the right-hand post, 12 yards out. Sanchez takes a touch to the left, and he’s clear on the penalty spot! But as he continues to move left, his attempt to reverse a low shot into the bottom right flies inches wide! He really should have scored then, though it’d have been a lovely goal had he done so.
12.46pm GMT
15 min: This is much better from Arsenal! A crisp one-two between Oxlade-Chamberlain and Bellerin sets the latter free into the area down the right. His fierce shot only just misses the right-hand post. Close!
12.44pm GMT
14 min: Grosicki is found in acres of space on the left. With the outside of his boot, he curls a gorgeous cross to the far post for Niasse, who rises and sends a fine header towards the top right. It’s flying in, but Cech claws it away for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece, but Hull are playing with confidence here. Arsenal, not so much. “In the way that eskimos are reputed to have 20 words for snow, does Arsene have 20 words for Top Four?” wonders Gary Naylor. Variations on Round of 16 are also available.
12.42pm GMT
11 min: Niasse feeds Robertson into space down the left, the full back eating up the turf at speed. His cross isn’t so hot, though, and once again Arsenal escape while light at the back. The home crowd, who started out in good voice, are already a bit nervous and flat.
12.41pm GMT
9 min: OK, well, good luck calling this one. Markovic robs Iwobi in the centre circle, then tears off down the right. He makes it all the way into the Arsenal box, and cuts a ball across the six-yard area. Niasse must score - think Paul Gascoigne in the Euro 96 semis - but he fails to stick a boot out, and Arsenal survive.
12.39pm GMT
8 min: A little period of digging in might be an idea, though. First a loose pass from Huddlestone sets Arsenal on the attack, Ozil’s shot from the inside-left channel blocked at source. Then a loose Clucas header sets Sanchez scampering forward, but the striker’s shot is soft and straight at Jakupovic.
12.39pm GMT
12.38pm GMT
6 min: Markovic wins a corner down the right for Hull, from which nothing occurs. But it’s proof that the visitors haven’t just turned up with defence in mind.
12.37pm GMT
5 min: It looks as though plenty of those empty seats are filling up. Hard to say for sure from afar, of course, and it’s certainly not a full house. But there we are.
12.34pm GMT
3 min: ... Coquelin swings a peg wildly from the edge of the area. Goal kick, and three of your Six Nations points.
12.33pm GMT
2 min: A nice, lively start. Ozil has a run at Hull’s back line. Then Grosicki has a gander up the Hull left. Finally Ozil makes a royal nuisance of himself, dribbling along the byline to the right of the Hull goal. His scampering, along with the presence of Sanchez, forces a corner. From which...
12.32pm GMT
And we’re off! Hull get the ball rolling, Niasse kicking off. An aimless punt upfield, and the ball’s lost within the first ten seconds. Arsenal take the chance to stroke it around the back awhile, giving their entire back line a feel of the ball. The home fans giving it plenty. The ones who are here, that is: quite a few empty seats in the stands, with some talk of stay-away protest in the air. Let’s see if they fill up.
12.29pm GMT
The teams are out! Arsenal sport their best Herbert Chapman designer duds, while Hull City eschew their usual neat Tiger stripes for an equally tidy all-back affair. There’s an anticipatory crackle down Ashburton Grove way, the home fans having waited a long, long week to see how their team responds to that Watford-Chelsea double whammy. The Hull team, to a man, stride out with purpose. Whatever happens, this is unlikely to be dull. We’ll be off in a minute!
12.21pm GMT
That’s all the team news. Now over to Yoko for the weather.
12.19pm GMT
Arsene Wenger talks! And he does so to
Arsenal Fan
Sky TV. “Gibbs is a tactical switch, to face Grosicki. It should be a good battle. We are positive, but of course we have to respond to our last two results, and there is only one way to do that, and it’s on the pitch. It’s important to have the crowd behind us, but to be honest that has to come from our dynamic, our commitment, our desire; if we show that, the crowd will be behind us. I am upbeat. I love to win, and the next game is always the opportunity to do that.”
12.04pm GMT
Marco Silva speaks! And he does so in a slow, calm, measured, confident manner. “The Liverpool game is the past. Of course it was a fantastic win for us, and the three points were important for our team. But it’s a new week, and a new match, and we need to be ready for the sure tough, tough game for us. The players are ready to do what I want for this match. At the moment we only have two centre backs, but I have clever players, Tom Huddlestone is a clever player, and it is possible to do two systems. Arsenal’s problems are not important for us. We respect them, they are a good team, we have to do our best. It is normal they feel pressure, but we feel pressure, that is football. We will show good organisation and spirit, and enjoy the match.”
11.41am GMT
Arsenal make one change from the starting XI at Stamford Bridge last weekend. Kieran Gibbs comes in for Nacho Monreal.
Hull City meanwhile make two swaps from the team that beat Liverpool last Saturday. Lazar Markovic and Oumar Niasse step up, Abel Hernandez and Evandro Goebel step down.
11.32am GMT
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi, Sanchez.
Subs: Gabriel, Lucas Perez, Giroud, Ospina, Monreal, Welbeck, Elneny.
Hull City: Jakupovic, Elabdellaoui, Ranocchia, Maguire, Robertson, Huddlestone, N’Diaye, Markovic, Grosicki, Clucas, Niasse.
Subs: Meyler, Maloney, Diomande, Marshall, Elmohamady, Tymon, Evandro.
4.51pm GMT
... and welcome to our coverage of a Premier League match between two clubs currently failing to keep their fanbases completely content. Just look at this ...
Related: Hull City remain a club pockmarked by rancour under Allams’ ownership | David Conn
Continue reading...February 8, 2017
Leicester City 3-1 Derby County (aet): FA Cup fourth-round replay – as it happened
Leicester were taken to extra time by Championship Derby, but emerged as thoroughly deserved winners to make a date with Millwall in the fifth round.
10.31pm GMT
Related: Wilfred Ndidi and Demarai Gray steer Leicester through against Derby
10.18pm GMT
And that’s that! A fully deserved victory for Leicester City’s second string. They’ll travel to Millwall in the fifth round. And they’ll travel to Swansea City at the weekend feeling a little bit better about themselves. What could this mean for their stuttering season? Everyone’s talking about a possible relegation as champions, but how about they save their Premier League skin and finally win an FA Cup instead?
10.16pm GMT
ET 30 min: Another corner for Derby down the left. Butterfield’s delivery is dealt with easily enough. Slimani races off down the other end, but can’t bust clear on the left. No matter: the board goes up for one added minute. Leicester are home and hosed.
10.14pm GMT
ET 28 min: A party atmosphere at the King Power. Could this highly decent performance by Leicester’s second string blow away a few cobwebs?
10.12pm GMT
ET 27 min: The crowd are singing Claudio Ranieri’s name with power, passion and purpose.
10.11pm GMT
ET 26 min: A corner for Derby on the left. They need something desperately. Butterfield swings the set piece into the mixer. The slightly shaky Zieler punches clear, but not particularly cleanly.
10.10pm GMT
What a wonderful solo goal this is! The brilliant Gray takes up possession, 30 yards from goal on the left. He drops a shoulder, shakes and shimmies, and leaves the hapless Keogh and Vydra for dust as he enters the area. One on one with Mitchell, he whips a brilliant shot into the top right. No more than Leicester deserve.
10.08pm GMT
ET 21 min: The resulting corner leads to another corner, from which Mahrez very nearly finds Slimani at the near post with a whipped cross. A goal kick, and Derby finally get the ball back. A fine period of play from the hosts. Bill Belichick would be proud of that clock management.
10.06pm GMT
ET 19 min: Leicester kill a couple of minutes with some glorious possession football, tidying things up at the back, bursting forward, patiently going backwards when nothing presents itself, launching a second wave of attack. Eventually King calmly and smoothly eases forward and lashes a long shot towards the top right. It’s a fine, firm bash, and it’s turned round the post by Mitchell.
10.03pm GMT
ET 17 min: The opening exchanges of this half suggest Leicester are happy to sit back, soak it up, and try to kill off the tie on the break. Anya can’t quite latch onto a through ball from Russell; Mahrez really should have sent Gray racing away but hesitated. This could be a lot of end-to-end fun.
10.00pm GMT
Here we go again, then, for the final time! Derby get the ball rolling. They’ve got 15 minutes to save themselves. They probably shouldn’t have the opportunity: Leicester should have been awarded a penalty during that first period of extra time, while Slimani missed from two yards. But here’s where we are. It promises to be a nervous, tingly, tantalising second period!
9.59pm GMT
Benalouane and Zieler fail to deal with a garden variety ball into the area, gifting Derby a corner. But nothing comes of it. The whistle goes, and Leicester are 15 minutes away from the fifth round.
9.57pm GMT
ET 15 min: A lull. There will be one minute of added lull.
9.56pm GMT
ET 13 min: Christie twists and turns down the right. He’s been superb tonight. His cross finds the head of Russell, who from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box, guides a header towards the top left. It drifts just wide, but had it been on target, it’d have been in. Zieler was rooted to the spot. Magnificent play by Derby, who despite it all aren’t out of this match yet.
9.54pm GMT
ET 11 min: The excellent Gray twists and turns down the left, making Keogh look like a toddler. He rolls a take-me ball across the six-yard box. All Slimani has to do is tap in, but his legs form a treble clef, all tangled up in blue. Slimani holds in head in his hands as the ball serenely sails away from danger. How on earth did he miss? It really should be 3-1. He’ll be irritated now all right.
9.52pm GMT
ET 9 min: An irritated Silimani gets a bit too physical with Shackell. The referee, perhaps realising what he has (or hasn’t) done, makes do with a free kick and brief lecture.
9.51pm GMT
ET 7 min: Albrighton romps down the right wing again. He cuts a low one back into the area for Slimani, who looks to trap and turn near the penalty spot. Keogh, behind him, takes his leg away. It should be a penalty, but once again Keogh gets away with one. The referee has had a poor match, missing two spot kicks and a possible sending off. Leicester have had no breaks at all.
9.49pm GMT
ET 6 min: That was a gorgeous strike. A no-nonsense, powerful blooter. Sheareresque. Leicester come again with Albrighton down the right. The resulting cross is snaffled easily enough by Mitchell.
9.48pm GMT
Wow! This is something else! Mahrez drops deep to pick up possession. He takes a couple of strides and funnels the ball forwards for Ndidi, who opens his legs before launching a riser towards the top right from 25 yards. Mitchell gets the faintest of fingertips, but the ball clatters off the right-hand post and spins into the net at speed. What a way to open your account for your new club!
9.45pm GMT
ET 3 min: Vydra steals possession in the centre circle, lays off to Nugent, and races forwards. If he receives a quick forward pass, he’s clear on goal. But Nugent is slow to spot him, then can’t get the ball out from under his feet. A real chance for Derby squandered there.
9.43pm GMT
ET 1 min: King and Mahrez interchange down the left, some nice silky skills. King reaches the by-line, crossing low and hard towards the near post. Mitchell gets down to smother.
9.42pm GMT
And we’re off again! Again! Leicester make a double change: Slimani and Ndidi come on for Mendy and Musa. Mahrez gets the ball rolling for the first period of extra time!
9.38pm GMT
And that’s that! We’re going to extra time! It’s not a classic, but it’s as near as we can get to an epic these days. Don’t go anywhere!
9.36pm GMT
90 min +2: ... there’s a melee in the area. Wasilewski swings a boot at a bouncing ball. It hits something or someone. He claims a hand ball and a penalty, but the referee doesn’t react. Neither do his team-mates, to be fair.
9.35pm GMT
90 min +1: Leicester force a corner out on the left. From which...
9.35pm GMT
90 min: Millwall still have no clue as to the identity of their fifth-round opponents. Will they find out in the next three added minutes?
9.34pm GMT
89 min: They say the FA Cup is dead, but the closing period of this match is crackling with nervous electricity! Musa makes off down the left and crosses deep. Lowe attempts to chest out for a corner, but only manages to hit Derby’s right-hand post! Mitchell hacks clear. So close to a heartbreaking end for the visitors!
9.32pm GMT
87 min: De Sart whips one into the Leicester box. The hosts make a meal of mopping up the loose ball. Leicester go upfield through Albrighton down the right. His cross is met at the near post by Musa, whose header goes straight down Mitchell’s throat.
9.30pm GMT
84 min: A couple of big decisions here. Vydra dribbles into the Leicester box from the left, and falls over. He demands a penalty, but it’s not given. At first glance, it looked like a simple loss of balance. Yes, he kicks Amartey’s boot while falling over under his own steam. Then the ball’s battered up the other end. Musa charges after it down the left. Mitchell races out of his area, and just as Musa looks to round him, sticks out his right hand to stop the ball, then clear. That should have been a free kick and possibly a red card - there may have been cover - but Musa is rightly incensed. Adding insult to injury, he’s booked for complaining.
9.27pm GMT
83 min: David Nugent, four years at Leicester, comes on for Derby, replacing Blackman. Gray skitters down the right but just when it looks like opening up, the ball runs away from him and out for a goal kick.
9.26pm GMT
82 min: King earns a corner with a determined bustle down the inside right. He meets the set piece himself with his head, flashing an effort wide left from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box.
9.24pm GMT
80 min: Christie cuts inside from the right and curls a shot straight at Zieler. Ranieri responds by finally making a switch, reigning player-of-the-year Mahrez coming on for the tidy Kapustka.
9.23pm GMT
78 min: Derby hog the ball awhile, but do little with it. Kapustka robs De Sart, allowing Musa to take a run at the Derby back line. He switches play to Albrighton on the right, and the move fizzles out.
9.21pm GMT
76 min: Christie hangs one high in the Leicester box from the right. It’s easily cleared. It’s been an entertaining second half, but right now we’re in something of a lull.
9.18pm GMT
74 min: A second change for Derby, as the goalscorer Camara is replaced by Russell. Or is he the goalscorer? A suggestion Camara’s shot was heading wide right, in which case poor Chilwell will be credited with an own goal. But let’s not get hung up on mere detail.
9.17pm GMT
72 min: Albrighton makes good down the right again, but once more his cross is too close to Mitchell. Extra time looms, and neither manager will fancy it with those precious weekend league points up for grabs. But it’s all a bit cagey at the moment. Is anyone prepared to roll the dice and get this done in regulation?
9.15pm GMT
70 min: Vydra attempts to meet a right-wing cross with a scorpion kick. No Henrikh Mkhitaryan he. All he does is whack poor Benalouane in the phizog. The trainer comes on and dabs the stricken defender awhile with the magic sponge. He’ll be good to continue.
9.12pm GMT
67 min: A corner for Leicester down the right. Their first charge upfield for a while, and it comes to nothing. But they come back at Derby, Albrighton winning a free kick off Camara as he pumps down the right. Albrighton takes himself, but the cross is too close to keeper Mitchell, who plucks from the sky. “Is it Truman Capote or David Hockney in that mural in Leicester?” wonders Wilson Beuys. “I can’t decide, but I hope it’s Capote. David Hockney is dead to me after that business with the logo for The Sun.”
9.09pm GMT
65 min: Christie skitters down the right and is stopped unfairly by Chilwell. Yet another free kick, yet another chance for Derby to load the box. Butterfield takes. The delivery isn’t brilliant, but somehow the ball finds its way to the feet of Shackell, six yards out. Nobody’s more surprised than the centre back, who can’t shift his feet to shoot. Leicester are rocking.
9.07pm GMT
63 min: Vydra buys a cheap free kick off the clumsy Benalouane down the right. The resulting free kick is aimless, though it does cause some minor panic in the Leicester box. The ball’s eventually cleared, though the hosts look rattled.
9.06pm GMT
... Camara shoots low towards the bottom right. The ball takes a huge deflection off Chilwell, hanging his leg out on the left-hand edge of the wall, and bumbles into the unguarded left-hand side of the net, Zieler having dived the other way! A huge stroke of luck for the Championship side, and we’re all level!
9.05pm GMT
60 min: Anya glides past Chilwell on the right, before falling over in the box. The ball breaks loose, Butterfield stooping to head forwards on the edge of the Leicester area. Albrighton lifts a boot to blooter clear. It’s dangerous play, according to the ref, and this is another dangerous free kick just to the right of the D. De Sart taps it to his left, and...
9.02pm GMT
58 min: According to the BBC, poor Steve McClaren missed the goal, having not made it back to the dugouts. A double whammy.
9.01pm GMT
57 min: Camara cuts inside from the right, and he’s got options in the centre, but drags a lame shot miles right of the target instead. “Leicester should forget about the league and target the cups this season,” suggests Simon McMahon. “An FA Cup, or Big Cup, would look good alongside the Premiership trophy which, lets face it, they’re not going to win again any time soon. And if they end up going down, so what? Do it in a blaze of glory, a Man City 2012 in reverse, celebrating the fact with an open top bus tour, with a shiny Cup at the front for good measure.” Preach on, brother.
8.59pm GMT
55 min: Blackman bursts down the right and is upended by Benalouane, just to the right of the Leicester D. A free kick in a very dangerous position. Camara curls one, with a view to finding the top left. It’s straight at Zieler, though. The keeper stops the shot from going in the net, punching nervously back into the busy box. He really should have caught that, though. Leicester eventually clear, but that was questionable goalkeeping.
8.57pm GMT
53 min: Derby make the first switch of the match, hooking Johnson and replacing him with Vydra.
8.57pm GMT
51 min: Leicester have their dander up, and so do the fans. The home support belt out an unequivocal rendition of their Claudio Ranieri song. The manager seconds that emotion by clapping them back. A sweet moment that surely won’t be lost on Leicester’s visiting owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, sitting in the stands.
8.54pm GMT
50 min: Musa and Gray hunt in the pack style, hassling Keogh down the inside-right channel. Gray picks up possession and slides forward for Musa, who reaches the by-line on the right and screws a low ball into the box. Gray can’t quite get on the end of it, Shackell doing enough to put him off from sidefooting home. So close to number two.
8.53pm GMT
48 min: A cool 59 seconds of the second half was all it took. Camara tries to respond instantly for Derby by racing down the right, but Chilwell is across quickly to put a stop to his gallop.
8.51pm GMT
Well, that didn’t take long! Gray whips a stunning deep cross into the box from the left. Albrighton, coming in from the other flank, meets the ball on the byline, just to the right of the posts. He heads across and backwards, and King’s there to head softly into the net from a couple of yards. So simple, but that was all about Gray’s delicious, tantalising cross. He’s a player.
8.49pm GMT
And we’re off again! No changes made by either side. Leicester get the ball rolling again, and send it straight out of play on the left. Can any of these lads find a winner, or are we due some extra-time, and maybe penalty-kick, drama?
8.36pm GMT
Half-time reading:
Related: Never mind Matty Taylor's move. My dad supported both Bristol clubs for 60 years
8.35pm GMT
After the first shot in anger, the half-time whistle. Derby came close to taking the lead there; Leicester are convinced they should have had a penalty for Keogh’s shove on Chilwell. It’s been frantic and occasionally fun; should be a lively second half. No flipping!
8.33pm GMT
45 min: There will be two added minutes. It’s all very scrappy, but suddenly Butterfield bursts into a pocket of space down the inside-right channel, and batters a low diagonal shot towards the bottom left. It’s heading in, a lovely effort, but Zieler fingertips it round the post. A fine save. From the corner, De Sart whams a whimsical effort miles over the bar from distance.
8.30pm GMT
44 min: This half of football is petering out.
8.29pm GMT
42 min: Johnson has winded himself, landing flat on his back after acrobatically leaping over King in a misguided effort to intercept a high ball. An accident, and one which it looks like he’ll recover from soon enough.
8.28pm GMT
40 min: The crowd goes a bit quiet, life imitating art. But suddenly the volume rises as King slides a pass down the left for Chilwell, who enters the area, then falls flat on his coupon. A corner, but the young left-back wants a penalty kick, and no wonder, as he’s been lightly shoved in the back by Keogh. The ref calls it shoulder to shoulder, but Keogh was behind his man. That looked like a penalty, albeit a soft one. The resulting corner leads to nothing.
8.25pm GMT
38 min: King latches onto another loose Derby pass, this time in the centre circle. He bombs forward down the middle, but in looking to slip Musa clear along the inside-right channel, overcooks it and clumps the ball out for a goal kick.
8.23pm GMT
35 min: Leicester are beginning to impose themselves. Musa nearly benefits from some overly ambitious interplay by the Derby back four, but just as it looks like he’ll grab a loose pass and break into the box, De Sart arrives on his charger and snips the ball back to Mitchell, who clears.
8.20pm GMT
33 min: Leicester should be ahead. Gray goes on a wonderful baroque scamper down the inside-right channel, zipping past Lowe and whipping a low cross through the six-yard box. Musa, sliding in, simply had to connect, but he mistimes his kick and the chance is gone. That was a wonderful run by Gray.
8.18pm GMT
31 min: Chilwell, Gray and Kapustka triangulate down the left to earn Leicester a corner. Gray loops the set piece deep. Benalouane, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box, tries to contort his body in the hope of connecting with a blooter of a volley. Well that’s not happening. A fresh-air swipe, and in his embarrassment he claims a penalty off the nearby Keogh. That’s not happening either.
8.16pm GMT
29 min: More Derby possession in the midfield. It’s not quite a classic, this, but it’s open and unpredictable enough to remain engaging.
8.14pm GMT
26 min: Keogh loses the ball to Gray in a dangerous position down the Leicester left. Musa is sent scampering into the Derby box, but is bundled off the ball by Shackell, coming across from the middle. Goal kick. Leicester loudly claim for a penalty, but there was minimal contact, hip to hip, a fair tussle for possession. The referee’s not having it.
8.12pm GMT
24 min: Anya Jimmy Johnstones his way down the left yet again. He’s looking on his game tonight. He reaches the byline and stands one up into the middle, but again it just evades the lurking Blackman. If Derby are to unlock Leicester, Anya may well be the key.
8.10pm GMT
23 min: Some more space for Albrighton down the right. His low cross is easily hacked clear by Keogh, with no blue shirt in attendance.
8.09pm GMT
22 min: Derby are bossing possession. Having said that, Leicester seem happy enough to sit back and let them pootle around in the midfield, perhaps hoping to nick the ball and break forward quickly. You don’t need to be Jonathan Wilson to know they’ve got form using that tactic.
8.07pm GMT
19 min: Another corner for Derby, this time out on the right. Leicester make a hash of clearing it. Butterfield, sitting deep in the quarterback position, slips the ball wide right for Camara, who tries to curl one into the top right. Nope! A bit ambitious, especially as the hosts were all over the shop there. Derby are beginning to look the more likely. “I’m hoping for a goal-fest but not very optimistic of it! This is from a one time Ramfan of the 1974-75 1st div Championship side! The defence leaked goals like a broken pipe and scored ‘em like Roy of the Rovers on summer vacation!” A happy Harry Williams reminiscing there. Just look at his face!
8.04pm GMT
17 min: A high ball’s sent into the Leicester box. Johnson goes up with Zieler, who doesn’t look at all confident in his ability to catch. Well, the keeper called that one right, because he makes a proper balls of it. But Johnson misjudges the flight too, and the ball bounces out for a goal kick.
8.02pm GMT
15 min: ... Derby break at speed upfield through Anya, down the left wing. He draws Wasilewski, then drops a shoulder and leaves him for dead. He reaches the byline and pitching-wedges a cross into the middle. Zieler is beaten, but it’s a couple of inches too high for Blackman, the ball fizzing off his eyebrows and away from danger. So close to an opening goal.
8.00pm GMT
14 min: Musa strides into space down the middle of the park. Derby are light at the back. Albrighton is slipped into acres down the right, but his cross - meant for Musa, who had continued his run - hits Shackell in the mush. One corner leads to another. And from the second...
7.59pm GMT
11 min: There’s a nice, fresh, open feel to this match. Leicester have looked a bit more dangerous when they get forward, though it’s Derby who win the first corner of the match, out on the left. Butterfield hoicks it into the mixer, Zieler punches clear.
7.58pm GMT
9 min: It’s a booking apiece. Mendy sees yellow for clattering De Sart in the middle of the park. Both sides storing up trouble. The referee’s been a bit trigger happy, in fairness, he could have let both challenges go. But he’s set the tone.
7.56pm GMT
8 min: Leicester have looked dangerous down both flanks. Early charges down the left, now they concentrate on the right. Amartey zips down the channel and cuts back for Albrighton, whose deep cross is cleared easily. The hosts come again down the same wing, Kapustka whipping in a delightful cross, but there’s nobody there.
7.53pm GMT
6 min: An early booking as Christie is punished for hanging a cynical leg out to kick the lively Gray in the centre circle. That’s not a euphemism.
7.51pm GMT
4 min: Anya embarks on a purposeful dribble down the centre, and slips the ball wide left for Lowe on the overlap. Lowe’s daisycutter of a cross is hacked clear. Leicester go up the other end, Gray and Kapustka exchanging passes down the left, the former scooping a cross into the Derby box for Amartey to head harmlessly over. So much for that slow start!
7.49pm GMT
3 min: Gray threatens to dribble into the Derby box down the left but he’s soon forced into turning back. The first little shaft of light.
7.48pm GMT
2 min: All very scrappy to start. It’s almost as though both XIs are only just getting to know each other.
7.47pm GMT
And we’re off! Derby get the ball rolling. They hoof it long, and lose it within six seconds. Leicester have it out of play on the right by ten. The only way is up! But a fine atmosphere at the King Power, both sets of fans giving it plenty.
7.46pm GMT
The teams are out! Leicester in blue, Derby in white and black. Two classic looks, an aesthetic delight. We’ll be off in a minute. “Eight changes? Truly a Rams Shackell lineup by Steve McClaren!” Peter Oh punning furiously, ladies and gentlemen.
7.44pm GMT
A reminder that tonight’s match has to find a winner, one way or another. This replay will go to 30 minutes of extra time should it end level, and then penalties if that doesn’t separate the two. No four or five-game marathon ties these days; their loss has done more damage to the FA Cup than weakened sides, in my book anyway. “Not best pleased with all those changes by Derby,” writes David Hopkins. “What about the magic of the Cup? And more importantly the magic of putting one over the neighbours? Oh well, back to reminding Leicester that Derby v Notts Forest is the really big game then.” The use of “Notts” there to rub everyone up the wrong way, I see. Full marks for effort!
7.41pm GMT
And now here’s Steve McClaren. “Obviously we’ve made quite a few changes. A few players coming back from injury. They just have to do their job, keep it simple, and fight for 95 minutes. We’re here to try to win this game. Believe you me, I didn’t want to make eight changes, but I’ve got people carrying injuries and people who couldn’t play three games in a week. If it was last night, it might be a different team. But I think it’s good for the squad, for the rest of the season.”
7.38pm GMT
Claudio Ranieri speaks! “It is important for everybody in Leicester. Our chairman is full of positivity. It is important to play well. I wanted to protect some players and give opportunity to others. It could be a risk, it could be difficult, but I have to do this. Sunday is more important. But we work a lot and we are ready to fight.”
7.25pm GMT
The modern equivalent of idly flicking through the match programme before kick-off. An entertaining article to while away the time before the big game? How about the latest thoughts of former Sky anchor, feminism’s Richard Keys? The peerless Marina Hyde takes him on. It’s not a fair fight.
Related: When it comes to debating FA reform, it’s hard to have confidence in anyone | Marina Hyde
7.09pm GMT
Claudio Ranieri has reverted to Tinkerman type, and in some style, making ten changes from the team which capitulated in such miserable fashion to Manchester United on Sunday afternoon. Ahmed Musa is the only man to retain his place in the starting XI. He was hauled off at half-time of the United debacle, so make of this selection what you will. Swansea City away this weekend is a big match all right.
Steve McClaren isn’t to be outdone: he’s made eight swaps himself from the team unfortunate to come away from Newcastle United last weekend with nowt. Richard Keogh, Jacob Butterfield and Bradley Johnson are the only Rams to remain in the first XI. Three points against Bristol City on Saturday would seem more important. The magic of the FA Cup, huh? In fairness, McClaren may be playing the percentages: after all, Derby have lost their last five games at Leicester, shipping four goals on three of those occasions.
6.54pm GMT
Leicester City: Zieler, Amartey, Wasilewski, Benalouane, Chilwell, Mendy, King, Albrighton, Kapustka, Gray, Musa.
Subs: Drinkwater, Hamer, Slimani, Okazaki, Ndidi, Mahrez, Fuchs.
Derby County: Mitchell, Christie, Keogh, Shackell, Lowe, de Sart, Butterfield, Johnson, Camara, Blackman, Anya.
Subs: Carson, Russell, Ince, Baird, Pearce, Vydra, Nugent.
11.51am GMT
Leicester City are in crisis, apparently. They’re the reigning English champions, they’re in the knockout stages of the Champions League, and they’ll be in the quarter finals of the FA Cup if they can beat second-tier Derby County in this fourth-round replay tonight, and third-tier Millwall in the fifth round afterwards. Other than that, they’re struggling a bit in the League, which is historically what they often do. A crisis! Good lord. The world’s leaving me behind, and I’m not that fussed about trying to catch up.
Claudio Ranieri - under pressure, some say, for the love of all that’s good and proper - might make a few changes tonight, with upcoming Premier League and Champions League battles in mind. But he still wants to win this grand old pot. “The FA Cup is an important achievement and we have to fight for it!” he says. Local rivals Derby will make sure of that, even though injuries might force Steve McClaren’s hand too. County’s victory over West Bromwich Albion in the third round was their first FA Cup win over a team from a higher division in 31 years. Leicester watch out for that London bus!
Related: Wes Morgan’s late header rescues Leicester and denies Derby FA Cup scalp
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