Scott Murray's Blog, page 167
January 23, 2016
West Ham United v Manchester City: Premier League – as it happened
Enner Valencia and Sergio Aguero shared the goals in an entertaining tussle at Upton Park.
7.26pm GMT
... sends a header pinging off the top of the crossbar! He really should have scored! But a draw is probably a fair result. That was a magnificent game of football. West Ham stay in sixth place, a point behind Manchester United. Manchester City move up into second, level on points with Arsenal but six goals to the good, and three points behind Leicester City. City weren’t at their best tonight, but fought back well for what could be a crucial point in a topsy-turvy season. And they’ve stopped an impressive Hammers side from doing the league double over them. So close to breaking that 53-year drought, and yet so far.
Related: Sergio Agüero rides to Manchester City’s rescue twice in West Ham draw
7.25pm GMT
90 min +4: Or is there? West Ham go up the other end through Moses, out on the left. He’s upended by Fernando, who is booked. A chance for West Ham to load the box, and for the set-piece genius Payet to whip one in. Payet sends the free kick sailing into the area, Kouyate rises ten yards out, and ...
7.23pm GMT
90 min +3: De Bruyne threatens to break clear into the City box down the right, but Reid sticks to him like glue. City have to check back. Then Iheanacho finds space down the right and fires a low cross in for Aguero, who shoots first time towards the bottom right. Adrian reads well, and there’s to be no dramatic winner.
7.21pm GMT
90 min +2: Byram goes down with cramp. He gets up again after a while, but can barely stand, never mind walk.
7.20pm GMT
90 min +1: De Bruyne slides a fine pass down the inside-left channel to find Sterling inside the West Ham area. But Sterling is snoozing, and doesn’t control properly, sucking all momentum out of the pass, and the attack.
7.19pm GMT
90 min: Jelavic has looked a menace since coming on. Another ball swung into the City box from the right, and he’s not far from meeting this one either. There will be three added minutes. Can either of these teams find a winner?
7.19pm GMT
89 min: ... another corner’s won. And from that, Jelavic has a free header on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box, but he mistimes it totally, the ball flashes across the face of goal, and is cleared by Sagna. City go up the other end, where Toure clatters into Song and is booked for his trouble.
7.17pm GMT
88 min: Payet has the ball on a piece of string down the right. He draws Clichy, before sending Cresswell into space. The low cross to the near post is nearly met by Jelavic. Otamendi turns the ball behind for a corner. From which ...
7.16pm GMT
87 min: West Ham’s two-goal hero Valencia is spent. He trudges off, to be replaced by Jelavic.
7.15pm GMT
86 min: Toure has a whack from the edge of the West Ham D, but there’s no juice in the shot. It’s easily blocked.
7.14pm GMT
85 min: It’s all City in terms of possession now. De Bruyne powers forward and slides the ball left for Sterling, who looks to turn Byram. The full back gives him a bear hug. There’s nice. But it should be a free kick, to the left of the West Ham box, in a dangerous position. It’s not given, though.
7.13pm GMT
83 min: City are pressing for a winner now. Silva dribbles with purpose down the right. He thinks about shooting, but lays off to Iheanacho, who tries to curl carefully into the top left from the edge of the box. No no no, way too ponderous and meek. That’s Silva’s last contribution, by the way. Or to be more precise, his second last: his final act is to shake his head ostentatiously as he’s hooked in favour of Fernando, the plan being to throw Toure further forward. He’s not happy.
7.11pm GMT
Iheanacho has been lively since coming on. He bursts down the middle of the park and looks to feed Aguero on the edge of the box. Aguero can’t control. The ball breaks a little to the right. Iheanacho takes up possession again, just inside the box, and flicks a battling pass back left for Aguero, who is free, 12 yards out! Aguero dinks a delicious finish over Adrian, and City are level again!
7.08pm GMT
79 min: Sterling embarks on a dribble down the left. He’s got the beating of Byram, who is either cramping up or is injured, but the cross that follows is a low dribbler that Adrian easily snaffles. West Ham go up the other end, Valencia feeding Moses down the left. There’s nobody in the middle, so Moses tries the spectacular from a tight angle. Nope!
7.06pm GMT
77 min: Iheanacho’s first act is to nearly set Aguero free on a run towards the West Ham box. But Noble is tenacious, and refuses to let the striker race away. There’s a good old-fashioned battle on the edge of the area, and eventually West Ham clear their lines.
7.05pm GMT
76 min: Delph is replaced by Iheanacho.
7.03pm GMT
74 min: Payet causes more panic on the edge of the City area with his tight close control. He draws Toure, and very nearly dinks a pass forward for Cresswell, but it doesn’t quite come off. The full back would have been clear on goal. This is a very impressive performance by West Ham, but particularly by this man Payet. What a player he is.
7.01pm GMT
72 min: Sagna makes good down the right. Near the corner flag, he whips a high ball into the middle. Aguero rises over Collins, winds his neck back only a little, and sends a fine header meant for the top left. It’s just wide of the post. That would have been some goal if he’d got it on target. How did he get so much power on that header?
7.00pm GMT
71 min: With West Ham light at the back, Sterling sprays a delicious long ball down the middle onto Aguero’s chest. But the striker has gone too early and is flagged for offside. City look a little shapeless and short of ideas right now.
6.59pm GMT
70 min: Byram is booked for a fairly blatant body check on Delph. Again, this one was in the middle of the park, and fairly unnecessary. But a yellow card it is.
6.58pm GMT
69 min: Sterling’s first act is to tug Moses to the floor near the centre circle. Pointless, unless he fancied a quick reminisce about Liverpool’s failed title bid of 2014.
6.56pm GMT
67 min: Navas is replaced by Sterling.
6.55pm GMT
65 min: Antonio is replaced by Moses. Then Song, 30 yards out, flicks the ball up and attempts to Le Tissier one up, down and into the bottom left. Not quite, but not far away at all.
6.54pm GMT
64 min: Payet dribbles down the left. He draws Sagna, then slides Cresswell into space. Cresswell reaches the byline, and pulls one back for Valencia, on the spot. It’s just behind his intended target. Lovely football, though, City very nearly torn apart.
6.52pm GMT
62 min: It’s not quite coming off for City in attack. Aguero and Silva exchange crisp passes down the right, but West Ham are deep and compact, and eventually the ball’s clanked out of play.
6.50pm GMT
60 min: Otamendi channels his inner Beckenbauer and strides forward with purpose down the inside-right flank, before rolling a pass forward for De Bruyne. The Belgian can’t get a shot away as he enters the box, but the ball breaks to Silva, who can. But the angle’s prohibitive, and Adrian smothers easily enough at his near post. A decent response from City, this.
6.48pm GMT
58 min: City try to respond quickly to falling behind for the second time in this match. They probe down either flank, but can’t quite get a ball inside for Aguero. Delph, coming in from the right, has another go from distance, but this one is easily blocked.
6.47pm GMT
A throw down the West Ham right. It’s flung into the City box by Antonio. Otamendi is sleeping, and misreads the bounce. Valencia gets ahead of him, and toe-pokes it past the advancing Hart and in! That’s as simple as a goal will ever get. What were City thinking?
6.45pm GMT
55 min: City pass it around patiently in the West Ham half for what seems like ages, going nowhere. Then suddenly Delph breaks down the inside-left channel, and sends a low shot towards the right-hand corner. It clips off the heel of Byram, right in front of him, and hits the base of the right-hand post before bouncing clear of danger. What bad luck for City. Doubly so, because ...
6.42pm GMT
52 min: This is better from Toure, who chases after a jet-heeled Valencia down the left, and wins a tough shoulder-to-shoulder duel, forcing the West Ham striker to run the ball out for a goal kick just as he threatened to break clear into the box. City want to see more of that from their captain.
6.41pm GMT
51 min: West Ham finally launch a second-half attack, Valencia busying himself down the right to earn a corner that never looked on. The resulting set piece is cleared, but West Ham come back at the visitors. Payet and Noble combine down the right - Toure not for the first time this evening slack in his defensive duties - and a cross is sent looping to the far post. Valencia, on the left-hand edge of the six-yard box, should crash a header home, but heads down and wide left. What a chance.
6.39pm GMT
49 min: City have come out with renewed purpose, though. Delph goes on a driving run down the middle and shuffles his feet in the hope of making space to shoot from 20 yards. He fluffs that, but his determination wins the ball back, and he slips it wide to De Bruyne. The resulting ball infield is no good, but this is an improvement for City from the closing stages of the first half.
6.37pm GMT
48 min: Toure witlessly hoicks the free kick straight into the wall. Awful.
6.36pm GMT
47 min: Aguero looks to burst through the middle. He’s got a strangely uninterested Silva to his right, so has to go it alone. He loses the ball, but Delph picks it up and is knocked to the ground by Noble. A free kick in a dead central position, 25 yards from goal. Yaya Toure is on the scene.
6.34pm GMT
West Ham get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes. The Hammers lose the ball quick-smart, allowing De Bruyne to have a look down the left wing, but his probing comes to naught.
6.19pm GMT
Half-time entertainment: An emotional retrospective of life at the Boleyn. Well worth a look if you missed it on BT Sport.
6.18pm GMT
A highly entertaining half of football comes to an end after three incident-free extra minutes. West Ham will feel they deserve the lead at the break: they’ve been the better side, and only a majestic Hart save from Payet’s free kick has kept the visitors on terms. West Ham will hope for more of the same in the second half; City will need to step it up a bit if they’re to keep on Leicester City’s tail. Should make for a cracking second period.
6.14pm GMT
44 min: City look like a team waiting for the half-time whistle and an opportunity to regroup. They’ve been on the rack a bit in the last few minutes.
6.12pm GMT
42 min: Noble chases down the right after a ball he should never win, and earns a cheap corner off Delph. From which nothing much happens.
6.11pm GMT
40 min: Payet, jinking away on the left, flicks a ball to the overlapping Cresswell, who dinks a cross to the far post. Valencia and Kouyate were waiting to head home, but Hart, backtracking at speed, claws the ball away from the top right. From a tight angle, Antonio puts the ball behind for a goal kick. But West Ham are asking a lot of questions here.
6.09pm GMT
39 min: Navas, out on the right, turns sharply to escape Noble. The West Ham man catches him late, on the top of the foot, and goes in the book. The resulting free kick is a waste of time.
6.07pm GMT
37 min: West Ham are pressing City back right now. Kouyate, Payet and Noble attempt to triangulate down the left, but can’t quite prise an opening. Otamendi blooters clear.
6.06pm GMT
35 min: Payet can’t find the head of a team-mate, but his delivery does force Demichelis to head out for a throw on the right. The ball’s flung long into the box, and the on-fire Payet attempts to bicycle-kick one in from 12 yards, level with the left-hand post. He shins it out to the left of the target. Full marks for ambition, though. A fine end to a magnificent burst of pressure.
6.05pm GMT
34 min: From 25 yards, Payet creams a curler towards the top right corner. It’s going in, but Hart, at full stretch, fingertips away. That’s a stunning free kick, and the save’s its equal. The corner’s cleared, but we’ll be going again soon, because Payet is upended by Silva out on the right. Another free kick in a dangerous position. Payet won’t be going direct this time - it’s too far wide - but the home team will be loading the box.
6.03pm GMT
33 min: De Bruyne dances down the left, then rolls Sagna into acres of space. Sagna stands it up into the centre. Silva’s free on the penalty spot, but the ball’s a bit high and he can’t adjust his body to get any power into the shot, which is taken mid-jump. West Ham speed up the other end, Antonio breaking into a lot of space down the right. He’s about to break into the box for a shooting chance, but Demichelis, in the knowledge that Otamendi is covering too, scythes him down. A cynical challenge, a no-brainer of a yellow card, and a free kick in a very dangerous position.
6.00pm GMT
29 min: Sagna, in plenty of space down the right, can’t quite find Aguero with a low cross. West Ham half clear, then nearly play themselves into trouble. Sagna chases after a loose pass down the City right, but Payet is tracking back well, finds Collins in the middle with a calm pass, and the danger’s cleared.
5.58pm GMT
26 min: Valencia and Antonio nearly combine down the West Ham right, but lose control near the box. Then there’s a super-determined run by Aguero down the City right. He could have gone down twice, but kept on keepin’ on, and was nearly rewarded when he cut inside looking for De Bruyne with a pass rolled out in space to the left. But Byram had his aerial switched on, and intercepted well. This is developing into a bright, end-to-end game, if not the manic goal-rush it threatened to become in the early stages.
5.54pm GMT
24 min: Some running repairs to Kouyate. He’ll be OK by the looks of it. A fair chance he was staying on the ground there to make a point to the ref.
5.54pm GMT
22 min: City go route one, Hart launching it long down the middle, Aguero very nearly getting around Reid as the defender tries to usher the ball out of play for a goal kick. Then West Ham launch an attack of their own, Kouyate romping along the right at speed, then being dumped on his teeth as Toure clacks his ankles. It should be a booking, but it’s not even a free kick.
5.50pm GMT
19 min: De Bruyne flicks a ball down the inside-left channel to release Delph into space. He bursts into the box and earns a corner off Byram. Silva’s corner is half-cleared. He has another two goes at delivering the ball into the area, the second a vicious low drive that momentarily threatens to cause all sorts of pinball bedlam, until Kouyate clears with a deft overhead kick.
5.48pm GMT
17 min: The brief break after the City equaliser for the treatment to Jenkinson has robbed this game of its early momentum. Bah. De Bruyne, floating all over the shop, tries to get something going with Silva down the left, but passes aren’t sticking right now.
5.45pm GMT
15 min: Otamendi clatters Antonio to the ground as the West Ham man looks to make good down the left. That’s a pointless challenge, with Antonio going nowhere, because it’s a free kick in a dangerous position, West Ham able to load the box. Payet takes, but it’s a fairly basic lift into a packed box, and easily cleared by a City forehead.
5.44pm GMT
14 min: It’s a lot of high-speed nonsense right now, as both teams come to terms with a hectic start. Breathe deeply, chaps, and find a neutral gear.
5.43pm GMT
12 min: Jenkinson, after lengthy treatment, wanted to continue. But he’s going to be hooked anyway. Sam Byram comes on for an unexpected debut.
5.42pm GMT
11 min: Soft the penalty may have been, but a penalty it was, Jenkinson sticking his leg across the dribbling Aguero. And there’s a double punishment for the full-back: he’s injured himself in making the challenge, and is struggling here.
5.40pm GMT
Aguero stutters up to the ball, sends Adrian the wrong way, and rolls the ball into the left-hand side of the goal. It was a soft penalty, but City deserve to be level on the balance of play. What a start to this match!
5.39pm GMT
8 min: Aguero, fired up by the injustice of that last effort staying out, bursts into the West Ham box down the left. He’s barged off it by Jenkinson, unfairly so according to the referee, who points to the spot.
5.38pm GMT
7 min: City are so unlucky not to be level. Toure chipped down the inside-left channel for Aguero. The striker took one touch on the edge of the box, then looped a gorgeous effort over Adrian. Surely that’s going to drop into the unguarded net! But it drifts onto the right-hand post, bounces along the line, and Reid clears. Wow! What a brilliant effort that was.
5.37pm GMT
6 min: As is this: Silva dribbling with purpose down the left, entering the box, and very nearly finding Navas free on the penalty spot. Not quite.
5.36pm GMT
5 min: City finally arrive. Space for De Bruyne down the right. The ball’s crossed into the mixer. Collins clears out for a corner, then deals with the set piece, delivered by the same City player. West Ham were fairly comfortable there, but that’s much better from the visitors.
5.34pm GMT
4 min: City can’t keep hold of the ball right now. Payet makes good and loops a cross into the City box from the left, but Demichelis hoofs clear before Valencia can get near the ball.
5.33pm GMT
2 min: A rather excitable Kouyate goes lunging in on Toure, and is lucky to avoid a yellow card. That was pretty rash. The crowd are also pretty excitable right now. What a start! A second nine-goal thriller of the day? There’s plenty time.
5.32pm GMT
Kouyate brushes past a snoozing Toure down the left. He enters the area and pulls the ball back to Valencia on the penalty spot. Boom, straight down the middle, past a helpless Hart, and it’s the opening goal. Yes, that simple. Oh Yaya!
5.31pm GMT
City get the ball rolling. They stroke it about the back awhile, making sure each defender gets a touch. Then a bit of head tennis in the middle of the park. And then ...
5.28pm GMT
The teams are out! West Ham United are in their famous old-school claret and blue, while Manchester City make the slightly pointless shift from first-choice sky blue to second-choice dark blue. A cracking atmosphere at Upton Park, as there so often is. A rousing rendition of Bubbles. Hands are shaken, coins are tossed, muscles are gently stretched, and we’ll be off in a little minute or two!
5.17pm GMT
Slaven Bilic speaks! “Our record against the top teams gives us confidence. We know what we have to do. We have a gameplan, and if we do it, we have a good chance. On the other hand, we are playing the best team on paper in the league. We have to have a complete game. We have to defend well. And when we have the ball, we need to use the space and keep the ball.”
Manuel Pellegrini is also keeping it simple. “It’s important not to lose points. We have less games left, so the margin of error is less. We’re involved in the title, but the only way to do it is winning and playing well.”
5.10pm GMT
The results in the 3pm kick-offs have had an effect on both the sides. Leicester’s 3-0 thumping of Stoke means Manchester City can’t go top this evening with a win here, something that had been theoretically possible in the morning. Leicester are in pole position, three clear of Arsenal in second and four clear of City. But a win for Manuel Pellegrini’s side will elevate City to second, with Arsenal playing Chelsea tomorrow. Another reason they’ll be looking for a positive result: Spurs, 3-1 winners at Crystal Palace with Dele Alli announcing himself as the heir to Glenn Hoddle’s throne, are just a point behind City right now in fourth. As for West Ham, a win will take them into fifth, above Manchester United who lost at home this afternoon to Southampton. All the goodwill earned by Louis van Gaal at Anfield gone within the week. And they say politics is a short-term business.
4.43pm GMT
West Ham make three changes to the starting XI at Newcastle. James Tomkins, Angelo Ogbonna and Pedro Obiang are out; Carl Jenkinson, Winston Reid and Alex Song step up.
Manchester City replace four of their starters against Crystal Palace. Sagna and Clichy come in for Zabaleta and Kolarov, Yaya Toure replaces Fernando, and Jesus Navas takes Kelechi Iheanacho’s place.
4.35pm GMT
West Ham United: Adrian, Jenkinson, Collins, Reid, Cresswell, Kouyate, Song, Noble, Antonio, Valencia, Payet.
Subs: Randolph, Obiang, Moses, Ogbonna, Byram, Jelavic, Oxford.
Manchester City: Hart, Sagna, Otamendi, Demichelis, Clichy, Toure, Delph, Jesus Navas, Silva, De Bruyne, Aguero.
Subs: Zabaleta, Fernando, Sterling, Caballero, Fernandinho, Iheanacho, Tasende.
1.45pm GMT
West Ham United have already completed their first league double over Liverpool in 43 years; now they’re looking to do Manchester City home and away for the first time in 53. Truly these are epochal times at Upton Park.
Not least because they’ll be leaving the place in the summer. And my, how they’ll miss it. Never mind all that history: just look at this recent run of form! They’ve won their last three home matches, and haven’t been defeated on their own turf since that absurd upside-down 3-4 defeat by Bournemouth back in August.
Continue reading...
Norwich City 4-5 Liverpool: Premier League – as it happened
Deep into injury time, Norwich equalise. And then Adam Lallana settles an absurd nine-goal rollercoaster ride. An instant classic, if a little light on defensive quality.
2.40pm GMT
There’s time for Klopp to tear off down the touchline in celebration, and for Lallana to take off his shirt and race about in incredulous disbelief. And that’s that! Heartbreak for Norwich City. Liverpool’s players dispatch their shirts into the away end. Klopp appears to have lost his glasses. That is one of the most ridiculous - and ridiculously entertaining - games the Premier League has coughed up in a long while. Twelve shots on target, and nine goals scored. Football, eh. And to think Klopp was unhappy about the amount of added time.
Related: Adam Lallana secures three points for Liverpool with last-gasp winner at Norwich City
2.38pm GMT
Oh this is utterly preposterous! A scramble in the Norwich box, Can having swung the ball in from the left. Benteke can’t control. Neither can Brady or Caulker. And then Lallana, cutting in from the left, batters a shot into the ground, sending the ball looping up and into the right-hand corner of the net, Rudd totally wrong-footed. Wow!
2.36pm GMT
90 min +3: Celebrations. Klopp self-combusts.
2.36pm GMT
Mignolet comes to the edge of his box and claims a long Olsson ball. He fires it up the other end. Benteke is caught offside down the left. The free kick is pumped long. It’s knocked down by Jerome for Bassong, who pearls an unstoppable low screamer into the bottom right! And there’s still time for another twist! Can either side find a winner?
2.33pm GMT
90 min +1: Space for Benteke and Lallana down the right. The ball’s held up, and a corner’s won. On the touchline, Klopp engages the fourth official in debate over the amount of added time. From the set piece, Milner has a dig from distance, but it’s easily blocked.
2.32pm GMT
90 min: A final change for Liverpool. Caulker comes on for Moreno. Something tells me he won’t be going up front this time. There will be five minutes of added time.
2.31pm GMT
88 min: Benteke dribbles into the Norwich box down the right, and attempts to make his way past Brady. But the double shuffle doesn’t fool his man, and Norwich clear. There were options in the middle there.
2.29pm GMT
86 min: Benteke’s inability to hold the ball is putting Liverpool under pressure. He miscontrols on the halfway line, allowing Norwich to attack down the left. Jerome tries to fling a cross into the box from a tight position, but is denied by Toure, who has on the whole been resolute today.
2.27pm GMT
85 min: Firmino finds plenty of space down the left, and enters the Norwich box. He attempts a curler into the bottom right for his hat-trick goal, but it’s straight down Rudd’s throat.
2.26pm GMT
84 min: Benteke tries to bring the ball under control to the right of the Norwich D, but only succeeds in rolling it harmlessly out of play to the right of the target.
2.26pm GMT
83 min: Norwich are beginning to spend some time in the Liverpool half. Mbokani tries to bring a tricky high ball down on the edge of the Liverpool box, but can’t quite get it under control with Toure on his case.
2.24pm GMT
82 min: Alex Neil makes a last throw of the dice. Naismith, who has had an eventful debut all right, is swapped for Jerome.
2.22pm GMT
79 min: Liverpool try to draw a little of the sting from the game, passing it hither and yon along the back. Hmm. It’s a look they patented back in the 1970s, but it wears like a cheap suit right now.
2.20pm GMT
77 min: The hapless Moreno should be booked for a cynical bodycheck on Jarvis, as the Norwich sub looks to bowl off down the right. The referee even calls the player to him, but doesn’t show the card. That’s another poor decision from the ref, who hasn’t had much of a game himself today.
2.19pm GMT
76 min: Klopp isn’t easing off, despite the comeback. Benteke comes on for Henderson. In truth, attack’s probably the best form of defence for Liverpool, as not many would bet the farm on their back line holding onto this hard-earned lead.
2.17pm GMT
Oh dear. Martin, on the halfway line, plays a blind backpass down the Liverpool right. It’s woefully underhit, and straight at Milner, who is clear on goal. Milner shifts the ball to the right, and slams it past Rudd. What an absurd moment. What an absurd game this is.
2.16pm GMT
73 min: Moreno has looked a lot better going forward than in defence. He skitters up the left, cuts inside, plays a long-distance one-two with the excellent Firmino, and from the edge of the box tries to send a daisycutter towards the bottom right. It’s straight at Rudd, who gathers calmly. “Klopp must be looking at that today and already has his list done of who’s first out the door,” suggests Anthony O Connell. “We’ve really bought some below average rubbish the last few season for superstar money.”
2.14pm GMT
72 min: Can, in the centre circle, sprays wide left for Firmino. He’s got a chance to shift the ball inside and take a shot from the edge of the area, but looks to find the overlapping Milner instead, trundling at 1mph on the left. Milner wins a corner, but it’s not the greatest outcome from that situation, Norwich having looked threadbare at the back. The corner comes to naught.
2.12pm GMT
70 min: A double change by Norwich: Redmond and Hoolahan off, Olsson and Jarvis on.
2.11pm GMT
69 min: A free kick, conceded cheaply by Moreno, deep on the Norwich right. Redmond swings it in deep. Bassong rises to meet with a header that’s guided towards the bottom right. It’s harmless, and easily gathered by Mignolet. But this is marvellous end-to-end entertainment.
2.09pm GMT
67 min: Lucas, wide on the right, chips a delicate cross into the Norwich area and very nearly finds Firmino, who is on a hat-trick. Pinto wasn’t awake there. Luckily for Norwich, the ball squirts off the penalty spot and away to the left. Norwich clear.
2.08pm GMT
65 min: Norwich are struggling to keep hold of the ball right now. Lallana is sent scampering clear down the middle by a lovely raking Lucas pass from deep on the left. But he’s offside. The away side are suddenly on top.
2.07pm GMT
This is brilliant by Firmino. He plays a clever flick round the corner down the left on the halfway line. Milner feeds Lallana, who whips into the middle for Firmino, who has kept going and is completely free in the box! He draws Rudd, and dinks a cute chip over the keeper. Klopp punches the sky, though irritation and anger are still the top notes. The comeback’s been completed in double-quick time; nevertheless, good luck predicting which way this one is going to go.
2.05pm GMT
62 min: Liverpool are pressing Norwich back now. Moreno, Firmino and Milner probe down the left. Can busies himself down the right. But the Norwich defence keeps compact and doesn’t budge. Eventually an aimless ball sails out of play for a goal kick. On the touchline, Klopp delivers a gegenbollicking. He’s really not happy.
2.02pm GMT
59 min: Ibe is replaced by Lallana. That’s a slightly strange decision, as Ibe has been one of Liverpool’s few plus points this afternoon. Milner and Can, for example, have done bugger all. Ibe’s on the bench sulking, and who can blame him. And then there’s a brief skirmish in the Liverpool area, Mbokani and Naismith making nuisances of themselves, but Toure blams clear.
2.00pm GMT
57 min: It’s Alex Neil’s turn to react on the touchline. He’s tapping away furiously at his temples, ordering his men to clear their heads and think. That’s let Liverpool back into this game. The away side press forward again, but Clyne loses control on the right wing. To be honest, absolutely anything could happen here now. Carrow Road is jumping.
1.59pm GMT
Moreno tries to make amends with a burst down the left. His cross inside doesn’t find his man. But Clyne recycles the ball down the right, sending a low cross into the area. Firmino dummies, allowing the ball to drift through to Henderson, who sweeps a fine first-time shot into the bottom left. Well, this second half took a while to start, but now look!
1.57pm GMT
Hoolahan gets away with a mishit Panenka, the chip drifting to the right but sailing over the prone Mignolet anyway. On the touchline, Klopp has his arms crossed very tightly indeed.
1.56pm GMT
53 min: Sheer idiocy by Moreno. Redmond slides Naismith free into the area down the right. Moreno is fortunate to get away with knocking Naismith to the floor from behind - so to make sure, he knocks into the back of Naismith again as the Norwich debutant springs up! Naismith goes back to the ground again, and the referee points to the spot.
1.53pm GMT
51 min: Ibe tries to inject a bit of pace into the Liverpool play. He dribbles down the middle, then spreads the play wide right, but Clyne and Can combine to slow things right down and eventually gift possession to a resolute Norwich back line.
1.51pm GMT
49 min: It’s been a low-intensity start to the second half. Exactly the way Norwich want it. Nothing much going on.
1.51pm GMT
47 min: Adam Lallana and Joe Allen are already warming up for Liverpool. On the touchline, Klopp is expressionless. But he’ll be on a rolling boil now, with Clyne having gone walkabout, allowing Mbokani to flick Pinto clear into the Liverpool area down the right! Mignolet comes to challenge, then retreats. Pinto foolishly tries to flick the ball into the centre while running at full pelt, instead of stopping to size things up. The ball floats harmlessly out of play. But what a sorry state the Liverpool defence is.
1.47pm GMT
Norwich haven’t won a single game from a losing position this season. They’re 45 minutes plus stoppages away from breaking that duck. Liverpool get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes. “I had to begrudgingly admit to myself that Michael Owen sometimes does make some very informed points on the game in hand,” begins Ben Bennett. And you know there’s a but coming. “But you just know that every time he does, he fists pumps and writes it down in ‘Michael’s Victories’. It’s also pretty ironic that he has invested his money in Drone technology considering the timbre of his voice.”
1.34pm GMT
Half-time entertainment: In honour of the Liverpool bench.
1.33pm GMT
Liverpool went into the lead, looked decent for ten minutes or so, and should have gone two up. And yet Norwich are fully worth their half-time lead. They’ve been brilliant either side of that little burst from the away side. This promises to be a storming second half, because Norwich look confident, Liverpool desperately need to react, and there’s more goals in this!
1.31pm GMT
45 min: On the touchline, Jurgen Klopp looks ready to blow. He’s not ranting and raving, or dancing around. He’s looking straight ahead, breathing deeply, quietly stroking his chin. It’s a much more scary look. You’d pay good money to be a fly on the away dressing room wall at half time.
1.29pm GMT
43 min: Norwich thoroughly deserve their lead. But they nearly give it up foolishly, Brady playing a lazy backpass down the Liverpool right, Firmino only just denied by the outrushing Rudd, who blooters clear. Hearts in mouths for the Carrow Road faithful. Here’s Andy Gordon on That Shirt: “As deckchairs are only seen for a few weeks each year and collapse surprisingly easily, I’m thinking Daniel Sturridge.”
1.28pm GMT
Hoolahan’s diagonal ball from the right is taken down brilliantly by Brady, who earns a corner off Clyne as he breaks into the box. Liverpool finally deal with it, clearing easily. But much good it does them, because Norwich are quickly coming back at them down the right - and Naismith is sent clear into the area by a lovely reverse pass from Hoolahan. Naismith smacks a low shot across Mignolet and into the bottom left! He scored on his debut for Everton against Liverpool, and now he’s repeated the trick for Norwich! Question marks over the keeper there, as well as Henderson, who allowed Hoolahan to make the assist without pressure.
1.24pm GMT
39 min: Moreno slips and allows Hoolahan to make off down the right wing. Danger here for Liverpool, but Moreno springs up and tracks back brilliantly, sticking a boot in to reclaim possession just as the Norwich man looked to break into the area. “I have to agree with the po’ MBM hack about Michael Owen,” writes Nathan Fisher. “It has become received wisdom that he is the dullest pundit in punditry, but the only rationale ever offered to justify this view is that he has a boring voice. He is clearly not without intelligence, and I’d much rather him than, say, Alan Shearer or Phil Neville. Accusations that I sound like Micky O have nothing to do with my point of view. P.S. love the Norwich third kit too. Fancy a pint sometime?”
1.23pm GMT
36 min: ... Sakho heads clear, out to the Norwich left. Naismith chases after the ball, and is shoved in the back by Milner. That should be a penalty kick, but the referee again gives nothing. Both teams should have had a free shot from 12 yards, then, though Norwich’s claim was the more blatant of the two. Who’d Be A Referee Huh pt.II.
1.21pm GMT
35 min: Can looks to one-two with Firmino on the edge of the Norwich area. But it’s all suddenly very ponderous, and Howson is allowed to burst off up the other end. After one-twoing with Mbokani down the left, he breaks into the area and his shot is deflected by Lucas. The ball loops over the bar from another corner. From which ...
1.19pm GMT
33 min: Norwich are pressing Liverpool back. Naismith irritates Toure as the defender attempts to usher a ball down the right out of play. Toure’s forced to hoick out of play for a throw. The ball’s flung into the area, and though Toure volleys clear, the sense of trepidation among the Liverpool defence is palpable.
1.17pm GMT
31 min: Mbokani is down, winded again, Lucas having clattered into him this time. The physio is on. A chance for Liverpool to clear the collective noggin, because they have appeared stunned since the goal and the restart, unable to retain any sort of possession. The home side have their tails up.
1.15pm GMT
And sure enough, here we go. The corner’s hit deep. It looks like going out, but Martin heads it back into the mixer. After a game of tennis, Liverpool only half clear. Brady, to the left of the D, heads back into the box. The ball falls to the feet of Mbokani, who has his back to goal - and backheels powerfully and brilliantly past Mignolet! That’s a wonderful finish, and needless to say some more utterly inept set-piece defending by Liverpool.
1.13pm GMT
27 min: On BT Sport, Howard Webb suggests that Bassong tug should indeed have been a penalty kick, but can see why both referee and linesman missed it. Who’d be a referee, huh? Meanwhile a free kick for Norwich out on the right, and a chance to load the box. Redmond swings it in. It’s easily cleared, but Martin recycles play on the left, and swings deep. With Bassong still in attack, Mignolet is forced to come off his line and flap it out for a corner. And you know what Liverpool are like at defending those.
1.10pm GMT
25 min: Milner slides the free kick to the left. Moreno looks to slam one into the bottom-left corner, but it’s sliced well wide. There was a suggestion that Bassong’s tug on Firmino started inside the area, but it’d have been a brave referee who gave that one. It’d have been a very cheap penalty kick indeed.
1.09pm GMT
24 min: Now Firmino busies himself on the right-hand edge of the Norwich D. He’s looking to work space to shoot, so Bassong tugs his shirt. A free kick in a very dangerous position.
1.08pm GMT
23 min: Liverpool started so very slowly, but they’re well on top right now. Ibe and Firmino are taking turns to cause all sorts of havoc down the Liverpool left. Ibe jigs in from the flank and lays off to Henderson, whose long-distance attempt is blocked pretty much at source.
1.07pm GMT
21 min: It should be 0-2. Norwich play a high line, and are caught out. Firmino flicks the ball down the inside-left channel for Milner, who breaks clear. But he’s not got the pace to burst free of Brady, coming back to hassle. Brady slides in before Milner gets his shot away. The resulting corner comes to nothing. What a chance.
1.06pm GMT
20 min: A decent response to falling behind by Norwich, with Hoolahan and Redmond probing down both wings. Toure is on hand to head clear.
1.05pm GMT
Ibe, Moreno and Milner combine well down the left wing. Milner slides a pass down the channel to Firmino, who aims across Rudd and towards the far corner. The ball bobbles off the keeper’s boot, and in the slowest of slow motions, dribbles diagonally towards the right-hand post, hits the base, and rolls into the net.
1.03pm GMT
16 min: Liverpool go route one, a base blooter straight down the middle. And it nearly bears fruit. Bassong tries to usher the ball back to Rudd. The keeper doesn’t come. Firmino, hovering on Bassong’s shoulder, sticks a telescopic leg around the dozing defender, and tries to loop a cheeky shot over Rudd. He shanks it wide right. Bassong looks suitably sheepish at giving up the chance.
1.01pm GMT
15 min: Henderson, deep on the right, looks to curl one down the flank towards Firmino, near the Norwich box. Not quite. But Liverpool are finally stringing a few things together. “Those shirts are not too bad,” writes Steve Wiles. “They remind me of a ‘classic’ Colchester United shirt from the 80s. I do miss singing ‘bring on the deckchairs, bring on the deckchairs’. Up the U’s!”
12.58pm GMT
12 min: Ibe finds a bit of space down the left, turns on the burners, and skins Pinto. His cut-back looks dangerous, but ends up flying just behind Milner on the penalty spot. “Gotta take issue with that shirt,” begins Andy Turner. “Its the colour combo – they barely get away with it on the away ones, it’s got a harlequin look to it and its not good. I can’t imagine it fills defenders with horror when they are confronted with a clown running towards them. But enough Benteke jokes.”
12.56pm GMT
11 min: Naismith and Redmond link well down the centre, a crisp-one two. The ball’s shuttled wide to Hoolahan, who enters the box and fizzes a low centre towards Naismith. But Toure is on hand to whack clear. Liverpool aren’t at the races at all.
12.54pm GMT
9 min: A bit of space for Clyne down the right as Liverpool finally string a couple of passes together. His low centre nearly finds Milner ... but doesn’t.
12.54pm GMT
8 min: Liverpool haven’t turned up yet. Norwich are beginning to find their groove, though, and Redmond finds a little space to the right of the Liverpool area. His cross is only half-decent, and headed clear by Sakho.
12.53pm GMT
7 min: Pinto goes a-jugglin’ down the right wing. He’s very unlucky not to break into the box; instead the ball squirts out of play for a goal kick. But that was a very positive burst by Norwich’s other debutant.
12.52pm GMT
5 min: Naismith plants his studs on Lucas’s ankle. That’s late and clumsy. It should have been a yellow; if the referee was in the mood, it could have been a red. In fact, on second view, it’s a pretty poor challenge, coming down on Lucas’s ankle, his foot bent right over. The referee, perhaps factoring in debut nerves, and the fact Lucas has escaped injury, simply gives Naismith a talking to.
12.50pm GMT
4 min: It’s a scrappy start, this. The ball bouncing around this way and that. Three passes in a row seems a pipe dream right now. Norwich enjoying slightly more of the possession, though, and a little territorial advantage too.
12.47pm GMT
2 min: Mbokani and Can run into each other in the centre circle. A free kick for Norwich. Mbokani is slightly winded, and rolls around a bit. The free kick goes nowhere. A strange, slow-motion start to this game by both teams.
12.46pm GMT
A warm handshake between two smiling managers, and then Norwich get the ball rolling. Early pressure down the left, Hooahan making a proper nuisance of himself, neither Toure nor Clyne looking particularly comfortable as they try to clear. But the ball’s eventually sent back into Norwich’s half. Rudd gets his first feel of the ball, launches long, and that allows his opposite number Mignolet to get his gloves on it too.
12.41pm GMT
The teams are out! A cracking atmosphere as always at Carrow Road. A crisp, cold afternoon. It’s a pleasant aesthetic experience as well, because both teams play in their first-choice colours: Norwich in their yellow and green, Liverpool in red. Hands to be shaken, coins tossed, songs sung. We’ll be off in a minute or two!
12.31pm GMT
A very determined looking Alex Neil speaks! “We didn’t get the chance to strengthen the squad as much as we’d have liked last summer, but we’ve done some good work in January so far. We’re really excited to see Pinto and Naismith. Tetty called in this morning, and he’s been unwell overnight, which is disappointing, but it gives someone else a chance.” He’s reminded that Norwich haven’t beaten Liverpool in 22 years. A wry smile plays across his face. “Thanks very much for letting me know that! I wasn’t aware of it. Records are there to be broken, eh?”
12.28pm GMT
Some refreshingly honest punditry on BT Sport this morning. Will Norwich stay up? Michael Owen: “No.” Will Liverpool make the Champions League places? Chris Sutton: “No.” Not a beat skipped. Marvellous. I don’t get the across-the-board hate for Owen the pundit. He’s more willing than most to offer an opinion that deviates from the same old, same old. I wonder if a lot of it is in the delivery? Would he be tolerated if he’d been blessed with the mellifluous timbre of Leonard Cohen? I dunno. Mind you, as I said downpage, I quite like the Norwich third kit, so my opinion doesn’t count for much. Po’ out-of-step MBM hack!
12.21pm GMT
Pre-match chat mit Jurgen Klopp und BT Sport. “Generally we could use a few results! Against Man U and Arsenal, from the performance side, it was OK, we are in good shape, so we should transform it into results. Keep the good things, change the bad things, that’s the challenge for today.” He’s asked whether he should have been starting with Benteke, given that Norwich are the team most vulnerable to crosses in the entire division. “Yes, well, that’s good, he can play them when they are tired! I have made this decision. Do with it what you want.” A cheeky smile.
11.57am GMT
Ivo Pinto and Steven Naismith make their debuts for Norwich today. Ryan Bennett and Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe step down. Alex Tettey also makes way from the side that started at Bournemouth, with Graham Dorrans coming into the starting XI.
Liverpool only name two players who started the FA Cup win over Exeter: Simon Mignolet and Jordan Ibe. The second string exit stage left, pretty much as expected. But once again Christian Benteke doesn’t get a Premier League start. His performance on Wednesday night was one of the strangest you’ll see: two excellent contributions in the build-ups for two goals, but a confidence-free shambles when presented with the sort of simple chances a £32m striker should be putting away. So Klopp’s decision to bench him is pretty much as expected, too.
11.47am GMT
Norwich City: Rudd, Ivo Pinto, Martin, Bassong, Brady, Howson, Hoolahan, Dorrans, Redmond, Naismith, Mbokani.
Subs: Ruddy, Jerome, Jarvis, Klose, Mulumbu, Olsson, Odjidja-Ofoe.
Liverpool: Mignolet, Clyne, Toure, Sakho, Moreno, Can, Lucas, Henderson, Milner, Firmino, Ibe.
Subs: Benteke, Caulker, Lallana, Allen, Flanagan, Ward, Teixeira.
10.48am GMT
0-3, 0-5, 2-3. Liverpool have enjoyed their recent visits to Carrow Road. Or, to put it another way, a certain Uruguayan superstar did. Of those eleven goals, Luis Suarez scored seven. No Luis, no party?
Norwich will fancy their chances of bucking the recent trend in this fixture. They’ve lost their last three games, it’s true, shipping three goals each time. But two of those defeats were away from home, and they’ve won their last two league games in Norfolk. A fine win at Old Trafford is recent in the memory, too, and the Canaries might be boosted by a debut for their new big-name signing Steven Naismith.
Continue reading...January 20, 2016
Liverpool 3-0 Exeter City: FA Cup third-round replay – as it happened
Exeter battled hard, but ultimately Liverpool were too much for their League Two opponents
9.56pm GMT
So Liverpool advance to the fourth round, where they’ll meet West Ham United at Anfield. A chance for the Hammers to avenge their defeat in the 2006 final, and an opportunity for Liverpool to avenge the double West Ham have done over them this season. Liverpool’s young team were impressive on the whole tonight, against an Exeter team who should be given massive credit for their defensive organisation and solidity, but most of all their moxie. The Premier League side scored three fine goals, but once again Christian Benteke’s form is a cause for concern: Klopp’s aforementioned unspoken plan to kick-start his Anfield career needs a little more work. On the flip side, the Scouse Cafu is back. So it’s swings and roundabouts. Meanwhile hopefully Exeter will gain confidence from two impressive showings against Premier League opposition, and enjoy a burst up the League Two table. Nighty night.
Related: Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool kids kill off Exeter City’s FA Cup dream
9.51pm GMT
The free kick’s whipped into the Liverpool box. Ilori heads clear. Liverpool break, four on one. Chirivella sends Benteke free down the inside left, and you don’t need me to tell you what happens next. Not for the first time this season, he panics when one on one with the keeper. A heavy touch as he tries to round him, and the chance is gone. That pretty much sums up his performance tonight, which was 89 minutes of nonsense admittedly embellished by a fine assist.
9.48pm GMT
90 min +1: Holmes slips a pass down the left for Nichols, who crosses deep. Davies takes a snapshot from the right-hand edge of the box, but Enrique blocks. From a throw on the right, Smith bundles Wheeler over near the corner flag. A chance for a memorable consolation.
9.46pm GMT
90 min: There will be two added minutes.
9.46pm GMT
89 min: It’s shooting practice for Liverpool now. Benteke has a look from 20 yards, his curler towards the top right clawed away by Olejnik. Then Teixeira has a go from wide left, but it’s deflected, taking all the sting from the shot.
9.45pm GMT
87 min: Fine play by Benteke, who slides a pass wide right to release Ojo into acres. But he metaphorically yawns and scratches his arse, and doesn’t bother heading into the box in anticipation for the cross. He must be very frustrating to play with.
9.42pm GMT
85 min: A brilliant sliderule pass down the Exeter right by Holmes finds Wheeler in space. His low ball nearly finds Nichols in the centre, but Ilori has read the danger well, and steps in to clear. That was nearly a very pretty consolation goal for Exeter, as smooth a move as we’ve seen all night.
9.41pm GMT
84 min: Stewart releases Benteke into the Exeter area down the right. It’s a fine ball, some redemption for a young man who will have better nights, but Benteke has mistimed his run. Offside.
9.40pm GMT
Nichols goes on a run down the Exeter right, and fires a dangerous low ball into the Liverpool area. It somehow threads its way along a route that circumvents all the men Exeter have thrown forward, allowing Ilori to clear. Benteke romps down the middle of the park, drawing four players to the right. He then curls a pass left to Teixeira in the left-hand side of the box. Teixeira opens his body and slams a shot past Olejnik. A fine finish, and that is so much better from Benteke. Much, if not all, is forgiven.
9.37pm GMT
80 min: Chirivella comes on for Ibe. His first contribution is an attempted sidefooter from the edge of the box. It’s heading towards the bottom right. Benteke - who is also having a stinker but has less excuse than Stewart - gets in the way.
9.36pm GMT
78 min: Stewart has been poor tonight. Everyone’s allowed a stinker. He plays yet another loose ball in the midfield, allowing Holmes to make good down the middle of the park. Fortunately for Stewart, Holmes loses control and a potentially dangerous move breaks down.
9.34pm GMT
76 min: Exeter look visibly deflated, falling two behind after playing so well defensively for so long. Ojo has another sniff around the right-hand portion of the Exeter box, but can’t work position to shoot this time round. He lays off for Teixeira, who thinks about a shot from 25 yards, but opts to flick the ball wide for Brannagan. The move peters out.
9.32pm GMT
So having said all that - and this report should probably get an official assist - Liverpool finally get their second. And what a goal this is! Ojo picks up possession and eases into the Exeter area on the right. Woodman shuffles back, and back again. Bad decision: he’s given Ojo time and space to open his body up and flick-curl a delicious shot into the top left. That one was planted into the corner from the time it left his boot. A marvellous strike.
9.30pm GMT
73 min: The tension around Anfield is palpable. Exeter’s fans are enjoying themselves, but everyone else in the stadium must be contemplating the very real possibility of an Exeter goal. For all Liverpool’s territorial domination, they’ve only got one goal to show for it. And you know how these things often pan out.
9.29pm GMT
71 min: Ibe dribbles in from the left. He cuts the ball back to Teixeira on the left-hand edge of the D. He shoots, but Brown spreads himself to block marvellously. The ball breaks to Ojo on the right of the box. He drops a shoulder to come inside, and sends a weak dribbler towards the bottom right. Olejnik gathers.
9.27pm GMT
69 min: A poor Stewart pass in the middle of the park sends Davies and Nichols off on the rampage down the right. Stewart tries to repair the damage himself, but only succeeds in clattering Holmes. A free kick out on the right. It’s thrown into a packed box, but once again Benteke batters a header clear. Perhaps they should convert him into a defender, the old Kenny Burns switcheroo. Steven Caulker gets a go up front every now and then, after all.
9.25pm GMT
67 min: More of the sterile Liverpool domination. A lot of passing in the middle of the park. Smith tries to get things going with a burst down the left, but his cutback from the byline isn’t anywhere near Benteke or Brannagan, lurking in the six-yard box.
9.24pm GMT
9.22pm GMT
65 min: It’s a good end-to-end affair, this. Ibe cuts in from the right, exchanges passes with Brannagan, and tries to curl a low one into the bottom left. Not quite. Nichols launces another sortie down the Exeter right, and very nearly gets past Ilori. Again, not quite. Meanwhile the goalscorer Allen is replaced by Ojo.
9.21pm GMT
64 min: Wheeler comes on for Oakley. This is Exeter’s “finishing XI” now, all right.
9.20pm GMT
62 min: Another Exeter attack, Hoskins crossing from the left, Holmes guiding a weak header from the penalty spot straight at Mignolet. A fine chance there. Liverpool want to watch themselves here. They break upfield through Smith down the left. His low cross should be met by Benteke on the edge of the area, but Benteke inexplicably dummies. There’s nobody in red near him! This is an absurd performance from a player who cost over £30m.
9.18pm GMT
60 min: To be fair to Benteke, he’s just made a major contribution here. Nichols wins a corner off Smith’s chest as he tries to flick the ball into the Liverpool box from the right. The corner’s sent into a packed mixer, and you know how Liverpool minds whirl in the middle of that. Benteke crashes a header clear, and the danger is over.
9.17pm GMT
59 min: Brannagan flicks a ball down the centre to release Benteke on goal. The striker hesitates, allowing Brown to brush him off the ball and Olejnik to come out and smother. He’s a confidence vacuum.
9.15pm GMT
58 min: Exeter can’t get hold of the ball at all. Some nice metronomic passing. But Klopp will be wishing for some crashing, driving heavy beats. Liverpool are going nowhere. “I’ve always been fond of Joe Allen,” begins Matt Dony. “He’s a tidy player, keeps things ticking over nicely, and grew up a couple of towns over from me. But then I watch Xabi Alonso play. Even now, at 34, all those years after he left, watching him leaves me with a dull ache deep inside. Sigh.”
9.15pm GMT
9.13pm GMT
56 min: Brown clatters into the back of Benteke, just outside the Exeter area on the left. A free kick, which Benteke is ostentatiously waved away from. Brannagan chips the set piece into the box in the direction of the big striker, but it’s easily headed clear by Moore-Taylor. “Samson was most definitely Torres,” suggests James Cox. “He was rubbish after he had a haircut.”
9.12pm GMT
54 min: From a corner on the right, Ibe cuts into the box and unleashes a screamer towards the top right. The ball bounds off the underside of the bar, 99% of the ball over the line. But that’s not enough, a brilliant decision to wave play on. Neither Benteke nor Allen can convert the bouncing rebound, and Exeter clear. That’s a brilliant effort, and so unlucky. You can’t get closer to scoring than that.
9.09pm GMT
52 min: Ibe skitters at pace into the Exeter area down the right, but absurdly runs the ball out of play at full pace. He was in some sort of zone there. But Liverpool are beginning to press Exeter back.
9.08pm GMT
51 min: The biggest cheer of the evening, the goal included, as Randall is replaced by Flanagan, back after that long, long injury lay-off.
9.08pm GMT
50 min: Benteke nearly gets on the end fo Randall’s deep cross from the right, but it’s just a corner. Pinball in the Exeter area, Allan, Stewart and Brannagan all with the ball at their feet, but all unable to dig it out for a shot. Eventually Ibe gets involved, loitering by the right-hand post. He’s offside.
9.06pm GMT
48 min: Randall goes on a power burst down the right. He breaks into the area and is brushed by Woodman. If Randall opted to go down, he’d have given the referee a decision there, as he was seriously knocked off balance. But he stays honest. He can’t keep the move going, though, despite stopping the ball from going out of play.
9.04pm GMT
46 min: New Finishing Exeter are immediately on the front foot. Nichols makes a nuisance of himself on the edge of the box, forcing Stewart into a poor clearing header and allowing the substitute’s near-namesake Nicholls to cut in from the right and lash a wild shot high and left of goal. But that’s much better already from the visitors, who didn’t warm Mignolet’s hands in the first half.
9.02pm GMT
Two changes for Exeter: Butterfield and Morrison off, Hoskins and leading scorer Nichols on. Liverpool get the ball rolling again, and will attack the Kop in the second half, their favoured state of affairs. “Have you considered that Joe Allen might be a latter day Samson?” asks Siobhan. “He’s a new man since he grew the hair and the beard.”
8.49pm GMT
Half-time entertainment: The second half between Leicester and Spurs should be kicking off soon. How about that? Like a pint of plain, Bryan Graham’s your only man.
Related: Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur: FA Cup third-round replay – live!
8.47pm GMT
Not much of a lead for all that dominance. Will Paul Tisdale’s “finishing XI” make the Premier League side pay? It could be a nervous second half for the hosts if they don’t up their game.
8.46pm GMT
45 min: Benteke dribbles towards the Exeter box at pace, down the inside-left channel. He tries to carefully curl a low shot towards the bottom right, but it’s too ponderous and easily blocked by Moore-Taylor.
8.44pm GMT
44 min: Liverpool continue to pass it around quite a lot, but they’re going nowhere. In that sense, this is just like watching the first team go about their business. No cutting edge. Exeter are holding their shape very well indeed.
8.43pm GMT
42 min: Not much going on right now, apart from the continued fretting of Dundee United’s Simon McMahon (12 mins), who just won’t let it go. “Just dug out the programme from the European Cup semi-final 1st leg at Tannadice. Dundee United 2 Roma 0. 11th April 1984. There’s a prophetic piece inside by Mel Henderson, Public Relations Officer at Ipswich Town, who had played the Italians the previous season, entitled ‘What Awaits United in Rome’. On a lighter note, there’s also an advert for Paul Sturrock’s Video Library and Showroom ‘with approx. 700 titles in both Beta and VHS formats’.”
8.40pm GMT
40 min: The corner is easily cleared, but Liverpool are quickly coming back at Exeter, Ibe sending a screamer goalward from the right-hand edge of the D. It’s deflected for another corner, which leads to another Ibe shot. The young winger cuts in from the right, drops a shoulder, and sends a rising diagonal pearler inches wide and high of the top-left corner. A couple of very decent efforts there.
8.39pm GMT
38 min: Ibe makes good down the right, reaches the byline, and pulls back for Allen, ten yards out and level with the right-hand post. His first-time shot is blocked by Butterfield, for a corner on the right. Before that’s taken, here’s Lewis Madison: “Either news reports of a bid from Swansea for his services have put the wind up Joe Allen, forcing him to play for his Liverpool future, or he’s doing a Fernando Torres - suddenly becoming good again to earn a big money move. My cash would be on the former.”
8.37pm GMT
36 min: Benteke turns on the jets to power past Ribeiro down the right. He reaches the byline but hesitates, allowing Ribeiro to get back into position, then runs the ball out of play for a goal kick. “What a waste of money!” trill the
Liverpool
Exeter fans.
8.36pm GMT
34 min: An incredibly poor square ball by Stewart, across the face of the Liverpool defence, and Nicholls scampers into space down the Exeter right. He’s tugged back by Smith, who becomes the second Liverpool player who should be in the book but isn’t. The referee was very lenient there. A chance for Exeter to load the box, though. Which they do, so it’s a shame that Woodman’s free kick from deep on the right is a clumpish nonsense, sailing out of play to the left of goal, harmlessly so.
8.33pm GMT
32 min: Allen is in the mood for this tonight. He chases after a long high ball down the inside-left channel, but winning headers isn’t the forte of the Welsh
Xavi
Pirlo, and Moore-Taylor wins the duel.
8.32pm GMT
30 min: Butterfield channels his inner Beckenbauer, trying to progressively play out of defence. It doesn’t quite work. Allen very nearly takes a loose ball under control as it breaks back towards the Exeter box, but once again Olejnik is on his toes, and smothers just in time.
8.30pm GMT
29 min: Teixeira rolls a ball down the left for Smith to gallop onto. And gallop he does, with some purpose, reaching the edge of the area, then unselfishly rolling the ball inside for Brannagan, whose 20-yard shot only just flies over the crossbar.
8.28pm GMT
28 min: Davies looks to break down the middle of the park. He’s cynically tugged by Allen, who is very fortunate to escape a booking. Exeter were launching a rare attack there, with Liverpool slightly light at the back, and have every right to feel radged off.
8.26pm GMT
25 min: Benteke batters the ball straight into the Exeter wall. That’s not great. The ball rebounds to the striker, who momentarily thinks about having a second crack but instead slides the ball right to Brannagan. Good decision, for the young midfielder sends a low diagonal shot whistling towards the bottom left. Olejnik tips round the post. Very close to the second. The corner is wasted.
8.24pm GMT
24 min: Davies slides in late on Allen as Liverpool triangulate in the pretty style across the face of the Exeter area. This is a free kick in a central position, 25 yards from goal. Benteke fancies this. He takes the ball and stands over the free kick with purpose...
8.23pm GMT
23 min: Ibe jigs down the right and stands one up to the far post. Benteke goes up well to challenge for a ball he’s never going to get, and earns a corner off Brown. From the set piece, sent long, Benteke flashes a header into the side netting from a tight angle. Closer, and a little better.
8.21pm GMT
20 min: This is becoming difficult to watch. An increasingly desperate Benteke bustles 20 yards from goal down the middle, then tries a low power shot. He only succeeds in mishitting, the ball corkscrewing harmlessly miles wide right of the post. The one positive thing to say about Benteke right now: he’s not hiding. Hey, small acorns.
8.20pm GMT
19 min: It gets worse. Teixeira is sent into the Exeter box down the left by Allen. Teixeira floats a gorgeous cross to the far post, the ball gently falling towards the head of Benteke, six yards out. He’s got to score, but batters his header over the bar.
8.18pm GMT
17 min: Now Benteke fails to execute a simple two-yard pass to Teixeira, who is standing right next to him. Goodness me, but there’s a chap who really needs a goal tonight. When the confidence goes, the simple things become very difficult indeed.
8.16pm GMT
15 min: Nothing’s going right for poor old Benteke right now. He breaks into the Exeter box and fools Brown with a lovely little nutmeg, but he’s not fleet of foot enough to nip round the player to latch onto his own ball, and Olejnik is again on hand to mop up.
8.15pm GMT
14 min: Allen, in a central position 30 yards from goal, turns and flicks a pass down the inside-left channel in an attempt to release Teixeira. Not quite. The pass is a bit too strong, and Olejnik is out quickly to claim.
8.14pm GMT
12 min: Exeter still can’t retain possession. It’s a passing exercise for Liverpool right now, attack versus defence. “Did you have to mention Roma?” writes our resident Dundee United fanboy Simon McMahon. “Talk about kicking a man when he’s down.”
8.11pm GMT
This is a beautifully simple goal. Benteke and Smith exchange crisp, short passes on the left-hand edge of the Exeter box. Smith cuts in from the wing, Benteke slides a pass down the channel, then Smith, from the byline, cuts back for Allen, who slams home from six yards.
8.10pm GMT
9 min: Liverpool respond by pushing Exeter back a little. Olejnik is forced to slap away a Teixeira left-wing cross, the ball threatening to drift under the crossbar. Ibe tries to recycle on the right, and nearly finds Benteke in the middle. Moore-Taylor does well to get a header clear.
8.09pm GMT
8 min: A piss-poor ball out of defence by Enrique, and Nicholls is able to tear into a lot of space down the Exeter right. He exchanges passes with Morrison, and then tries to one-two with Oakley, but can’t quite break into the area. That looked dangerous for a second, though, and will give Exeter succour: up until that moment, they hadn’t seen very much of the ball at all.
8.06pm GMT
5 min: But the ball’s recycled down the Liverpool left, allowing Smith to curl a cross into the area. After some pinball heading, the ball breaks to Benteke on the penalty spot. Benteke has his back to goal, but turns and sends a low shot towards the bottom right. Unfortunately, the effort is barely travelling, and rolls gently into Olejnik’s arms.
8.04pm GMT
4 min: Allen, to the right of the Exeter D, tries to slide Benteke in. His pass doesn’t find the striker, but deflects wide right to Ibe, who wins a corner. Teixeira takes, whipping towards the near post. Ribeiro heads behind for a second corner, which is taken short and is a total waste of time.
8.02pm GMT
2 min: Smith hares after a long ball down the inside-left channel, and very nearly latches onto it on the edge of the box. But Olejnick is off his line quickly to claim.
8.01pm GMT
Exeter will be attacking the Kop in this first half, and they get the ball rolling. It’s launched down the right. Nicholls goes up and fails to win a header. A loose touch by Teixeira is deflected out. A Liverpool throw deep in their own half. An early chance for Exeter to put some pressure on this young home side, but Liverpool make ground upfield. A hectic start.
7.59pm GMT
The teams are out! Liverpool are in their famous all-red get-up, while Exeter wear their second-choice black clobber with orange trim. Nice kit, vaguely reminiscent of the gear Roma sometimes wear. A cracking atmosphere at Anfield, the sweet sounds of pre-match excitement boosted by 6,000 travelling Exeter fans. We’ll be off in a minute!
7.48pm GMT
Exeter’s replacement of leading scorer Tom Nichols with the 36-year-old Morrison is a big call by Paul Tisdale. Here’s the slick Grecian boss, who sounds like a man with a plan: “It’s a set of players for a particular game. We’ve got a tough challenge tonight, and this is a team that will suit the night. I’ve got a change or two on the bench, so we have a starting XI and a finishing XI. We’ll get to half-time and reassess. Experience does help, but it’s about specific skillsets, asking the players to do something they can actually achieve rather than asking them to do something a little bit alien. Stay connected, keep the ball, enjoy it, relax and play. There will be big moments in the game: make sure you’re ready for those moments.”
7.41pm GMT
Jurgen Klopp speaks! “We want to give Simon Mignolet some rhythm, and he wants to play, so he plays. It’s nothing to do with Adam Bogdan. My young players should enjoy it. It’s one of the best places in the world to play football, and not many people get to do this. Some of the players are starting here for the first time. No other club in the Premier League fields such a young team, and people might think we are crazy, but we want to go to the next round and we think we have the quality. So they should show it, and have no doubts about themselves. I don’t doubt, so it would not be too smart if they do!”
7.26pm GMT
Christian Benteke does start for Liverpool, then, but the slights keep on coming: captain at Exeter, he’s been told to give the armband to the lesser-spotted Jose Enrique. And it’s a slightly stronger side than perhaps anyone expected: Simon Mignolet goes in goal, and there are starts for Joe Allen and Jordon Ibe. Good to see the Scouse Cafu back on the bench after a long injury layoff, too.
Exeter meanwhile make four changes from the first tie. Josh Read and David Noble miss out completely, while Jordan Tillson and Tom Nichols drop to the bench. Coming into the starting XI: Aaron Davies, Danny Butterfield, Matt Oakley and Clinton Morrison. You may recall Morrison from his Crystal Palace days, trash-talking Gerard Houllier’s Liverpool ahead of a League Cup semi at Anfield in 2001, then taking a fresh-air swipe at the ball from six yards towards the end of a 5-0 beating. He’ll be hoping for much better luck tonight.
7.11pm GMT
All-star Liverpool XI: Mignolet, Randall, Ilori, Enrique, Smith, Brannagan, Allen, Stewart, Ibe, Benteke, Teixeira.
Subs: Bogdan, Flanagan, Kent, Sinclair, Ojo, Maguire, Chirivella.
Exeter City: Olejnik, Ribeiro, Brown, Moore-Taylor, Woodman, Butterfield, Nicholls, Davies, Oakley, Holmes, Morrison.
Subs: McAllister, Hoskins, Nichols, Hamon, Wheeler, Tillson, Grant.
7.05pm GMT
While we’re on the subject of history, meeting Exeter augurs well for Liverpool. They’ve done not too badly in the four previous seasons the clubs have met. In 1949/50 they met in the FA Cup: Liverpool went on to reach the final. In 1979/80 they met in the League Cup: Liverpool were put out in the semis by reigning European champions Nottingham Forest. In 1981/82 there was that aforementioned 11-0 aggregate League Cup rout: Liverpool went on to beat Spurs in the final. And in 2011/12, Luis Suarez, Maxi Rodriguez and Andy Carroll were the big-name goalscorers of a 3-1 League Cup win - Daniel Nardiello got Exeter’s consolation - and Liverpool went on to win the trophy that year too, seeing off Cardiff City, just, in the final.
7.00pm GMT
Liverpool last hosted Exeter in October 1981. They won 5-0 in the second round of the League Cup, Ian Rush (2), Terry McDermott, Kenny Dalglish and Ronnie Whelan all on the scoresheet. Exeter could have probably done without the second leg back at St James Park, truth be told, but it had to be played, and they lost that one heavily too, 6-0. Another two goals for Ian Rush, though looking back, the eye-catching scorer for Liverpool that evening was Kevin Sheedy. The future Everton legend would score again in the next round, against Middlesbrough, but it proved to be his last start in a red shirt. Bob Paisley preferred Ronnie Whelan, and Sheedy was soon off to Everton, where he’s remembered fondly for so many reasons.
9.51am GMT
“That is something that does not really make sense to talk to the press about.” A wonderful line from Jurgen Klopp, there. It could be applied to absolutely anything, and he should probably start using it all the time. Though just to be clear: in this instance it concerned Klopp’s plan for turning the confidence-free Christian Benteke into the kind of striker required at Liverpool.
Mind you, we can take a wild stab in the dark regarding the plan ourselves. The plan: convince the big man to run about. Benteke has an unfortunate habit of drifting off into dreamy dreamland, a habit incompatible with Klopp’s philosophy of gegenpressing (German for Running About). He’s got to show a bit of willing. And, to this end, will probably tonight be yet again thrown in with the kids to face Exeter City.
Continue reading...The Fiver | A one-off career retrospective
The north-east of England has always been fertile ground for the comedic arts. Newcastle was the setting for Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, the emotional heart of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and the city that gave us Viz. Consett in County Durham was the birthplace of Rowan Atkinson. Darlington was home to Vic Reeves, while Middlesbrough gave us his partner Bob Mortimer, Paul Daniels, and Paul Daniels’ wig. And of course there’s Sunderland, where Lawrie Mc … no, this is too cheap and convoluted, even by The Fiver’s lamentable standards. Though just for the record, if we’d gone through with it, we’d have also mentioned Terry Butcher, Paolo Di Canio, Gus Poyet, Howard Wilkinson and Mick McCarthy.
Continue reading...January 19, 2016
Australian Open 2016: Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep out in first round – as it happened
A couple of big names crashed out on a dramatic day in Melbourne.
12.47pm GMT
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is your lot, on a day which saw the shock departure of two major names. Simona Halep was sent packing by the qualifier Zhang Shuai, while Fernando Verdasco overcame a wilting Rafael Nadal. There was an emotional victory for Lleyton Hewitt, as he embarks on his valedictory campaign as a professional, and a stunning comeback by Viktor Troicki in a battle where 10 match points were shared. If the rest of the 2016 Australian Open lives up to this, we’ll be in for a cracker.
Related: Rafael Nadal dumped out of Australian Open first round by Fernando Verdasco
12.43pm GMT
Azarenka wraps up her double bagel: 6-0, 6-0. Poor Alison van Uytvanck. It’s safe to say she’ll have better days. But she was up against a double champion who missed next to nothing today, and allows herself a wry smile as the pair shake hands at the net. A 52-minute rout has been completed without fuss, and that’s a statement victory. The rest of the field will take note.
12.40pm GMT
The crowd on Rod Laver erupt as Van Uytvanck stays in a long rally and forces a rare error from Azarenka. She nets, and it’s deuce. The Belgian hits a brave deep second serve to shock Azarenka into hitting long. There’s the sort of cheer that usually meets the winning of a set. She hasn’t even won the game! And sure enough it’s still not enough. Two blistering cross-court winners earns another break point for Azarenka. Van Uytvanck hits a big first-serve out wide. Azarenka can only hoick it back into the middle. Van Uytvank, at the net, can’t get it over, smashing lamely down towards her own feet. The crowd fall silent. The scoreline is embarrassing enough; mistakes like that, utterly understandable in the circumstances, are hard to watch.
12.32pm GMT
A point for Van Uytvanck: Azarenka’s second double fault of the match. Otherwise, it’s 4-0.
12.29pm GMT
Azarenka is relentless. She opens the second set with another break, holds on to her own serve effortlessly, then breaks again to love. Poor Uytvanck has no answers. We’ll be done here very soon.
12.24pm GMT
Troicki goes 40-0 up. But de la Nava isn’t giving up, and a couple of deep forehands save match points six and seven! But it’s eighth time lucky for the Serb, who has completed a stunning comeback here. Munoz de la Nava was two sets up, had two match points of his own in set four, but still hasn’t tasted victory at a major championship. Heartbreak for him, but what a match. The 21st seed avoids the fate of Nadal and Halep. This has been a marvellous day of tennis all right.
12.21pm GMT
Viktor Troicki goes very, very, very, very, very close to completing his stunning comeback over Daniel Munoz de la Nava. He’s a break up, 5-2, in the fifth. He’s 0-40 up on de la Nava’s serve. But the Spaniard saves all three of those match points, then another two. And finally holds his serve! The Spaniard had two match points in the fourth set for his first-ever victory at a slam, but couldn’t convert. Now the Serb has given up five of his own! He’ll still be serving for the match, though.
12.16pm GMT
After 24 minutes of embarrassingly one-sided play, Azarenka closes out the first set 6-0. Van Uytvanck raised her game towards the end of the set, but the damage had already been done, with Azarenka totally in the groove.
12.11pm GMT
Azarenka holds her serve to move 4-0 up, but then Van Uytvanck finally begins to compete. She moves 40-0 up on her own serve. Azarenka drags her back to deuce. The Belgian youngster earns another game point with an exquisite lob over a net-charging opponent, but she’s unable to convert, and a golden chance to get on the board slips by. She’s 5-0 down and this match may not eat up too much of our time.
12.01pm GMT
The fastest of fast starts for the two-time champion. Azarenka powers her way to an early double break, and before ten minutes are on the clock, she’s 3-0 up. Meanwhile it’s going with serve on Show Court 2 between Munoz de la Nava and Troicki. It’s 2-2. That’s fast turning into an epic of Cecil B DeMille proportions.
11.43am GMT
How will Daniel Munoz de la Nava be feeling now? He had a match point over Viktor Troicki not so long ago, but has just lost the fourth-set tie-break 7-4. It’s two sets apiece, the Serbian coming from two down, and the No21 seed must now be hot favourite with all the momentum against a player who has never tasted victory on the biggest stages. It doesn’t look as though Troicki will be joining Nadal and Halep on today’s scrapheap. So there’s just the one big game left today: 14th seed Victoria Azarenka, the winner here in 2012 and 2013, takes on Alison Van Uytvanck. That’s coming up soon. But right now - and I’ll be back in a few minutes - it’s time for:
11.36am GMT
Wawrinka wraps up the second set, 6-3, to move two sets up. But what a terrible shame: Tursunov has withdrawn injured, the fourth seed through without needing to complete his match. It wasn’t so long ago the big Russian was a point away from the first set. But it’s all unravelled pretty quickly for him.
11.30am GMT
Hewitt wraps up the win! Duckworth stiffs a forehand wide left of the sideline, and he faces three match points. The first is saved, but he can do nothing with the second, Hewitt drawing his man to the net, then lobbing him exquisitely. What a way to win! Hewitt records a 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory, and sets up a second-round clash with David Ferrer. He’ll not be retiring until Thursday at the very earliest. A warm embrace between the two players at the net, mutual respect the top note. “It’s not like the last round of a football season when you know after that match at the end. Playing Ducks, who I’ve tried to help over the last few years, that was really awkward. Once I got into the match, it was OK. The crowd ... it doesn’t get any better. This is what I’m going to miss the most.”
11.25am GMT
Over on Show Court 2, Munoz de la Nava had a match point on Troicki’s serve. He couldn’t take it, and they’re still on serve, 5-5 in the fourth with the unsung Spaniard 2-1 up in sets. Meanwhile back on Laver, Duckworth has quickly slipped 0-30 down on his serve. Hewitt is two points from victory!
11.23am GMT
Hewitt wins a no-fuss game to take the lead in the third set, 5-4. Duckworth must hold his serve to stay in the championship. Games have been going to serve on Margaret Court: it’s now 5-3 to Wawrinka, who will serve to take the second set. And a result on Court 8: Lukas Rosol has beaten Taro Daniel 7-6, 7-5, 5-7, 6-7, 6-1.
11.18am GMT
Hewitt retrieves a fine Duckworth drop shot, flipping an exquisite chip over his opponent’s head to land the ball on the baseline. Duckworth nearly keeps an absurd rally going with a between-the-legs flick, but not quite. A highly entertaining point sets Hewitt off on the right track in Duckworth’s service game, and upon winning a patient baseline rally - finally mixing it up with a drop shot of his own that his opponent can’t chase down - he’s got two break points. Duckworth saves the first. But then he doubles rather meekly - I suppose there’s no other way to double - and we’re back on serve in this third set. Hewitt is suddenly two games from victory at 4-4.
11.14am GMT
Five deuces in a nine-minute game, and finally Tursunov is on the board in the second set. But at what cost? That’ll have taken a lot out of the Russian and it’s still 3-1 to Wawrinka, who is winning 86% of points on his first serve. An easy hold for Wawrinka, and he’s built up a three-game cushion in the set once more. Back on Rod Laver, Duckworth holds, then threatens to break Hewitt again, taking the older man to deuce. But Hewitt digs in to keep this third set competitive at 4-3. He punches the air, knowing how important that could be.
11.06am GMT
And so Troicki breaks back. Forget I said anything. Meanwhile Duckworth saves a couple of break points in a mini epic of a service game against Hewitt. It’s now 3-2 to the younger Australian in that third set on Rod Laver, and he’s a break up, but of course is two sets down overall. This has the potential to turn into a rather fascinating battle should Duckworth close this set out.
11.00am GMT
Daniel Munoz de la Nava could have just delivered the fatal blow to Viktor Troicki on Show Court 2. The veteran Spanish journeyman, having gone two sets up against the No21 seed, appeared to have lost all momentum upon being crushed 6-1 in the third set. But he’s just broken the Serbian to move 4-2 up in the fourth, and is two games away from his first-ever win at a grand slam!
10.57am GMT
The anti-climatic end to the first-set tie-break on Margaret Court has done for Tursunov, it would seem. In double-quick time, he’s fallen 3-0 behind in the second set, broken once aleady. Wawrinka, who was a point away from losing that first set, is suddenly pulling away from his opponent.
10.54am GMT
What a rally this is! Hewitt is 15-40 down on his serve. He saves one break point, then another, winning a 23-shot rally, the pair trading huge forehands, finding corner after corner, until Duckworth attempts a drop shot that’s never good enough. Hewitt dispatches it with some vigour, and looks to have saved the day. But he nets a simple forehand, then gifts the break to his opponent with a miserable double fault. Duckworth, who was letting this game get away from him, is suddenly ahead in this set, 2-1 and with his service game to come. Hewitt is beyond livid.
10.47am GMT
Tursunov held onto Wawrinka like a limpet during that first set. But he’s simply blown away in the tie-break, the 2014 champion taking it 7-2. That might prove a crushing blow to the Russian’s spirit, as he contests his first grand-slam match since the 2014 US Open. Meanwhile Troicki is on the comeback trail against Munoz de la Nava. He’s run through the third set, 6-1, and they’re on serve in the early stages of the fourth. And Hewitt holds his serve in the opening game of the third set against Duckworth. His young opponent, the tide against him, needs to hold his own, or this match could be over quite soon. Despite going 0-15 and 15-30 down, he keeps his nerve and draws level in the set.
10.41am GMT
Trebor’s Wawrinka gets himself out of a self-dug hole. He’s serving to stay in the set against Tursunov. At 30-30, he balloons a simple cross-court forehand long, and faces set point. But three big serves later, and he’s out of jail. It’ll be a tie break.
10.38am GMT
On Rod Laver, Hewitt wins the second set by breaking Duckworth again. The winning point is an astonishing get, Duckworth pushing the ball out to the right corner for what looks like a surefire winner, Hewitt stranded on the advantage side of his court. But Hewitt scrambles across at speed, staying low to hook a full-stretch forehand up the right-hand sideline for the win! He’s two sets up, 7-6, 6-2, and doesn’t look to be in any mood to retire quite yet.
10.34am GMT
Wawrinka is in fancy dress today, having come as a stick of retro confectionery. From top to bottom: neon pink, neon orange, neon yellow, neon pink, neon yellow, neon pink. Tursunov momentarily feels as sick as a child from the 1970s: a Wawrinka mishit from the baseline, off the frame, somehow loops over the Russian and in. Break point. Wawrinka can’t convert that one, or the next, or the next. His chance has gone, and Tursunov eventually closes out a nine-minute game. Wawrinka will have to serve to stay in the set and take us to a tie-breaker.
10.22am GMT
We’re not on serve on Rod Laver any more. Hewitt, already a set to the good against Duckworth, looks to take proper control of the match by breaking in the fourth game. A solid service game follows, and he leads 4-1, well on the way to a two-set lead. Meanwhile it’s still on serve in the first set between Tursunov and Wawrinka - the Russian leads 5-4 - though the Swiss had two break points in Tursunov’s last service game, but didn’t make any impression with either, a particularly lame backhand return spurning one of the chances.
10.17am GMT
We’re still on serve on Rod Laver. Duckworth holds, then Hewitt makes it 2-1 in some style, pushing his opponent to the corner, then smashing away a return that had come down with snow on it. We’re still on serve on Margaret Court, Wawrinka and Tursanov having shared the first six games of the first set. And Jack Sock of the USA, the No25 seed, has won a Homeric and rather topsy-turvy tussle with his young compatriot Taylor Fritz, 6-4, 3-6, 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.
10.09am GMT
Another shock is brewing, this time on Show Court 2, where the Spanish journeyman Daniel Muñoz De La Nava has just gone two sets up against Viktor Troicki, 6-4, 6-4. The No21 seed, who has never got past the third round here, has it all to do against a player who has never won a match at a grand-slam tournament. After the heroics of Zhang earlier, could another player be ready to break their major-championship duck?
10.05am GMT
In other home-favourite news, and as those following the GBG will know, Bernard Tomic beat Denis Istomin 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. On the Margaret Court Arena, the 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka is out and about: he faces Dmitry Tursunov, and that one’s with serve at the moment, 2-1 to the Russian in the very early stages. And back on Rod Laver, Hewitt wins the first game of the second set, holding his serve easily enough.
9.59am GMT
Hewitt nets Duckworth’s weak second serve, a chance spurned. And then another lame forehand into the net. It’s 5-4 to Duckworth and the pressure’s on Hewitt’s serve now as we reach the business end of the tie-break. It’s not looking good for the old chap as he struggles to stay in a long rally, but a glorious forehand down the advantage side saves his service point. And then Duckworth looks like winning the next rally, but an unlucky net cord does for him. Set point to Hewitt, and he takes it, grinding his man down, Duckworth eventually netting. Hewitt goes a set up, 7-6, after 55 minutes of honest toil. The crowd enjoyed that.
9.54am GMT
The first mini-break of the tie-break goes to Hewitt. A crashing forehand to the corner, followed up at the net, puts too much pressure on Duckworth. The next four points go to serve. All the cheers reserved for the old boy Hewitt, which is a shame for young Duckworth, but such is life, and this is where we are. It’s 3-2 to Hewitt, and he’s serving the next two points. The following point is a wonderful rally, Hewitt pushing Duckworth to the corners, Duckworth defending brilliantly. But he’s eventually wrong-footed by a lovely whipped cross-court winner, and Hewitt screams a COME ON! to the heavens. The crowd definitely on his side. But Duckworth finds a corner of his own to earn the mini-break back. We’re on serve again, at 4-3 to Hewitt, Duckworth about to toss it up.
9.49am GMT
A couple of standard holds, first by Duckworth, then by Hewitt, and we’re into a first-set tie-breaker. Sabine Lisicki made it through to the second round without too much drama, by the way. She beat Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 6-4.
9.45am GMT
Back on Rod Laver, it’s the all-Australian encounter between two-time major winner and erstwhile world No1 Lleyton Hewitt, and James Duckworth. Hewitt - who will retire after this championship - was serving for the first set, but this has been a hard-fought battle, and Duckworth breaks with a delicious forehand through the deuce court. It’s 5-5.
9.37am GMT
It’s emotional all right on Margaret Court Arena. It’s pointed out to Zhang that she’s just won her first match at a grand slam event, and this brilliant qualifier breaks down herself. If you’re watching this, and you’re not welling up now, oh your stony heart. She’s given all the time she needs to compose herself. She’s earned every second. “To win against the top-two player, I’m so excited. I’d like to thank my coach and my parents, thank you. Today is the best moment in my career. Thank you to Simona, who is a great player. Thank you to everybody.” This has been quite a day in Melbourne. Astonishing.
9.33am GMT
In the second huge shock of the day, the qualifier Zhang Shuai beats second seed Simona Halep! It’s an astonishing straight-sets victory by a player who has never won a match at a major championship before: 6-4, 6-3. And it was wholly deserved! She relentlessly found the corners and the lines, moving the helpless Halep around the court at will. For a while, it looked as though the enormity of the situation would overwhelm Zhang in that second set, but she bounced back stronger than ever. The Margaret Court Arena erupts in honour: this was all about Zhang’s brilliance, because Halep didn’t play particularly badly. Astonishing scenes. In the crowd, Zhang’s coach is in a state of serene bliss, staring straight ahead in shock, tears of joy running down his cheeks. That’s a beautiful moment.
9.27am GMT
Halep isn’t going down without a fight. Now it’s the Romanian’s turn to move her opponent around the court, and having pushed Zhang wide, she whips a glorious forehand to win the first point. But Zhang pearls a two-handed passing shot down the left-hand side of the court. 15-15. Halep then weakly nets twice. Zhang has two match points!
9.25am GMT
Zhang finds a couple of corners, and goes 0-30 up on Halep’s serve. This intense pressure is telling on Halep, who flaps at a simple forehand, sending it well wide. Three break points. Zhang moves her this way and that. Halep nets. Zhang breaks! She’ll be serving to beat the world number two!
9.23am GMT
And we’re back on serve in the Margaret Court Arena! Three games in a row for Zhang! She holds her serve to stay within touching distance in the set, then wears Halep down with some patient baseline rallies to break back. A bit of old-school serve and volley helps Zhang win her next service game, and she’s 4-3 up in the second set. It looked as though Zhang had unravelled, but she’s pulled it all back together without fuss, and suddenly Halep is in serious trouble here.
9.19am GMT
Andy Murray’s easy first-round win over the young German Alexander Zverev has set up a second-round match with home favourite and 67th seed Sam Groth. Cue some good-natured
banter
patter. Murray’s wife Kim is due to give birth to the couple’s first child in mid February, with the player insisting that he’ll be off home if she goes into labour early, no matter what stage the Aussie Open’s at. “Be nice if his wife went into labour overnight,” Groth joked. “I might be just cheering for that one.” Groth beat France’s Adrian Mannarino 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 earlier today, recording 27 aces and the fastest serve at the tournament so far (235 kph) along the way. Groth, who has never played Murray, is hoping for another boom-boom performance in the second round. “Hopefully I will serve well and it doesn’t come back. I’m going to take it to him. It doesn’t really change too much. I’m going to serve big and try to get forward and play aggressively. But it’s tough. Number two seed and two in the world. He’s a quality player. He’s where he is for a reason. I’ve got nothing to lose.”
9.11am GMT
But suddenly a few doubts flicker across Zhang’s mind. Halep steps up the pace, breaks her opponent, then consolidates the lead with an easy service game. In double-quick time, it’s 3-1 to the second seed in the second set.
9.03am GMT
When you’re hot, you’re hot. Zhang, the pedal pressed to the floor, no point letting up now, wins the opening game of the second set to love. Easy. Halep has some serious thinking to do here. The first ace of the match earns the Romanian the second game of the set. No quarter given by either player here. Zhang’s had to earn the lead in this fascinating match.
8.58am GMT
The shock’s back on! You could forgive a 27-year-old qualifier for buckling after passing up on set point against the number two seed then losing her serve. But two screaming two-handed passes down the line, followed by a glorious cross-court winner, and Zhang breaks Halep again to claim the first set 6-4! A major upset is on the cards here. Hold on, let me rephrase that: another major upset is on the cards here. Oh Rafa, what have you started? A long way to go, of course. But Zhang is playing the game of her life here. She’s never won a match at a major tournament. Now she’s a set away from glory.
8.53am GMT
Fernando Verdasco’s fifth-set evisceration of Rafael Nadal, dispatching the men’s fifth seed from the tournament, is undoubtedly the story of the day. But could another big shock be brewing in the women’s? The second seed Simona Halep is a break down in the first set to Chinese qualifier Shuai Zhang. Ah hold on, maybe not. Zhang blinked at set point, hitting a simple forehand miles long, and Halep’s broken back. They’re on serve again, though Halep has to hold to stay in the set. It’s 5-4 to Zhang.
8.45am GMT
A fairly fuss-free route into the second-round hat for ninth seed Karolina Pliskova. She beat Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 6-4. The 15th seed Madison Keys was taken to a tie-break in the first set against Zarina Diyas, but won that and swatted her opponent aside in the second to register an ultimately easy 7-6, 6-1 victory. And the number three seed Garbine Muguruza made light work of Anett Kontaveit, the 2015 Wimbledon finalist winning 6-0. 6-4 in an hour on Rod Laver.
8.39am GMT
An easy win for David Ferrer. The grinding Spaniard, the Cliff Thorburn of tennis, has eased past Peter Gojowczyk 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. And here’s another one-sided Spanish affair: Feliciano Lopez has dumped one-time British number two Dan Evans out, that one ending in a 6-1 6-0 6-4 thrashing. The 25-year-old Evans battled his way through three rounds of qualifying to get to the main event, but he was gone within 88 minutes. A tough business.
8.26am GMT
Other matches are available, of course. And right now, on the Hisense Arena, home favourite Bernard Tomic made a meal of serving for the third set against Denis Istomin. Quickly 0-40 down, he retrieved the situation with a series of big serves followed up by huge forehands into the corner. Some weak serve-and-volley nonsense gifted Istomin a fourth break point: saved. A flashing cross-court forehand earns Istomin a fifth. But that one’s saved as well, and Tomic only needs one set point to convert. He puts it away, wins the third set 6-4, and leads 2-1. We’ve got this one Game By Game: like a pint of plain, Russell Jackson is your only man.
Related: Bernard Tomic vs Denis Istomin: round one of the Australian Open - live!
8.15am GMT
A momentarily tetchy Nadal slams his rackets back into his bag as he prepares to vacate the court, but he doesn’t even have the energy to sustain any anger. His head drops, and he mopes off in the throes of misery. Such a shame there had to be a loser after a fantastic match, and the departure of a very popular star will tug a few heart-strings this morning/afternoon/evening/night. But the result was totally right: Verdasco was simply brilliant in those final exchanges, blowing his more storied compatriot off the court. Verdasco’s interviewed on Rod Laver in the wake of this famous victory, although not before munching his way quickly through a banana. “Sorry. I need to eat. If not, I’m dead!” Much laughter from the stands. He then explains his victory. “I just hit everything. I just started hitting winners. I don’t know how. I closed my eyes and everything started dropping in, so I kept doing it! I started coming in, started to be aggressive, and I’m so happy. A win against Rafa is an unbelievable feeling.”
Related: Rafael Nadal crashes out of Australian Open first round to Fernando Verdasco
8.06am GMT
Nadal is out! Verdasco wins 7-6, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2! Nadal ostentatiously springs about like Tigger, but nobody’s really convinced. He’s running on reserves. But he’s given a helping hand by Verdasco, who fails to put away a short and slow second serve. Nadal takes succour and a big serve gives him a 30-0 lead. Verdasco’s forehand makes it 30-15. And then another cross-court stunner! It’s 30-30! Nadal shovels a poor shot out of play on the right, and it’s match point to Verdasco. And he takes it first time, blowing his compatriot away with a stunning cross-court winner. This is Nadal’s 44th appearance in a major tournament, and he’s only previously lost in the first round once, against Steve Darcis at Wimbledon in 2013. Nadal was certainly not at his best - in fact during that final set he looked totally spent - but in fairness nobody could have lived with Verdasco in those final six games, when the Spaniard put his foot on the gas and blew his compatriot away with a series of blistering cross-court forehands. Wow.
7.59am GMT
This match has now been going for over four-and-a-half hours. Water! Some water over here! Nadal looks utterly spent, knackered and jiggered. He looks leggy, and irritated to boot. He doesn’t have the energy to put any pressure on Verdasco’s serve, and in quick-smart time it’s 5-2 to Verdasco. That’s five games in a row for the underdog. He was a break down in this set! It’s one hell of a performance, and he’s got Nadal in all sorts of trouble now. Unless Nadal pulls something special out of the bag, he’s about to lose for the first time in the opening round at Melbourne.
7.55am GMT
Nadal looks in serious bother on his own serve at 15-30, Verdasco creaming a return down the line, putting his opponent on the back foot. But Nadal scampers and digs out a return, then benefits from a fortunate net cord that sends Verdasco’s forehand whistling out of play. But he’s making a meal of this. A sixth double-fault of the match gifts Verdasco a break point. Nadal saves that with a Big Serve to bring the game to deuce. But then another break point, as Nadal’s beaten all ends up by a glorious whipped cross-court forehand. Advantage Verdasco. This is a huge point! And Verdasco makes it four games in a row, breaking Nadal by crashing a return back to the 2009 champ’s feet. Nadal can only shank the ball miles out to the left, and it’s 4-2 in this final set to Verdasco. He’s serving to take control of this match as we reach the business end. Fifth set: Nadal 2-4 Verdasco.
7.49am GMT
Verdasco earns himself a break point in the fourth game of the final set, leaping on a weak Nadal second serve at 30-30 to cream a forehand down the line. Nadal saves himself with a cross-court winner, but then faces another break point as Verdasco whips a second serve to the corner, Nadal with no answer. And he breaks back, though in the flukiest of circumstances, hitting one off the frame of his racket, the ball flying hysterically off to the right but somehow dropping on the right-hand line. All angles seemingly impossible, but there you go. Verdasco holds his hands up to apologise, and has the good grace to look incredibly sheepish. Still, he earned his luck there. We’re back on serve in this dramatic fifth set! And soon enough, it’s three games in a row for Verdasco, as a few big boomers earns an easy service game to love. Fifth set: Nadal 2-3 Verdasco.
7.41am GMT
Nicolas Mahut of France has made it through to the next round. He went a set down to Marco Cecchinato of Italy, but then slipped into gear, winning the next three sets with relative ease, the match finishing in just over two hours: 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. He’ll face his fellow French star Gael Monfils in the second round.
7.38am GMT
Back on Rod Laver, the chances of a big shock are receding fast. Nadal has upped the tempo against Verdasco, breaking his compatriot in the first game of the fifth set, then quickly making it to 2-0. Verdasco looks good to get on the board with his next service game, but a couple of big points from Nadal earns another break point. He appears to be wearing Verdasco down. However! Three booming aces in a row rescues the situation for Verdasco. He’s still a break down, but at least he’s on the board. This match isn’t quite finished yet. Nadal leads 2-1.
7.34am GMT
Let’s step away from the drama on Rod Laver for a minute
while I get my bearings
to catch up with some other news. And please allow me to cram the ill-fitting hat of base jingoism onto my confused noggin. For it’s been a fine second day for the Brits. On any normal day, the big news in that respect would be the serene progress to the second round of perennial bridesmaid Andy Murray: the 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015 finalist eased past Alexander Zverev in three sets, dropping just six games along the way, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3. But all the plaudits today must go to Britain’s other number-one player, Johanna Konta. The 24-year-old has made some debut in Melbourne, seeing off the 2003 finalist and eighth seed Venus Williams in commanding fashion: 6-4, 6-2. Konta’s picked a fine place for this statement victory: she was born in Sydney and competed for Australia until 2012. So hats off to her, in more ways than one.
Related: Britain's Johanna Konta downs Venus Williams in Australian Open upset | Kevin Mitchell
7.23am GMT
It’s 2-2 in sets! Verdasco bangs his two service points away without much fuss. He’s 5-2 up in the tie-break. A deep high-kicking Nadal serve makes it 5-3. And then it’s 5-4, though Verdasco had the chance, meeting a weak second serve, to flash a cross-court winner away. Too long. But he’s still got two service points of his own to put this set away. Verdasco whips deep to win the first. Then booms a huge ace down the middle to secure the set! Verdasco showed nerves of steel in that tie-break having fluffed his lines while earlier serving for the set. He’s levelled it up against the fifth seed and 2009 champ! We’re over the four-hour mark in this match already, and we’re going the distance. Nadal v Verdasco: 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7.
7.16am GMT
Verdasco wins the first pointo to go a mini-break up, returning serve right at Nadal’s feet, then finding the corners with metronomic regularity. Nadal’s always on the back foot and eventually a Verdasco winner’s crashed away at the net. We’re back on serve immediately, Verdasco netting weakly. But then two huge booming winners for the underdog on Nadal’s serve, and Verdasco is suddenly in control of this tie-break at 3-2 up with his two service points to come. He should see this one out. But then again he was serving for the set earlier, and look what happened there.
7.11am GMT
What Happens Here Then dept. Loose play from Verdasco. He falls 0-30 down and it looks like his challenge in this set - and this championship - is unravelling from a very promising position. But under intense pressure, he flashes a cross-court forehand into the corner, and regains a little momentum. It’s 6-6 in the fourth set, and we’re going to a tie break.
7.09am GMT
Good morning, afternoon, evening and night, everyone. Anyone for tennis? Sure you are. There’s been plenty of big news already today at Melbourne, but more of that anon. For right now Rafael Nadal has got himself in a bit of the old Tennis Bother. He’s 2-1 up in sets on Fernando Verdasco, but found himself a break down in the fourth. Verdasco was serving for the set, but flashed a wild forehand out of play to gift Nadal the break. Now Nadal’s held his own serve to lead 6-5, but a Verdasco hold will take this to a tie-break. Let’s see what happens here, then.
11.53am GMT
Scott will be here shortly. Day one saw Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Serena Williams progress comfortably but are more seeds set to follow Caroline Wozniacki and Benoît Paire out of the tournament at the first stage?
Several seeds might be in trouble on the outside courts today, but here’s some selected highlights from the show courts:
Continue reading...January 16, 2016
Aston Villa 1-1 Leicester City: Premier League – as it happened
A highly entertaining match saw tenacious Villa peg Leicester back to earn a precious point.
7.24pm GMT
And that’s that! Leicester go top thanks to the point they’ve earned. They’d likely have claimed all three had Mahrez not missed his first-half penalty kick, but Villa deserved a draw on the balance of play: they were tenacious in that second half, and Rudy Gestede’s goal means they’re now just six points behind 19th placed Sunderland, and nine from safety. Leicester can continue hoping for the title; Villa can keep hoping for a great escape.
7.22pm GMT
90 min +5: Villa replace Ayew with Sinclair.
7.21pm GMT
90 min +4: The free kick doesn’t beat the first man. The disappointment around Villa Park is palpable.
7.20pm GMT
90 min +3: Kozak burns down the right wing, and earns a cheap free kick off a clumsy Fuchs. A chance for Villa to load the box.
7.19pm GMT
90 min +2: Ayew drives at Leicester down the inside-right channel, but a heavy touch sees him lose control, and the ball rolls harmlessly through to Schmeichel.
7.18pm GMT
90 min +1: Drinkwater sends Vardy tearing down the inside-left channel with a stunning sliderule pass. Vardy enters the box but a loose touch takes him a little wide, and he hoicks a wild shot over the bar from a tight-ish angle.
7.17pm GMT
90 min: There will be five added minutes.
7.17pm GMT
89 min: Leicester press Villa back, but a loose Kante pass allows the home team to break upfield. They’re three on two, with Gestede in acres on the left, screaming for a pass from Ayew. But it never comes. Ayew and Veretout fiddle about down the right, and the move fizzles out.
7.15pm GMT
87 min: A long ball down the middle. Gestede, buoyed by his goal, rises to flick on for Kozak, who should make Schmeichel work from 12 yards, but doesn’t get anything behind the shot. This is pleasingly hectic.
7.13pm GMT
86 min: The former Villa star Albrighton comes on for the former Birmingham player Gray. Imagine how that swap went down.
7.13pm GMT
84 min: Vardy pushes Bacuna in the back. Bacuna considers taking Vardy by the throat. The pair lock horns. For a second, it looks like kicking off properly, but it all calms down quickly enough, and it’s just a yellow each.
7.11pm GMT
82 min: This is brilliant end-to-end madness. Both teams are going for the three points. Albrighton, in the centre circle facing backwards, swivels and hoicks a superb ball down the middle. Vardy nearly breaks clear on goal. Okore snuffs out the danger. Down the other end, Gestede very nearly breaks clear down the left, but doesn’t have the pace to keep the move going.
7.08pm GMT
79 min: Leicester have been quiet as an attacking force of late. The equaliser has spurred them into action again. A Drinkwater cross from the left is nearly shanked into his own goal by the hapless Lescott. The resulting corner comes to nothing. An addendum to Mark Regan’s anorakilly-correct definition of a Midlands derby, according to Justin Kavanagh: “DH Lawrence would probably define it as: if you can’t can’t imagine the two managers in a naked wrestling match for the three points, it’s not a derby’.” Getting hot in here.
7.06pm GMT
77 min: Huth is booked for arguing the toss about the goal. And soon after, he’s crumping his arm into poor Kozak’s coupon again. He’ll need to watch out. Villa Park is bouncing. Belief is back on the menu.
7.04pm GMT
What a strange goal this is. Huth and Gestede tussle for the ball on the right-hand edge of the Leicester D. Huth boots the ball into Gestede’s trouser arrangement. He takes the hit and bundles the ball past the defender to take a stride into the box. He shoots straight at goal. The ball takes a break off the arm of the lunging Morgan, and flies into the top right. All the lucky bounces went with Villa there, but they’ve deserved something for all their second-half pressure!
7.02pm GMT
74 min: A couple of games of head tennis in the Leicester box. Gestede causes more bother during the first. The second ends with Fuchs guiding an absurdly confident header back to Schmeichel, with Ayew and Gestede sniffing around. Schmeichel, having gathered the ball under intense pressure, gives his team-mate a rare old rollicking. “Newcastle-Middlesborough is referred to as a derby (47 mins) and that’s forty-odd miles. Also, you can’t be an anorak in this weather: you need an overcoat and a furry hat. Overcoatilly, Julian Le Saux.”
7.00pm GMT
73 min: Corner for Villa on the right. Gestede tries to bring the ball down on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. He claims a penalty, as the nearby Drinkwater was waving his arms about. Had the ball hit either of those arms, he’d have had a point.
6.58pm GMT
70 min: A couple of changes. Gestade comes on for Gil, while Mahrez is replaced by Ulloa. The latter is in the thick of it almost immediately: De Laet curls a fine cross into the Villa box from the right. Villa are short on numbers, and if Ulloa traps, he’ll be one on one with Bunn, 12 yards out. He doesn’t trap.
6.57pm GMT
68 min: And now Villa are so close to an equaliser! Kante clatters into the increasingly influential Ayew down the right, near the byline. The resulting free kick is headed over from close range by Okore.
6.56pm GMT
67 min: Vardy tears down the middle after a defence-splitting Drinkwater pass. He rounds Bunn on the outside, but the keeper’s done enough to push him wide left. Vardy crosses into the six-yard box, finding Drinkwater, who has kept running in support. But Drinkwater can only flick a strange effort wide right of the post. Leicester so close to a game-clinching second.
6.54pm GMT
66 min: Now Ayew dribbles his way down the right, and breaks into space as he enters the Leicester box. He unselfishly pulls the ball back for Gueye who, cutting in from the right, hits a first-time shot goalwards. It’s a rare old pelt, but straight at Schmeichel.
6.52pm GMT
64 min: This is all Villa right now. Ayew breaks down the left and very nearly finds Westwood in the Leicester area with a low, threaded pass of a cross. Huth steps in to intercept.
6.51pm GMT
61 min: Huth and Kozak go up to challenge Westwood’s left-wing cross on the penalty spot. Huth sticks out a firm arm and clatters Kozak in the mush. That’s clumsy bordering on reckless, and should lead to a penalty kick. The referee isn’t going to give it, though, and Leicester break upfield, very nearly releasing Vardy on goal. Thankfully for those who’d like Villa Park to remain in the environs of Birmingham, the ball ends up harmlessly back with Bunn. If Leicester had gone two up after that penalty shout, the steam coming out of the home support’s ears would likely have propelled the stadium into space. As it is, they’re livid enough. That’s a poor decision.
6.47pm GMT
60 min: Leicester hook the goalscorer Okazaki and send on De Laet. They’ll push Simpson further forward.
6.46pm GMT
59 min: Simpson dribbles down the right. Cissokho, who has been very busy since the restart, sticks to him like glue. No space for a cross, but Simpson wins a corner. A brilliant short corner routine is worked back up the flank and along the front of the Villa box for Drinkwater, who opens his body and powerfully sidefoots a rising shot goalwards. Bunn tips over well. The second corner, another short routine but over on the left, is a total farce, and best forgotten.
6.44pm GMT
56 min: Ayew attempts to bicycle-kick a Cissokho left-wing cross goalwards from 12 yards. He can’t connect properly. Leicester make a Broadway-style song and dance of clearing their box, but do so eventually. Villa are beginning to make their presence felt. A little. Small acorns, and all that.
6.41pm GMT
54 min: Villa are pressing Leicester back for the first time in the game. Veretout curls a promising cross in from the right, but Huth, facing his own goal on the edge of the six-yard box, and with Ayew lurking, swivels and hooks clear.
6.40pm GMT
52 min: Space for Cissokho down the left again. He mishit his cross the last time he was down here, but now he pearls a fine rising shot goalwards from just inside the box. Problem is, it’s straight at Schmeichel, who parries away from danger with powerful fists. That’s given the home faithful something to shout about, though.
6.38pm GMT
51 min: Konte and Albrighton swarm around the Villa midfield. The latter wins possession and feeds Mahrez, who nearly sends Okazaki clear down the middle with a first-time volleyed pass. Villa look fairly porous at the back.
6.36pm GMT
49 min: The game already seems quite stretched, a state of affairs that can only benefit Leicester. Mahrez should send Okazaki scampering away down the right, with Villa very light at the back, but he hesitates, over-elaborates, and the chance to launch a very dangerous counter-attack is gone.
6.35pm GMT
47 min: Ayew loses possession in the midfield, allowing Albrighton to plant a shot in the top-right corner ... of the stand behind the goal. Villa fly up the other end, but with plenty of men in the box, Cissokho tops his cross like a 28-handicap golfer. The ball trundles apologetically to Huth, who strides away from danger. “Ranieri says it’s a local derby? No it isn’t. It’s more than 40 miles. Derby-Forest is a derby. It’s 15 miles. If you can’t imagine D.H. Lawrence walking it, it’s not a derby. Is anorakilly a word? Anorakilly, Mark Regan.”
6.32pm GMT
There was time during the half-time interval to look at a few replays of the Leicester goal. Lescott needs a clip around the lug for his role in it. When Vardy lobbed Bunn from distance, Lescott stopped running, assuming the ball was heading in. But Bunn made the save, and Lescott’s laziness allowed Okazaki, ten yards behind him, to make up the ground and score his goal. That’s brilliant opportunism from the striker, but Lescott’s reaction wasn’t far short of a total disgrace. Relegation battle going on here, Joleon! [Snaps fingers a few times in front of glazed eyes.] Joleon? Anyway, Leicester get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes.
6.19pm GMT
Half-time entertainment: It’s cold outside. We’re watching Leicester City. What more excuses do we need to revisit this gem by the incomparable Rob Bagchi?
Related: The forgotten story of … Leicester City: Ice Kings | Rob Bagchi
6.17pm GMT
Nothing happens in added time. So at the break, this is going with the form book. It would be almost done and dusted had Mahrez put his boot through his penalty kick, but that miss keeps Villa in the game. It ensures a dramatic second half, whatever happens. Don’t go anywhere!
6.15pm GMT
45 min: There will be two added minutes of this first half.
6.15pm GMT
44 min: Now this is a bit better. Gueye sashays down the inside-right channel and very nearly breaks clear into the Leicester box. He sends a speculative shot towards the top left. It’s too high, but a decent enough effort given the lack of time and space he had to work with.
6.13pm GMT
43 min: A hopeful ball lumped into the Leicester box earns Villa a corner as Fuchs gets a bit wobbly and heads needlessly behind. Schmeichel punches the corner clear with some vigour. Villa can’t get anything going up front at all.
6.12pm GMT
41 min: Leicester are first to everything in the middle of the park when it really counts. Albrighton snaffles the ball down the left and is this close to sending Vardy and Okazaki scampering away on a two-on-one caper.
6.10pm GMT
39 min: Cissokho has a whack from 25 yards, but that’s never beating Schmeichel, who smothers the low shot easily enough.
6.09pm GMT
37 min: Well that was quite the burst of action. Both teams take turns to knock the ball around the back a bit, as though they need to take stock of a volatile series of events.
6.07pm GMT
35 min: What an escape for Villa, who would have looked down and out had that penalty kick flown in. And they’re nearly level seconds later. A free kick out on the right is sent into the Leicester box by Westwood, and is close to finding Ayew, six yards out. But the striker can’t guide the ball on target, and it looks like he was offside anyway. Still, Leicester hearts were in mouths there, and the home side aren’t out of this yet.
6.06pm GMT
33 min: And Mahrez fluffs it! A casual chip down the middle, and Claudio Ranieri will be cursing Antonín Panenka right now. To be fair to Bunn, he still had to react to block it, and he did his job rather well. A bit of karmic payback for his futile efforts to stop Leicester’s goal, perhaps. But still.
6.04pm GMT
32 min: It looks like Okazaki is brought down by Okore as he bursts into the Villa box on the left. It should be a penalty but it isn’t given. No matter: Vardy takes up the loose ball and whips it low to the far post. Mahrez sends a first-time shot from 12 yards arrowing towards goal. It hits Cissokho’s arm. Now that’s a penalty, for Cissokho’s arms were flailing everywhere.
6.02pm GMT
30 min: In the centre circle, Ayew comes through the back of Mahrez, a rake down his leg. It’s a booking at least - you’ve seen players sent off for much less - but the referee keeps his cards in his pocket.
6.00pm GMT
Vardy chases another high flick down the inside-left channel. He sends a delicious first-time lob over Bunn and surely into the goal. But the keeper backtracks well and grabs the ball off the line, a stunning save. Sadly for Bunn, Okazaki is on hand to tap the loose ball home. Bunn tries his best to save that one too, but can only parry with the ball well behind the line. A moment of uncertainty, but the technology confirms what the referee would have signalled anyway, it was fairly obvious.
5.58pm GMT
27 min: Bacuna, near the Leicester corner flag on the right, whips a deep, dipping cross to Westwood, just inside the area on the left. Westwood attempts a scissor kick, but mistimes it woefully.
5.55pm GMT
25 min: Gueye keeps bundling Okazaki to the ground, the striker seemingly having his number when running from deep in the midfield. He’ll need to watch himself, because the referee has ticked him off on two occasions now.
5.54pm GMT
23 min: A lull in play, but it doesn’t quell the raucous derby atmosphere. The fans take turns to discuss rolls of honour, likely divisional status next season, etc.
5.52pm GMT
20 min: An appallingly weak Huth backpass allows Kozak to tear clear down the inside-right channel. He’s free on goal, albeit at a tight angle. Kasper Schmeichel makes like his dad with a star-jump to parry Kozak’s shot. But Kozak can pick up the rebound, and should have another whack. But - the midweek confidence gone already - he declines the option of a second shot, and tries to feed the ball inside for Gil. Morgan comes across to intercept and clear. What a terrible waste. When you’re struggling like Villa, you’ve got to accept every gift.
5.49pm GMT
19 min: Space for the busy Albrighton to the left of the Villa box. He curls a delightful cross towards the far post, where Okazaki is thundering in. Lescott does marvellously well to eyebrow the ball out for a corner on the right. The set piece nearly falls to Morgan on the penalty spot, but Villa manage to clear.
5.47pm GMT
17 min: Okazaki makes good down the inside-right channel and has a batter from 25 yards. Westwood is on the case to make the block. The home side are beginning to panic a little here, as the pressure’s turned up on their creaky back line.
5.46pm GMT
15 min: Albrighton looks for the top left with the free kick, but there’s not enough whip or pace on the ball, and Bunn gathers easily enough. After a slow start up front, Leicester have started to put themselves about a bit.
5.45pm GMT
14 min: Vardy scoots after an Albrighton flick down the inside-left channel. Bunn rushes out of his area. He’s not getting there ahead of Vardy, who tries to take the ball round him on the outside. The keeper takes him down. But it’s only a booking - the correct decision - because Villa had a couple of men covering in the middle.
5.44pm GMT
13 min: A free kick for Leicester out on the left, near the centre circle. They load the box. Albrighton curls the set piece towards Vardy, on the penalty spot. Vardy guides a header down and back up towards the top left. It’s not travelling fast, but the bounce would have beaten Bunn had it been on target. As it is, the ball zips wide left.
5.42pm GMT
11 min: Fuchs creams a long ball down the left wing with the intention of finding Vardy. But Vardy is nowhere near it. Leicester haven’t quite got going as an attacking force yet.
5.40pm GMT
9 min: Kante clips Veretout’s ankles with the Villa midfielder going nowhere down the right wing. Free kick, and a change for Villa to load the box. Gil and Veretout work the free kick down the rightflank, the latter hitting a deep cross to Kozak. The striker chests back to Westwood, but the midfielder doesn’t read the pass, presumably expecting Kozak to take the ball down and have a shot instead, given he was inside the area with a little bit of space and time to work with. “Going down,” chant the away fans.
5.37pm GMT
6 min: Some nice crisp Villa passing, from the left to the right flank. Eventually the ball’s worked into the middle, where Gueye attempts to release Gil into the area down the inside-right channel. Huth steps in to intercept, but that’s a nice move. A little bit of confidence has come back, perhaps.
5.34pm GMT
4 min: Morgan hoicks a long ball down the right wing. Vardy eagerly scampers after it. Lescott shepherds the ball out of play for a goal kick easily enough. It’s all a bit scrappy so far, but Leicester have had the better of the early exchanges, for what that’s worth.
5.33pm GMT
2 min: A loose pass by Westwood in the midfield allows Vardy to tear off down the left wing at purpose. He’s only got Okazaki in the middle, surrounded by Villa shirts. His looping cross briefly threatens to float into the top-right corner of Bunn’s goal, in the style of Paul Konchesky in the 2006 FA Cup final. But it clears the crossbar.
5.31pm GMT
The home side get the ball rolling, and lose possession within three seconds. Leicester take another two seconds to gift the ball straight back. Villa lose it again, and then concede a cheap free kick in the middle of the park. Hectic to say the least, and the only way is up.
5.28pm GMT
The teams are out! It’s a cold, crisp, atmospheric night at Villa Park. Plenty of noise. The home side are in their old-school claret and blue, while Leicester wear third-choice white shirts. We’ll be off in a minute.
5.18pm GMT
Claudio Ranieri talks! Is this extra special because Leicester have a chance of going top tonight? “We have a lot of motivation. It’s a local derby, and that’s very tough in every town, every country, every city. But of course after our victory at Tottenham we would like to see what will happen now. We will continue to fight. I hope to win, but I know very well it will be a tough match tonight.”
5.17pm GMT
Remi Garde speaks! “We are all a little bit better after the win against Crystal Palace. But the last game is finished now, and this is a tough game. We have a little bit more confidence. We will see. We will have to be strong because Leicester are a very good team this season. It’s going to be tough, but we made a step forward on Tuesday.”
4.45pm GMT
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Aston Villa haven’t had many opportunities to say that this season, so you’ve got to take your chances when they finally come along. And so Remi Garde names an unchanged team from the one that started the midweek 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
If it ain’t etc. pt.II. Title-chasing Leicester City won at title-chasing Tottenham Hotspur the other day. So why bother tinkering with a winning formula? Claudio Ranieri knows full well when to leave alone. The 11 men selected at White Hart Lane start at Villa Park.
4.33pm GMT
Aston Villa: Bunn, Bacuna, Okore, Lescott, Cissokho, Westwood, Gueye, Veretout, Ayew, Kozak, Gil.
Subs: Guzan, Richards, Clark, Sinclair, Richardson, Lyden, Gestede.
Leicester City: Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs, Drinkwater, Kante, Mahrez, Okazaki, Albrighton, Vardy.
Subs: De Laet, King, Gray, Ulloa, Wasilewski, Schwarzer, Inler.
11.14am GMT
The hope’s the worst thing. Aston Villa have looked surefire candidates for relegation pretty much from the get-go this season, the inevitable conclusion to several years of floundering in the lower reaches of the Premier League. They’ve been written off by all and sundry, by both friend and foe, and that’s understandable enough: at the halfway mark they’d earned the grand total of eight points. This is Derby Countyesque. There’s no way back from that. The great escapes of Southampton, West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City would have nothing on this.
But there’s always hope. Crystal Palace keeper Wayne Hennessey threw one into his own net during the week, and suddenly Villa had their first victory since the opening day of the season. Their first three-point haul since August! Given that hit ratio, this following statement may be just a tad previous, but let’s say it anyway: as things stand, Villa are suddenly just three wins from safety. Another win tonight, and suddenly the picture will look a whole lot rosier, the team finally enjoying bit of momentum and the increase in confidence that comes with it. All looked lost. Well, it still sort of does, but what’s the point in sport if you’re not allowed to dream? Another win tonight would do just the trick, and get everyone recalibrating their foregone conclusions.
Continue reading...Tottenham 4-1 Sunderland: Premier League – as it happened
Spurs fell behind but ended up winning comfortably despite never quite finding top form. Title-winning behaviour, some would say.
2.52pm GMT
Related: Christian Eriksen doubles up as Tottenham Hotspur rout Sunderland
2.38pm GMT
Spurs restate their title credentials, then. Not because they played particularly well, or because they close to within four points of leaders Arsenal and Leicester. They’ve stated their case by coming from behind against tricky opposition and winning comfortably, despite never quite clicking into top gear. That, as we all know, is the sort of thing title winners do. Onwards and upwards, then. As for Sunderland? Some plus points: they were right in this match for an hour, Jordan Pickford was impressive despite letting in four, Patrick Van Aanholt was magnificent in attack, and at least Jan Kirchhoff didn’t complete the full nightmare debut by getting himself sent off.
2.34pm GMT
90 min +2: That’s two of the three added minutes elapsed.
2.34pm GMT
90 min +1: ... Spurs break upfield. Alli enters the Sunderland area on the left, and claims a penalty when he’s sent crashing by Van Aanholt, but he was eased off the ball well by the impressive Sunderland full back.
2.33pm GMT
90 min: Watmore makes a proper nuisance of himself down the left. He breaks into the box and slips a pass across to Jones, on the right-hand edge of the Spurs D. Jones shoots low. Rose comes out to block, the ball squirting off for a corner on the left. From which ...
2.30pm GMT
88 min: Kane, to warm applause, is replaced by Son.
2.29pm GMT
86 min: Watmore is a talented lad, a whirling dervish. He flicks the ball up over his head and spins round Alderweireld, making ground down the middle then swapping passes with Johnson before very nearly breaking clear down the right. Rose comes across to intercept just as it looks like Spurs are in trouble.
2.26pm GMT
84 min: Van Aanholt has been Sunderland’s best player by far. He scoots down the left and his low centre is nearly met by Watmore, rushing in. Alderweireld isn’t to be passed, though.
2.25pm GMT
83 min: This could get embarrassing if Sunderland aren’t careful. Kane tears into space down the right, but his low centre for Eriksen is cut out by ... Kirchhoff, who has something in the credit column at last.
2.24pm GMT
82 min: Corner for Spurs on the left. It’s hit deep, and Alderweireld heads wide right from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box.
2.23pm GMT
80 min: Carroll comes on for Dembele. Spurs, snoozing a little after the goal, afford Rodwell far too much space in the left-hand side of the box. He’s got time to get a shot on target, but drags it across the face and wide right. Turns out he was offside, too.
2.22pm GMT
Kirchhoff is enduring a nightmare debut. He’s just needlessly upended Rose, sliding in from behind as the full back enters the Spurs area from the left. A no-brainer of a penalty kick. Kane slots it into the bottom left. This is over!
2.21pm GMT
78 min: Let’s keep an eye on this. Van Aanholt prepares to take a throw. Alli gathers the ball and, with his back to his opponent, throws it behind him, up into Van Aanholt’s startled coupon. Van Aanholt is beside himself with rage, and needs a good talking to by the ref. That looked accidental, to be fair to Alli, if a little clumsy.
2.18pm GMT
76 min: Sunderland look like a defeated team right now. Passes aren’t sticking. The collective head has dropped. With a view to shaking things up a bit, Lens is replaced by the determined livewire Duncan Watmore.
2.16pm GMT
74 min: Lens hoofs Rose in the face. A toe in the eye. Ooyah, oof. Totally accidental.
2.16pm GMT
73 min: Spurs make their first change of the afternoon: Lamela is replaced by the very promising Josh Onomah.
2.15pm GMT
72 min: Space down the inside-right for Kane. He sends a rising shot towards the top left from just inside the box. Once again, Pickford is up to the challenge. He parries away confidently.
2.14pm GMT
70 min: Space for Van Aanholt down the left. He’s tight on the byline, and pulls a ball across for Defoe. The ball brushes Trippier’s chest, and though there’s a bellow from the Sunderland fans for a penalty kick, the referee’s not to be fooled. Vertonghen clears.
2.13pm GMT
69 min: That was dismal defending by the Sunderland debutant Kirchhoff. Really half-arsed. No accounting for the absurd curl the ball took off his leg, of course, but I very much doubt Allardyce will factor that in during his trenchant post-match debrief.
2.11pm GMT
They’re comfortable now all right. Eriksen strides down the centre of the park. He has a dig from 30 yards. Kirchhoff sticks a leg out and turns his back in one smooth movement. It’s not much of a defensive challenge. The ball loops off his leg and curls viciously into the top-right corner. Pickford had no chance.
2.09pm GMT
66 min: Sunderland can’t get anything going up front. Spurs are looking very comfortable now.
2.07pm GMT
64 min: Defoe skitters down the left but he’s got no support. He gestures to his team-mates for help. It eventually arrives, but by this time Spurs have regained their shape. Van Aanholt’s diagonal ball is won by Johnson on the right-hand corner of the Spurs box, but the Sunderland man can only head harmlessly out for a goal kick.
2.05pm GMT
62 min: Alli has time and space in the middle of the Sunderland half. Rose is romping down the left. A ball out to that wing will send the marauding full-back clear on goal. But inexplicably - well, maybe not, he’s a young man - Alli tries to play a can-opener of a pass down the middle for Kane. Sunderland swarm around the pass and the danger is gone.
2.03pm GMT
... Dembele picks up possession on the right-hand corner of the box. He nudges the ball inside, then twists and batters a low shot into the bottom-right corner. Pickford had made a couple of great saves, but he was wrong-footed there and beaten at his near post.
2.02pm GMT
59 min: Graham is replaced by Kirchhoff. From the restart, Kane powers towards the area and lashes a shot towards the bottom left. Pickford turns the ball round the post. A brilliant stop. From the corner, Rose has another dig from the edge of the area. Pickford fists out well. But to no avail, because ...
2.01pm GMT
58 min: It’s difficult to see this ending without another goal being scored. With Defoe lurking in the Spurs area, Lloris is forced to race off his line and punch a right-wing cross clear with purpose. Spurs hearts in mouths for a second there.
1.59pm GMT
56 min: Vertonghen, striding forward from deep down the inside-left channel, exchanges passes with Kane and tries to curl one into the top right from 25 yards. It’s a defender’s finish, but what a positive, powerful run from the big defender.
1.58pm GMT
55 min: But Sunderland will still have one player on a yellow, because Johnson picks one up for a tug on Rose. From the resulting free kick, Lamela, on the left of the D, chips delicately across to Alli, who glides in from the right and attempts to steer a header into the top left. It’s just wide. Nice try.
1.57pm GMT
54 min: Cattermole, on a booking, is replaced by Rodwell.
1.56pm GMT
53 min: Sunderland should be leading. Spurs have a free kick close to the Sunderland corner flag on the right. The set piece is an over-elaborate nonsense, pulled back to Eriksen on the edge of the area and chipped forward weakly. Sunderland clear their lines, and spring forward on the counter. It’s two on two! Johnson feeds Defoe down the left. He’s got the ball at his feet inside the area, but lashes a rising drive into the side netting. A tight angle, maybe, but he had to make Lloris work at the very lease.
1.55pm GMT
51 min: Everyone flattering to deceive at the moment. Trippier comes in from the right, a promising run, but there’s nobody showing in the centre. He throws his arms out in frustration. Then Defoe tries to spin and go on a run not dissimilar to Michael Owen’s goal against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup. But before a shiver goes down Mauricio Pochettino’s spine, Alderweireld eases him off the ball.
1.52pm GMT
49 min: The second half’s taking much the same shape as the first: Spurs doing an awful lot of passing, this way and that, but coming unstuck against two neon-lime lines of Sunderland defence.
1.50pm GMT
48 min: A bit of space for Eriksen on the right of the Sunderland box. He whips the ball through the danger zone, but Kane can’t quite get on the end of it. O’Shea bundles the ball out of play for a corner, a set piece which proves to be a total waste of precious time.
1.49pm GMT
46 min: In the least newsy bit of news in the history of the Fourth Estate, Lee Cattermole picks up a booking. He’s clipped Rose cynically, and can have no complaints.
1.48pm GMT
No changes. Sunderland get the ball rolling for the second half. And they’re on the front foot immediately, Van Aanholt executing a lovely bit of skill down the left, flicking the ball over Lamela’s head, spinning around and scooting off down the wing. He looks for Lens on the edge of the area, but the pass doesn’t stick.
1.35pm GMT
Half-time entertainment: In case you missed it, here’s our man Barney Ronay on the current non-Spursy state of Spurs.
Related: Why Tottenham may be the least ‘Spursy’ team in recent Spurs history
1.34pm GMT
Well, that suddenly burst into life, didn’t it. A mildly diverting half for 40 minutes, then some crazy end-to-end nonsense for the last portion. Sunderland will be frustrated at the way they let that lead slip, but they’d have taken a draw at this stage. With Spurs desperate for their first win of 2016, the second half promises to be a cracker.
1.32pm GMT
45 min +2: In the second of two added minutes, Eriksen cuts in from the right and creams a shot towards the bottom right from 25 yards. It’s heading in, but the impressive Pickford fingertips round the post. A couple of corners come to nothing.
1.31pm GMT
44 min: A whopping 92 seconds between the goals. Oh to be a fly on the Sunderland dressing room wall when Sam Allardyce picks the bones out of that one. Sunderland, to their credit, go up the other end and try for a positive response of their own. Lens is upended by Dembele on the edge of the Spurs box. Free kick in a very dangerous position. Defoe tries to thread it into the bottom right, but his trundler is never beating Lloris, who gathers calmly enough.
1.29pm GMT
What a response by Spurs! Eriksen slides Kane into the box down the right. Pickford comes off his line, closes the striker down, and parries the shot brilliantly! But no fortune for the poor young keeper: the ball deflects to Eriksen on the right-hand edge of the D. He sends the ball whistling goalwards. Cattermole’s on the line covering, but can’t shape his body properly and ends up kneeing a clearance backwards and into the roof of the net. Calling that an own goal would be tight ... but ... hmmm. It’s Eriksen’s, surely?
1.27pm GMT
Now it’s Eriksen’s turn to gift the ball to Sunderland in the middle of the park. Lens slides Defoe into space down the right. He earns a throw. The ball’s worked across to the left for Johnson, who unpicks Tottenham’s lock with a gorgeous sliderule pass down the flank between Trippier and Alli. Van Aanholt is free in the area, and doesn’t worry about the tight angle. He batters it home!
1.23pm GMT
37 min: Trippier meets a pass down the right wing with a stunning first-time cross, the ball sent wheeching along the corridor of uncertainty. But nobody in white had anticipated it. Alli tries his best to connect with a run from deep at the left-hand post, but it’s futile. That’s a peach of a ball from Trippier, though.
1.21pm GMT
35 min: Graham outjumps Trippier down the left and the ball’s at Defoe’s feet, on the edge of the Spurs area. Defoe looks to skedaddle into space on the outside of Alderweireld, but the centre-half stands strong, and puts the ball out on the left. From the resulting throw, Spurs break upfield, and they’re five on two! Dembele tears down the middle, and slides the ball to the left for Lamela, who drags a wasteful shot across Pickford and out to the right of the goal. On the touchline, Mauricio Pochettino has a face on, which suggests he thinks his side should have converted that chance into the opening goal.
1.19pm GMT
34 min: Spurs don’t half like making trouble for themselves. Now it’s Rose’s turn to give the ball away cheaply in the middle of the park. Once again, Defoe shows down the inside-right channel, but he’s let down by the pass forward, M’Vila the culprit this time.
1.17pm GMT
32 min: Eriksen floats a cross into the Sunderland box from the right. He finds the head of Kane, 12 yards out. Kane looks for the left-hand portion of the net, but O’Shea deflects a slightly wafted effort out for a corner. The set piece is, once again, a total non-event.
1.15pm GMT
30 min: Lamela presses down the inside-right channel. Van Aanholt fails to clear properly, and Kane has the space and time to the right of the D to drop a shoulder, step infield, and look for the bottom-right corner. His shot is blocked wide right for a corner, which is wasted. Sunderland are holding firm at the moment without too much drama.
1.14pm GMT
27 min: Alli embarks on a Power Sashay down the inside-left channel, and very nearly breaks into the Sunderland box. He’d have been clear on goal were it not for a sturdy block by O’Shea. Beautiful skill from the Future Of English Football there. He claims a free kick, but he was going down looking for that.
1.11pm GMT
26 min: Up the other end, Lens tries to send a screaming, dipping volley into the top right from a position 30 yards up the inside-left channel. Nope!
1.11pm GMT
25 min: Rose has a shot from 3o yards. Nope! A slightly impatient effort, that: Spurs were pressing Sunderland back, with plenty of options for a pass either side.
1.10pm GMT
24 min: A little more positivity from Sunderland. First a free kick in the middle of the Spurs half is sent towards the head of O’Shea on the edge of the area. He should win the header but doesn’t, and concedes a free kick while he’s at it. Then Lens is sent skittering down the left by Van Aanholt, but there’s nobody in the centre for him to find, and he overhits the cross anyway. Spurs have been the better side, but there’s a wee sign that they’ll not be getting it all their own way.
1.08pm GMT
21 min: A ball hooked in from the Spurs right. Jones and Kane go up for an aerial challenge. Pickford comes off his line to pluck the ball from the sky. But there are calls for a penalty kick there, with Jones helping himself to a handful of the front of Kane’s shirt as the two pirouette in mid-air. You’ve seen penalties given for that, though it would have been a very soft one, as all that tugging didn’t seem to have much an effect on Kane’s jump.
1.06pm GMT
20 min: Trippier tries to release Lamela down the right. Van Aanholt does very well to step across and guide the ball out of play. Pickford kicks long, and Defoe nearly gets on the end of a knockdown. But not quite. Play goes back up the other end again, and O’Shea brings Kane down, 30 yards from goal on the left. The free kick ends up at the feet of Dembele, on the edge of the area. A poor shot is blocked. But this is turning into good end-to-end fun.
1.03pm GMT
17 min: Eriksen, out on the left, finds Kane on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box with a low cross. Kane toe-pokes a first-time effort miles wide left. Radar off. “Has there been any word about Jermaine Defoe’s quest to acquire a personal assistant?” wonders JR in Illinois. “If he found one he might need to consider firing them. His global brand has not really made much of a dent here in the States. Hardly anyone here even knows about his remarkable midweek offside hat-trick.”
1.01pm GMT
15 min: An appalling square pass in midfield by Dembele gifts the ball to Lens in the centre circle. Spurs are light at the back, and Defoe’s making his presence known down the inside-right channel. A perfectly weighted pass, and Spurs are in all sorts of bother. But Lens clumps an equally dismal pass forward, giving Defoe no chance whatsoever, and the brief flicker of extreme danger is quickly extinguished.
12.59pm GMT
14 min: The home side are on top in terms of possession and territory. But Sunderland, that one chance given up to Alli apart, have been standing firm. This match hasn’t quite sparked to life yet. Both sides will be happy enough in their own ways.
12.57pm GMT
11 min: A period of pinball nonsense just outside Sunderland’s box. Lamela, Eriksen, Alli and Dier swarm around the ball, but can’t pick the lock of a packed away defence. So the ball rat-a-tats around for a while. Eventually it’s hoicked upfield by Cattermole. Game over.
12.55pm GMT
9 min: Sunderland fail to clear the corner. The ball breaks to the feet of Alli, who must score from the penalty spot, with enough time to pick his spot. But he leans back and sends the ball sailing over the bar. That’s a poor miss from a superb player. Spurs should be leading.
12.54pm GMT
8 min: ... Spurs break upfield, Vertonghen heading a poor corner powerfully away from danger. Dembele has Kane ahead of him, and players to his right, but allows Cattermole to intercept. Spurs had men over there. But no matter, because Spurs embark on another attack, and Rose wins a corner down the left. From which ...
12.52pm GMT
7 min: Johnson, in the centre circle, sprays a fine diagonal pass out left for Defoe, who eats up the ground and earns his team a corner. From which ...
12.51pm GMT
5 min: Sunderland had that early sortie through Lens, but since then they’ve not seen the ball. Spurs stroke it around awhile, very patiently, then suddenly Kane bursts down the inside-left channel, glides infield a bit, and curls a fine effort towards the bottom right. It’s going in, but Pickford fingertips round the post. A good save that’ll breed confidence. The resulting corner is a thundering non-event.
12.48pm GMT
3 min: Trippier goes up the other end, and wins a corner off Graham’s hand down the right. Eriksen takes the free kick, which finds the head of Vertonghen in the centre of the Sunderland box. His header is weak and straight at Pickford. The young debutant will be grateful for the early sighter.
12.47pm GMT
2 min: A fairly proactive start by Sunderland, with Lens bothering Trippier down the left near the Spurs penalty box. The full back does his job, and a very vague whiff of danger is snuffed out without fuss. The away side showing a little attacking intent early doors.
12.45pm GMT
The home favourites get the ball rolling. A rare old atmosphere on a bright, crisp, cold afternoon at White Hart Lane.
12.42pm GMT
The teams are out. Tottenham are in their famous and very beautiful lilywhite shirts. The nicest crest in the Premier League? That cockerel is in with a shout. Sunderland have a gorgeous first-choice strip too, but they can’t wear that today: instead, they’re in Swansea-bothering neon green with lemon trim. Ach. Perhaps it looks nice with jeans. Hands are being shaken, coins are being tossed, songs are being sung. We’ll be off in a minute!
12.29pm GMT
Mauricio Pochettino talks! “We have a lot of games ahead and it is too early to start to speak about the title. We need to win games. We need to try to win today, because after our defeat against Leicester we are disappointed. Our performance was good, but the result was negative. The players are hungry to play today and show last Wednesday was an accident.” As for changing the full backs? “It’s important the players are fresh. We’re coming out of a very busy period. We’re always trying to manage our players, and give a freshness to our team.”
12.20pm GMT
Sam Allardyce speaks! “We’re striving for a little more consistency in between our wins. We’re not picking up enough draws in my opinion. In fact we haven’t picked any draws up! That’s been one of our problems. When we’re good we’re good, but when we’re in the game, we’re throwing it away and losing it rather than drawing. So we have to get that right. We’re going in the right direction. A couple of new players have joined us. Every game is a giant game trying to catch up the points total. From our point of view we’re trying to get to a level points-per-game scenario: 38 for safety. We’re chipping away at it. Hopefully we can chip a few more points today.” As for Jordan Pickford? “He’s an exceptional goalkeeper. Mannone’s been playing well, but there’s a good competition for places.”
11.52am GMT
Tottenham make three changes to the team that started the midweek defeat to Leicester. It’s a full full-back switcheroo: Kyle Walker and Ben Davies make way for Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose. Meanwhile Mousa Dembele comes into the midfield in place of Tom Carroll.
Sunderland meanwhile make two adjustments from the side sent out to thrash Swansea during the week. Keeper Vito Mannone drops to the bench, with Jordan Pickford taking his place. That’s a big call: Pickford’s 21, and will be making his Premier League debut. At the other end of the pitch, Fabio Borini loses his place to Danny Graham.
11.46am GMT
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Dier, Dembele, Lamela, Alli, Eriksen, Kane.
Subs: Son, Vorm, Chadli, Onomah, Wimmer, Carroll, Davies.
Sunderland: Pickford, Jones, Brown, O’Shea, Van Aanholt, Johnson, Cattermole, M’Vila, Graham, Defoe, Lens.
Subs: Rodwell, Borini, Toivonen, Mannone, Fletcher, Kirchhoff, Watmore.
10.20am GMT
“Lads, it’s Tottenham.” Like all the best stand-up, the story Roy Keane once told of Sir Alex Ferguson’s shortest yet most famous pre-match team-talk was funny because it was true. “We didn’t need a big team talk ... I thought please don’t go on about Tottenham, we all know what Tottenham is about, they are nice and tidy but we’ll fucking do them. He came in and said: ‘Lads, it’s Tottenham’, and that was it. Brilliant.”
Those old doubts shouldn’t linger, but they do. Tottenham under Maurico Pochettino are beginning to look like the real deal: a world-class keeper, the best defence in the Premier League, some of the brightest midfield talent in the country, Harry Kane up front. On their day, nobody in the country is better, and they’ve earned the right to be mentioned in the same breath as Manchester City and Arsenal as possible title winners this season. Nice and tidy, but also suddenly not so easy to “fucking do”.
Continue reading...January 13, 2016
Liverpool v Arsenal: Premier League – as it happened
Joe Allen’s late goal denied league leaders Arsenal victory in one of the matches of the season so far
9.53pm GMT
And that’s that! A stunning first half of football. The second was a bit quieter, as that only contained Giroud’s Bergkampesque goalscoring swivel, and Allen’s calm late equaliser. Some match. And a fair result: both teams were brilliant in patches, not so clever in others. Arsenal stay top, albeit only on goal difference from Leicester City, who won at Spurs tonight. The aforementioned Robert Huth scored the winner there. Liverpool drop to ninth, but that late equaliser will make them feel a little better with Manchester United coming to town at the weekend. Another 3-3 draw? You wouldn’t bet against it, the way this week has gone so far.
Related: Liverpool and Arsenal draw thriller after Firmino and Giroud doubles
9.51pm GMT
90 min +2: The snow’s pelting down at Anfield now. The crowd are in fine voice. Is there to be one last twist? Unlikely, as Firmino, in a good position deep on the left, curls an aimless ball into Cech’s arms. No team-mates in the box at all.
9.50pm GMT
90 min +1: There will be three added minutes, though most of that first one was taken up with celebrations. Caulker’s been dropped back into the defence now, by the way.
9.50pm GMT
... and Moreno witlessly clanks it into the wall. But no matter! Because Liverpool recycle the ball. Moreno, deep on the left, hoicks a diagonal ball into the area. Benteke rises by the right-hand post, heads down, and Allen, bursting into the box, guides a fine finish into the bottom left. Liverpool deserve that from weight of pressure as much as anything else. Klopp goes off on the rampage down the touchline.
9.48pm GMT
89 min: Clyne runs at the Arsenal defence with purpose, attempting a one-two with that man Caulker. Koscielny sticks out a leg, and that’s a free kick in a central position, just outside the D. A very dangerous situation ...
9.47pm GMT
88 min: Ozil is replaced by Arteta. But what about this for a substitute? Caulker comes on for his Liverpool debut in place of Lallana - and he’s going up front! Shades of Robert Huth in the Champions League semi all those years ago.
9.45pm GMT
86 min: Ibe comes in from the right at pace, and takes a shot. It’s deflected out to the left of goal by Flamini. The corner’s hit long, and Toure can’t keep it in play on the far side. Anfield’s pretty quiet now, apart from the far corner where the Arsenal fans are in party mode. Klopp won’t be best pleased.
9.44pm GMT
85 min: Now it’s Arsenal’s turn to knock it around the midfield. They don’t go anywhere, but then they don’t have to. The clock is their friend, and they’re running it down very cleverly.
9.42pm GMT
83 min: Liverpool pass it hither and yon, back and forth across the midfield. But Arsenal are holding their shape in the professional style, and once Henderson eventually tries to release Firmino down the right, the flag goes up for offside.
9.40pm GMT
82 min: Liverpool make their second change. Allen comes on for Can.
9.39pm GMT
80 min: Ozil, out on the left, wands another magical cross towards the far post. Ramsey is waiting to smack the ball home, but Mignolet comes off his line and punches clear with conviction.
9.38pm GMT
79 min: Ibe dribbles around in the Arsenal area, up and down the right-hand side, for what seems like an age. It’s a fine duel with Monreal. Eventually the ball’s worked into the middle, where Benteke and Lallana were waiting. Arsenal half clear. But there’s another corner. And after another elaborate set piece, the ball eventually finds its way to Benteke, in space down the left. Instead of turning and shooting, a la Giroud, he hesitates and passes backwards. The move fizzles out.
9.36pm GMT
76 min: Can, on the edge of the Arsenal D, dinks a pass down the inside-left channel for Lallana, who should get a shot away. But Mertesacker comes across to block the ball out for a corner. The set piece is an over-elaborate nonsense, and a complete waste.
9.34pm GMT
75 min: Moreno has another shot from distance. This one nearly clears the Kop. Arsenal make a double change. Walcott and Campbell are sacrificed for Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gibbs.
9.32pm GMT
73 min: A bit of snow coming down now. It’s a very pretty scene. Especially if you’re an Arsenal supporter. Benteke tries to make a bit of space for himself on the left-hand corner of the Arsenal box. His eventual shot is a half-hearted affair.
9.31pm GMT
72 min: Ibe exchanges passes with Firmino down the inside-right channel. Ibe’s got space in the box, and looks for Lallana in the middle with a low fizzer. But Mertesacker anticipates and intercepts. Brilliant football all round.
9.29pm GMT
71 min: Moreno has another blast from distance. It’s blocked easily enough. Liverpool are building a little pressure here, though.
9.28pm GMT
70 min: Clyne crumps his boot on Campbell’s shin as the Arsenal striker looks to break down the left. It’s accidental, but he’ll need to watch himself, as he’s on a booking. The referee tells him to be careful.
9.28pm GMT
69 min: Benteke’s first touch is a pass slipped out wide to Moreno, who whips a cross to the far post. Firmino goes up and causes enough bother to earn a corner. The set piece finds Moreno to the left of the D. He smashes a low shot inches wide of the left-hand post. That’s been deflected, and from the second corner Moreno’s cross is headed wide right by Firmino. Cech wasn’t bothered, but that’s a little bit better from Liverpool.
9.25pm GMT
66 min: Henderson flashes a desperate shot over the Arsenal bar from 20 yards. Liverpool swap Milner for Benteke, who desperately needs to make a personal statement tonight.
9.24pm GMT
65 min: Arsenal are allowing Liverpool to knock it around the middle of the park. The minute it comes forward, all channels snap shut.
9.22pm GMT
63 min: Firmino cuts in from the left. He’s got Lallana ahead of him, and a chance to send him off towards the box, but his pass is hit too hard, and behind his team-mate to boot. Liverpool already look anxious. It’s just not clicking for them right now. The first 20 minutes seem a long, long time ago.
9.21pm GMT
62 min: Local resident Rafa Benitez is in the stand. I wonder what he thinks about this Liverpool defence.
9.19pm GMT
60 min: Apologies for any brevity during the last few minutes. A crashed computer. No doubt shocked by the sheer violence of Giroud’s second. It was a lovely finish. Liverpool are trying to come back at Arsenal, but it’s all baroque stuff around the edges of the area. Any passes sent into the danger zone are being mopped up easily enough by the Arsenal back line.
9.17pm GMT
58 min: Arsenal are all over Liverpool now. A free kick 30 yards out is smacked straight into the wall by Ozil. Then Walcott sashays in from the left and nearly works space to shoot. Liverpool are hanging on here, all of a sudden.
9.16pm GMT
Bellerin bowls down the right. The ball is fed into the area where Giroud swivels, 12 yards out, and buries a stunner into the left-hand side of Mignolet’s net. What a finish! Arsenal lead for the first time!
9.14pm GMT
54 min: Clyne is booked for a cynical handball as Monreal tries to break past him.
9.14pm GMT
52 min: Walcott dribbles down the right now. He’s got men either side, with Liverpool light at the back, but hangs on too long and allows Sakho to block. A real chance to send a team-mate clear into the area there.
9.10pm GMT
51 min: Walcott is allowed to start a dribble deep in his own half down the left, and finish it with a shot just outside the Liverpool D. No challenges. His low shot is weak and squeaks wide of the left-hand post, Mignolet having it covered.
9.09pm GMT
50 min: Ibe, Clyne and Milner press Arsenal hard down the right. The away side are on the ropes, but a daft Can challenge sends Walcott needlessly to the floor, and the pressure is released. It’s raining quite heavily at Anfield now.
9.07pm GMT
48 min: And now there’s a chance for Liverpool. Milner dribbles into the Arsenal area on the right. He fires a low cross towards Firmino, who dinks the ball on for Moreno, on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. He should score, but blasts over the bar. This could easily already be 3-3.
9.05pm GMT
Arsenal get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes. Ozil is quickly sent into space down the left. From deep, he swings a gorgeous dipping cross towards Campbell, on the right-hand edge of the six-yard box. Campbell, under pressure from Moreno on his shoulder, leans back and volleys wildly over the bar. Not an easy chance, but a chance. What a cross from Ozil!
8.53pm GMT
Half-time entertainment. Yes, this fixture has a habit of churning out the stories all right. In lieu of no more crazy action for the next ten minutes or so, here’s an old Joy of Six for your leisure and pleasure.
Related: Joy of Six: Liverpool v Arsenal matches | Scott Murray
8.49pm GMT
That was a simply wonderful half of football. More, please! “Is this game simply an exercise in trolling Man Utd fans?” asks Andy Gordon. “Last night their draw with Newcastle was described as the best game of the season. Now it isn’t even the best televised game in the last 24 hours.”
8.49pm GMT
45 min +2: Ibe is sent into space down the right by Clyne. Mertesacker can only deflect the resulting cross with his chest to Firmino, 12 yards out and level with the right hand post. Firmino, with his back to goal, takes one touch with his right peg to control, then swivels and curls a stunning effort towards the top left. It’s got Cech beaten, but it pings off the top of the bar. So close to a first-half hat-trick.
8.47pm GMT
45 min +1: Can, from the best part of 30 yards, attempts to float a curling ball into the top right. That’ll not be beating Cech.
8.46pm GMT
45 min: There will be three extra minutes added to this first half.
8.45pm GMT
43 min: Walcott has a dig from distance. The ball balloons off Sakho for a corner. Lallana clear’s Ozil’s corner at the near post. Liverpool try to break upfield, but Ozil falls on the ball, smothering it like a blanket. Milner tries to dig it out with his boot. He wants the free kick. It’s a drop ball. Nobody’s happy at this outcome. Milner wins the drop ball against Ozil, for what that’s worth, blootering it upfield for Arsenal to gather. An entertaining few seconds of glorious futility.
8.43pm GMT
41 min: But this is a little better from Liverpool. A Lallana backheel down the right, after a long run, sets Firmino into the area. The angle’s tight, so Firmino fires low and hard towards the near post, in the hope of returning the ball to Lallana. But Cech, diving low, fingertips an interception. Can sniffs around, but Mertesacker bangs clear.
8.41pm GMT
40 min: A bit of space for Ibe on the right. He thinks about shooting, but all that early confidence has gone out of Liverpool’s game. He checks, turns back to Clyne. Firmino’s fed down the right, but his cross is closed down and deflected into Cech’s arms.
8.39pm GMT
38 min: Moreno wins a bouncing ball down the inside-left channel, pauses with it at his feet, then wedges it towards the penalty spot. But Henderson, making a lung-bursting run from deep on the right, is never getting there ahead of Cech, who ambles off his line to pluck the ball from the sky.
8.38pm GMT
37 min: Clyne, bustling in from the right, tries to get the ball under control for a shot, but it’s not responding to his commands. He lays off to Ibe, who blooters a shot into Stanley Park.
8.37pm GMT
35 min: Anfield is still noisy, but it’s the away support making most of the racket. Liverpool have been utterly incapable of stringing together two passes since conceding the second equaliser. “I half expect Steve Evans to turn out to be some kind of Johnny Vegas-style long-term-commitment character comedian,” writes Matt Dony. “It’s the only explanation. Eddie Howe could be an everyman observational comedian. What is the deal with old people and Bournemouth? Amirite?”
8.35pm GMT
34 min: Campbell cuts in from the right and has another dig. The ball loops off Moreno and over the bar for a corner on the right. Cue more slapstick shenanigans. Mignolet comes out to flap. Toure guides a header onto the back of Mertesacker’s head. After a pinball trill, the ball sails out to the left of goal.
8.33pm GMT
31 min: Campbell is beginning to show his qualities. He cuts in side from the right and sends a looping shot straight down Mignolet’s throat. Then he’s very nearly skittering past Moreno, but can’t quite earn the corner. Liverpool were on top during the opening stages, but it’s all Arsenal now.
8.31pm GMT
28 min: How are Arsenal not leading?! Campbell slips a pass down the right to release Walcott into the Liverpool area. He fires a low cross towards Giroud, who just has to tap home with Mignolet and his entire defence all over the shop. But Giroud somehow hooks the ball back across the face of goal, and a prone Mignolet shovels the ball away to clear his lines. He’s had a shocker so far, but that’s a fine reaction stop from the keeper, brilliant stuff. Liverpool hack upfield.
8.28pm GMT
27 min: That’s Mignolet beaten twice at his near post. “Glad we upped his contract!” quips Rick McGahey.
8.27pm GMT
Ramsey and Giroud exchange a chippy one-two on the edge of the Liverpool box. Ramsey’s suddenly clear in the box! He dinks the ball over the advancing Mignolet. It’s dropping in, but Sakho heads off the line and over the bar for a corner. Much good it’s done him, though. From the set piece, hit low and hard towards the near post, Giroud gets a faint flick and Mignolet helps it into the net. What a strange game this has been! What a game!
8.25pm GMT
24 min: A fairly lax clearing header by Mertesacker allows Milner to drive into the Arsenal box on the right. Monreal is there to attach himself to Milner’s shoulder, and the Liverpool midfielder can only prod weakly towards the bottom right.
8.23pm GMT
21 min: Liverpool are playing some lovely football right now. A few triangles on the edge of the area. Suddenly Firmino, down the inside left, slides the ball inside for Henderson, who slips forward for Moreno, free in the area. Moreno batters a shot off the underside of the bar, 1966 World Cup final style. The linesman gets involved here, too, but only to correctly flag Moreno for offside. But the home side are well on top, even if Ramsey’s goal means the scoreline doesn’t quite reflect the level of their superiority so far.
8.21pm GMT
You wait ages for your first Anfield goal ... Arsenal try to play the ball out of defence. Henderson slides in to intercept, and nearly sends Milner free down the inside-left channel. Milner stops, turns, and clips the ball inside for Firmino, who curls an unstoppable shot into the top right from 25 yards. That was curing in from the moment it left his boot. A beautiful goal.
8.19pm GMT
17 min: It’s still all Liverpool, despite the equaliser. Ibe wins a corner down the right. Milner fires the set piece into the box. It hits Walcott at the near post. He then clears. The fans behind the goal scream for a penalty - this is getting old - but the players don’t bother and the referee waves play on. Incidentally, Giroud just popped off to get a staple put in his head. Who’d be a Premier League star, huh?
8.17pm GMT
16 min: Wow, what a start to this game. There’s a pause before the restart as Giroud gets attention for a crack upside the head; he came off worse in a 50-50 aerial challenge with Sakho.
8.16pm GMT
Arsenal have done nothing in attack, and now look! A bit of head tennis on the edge of the Liverpool penalty box. The ball drops to Campbell, 30 yards out, along the inside-right channel. He threads a gorgeous ball down the channel to release Ramsey into the box. He snaps a shot towards the bottom right, beating Mignolet at his near post. A cracking finish, though yet another question mark against Liverpool’s keeper.
8.14pm GMT
12 min: It’s been all Liverpool so far. Arsenal haven’t spent a second in Liverpool’s final third. “Is there any manager in the English game who would make a better stand-up than Klopp?” wonders Charles Antaki. “There is the self-satirizing Steve Evens, true, and Phil Brown I think is still somewhere around, but Klopp has the hipster plus family appeal. He doesn’t even have to be in a good mood to deliver the laffs.” Louis van Gaal? He’s got a deadpan charm, a bit like Steven Wright or Jack Dee.
8.12pm GMT
Milner, down the inside left, feeds Can down the channel. He drops a shoulder and cuts inside, battering a low shot towards the bottom right. Cech does brilliantly to parry, but the ball breaks to Firmino, ten yards out and level with the right-hand post. Firmino fires low and hard into the bottom right. He celebrates his first league goal at Anfield by taking his shirt off, and that’s a booking.
8.10pm GMT
9 min: Liverpool have started very much the stronger. Moreno jigs around down the left and earns a corner. Milner takes, and Mertesacker clears. But only halfway up the pitch. And when Milner picks the ball up, 30 yards from goal ...
8.08pm GMT
7 min: Clyne and Ibe take turns to cause bother down the inside-right channel. After a couple of dribbles each, Clyne eventually takes a shot. It’s blocked, but the ball springs loose into the right-hand side of the box. Ibe tries to get there, but Koscielny is across and too strong. Ibe goes down, shoulder to shoulder. Anfield appeals. Ibe doesn’t.
8.07pm GMT
6 min: Can drives down the middle with purpose, glides a little to the left, then slips the ball back inside for Lallana, who has space on the edge of the area. Lallana should get a shot on goal at the very least, but lets the ball clank between his legs, then falls as he bumps into Mertesacker. Anfield screams for a penalty kick, but that’s never going to be given.
8.05pm GMT
4 min: Ozil drops deep and playmakes for the first, but almost certainly not the last, time of the evening. He nearly releases Walcott down the inside-left channel with a sliderule pass, but his team-mate is too eager and is caught offside. Liverpool go up the other end, Milner attempting a curler into the top right from distance out on the left. Ambitious, and easy for Cech to collect. “The scarf in the picture is incorrect too,” opines Glen Sutton. “It’s bad form to use full stops in uppercase initialisms like AFC of LFC. On the plus side, they did spell Wednesday correctly.”
8.02pm GMT
2 min: A fast-paced start to the game. Liverpool seeing most of the ball, but not doing a whole lot with it. Arsenal seem happy to sit back and let the home side have it. Waiting for Liverpool to blow themselves out?
8.01pm GMT
A warm handshake between Klopp and Wenger, and Liverpool get the ball rolling. Arsenal are kicking towards the Kop in the first half, which means Liverpool will do that in the second, just the way they like it. Sakho lumps long, and the ball’s soon in Cech’s hands. It’s a noisy Anfield.
7.58pm GMT
The teams are out! Liverpool are in their famous red shirts and red shorts, while Arsenal sport their second-choice golden tops with dark breeches. A light drizzle in the air. Nothing too hectic. The atmosphere more than makes up for that. A blast of Gerry and the Pacemakers, and we’ll be off in a minute!
7.53pm GMT
A relaxed Arsene Wenger speaks! But only to his team in the dressing room before kick-off. No pre-match interview on BT Sport, unless I dozed off for a while there, Russian commentator style. Anything’s possible. They did show a pre-record with him in his office, smiling ruefully about his side’s 5-1 defeat here a couple of years ago. But you didn’t miss much.
7.47pm GMT
Just in case you’re expecting the game to start right about now, a reminder that it’s a late 8pm kick-off at Anfield. But Liverpool’s city rivals Everton will be kicking off now - and you can follow their game at Manchester City with Tim Hill here. And it’s an MBM feast for you this evening, because Bryan Graham is all over the other 8pm kick off, Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City, here. You lucky people, as a former Fulham chairman once said. Variety-show patter from the 1940s, the internet kids can’t get enough of it.
7.27pm GMT
A smiling Jurgen Klopp speaks! “Obviously most of the time before a game I am really excited because I like football. So we have a chance to play well, good, perfect. I’m looking forward to it. We don’t play without Christian Benteke: he’s on the bench, and that’s good. But we play a different line-up. Hopefully the right one. Arsenal want to play football in different spaces, and we have an idea for this. But let’s see what happens. We have some players in our team who have scored goals in their life. Maybe in their youth.” Tinder dry, there. He’s also certainly got plenty of respect for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger. Admitting that his side have found goalscoring hard recently - just 22 in their 20 league games, Liverpool’s lowest total at this stage of the season ever, worse than the mark of 23 set in 1924 and then again in 1971 - he announced with a rare straight face: “You don’t solve your goalscoring problems playing against Arsenal.”
7.14pm GMT
It’s probably not a surprise to report that Liverpool have made 11 changes from the team that started the FA Cup third round at Exeter City last Friday. In comes... no, life’s too short. Perhaps there’s more relevance in the number of changes made from the side that won the first leg of the League Cup semi at Stoke last Tuesday. In place of Dejan Lovren, Joe Allen, Lucas and Philippe Coutinho: Mamadou Sakho, Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Jordan Ibe.
Arsenal’s FA Cup side against Sunderland was something of a freeform jazz number too. So let’s compare this Premier League starting XI to their last one, at home against Newcastle United. And there’s just the one change there: Joel Campbell comes in for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
7.04pm GMT
Liverpool: Mignolet, Clyne, Toure, Sakho, Moreno, Henderson, Milner, Can, Lallana, Ibe, Firmino.
Subs: Ward, Caulker, Smith, Lucas, Allen, Teixeira, Benteke.
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Campbell, Ozil, Walcott, Giroud.
Subs: Macey, Gibbs, Gabriel, Chambers, Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Iwobi.
6.59pm GMT
Parliamo Deutsch: “I must protest at the atrocious German of these Klopp T-shirts,” writes Nathaniel Davis. “In German you never say ‘Ein’ as a noun to mean ‘One’. The ‘One’ is implied by turning the adjective into a noun. ‘The Normal One’ would just be ‘Der Normale’.” Peter Oh, similarly appalled, adds with a puntastic flourish: “Beware of the false ein!”
11.24am GMT
Matches between Liverpool and Arsenal have cachet, baby. They’ve got cachet up the yin-yang. The two teams contested the 1950, 1971 and 2001 FA Cup finals. They featured on the very first Match of the Day from Beatlesville back in 1964. A late-season win for Liverpool in 1947 went a long way to landing the title. The latest late-season win of all for Arsenal in 1989 comprehensively decided another. There’s some history here, and we’ve only scratched the surface.
The most recent of it favours Arsenal. Since Luis Suarez sealed a 2-0 win for Liverpool at the Emirates in August 2011, the teams have met nine times, and Arsenal have won on five occasions. Three other matches - including a genuine game-of-two-halves affair in north London earlier this season - have been draws. Liverpool have only won once, but what a win that was: a 5-1 hiding at Anfield in Feburary 2014 that derailed Arsenal’s title challenge that year while sparking off a thoroughly entertaining but ultimately futile charge of their own.
Continue reading...The Fiver | A 48-hour turps bender
Charlton interim manager Karel Fraeye bears a slight facial resemblance to former Scotland coach Craig Levein. He’s not the spitting image of him or anything, but there’s a vague, ballpark similarity going on there. It’s more pronounced if you search out a picture of Fraeye wearing a pair of expensive designer spectacles, frowning quite hard, holding his head in his hands like he’s just off the back of a 48-hour turps bender, and staring at the floor while wearing the dazed look of a man who can’t for the life of him figure out how to break down Liechtenstein. Squint a little. Squint a lot. There! They’re not a million miles apart, are they? Although sadly for Charlton, the comparison ends there, because Fraeye’s results are so bad they make Levein look like Vittorio Pozzo.
Continue reading...January 12, 2016
Newcastle United v Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened
The two Uniteds shared six goals on a glorious evening that began with a poignant tribute to the late Pavel Srníček and ended in rollercoaster drama.
10.05pm GMT
And here’s Louise Taylor’s match report:
Related: Paul Dummett strike earns Newcastle draw against Manchester United
9.38pm GMT
And that’s that. Boring, boring Louis van Gaal, huh. What a game of football. A couple of gorgeous team goals, a couple of old-school blooters, a couple of controversial penalty decisions, a couple of clear-cut chances missed at both ends. A draw’s probably a fair result on a memorable evening at St James Park. Wonderful entertainment, a game of glorious imperfection. And it’d be nice to think that, on the day he was remembered, Pavel Srníček was hanging around on a star somewhere, watching all the fun unfold.
9.37pm GMT
90 min +3: Darmian and Toney tussle on the edge of the Newcastle box. The pair go down. The home crowd scream for a penalty kick, but that’s not going to be given.
9.36pm GMT
90 min +2: Perez is replaced by De Jong, whose first act is to clank a clearing header upfield, Manchester United having swung a free kick into the area from the left.
9.35pm GMT
90 min +1: There will be four added minutes. If only there could be an extra 44.
9.34pm GMT
The ball’s slung into the Manchester United area down the right. Smalling, at the far post, heads clear. The ball falls to Dummett, to the left of the D. The left-back blooters a rising effort towards the top left. The ball spins off Smalling, who is trying to close the shot down, and arrows into the corner. What a game this has been!
9.33pm GMT
89 min: Toney is dispossessed by Martial, 25 yards from his own goal. Martial makes for the area, then slides Rooney in on the left. He should get a hat-trick shot away, but overruns the pass and the ball goes out of play. What a mistake, because ...
9.31pm GMT
87 min: Now Rooney does his bit in the centre of the park, breaking up play and eventually drawing a foul from Coloccini. The clock is not Newcastle’s friend. With this very much in mind, Rooney stays on the turf awhile with his face pressed into the grass.
9.29pm GMT
85 min: Tiote is replaced by Toney. Here’s Jurjen Boorsma, a long time AZ Alkmaar supporter: “In 07/08 with AZ, Van Gaal didn’t win 16 matches in a row, just evaded relegation. In 08/09 AZ lost only the first two matches and became Dutch champion. Mancunians, be patient, trust Louis!”
9.27pm GMT
84 min: Well, this should be all over. Memphis, who has been lively since coming on, zips down the left and whips a medium-height cross into the Newcastle box. The home side are light at the back, and Fellaini is coming in to meet the centre with his head. But he blasts his header straight at Elliot when he surely had to put the result beyond doubt.
9.26pm GMT
82 min: Newcastle are pinging it around the middle of the park with great intensity, but Manchester United have dropped deep, and there’s no space to take advantage of.
9.25pm GMT
80 min: Newcastle withdraw Colback in favour of Gouffran.
9.24pm GMT
Memphis cuts in from the left, makes a little space, and fires a low shot goalwards. It’s blocked by a sliding Mbemba, a fine tackle, but the ball breaks off a startled Dummett to Rooney on the right-hand edge of the D. Rooney sends an unstoppable screamer into the top left. Yet another stunning goal. The finish of the evening.
9.22pm GMT
77 min: Mitrovic dribbles into the Manchester United box from the right, capitalising on a mistake from Blind. He makes some space to shoot, but shanks a hopeless effort miles left of the target.
9.21pm GMT
76 min: Coloccini and Fellaini crash into a 50-50 sliding tackle in the centre circle. It has no bearing on anything whatsoever, but it was a lot of old-school fun. A suggestion that Fellaini might have had a cheeky wee kick at his opponent as the Newcastle man made off with the ball, but a second yellow would have been harsh for that.
9.18pm GMT
75 min: A second change by Manchester United. Herrera - who as ever has been busy and impressive - is replaced by Mata.
9.17pm GMT
73 min: Wijnaldum has been excellent tonight. He makes space down the left but his curler into the box is a wee bit too long for Mitrovic. Then there’s an opportunity for Perez to shoot, 20 yards out, just to the left of centre. He gets an effort on target, but it’s weak and straight at De Gea.
9.15pm GMT
70 min: A free-form melee in the middle of the Manchester United box. Mitrovic and Wijnaldum get in each other’s way from six yards. The visitors are all over the shop right now. Can Newcastle complete a remarkable turnaround while they’ve got the upper hand?
9.13pm GMT
68 min: Darmian plays an awful challenge across the Manchester United back line to Sissoko, who slips Wijnaldum free into the area down the left. Wijnaldum hammers an unstoppable shot past De Gea, but he was miles offside, and the goal’s quite rightly disallowed. This is simply wonderful entertainment, though: seconds before that incident, up the other end, Manchester United had launched a free kick into the home box from the left, causing all manner of bother.
9.11pm GMT
From a Newcastle corner on the right, the referee points to the spot. It’s a no-brainer, because Smalling was wrestling Mitrovic to the floor in the sumo style. The defender is booked, and the striker gets up to slot the penalty kick home, into the bottom-right corner. I hope Lingard is sitting quite a long way away from his manager on the bench.
9.09pm GMT
65 min: Van Gaal, beside himself with annoyance at Lingard’s miss, hooks the player. Memphis comes on in his wake.
9.09pm GMT
63 min: This is brilliant end-to-end fare. Colback is sent scampering into the Manchester United area down the right, after a lovely clipped pass from Perez. He should shoot, but opts to go down looking for a penalty, with Fellaini on his shoulder. But for once, Fellaini hasn’t been acting the big galoot this evening. No contact. Why didn’t Colback shoot?
9.07pm GMT
62 min: Rooney bears down on the Newcastle box, romping along the inside-left channel. One last shimmy and he’ll be clear on goal, but Coloccini stops him on the edge of the area. Fine defending.
9.06pm GMT
60 min: Incidentally, as Newcastle toil for the equaliser, their fans have been fighting the good fight. #SportsDirectShame
Related: Newcastle United fans unfurl protest banner against Mike Ashley's Sports Direct
9.03pm GMT
58 min: Corner for Newcastle on the left. Perez takes, but Fellaini wins the header. Boom. But Newcastle come back at Manchester United, and Sissoko wins anothre corner, this time on the right. From which nothing occurs. A terrible waste, but that was some decent pressure from the home side.
9.01pm GMT
56 min: Manchester United should have restored their two-goal cushion. Martial makes a fool of Mbemba as he tears down the inside-right channel and into the box. He slides a pass inside for Herrera, who plays a clever first-time blind pass behind him, shuttling the ball on to Lingard, who’s set free on the penalty spot! He has to score, but over-elaborates, leaning back and looking for a fancy curler into the top right. It’s high and wide. On the bench, Louis van Gaal nearly self-combusts in anger. You’d pay cash money to be in their dressing room after the game if they don’t win this.
8.58pm GMT
54 min: Newcastle are playing with an impressive urgency right now. Janmaat, Sissoko and Wijnaldum triangulating well down the right, the latter falling over by the D just as it looked as though he was going to break into the box. This game is far from over. “Not to go against the narrative in the media and the experts on online footy forums, but I’m certain history will treat Louis Van Gaal and his time at Man United well,” opines Peter Ferry. “Of course we have to sit through his cautious possession-based mid tempo turge but he’ll be the one who stabilised the club in the post-Fergie panic and steered Man United into the Giggs era. Probably.”
8.56pm GMT
52 min: Sissoko twists and turns round Young, just inside the Manchester United box down the left. He reaches the left-hand corner of the six-yard area, and should score, but blasts his shot straight at De Gea. The teams should be level. From the corner, Janmaat tries to beat the keeper from 40 yards. Hmm hmm hmm.
8.53pm GMT
49 min: A fairly quiet start to this half otherwise, though.
8.52pm GMT
47 min: A long ball down the Newcastle left, and Wijnaldum is very close to breaking into the box. But Smalling comes across quickly to hook the ball out of play, and Manchester United snuff out the resulting attacking throw. “So does the sudden burst of exciting footer mean Van Gaal is a genius again?” wonders Ian Copestake, who seems to be under the impression that the media is fickle. Eh? What? Ian! No!
8.49pm GMT
Manchester United get the ball rolling for the second half, and launch it long. Fellaini heads down. The ball’s shuttled back. Then Smalling hoicks it forward. Herrera was chasing after it down the inside-left channel, but there’s too much juice on the ball and Elliot is out to claim.
8.37pm GMT
Half-time entertainment: A football song from Newcastle United and Manchester United’s annus mirabilis of 1996.
8.35pm GMT
And that’s that for a stupendously entertaining first half containing just about everything. A controversial penalty that was given, a controversial penalty that wasn’t given, a couple of egregious misses, and two wonderful goals. More of this, please!
8.33pm GMT
45 min +2: Blind hits long. Smalling heads down at the far post, but Mbemba’s not wafting his arms around this time. The danger’s over.
8.33pm GMT
45 min +1: There will be two added minutes. In the first, Martial picks up the ball on the right, and powers towards Dummett. He cuts inside, and his low shot only just flies to the right of the post. There’s a deflection off Dummett’s heel. That’ll be a corner. From which ...
8.31pm GMT
44 min: A marvellous atmosphere at St James Park. And no wonder. These two teams are putting on quite a show. This is a wonderful match.
8.30pm GMT
Newcastle have something before half-time! Coloccini, deep on the left, hits a diagonal long ball towards Mitrovic in the Manchester United box. Mitrovic beats Fellaini to the header, cushioning it down to Wijnaldum on the penalty spot. Wijnaldum meets it first time, and steers a delightful effort into the bottom right. You don’t stop that! Another picture-book goal!
8.28pm GMT
40 min: Newcastle need something before half-time, you’d think. An attack down the left is going nowhere, but Mitrovic causes a bit of bother, and Manchester United fail to clear properly. The ball breaks to Coloccini, 30 yards out in a central position. The centre-back cocks his leg back, then snap-cracks a superlative rising drive that only just flies wide and high of the top-left corner. A brilliant attempt!
8.25pm GMT
Oh this is a marvellous goal. Newcastle are on the attack, but Herrera picks up a loose ball in the middle of his own half. He slides a pass down the inside-left channel for Rooney, who trundles towards the area. Rooney’s held up as he enters the box, but keeps possession, and keeps his head too. He dinks a delicious reverse pass towards Lingard, romping up the pitch on his outside. From a tight position on the left, Lingard takes a touch and rolls a confident finish past Elliot.
8.23pm GMT
37 min: Darmian tries his luck from the best part of 30 yards out on the left. Nope!
8.23pm GMT
35 min: Tiote is quite rightly booked for an agricultural hoof on the back of Herrera’s leg. The ref’s in the thick of it tonight all right. Additionally, in the build-up to that non-penalty decision, Colback was tugged back by Fellaini, who has already committed 543 fouls and is on a booking. Plenty to talk about, huh.
8.20pm GMT
32 min: Janmaat drives into the Manchester United area from the right, chasing a loose ball. He’s clipped on the back of the legs by Lingard, a clumsy tackle, and goes to ground before he can take a shot on goal. It should be a penalty kick, but Mike Dean isn’t giving it. That’s a dreadful decision.
8.17pm GMT
30 min: That’s woken Newcastle up, though. Wijnaldum twists and turns down the left. He’s upended by Herrera near the penalty box, though it’s Smalling who goes in the book for the foul. The set piece is hit towards Coloccini at the far post, but De Gea punches clear of bother. This is a pretty entertaining affair, if not a match of the highest quality. But so what? All good fun.
8.16pm GMT
28 min: What a chance II! And the home side should be level. Wijnaldum and Perez exchange passes down the inside-right channel. It’s a crisp one-two, and the simple play opens Manchester United up totally. Wijnaldum is free on the penalty spot! He’s got to score! But he batters a low shot straight at De Gea, who parries powerfully clear of goal.
8.14pm GMT
27 min: Herrera slides a pass down the inside-left channel to release Rooney into space. He’s one on one with Elliot! He should score, but in going for the shot across the keeper into the bottom right, sends the ball wide of the post. What a chance!
8.13pm GMT
25 min: Herrera finds space down the right and fires a low ball across the face of goal. The ball brushes Coloccini’s trouser arrangement, and goes out of play for a corner on the left. The set piece is hit deep. Fellaini finds the ball at his feet, and tries a shot. It’s blocked by a sliding Dummett, who accidentally traps the ball with his armpit while facing the other way. No penalty. Fellaini shoves him in the back as he tries to spring up and clear. He finally goes in the book, for not very much it should be said. The totting-up procedure, no doubt.
8.11pm GMT
23 min: Colback hoicks long into the Manchester United box. Fellaini rises to batter a header clear. Tiote tries to get the move going again with a delicate chip. It’s not so delicate. Goal kick.
8.08pm GMT
21 min: Colback breaks down the middle of the park, looking for a bit of space that’s opened up ahead of him. Fellaini sticks a leg out, and should be booked for obstructing his man. But the referee opts for a ticking off instead. That’s not gone down well with the home crowd, especially in the wake of the penalty. Lucky Marouane.
8.05pm GMT
18 min: Martial skins Dummett down the right, and tries to find Rooney with a low cross to the near post. There’s too much pace on the ball, and Rooney can’t react. Then Martial takes the full-back on again, with more success. His resulting pull back is intercepted by the telescopic leg of Mbemba, who blasts clear.
8.03pm GMT
16 min: It’s all Manchester United now. Newcastle, who had more than 70% possession before the penalty, now can’t get a sniff. “SuperSport in South Africa shows snippets of classic Manchester United matches, and they’ve got one of the 2-1 victory over Chelsea that more or less clinched the 19th league,” reports Thabo Mokaleng. “My favorite thing about the clip is seeing the sheer delight on Sir Alex Ferguson’s face as he lives and dies every single moment of that game. Contrast that with our rigidly stone-faced philosopher and his infamous file folio thingy.”
8.01pm GMT
14 min: That’s taken the wind out of Newcastle’s sails. The home team had started well. Young has embarked on another skitter down the right, and once again it requires Sissoko to hack clear with the defence all over the shop and red shirts swarming around. Newcastle need to clear their heads. They’ve let that penalty decision get to them.
7.59pm GMT
11 min: That’s going to be a controversial decision. Mbebma was as close as you like to Fellaini, so that’s a harsh decision from his point of view. But he did go in to challenge the header with Fellaini with his arm out, so in that respect was asking for trouble. On BT Sport, Howard Webb backs referee Mike Dean’s decision: the extended arm, you see. Newcastle aren’t happy, though.
7.57pm GMT
... the corner’s hit deep. Fellaini goes up to head by the far post. His header hits the left arm of Mbemba who is standing right next to him. Mbemba’s arm is extended away from his body, and though he’s got no space to react, that’s a hand ball. Rooney steps up to slot the penalty kick into the bottom right.
7.55pm GMT
8 min: Young earns himself a bit of space down the right. He whips a cross into the six-yard box, with Rooney and Martial lurking. Sissoko reads the danger well to step in between them and head clear. Then another Manchester United attack, Darmian making bother down the right to win a corner. From which...
7.52pm GMT
6 min: Fellaini tries to rugby-tackle Perez, 40 yards from the Manchester United goal, the Newcastle man making good down the middle of the pitch. A chance for the home side to load the box. Perez launches it long, and Fellaini heads clear. A strange, albeit slightly ugly, symmetry to that period of play.
7.51pm GMT
4 min: Manchester United haven’t seen much of the ball yet. Newcastle have been happy to stroke it around the back, with the visitors more than content to let them do it. That corner apart, it’s been quite a quiet start.
7.50pm GMT
2 min: Sissoko has started off in a very busy fashion. His hard work down the right earns the first corner of the match. It’s the first wasted corner of the match, too, overhit, with Coloccini unable to rescue the ball on the left-hand corner of the box. Manchester United clear easily.
7.48pm GMT
Newcastle get the ball rolling. They tap it around awhile. Sissoko attempts to break down the right, but is cynically tugged back by Fellaini. The resulting free kick, taken in the middle of the park, comes to nothing.
7.47pm GMT
The teams are out! Newcastle United are in their famous black-and-white stripes, while Manchester United wear their own storied first-choice red shirts. A blast of Blaydon Races, and the theme to the greatest movie ever made, Local Hero. And how apt is the title of that music, for it’s time for St James Park to pay their respects to Srníček. A minute’s applause, which should begin on the referee’s whistle, but starts well before it, so eager are the fans to celebrate their former favourite’s life. Time for a little song, too. ♫ Pavel is a Geordie, Pavel is a Geordie ♪♫
7.35pm GMT
Pavel is a Geordie. A moment to remember former Newcastle keeper Pavel Srníček, who played in both of those tumultuous games against Manchester United in 1996. Srníček sadly passed away a fortnight ago, and tonight, at Newcastle’s first home game since the awful news broke, everyone in St James Park will pay tribute with a minute’s applause before kick-off. He’s also on the front of the match programme, and on the back of the team’s training tops, his image surrounded by the legend “Pavel is a Geordie”.
He was certainly that, as his former team-mate Steve Harper has just told BT Sport. Harper flew to the Czech Republic last week for the funeral, and was clearly very emotional as he paid his own very moving tribute: “Pav was a huge influence on me early in my career, and I’d have travelled anywhere in the world to pay my respects to him. It’s been a very emotional few days.” Harper goes on to speak very warmly of his friend, who took him under his wing as a young professional. “He wasn’t just a top goalkeeper, he was a great man. Pav got the club, got the city, got the people. But they also got him, and you’ll see a fitting tribute to him tonight.”
7.20pm GMT
Steve McClaren speaks! And he looks fairly relaxed too, for a chap who has presided over four straight 1-0 defeats. “We’ve been very close but far away in terms of results. We have to maintain what we’re doing in defence, staying fairly tight, but start taking our chances. I’m sure one day, or one night, we will, and I hope it’s tonight. This is the same team we put out against Arsenal, and we played well at the Emirates, so we’d like to do the same again. I think tonight it’s very important to play football. We kept the ball, we kept possession. If we let United dominate, we’re in trouble.”
7.15pm GMT
Louis van Gaal - laconic but laid-back - speaks! And he’s asked whether he’s looking for a bit more creativity and verve. Cue highly amused smile. “Also. Not only that, but also.” Then to team matters. “Juan Mata has played all the games, so he needed a rest. But I like speed on the wings, so I have chosen Herrera.” It’s then pointed out to him that he’s one win away from the Champions League spots. Another highly amused grin plays across his face. “It’s a crazy football world, huh? But first we have to win, and that’s not so easy, as you know.” And with that, he’s off. In and out quickly. A very chipper interview, too. In fact, everyone involved with Manchester United looks pretty relaxed this evening, with Wayne Rooney and Daley Blind particularly smiley as they trot out for their pre-game stretches. Penny for Newcastle’s thoughts: aren’t their opponents supposed to be under all sorts of pressure? It’s almost as if it’s a media confection.
6.57pm GMT
There’s one change to the Newcastle starting XI that lost at Watford in the third round of the FA Cup: Kevin Mbabu makes way for Jack Colback.
Meanwhile Manchester United make three changes to the team sent out to kick things off against Sheffield United last weekend: Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Juan Mata and Bastian Schweinsteiger are replaced by Ashley Young, Morgan Schneiderlin and Jesse Lingard.
6.56pm GMT
Newcastle United: Elliot, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Dummett, Tiote, Colback, Sissoko, Wijnaldum, Perez, Mitrovic.
Subs: De Jong, Gouffran, Lascelles, Darlow, Marveaux, Toney, Sterry.
Manchester United: De Gea, Young, Smalling, Blind, Darmian, Fellaini, Schneiderlin, Lingard, Ander Herrera, Martial, Rooney.
Subs: Depay, Mata, Romero, McNair, Borthwick-Jackson, Andreas Pereira, Weir.
12.06pm GMT
Twenty years ago, Manchester United came to St James’ Park and executed a perfect smash and grab. It was a two-man show: Peter Schmeichel stood up to relentless Newcastle United pressure, then Eric Cantona made off with the jewels. The resolute performance effectively won the title for Alex Ferguson’s side. Also in 1996 at SJP: Newcastle exact a modicum of revenge the following season with a 5-0 shellacking, David Ginola, Alan Shearer, Philippe Albert’s floated chip, all that. It was a very good year.
Twenty years on, things aren’t quite as rosy for the Uniteds of Newcastle and Manchester. They were the most exciting sides in the land back then. Now? Not so much. And it’s difficult to know what we’re going to get from either team this evening. Newcastle registered highly impressive back-to-back victories over Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in December. Since then, they’ve lost four of five matches played, and even worse, failed to beat Aston Villa in the other one. Manchester United meanwhile are unbeaten in three, and are coming off back-to-back wins over Swansea City and Sheffield United. But those victories broke a sequence of eight games without a win, while the side suffered the indignity of being cheered ironically by their own fans against the Blades the other night when they finally got round to taking a couple of shots on goal. For reasons various, neither club represents the happiest of camps.
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