Scott Murray's Blog, page 160

November 30, 2016

The Fiver | Coffee, petits fours, digestifs and cigars

In today’s Fiver: Gareth Southgate, £25m Callum Wilson and a team from Luxembourg with a one-armed striker losing 21-0 to Chelsea

The English national football team has had 14 permanent managers, a sequence stretching all the way back to 1946. The longest serving of those is still the first, Walter Winterbottom, who held on to the job until 1962. A nice man, Walter. Didn’t rock the boat. Anyway, that’s 16 years, a record that’s stood for another 54. Reason we mention this is because, at some point, someone’s going to break it. It’s about that time. Law of averages. So all hail new boss Gareth Southgate, who basic theories of statistical distribution strongly suggest he will still be in the post come 2033. Hurrah!

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Published on November 30, 2016 09:01

November 26, 2016

Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Premier League – as it happened

More pain for Spurs at Stamford Bridge, as Chelsea battle from behind to win the London derby.

7.22pm GMT

And that’s that! There goes the last unbeaten record in this season’s Premier League! Chelsea go top after a hard-fought victory. Spurs were much the better team in the first half, but Pedro equalised with a moment of brilliance, and the home side never looked back. Chelsea were good value in the end. They might have finally conceded a goal, but that’s now seven wins on the bounce. Can anyone stop them? It’s Manchester City’s turn next!

Related: Victor Moses seals Chelsea comeback as Tottenham lose unbeaten record

7.19pm GMT

90 min +2: Oscar nicks the ball from Wanyama in the centre circle and sends Costa into space down the right. He should get the return, and an opportunity to slot home from 12 yards, but for once Costa’s delivery is awful. Vertonghen intercepts and clears.

7.17pm GMT

90 min: There will be three added minutes.

7.16pm GMT

89 min: Costa backflicks down the left to release Alonso into space. Alonso crosses low. Willian, stepping into the area to meet the ball, leans back and blasts miles over the bar.

7.15pm GMT

87 min: Nkoudou dribbles with some style down the left, breaking into the box. He’s got white shirts in the middle, but opts to fire for the top left. Courtois gathers the ambitious effort. But the Spurs sub is lively: he comes again down the wing, and opts to cross this time. Wanyama, level with the right-hand post, 12 yards out, lets the ball run under his foot. Chance gone.

7.13pm GMT

85 min: Willian spoils for a fight with Nkoudou as the Spurs man bundles him into touch, then clatters into Winks. Having lost the place a bit, he’s booked.

7.12pm GMT

84 min: The corner is cleared easily enough by Chelsea.

7.11pm GMT

83 min: Kane takes a high Eriksen pass down brilliantly, as he breaks into the Chelsea box. Killed the ball stone dead. His reward is a corner off Azpilcueta. Before the corner can be taken, a couple of changes: Oscar comes on for Moses, while Janssen replaces Dembele.

7.08pm GMT

80 min: Ivanovic comes on for the impressive Moses. Chelsea very much looking to keep hold of what they’ve got.

7.07pm GMT

79 min: Dembele works his way down the left to earn a corner off Luiz. Difficult to see exactly how that panned out, because BT Sport had put up a box containing the cavorting Antonio Conte in the corner of the screen. No doubt they think it’s a cute and clever idea. But it’s not. Anyway, the corner comes to naught.

7.04pm GMT

77 min: The uncharacteristically quiet Hazard is replaced by Willian.

7.04pm GMT

76 min: Chelsea knock it around in the Spurs half awhile. Eventually Alonso loops a cross into the box from the left. The dip beats Vertonghen, and drops to Costa, six yards out. But the striker was caught by surprise, and instead of heading goalwards, chests awkwardly wide right. That could have wrapped it up.

7.00pm GMT

73 min: Spurs, roughly 20 minutes away from their first Premier League defeat of the season, replace the out-of-sorts Alli with Nkoudou.

6.59pm GMT

71 min: Kane, bustling in from the left, breaks through a couple of challenges and flicks a pass down the channel to release Alli on goal. The flag goes up for offside. It’s a poor decision, but Alli slices hysterically wide left before the whistle goes, so it’s all academic.

6.57pm GMT

70 min: Something of a lull.

6.55pm GMT

68 min: Costa rolls Vertonghen down the left and is pulled back for his trouble. Free kick, in a very dangerous position. Chelsea load the box. Hazard whips high to the near post, where Luiz tries to flash a header goalwards. He’s hustled out of it by Vertonghen, making good. Spurs clear.

6.52pm GMT

65 min: The first change of the evening is made by Spurs. Son is replaced by Winks.

6.52pm GMT

63 min: Kane breaks into space down the left. He doesn’t fancy his chances of skinning Azpilicueta for pace, so bustles slowly towards the by-line before checking and pulling back for Eriksen. Rushing in, Eriksen can’t quite meet the ball properly, contorting his body and sending a soft shot towards the bottom left. Courtois has that covered all the way.

6.50pm GMT

62 min: Costa, his back to goal 30 yards out, sprays a fine pass wide right to Moses, who curls into the centre. Costa has made up the ground, and attempts a bicycle kick. He can’t connect properly. Had that come off, it’d have been one of the great goals. Hazard picks up possession to win a corner on the left. Nothing comes from that, other than a lame shoving match between Matic and Wanyama. Dier gets in between the pair of grown men, as if to say “For the love of God, lads.” But it doesn’t descend into hot-headed madness. Still half an hour to go, of course.

6.46pm GMT

59 min: Kane dribbles down the right to earn Spurs a corner. Eriksen takes. Alonso knocks it behind again by his near post. From the second set piece, Wimmer idiotically shoves Hazard in the back, relieving the pressure on Chelsea, who had been struggling to clear.

6.45pm GMT

57 min: A corner down the left for Chelsea. Azpilicueta tries a cute flick at the near post, but no Gianfranco Zola he. Still, Chelsea are coming at Spurs from all angles now. Do the visitors have any answer?

6.44pm GMT

55 min: Moses makes off down the right and curls to the far post. Hazard flings himself at the ball, but can’t connect, the ball flashing left of goal. Spurs are hanging on. They’ll wonder how it’s come to this - they were so dominant in the first half - but this is where they are now. What a determined turnaround by Chelsea, who will be leading the League tonight if they hold on.

6.42pm GMT

53 min: Costa is such a fine player. He makes good down the right this time, and skelps a low cross towards Alonso, who has to score. He simply has to. But he somehow hoicks the ball over the bar from six yards. Chelsea, second best for so very long this evening, should now be out of sight.

6.40pm GMT

Kane wins a corner down the left. But it’s easily cleared and Chelsea go down the other end. Costa bombs down the left, reaches the by-line, and fires low across the six-yard box. Coming in from the other wing is Moses, who is in acres of space to meet the cross. He sidefoots low and hard. It’s not the most accurate shot, but power wins the day: the ball clanks off Lloris, then Vertonghen on the line, and in! What a wonderful run by Costa, though.

6.37pm GMT

49 min: Son falls to the ground under a challenge from Azpilicueta. Nothing wrong with that, though the Chelsea man then knees his prone opponent a couple of times in the thigh, in a highly disingenuous attempt to free the ball. It wasn’t vicious, but it was a bit saucy, and he’s lucky not to be booked.

6.35pm GMT

48 min: Kante has a dig from 25 yards. It’s a fierce, rising effort that’s aimed towards the top left, and claimed easily enough by Lloris.

6.34pm GMT

46 min: Spurs start the half pressing hard. It spooks Azpilicueta into nearly conceding a pointless corner with a strange stooping header, and then in the very next phase of play he’s nearly hounded off the ball by Son. Kane tries to burst down the left soon after, but he zips down a cul-de-sac.

6.32pm GMT

And we’re off again! Spurs get the ball rolling for the second half. Pedro’s moment of magic, and the scoreline, won’t have blinded Chelsea to the fact that they seriously need to raise their game. Their starting XI gets a chance to right some wrongs. No changes by either side.

6.20pm GMT

Half-time reading: If you missed the 3pm kick-offs, you’d better take a look at this.

Related: Swansea City stun Crystal Palace 5-4 as Fernando Llorente settles thriller

6.19pm GMT

And that was pretty much the final act of the first half. Chelsea were second best for 44 minutes, but Pedro’s genius has levelled the match and given his side an almighty boost! Spurs will wonder how they’re not leading. But hey, this is Stamford Bridge. Still, they should take confidence in how well they’ve played. This is going to be one hell of a second half. It was always going to be one hell of a second half, admittedly, but you get the general point. You’ll be going nowhere, right?

6.16pm GMT

This came out of nothing! And it was wonderful! Matic, in the middle of the Spurs half, slips a pass to Pedro on the left-hand corner of the D. Pedro has his back to goal, but executes a little Cruyff Turn, takes a touch inside, and curls a gorgeous dipper into the top right! Lloris had no chance! That’s a stunner!

6.15pm GMT

43 min: Not for the first time this season, Moses has been Chelsea’s best player. He grafts down the right and earns another corner, this time off Son. The corner is easily dealt with, but Chelsea soon snaffle the ball back, Lloris playing loosely out. The keeper makes amends by gathering Hazard’s low shot from 25 yards.

6.13pm GMT

42 min: Alli slides down the left and cuts back for Son, who lays off to Dembele. The Spurs midfielder cocks the trigger and looks for the top left. It’s a bit wild. Chelsea didn’t do much to close him down, though.

6.11pm GMT

39 min: Costa isn’t the sort to take this lying down. He romps down the left in a determined fashion. It’s a great run, but there’s nobody in the middle for him to find, and so he flashes a frustrated shot-cum-cross straight through the area.

6.09pm GMT

38 min: Tottenham certainly fancy this. Eriksen finds Alli in the Chelsea area with a long rake downfield. Alli can’t control, and goes down under a slight brush by Cahill. He’s not getting that decision. Spurs come again, Son spraying a diagonal pass left to right, Alli cushioning it down for Eriksen, and the goalscorer flashing over from 20 yards. Chelsea need to watch themselves here.

6.07pm GMT

36 min: Moses tries to get something going with a power jog down the right. His pace and purpose earns a corner, but nothing comes from the set piece. Stamford Bridge is fairly quiet right now, the Spurs corner excepted.

6.06pm GMT

35 min: Chelsea see a bit of the ball, but it’s all along their back line. No movement up front, no options. Spurs are happy to sit back. And so, there’s a lull.

6.04pm GMT

33 min: Kane glides in from the left and has a batter towards the top left from just outside the area. Courtois parries the ball up and round the post. The corner comes to nothing. But Chelsea are being overrun in the midfield here. Spurs are not finding it difficult to launch attacks.

6.03pm GMT

32 min: Out on the right, Walker flips the ball over Alonso’s head and races into the Chelsea box. He shoots low towards the near post. The ball’s bundled out for a corner. Dier rises to meet the set piece on the penalty spot, but can only head weakly down, straight at Courtois, who gathers. Chelsea go down the other end, Pedro feeding Costa down the left. Costa reaches the by-line and hits low and hard into the centre. Lloris, by his near post, catches calmly.

6.00pm GMT

30 min: ... sends a dipper over the wall and back down towards the bottom right. It’s well struck and on target, but Lloris is behind it all the way and snaffles it.

5.59pm GMT

29 min: Hazard skedaddles down the left. He’s shown inside. All the way across the pitch. And then he’s bundled over by Wanyama. A free kick in a dangerous position just outside the Spurs box on the right. Luiz’s eyes light up. He steps up, and...

5.57pm GMT

26 min: Dembele becomes the second player to go into the book, for a late slide on Moses as the Chelsea man skitters down the right. He can have no complaints. Two down, ten to go if we’re to match last season’s entertaining total.

5.56pm GMT

24 min: This is much better, as Costa turns on the halfway line and sprays a pass down the left for Alonso, who romps forward with purpose. He fires a low diagonal pass inside for Hazard, on the edge of the Spurs D. Hazard looks to turn and shoot, and would have got something away had the flag not gone up. He was offside. Still, that was the most incisive the home side have been. They’ll take succour from that.

5.54pm GMT

22 min: Wanyama and Dembele ping the ball back and forth to each other, along the front of the Chelsea box. Nobody’s closing them down! Eventually Wanyama has a pop, but it’s not very good. Still, Spurs are being given the run of Stamford Bridge here. Is it too early for them to dream of their first victory here since 1990? Yes. Yes it is. But Chelsea need to get their gamefaces on. They’ve been very passive so far.

5.51pm GMT

19 min: Luiz is booked for knocking Kane to the floor during that last attack. This stops Chelsea taking a quick free kick, earned by Costa 30 yards out. Moses had been free on the right with time to shoot, but it was the first break in play, and admin is admin. Chelsea scoop the retake into the Spurs box, and Costa shapes to Mark Hughes a bicycle kick goalwards, but Vertonghen and Dier combine to bundle clear.

5.48pm GMT

17 min: Son is sent scampering into acres of space down the left. Unfortunately for Spurs, Kane was knocked to the floor during the early stages of the attack, and there’s nobody in the box for Son to find. The move fizzles out. But Chelsea need to move up a couple of gears here.

5.46pm GMT

16 min: Eriksen drops deep down the right, and swings a fine cross into the Chelsea box towards Kane. Courtois comes off his line quickly to claim. Spurs are winning practically every ball in the midfield. This is most un-Chelsea-esque.

5.45pm GMT

14 min: Chelsea half clear, allowing Son the opportunity to shoot from the edge of their D. Fortunately for the half-asleep home side, Son screws a pitiful effort wide left.

5.44pm GMT

13 min: Chelsea look collectively stunned. Eriksen, his boots hot, takes a stride down the inside-right channel and shoots from the best part of 30 yards. The ball balloons off Alonso and out for a corner on the right. From which...

5.43pm GMT

Chelsea concede their first goal since their defeat at Arsenal! Dembele is allowed to prance down the left. He shuttles the ball inside to Alli, who moves it further infield for Eriksen. The Danish international takes a touch, and arrows an unstoppable riser into the top left! What a goal! And it had been coming. This is a marvellous start to the game by Spurs.

5.40pm GMT

10 min: Alli turns Matic in the middle of the park and fizzes a first-time pass down the left to release Kane into acres. That’s fine play. Kane can’t take advantage of the situation. But Chelsea are second best all over the park right now. This is impressive stuff from Spurs.

5.39pm GMT

9 min: ... sends his effort sailing miles over the bar. An attempt to curl one into the top left gone wrong.

5.38pm GMT

8 min: Now Kane earns a free kick out on the left, as he’s bowled over by Pedro. There was no need for Pedro to make the challenge, Spurs were going nowhere. Dier looks like he fancies this. He steps up, and...

5.38pm GMT

6 min: ... Kane has the ball in the net! He reacts quickest to Eriksen’s high curler, which isn’t cleared by Chelsea and falls by his feet, six yards out. He slams home, but he’s jumped offside when Eriksen swing the ball in from the right, and the flag goes up. Both sets of fans enjoyed that passage of play, albeit at different moments. Chelsea with the last laugh. But this is a lively start by Spurs.

5.36pm GMT

5 min: Dier plants an elbow on the back of Costa’s noggin as the pair contest a high ball. The Chelsea striker has a word with the referee. The referee then has a word with the Chelsea striker. Spurs go up the other end, Alonso wrestling Kane to the ground just outside the right-hand corner of the area. Free kick. From which...

5.34pm GMT

3 min: Son attempts to burst clear down the left, the tactic that earned those two late goals against West Ham this time last week. Luiz is wise to his game, though - no Håvard Nordtveit he - and ushers the ball out for a goal kick.

5.33pm GMT

2 min: Spurs enjoy a little possession deep in Chelsea territory. Walker has a probe down the right, Dembele along the left. It all goes nowhere, but that’ll give the visitors a little confidence.

5.31pm GMT

Here we go, then! Referee Michael Oliver ostentatiously checks his tit pocket for cards. What an entertainer. Then Diego Costa gets the ball rolling for Chelsea. Luiz lumps it long. Costa brings the ball down on the edge of the area and falls over. He claims a free kick, but it was nothing more than a slip. Hearts will have been in Tottenham mouths then, though.

5.28pm GMT

The teams are out! One of those fixtures that always looks perfect, because both teams are able to play in their first-choice colours. Chelsea are in their bright blue, while Spurs wear their lilywhite shirts. There’s a wonderful atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, which will come as no surprise whatsoever to lovers of London derbies. One of the biggest fixtures of the season will be underway very soon, after a quick spin of The Liquidator!

5.19pm GMT

Mauricio Pochettino explains his back line! “Jan Vertonghen will play in the centre with Eric Dier and Kevin Wimmer will play on the left. But both can play on the left. The possibilities are good.” As for Tottenham’s meltdown here in May: “We need to forget about what happened last season.” All delivered with a cheeky smile. Imagine if it kicked off again, with Pochettino and Conte on the touchline. Just imagine. Oh yes.

5.13pm GMT

Antonio Conte speaks! “I have a lot of confidence in my whole squad. But it is normal that I pick the eleven who start, because in this moment they play very well.” Has he warned his players not to act the giddy goat in the wake of last season’s brouhaha? “I always tell my players to be focused and concentrate, and to think of the game. This is most important if you want to win.”

4.40pm GMT

Chelsea, going along like the clappers, unsurprisingly name an unchanged side. The XI starters last Sunday at Middlesbrough start again.

Tottenham Hotspur however make three changes to the team that crashed out of the Champions League at Monaco midweek. Danny Rose is unavailable while Kieran Trippier and Harry Winks drop to the bench. Coming into the side: Jan Vertonghen, Kyle Walker and Christian Eriksen.

4.32pm GMT

Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill, Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso, Pedro, Costa, Hazard.
Subs: Begovic, Ivanovic, Fabregas, Oscar, Willian, Batshuayi, Chalobah.

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Dier, Wimmer, Vertonghen, Walker, Wanyama, Dembele, Son, Eriksen, Alli, Kane.
Subs: Janssen, Vorm, Nkoudou, Trippier, Onomah, Winks, Carter-Vickers.

10.34am GMT

This fixture was the match of the 2015/16 season. Of course, Tottenham Hotspur won’t remember it fondly at all: they shipped a two-goal lead and handed the title to Leicester City. But good gosh, it was marvellous entertainment: four goals, 12 bookings, one collective loss of noggin and a thundering, bench-emptying donnybrook involving players and managers which spilled off the pitch and trundled all the way down the tunnel. Who will think of the kids, and all that, yeah yeah, but let’s be honest, you’d pay good money to see that sort of widescreen nonsense every week.

Spurs will want to right some wrongs this evening. Partly to erase some of the sour memories of that game last May, but mainly to keep on Chelsea’s tail in this season’s title race. Mauricio Pochettino’s team are unbeaten in the League to date, but they haven’t been totally convincing at any stage, and could do with a statement result here. A draw would be enough to keep them happy, one suspects, given they haven’t won at Stamford Bridge since 1990, a pitiful sequence that stretches back 30 matches. If they manage that, they’ll remain four points behind their London rivals; that’s nothing in November. A seven-point gap, by contrast, would cause them no little discomfort.

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Published on November 26, 2016 11:22

Burnley 1-2 Manchester City: Premier League – as it happened

City weren’t at their best collectively, but Sergio Aguero was on form, poaching two goals to earn his side a precious three points in the title race.

2.46pm GMT

Paul Wilson’s match report.

Related: Sergio Agüero and Manchester City fight back to see off Burnley

2.28pm GMT

And that’s that! Burnley scored a cracker, but City managed two scruffy ones, and Pep Guardiola’s side move to the top of the Premier League! For a couple of hours? For five hours? Or for longer? Only Liverpool and Chelsea can answer that later today. But that’s a great victory for City. They weren’t at their best - Burnley probably deserved something on the balance of play - but Sergio Aguero is a poacher supreme, and he’s earned City a precious three points in the title race!

2.26pm GMT

90 min +4: A throw into the City box from the right. Barnes tries an overhead kick, and connects, but it flies straight at Bravo from close range!

2.25pm GMT

90 min +3: Though here’s a chance for them to load the City box, as De Bruyne gifts them a free kick out on the right. The ball’s looped into the area. Bravo can’t collect. Keane heads weakly from six yards, straight into the back of Mee. Bravo finally catches.

2.24pm GMT

90 min +2: Lowton scoops it long, but Otamendi mops it up. The home side, who have battled so hard, look to be spent at long last.

2.22pm GMT

90 min +1: Navas probes down the right, but is stopped in his tracks by a marvellous tackle from Ward.

2.22pm GMT

90 min: Robinson has another opportunity to hoick it long into the City box. Arfield nearly connects with a spectacular scissor kick, but he only bothers the fresh air around him. There will be four added minutes.

2.21pm GMT

89 min: No hat-trick for Sergio Aguero. City’s two-goal hero is replaced by Jesus Navas, as Pep runs the clock down in the professional style.

2.20pm GMT

88 min: Burnley are giving this a proper go. Barnes and Vokes combine well to bustle their way down the middle of the park. Barnes can’t quite get a shot away as he enters the box, but he does earn a throw. From that, Lowton crosses deep. Too deep. Goal kick for City, and the pressure is relieved.

2.19pm GMT

87 min: Robinson launches a long free kick into the City box from the centre circle. The ball drops to Boyd, whose low attempt at a volley is blocked. Hendrick has a go next, but that’s easily fielded. Hearts in City mouths there.

2.16pm GMT

85 min: City take their time over a throw in the midfield. They’re clearly happy to keep hold of what they have. No point getting greedy. This will be a fine result if they can close it out.

2.15pm GMT

83 min: Tarkowski turns Fernandinho with absurd ease in the midfield, and very nearly releases Vokes with a slide-rule pass down the left channel. Otamendi reads well and bundles out for a throw, though it should have been a corner. Burnley still manage to instigate a tatty rumble in the City area. Arfield tries to control and shoot, level with the far post and ten yards out, but Kolarov bravely puts himself in the road and City clear the danger. This is a good effort by Burnley. Whatever happens today, their displays at Turf Moor augur well for their chances of survival.

2.11pm GMT

80 min: Sane looks to curl one into the top left from a position 30 yards along the inside-right channel. Nope! Meanwhile Burnley make their last swap of the afternoon: Ashley Barnes comes on for Defour.

2.09pm GMT

78 min: Nolito, who is still bubbling away with righteous fury, is wisely replaced by Kevin De Bruyne.

2.08pm GMT

76 min: Boyd and Sagna battle down the Burnley right. The ball pings off the City full back and out for a corner. He goes down looking for a foul that he’s not getting. So he won’t be around to defend the set piece. But no worries: it’s a total non event.

2.06pm GMT

74 min: Nolito is penalised for nudging Mee in the back in the centre circle, and is booked for a petulant reaction. The free kick’s laid off to Defour, who lumps it into the mixer again. Keane once more rises to win a header. The ball’s going to squirm into the bottom right, but Kolarov manages to knee the ball off the line and away from danger. Burnley are right back in this!

2.05pm GMT

73 min: Robinson launches long down the middle. Keane bustles around on the edge of the City box, forcing Kolarov to hack clear. Defour comes again down the right and crosses. Keane connects with a header this time, though it’s never going close to the target.

2.03pm GMT

71 min: Otamendi comes clattering into the back of Arfield, just to the right of the City D. A free kick in a very dangerous position. Burnley load the box, but Defour wafts a miserable set piece high into the area, allowing Bravo to claim with a yawn. Still, signs that this game isn’t quite over yet.

2.02pm GMT

70 min: City pass it around quite a lot. Suddenly Toure strokes a ball down the inside-right channel to tear clear. He cuts inside and chips over Robinson, and into the net. But he knew he was offside, and he’s booked. Then he applauds the referee sarcastically. He’s skating on thin ice here. But he gets away with that one. On another day...

1.59pm GMT

68 min: Ward finds a little space down the left, and whips one in towards Vokes and Boyd, but the City back line looks a lot more solid right now. Otamendi clears with purpose. Sport’s a state of mind.

1.58pm GMT

66 min: Hendrick has the ball 25 yards from goal, and options either side, but he hesitates, allowing Otamendi to steal the ball and move upfield. He’s upended by Lowton, who is eventually booked for that one, but the referee allows play to continue, as City are sweeping upfield. Aguero, his tail up and very much desirous of a hat-trick, probes down the right. He thinks about a shot but wins a corner instead. The set piece finds Sane shooting 20 yards out, but the effort’s no good.

1.56pm GMT

64 min: Nolito, out on the left, creams a fine pass down the channel to release Aguero on goal. But the City striker is a yard offside, and doesn’t bother complaining when the flag goes up.

1.54pm GMT

63 min: A good response by Burnley, who earn a free kick midway into City territory. The ball’s pumped into the mixer, and falls to Hendrick, who tries to Marney a volley into the net from 30 yards. It balloons off a black shirt and out for a corner, which is wasted.

1.53pm GMT

A comical melee on the Burnley penalty spot. Toure falls over. Fernandinho can’t get a shot away. Ward looks to clear, but he runs into Mee. They both topple to the floor. Fernandinho looks to chase the loose ball, which is threatening to go out to the right of goal. Keane tries to shepherd the ball out, but lets Fernandinho hook it into the centre, where it hits Aguero and flies into the bottom right! The striker knew nothing about that. A comedy of errors, but fine work by Fernandinho, and as things stand, City are going top of the league!

1.50pm GMT

58 min: Sterling is absolutely clattered by Mee in a fair but hard 50-50 challenge in the midfield. Ooyah, oof! He rolls about a bit, rubs his knee, then limps awhile, though he’s looking to come back on the field. But the board goes up. He’s hooked in favour of the very exciting Leroy Sane. His limp gets worse again as he makes his way back to the bench. City fans will hope that’s nothing serious, and he’s just trying to save face.

1.48pm GMT

56 min: A garden-variety hoof down the field suddenly finds Defour in acres of space down the right. He doesn’t trust himself to drive into the City box, though, checking instead and whipping a lame cross behind Vokes in the centre. A rare chance to worry City spurned.

1.46pm GMT

55 min: Sterling is the business in open play, though. He’s everywhere. He earns another corner with a busy dribble down the right, though he’s not given it by the officials. He frowns quite a lot.

1.45pm GMT

53 min: Sterling drops a shoulder and tries to make good down the right. He can’t get past Ward but earns a corner. He takes it himself, and it’s bloody awful. Once again, he can’t hoist the ball over the first man. On the touchline, Pep does a little jig, a snippet of contemporary dance that explores concepts of displeasure, frustration and irritation.

1.43pm GMT

51 min: Toure one-twos with Nolito, 25 yards from goal. He has a whack at the target. And City rack up another three rugby points. A sense, however, that it’s just a matter of time before they break through. Burnley appear to have given up all pretence of attack, digging in for the long haul. Not sure it’s the wisest of ideas. We’ll see.

1.41pm GMT

49 min: A free kick for City on the right. Sterling, very peppy right now, is in the heart of it all. He takes the set piece. But it’s godawful, failing to clear the first man. Nolito tries to rescue something from the wreckage with a shot from the edge of the box: that’s three rugby points! City, however, are very much on the front foot.

1.39pm GMT

48 min: City are out of the blocks quickly in this second half. Sterling earns a corner down the right, though the set piece comes to naught. But Burnley are struggling to get out of their own final third. This could be a long half.

1.38pm GMT

47 min: Sterling sashays down the right and rolls the ball inside for Aguero, who takes a touch, spins, and looks for the bottom left. Mee gets in the way to block.

1.38pm GMT

And we’re off again! That was a very engaging first 45 minutes of toe-to-toe football. But it’s highly likely City smell blood. Can Burnley hold firm, like they did against Liverpool, sort of did against Everton, and nearly did against Arsenal? They’re out first, raring to go. They get the party re-started. “As a Blackburn fan, I can say that Paul Robinson’s delivery for Burnley’s first goal made me a bit nostalgic for Allardyce’s Rovers side back in the day,” writes Hugh Molloy. “With the height, and float, he gets on the ball, Robinson can land it on the edge of the box for a second-ball scrap from about three quarters of the pitch. It’s a real, if slightly unfashionable, weapon that we scored plenty from.”

1.23pm GMT

Half-time reading: To whet your appetite for this evening’s big match in the Premier League, our man David Hytner recalls the most entertaining game of the 2015/16 season.

Related: Battle of Stamford Bridge: Tottenham return to the scene of their undoing | David Hytner

1.22pm GMT

All in all, a decent half of football for a newly promoted side against some title contenders. But, given how things were going for the first 30-odd minutes, it won’t quite feel like that. City’s equaliser, and a couple of injuries, have taken the wind out of Burnley’s sail. Half-time’s come at the right moment for them, a chance to regroup, though no doubt Pep will appreciate the chance to give his slightly sleepy team a good talking-to as well. It should be a cracking second half. Don’t leave!

1.20pm GMT

45 min +4: Otamendi is booked for questioning, in the full and frank style, a hand-ball decision down the right.

1.19pm GMT

45 min +3: A bit of space for Lowton down the right. He whips a cross to the near post, where Vokes heads down towards the bottom right. Bravo smothers. That’ll cheer them up a bit; they’ve had a miserable ten minutes otherwise.

1.17pm GMT

45 min +1: There will be four added minutes. Arfield, yet to get up to speed, lays a piss-poor square pass to Sterling in the midfield. Sterling should zip clean through on goal, but he hesitates and neither shoots nor finds Aguero by his side.

1.15pm GMT

44 min: Burnley just want to hear the half-time whistle. They’d be chuffed with the final whistle, actually, but you get the general point.

1.14pm GMT

43 min: Gudmundsson goes down now, grabbing the back of his left leg as he falls. There was nobody near him. He shakes his head, knowing full well that’s his hamstring gone. James Tarkowski comes on in his stead. It was looking so promising for Burnley only ten minutes ago; now it’s all falling apart at pace.

1.12pm GMT

41 min: Before the corner can be taken, Marney goes down again, and this time he can’t continue. Burnley’s goalscorer troops off to warm applause, as he’s replaced by Arfield. City’s corner leads to nix.

1.11pm GMT

39 min: Burnley were looking very confident, but their heads have dropped. Aguero finds a bit of space, 30 yards from goal, drops a shoulder to nudge the ball to his left, and curls a beauty towards the top left. It’s in all the way, but Robinson extends at full length to fingertip round the post! What a stunning save by the veteran!

1.09pm GMT

Something goes City’s way! Sterling makes a lot of ground down the right, but can’t get a shot away when he enters the area. He can’t find Nolito in the middle, either. Both men are clattered, but there’s on penalty decision. No matter, though, because the ball had clanked out for a corner on the right, and a resulting scramble ends with Aguero popping up to poke a loose ball into the bottom-left corner from a couple of yards! That was brilliantly opportunistic, and City are level!

1.07pm GMT

35 min: Marney is booked for a cynical slide on Fernandinho in the midfield. Booking. From the set piece, Toure strides down the right and unleashes a pearler which cracks off the outside of the right-hand post! Goal kick, and nothing’s going City’s way right now.

1.05pm GMT

33 min: A free kick for Burnley out on the left. Defour curls it into the area. Keane rises with a view to heading home from 12 yards, but Otamendi eyebrows it out for a corner on the right. From the corner, Bravo is unable to come and collect, blocked unfairly by Ward. No foul, which is a poor decision, but the ball flies out on the other side, the in-rushing Boyd unable to connect.

1.03pm GMT

30 min: A long ball down the middle by City. It’s chested down by Toure, on the right of the Burnley D, a cushioned pass to Aguero. The striker sends a no-backlift snapshot towards the top right. Not quite: it’s high and wide. But that’s a decent effort out of very little.

1.01pm GMT

29 min: Ward scoots down the left and very nearly releases Boyd into the City area with a low, diagonal ball. But Fernandinho reads the plan excellently, stepping in to intercept just in time. Wonderful defending.

12.59pm GMT

27 min: A corner for City down the left. The ball ends up on the penalty spot, with Toure desperately trying to make space for a shot, with a tangle of claret shirts swarming around him. Eventually Keane prods the ball away from danger. City were threatening an equaliser there, but Burnley were the dictionary definition of determination.

12.58pm GMT

26 min: Sagna attempts to shepherd the ball out of play down the Burnley left, for a goal kick. He allows they busy Boyd to hook a leg round, nearly guiding the ball to Vokes in the middle. City half clear. Gudmundsson plays the ball back into the box from the right. City allow it to bounce a couple of times, but it never falls for Boyd to take a shot. Otamendi finally does what City should have done a long time ago. Stones is gone, but they still look terribly shaky at the back.

12.55pm GMT

24 min: Marney is down, getting a bit of attention. Looks like he’ll be OK, and the break allows his team-mates, who have been pressing and pressing and pressing, to take on some tasty water.

12.54pm GMT

22 min: Boyd bustles down the left and wins a corner. City clear with ease and romp up the other end on a quick break. Sterling races down the right and feeds Toure on the inside. Toure miscontrols, the ball breaking through to Robinson. But Burnley were light there. A better ball by Sterling, or a better touch by Toure, and City had many options, with Aguero and Nolito free along the line to their left.

12.52pm GMT

20 min: Toure makes like Clichy down the left, reaches the by-line, and cuts back for Nolito, who looks to curl one into the bottom right. Robinson is wise to his game and smothers it.

12.51pm GMT

18 min: That goal’s shaken City back into action. They’re hogging the ball again. Clichy makes a bit of space down the left and very nearly finds Aguero in the centre. The ball pinballs around for a while. Fernandinho and Nolito take snapshots which are blocked. Burnley scramble clear.

12.48pm GMT

16 min: City look to respond instantly, Sterling embarking on a power skedaddle down the inside-right channel. For a second it looks as though he’s going to skin Mee, but he’s forced to go on the outside and has to settle for a corner. The resulting set piece isn’t anything to write home about. It ends up in Robinson’s arms. The old boy is enjoying his comeback so far!

12.47pm GMT

This is an astonishing goal! Robinson hoicks a long ball straight down the middle. On the edge of the area, Otamendi rises and clears. The header’s not bad, but it drops to Marney, 30 yards out. He steps ahead of Toure, and volleys the sweetest shot into the bottom left! That’s an absolute screamer, and you’ll not see a better goal all season!

12.45pm GMT

13 min: Gudmundsson picks up possession down the Burnley right. He swans past a half-interested Fernando, cuts inside and lashes a shot towards the bottom right. Bravo is behind that all the way. The sun’s causing a few problems when the ball goes high. Burnley will think about pumping a few big ones into the City box.

12.43pm GMT

12 min: So having said that, it’s gone a little bit scrappy. Burnley are unlikely to mind. City were stroking it around nicely during the opening exchanges, but passes aren’t sticking right now.

12.41pm GMT

10 min: Burnley, after a slow start, are pressing City hard. Sagna is panicked into the concession of a corner on the left. Nothing comes from the set piece. This is a nice, lively start.

12.40pm GMT

7 min: Action at both ends. A free kick out on the Burnley left is pumped into the City box. Otamendi and Hendrick come together. The former shoves the latter in the back. The latter ends up face down on the turf. He claims a penalty, but he’s not getting it. He should, though. A big moment. City sail up the other end, Aguero cutting in from the left and fizzing a shot towards the bottom left. Robinson does very well to tip the ball round the post. Nothing comes from the resulting corner. Well, well.

12.37pm GMT

6 min: Nolito snoozes in the centre circle, allowing Boyd to hare off down the left. He lays off for Defour, whose low cross into the City box doesn’t find Vokes. Promising for the home side, though.

12.35pm GMT

4 min: Burnley are struggling to keep hold of the ball at the minute. City passing it around quite a lot. No great surprises here.

12.33pm GMT

2 min: But City have started quickly. Fernandinho, on the edge of the Burnley D, cushions a header to the right where Toure lashes over wildly from 12 yards.

12.32pm GMT

And we’re off! City get the ball rolling. It’s Burnley keeper Paul Robinson’s first match for two years and two months, since he turned out for Blackburn Rovers in the Championship. God speed, sir. He gets his first touch after 55 seconds, Marney screwing a dreadful ball from right to left across the front of his own area, Ward guiding it back to his keeper under pressure from Aguero. That’ll settle the nerves.

12.30pm GMT

The teams are out! It’s a cold, crisp, sunny day in Lancashire. A gorgeous sight as the sunbeams flicker across a famous old stadium. A lot of bobble hats in the stands. Burnley are in their famous claret shirts, while City are in second-choice black. The same strip they wore when winning here 6-1 in 2010, more or less. And when they lost 1-0 in 2015, to be fair. We’ll be off in a minute!

12.21pm GMT

And so does Pep! “It is my first time here. It was my first time at Stoke City, first time at West Brom. It’s why I am a lucky guy, coming here to England to discover it. We have 22 players, so I use 22 players. I have confidence in my team. We have had just two days to recover, so we needed to use fresh legs.”

12.20pm GMT

Sean Dyche speaks! “At this level, Turf Moor is hardly going to be a fortress. But over time we’ve made it a tough place to come. We’re still looking to address our away form in this league, but our home form has been nice and solid, and there’s been some good performances. City are top of the top, I think. They’re a fine, fine side. They’re definitely a force to be reckoned with.”

11.45am GMT

Burnley make two changes to the team which went down dismally at West Brom. Former Leeds United keeper Paul Robinson makes his debut, with Tom Heaton suffering from a calf injury. George Boyd meanwhile comes in for Scott Arfield, who drops to the bench.

Manchester City meanwhile give John Stones time and opportunity to have a good, calm, long, considered think about things. He’s one of five changes to the side that drew against Borussia Mönchengladbach midweek. Ilkay Gundogan is also nowhere to be seen, while Jesus Navas, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva kick back in the dugout. Taking their places: Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy, Fernando, Nolito, and last weekend’s two-goal hero Yaya Toure.

11.35am GMT

Burnley: Robinson, Lowton, Keane, Mee, Ward, Gudmundsson, Marney, Defour, Boyd, Hendrick, Vokes.
Subs: Flanagan, Gray, Barnes, Kightly, Tarkowski, Pope, Arfield.

Manchester City: Bravo, Sagna, Otamendi, Kolarov, Clichy, Fernandinho, Fernando, Sterling, Toure, Nolito, Aguero.
Subs: Zabaleta, Caballero, Jesus Navas, De Bruyne, Sane, Silva, Iheanacho.

10.24am GMT

Sean Dyche’s newly promoted Burnley have already seen off Liverpool and Everton this season. They came away from Old Trafford with a point, and were very unlucky to lose at Turf Moor to Arsenal. On the other hand, they’ve been walloped for three goals by Chelsea and Leicester, and were soundly battered 4-0 by West Bromwich Albion on Monday night. So which Burnley will turn up this lunchtime? Good luck making that call.

Mind you, Manchester City haven’t exactly been models of consistency lately either. They won their first 10 competitive fixtures this season, then went six without a victory. They’ve dropped scrappy points at home to Everton, Southampton and Middlesbrough, and conceded three to a Brendan Rodgers team in Europe, for goodness sake. Their midweek Champions League fixture at Borussia Mönchengladbach illustrated their up-and-down tendencies perfectly: they were appalling in defence, and outplayed for large chunks of the game, but scored a goal of crisp, incisive, intelligent beauty and came away with the result they required. Which City will we see today? Good luck making that call.

Related: Pep Guardiola not fazed by Manchester City’s testing schedule

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Published on November 26, 2016 06:28

November 23, 2016

Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-1 Manchester City: Champions League – as it happened

For a game featuring two red cards, this was as uneventful as it gets, but City won’t care: they eased their way into the knockout stage!

9.52pm GMT

Related: Manchester City through after David Silva earns draw at Mönchengladbach

9.37pm GMT

And that’s that! City qualify in second place behind Barcelona. Gladbach are guaranteed a spot in the Europa League. And Celtic are out of Europe. Oh Brendan! This wasn’t much of a match, truth be told, but City won’t care: they can now spend the next three months concentrating on domestic matters!

9.35pm GMT

90 min +1: With Barcelona beating Celtic, and this game level, Gladbach are sure of Europa League football. So City are able to hold possession in the middle, and the pragmatic hosts are happy to let them do it. This is like watching West Germany versus Austria in 1982, albeit without too much scandal.

9.32pm GMT

90 min: There will be two additional minutes.

9.31pm GMT

88 min: City continue to fiddle around in the middle, letting the clock do its thing. They’re within touching distance of the knockout stages.

9.29pm GMT

86 min: Aguero flicks a clever pass down the inside-left channel, between a couple of black-and-green shirts, to release Silva into the area. Silva lashes into the net, but that’s City’s second disallowed goal of the evening. Offside again, and once more it’s the correct decision.

9.28pm GMT

85 min: Kolarov works and works to earn a corner on the left. Silva takes. Otamendi rises, just to the left of the penalty spot, and sends a free header wide left. He should have at least got that on target.

9.26pm GMT

84 min: Gladbach make their last change of the evening, swapping their goalscorer Raffael for German international Andre Hahn.

9.25pm GMT

82 min: City are more than happy to knock it around the middle right now. Going nowhere, but that’s all right, the clock is their friend.

9.23pm GMT

80 min: A rare attack by Gladbach. Hoffman opens his legs down the right, but with Johnson hovering in the middle, loops a wild one straight through the area. City are looking pretty comfortable right now, knowing they’re through to the next round as things stand.

9.22pm GMT

79 min: Navas slips Sagna into space down the right. Sagna earns a corner kick. After some intricate triangles, Navas finds himself on the by-line, just to the right of the goal. He skelps a vicious shot-cum-cross straight at Sommer, who does well to parry up and away from his own goal. That was hit so hard, it could have gone anywhere.

9.20pm GMT

77 min: City ping it around some more. Gladbach sit back. Suddenly De Bruyne breaks free down the left and earns a corner. Vestergaard clears with a header that reaches the halfway line.

9.17pm GMT

74 min: City, having had their collective bubble deflated in the wake of Fernandinho’s needless dismissal, regroup and pin the hosts back. Low crosses are fizzed into the area from both wings, but each time a black shirt is first to the party and hacks clear.

9.16pm GMT

72 min: Raffael is really trying it on now. He blocks a Kolarov cross with his arms up. A free kick, which leads to nothing, but that’s not really the point: it was a deliberate hand ball, and he really should be walking by now.

9.14pm GMT

71 min: Now Raffael is booked for a very agricultural slide on Gundogan. A case for a red card there, as he went in studs up and, for a split second, had two feet off the ground. It looked more clumsy than malicious, but again, the letter of the law...

9.13pm GMT

69 min: Hofmann makes good down the right and reaches the by-line. He cuts back for Johnson, bombing in down the channel. Johnson can’t connect, and City clear. Sagna romps down the right, and is scythed to the ground by a ludicrously late challenge from Jantschke. A yellow card, all day long.

9.10pm GMT

68 min: City react to their red card by sacrificing Sterling for Sagna.

9.10pm GMT

67 min: De Bruyne, 30 yards out and cutting in from the left, drops a shoulder to make some space and unleashes a superlative riser towards the top right. It’s in all the way, but Sommer tips it over the bar. What a shot! And a stunning save! The corner comes to nothing.

9.08pm GMT

65 min: And with the crowd having found their voice again, Raffael picks up possession on the edge of the City D and sends a no-backlift shot trundling towards the bottom left. It’s just wide of the post. Not 100 percent sure Bravo was getting across to that. The home side are renewed.

9.07pm GMT

63 min: This is beyond stupid. Fernandinho, on a booking, lightly tugs at the back of Strobl’s shirt in the centre circle. It’s not much of a foul, hardly a tug even, but by the letter of the law and all that. Why take the risk when you’re on a booking, and a man up? And now it’s ten versus ten.

9.05pm GMT

62 min: De Bruyne battles and bustles down the left, and very nearly breaks clear into the Gladbach area. Strobl stands his ground and eventually wins a free kick. Cue ironic cheers from the home faithful, who are still sore about the departure of their captain.

9.03pm GMT

60 min: Dahoud is replaced by Vestergaard, who slots in at the back. Jantschke moves forward to take up the departing midfielder’s position.

9.02pm GMT

59 min: This is attack versus defence. Gladbach can’t get hold of the ball at all. Navas slides De Bruyne into space down the right. De Bruyne reaches the by-line and looks for a friendly orange-and-purple shirt in the middle. His shot-cum-cross is snaffled by Sommer at the near post.

9.00pm GMT

57 min: City are all over Gladbach now. Sterling is seeing a lot of the ball on the right. He floats one to the far post, but Aguero is never getting there, and Sommer plucks from the sky.

8.59pm GMT

55 min: City possession, whistles, Otamendi being given pelters, etc.

8.57pm GMT

53 min: City stroke it around the middle of the park awhile, just because they can now. The home support are whistling quite a lot, especially when Otamendi receives the ball.

8.56pm GMT

51 min: The Gladbach captain is sent packing for a second yellow, picked up after he cynically bodychecks Otamendi! A difficult evening for City has suddenly become a whole lot easier.

8.54pm GMT

50 min: De Bruyne enters the box on the right. A chance to shoot, but he doesn’t take it. A fresh-air swipe. Then he has another go, but only manages to screw the ball to his left, where Sterling is free! Sterling sidefoots home with power, but the flag goes up for offside. The correct decision.

8.53pm GMT

49 min: From the free kick, 40 yards down the inside-right channel, De Bryune floats a ball to the far post, where Stones really should go for goal from close range. But he opts to head back across goal instead. Sommer claims, and is barged by Fernandinho as he leaps. The pair square up but calm down soon enough.

8.51pm GMT

48 min: Gladbach have barely touched the ball in this first half. Eventually all the City possession gets the better of Dahoud, who tugs at Nevas’s arm and is booked for his trouble.

8.49pm GMT

In the tunnel, before the teams emerge, Pep Guardiola takes a few seconds to drum a few extra words of beneficial advice into his defence. You can’t blame him for taking every opportunity to cram in a little more tuition during the break: on the evidence of the first half, fifteen hours wouldn’t have been long enough, never mind 15 minutes. City go immediately on the attack, Gundogan making good down the left but ballooning his cross into the stand behind the goal with the box loaded.

8.36pm GMT

Half-time reading: Some hot Champions League chat on why Tottenham Hotspur failed to make it out of their group.

Related: Summer signings and lack of savvy: why Tottenham failed in the Champions League

8.35pm GMT

And that’s that for the first half! It’s fair to say City are a little lucky to be level, given the way they’ve defended at times. But a moment of sheer quality has put a different sheen on this game at the break. The home side will be livid with themselves for easing off before the half-time whistle. Pep’s now got a chance to knock some sense into his defenders. Should be a cracker of a second half. Don’t go anywhere, now.

8.33pm GMT

No matter! City equalise in their very next attack, and with the last kick of the half! Gundogan finds Sterling with a clever pass down the right channel. Sterling helps it on to De Bruyne, who bursts towards the by-line before firing a low cross inside. Silva, on the right-hand edge of the six-yard box, pokes home! What a wonderful, crisp passing move!

8.31pm GMT

45 min: City should be level! De Bruyne scoops a gorgeous pass down the inside-right channel to spring Sterling into the area. Shades of offside possibly? Maybe, maybe not. But perhaps there’s a little doubt in Sterling’s mind, because instead of battering a shot goalward, he checks. He cuts inside for Aguero instead. The striker looks for the bottom right, but his shot is smothered by Sommer.

8.29pm GMT

44 min: Fernandinho is booked for a foul on Dahoud in the centre circle, as Gladbach once again prepare to launch a sortie downfield.

8.28pm GMT

42 min: Stindl is everywhere right now. He’s set along the right wing by Raffael. He nears the by-line, then cuts back to Dahoud, just to the right of the City D. Dahoud puts his foot through the ball, but sends his shot miles over the bar. City could do with hearing the half-time whistle here. They’re not being over-run as such, but every time Gladbach launch an attack, they’re finding all sorts of holes in the City back line.

8.26pm GMT

41 min: Traore has picked up an injury. He makes way for Jonas Hofmann.

8.25pm GMT

38 min: Strobl channels his inner Beckenbauer and embarks on a power sashay down the middle. Sterling gives up chasing him after a while. Strobl lays off to Stindl on the right. Stindl enters the box, but can’t a shot away. But Gladbach come back at City not once but twice, both times down the inside-right channel. Shots first from Elvedi, then Wendt, and City are looking very tatty at the back here. Wendt was presented with his chance after Bravo rolled the ball out into no-man’s land, allowing the full back to pick up possession and break into the box! What an absurd decision! They get away with this little episode, but they surely can’t keep carrying on like this.

8.22pm GMT

37 min: City stroke it around the back a lot. They’re not really going anywhere right now.

8.21pm GMT

35 min: The ball breaks to Gundogan on the left-hand edge of the Gladbach D. He chests down and threads a delightful low shot towards the bottom left. It’s in all the way, but Sommer gets down quickly to tip the ball round the left-hand post. What a shot! And what a save! The corner leads to another corner, which leads to nothing.

8.19pm GMT

34 min: Sterling enters the Gladbach box down the right, and his shot-cum-cross is deflected out for a corner on the same side of the pitch. From which...

8.18pm GMT

32 min: Now Aguero is penalised for wrestling with Elvedi as the pair contest a long pass down the City left. That’s another free kick against the busy forward, who looks extremely frustrated right now.

8.17pm GMT

30 min: De Bruyne trots down the right and rolls a pass into the centre, where Aguero tussles with Jantschke before breaking into the box. But the play’s pulled back for an illegal tug. The City striker isn’t happy with that decision, given it was a bit of a 50-50 grapple. But free kick to the home team it is.

8.15pm GMT

27 min: Stindl makes good down the right and chips into the centre. Kolarov is forced to head behind, to the left of goal, for a corner. From the set piece, the ball’s worked to Strobl, on the left-hand edge of the area. Strobl sends a belter goalwards, but it’s blocked by Kolarov. Gladbach claim handball, and it did indeed hit Kolarov’s mitt, but no way is it a penalty: the players were close together, and Kolarov had no time to react, making no movement towards the ball. They’re never getting that.

8.11pm GMT

26 min: City respond with a little bit of possession. Navas hares down the right and whips a fine cross into the middle. But Aguero is back on his heels, and nowhere near meeting the ball.

8.10pm GMT

And here we go. Stindl robs Stones out on the left, pushing him out of the road with ease. He strides towards the City box and cuts the ball back slightly towards Raffael, who batters a shot into the right-hand portion of the net. That’s not into the top corner, but it was hit with such power that Bravo had little chance to stop it.

8.08pm GMT

22 min: And here’s another big gap, as Stindl kills a long upfield hoof with one touch. Suddenaly he’s one on one with Otamendi. He doesn’t back himself to beat his man, though, and eventually he’s crowded out of it. But still.

8.07pm GMT

21 min: Elvedi, tight on the right touchline, romps inside after nutmegging Stones with some ease. The ball’s laid off for Traore, who tries to release Johnson into the City box with a diagonal wedge, but there’s too much on the pass and Bravo comes across to claim. I’m not sure about this City back line at all.

8.05pm GMT

20 min: The Gladbach captain Stindl is booked for a monumentally stupid and pointless clip on De Bruyne’s heels in the centre circle.

8.04pm GMT

19 min: Silva flicks daintily outside to release Navas down the right. But Navas sprints in a straight line, directly into trouble, and an opportunity to turn Gladbach around is gone.

8.03pm GMT

17 min: Silva finds space down the right and slides a diagonal pass inside for Aguero, who would be free in the area had he not lost his footing. A proper banana-skin style slapstick slip - all that was missing was a swannee whistle - and a very dangerous attack is kaput.

8.01pm GMT

15 min: More City possession. It’s all a little sterile at the moment, but it’s doing the job of quietening the crowd a tad.

8.00pm GMT

13 min: A bit of City possession in front of the Gladbach area. De Bruyne seeing a lot of the ball. He nearly sets Sterling away into the area down the left, but not quite. “Pep is right,” opines Dylan Drummond. “Pre-match interviews are even more predictable and pointless than most post-match interviews. Wee Gordon Strachan proved this back in the day by sometimes giving the ‘wrong’ answers to the questions.”

7.56pm GMT

11 min: Traore earns a bit of space down the left and swings a cross into the City box, but there’s nobody in black making a run. Not too much going on in the middle third right now, which is exactly as we like it.

7.54pm GMT

9 min: Another corner for City down the right. They load the box. Silva takes. Sommer comes off his line and gives the ball a good old-fashioned two-handed European punch upfield. This is a nice, open game, and there is no way - no way, I tells ya! - this is ending 0-0.

7.53pm GMT

7 min: Raffael drops deep and wins a ball in the centre circle. City are light at the back, and he drives towards the box before slipping a pass down the inside-right channel for Johnson, who reaches the edge of the area and looks for the bottom left. There’s not enough pace on the shot, and Bravo snaffles. Huge gaping holes in the City defence there. An earlier ball from Raffael to Johnson, and there could have been serious problems.

7.51pm GMT

5 min: The first attack launched by the home side. Dahoud, Stindl, Raffael and Johnson ping it down the left flank in pretty triangles. Dahoud eventually tries to up the pace by bursting inside, and laying off for Stindl, who has tagged along with him. From the edge of the City D, Stindl scrapes a weak effort straight at Bravo, who could have thrown his cap on it.

7.49pm GMT

4 min: The set piece is whipped into the box, and Fernandinho is allowed a free header from ten yards. He sends it sailing miles over the bar, which is a poor effort. An early half chance.

7.48pm GMT

3 min: City keep hold of the ball quite a lot. They’re happy to stroke it around, everyone getting a touch. Navas takes a stride down the right and fizzes a low cross into the Gladbach area. It’s hacked behind for a corner on the right.

7.47pm GMT

City get the ball rolling. A mighty fine atmosphere in Borussia-Park. The visitors stroke it around the back a bit. It is indeed three at the back for City, with Fernandinho in midfield.

7.44pm GMT

Here come the teams! Gladbach are in their black shirts with green horizontal flashes. City are in their classic orange-dissolving-into-purple tops. It’s aesthetic! The City fans give the official Uefa Champions League anthem the high hat, as is their wont, and indeed their right. Snooks having been comprehensively cocked, we’ll be off in a minute!

7.39pm GMT

Pep Guardiola answers the big pre-match questions! Will you try to repeat the 4-0 victory over these opponents in Manchester? “Every day is a new day. The day we won at the Ethiad against Gladbach, if we had to play the day after, it would have been a new game. So. Every game is completely different. But we will try to play good.” How are you lining up at the back? “We will play four, sometimes three at the back. Depends how well it goes.” How important is it to qualify tonight? “We have to try to take our first chance to qualify, so we can concentrate on the Premier League.” And with that he was off. Each and every question was answered after a long pause and slight sigh, and with marvellous, frankly understandable, disdain. He really cannot be bothered one iota with the preposterous dance of the press conference, or the demand for platitudes to keep the media happy. It’s wonderful to watch.

7.08pm GMT

The hosts Gladbach meanwhile make two swaps from the side which lost 2-1 at home to Cologne four days ago. Tony Jantschke and Fabian Johnson replace Jannik Vestergaard and Thorgan Hazard, the latter missing out for “personal reasons”.

7.01pm GMT

Pep Guardiola makes four changes to the XI that started the win at Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon. John Stones joins a back line that no longer features the injured Vincent Kompany or the benched Bacary Sagna. Fernandinho drops back to assist Stones in the centre of defence; Ilkay Gundogan takes up his position in midfield. Nolito and Yaya Toure also make way; Jesus Navas and David Silva take their places.

6.52pm GMT

Borussia Mönchengladbach: Sommer, Elvedi, Christensen, Jantschke, Wendt, Dahoud, Strobl, Traore, Stindl, Johnson, Raffael.
Subs: Sippel, Vestergaard, Schulz, Benes, Hofmann, Hahn, Rutten.

Manchester City: Bravo, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Stones, Kolarov, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Silva, Jesus Navas, Aguero, Sterling.
Subs: Caballero, Sagna, Fernando, Nolito, Sane, Clichy, Iheanacho.

11.49am GMT

This was the fixture that kick-started Manchester City’s run to the semi-finals last season. Having lost their opening group match to Juventus, the old insecurities looked to be kicking in again, and Manuel Pellegrini’s team were desperate for a result at Borussia-Park. They got it, Sergio Aguero converting a last-minute penalty kick for a 2-1 win that could have been 5-0, 0-5 or anything in between. It was an absolute cracker of a match, 90 minutes plus of end-to-end lunacy. Anything vaguely similar this evening and we’ll be in for a treat.

City aren’t in quite so much jeopardy this time, though. Pep Guardiola’s side are coming off the back of a thrilling 3-1 home victory over Barcelona, and if they beat Borussia Mönchengladbach tonight, they’ll qualify for the knockout stages of this year’s competition. A draw will likely be enough, unless tonight at Parkhead Celtic manage to avenge the recent 7-0 spanking Barcelona handed them. Gladbach meanwhile must win, or draw and hope Celtic beat Barcelona, to retain any hope of staying alive in this tournament. A draw would at least secure third place and Europa League football for the Germans should Celtic lose to Barcelona.

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Published on November 23, 2016 13:37

The Fiver | The world is now totally jiggered

In today’s Fiver: one-sided tiki-taka, bench-emptying brouhahas, and more

Twenty-five years ago is, by any common metric, a very long time. Back then, Big Cup was known as the European Champion Clubs Cup. The Queen’s Celtic had won it more times than Barcelona. Indeed, the Catalan giants were mainly famous for throwing hands, launching absurd two-footed lunges, missing quite a lot of penalties, and losing all the time to Dundee United. But time passes, money gets spent, and things change. The world is now totally jiggered, competitive football isn’t in much better nick, and neither are the Queen’s Celtic. Barcelona, meanwhile, keep winning Big Cup every other year. They’re pretty good to watch, to be fair, though in The Fiver’s book, 90 minutes of predictably one-sided tiki-taka is beaten every time by a donnybrook culminating in a studs-first high-kick to the chest. Oh for it to be 1983 all over again.

Related: Luis Enrique gives Lionel Messi to Manchester City rumours short shrift

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Published on November 23, 2016 08:27

November 19, 2016

Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 West Ham United: Premier League – as it happened

Spurs nearly lost their unbeaten record; instead they came away with the most dramatic of wins.

7.56pm GMT

Related: Harry Kane’s two late goals earn Tottenham victory over West Ham

7.29pm GMT

Well, that was quite the finish! West Ham looked on course for victory, Spurs bereft of ideas. But Heung-min Son sparked into life at the end, and his two bursts down the left set up two goals for the hero Harry Kane. What a comeback! All of a sudden, Spurs are just three points off the top, their unbeaten record still intact! West Ham, by contrast, would have been 12th had they held on, but instead sit just a point off the relegation places. How quickly things can change in football, eh.

7.27pm GMT

90 min +6: Reid goes up for a high ball with Kane. His forearm toks the top of Kane’s head. It looks accidental, but the referee shows West Ham’s captain a second yellow. He’s off, and how quickly things have turned very sour indeed for the Hammers.

7.26pm GMT

90 min +5: Kouyate has a smash from distance, cutting in from the right. It’s blocked easily enough.

7.25pm GMT

90 min +4: That’s 17 goals for Kane in his last 16 London derbies!

7.24pm GMT

90 min +3: Reid is booked for a slide on Son.

7.23pm GMT

90 min +2: Six added minutes were announced, by the way.

7.22pm GMT

Kane hammers the ball into the bottom left, giving Randolph no chance! What a turnaround by Tottenham! This is stunning!

7.21pm GMT

90 min: Son looks to have turned this game in spectacular fashion! He zips down the left again, reaches the byline, checks, and is upended by a sliding Nordtveit as he turns! Short of ideas!

7.20pm GMT

Short of ideas?! Son bursts down the left. He reaches the byline, and crosses low. Randolph dives to divert, but can only tip the ball to Kane, who clips into the unguarded net! The unbeaten run is saved at the death!

7.18pm GMT

87 min: The away fans giving it plenty with their song about bubbles. Spurs look short of ideas right now.

7.16pm GMT

85 min: Obiang bowls Wanyama to the floor. Another free kick in dangerous territory for Spurs. First, Nordtveit comes on for Payet, West Ham looking to shore things up. Then Eriksen curls a harmless effort wide right of the goal.

7.14pm GMT

83 min: Kane cuts in from the left and is unceremoniously clattered by Fernandes. A free kick, 30 yards out. And it’s wasted, taken quickly, Alli sending a dribbler towards the bottom left. Randolph claims easily.

7.12pm GMT

81 min: Eriksen jinks and jigs on the right-hand corner of the West Ham box. He works enough space to wedge a cross into the mixer, but Antonio rises to head powerfully away from danger.

7.11pm GMT

80 min: Kane grapples with Ogbonna and demands a penalty kick. He’s not getting it. That’s more of a 50-50 tussle than the Janssen tug. Spurs are getting a little desperate, and no wonder: the Premier League’s last unbeaten record is ten minutes (plus stoppages) from disappearing into the ether.

7.09pm GMT

78 min: Antonio dribbles with pace and purpose down the middle of the park. A couple more yards, and he’d have the opportunity to slip a ball further forward for Zaza, who would be away. But Rose - on a booking remember - slides in to stop Antonio just in time. This game is poised perfectly for the neutral. Spurs need to press forward, and West Ham have the players to counter. The next quarter of an hour should be a lot of fun!

7.07pm GMT

75 min: And another fine chance goes begging. Zaza should set Payet free in the box down the inside-left. He delays before passing. Payet still has half a chance to shoot, but can’t decide what to do. Eventually the ball ends up back at Zaza’s feet. He snaps a shot towards the bottom right, but Lloris has that covered all the way.

7.04pm GMT

73 min: West Ham should be out of sight. Zaza sprayed a pass down the inside left channel to release Fernandes on goal. But Fernandes forgets to take the ball with him. By the time he checks his run, all the danger is gone. A chance for a one-on-one spurned.

7.02pm GMT

72 min: West Ham look full of beans now. Another change for Spurs, with Son replacing Dembele.

7.01pm GMT

70 min: Penalty was the correct decision there. Janssen idiotically hauled Reid back, clear as day. There was no question about it. Doubly annoyingly for Spurs, Mauricio Pochettino was preparing to take Janssen off, but didn’t want to make the sub at a set piece. Oh dear. He’s hooked him now, though, with Dele Alli coming on in his stead.

6.59pm GMT

Lanzini thrashes an unstoppable penalty into the bottom left. West Ham were seriously under the cosh, but they’ve regained the lead and sent White Hart Lane into shock!

6.58pm GMT

67 min: Janssen grabs Reid around the neck. Mike Dean’s not having that, and he points to the spot!

6.57pm GMT

67 min: West Ham make an increasingly rare sortie into Spurs territory. A high ball forward is won by Antonio; it clatters off Rose and that’s a corner on the right. From the set piece, Cresswell picks the ball up deep and drives down the left to win another corner, this time on the other side. Payet takes, fires low, and ...

6.55pm GMT

65 min: Rose dribbles in from the left and drops a shoulder to pass Antonio. He’d have made it, too, but Antonio sticks out a leg and cynically brings him down. A booking for the West Ham man, and a free kick in a dangerous position. Eriksen stands over it, and tries to whip one up, down and into the top right. But it flies over the bar, and it looked like Randolph had it covered anyway.

6.53pm GMT

63 min: Eriksen, Walker and Winks all have opportunities to shoot from the edge of the West Ham box. All spurn them. West Ham break upfield. Rose slides in on Antonio and picks up a booking that’ll keep him out of the game against Chelsea next weekend.

6.51pm GMT

61 min: Obiang is down. He might have been the chap who stopped Rose’s screamer. If so, he did it with his fruit bowl, which he’s cupping very gingerly right now. He’ll be OK to continue. Most people wouldn’t be OK to continue. While he recovers, his manager makes a couple of changes: off come Sakho and Ayew; on come Zaza and Fernandes.

6.49pm GMT

58 min: Spurs are pushing West Ham back right now. A corner on the right is hit long. Rose, coming in from the left, hits a low screamer, but it’s blocked. West Ham can’t clear. A cross comes in from the left. Dier rises to head powerfully towards the bottom right. It’s surely a goal, but Randolph kicks away with his left foot. What a reaction stop!

6.47pm GMT

56 min: Walker crosses deep from the right wing. Kane, at the far post, looks to head back across goal, but his attempt to do so is blocked by Antonio. Kane claims a hand ball, and he’d have a point were Antonio not standing right next to him with his back to play, without a clue as to what’s going on. No penalty.

6.44pm GMT

53 min: Winks has been Tottenham’s best player tonight, so he deserved that. White Hart Lane is bouncing. Spurs, to a man, look renewed. Walker maybe a little too re-energised: he flies into Payet and is quite rightly booked for the clatter.

6.43pm GMT

Out of nothing, a goal for Spurs! And a goal for the young Premier League debutant! Rose tears down the left and whips a cross into the centre. Janssen chests down and smashes a shot towards the near corner. Randolph parries well, but the rebound breaks to Winks, who has gambled on a chance falling his way. He forces the ball into the net from close range, and races off in the style of Ricky Villa in the 1981 FA Cup final replay! What a moment for the young man!

6.40pm GMT

48 min: Tottenham’s defence does appear to be in uncharacteristically dozy mood. Payet has an awful lot of time to play a pass from the pocket. He scoops forward for Ayew, but it’s no good. Had Ayew made a better run, leaving Payet an easier passing option, Spurs would have been in trouble. Then Payet goes on a hectic meander down the inside right. He breaks into the box, and is about to shoot when Vertonghen slides in brilliantly to tackle and intercept. But once again, collectively, the home defence was very sleepy. They need to wake up quicksmart.

6.37pm GMT

47 min: Neither side has come out for the restart all guns blazing. A period of gentle probing, let’s say.

6.36pm GMT

And we’re off again! West Ham get the second half underway. No changes by either side. Spurs have plenty of time to turn this round, though not all of their fans are confident. Here’s Chris Connor: “I’m afraid teams have found Spurs out. If you stay compact enough we can’t get through. With that said I fully expect us to claw one back and stay undefeated throughout the season and still end up in fifth. As the men in blazers say: #that’ssospursy.”

6.22pm GMT

Half-time reading:

Related: The Joy of Six: Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United | Paul Doyle and Jacob Steinberg

6.21pm GMT

And that’s that for the first half! A highly entertaining, fast-paced match so far. Spurs looked sharp up until West Ham’s goal, but the away side have been the more impressive since. It should make for a riveting second period. Don’t go away, now!

6.20pm GMT

45 min +4: Wanyama powers down the inside-right channel and into the West Ham box. He flashes a shot wide right and high from a tight angle, a result of being hustled towards the touchline by a couple of claret-and-blue shirts.

6.18pm GMT

45 min +3: Spurs stroke it around the middle, to little positive effect.

6.18pm GMT

45 min +2: The board goes up for two added minutes, though both of those are taken up as Eriksen and Kouyate are given a careful once-over for concussion by the medical staff. The pair are permitted to continue.

6.17pm GMT

45 min: Eriksen and Kouyate crash into each other, a purely accidental head-butt. Ooyah, oof, that registered a good seven or eight on the Glasgow-o-meter. Both players hold their poor sore noggins and roll about a bit. They’ll want to hear the half-time whistle soon. And they’ll be hoping the referee doesn’t give it too shrill a blast.

6.14pm GMT

43 min: Kane flicks cutely down the left to release Rose into a little space. Rose enters the area and fizzes a low shot-cum-cross through the six-yard box. Again, there’s nobody there to convert. Spurs have been struggling to score from open play recently, and it’s not difficult to see why. Nobody’s making speculative runs.

6.12pm GMT

41 min: A free kick for Spurs out on the right. Eriksen whips a dangerous high ball into the West Ham box, but Reid rises above a couple of flat-footed white shirts, clearing for a corner. The set piece comes to nothing.

6.10pm GMT

39 min: Spurs see a lot of the ball for a couple of minutes. It’s all so sterile. But suddenly Kane and Janssen combine down the right, the latter firing a low ball through the West Ham six-yard box. Problem for Spurs is, there’s nobody there. Rose is the only one who spotted the possibilities, and he’s got no chance of making up the ground to poke home. Meanwhile here’s JR in Illinois: “Lee Dixon was just positing the theory that Harry Winks’ nickname in training must be Tiddly. I don’t know. Considering most footballers’ level of creativity he’s most likely called Winksy. In any case it seems to me he should really wear the number 40.”

6.07pm GMT

37 min: Payet looks for the top left from the best part of 30 yards. It’s a half-decent effort, but it pings off the wall and away for a corner. I won’t waste your time by describing the resulting set piece, life’s too short.

6.06pm GMT

35 min: So much for everyone calming down. Sakho drifts in from the left and is crudely body checked by Dembele. A foul. Dembele throws the ball away in disgust, and is booked for his trouble. This free kick is within Payet Range.

6.04pm GMT

33 min: Eriksen floats the free kick into the box. It’s half cleared. Walker batters it back into the mixer. His shot is blocked. Kouyate attempts to break upfield at pace. Janssen, tracking back, slides in and knocks both ball and player into touch. Kouyate clatters into the benches. Slaven Bilic suddenly finds himself in the middle of a mini-melee, and he’s not happy, railing at the referee about Janssen’s challenge. But it was a hearty clatter, nothing more, and we all move on soon enough, once everyone’s calmed down.

6.01pm GMT

31 min: Rose turns on the jets and flies down the left wing. He cuts inside, leaving Obiang in his wake, then is upended by a comical slide from Lanzini. A no-brainer of a booking.

5.59pm GMT

28 min: Ayew looks to Bergkamp a flick over Vertonghen, tight near the right-hand corner flag. The trick comes off, but Lloris rushes across to claim. Spurs lump upfield, but West Ham are soon coming back at them, with Sakho looking to bust into space down the left. He’s never quite got the ball under control, and Dier can romp back to take it off his toe before he makes the area and thinks about shooting. But the home side are a tad discombobulated right now.

5.57pm GMT

26 min: That’s brought White Hart Lane to life, though of course it’s the away fans who are giving it plenty. On the field, Spurs look equally as shocked as their fans. They’ve been on the front foot for most of the match, but all that early confidence is gone. Passes suddenly not sticking.

5.56pm GMT

A game of pinball. Kouyate rises to meet the set piece and crashes a header off the crossbar. The rebound falls to Reid, 12 yards out and level with the right-hand post. Reid hits a cross-cum-shot which balloons up towards the far post. Antonio rises high and slaps a header home from close range!

5.54pm GMT

23 min: Antonio bustles and fights his way down the left wing, earning a corner off Rose. The ball breaks to Lanzini on the edge of the area. His weak volley is trapped on the edge of the six-yard box by Antonio, who turns and shoots. His shot is blocked out wide right by Walker for another corner. From which...

5.52pm GMT

22 min: After a fine, zippy start, there’s something of a lull. White Hart Lane simmers down for the first time, as a result.

5.50pm GMT

20 min: Spurs knock it around the middle of the park awhile, just because they can.

5.48pm GMT

17 min: A corner for Spurs is half cleared by West Ham. Winks, who is showing his quality from the get-go, drops deep to pick up the ball and launch another attack, slideruling a glorious pass down the inside-right which nearly releases Kane in the area. Kane earns another corner, from which nothing comes.

5.46pm GMT

16 min: Winks looks the business. He zips into a acres of space down the left, nears the byline, checks, then lays off cleverly inside for Eriksen. The Dane should get a shot away - he’s inside the box with a little time - but he hesitates and the chance is gone.

5.44pm GMT

14 min: So having said Spurs were beginning to get the upper hand, West Ham come straight back into it. Now it’s Antonio’s turn to cause the Spurs defence a little bother, skedaddling in from the right and looking for the top left from the edge of the box. Not quite.

5.43pm GMT

13 min: Payet drops deep to pick up possession. With Tottenham’s defence all over the shop, Payet looks to release Sakho into a lot of space down the inside-left channel. His pass clacks off Sakho’s heel; had it been on line, the striker would have been clear on goal. Not entirely sure what the usually parsimonious Spurs defenders were up to there.

5.42pm GMT

11 min: Kane looks to barge his way clear down the left but he’s eased into touch by Antonio. Then another phase of Spurs attack, and Kane turns infield from the left, makes space for a shot, and rips a fine effort just wide of the top-left corner. After a to-and-fro start, Spurs are beginning to see more of the ball.

5.38pm GMT

8 min: Winks works himself a little space down the left. The Premier League debutant looks busy and impressive. He swings deep towards Kane. Randolph does well to rise above the striker and claim with confidence. This is lovely, bright, brash fun.

5.37pm GMT

6 min: And for a second it looks like we’ve got one! Dier, in the centre circle, sweeps a fine long pass down the inside-left channel to release Eriksen into acres! He strides into the box and lashes a stunner into the top left, but it won’t count, and rightly so: he was a couple of yards offside. West Ham caught him offside more by accident than design.

5.35pm GMT

5 min: Both teams are stroking it around nicely. Lanzini goes on a hectic dribble down the left, and nearly busts into the box, but Wanyama is over quickly to put a stop to his gallop. There’ll be goals in this.

5.34pm GMT

3 min: Well this is a lovely bright start. Winks plays a ball down the left to release Kane into the West Ham area. Kane tries to shoot from a tight angle but can only accidentally hook the ball back to the edge of the area, where Winks shapes to Zidane an effort goalwards. He holds his body in a nice shape, but the effort floats off to the left.

5.32pm GMT

2 min: West Ham start on the front foot, with a high press. Everyone with the high press these days. Ayew puts Lloris under a bit of pressure. Lloris clears. But West Ham come again. First Antonio tears down the right, but his cross is no good. Then Cresswell hares along the left. His low fizzer nearly confuses Dier, but the Spurs man guides the ball back towards his keeper, who deals with the danger.

5.30pm GMT

Pochettino and Bilic embrace warmly on the touchline ... and we’re off! Spurs get the ball rolling. It’s an excellent atmosphere at White Hart Lane.

5.27pm GMT

No word from Mauricio Pochettino. But it’s all platitudes anyway. Sporting quotes, huh. Anyway, the teams are out: Spurs in their famous lilywhite, West Ham in their equally storied claret and blue. We’ll be off in a minute!

5.18pm GMT

Slaven Bilic answers the big questions. “Adrian is not injured. Randy deserved his chance in goal. I made the change. I have named an attacking side. We have good players. We have proved we can defend as well. It’s a good side with a good balance in it. We have made no special plans for Harry Kane. We have enough defenders to mark him and stop him from scoring. It’ll be hard, we’ll have to concentrate and we’ll have to be lucky.”

4.40pm GMT

Tottenham make two changes to the starting line-up in the north London derby. Harry Winks and Vincent Janssen are in; Kevin Wimmer and Heung-Min Son make way.

West Ham meanwhile replace three of the XI starters against Stoke. Darren Randolph takes over from Adrian in goal, while Winston Reid and Diafra Sakho take the places of James Collins and the suspended Mark Noble.

4.32pm GMT

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose, Wanyama, Winks, Dembele, Eriksen, Kane, Janssen.
Subs: Son, Vorm, Trippier, Alli, Onomah, Wimmer, Carter-Vickers.

West Ham United: Randolph, Antonio, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Lanzini, Kouyate, Obiang, Ayew, Payet, Sakho.
Subs: Nordtveit, Feghouli, Zaza, Adrian, Collins, Fletcher, Fernandes.

10.35am GMT

... and welcome to our coverage of one of the most entertaining fixtures in recent Premier League history. Good luck calling it! Three seasons ago, West Ham came here and hammered the hosts 3-0. Ravel Morrison scored a fine solo effort for Sam Allardyce’s side; Andre Villas-Boas sat fuming in the home dugout. Quite a long time, three years, isn’t it. Two seasons back, Harry Kane had to convert the rebound from his own saved penalty to scramble a 2-2 draw for Tottenham deep into injury time. And last time round, Spurs sashayed to glory, that man Kane again the hero with a couple of goals in a 4-1 rout.

Kane could be the very chap to spark Tottenham’s slightly odd season into life. Mauricio Pochettino’s men proved their title credentials in early October by steamrollering Manchester City. Pop! There goes Pep’s air of invincibility! But they’ve not won a game in any competition since. Strange to say of a side still unbeaten in the League, but Spurs could do with gathering some momentum. Kane, missing for so long, was back to secure a draw at Arsenal before the international break. Another successful step on the striker’s comeback trail today, and Tottenham’s championship charge might be back on.

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Published on November 19, 2016 11:33

Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal: Premier League – as it happened

Juan Mata looked to have secured the points for United, but Olivier Giroud replied late on to deny the hosts.

2.25pm GMT

And that’s that! United deserved to win that game, but they sat back at the end, and paid the price. Mourinho and Wenger shake hands in the sporting fashion, which is nice to see, but you know who’ll be happier with this result. Wenger’s substitutes combined to earn an unlikely point for Arsenal; Mourinho’s conservatism, when his team were sparkling in attack, cost United two. Not a classic, but some late drama nonetheless. The greatest rivalry of the Premier League era delivers again.

Related: Olivier Giroud denies Manchester United and rescues point for Arsenal

2.23pm GMT

90 min +5: Ramsey tries to shepherd the ball out of play, to the right of his own goal. There’s not enough pace on it, and he’s robbed by Pogba, but he’s relieved when the referee rather generously blows for a foul.

2.22pm GMT

90 min +4: Rooney wants another free kick in a similar position, as Herrara falls to the ground. He’s not getting it. He’s getting a yellow card instead, for too much backchat.

2.21pm GMT

90 min +3: The box is packed, so Rooney pulls back for Herrera, who is in space, 25 yards out. Herrera chips straight into the arms of Cech. What a waste.

2.21pm GMT

90 min +2: Chance for them here, though, as Xhaka is booked for handling while on the floor to the right of his own box. Free kick in a very dangerous position!

2.19pm GMT

90 min +1: All a bit scrappy. United are seeing most of the ball, but they suddenly look desperate. Passes aren’t going to feet.

2.19pm GMT

90 min: There will be four added minutes. Old Trafford has fallen quiet. Can United salvage something, in the old-school Alex Ferguson style?

2.18pm GMT

Oxlade-Chamberlain drops a shoulder to wheech past Rashford down the right. He’s in space, and curls a delicious cross to the far post, where Giroud rises and plants an unstoppable header into the top left from six yards! What a sting in the tail! United have been in total control, until they chose to sit back and see the match out. And now look!

2.16pm GMT

88 min: This is attack versus defence now. United seem happy enough with that state of affairs. Until...

2.15pm GMT

86 min: Ramsey is booked for a frustrated kick at Pogba.

2.15pm GMT

85 min: The matchwinner-elect Mata is replaced by Schneiderlin. United happy to run the clock down, the hard work done. Have Arsenal got the moxie to punish them?

2.13pm GMT

84 min: Arsenal tiki-taka around the edges of United’s box. The home side seem happy enough to sit deep and see what the visitors have got. The answer: not much. Monreal and Xhaka take turns to wedge lame balls into the area. The first is easily cleared. The second drifts out for a goal kick.

2.12pm GMT

83 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain has come on for Jenkinson. It’s a straight swap, he’ll play at right-back, albeit with an attacking remit one would imagine.

2.09pm GMT

81 min: Xhaka comes on for Coquelin. Arsenal can’t get the ball. United are toying with them, knocking it around hither and yon. The visitors haven’t managed a shot on target.

2.08pm GMT

80 min: Valencia and Mata ping it around down the right in attractive fashion, but can’t find Rooney or Rashford in the centre. Another phase of attack, and Blind whips a cross from the left onto the head of Rojo, level with the far post, eight yards out. He must score, but somehow whistles his header back across goal and well left of the target. United should have wrapped this up by now.

2.06pm GMT

77 min: But it won’t take much to drag Arsenal back into this. Sanchez zips down the left, cuts inside, and looks to find Giroud in the centre with an outside-of-the-boot cross. It’s too high, though, and flies out of play harmlessly on the right. Giroud had the jump on Rojo and Jones there; if the cross was anywhere near decent, that could have been the equaliser.

2.04pm GMT

76 min: Old Trafford is bouncing, as you’d imagine. United have been very impressive. Though this isn’t quite so good. Pogba jumps on a weak Koscielny clearing header. A simple pass forward would release Rooney down the centre, but he hesitates, then plays it into a space where there’s no red shirt. That could have wrapped things up.

2.02pm GMT

74 min: Rashford makes a dangerous dribble into the Arsenal box from the left. He looks determined, but is stopped by a brilliant tackle from Coquelin. No room for error there, or it was a penalty. But he stripped the ball from Rashford as clean as you like.

2.01pm GMT

73 min: Arsenal make their first change. Giroud comes on for Elneny, with Ramsey moving further back into the midfield. They need something to change. They’ve been utterly toothless in this second half. And they weren’t particularly sharp in the first either.

2.00pm GMT

71 min: Rooney powers down the right and fires low through the six-yard box. Rashford isn’t far away from converting at the far post, but makes do with winning a corner off Jenkinson. From the set piece, hit long, Carrick has a chance to shoot from 12 yards, level with the right-hand post, but he’s somehow taken by surprise, back on his heels, and can’t shape his body to even attempt a connection. Arsenal are rocking here.

1.58pm GMT

70 min: Mata has been booked for his celebration, which is beyond preposterous.

1.57pm GMT

This has been coming! And it’s so simple. From a throw down the right, Pogba slides a pass down the wing for the busy Herrera, who reaches the byline and pulls a low ball back for the in-rushing Mata. Mata meets the pass first time, sidefooting sweetly into the bottom left, Cech left with no chance! Mata disappears into the crowd, a joyous celebration! A fine goal, and United are deservedly in the lead.

1.55pm GMT

67 min: A couple of corners for United. One won on the right by Valencia comes to nothing. Another won on the left by Rashford leads to Herrera crossing deep for Pogba, who bombs in looking to power a header home. Mustafi gets in first. Meanwhile here’s Neil Diamond fan Niall Mullen: “If the Arsenal fans don’t sing Red Red Wine when Rooney comes on then they’ve missed a trick.” It’d be a beautiful noise all right.

1.53pm GMT

64 min: Rooney takes his first touch, on the end of a sliderule pass down the left by Rashford. He’s clear on goal, but had run offside. Clever move, though. Then United make their second change: Blind comes on for Darmian.

1.52pm GMT

63 min: Here comes Wayne! He replaces Martial. The crowd are appreciative: plenty of chants of “Rooney, Rooney”. He’s not lost the entire audience yet.

1.50pm GMT

61 min: Mustafi channels his inner Beckenbauer and embarks on a power wander down the right. A neat dribble, but he’s eventually forced to offload down the wing, and Walcott’s not up for chasing the heavy pass. United go upfield and swing balls into the Arsenal box from right and left, but there’s no accuracy. This game needs some fresh impetus. Wayne knows how to get a party started. Wayne?

1.46pm GMT

58 min: This is all very tatty now. Passes are refusing to stick. It looks as though Wayne Rooney is coming on. Mourinho is talking to him quite a lot, anyway.

1.44pm GMT

56 min: ... the ball’s hit deep from the right. De Gea should come out to claim, but doesn’t. Koscielny lurks with a view to heading home from six yards. But Jones does rather well to get in the way and glances a header out of play to the left of goal. The second set piece comes to nothing, but that was too close for comfort for the home side.

1.43pm GMT

55 min: So much for Arsenal’s half-time pep talk. They aren’t seeing too much of the ball. When they do have it, they don’t do much with it. Ah, hold on! Scrub that. They spring into life after Pogba takes a fresh-air kick 30 yards from how own goal. Walcott executes a one-two with Sanchez and breaks into the box down the right. His low cross is hacked out by Rojo for a corner. From which ...

1.41pm GMT

52 min: Rashford continues to cause bother. A couple of dribbles down the left. One nearly wins a corner. Another earns a free kick, right by the corner flag. He’s got Jenkinson on toast. Jenkinson was lucky to escape a booking there. Martial’s low free kick is aimless and appalling. Arsenal hack clear.

1.39pm GMT

50 min: A deep cross into the Arsenal area from the United right. Pogba rises high, brilliantly so, to chest the ball down. Rashford picks up possession and looks to curl one into the bottom right. Mustafi slides across and blocks. United claim a penalty but they’re not going to get that. A fair block.

1.37pm GMT

48 min: It’s all a bit scrappy, though. A lot of hard pressing and little else. Misplaced pass after misplaced pass. A gegenmess. Eventually Martial gets fed up and embarks on a determined skitter infield from the left. He shoots from 25 yards, but scuffs it and it pea-rolls harmlessly towards Cech.

1.34pm GMT

46 min: Arsenal start the half on the front foot, and with added pace. They’ve had a talking to, by the looks of it. Monreal crosses from the left, and it’s deflected behind for a corner. De Gea claims the set piece with an easy catch.

1.33pm GMT

Arsenal get the ball rolling for the second half. United kicking towards the Stretford End this time. No changes.

1.20pm GMT

Half-time reading:

Related: Ecstasy to agony: when Manchester United thumped Arsenal, then blew the title | Nick Miller

1.19pm GMT

And that’s your lot for the first half. Manchester United will claim they should have been awarded a penalty, Monreal’s arm brushing Valencia, who went down in the box. Arsenal may argue that Darmian should have been sent off for two yellow-card offences. Swings and roundabouts. It’s been fun, though, with United in particular showing verve and determination in attack. Should be a cracking second half. No flipping!

1.16pm GMT

45 min: A sense that both teams are waiting for the half-time whistle, and a chance to regroup. It’ll be along in a minute.

1.15pm GMT

43 min: Arsenal take the sting out of the game with a little sterile possession in the midfield. Old Trafford falls a little quiet after a tumultuous period.

1.14pm GMT

41 min: Cech punches the corner clear. Martial gathers 20 yards from goal, and zips low and hard towards the bottom left. Cech reads it marvellously, and gathers a hot potato with safe hands. This is good stuff from United, though Arsenal are holding firm.

1.13pm GMT

40 min: Elneny takes a no-backlift snapshot from 25 yards. It flies 25 yards over the bar. United fly up the other end. A loose Ramsey pass allows Herrera to meander from right to left across the front of the Arsenal box. He can’t find an opening for a shot, so lays off to Martial, who cuts in from the left and curls towards the top right. It’s a superlative effort, but it’s fingertipped over the bar by an arcing Cech. Corner.

1.10pm GMT

37 min: On Sky, Gary Neville is pretty sure that it wasn’t a penalty kick. United meanwhile come again. Mata takes a touch inside from the left and, on the left-hand edge of the Arsenal D, fizzes a shot towards the bottom right. It’s going in, but Cech gets fingernails on it. A fine effort, and a save to match. The resulting corner comes to naught. United are beginning to knock at the door.

1.08pm GMT

35 min: Valencia spins round Monreal to the right of the Arsenal D. He enters the area. The defender, recovering, grapples a little. The pair fall to ground, rather easily. It looks a penalty at first, but the referee waves play on. And although Jose Mourinho jigs around on the touchline, holding his head in theatrical exasperation, it’s probably a good decision having seen the replay. There’s not much contact. Or not enough to be sure that Valencia was pushed to ground. No doubt we’ll hear more of this. Jose might raise it.

1.05pm GMT

33 min: Jenkinson spins around Darmian on the right touchline. Darmian crumps his studs into Jenkinson’s shin. It’s accidental, but clumsy, and you’ve seen bookings for much less than that. We saw one eight minutes later, for the same player, for example. He’s treading a very fine line now. The referee tells him exactly that. Expect Arsenal to concentrate their attacks down his wing from now on.

1.03pm GMT

31 min: Carrick plays a ball back towards his goalkeeper. Is it too short? Nearly! Walcott would have been in had De Gea not been on the front foot, able to lash clear.

1.02pm GMT

30 min: ... Herrera blooters miles over from 25 yards. A terrible effort, and Valencia was in space on the right, but he’s quite rightly a crowd favourite so gets a rendition of his song from the Old Trafford faithful anyway.

1.01pm GMT

29 min: Sanchez sprays a fine high ball down the inside-right channel towards Ramsey, but the Welsh international can’t bring it down. United go up the other end, Mata bustling into the box from the left, and forcing Koscielny into a half-arsed clearance that eventually results in a corner. From which ...

12.58pm GMT

26 min: Speaking of perfect balance, here’s Sanchez spinning on a sixpence in the middle of the pitch to turn between Valencia and Herrera, who were behind him performing a pincer movement. That’s as glorious a touch as you’ll see all season - Bergkampesque - but unfortunately it leads to absolutely nothing as he clanks a hopeless pass meant for Walcott on the right into the nearest red shirt. What a spin, though.

12.56pm GMT

25 min: Darmian is booked for a very light clip on the back of Walcott. In fact, was there any contact at all? Possibly not. But he got away with one earlier, so the cosmos remains in perfect balance.

12.55pm GMT

23 min: Sanchez dribbles with some pace and purpose down the inside-right channel. He enters the box and threatens to find Walcott in the middle, but can’t quite make the connection. He knocks it back, whereupon Coquelin blooters deep into the Stretford End.

12.53pm GMT

22 min: The first 2016 airing of United’s famous festive number, the Twelve Days of Cantona. A slight lull in play, in other words.

12.52pm GMT

12.51pm GMT

19 min: Arsenal are a little ragged in the midfield. Coquelin plays an appalling loose ball on the halfway line, allowing Rashford to intercept with ease and tear down the right wing. He lays off to Herrera, who whips a gorgeous low cross along the corridor of uncertainty. Martial, sliding in at the far post, can’t connect. If his toes were a little longer, that’d have been the opening goal. The cross was so good, it deserved an assist.

12.49pm GMT

17 min: Rashford earns a corner for United down the right. Cech claims it after a fashion.

12.48pm GMT

16 min: Darmian somewhat cynically tugs back Walcott in the centre circle, with Ozil looking for a killer pass down the left. It should be a booking, but it’s not. What is a booking is Sanchez’s agricultural hack on Herrera’s ankle from behind, also in the midfield. He can have no complaints about that.

12.46pm GMT

14 min: This is good, high-tempo fun. One for the purists? Probably not, but the purists are over-compensating, aren’t they. This is great. Up the other end we go. Ozil causes some bother to the right of the United area, but his final ball is poor, with Sanchez unmarked in the centre. This is not going to end 0-0.

12.44pm GMT

12 min: Valencia intercepts a piss-poor Elneny pass in the centre circle and bombs off down the inside-right channel. He’s got space and time, and men in the middle, but his cross is poor, intercepted by Koscielny and gathered by Cech.

12.42pm GMT

11 min: Monreal looks to open his legs along the left wing, but he’s tripped in full flow by Mata. The sort of cynical challenge that might pick up a yellow card midway through the second half, but not right now. Arsenal don’t complain, which says everything.

12.41pm GMT

9 min: A lovely, free-flowing opening to this match. Everyone’s missed the Premier League. They’re up for this. Arsenal are beginning to find their feet. Now it’s United who are struggling to string anything together. Sanchez goes on a baroque dribble down the right and nearly busts clear into the area, but there’s one red shirt too many to beat.

12.39pm GMT

7 min: And so, having said that, Arsenal nearly score. A Sanchez shot from distance is deflected over the bar by Rojo. From the resulting corner on the left, the ball’s looped into the United box. Walcott, of all people, rises to win a flick on, and Sanchez has a header, clear, six yards out! But he screws it miles to the left, and there’s no pace on it either. That’s a magnificent chance spurned.

12.37pm GMT

6 min: United have started very brightly here. Arsenal are struggling to get anything going. Rashford is nearly sent through the middle and into the box by Pogba, but Koscielny and Mustafi close ranks to snuff out the danger.

12.36pm GMT

5 min: Herrera dribbles down the inside-right channel and buys a clever free kick from a clumsy Elneny. Mata takes the set piece, 25 yards out, and curls it towards the top left. If that’s on target, right in the corner, it’s in, because while Cech gets over, he’s diving low. But it drifts wide of the post.

12.35pm GMT

3 min: Martial has a determined run at Jenkinson, and the reserve right back, who didn’t enjoy himself too much during that 8-2, looks a bit shaky. Arsenal clear. United come back at Arsenal down the right. Rashford crosses deep for Pogba, who can’t get a header on target thanks to pressure from ... Jenkinson. Much better from the Arsenal defender.

12.33pm GMT

37 seconds: Ander Herrera’s first foul of the day, a little hello-here-I-am clip on the back of Sanchez. He’s wonderfully narky. Exactly the sort of player every team needs. You have to love him.

12.31pm GMT

A cursory handshake between the old pals Jose and Arsene. And we’re off! Manchester United kick off. Arsenal are playing towards the Stretford End in this first half. It’s sunny but cold. We’re in need of some Wonderfuel Gas. Meanwhile here’s Hubert O’Hearn: “Having idle minutes to kill I decided on whim to compare the careers of Jose Mourinho and Wayne Rooney. The parallels are eerie enough that they demanded this email.

2002-2004: They burst onto the scene: Mourinho at Porto/Rooney at Everton.
2004 - Enter the spotlight: Mourinho to Chelsea/Rooney to United.
2007 - The first decline: Mourinho fired/Rooney limited to 27 appearances.
2009-2010 - The glorious comeback: Mourinho wins Big Cup/Rooney scores 26 goals.
2011-2012 - The peak: Mourinho wins La Liga/Rooney scores career high 27 goals.

12.29pm GMT

The teams are out! Manchester United are in their famous red, white and black, forcing Arsenal into their classic change strip of yellow. I wish these two were still sponsored by Sharp and JVC. Anyway. Old Trafford crackles with excitement and anticipation, as you’d expect. We’ll be off in a minute! Meanwhile the MBM email of 2016 is in, folks, courtesy of Charles Antaki. “Alexis Sanchez has declared himself completely fit. Also: Remain, Hillary.”

12.22pm GMT

While we wait for the big kick-off, how’s about a little pre-match reading? Here’s a potted history of the fixture, courtesy of our Field Notes supernova strand. That may whet your appetite for something more substantial. If so, you’ll have to wait until the publication of I’ll See You Out There, the story of this rivalry told by one of the most entertaining writers walking the earth right now. What a book that promises to be. Counting the days already? Yep, us too.

12.15pm GMT

Jose Mourinho speaks! “I decided to leave Wayne on the bench. Everything is a process. I prefer to say Martial is selected because he was not selected for the French team. Wayne’s fitness is fine. After a couple of days of treatment he was fine. We played so, so well against Stoke and Burnley and couldn’t win. Against Arsenal we have to be very good without the ball. When we have it, Arsenal are the sort of team who will allow us to play. It is important for us to get maximum points against both Arsenal and West Ham, two difficult matches at home.” Not so many smiles from Jose, but then that’s not his style, is it.

11.57am GMT

Arsene Wenger speaks! “We checked Alexis Sanchez in training yesterday, and he declared himself completely fit, so I had not many hesitations! Carl Jenkinson has to focus, and play the game he knows he can play. He is perfectly fit. It is for sure that we know more about Marcus Rashford this time! We know his quality and we need a strong defensive performance. We must focus on the solidarity of our team.” Quite a few knowing smiles from Wenger during that pre-match interview. He looks relaxed ahead of a fixture he hasn’t enjoyed in recent years.

11.45am GMT

Despite the enforced absence of the suspended Zlatan Ibrahimović, there’s no place in the Manchester United starting line-up for renowned bon vivant Wayne Rooney. He kicks back on the

sofa
bench, Anthony Martial taking his place. There are three other changes from the side that won at Swansea City a fortnight ago: Ander Herrera returns from suspension to replace the injured Marouane Fellaini, Antonio Valencia reclaims his right-back berth from Ashley Young, and Marcus Rashford stands in for the aforementioned Zlatan.

Arsenal meanwhile make three changes from the north London derby. Héctor Bellerín is injured, so in steps Carl Jenkinson for his first start in an Arsenal shirt since May 2014. Aaron Ramsey is entrusted with Granit Xhaka’s set of keys. And Mohamed Elneny bolsters the midfield at the expense of the more attack-minded Alex Iwobi.

11.32am GMT

Manchester United: de Gea, Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Darmian, Carrick, Herrera, Mata, Pogba, Martial, Rashford.
Subs: Depay, Rooney, Lingard, Blind, Young, Romero, Schneiderlin.

Arsenal: Cech, Jenkinson, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Elneny, Walcott, Ozil, Ramsey, Sanchez.
Subs: Gibbs, Gabriel, Giroud, Ospina, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Iwobi, Xhaka.

9.55am GMT

Manchester United and Arsenal. The greatest rivalry of the Premier League era! Maybe it’s not quite what it was during that golden age of 1998 to 2006, when these two behemoths vied for supremacy in unprecedented style: a treble here, an invincible season there. But never mind that! It’s Manchester United and Arsenal! And anyway, we’re looking forward. Both clubs are scoping out a new glory era. Both harbour dreams of the title. Both boast scintillating creative talent: Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Hertfordshire sommelier Wayne Rooney, Mesut Özil, Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott. And both have a midfielder not frightened to put their foot in, so even if a football match doesn’t break out this lunchtime, there’s always half a chance Ander Herrera or Granit Xhaka might spark off one of those splendid bench-emptying brawls in which these great rivals have specialised over the decades. Lucky Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger will be on hand to calm everything down, huh.

Going on results this season to date, form-horse Arsenal are in with a good shout this afternoon. However the bigger picture tilts heavily in United’s favour. They’ve only lost twice in the last 11 meetings between the clubs, and one of their six victories in that sequence was the infamous, and spectacular, 8-2 whipping of 2011. Moreover, Mourinho has yet to lose to Wenger in 13 competitive meetings, a fact which, one assumes wildly, causes a gentle but persistent throb just to the side of the Frenchman’s eye. Can Wenger buck that trend and ease the pressure on his poor old overworked temple? Or will Mourinho continue to riff joyously on his rival’s failure? It’s going to be a blast finding out! It’s Manchester United! It’s Arsenal! It’s the greatest rivalry of the Premier League era! It’s on!

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Published on November 19, 2016 06:28

November 15, 2016

England 2-2 Spain: international friendly – as it happened

England were the better side for the majority of the match, only to let things slip in a dramatic finale at Wembley.

9.56pm GMT

And that’s that! Spain salvage an unlikely draw with two late super-strikes! England were the better team for the first 89 minutes, and will feel rather aggrieved at the result. But look on the bright side: they’ve played very well indeed against high-quality opposition, they’re still unbeaten under Gareth Southgate, and at least this didn’t happen to them against Scotland.

Related: Jamie Vardy leads the way but England held by second-string Spain

9.54pm GMT

What drama here! Spain knock it around a bit, then launch it long down the inside-right channel. Isco chests down as he strides into the box, turns brilliantly and, from the tightest of angles, nutmegs Heaton at the near post to equalise!

9.52pm GMT

90 min +4: Well, this is a tense end we didn’t expect! But Townsend eats up plenty of the clock with a long dribble down the right. He finds Lingard in the middle, but the striker’s offside.

9.51pm GMT

90 min +2: They nearly let it slip! Morata cuts inside from the left and tees up the ball for Isco, who is tearing into the area. He must score! But he’s put off by Stones. His shot is deflected wide left, and nothing comes of the corner.

9.50pm GMT

90 min: There will be five added minutes. Cue quite a loud symphony of whistling. England have been far the better team; they’ll be sick if they let this slip.

9.49pm GMT

This is a pearler! Rashford is surrounded on the edge of the Spanish box as England pour forward. He’s dispossessed. Spain break. Aspas dribbles down the right, cuts inside, gets Stones backtracking and panicking, and curls a beauty into the top left corner! That’s a magnificent finish, though Stones gave him all opportunity to shoot.

9.46pm GMT

87 min: On the Independent Television channel, Glenn Hoddle has given the man-of-the-match award to Jamie Vardy. Seems fair enough.

9.44pm GMT

85 min: Spain keep coming at England - Herrera is buzzing around in his trademark determined style - but the home side are holding firm, looking determined and competent.

9.41pm GMT

83 min: Corner for Spain down the left. Isco takes another dreadful set piece, and it’s easily hacked clear by first man Clyne. Meanwhile here’s a lesson in perspective from Elliot Wilson: “The only thing that depresses me more than Trump - and I mean this - is the prospect of Rooney returning for England to play that vital tripartite role of: dropping deep to play short balls back to the original recipient; swinging long balls from one side of the pitch to the other, precisely but for no good reason; and trapping it like Carlton Palmer in the box. I remember a story about Alen Boksic pledging to pay Noel Whelan to eff off when he was at Boro. Can we do the same with Rooney?”

9.39pm GMT

81 min: A free kick for Spain, to the left of the England D. Isco looks for the top left, but only batters his effort straight into poor Phil Jagielka’s startled grid.

9.38pm GMT

79 min: Rose is replaced by Aaron Cresswell. “Is it too early to declare England officially superb, and in line for guaranteed success in all competitions for the foreseeable future, and beyond?” wonders Charles Antaki, in a tinder-dry email which carries the equally wry heading “England to win all upcoming silverware”.

9.36pm GMT

78 min: Aspas slips a lovely ball down the inside-right channel to release Morata on goal. But the striker’s got over-excited and broken too early. Offside, though Heaton was out quickly to smother anyway. Nothing’s going right for Spain this evening. They replace Busquets with Nolito.

9.34pm GMT

76 min: Rose tears down the left at warp speed, and is scythed down by Carvajal on the byline, just as the England man looks to cut sharply inside and towards the box. A booking. The resulting free kick, which is effectively a corner, leads to a corner, which leads to Rose blootering miles wide right from 20 yards. Ah well, he started it, after all.

9.33pm GMT

74 min: Dier has been quietly effective tonight. Here he slips a pass down the inside-right channel to release Rashford into the area. It’s a bit overcooked, and while the striker does brilliantly to bring the ball under control and round Reina on the right, he can’t quite keep it from going out of play before he can hook it into the centre. A fine move, though.

9.31pm GMT

72 min: Clyne combines with Townsend down the right, and finds himself in acres of space in the Spanish area! He doesn’t seem to believe he’s onside, and hesitates, allowing Azpilicueta to nick the ball away. England had men in the middle there.

9.29pm GMT

71 min: A little bit of Spanish pressure earns a corner down the left. From it, there’s a bit of a scuffle in the box, but Aspas can’t dig the ball from under his feet to get an effective shot away. There’s a final phase of attack, Morata cutting in from the left and shooting low from the edge of the box, but it’s straight at Heaton, who does what he has to do and smothers well.

9.26pm GMT

68 min: It’s been some evening for Jamie Vardy, who walks off the pitch ten feet taller. A goal and an assist. He’s back! And he’s off, smiling and high-fiving everyone on the bench, having been replaced by Marcus Rashford.

9.25pm GMT

66 min: Isco is immediately into the action, sliding a pass from deep down the inside-left channel and very nearly releasing Morata into the box. Morata is offside. Aspas responds by gently shoving the linesman in the back, and is rather unsurprisingly booked.

9.23pm GMT

65 min: Another couple of changes by Spain: Silva and Aduriz go off, Isco and Alvaro Morata come on. Meanwhile England replace Sterling with Andros Townsend. All that blethering over the PA has totally jiggered the atmosphere generated by the Mexican Wave.

9.22pm GMT

63 min: So, having said that, Herrera gifts the ball in the middle of the park to Sterling, who slips Lingard away down the inside left. Lingard just about manages to round Reina on the left, but he’s left with too much to do to find Vardy in the centre, and Nacho hacks clear from danger.

9.20pm GMT

62 min: Aspas and Silva one-two their way down the middle and nearly break into the England box, but Jagielka is on hand to step in and batter clear. Spain are getting back into their groove a little.

9.19pm GMT

60 min: Koke has a batter from 20 yards, but it goes straight down Heaton’s throat.

9.18pm GMT

59 min: Rose upends Aspas down the right. Free kick. Koke lumps it in; Stones nuts it purposefully clear. The crowd are entertaining themselves with one of the loudest Mexican waves since the late 1980s. Everyone’s really going for it. People having a good time watching England play? To repeat my question of 17 minutes, I wonder if Roy Hodgson is tuned to ITV?

9.14pm GMT

56 min: A bit of old-school tiki-taka opens England up down the inside right. Silva has a batter towards the bottom right, but Heaton blocks well. The rebound falls to Aspas, who faces an open goal but under pressure from Clyne hoicks over the bar. Spain respond by replacing Thiago with Manchester United’s Ander Herrera.

9.13pm GMT

54 min: Spain are playing very poorly. Passing it around to no great effect whatsoever. They’ve got their classic blue shorts back, though, so it’s swings and roundabouts. “Gary Naylor (42nd minute) is free to be outraged about the amount of roadworks in Lincoln right now,” suggests Phil Sawyer. “Although most of the hold-ups are because Lincoln is an old Roman town so every time the diggers go in they find Roman ruins that need to be carefully excavated. So it’s difficult to be too outraged. Oh, hang on, didn’t Sterling follow a bit of trickery with a pass straight to a Spain player? Perhaps Gary could start #SterlingPassGate. Apart from that, I can’t think of any events in the last week that could provide opportunity for him to vent his outraged spleen.”

9.10pm GMT

51 min: Spain appear to have given up the ghost completely. Already. It should be 3-0. Vardy romps into acres of space down the middle, and slips a ball to his right for Walcott, who is clear in the box. Walcott attempts to thread a shot into the bottom left, but Reina’s not having that, and parries. There’s a second phase from the rebound, and Henderson yanks a decent half-chance wide left from the edge of the box, but it’s Walcott who looks the most frustrated after that little spell.

9.08pm GMT

This is a great goal! Henderson, to the right of the Spanish penalty box, chips to the far post where Vardy launches himself and Houchens a diving header into the left-hand portion of the net. That’s a peach! He celebrates by standing Mannequin still. His goal drought is over.

9.05pm GMT

And we’re off again! A couple of changes by England. Tom Heaton comes on for Joe Hart, while Phil Jagielka replaces Gary Cahill. Meanwhile Spain swap Mata and Vitolo in favour of Koke and Aspas. There’s an immediate burst by Walcott who goes for the bottom right but only forces a corner, from which nothing comes.

8.52pm GMT

Half-time reading: A former England captain said his goodbyes to Los Angeles Galaxy today. Graham Ruthven doesn’t seem all that unhappy to see Steven Gerrard go.

Related: Steven Gerrard was a much better tourist than a player in LA

8.49pm GMT

Rose is booked for stepping on Carvajal’s toe. Mata swings a free kick into the England box from the right. Rose makes up by heading clear. And that’s a very decent half from England. Spain haven’t been much cop, but England have been effervescent in attack, with Sterling, Vardy and the injured Lallana all impressive. Gareth Southgate is 45 minutes away from the England job, by the looks of it. “If we can hand out man of the match awards at this early stage,” begins Charles Antaki, “the clear winner, at least on the Spanish side, is Andres Iniesta.”

8.46pm GMT

45 min: There will be two added minutes of this first half.

8.45pm GMT

44 min: Carvajal rolls a fine ball down the right to release Vitolo into a pocket of space. He reaches the byline and pulls a low one back for Silva, who has a chance to shoot but miscontrols, and it’s gone. Spain have been mediocre going forward.

8.42pm GMT

42 min: Rose steals the ball brilliantly off a dawdling Vitolo in the centre circle. He lays off to Lingard, who in turn shuttles the ball down the inside left for Vardy. But the chance to release the striker into the area is gone when the pass is undercooked. Fine pressing by Rose, though. “With no poppies and no Rooney and a disappointing early lead too, can you suggest what I should be outraged about please?” asks Gary Naylor. “I don’t want to wait until the phone-ins as I could be tweeting now.”

8.39pm GMT

39 min: Sterling looks on his game generally, though. Once more he races into space down the left, and his low cross nearly finds Vardy in the middle. Nacho slides in to hack out for a corner on the right. From the set piece, Vardy tries to guide one into the top left from 12 yards, but the ball is never quite under control and he scoops it harmlessly wide left. England look very lively in attack.

8.38pm GMT

37 min: Space for Sterling down the left. He whips a low cross towards the quiet Lingard in the centre. Martinez slides in to deflect the ball left of goal, out for a corner. No challenge, and that would have been a simple tap-in. The resulting corner on the left leads to a free kick on the right. Henderson’s dink into the box is only half cleared, but Sterling over-elaborates on the edge of the Spanish area and is dispossessed. He looks relieved as Silva and Vitolo fail to piece a counter-attack together.

8.35pm GMT

35 min: This has been a bright, entertaining match, so it’s been long overdue a lull. Here it is!

8.33pm GMT

32 min: Make that three bookings! Walcott goes into the ref’s notebook for a cynical slide that stops Azpilicueta bursting down the Spanish left. The free kick’s swung into the box and dealt with easily enough by the home defence.

8.32pm GMT

30 min: A couple of bookings, at last! Sterling sees yellow for crumping his boot on top of Aduriz’s foot; he can have no complaints, it wasn’t a good challenge. Then Martinez cyncially brings down Walcott as the England sub looks to zip into a lot of space down the right. He can’t moan either. But it’s nice to see the referee didn’t forget his entire kit and caboodle tonight.

8.29pm GMT

28 min: Aduriz is afforded a little time and space in a central position, 30 yards from goal. He slips a pass along the slight diagonal towards Vitolo, racing down the inside-right channel and into the box. Too heavy; goal kick. Had that been better weighted, England were in all sorts of trouble.

8.28pm GMT

27 min: Clyne fannies around on the halfway line, allowing Silva to steal the ball off him and tear clear down the left wing. Not much wrong with the challenge, but Silva is penalised for pulling the England full-back to the ground. That’s a generous decision.

8.26pm GMT

25 min: Lallana goes down and rolls his socks around his ankles. Penny for his and Liverpool’s thoughts, with a visit back to his old club Southampton scheduled for the weekend. He walks off, limping lightly but not looking super concerned. Though time will obviously tell. Walcott will come on in his stead.

8.24pm GMT

23 min: Thiago takes a heavy touch while faffing around out on the Spanish left. The busy Lallana nips off with the loose ball, and is brought down by the errant Spaniard for his trouble. That should be a booking, really. Like Vardy and Reina before him, Thiago can count himself rather lucky.

8.21pm GMT

20 min: Sterling makes off down the left and wins the first corner of the game. Henderson takes short, then a pass is shuttled back down the field to Rose, whose cross is no good. Within seconds, the ball’s back at the feet of Hart. Not ideal, but England are a work in progress after all.

8.20pm GMT

17 min: Vardy has been right off the boil so far this season, but he looks back to his title-winning best right now. He skates down the left and very nearly executes a sharp one-two with Sterling. Not quite, but he’d have been in a dangerous area had that little caper come off. It’s a nice, bright, expansive start by England, the players running free, scampering like joyous pups in a Christmas ad. I wonder if Roy Hodgson is watching?

8.17pm GMT

15 min: Spain finally put something together. Mata slides a pass down the right for Aduriz, who breaks into the area and pulls the ball back towards the penalty spot for Vitolo. Vitolo has time to take a touch, but having made space drags a woefully weak effort wide left of the target. But that was super-smooth. England were opened up there with some ease.

8.14pm GMT

13 min: Spain look a little rattled. Times change, huh. Vardy looks to break with purpose down the left, but Carvajal sticks to his task. Just for a second, though, the visitors were light at the back.

8.13pm GMT

11 min: And all of a sudden, Spain’s confident passing becomes slightly ragged. Carvajal loses the ball in the middle of the park. Lallana looks to slide Rose clear down the left, but he was standing half a yard offside when he received the ball in the first place. As Lallana is playing with bags of confidence right now. A very different player from the one who struggled in his first year at Anfield.

8.10pm GMT

Lallana is rewarded for that superlative pass with the chance to score from the spot. He takes it, roofing his penalty into the top right. Reina had no chance. England have hardly seen the ball, but look at the scoreline!

8.09pm GMT

8 min: Lallana pinches possession down the right, and curls a gorgeous low pass into the centre. The ball evades the desperate lunge of Martinez, and Vardy’s clear in the box! He looks to round Reina on the right. The keeper brings him down, and is slightly lucky to avoid a card. Nacho covering in the middle saves his skin. But that’s a penalty!

8.07pm GMT

6 min: Spain continue to pass it round quite a lot. Vitolo cuts in from the left and looks for Azpilicueta. Vardy slides in to intercept, and it’s a pretty robust challenge with his studs up. He gets the ball and clears, but he also crumps those studs on Azpilicueta’s shin. That’s a nasty one, but the contact was accidental. Looks like the Spanish full-back will be OK. Vardy gets a quiet talking-to from the referee. The resulting free kick is a waste of time and energy.

8.04pm GMT

3 min: England haven’t really had a touch yet. A lot of tippy tappy at the back. But breaking news! There’s method in this patient tactic. Who’d have thought? Carvajal strides down the right and floats a ball towards the far post for Silva. Hart comes off his line to claim well, because for a second it looked like the ball would land on Silva’s nut, whereupon it would be wheeched into the net with some purpose.

8.02pm GMT

And we’re off! Spain get the ball rolling. Aduriz has the honour, and he knocks it back towards Mata. There’s 20 seconds of tiki-taka at the back, then Martinez launches it long. Too long. Hart gathers. A slightly muted atmosphere at Wembley, incidentally, a result of Spain only bringing 500 fans with them.

7.56pm GMT

The teams are out! England are playing in their classic white shirts with powder blue epaulettes, while Spain sport their furious red. An aesthetic delight. Anthems are blaring, hands will be given a good old shake. We’ll be off in a minute! Meantime, here’s Hubert O’Hearn: “God love him, but Gareth Southgate reminds me of the nice man at the funeral parlour who helps you pick out the hymns.” Ah, the glorious tingle of pre-match excitement! Can’t you just taste it?

7.46pm GMT

Gareth Southgate speaks! And here’s why he hasn’t made an excessive amount of changes from the Scotland game. “I’m looking for stability. If you’re a player coming into the side, it’s good to have some consistency around you; it gives them the best chance of succeeding. We’re also still building how we want to play, so that continuity is important. Marcus Rashford is a player we think a lot of, and his time will come, but tonight I wanted to give Jamie Vardy a run. Adam Lallana’s technical ability with the ball is outstanding, he’s a leader in how we want to press, and he’ll set the tone in that. We have a young team who are keen to press, and are keen to show what they can do with the ball. We won’t have all the possession, but that’s the challenge.”

7.36pm GMT

England: Hart, Clyne, Stones, Cahill, Rose, Dier, Henderson, Sterling, Lallana, Lingard, Vardy.
Subs: Heaton, Walker, Walcott, Sturridge, Jagielka, Townsend, Keane, Wilshere,
Rashford, Bertrand, Cresswell, Pickford.

Spain: Reina, Carvajal, Martinez, Nacho, Azpilicueta, Mata, Busquets, Thiago, Silva, Aduriz, Vitolo.
Subs: de Gea, Sergi Roberto, Bartra, Morata, Koke, Callejon, Ander Herrera, Monreal, Aspas, Nolito, Isco, Sergio Asenjo.

7.25pm GMT

Meanwhile here’s the Spanish starting XI: Reina, Carvajal, Martinez, Nacho, Azpilicueta, Mata, Busquets, Thiago, Vitolo, Aduriz, Silva.

David Silva of Manchester City makes it despite struggling with a toe injury. Napoli goalkeeper Jose Reina, once of Liverpool, gets his first start in a couple of years ahead of Manchester United octopus David de Gea. And up front, the veteran Aritz Aduriz replaces Alvaro Morata. The selection of Aduriz is a lovely little story, and it’s one told here by our very own Sid Lowe:

It completes an astonishing 10-day period for the Athletic Bilbao striker. He became the first Spaniard to score five goals in a game for half a century in Athletic’s 5-3 win over Genk on the same night that he became a father for the second time. He then came on as a substitute and scored for Spain against Macedonia – aged 35 years 275 days. That saw him break José María Peña’s Spanish record, which had stood since 1930.
It was only Aduriz’s second goal for his country, having gone almost six years without a call-up between his first cap in October 2010 and his return in February 2016, after his goalscoring record improved following his 30th birthday. Although he went to Euro 2016, Aduriz did not make Lopetegui’s first squad but was called up for these two fixtures. The Spain manager called him an “example”.

7.05pm GMT

Here’s tonight’s England starting XI: Hart, Clyne, Rose, Cahill, Stones, Dier, Sterling, Henderson, Lingard, Lallana, Vardy.

So Gareth Southgate makes three changes to the side that saw off that shower masquerading as Scotland. Jamie Vardy, Nathaniel Clyne and Jesse Lingard are welcomed to the team, replacing Daniel Sturridge, Kyle Walker and The Grove’s Wayne Rooney respectively.

6.55pm GMT

Yes, we’ve got here far too early, haven’t we. Nothing much to do, other than read the match programme. Here, FA chairman Greg Clarke’s written a piece for it! Yes, I know, you should have stayed for another pint, there was plenty of time. But we’re here now. So here’s it.

While the result is always important, tonight might also be an opportunity for one or two players to stake a claim at international level.
Certainly, no one knows the nation’s young talent better than Gareth Southgate after a year to remember at development team level.

We began our senior action for the year with a game in Germany last March and that thrilling 3-2 victory against the reigning world champions was cause for plenty of justified optimism.
We will continue to seek to measure ourselves against the leading nations, as we also did here a year ago this month when we came out 2-0 winners over France on an emotional night.
Of course, those results fuelled optimism for Euro 2016 and we will always look back on the past 12 months with a sense of what might have been.
I was there in France as a fan and, like everyone, was disappointed with how the tournament went, given our qualification record and the talent we undoubtedly possess.
It is definitely a case of looking forward now and we will sit down after this fixture to consider our options with regard to the England manager position, and with full gratitude to Gareth and his staff for their work.

8.35am GMT

Friendlies might not get the juices flowing quite like a good old competitive fixture, but they have their time and place. Like whenever England meet Spain, for example. These two rarely pull up trees when it means something. Spain eased England out of the 1950 World Cup in uneventful fashion; England did for Spain in the Euros in 1968, 1980 and 1996, but you wouldn’t have written home on any occasion; and the pair bored the world to tears at España 82. More, please? No thanks! Thanks, but no thank you!

Friendly fixtures between the two are another matter, however. In 1929, Spain scored a couple of late goals to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 victory, the amateur Severino Goiburu condemning England to their first-ever defeat by continental opposition. Two years later, England got their revenge in spectacular style, Dixie Dean one of the scorers in a 7-1 win at Highbury. Tom Finney missed a penalty at Wembley in 1955 but Matthews Final hero Bill Perry scored twice and England won 4-1 anyway. Jimmy Greaves was on the scoresheet in 1960 as England won 4-2 against a team containing Luis del Sol, Francisco Gento, the original Luis Suarez and Alfredo Di Stéfano for goodness sake. Gary Lineker scored four on his own against a Spain side built around the in-form Emilio Butragueño in 1987. Ugo Ehiogu scored in a 3-0 romp for new England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson in 2001. And Spain have won four of the five meetings since then, more often than not giving the English the right old runaround.

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Published on November 15, 2016 14:03

The Fiver | Seminars and symposia

In today’s Fiver: lecturer-elect Gareth Southgate, the midnight hour, and more

The Fiver isn’t going too far out on a limb when it suggests the Spanish are better at football than the English. Consider: England have only one major trophy to show for 144 years of trying. By comparison, Spain have claimed three in the last 101 months alone. That particular run of success stands as arguably the greatest achievement in the entire history of the sport, given they parlayed all their prizes from a bunch of monotonous 1-0 wins that made George Graham’s Arsenal look like Bill Nicholson’s Sp … hold on, this is supposed to be a compliment, isn’t it. Yes, they’ve been very impressive. Sheer genius. Pure alchemy.

Related: England masses cannot mask apathy and unloved international football | Owen Gibson

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Published on November 15, 2016 07:54

October 25, 2016

World Cup final 1970: Brazil v Italy – as it happened

The minute-by-minute report of one the great finals featuring Carlos Alberto’s iconic goal, from the pages of And Gazza Misses The Final, a collection of World Cup MBMs by Rob Smyth and Scott Murray

Carlos Alberto’s classic goal: brick-by-brick video animation

Final, Azteca Stadium, Mexico City, Mexico, Sunday 21 June 1970

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Published on October 25, 2016 11:40

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