Scott Murray's Blog, page 169
December 11, 2015
Too good to go down? A brief guide to … big clubs being relegated
Could Newcastle, Sunderland and Aston Villa fall through the trapdoor this season? It wouldn’t be the first time a famous old club has endured relegation
With the Guardian’s unstoppable rise to global dominance** we at Guardian US thought we’d run a series of articles for fans wishing to improve their knowledge of the sports history and storylines, hopefully in a way that doesn’t patronise you to within an inch of your life.
A warning: If you’re the kind of person that finds The Blizzard too populist this may not be the series for you.
** Actual dominance may not be global. Or dominant
Related: A brief guide to … Liverpool's failure to recapture the glory days
Continue reading...
November 28, 2015
Leicester City v Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened
Jamie Vardy scored yet again, making it 11 matches in a row, and erasing Ruud van Nistelrooy from the Premier League record books.
7.20pm GMT
And that’s that. Leicester hold on for a point. Both teams went for the three points during those breathless closing exchanges. Both contributed to a fine match overall. But neither did quite enough to win, and neither deserved to lose. So a draw’s about right, then. Manchester City are the new Premier League leaders, Leicester are second, and United sit third. But this match isn’t really about any of that, is it? Congratulations to Jamie Vardy, who has now scored in 11 straight matches, breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Premier League record, and joining Stan Mortensen in second spot on the all-time English top-flight list. If Vardy scores against Swansea next week, he’ll join Jimmy Dunne at the top. No pressure. But then again, when’s he ever let the pressure get to him during this amazing run?!
7.18pm GMT
90 min +1: There will be two added minutes. In the first, Young makes good down the left, and crosses deep. Schlupp heads weakly clear. Darmian, coming in from the right, creams a rising shot towards the top left. It’s not far away, but clears the bar.
7.17pm GMT
90 min: Ulloa plays a gorgeous first-time ball round the corner and down the right wing, releasing Vardy into the United half. He’s clear of Smalling, the last man! But he’s too far wide for a shot, allowing Smalling to recover. Vardy crosses into the centre, but Ulloa’s been unable to keep up. What a chance that was!
7.16pm GMT
88 min: A free kick for Leicester out on the right. The hosts load the box. Drinkwater takes a poor free kick. Doesn’t beat the first man. United clear easily. But Leicester come back at them, and Drinkwater tries to make amends with a shot towards the top left from 25 yards. Not quite.
7.15pm GMT
87 min: Schlupp tries to burn Smalling on the left wing. He’s got plenty of pace, but so has the defender, who has been immense tonight. Smalling wins the battle in a very calm fashion, and strides off upfield in the casual style.
7.13pm GMT
86 min: Leicester can’t get hold of the ball at all. They’re desperate to hear the final whistle, though while United are certainly on top, it’s not quite relentless backs-to-the-wall stuff. “Better De Laet than never,” quips Julian Le Saux, dusting down one of the classics of the Premier League era. It never gets old, does it.
7.11pm GMT
84 min: This is attack versus defence now. Young tries to whip in a cross from the left, but it’s blocked. Darmian crosses well from the right this time, nearly allowing Young a shot at the far post. Then Darmian wins a header down the inside-right channel. It releases Memphis into the area, but his control lets him down, taking the ball to the right. He slashes wildly over the bar, and wide too, from ten yards. He should have been bearing down on goal.
7.08pm GMT
82 min: Darmian is sent into acres of space down the right. United have committed plenty of men forward, and they’re all fairly irritated when the full back clanks a woeful cross deep into the stand behind the goal.
7.07pm GMT
80 min: Leicester’s final change: De Laet comes on for Simpson.
7.07pm GMT
79 min: Depay makes a nuisance of himself down the left, and scoops a glorious cross up and down towards the far post. Mata is in space to take the ball down and shoot, but doesn’t do it quickly enough. Schlupp comes over to block. Leicester deal with the resulting corner.
7.05pm GMT
78 min: Mata dinks a ball into the Leicester area from the right. A kerfuffle in the area, and a corner’s forced on the left. Huth just beats Smalling to the header, and clears upfield. The play stops as Smalling has taken a clock on the noggin. He’ll be OK to continue.
7.03pm GMT
76 min: The pattern of this game is set now. United have the ball for the majority of time. They ping it around awhile. Occasionally they lose it, and Leicester try to put together a quick break. Twice in a minute Smalling snuffs out dangerous runs, first from Schlupp, then Vardy.
7.01pm GMT
74 min: Ulloa rides a couple of challenges down the left before sending Vardy scampering off after a pass. Vardy’s pace panics Blind into hacking to touch. Fuchs launches another of his long throws into the area, but Smalling is all over it.
7.00pm GMT
73 min: Fuchs, in the middle of United’s half, chips a ball down the inside-right for Ulloa, who checks on the edge of the area, turns, and then looks for the top left. Nope!
6.57pm GMT
70 min: A second change for Leicester: Schlupp comes on for Albrighton.
6.57pm GMT
69 min: An astonishing throw from Fuchs on the left. He Delaps it towards the penalty spot, on a diagonal route towards the far post. Vardy nearly connects with a telescopic leg, but Blind ushers him out of the road. The ball wheechs out of play to the right of the goal.
6.55pm GMT
68 min: Rooney, who has been poor again today, is replaced by Depay. The home fans, via the medium of folk song, compare him unfavourably to Vardy.
6.54pm GMT
66 min: Nearly another magnificent breakaway goal for Leicester! United lose possession in the Leicester half, and Mahrez dribbles at pace down the right. He cuts inside, then rolls a pass into the middle for Vardy and Ulloa, both on the edge of the box. Ulloa, on the left of the D, takes a touch back inside to get Smalling out of the road. He’s one on one with De Gea, but shoots lamely at the keeper’s legs. More a miss than a great save, to be honest. How Leicester will wish he’d left that for Vardy.
6.52pm GMT
65 min: Mata sprays a lovely pass wide right to Martial, who is in space to the right of the Leicester box. He’s surely going to break into the area. But no: he’s denied by some relentless snapping by Albrighton, who eventually scuttles off with the ball. Marvellous defence.
6.50pm GMT
63 min: United with the possession again. It’s all in the middle of the park. Leicester seem happy enough to let them do their thing. The minute Martial and Darmian try to combine down the right, the move’s snuffed out and the ball rolls through to Schmeichel.
6.48pm GMT
61 min: Okazaki is replaced by Ulloa.
6.47pm GMT
59 min: Mata gently curls a cross into the Leicester area from the left. It’s meant for Martial, but Huth stoops to head purposefully clear. But United are soon coming back at Leicester, and Mata, looking to turn and make good for the box, is upended 30 yards out. A free kick in a central position. From the set piece, Schweinsteiger heads goalwards again, but not with any great purpose. “Schweinsteiger has turned into Joe Jordan,” quips a rather happier Gary Neville on Sky.
6.44pm GMT
57 min: Fuchs has the ball at his feet, 30 yards out, down the inside-left channel. He curls a pass through the United back line, meant for Vardy, who is rushing into the area from the inside-right. Vardy would have been clear with only De Gea to beat, but Okazaki manages to get in the way of the pass, and United clear.
6.43pm GMT
55 min: Mahrez briefly threatens to zip clear down the right wing, but Smalling steps across to intercept, hold the ball under pressure from three blue shirts, then find the safety of Carrick infield. Smalling has been United’s best player tonight. Very composed.
6.40pm GMT
53 min: Darmian wins a corner for United down the right. Blind’s set piece flies straight through the box, though both Morgan and Rooney should have connected, one way or another. Leicester don’t look very sure of themselves at all these set pieces. United could make hay if they get enough opportunities.
6.38pm GMT
51 min: Kante doesn’t have much space out on the left, but still manages to dig a cross out, sending the ball flying dangerously towards the back post. Mahrez is tearing in with a view to connecting, but Smalling gets in the way. Fine anticipation. United were again a little ragged at the back.
6.37pm GMT
49 min: ... United nearly score. Young whips to the ball onto the head of Schweinsteiger, ten yards out. Schweinsteiger nearly repeats his trick of the first half, but his powered header goes straight at Schmeichel, who parries into the air. Rooney attempts to head the loose ball home, but he’s offside, can only squirt the ball to the right of the target from six yards out, and winds himself in the process. Not a success, all told.
6.35pm GMT
48 min: Martial goes over Fuchs’ clumsy leg, and wins a free kick to the right of the Leicester box. This is a very dangerous position. Young and Mata stand over it. And ...
6.34pm GMT
46 min: No changes have been made, by the way. A long ball down the middle is accidentally flicked backwards by the head of Carrick, freeing Albrighton down the left flank. Vardy is free in the middle, but Albrighton’s shovelled cross is overhit, and Young is able to clear. United very light at the back there. A real chance for Leicester to regain the lead, right at the start of the half.
6.32pm GMT
This match is perfectly poised. And it’s been marvellously entertaining. More please! Leicester get the ball rolling for the second half, but only after a false start. The only way is up, up, up!
6.19pm GMT
Half-time entertainment: Here’s a classic Forgotten Story from the Guardian archive: the tale of Leicester City’s doomed tilt at the Double in 1963, exquisitely told by the peerless Rob Bagchi. “We learned an important lesson today, lads. But for the life of me I don’t know what it is.”
Related: The forgotten story of … Leicester City: Ice Kings | Rob Bagchi
6.18pm GMT
Not a bad time to score an equaliser, huh? United had been all over the shop since the Leicester goal, but that could change everything. What an entertaining half of football. The Premier League at its to-and-fro-ing best. Should be a cracking second half. You’re going nowhere, right?
6.17pm GMT
The ball’s whipped into the box. Okazaki is brushed out of the way by Schweinsteiger, who crashes a header past Schmeichel from six yards. No messing! What determination to reach that ball. Schweinsteiger v Okazaki: no contest.
6.15pm GMT
45 min: Young has looked threatening down the left. He turns Simpson inside out down the left, then curls a dangerous ball towards the far post. Martial is lurking, but Drinkwater rises to glance the ball out of play to the right of goal. Corner. From which ...
6.14pm GMT
43 min: Mahrez has already been cynically checked by both Young and Blind. Now it’s Rooney’s turn, as the Leicester winger looks to make off down the right. Like Blind before him, he does well to escape a booking.
6.13pm GMT
42 min: Space for Mahrez again on the left of the United box. His low cross is dealt with by Smalling, but only after a fashion. Vardy and Drinkwater were both hovering with menacing intent. United seem a bit short on confidence right now. A goal would change all that, of course.
6.12pm GMT
40 min: Vardy scampers after a long ball down the left. De Gea comes out to the edge of his box to claim. Vardy clips the keeper’s toe accidentally. De Gea’s not too impressed. The pair exchange insults. Vardy effs and jeffs at the keeper in a style that wouldn’t confuse too many lip readers.
6.10pm GMT
38 min: More United possession, and for a while it looks like being TCP sterile. But then Martial twinkle-toes his way down the left, and skips along the byline. He fires a low cross to Schweinsteiger, who wants to bundle home at the near post, but the ball is blocked out for a corner. Rooney meets the set piece with a terrible downwards header that softly drifts out of play, miles to the right of goal.
6.05pm GMT
35 min: Rooney goes on a high-speed skitter down the inside-right channel. He looks to break past Fuchs on the edge of the area, but over-runs the ball and so decides to go over instead. The referee isn’t buying it.
6.04pm GMT
33 min: On the United bench, Louis van Gaal has a face on. Ryan Giggs is talking to him quite a lot, but the number one is wearing a thousand-yard stare. His team have had the majority of possession, but much good it’s done them. And now they’re suddenly second best to everything. “Has anyone picked up on the fact that ‘Fuchs’ is the German word for fox?” asks Shaun Wilkinson, because someone had to. “Wonderful pass, great nominative determinism.”
6.02pm GMT
31 min: Mahrez bursts into the United box on the left, after a one-two with Vardy, who is everywhere. Mahrez fires a low, hard shot towards the bottom-left corner. De Gea stands strong and kicks it clear, a magnificent save. United are on the ropes a little here.
6.00pm GMT
29 min: United are rattled. Rooney tries to hit back quickly, but once again gets himself in a tangle on the edge of the box. Up the other end, Okazaki isn’t far away from getting his head to a long Drinkwater ball down the middle. Then De Gea, under pressure from Okazaki and Vardy, nearly tees the record-breaker up with a free shot into an empty net! His misplaced pass down the left isn’t trapped by Vardy, and Blind comes across to snuff out the danger. But really. The King Power is bouncing.
5.58pm GMT
26 min: “Manchester United used to counter-attack like that,” sighs Gary Neville on Sky. A mix of admiration and irritation. Either way, there can be no higher praise. That was a stunning goal on the break. What a pass by Fuchs, and what a finish!
5.57pm GMT
Bang goes Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Premier League record! Schmeichel feeds Fuchs down the right. Fuchs strokes a gorgeous long, low, curling pass down the wing to release Vardy past Young and Darmian. Vardy takes a step into the area, draws De Gea, and fires a low shot past the keeper and into the left-hand side of the net! What a goal! Vardy has now scored in 11 consecutive top-flight games, matching the feat of Blackpool legend Stan Mortensen in 1951. Next in his sights: the 12 goals of Sheffield United’s Jimmy Dunne.
5.54pm GMT
23 min: Schweinsteiger earns United a corner down the left. The set piece lands on Smalling’s head, ten yards out, but the defender can’t connect. Morgan does his best to accidentally Cruyff Turn the ball into his own net, Djimi Traore versus Burnley style, but the ball squirts right for another corner. Schmeichel claims that one easily enough. Leicester storm upfield, and...
5.52pm GMT
22 min: Ah! Here’s Martial! He injects a little pace into a United attack down the left. A one-two with Young, and he reaches a ball he had no real right to get. His instant clip to the near post is met by Schweinsteiger, but Morgan steps in to block his gentle shot. What lovely work by Martian there, though.
5.51pm GMT
21 min: The Leicester free kick is a pointless nonsense. United break down the other end. Young again finds himself in space down the left, and yet again looks rather dangerous, curling a cross into the area that should be met by a crashing header, but isn’t. Where was Martial?
5.50pm GMT
19 min: Mahrez goes on a dribble down the middle. He’s sent crashing to the floor by a fairly agricultural shoulder charge from Blind. The United man is fortunate to escape a booking, though he’s the recipient of a lengthy educational talk. He’ll need to watch himself now.
5.49pm GMT
18 min: Kante whips a high cross into the United area from the left. Vardy isn’t far away from glancing it goalwards with his eyebrows. De Gea claims.
5.48pm GMT
17 min: Young whips a cross into the Leicester box from the left, but there’s only Martial in there, and the home side clear easily enough. Another phase of United attack is soon coming, and Rooney ends that with his second uncertain long-distance shot of the match.
5.47pm GMT
16 min: From the resulting free kick, Leicester force United deep. Darmian gets himself into all sorts of trouble by the corner flag on Leicester’s left, but just as it looks like he’s conceded a needless corner, an offside flag calling out Vardy saves the day.
5.45pm GMT
14 min: Darmian whips a pass inside from the right to Rooney, who attempts to release Mata into the area with a first-time prod down the middle. But he misplaces his pass, allowing Morgan to head clear. Leicester break quickly, and Young is booked for a cynical tug on Mahrez’s shoulder.
5.43pm GMT
13 min: A throw for Leicester deep in United’s half, out on the left. They take Simon Mignolet levels of time to launch the bloody thing back into play. Eventually the ball breaks to Vardy, on the left-hand edge of the box. He thinks about shooting, but takes too long, so lays off for Kante, whose snapshot is deflected wide left for a corner. Albrighton clumps a useless one straight through the box, and the pressure on United is relieved.
5.41pm GMT
11 min: United are already enjoying the lion’s share of possession. Some more patient passing in the midfield. Rooney probes down the right, but the door is slammed shut. No matter, the ball’s recycled back up the pitch. Then Young tries to cut in from the left to work some space to shoot, but there’s nothing doing there either. But the away side are on top in this game of chess.
5.39pm GMT
9 min: The set piece is launched into the Leicester box. Schweinsteiger dillies and dallies and Leicester threaten to break. But that move collapses, allowing United to come again. Rooney takes a shot from the left-hand side of the D, but doesn’t connect properly and the ball apologetically trundles into the grateful arms of Schmeichel.
5.38pm GMT
8 min: United turn up the tempo a little. Darmian is set scampering into space down the right and earns a corner off Drinkwater, whose last-ditch tackle was highly necessary. Without it, the full back would be free in the box.
5.37pm GMT
7 min: Four United players in their own half. No Leicester players in it. United knock it around awhile. Eventually Smalling recognises the need to move forward and launches a diagonal ball towards Mata on the left. It flies out of play. A slow start from both teams.
5.36pm GMT
5 min: A long ball into the United half. Under pressure from Vardy down the left, McNair is forced to hack out of play. From the throw, Fuchs hoicks a high ball into the United box, but De Gea is never losing an aerial battle with Mahrez and plucks it from the sky.
5.34pm GMT
3 min: Okazaki turns neatly in the middle of the park to make space, then sets Mahrez away on a run down the right. His low cross towards Vardy is intercepted calmly by Smalling. A pretty, pacy move by the home side, though.
5.32pm GMT
2 min: Leicester stroke it around the back awhile, getting a feel of the ball. Two can play a softly-softly patient game, it would seem.
5.31pm GMT
United get the ball rolling. Vardy snaps at Schweinsteiger’s ankles, forcing him to pass the ball straight out of play. An early sign that Leicester intend to give this a good go, and that United won’t be afforded too much time to do their thing.
5.28pm GMT
The teams are out! A traditionalist’s delight this evening, with both sides sporting their famous first-choice strips. Leicester in blue, United in red. There’s one hell of an atmosphere in this stadium. A blue-and-white mosaic covers the fans in one stand. The cards they’re holding will be set down before kick-off, but the volume will stay up, I’ll be bound. We’ll be off in a minute!
5.25pm GMT
And now here’s his opposite number, Louis van Gaal, who has been asked how his team will respond to their much-criticised performance against PSV the other night. The United boss does his usual thing of looking his inquisitor up and down with glorious disdain, then eventually answers with a sigh: “This is another competition, another match. Most of the time I am very proud of my players. It was a big deception, but that’s also an aspect of football, you can lose, win or draw, and a draw feels like a loss. You know what I mean, I think.” Tinder dry. Saying nothing, and yet everything, at once. I’m not the only one who pictures Van Gaal going back into the dressing room after these interviews and laughing until his lungs explode, am I?
5.20pm GMT
Claudio Ranieri speaks! A big evening for Leicester City, sir? “Yes of course it’s a big evening. I don’t know how many times Leicester was top of the league after 13 matches. It’s good for our fans, who are dreaming. Our plan is always the same, we play in the same way. We will try to stop them, but also to play our fast football. We will try to win the match. If it’s not possible, well done to The Manchester! I hope Jamie Vardy breaks the record today. Because somebody, someday, will break the record.”
5.12pm GMT
It’s Christmas soon! November’s nearly out, so don’t be having a pop at me for raising the subject. Anyway, I’m not the only one. With the upcoming festive season in mind, there’s a reindeer parked outside Leicester’s stadium tonight. It’s none too warm, so he’ll be enjoying the weather. What a cute little fellow. It’s a reminder for us all to write our letters to Santa, who may or may not be rocking up to the King Power for the Chelsea game in a couple of weeks time. “Dear big man, all I want for Christmas is a half-and-half scarf.” Hey, in the world of football, it’s always the season of goodwill.
4.55pm GMT
While we’re waiting for the kick-off ... here’s the story of Leicester’s remarkable start to the season in new-fangled video form. Stats served with a squelching Yamaha DX7 bassline.
4.50pm GMT
Leicester make just one change to the team that thrashed Newcastle United 3-0 last weekend. Leonardo Ulloa drops to the bench, with Shinji Okazaki taking his place. Manchester United meanwhile swap four of the players who wowed ‘em against PSV Eindhoven in midweek. Paddy McNair comes in at the back, Michael Carrick returns to the engine room, and Ashley Young and Juan Mata join him in the midfield. Marcos Rojo, Morgan Schneiderlin, Jesse Lingard and Memphis Depay are the men who step down.
4.35pm GMT
Leicester City: Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs, Mahrez, Kante, Drinkwater, Albrighton, Okazaki, Vardy.
Subs: De Laet, King, Schlupp, Ulloa, Dyer, Schwarzer, Inler.
Manchester United: De Gea, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, McNair, Carrick, Schweinsteiger, Young, Mata, Martial, Rooney.
Subs: Depay, Romero, Fellaini, Schneiderlin, Rashford, Jackson, Andreas Pereira.
12.35pm GMT
Leicester City can’t possibly last the course, while Manchester United are too boring to win the league. There, that’s the spirit-crushing cynicism out of the way.
But what’s the point of football if you can’t dream a few dreamy dreams, or revel in the moment while the sun shines? This fine morning, ahead of the 14th round of matches in the 2015-16 Premier League, Leicester City stood top of the table. They’ve won four of their last five games. They’re the highest scorers in the league, with ten-in-a-row Jamie Vardy deservedly getting all the plaudits. They’re flying higher than they’ve ever flown since the days of Matt Gillies and the Ice Kings of 1963. They’re a third of the way to the most outrageous and unexpected league championship since Alf Ramsey led Ipswich Town to the title in 1962. The pragmatists will argue that it’s unlikely to happen. But so what? As things stand, it’s on!
Continue reading...November 27, 2015
A brief guide to ... the complex rivalries of Midlands football
Forest don’t like Derby, Wolves and West Brom have been squabbling for years ... and everyone hates Aston Villa. We unpick the enmities in the heart of Britain
With the Guardian’s unstoppable rise to global dominance** we at Guardian US thought we’d run a series of articles for fans wishing to improve their knowledge of the sports history and storylines, hopefully in a way that doesn’t patronise you to within an inch of your life.
A warning: If you’re the kind of person that finds The Blizzard too populist this may not be the series for you.
** Actual dominance may not be global. Or dominant
Related: Brian Clough and the miracle of Nottingham Forest
Related: The Joy of Six: single seasons in the sun | Scott Murray
Continue reading...November 25, 2015
Juventus v Manchester City: Champions League – as it happened
Mario Mandzukic’s first-half goal was enough to send Juve leapfrogging over City at the top of the Group D table.
9.35pm GMT
And that’s that. A fairly entertaining game, albeit not a particularly memorable one. Juventus are the deserved winners on balance of play, though City had their chances, Raheem Sterling missing a sitter near the end. But that one squirted wide, and Juve leapfrog City into first place. Both teams will be in the second-round draw, but as things stand it’ll be City who’ll have a 50-50 chance of drawing one of Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. Matchday six may change all that, of course. But right now, this season doesn’t look so Bizarro after all.
9.33pm GMT
90 min +3: Juve tippy-tappy around the middle of the park for a while. The clock is their pal.
9.33pm GMT
90 min +2: Toure powers down the middle again. It’s a great run, and he finds Sterling in the area on the left, but the final ball into the centre is aimless and easily hacked clear by Juve. For a second, it looked like things were opening up there.
9.31pm GMT
90 min +1: Clichy probes down the left but can’t get a cross in. Juve hold firm and eventually the ball is passed out of play for a goal kick.
9.30pm GMT
90 min: Toure, 30 yards out, looks for the top-left corner. It’s a very decent effort, but Gigi Buffon is in goal. He’d have had it covered, but it sails over the bar anyway. There will be four minutes of added time.
9.29pm GMT
89 min: Delph slides into the back of Lichtsteiner. He’s fortunate not to pick up a booking for a clumsy lunge.
9.27pm GMT
87 min: Toure, turning on the right-hand corner of the Juve area, tries a snapshot, but it’s blocked pretty much at source. It’s getting desperate now, if they want to retain top spot in this group.
9.26pm GMT
85 min: De Bruyne wins a corner down the right. Barzagli heads powerfully clear. A very poor delivery. “Can someone kindly inform me what Navas does and why he continues to play for City?” asks Brian Tisinger. “All he seems to do is run somewhat quickly down the right wing and then send in wayward/hopeful/hopeless/aimless crosses that never result in goals. And every now and then he’ll try a shot, which usually ends up in a comical trajectory to row Z.” Bryan is an Aerospace Engineer, which suggests he knows a thing or two about trajectory. For shame, Navas, for shame.
9.23pm GMT
83 min: Cuadrado replaces Dybala. Within seconds, he’s got the goal in his sights, to the left of the D. his first shot is blocked, and his second flashes wide right, with Caballero still finding his feet. This is quite absurd.
9.22pm GMT
81 min: Pogba is very nearly sent clear down the right, but Hart claims. However the keeper has picked up an injury, and is replaced by Caballero. It’s all going wrong for City right now.
9.21pm GMT
80 min: De Bruyne powers past Chiellini on the right. He fizzes a low ball into the six-yard box. Sterling is free, six yards out, with only Buffon to beat! Buffon, following the cross, has gone the wrong way. But Sterling somehow prods it wide of the right-hand post. What an absurd miss!
9.20pm GMT
79 min: Morata tears down the inside-right channel again. He’s in plenty of space, with only Otamendi anywhere near him. He’s got Dybala to his left, but opts to go it alone instead. To be fair, he’s got the right, dropping a shoulder to make it into the box. He’s one on one with Hart. He looks for the bottom left, but is denied by a brilliant save by Hart.
9.20pm GMT
9.18pm GMT
77 min: Alex Sandro, who was very impressive in the first half, and set up the goal, is replaced by Evra, who’ll make his 100th Champions League appearance. Five of those have been in finals! That is some going.
9.16pm GMT
75 min: Sterling twists and turns down the left, causing enough panic in the Juve defence to win a corner. From which nothing occurs. City have been very quiet for some time now.
9.13pm GMT
73 min: Alex Sandro busies himself down the left and earns a Juve corner. Dybala takes. Bonucci attempts a frankly ambitious Ibrahimovic-esque twisting volley. Nope!
9.12pm GMT
71 min: Sagna slides near Dybala as the Juve man makes off down the inside-left channel. Dybala goes over. There’s not much contact, just enough maybe for a free kick. Navas throws the ball down in disgust, claiming there was no contact at all. The ref books him for his petulance, then shows Sagna the card too, while he’s at it. Nothing comes of the set piece. All very pointless.
9.09pm GMT
69 min: Sterling comes on for Aguero, still not long back from injury.
9.08pm GMT
68 min: De Bruyne, down the inside-left, curls a ball towards Aguero, to the right of the D. Aguero meets the dropping ball with a volley, and it’s deflected wide right of goal. From the resulting corner, Delph screws a poor shot miles right from distance.
9.07pm GMT
66 min: A lot of City passing in the midfield. They’re hogging possession. Or are Juventus letting them have it? They’re quick to put a foot in whenever City move forward.
9.05pm GMT
64 min: Some stunning triangulation down the left involving Delph, Aguero and Fernando, but after making 30 yards at high-speed in the Barcelona style, the passing sequence breaks down as they reach the business end of the pitch.
9.03pm GMT
63 min: Dybala is down getting a spot of treatment on his knee, having twisted it a little after planting his leg in the turf. He’s soon up again and walking, good to continue. But hearts were in mouths for a minute or two there.
9.02pm GMT
9.01pm GMT
60 min: Delph comes on for Fernandinho. “It somehow seems amazing that Buffon is ‘only’ 37,” opines Matt Dony. “Even when he was young, he had such a mature, experienced air about him. I just can’t picture him younger than mid-30’s. And he seems like he could go on forever.” The Dino Zoff de nos jours.
9.00pm GMT
59 min: Marchisio sends a shot wide left from 25 yards. It’s safe to say this game has officially become entertaining. Chalk up another fine City show!
8.58pm GMT
57 min: Navas earns a corner for City down the right. From the set piece, Aguero dances around on the edge of the area, but can’t work space for a shot. Good luck guessing who’ll be scoring the next goal in this game. Because it’s surely not going to end 1-0.
8.57pm GMT
55 min: Morata nearly scores with his first touch! He’s sent scampering clear down the inside-right channel, and lifts a shot over Hart. The ball looks like drifting into the left-hand portion of the goal, but clanks off the post. Sturaro, rushing in, extends a leg in the hope of poking home, but the bounce eludes him and City hack clear! Astonishing! Then Dybala makes good down the left, breaking into the area, but is eased brilliantly off the ball by the shoulder of Navas.
8.55pm GMT
54 min: Morata comes on for the goalscorer Mandzukic, who is limping a wee bit. The home fans seem pretty pleased with the change.
8.54pm GMT
53 min: De Bruyne forces a corner down the left, and takes it himself. The ball dips down by the far post. Fernando heads down towards the bottom right. Buffon turns the ball onto the right-hand post, then gathers, despite Toure’s telescopic leg probing around in the troublesome style. So close to an equaliser!
8.52pm GMT
51 min: Marchisio steps forward and looks for the top left from 25 yards. He warms Hart’s hands a little, but the City keeper is always claiming a gentle riser.
8.51pm GMT
50 min: Manchester City’s Champions League matches this season have been brilliantly entertaining fare, one way and another. This one, not so much. Plenty of time for things to change. But Juve seem fairly happy to sit back, controlling the game, protecting their 1-0 lead. The strange beauty of Italian football.
8.49pm GMT
49 min: Pogba sends Alex Sandro free down the left. He whips a low cross into the area. Otamendi, on the slide, hooks clear wonderfully under pressure from a lurking Mandzukic.
8.48pm GMT
48 min: A fairly scrappy start to the half. Not many passes sticking to feet. Lichtsteiner tries to skitter off down the right, but runs the ball out of play.
8.47pm GMT
Juve get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes. Incidentally, the lads on BT Sport made a huge song and dance over Toure swapping shirts with Dybala at half time. Toure copping a lot of flak. “Can you imagine Vinny Jones, or any of the other Wimbledon lads, doing that?” splutters Harry Redknapp. Probably not, but then you’d have to wonder whether Dybala would pester Jones as persistently as he did Toure for his shirt. Although those Spall numbers did have a certain period charm.
8.32pm GMT
Bizarro half-time entertainment: “The whole system is breaking down.”
8.31pm GMT
And that’s your lot for the first half. City started well, but Juve have been the better team since the goal. And yet City have had a couple of half-chances. They’ll be looking to get back into this in the second half, and reclaim top spot in the group.
8.30pm GMT
45 min: ... Jesus Navas clears the bar easily from 20 yards. A dreadful effort.
8.30pm GMT
44 min: A dismal pass by Marchisio, back down the Juve left. Buffon has been dumped into all sorts of trouble. Aguero latches onto the loose ball, and tries to squeeze it over the keeper from a tight angle. Buffon stands firm and bundles the ball out for a corner. From which ...
8.28pm GMT
42 min: Marchisio plays a simple pass down the right wing to release Lichtsteiner into acres of space. Where are City’s defenders? Clichy finally attaches himself onto Lichtsteiner’s shoulder. Lichtsteiner draws Hart and tries to chip him from a tight angle, but can only run the ball into the side netting. Juve close to their second.
8.26pm GMT
8.25pm GMT
40 min: Clichy, down the left, curls a pass inside for Toure, on the edge of the box. Toure spins and lashes a first-time shot towards the bottom right. It’s wide and in any case not hit with much venom.
8.24pm GMT
38 min: Mandzukic flaps his hand into Otamendi’s mug as the pair contest a ball down the Juve right. It’s a free kick, but nothing more. The tempo of this game has dropped.
8.23pm GMT
37 min: Now it’s Juve’s turn to knock it around the middle of the park without showing too much ambition. As things stand, they’re in charge of this group.
8.20pm GMT
35 min: Fernandinho is booked as he goes in to challenge Marchisio face on, but only succeeds in rapping the Juve man’s shin. He doesn’t bother complaining.
8.19pm GMT
33 min: Pogba plays an atypical loose pass in the midfield. Fernandinho romps off with it, and feeds De Bruyne down the left. Offside. So careless. Juve were light at the back, but Fernandinho mistimed his pass, and De Bruyne mistimed his run. Very poor.
8.17pm GMT
32 min: Alex Sandro slides in on Sagna, out on the right wing. He’s lucky not to be booked for that. De Bruyne takes the free kick, a well-aimed curler towards the far post. But nobody challenges for the ball, and it drifts out of play for a goal kick.
8.16pm GMT
30 min: Navas is back on. He’s down the right wing, near the corner flag, and pulls the ball back to Toure, 25 yards out. He looks to float a curler into the top left. It’s inches wide. Buffon was never getting to that. And Toure has the taste, because City soon win the ball back from the goal kick, and he has another lash at goal. This one’s not so good, though, lamely drifting off to the right. Buffon’s not getting that one either, but only because he can’t be bothered to go fetch.
8.14pm GMT
28 min: Navas chases a ball off the pitch, then goes over on his ankle. He’s off getting treatment. While City are down to ten men, a long ball’s pumped down the Juve right. Lichtsteiner, inside the City box, heads back down for Mandzukic, who pearls a shot towards the bottom right. That’s got goal written all over it, but Hart turns it round the post majestically. What a splendid save. The corner comes to nothing. City are hanging on a little right now.
8.11pm GMT
25 min: City had been dictating the pace of the game before the goal, enjoying more possession. Now the balance of play has shifted. Pogba bursts into the City box down the left. He fires low into the centre. Clichy traps, and strangely hesitates before blootering clear. Had either Dybala or Mandzukic been on the front foot, they’d have had a chance teed up, six yards out. Hearts in City mouths.
8.08pm GMT
22 min: Free kick for Juve in the middle of the City half. The ball’s swept wide left to Alex Sandro, who looks very dangerous indeed, and breaks past Sagna. Fernando, tracking back, intercepts what for a second or two looked like a dangerous cross.
8.06pm GMT
20 min: City try to respond quickly as Toure goes on a ramble down the right, but with Aguero on the edge of the box waiting to be sprung, the midfielder hesitates and is swarmed by black-and-white shirts.
8.05pm GMT
What a costly miss! Pogba breaks down the middle, then sprays a pass wide left for Alex Sandro, who takes a stride down the wing and curls a low cross into the six-yard box. Mandzukic has a yard on Otamendi, who is facing away from goal and falls backwards as the striker opens his body and sidefoots powerfully past Hart. City should have been leading; now they’re trailing, and as things stand Juve will be topping the group after matchday five.
8.02pm GMT
16 min: City should be leading. De Bruyne curls a cross into the Juve box from the right. Toure, on the edge of the six-yard box, traps the ball under pressure from Chiellini, and holds the man off as he lays off to Fernandinho, who just needs to place the ball into either side of the net from eight yards. Instead, he attempts to blast the cover off the ball, and misses the goal entirely, high and wide right. What a miss!
8.00pm GMT
14 min: Pogba, with his back to goal, 25 yards out, rolls the ball under his foot to flummox Demichelis and Sagna, then Emre Cans a backheel down the inside-left channel to release Dybala into the box. Dybala should burst the net, as he’s one on one with Hart, but blazes over. He’s offside, though, so no matter.
7.58pm GMT
13 min: Juve can’t get the ball right now. City aren’t making any attempt to attack. A draw will do for them, of course. Right now, they’re content to frustrate Juventus, and try to quieten a boisterous crowd.
7.58pm GMT
7.56pm GMT
11 min: Some sterile possession for City in the middle of the park. They go nowhere, but it’s grown-up football. They’ll be happy enough.
7.55pm GMT
9 min: Alex Sandro makes space down the left and whistles a cross into the area. Demichelis, with City light at the back, hacks out for a throw. The ball’s flung towards Dybala, to the left of the D. He creams a volley wide left of goal. Again the whistle’s gone, Pogba having bowled Toure over in the middle of a nearby stramash. Juve on the front foot now, though.
7.53pm GMT
7 min: Marchisio, in a deep position down the right channel, swings a ball into the box for Mandzukic on the penalty spot. The striker attempts a diving header, but gets it all wrong, the ball squirting off way to the right of goal. He should have done better, but won’t worry too much, as he’d mistimed his run and was offside anyway.
7.51pm GMT
5 min: ... they switch the ball to the other flank, where Sagna bursts into space and wins a corner. From the set piece, De Bruyne fires low and hard into the six-yard box from the right wing. Juve hack clear, but only to Fernandinho, 20 yards out, to the right of the D. The City midfielder fires a shot towards the bottom left, but it’s inches wide of the post. Buffon probably had that covered were it on target, but a fine effort nonetheless.
7.50pm GMT
4 min: Some nice possession from City, Clichy, Fernandinho and De Bruyne combining down the left, before being forced back. They don’t lose the ball, though. And ...
7.48pm GMT
2 min: Fernandinho’s hand connects with Dybala in the midfield. The striker rolls around a bit but the referee isn’t interested. He gets up, and chases after a long Pogba pass down the left channel. He reaches the edge of the City area, and lashes a wild, wild shot miles left of goal. Both teams seem in the mood for this.
7.46pm GMT
City get the ball rolling. Aguero turns a quick ball down the left channel for Clichy to chase, but Barzagli is over quickly to snuff out any early danger. A nice brisk start from the visitors, though.
7.42pm GMT
The teams are out! The less said about the music parping out of the PA speakers the better. City supporters will have my back there. Juventus are sporting their famous Notts County inspired black-and-white stripes, while City are in Northside 12” sleeve influenced neon yellow. One look’s better than the other. Answers on a postcard. A cracking atmosphere, though. We’ll be off in a minute!
7.33pm GMT
But after a forgettable Saturday evening, things have already started looking up this week for City. The club announced yesterday that they’re getting shot of their heraldic eagle and his unearned “decorative” stars, and will be going back to a more traditional round crest. Copyright issues would get in the way, of course, but if only they could use their 1970s effort again. What a classic bit of design that was. Gorgeous. [Drifts off to daydream about Panini, the old Match of the Day on-screen graphics, etc., until kick-off]
7.20pm GMT
Manuel Pellegrini speaks. “We didn’t have many options tonight. We have to play three games now in one week, so I think this was the best team to start if we want to get top spot in the group. We hope the team performance will be similar to the one in Sevilla, though obviously it’s not the same team. It’s a big statement for us to qualify with two games to spare. It’s one step higher than we have done in the previous seasons.”
7.10pm GMT
City bench Raheem Sterling, who possibly didn’t enjoy himself that much on Saturday evening against former club Liverpool. But then who in City blue did? Nicolás Otamendi and Gaël Clichy return at the back, replacing Eliaquim Mangala and Aleksandar Kolarov, while Fernandinho bolsters the midfield. As for the hosts: they opt to give their exceptionally promising young Argentinian striker Paulo Dybala a chance to register his first Champions League goal. He’s got six in 12 in the Italian league, so City better not faff around like they did at the weekend. Gamefaces on, chaps!
7.05pm GMT
Juventus: Buffon, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Lichtsteiner, Sturaro, Marchisio, Pogba, Alex Sandro, Mandzukic, Dybala.
Subs: Neto, Zaza, Morata, Cuadrado, Lemina, Rugani, Evra.
Manchester City: Hart, Sagna, Demichelis, Otamendi, Clichy, Fernando, Fernandinho, Jesus Navas, Toure, De Bruyne, Aguero.
Subs: Caballero, Sterling, Kolarov, Delph, Maffeo, Adarabioyo, Celina.
11.21am GMT
Could this be Manchester City’s Bizarro World season? For the last few years, they’ve excelled in the Premier League, while repeatedly stumbling in their pursuit of Europe’s biggest prize. This time round, though ...
City are hardly out of the Premier League race, two points off the lead in November. But having suffered a couple of thumping 4-1 defeats, a third title in five years might not be quite the cakewalk some had envisioned. Swings and roundabouts, though. The Champions League has caused City so much pain in recent seasons, some of it self-inflicted, some of it down to sheer bad luck. But this time round, the mood music sounds a little different.
Continue reading...The Fiver | A generous gesture with which psychoanalysts could have a field day
The Fiver has been going for 15 years now. Sixteen maybe. Or is it 17? We’re not sure, to tell the truth, we’ve been drinking to forget since 2002. Anyway, the exact number is irrelevant, because email years are exactly like those of the dog, and whichever figure we use leaves us with an unpleasantly high total once the canine calculations are done. We’re either 73, 77 or 81 years old, you know! And therefore of an age to remember a time when football folk would talk about Ajacks, Jooventus and Reel Madrid. A time when it was socially acceptable to brazenly wallow in pitiful ignorance. When knowledge was an irrelevance and facts were by the by. The past might be a foreign country to some, but the Fiver felt more at home there.
Continue reading...November 24, 2015
Maccabi Tel Aviv v Chelsea: Champions League – as it happened
Chelsea took a while to warm up, but eventually crushed ten-man Maccabi to set up an exciting final round of fixtures in Group G.
9.39pm GMT
That’s that. Chelsea weren’t always convincing, but pulled away in the closing quarter to register an ultimately impressive scoreline. Meanwhile a 2-0 victory for Dynamo Kyiv at Porto means Jose Mourinho’s side only need a point in their final game against the Portuguese at Stamford Bridge to win the group. That should be quite a clash, Mourinho’s former allegiances aside, because Porto will require a win to guarantee their own progress. Maccabi, still pointless, are of course out - but all of the other teams in Group G can make it through. It should be quite a ride in a fortnight’s time.
9.37pm GMT
90 min +2: Diego Costa is sent into acres of space down the left. He should score but his shot balloons into the air. Rajkovic rises to punch clear, and is clattered - accidentally - by Remy. He’s severely winded, but after a little attention gets back up.
9.35pm GMT
The first of three added minutes sees Azpilicueta find Diego Costa to the right of goal. His shot, from a tight angle, is deflected wide for a corner. The set piece is sent high into the middle of the area, where Zouma rises to crash a downward header off the keeper’s knee and home.
9.34pm GMT
90 min: Azulay is immediately in the thick of it, his long-range shot deflected out on the left for a corner. From the set piece, Carlos Garcia rises and whistles a header inches wide left. The hosts could easily have had a goal or two this evening.
9.33pm GMT
89 min: Azulay comes on for Zahavi.
9.32pm GMT
88 min: Pedro goes for the bottom left again, after dancing with style down the inside-right channel and making it into the area. So close, bothering the paint on the outside of the left-hand post. Another brilliant effort.
9.30pm GMT
86 min: Pedro cuts in from the right and curls a superb low shot inches wide of the left-hand post. Rajkovic might have had that covered were it on target, but it would have been a close-run thing.
9.29pm GMT
85 min: Alberman is replaced by Azulay.
9.29pm GMT
84 min: The excellent Baba finds more space down the left, but his low cross can’t find a slightly flat-footed Diego Costa. Then Fabregas goes chasing after a loose ball down the right. He flies in studs up on Ben Harush, and catches his man late. He’s lucky to be only seeing yellow. What a pointless lunge at this stage, with the match won. Despite the scoreline, Chelsea don’t seem a particularly happy collective. A lot of frowning, and a slight edge in the air.
9.26pm GMT
83 min: Igiebor catches Fabregas, who has adroitly turned him in the centre circle. He’s lucky to escape a booking.
9.25pm GMT
82 min: Fabregas bursts down the right, then switches play to Diego Costa on the left-hand corner of the home penalty box. The striker very nearly bursts through two challenges, but loses control as he barges past. He wears the look of a frustrated man.
9.23pm GMT
80 min: Ben Chaim is replaced by Ben Basat. The travelling fans belt out an ode in support of their manager.
9.21pm GMT
79 min: Willian, his work here done, is withdrawn in favour of Remy.
9.21pm GMT
Baba makes good down the left, and curls an inviting cross into the area. Oscar turned down a gilt-edged invitation to score a minute ago, but this time he plants a header past Rajkovic from six yards out. What a cross that was.
9.19pm GMT
76 min: Fabregas floats a gorgeous ball over the top of the Maccabi defence, releasing Oscar down the inside-right channel. He’s in the area and should shoot, but tries to flick the ball back for ... nobody. But no matter, because ...
9.18pm GMT
75 min: Baba and Dasa tangle down the right, just by the Chelsea area. Free kick to Maccabi. Rikan stands over the ball. The hosts load the box. The delivery’s not too good, but Chelsea fail to clear, and Rikan is afforded a snapshot from a tight angle. That’s not all that great either, and the visitors finally get rid.
9.17pm GMT
Willian is a set-piece genius. Chelsea’s best player this season whips the free kick up and over the wall, and back down into the bottom-left corner. The excellent Rajkovic was rooted to the spot. Sheer brilliance!
9.15pm GMT
72 min: Before the set piece can be taken, Terry is stretchered off, having earlier fallen heavily on his hip in an innocent tangle with Alberman. Zouma comes on for the Chelsea captain.
9.13pm GMT
70 min: Fabregas hooks a high ball down the left for Diego Costa. The striker should power into the area, but doesn’t look particularly committed. Maccabi clear. But then Chelsea recycle the ball, and Willian is barged off it by Alberman. Free kick, just to the left of the D.
9.11pm GMT
68 min: Chelsea make their first change of the evening. A frowning Hazard is hooked, Pedro coming on in his stead.
9.10pm GMT
65 min: Derlis González has made it 2-0 for Dynamo Kiev in Porto! It’s looking ever more likely that nobody will qualify from this group this evening.
9.08pm GMT
63 min: And then Rajkovic parries clear again, Azpilicueta cutting in from the right to meet a Baba left-wing cross on the volley. It’s a pearler of an effort, but an even better save. Then suddenly the hosts are attacking on the break! Zahavi romps down the right - where on earth is Chelsea’s defence? - and belts a shot goalwards from a not particularly inviting angle. It’s going in, though, and Begovic is forced to fingertip round the left-hand post! The corner comes to nothing, but what a determined display this is from the undermanned hosts!
9.06pm GMT
62 min: Corner for Chelsea down the left. A lot of childish pushing in the box. The referee delivers a lecture. Eventually Willian takes. Rajkovic punches clear. But the ball’s soon coming back at the hosts, and Hazard, to the right of the penalty spot and aiming for the bottom left, is denied by a superlative full-length save from Rajkovic.
9.04pm GMT
59 min: Alberman dribbles down the middle of the park, and goes over Matic’s leg, hung out cynically. The Chelsea midfielder is booked, and doesn’t bother arguing. The free kick by Zahavi, in front of the centre circle, drops on the right-hand corner of the Chelsea six-yard box. If Peretz connected, or even trapped, Chelsea were in all sorts of trouble. But he allows the ball to harmlessly fly out of play. Ten-man Maccabi could have had a goal or two since the restart.
9.01pm GMT
57 min: Fabregas strokes a lovely ball down the right to release Azpilcueta into the box. The full back reaches the white line and pulls a ball back, but it sails inches behind Diego Costa on the penalty spot.
8.58pm GMT
55 min: Matic sliderules Baba free down the left. Baba reaches the byline and pulls the ball back for Hazard, who lets the ball clank off his shins and out of play to the left of goal from close range. Chelsea haven’t quite clicked since the restart, despite their numerical advantage.
8.57pm GMT
53 min: Ben Chaim isn’t far away from latching onto a basic long ball down the middle. Begovic comes out to claim.
8.56pm GMT
52 min: Hazard embarks on a high-speed baroque ramble down the left, and into the area. Igiebor nips at his ankles. Hazard stays honest, though he was within his rights to go down and claim what would surely have been a certain penalty. He finds Diego Costa ahead of him, and the striker’s offside. Diego Costa gets involved in a nose-to-nose staring match with Dasa. It threatens to kick off, but doesn’t.
8.54pm GMT
50 min: Alberman, to the left of the centre circle, sprays the ball of the evening towards Baba on the right wing. Baba’s clear in acres, though the weight of the pass drives him wide. He’s one on one with Begovic, but the keeper is favourite thanks to the tight angle, and parries away for a corner. The set piece comes to nothing. On the touchline, Mourinho does a little dance of extreme irritation, Hazard having left his defensive post there. That could easily have been the equaliser.
8.52pm GMT
48 min: Willian plays a loose pass in the midfield, allowing Ben Chaim to tear off down the left. He’s brought down by a backtracking Willian, but the referee sees nothing wrong with the challenge, and waves play on. It’s not the most popular decision of the evening.
8.50pm GMT
47 min: Matic feeds the ball down the inside-left channel for Oscar, who miscontrols and mistimes his run, the offside flag pinging up.
8.49pm GMT
The hosts get the second half underway. No changes. Which is a slight surprise, given that an underperforming Diego Costa was engaged in a full and frank exchange of views with Mourinho on the way to the dressing room, and Loic Remy was sent out during the break to warm up. But it’s as you were.
8.36pm GMT
Half-time entertainment: Never mind Adele, the hottest new release right now is I Am A Video by the “eccentric but entirely sane English cult synth-rocker” Gary Le Strange. This showcases the New Romantic legend’s hitherto unheralded footballing skills at the 2m 16s mark. The Christmas number one? Stranger things have happened, pop pickers.
8.33pm GMT
Chelsea are dominant, a goal up, and they’ve got a man advantage. Yes, this could be a long second half for the hosts.
8.32pm GMT
45 min: Willian, Hazard and Fabregas over-elaborate down the inside-left channel, with Maccabi extremely light at the back. Fabregas scoops the ball over the top with the intention of finding Hazard, but it sails harmlessly into the arms of Rajkovic. Mourinho doesn’t look particularly happy with that, either.
8.30pm GMT
44 min: This could turn into a long night for the hosts. Oscar turns Carlos Garcia this way and that down the left. Corner. Chelsea play it short, and bugger it up. On the touchline, Mourinho’s look of disgust is priceless.
8.29pm GMT
43 min: Well that’s taken the wind out of the home supporters’ sails. The stadium’s fallen quiet. Chelsea win a corner down the right. From the set piece, Hazard has a dig from 20 yards, but his shot dribbles through to Rajkovic.
8.28pm GMT
The former Chelsea man is sent packing. He’s chasing after Diego Costa in the midfield, nipping at his heels. The red mist comes down, and after a couple of probing kicks, lashes at the striker wildly. What a preposterous challenge. Costa was going backwards! The minute Ben Haim kicked his opponent, he raised his hands to his face in horror. He knew exactly what was coming, and the referee didn’t prove him wrong. What top-drawer idiocy.
8.25pm GMT
38 min: Some bad news for Chelsea in Porto. An Andriy Yarmolenko penalty has given Dynamo Kyiv the lead. A win for the Ukrainian side would mean Chelsea can’t seal qualification tonight. Meanwhile back on the field. Fabregas flicks the ball down the inside-left channel for Diego Costa, who nearly powers home, but his shot is deflected away. From the resulting corner, Baba skelps an ambitious shot over the bar from quite some distance out on the left.
8.22pm GMT
36 min: Willian goes chasing a long ball down the right. He’s got no support, so holds it up and buys a cheap free kick. Chelsea load the box. Willan whips it in, towards Matic on the edge of the six-yard box. Rajkovic comes off his line and punches clear with some venom. That was very clever play by the consistently excellent Willian, who had no options whatsoever and made something out of nothing.
8.21pm GMT
34 min: A piss-poor clearance down the left by Fabregas, and Dasa is allowed to scoot clear down the right. He’s got Zahavi free on the penalty spot, but can’t find his man. The ball breaks to Ben Harush, 20 yards out. Ben Harush flashes a dreadful effort high and miles wide right. Chelsea would have been punished by a better team.
8.19pm GMT
32 min: Chelsea are beginning to ping it around in pretty triangles like Barcelona. Roman will be delighted. Oscar, Fabregas and Diego Costa knock it around down the inside-left channel, nearly setting up Hazard on the penalty spot. Bel Haim hacks clear. Then Oscar comes at Maccabi again, down the left, and flashes a wild shot over the bar. This is very easy on the eye.
8.17pm GMT
29 min: Matic nearly sends Hazard clear with a lovely reverse pass down the right. Again Hazard can’t quite take advantage. He lays off to Willian, who feeds Azpilicueta down the flank. The full back crosses deep. Diego Costa connects, level with the left-hand post, and flashes an overhead kick wide left and high. Nearly a picture-book goal.
8.14pm GMT
27 min: This is better from the home side. Igiebor, in a central position, slide a pass out to the right, where Peretz battles to force a corner off Baba. But the set piece is a nonsense, Bel Chaim hoicking an absurd rugby-style garryowen to the left flank, allowing Chelsea to sweep clear without fuss or fear.
8.11pm GMT
25 min: It was a bright start from the hosts, but they’re doing very little up front right now. Igiebor tries to power down the left flank, but he soon loses control when faced with a solid blue line. “Defenders scoring? Jose’s Chelsea is back!” whoops Matt Leonard. “If only it was another defender who crossed it.” Yes. If only Cahill could have crossed it to himself.
8.10pm GMT
23 min: Willian skitters inside from the right, beating a couple of challenges with some lovely ball-on-string control. He feeds the ball to Fabregas, who shuttles it left for Hazard. There’s a lot of space over there, but Hazard can’t quite get his feet into place for a shot on goal, so flicks the ball back for Fabregas, who takes it in the face, running it out of play. That move promised more. But Chelsea are totally on top here.
8.07pm GMT
Oscar earns a corner down the right. Willian whips it in. Cahill rises to plant a header goalwards from six yards. That’d go in 99 times out of 100, but Rajkovic scoops it off the line majestically. Unfortunately for the keeper, the ball clanks onto the left-hand post, and back to Cahill, who forces the ball over the line. That had been coming.
8.05pm GMT
19 min: Willian, to the right of the Maccabi box, pulls a ball back to Fabregas on the corner of the area. Fabregas nearly finds the top left with a floating diagonal chip. It’s an exquisite effort, with Rajkovic in the Maccabi goal rooted to the spot. But it drifts over the bar.
8.03pm GMT
17 min: Chelsea are having a good old look at this Maccabi defence. Oscar and Diego Costa enter the area down the right together. It’s almost like a rolling maul. Azpilicueta joins in. They nearly bust through a yellow wall, but Carlos Garcia holds firm.
8.01pm GMT
15 min: After a shaky start, Chelsea are beginning to dominate now. Hazard cuts in from the right only to see his shot from the edge of the box blocked. Fabregas slides a pass down the left for Baba, who looks for Willian in the middle, but his cross is intercepted by Alberman.
7.59pm GMT
13 min: Azpilicueta takes a throw deep in Maccabi territory down the right. He finds Fabregas, who hugs the byline to the right of goal, before pulling a short pass back for Diego Costa. The striker can’t quite get a shot away at the near post, and the ball’s deflected away from danger.
7.58pm GMT
11 min: Diego Costa sends Baba into space down the left. Baba whips a cross through the six-yard box. It’s a beauty of a cross, but there’s nobody in blue taking a chance on it. Anyone piling forward would have been rewarded with a tap-in. Oscar tries to keep the move going on the right, but only with an over-elaborate back-heel. If he’d taken things a bit more seriously, Chelsea might have still been onto something.
7.55pm GMT
10 min: A bit more possession for Chelsea, as they stroke it around the middle of the park for a bit. They don’t really go anywhere, but that’s not really the point. They frustrate the crowd to the point of whistles, while calming down on-pitch proceedings, the home side having come at them with purpose in the early stages.
7.53pm GMT
7 min: Azpilicueta and Oscar combine cleverly down the right. The former rolls the ball down the wing for the latter, who returns it with a dinky back heel. Azpilicueta glides into the box, and attempts to curl one into the top left. It’s wide and high, but not by much. A lovely effort, and that’s much better from Chelsea.
7.52pm GMT
5 min: Another Chelsea attack, but this one nearly leads to a Maccabi goal. Willian loses the ball, allowing Ben Chaim and Zahavi to tear upfield. Zahavi causes trouble inside the Chelsea area on the left. He cuts the ball back for Alberman on the edge of the area. Alberman should shoot, but dumps responsibility on Dasa to his right. Dasa slashes wildly wide right. This is not Champions League winning defending by Chelsea.
7.50pm GMT
3 min: Chelsea respond with an immediate attack up the other end. Oscar very nearly makes space for a shot by cutting in from the right, but he’s closed down quickly enough.
7.49pm GMT
2 min: Nearly a perfect start for the hosts! Ben Chaim goes on a romp down the right and wins a throw off Baba Rahman. He gets the ball back, and whips a cross to the near post. Peretz rises highest, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box, and should at least make Begovic work. But he flashes his header over. What a chance!
7.48pm GMT
There’s a rare old atmosphere in the Sammy Ofer Stadium as Chelsea get the ball rolling. A few blue dots stroke it around the back awhile. The television camera appears to be positioned back in Tel Aviv. And it’s set far too high, as well. [Disclaimer: the Guardian accepts no responsibility for any cases of vertigo caused by the reading of this MBM report.]
7.44pm GMT
The teams are out! The players take to the field on a mild, clear night after a lovely warm day in Haifa. The hosts wear their first choice kit, predominantly yellow though the shirt front is half blue. The yellow dominates to an extent that Chelsea can still sport their famous first-choice colours. We’ll be off in a minute, but before that, a quick word on the state of the pitch Jose was banging on about, from our man in situ, Dominic Fifield: “Pitch looks pretty ropey. Sand in one goalmouth. Mud in the other. Looks as if it will cut up quite quickly.”
7.22pm GMT
Jose’s been on the talk! And he’s been asked what sort of threat is posed exactly by the only team yet to earn a point in this season’s Champions League. “If you watch Maccabi’s matches carefully, they did enough to earn a point. They are a better side than most people think. They are a better side than some teams with victories and points. Their pitch is really bad, and with the support of a stadium that is behind them, we are not waiting for an easy match. We have to make sure that we qualify. We have fresh full-backs. I demand a lot from them in attack and tracking back into defensive positions, and it will not be easy on a pitch that is not good for runners. We don’t want to go to the Europa League, we want to stay in the Champions League, and that is why we have to win this match.”
7.07pm GMT
Four changes to the Chelsea starting XI named against Norwich City at the weekend. Out go Kurt Zouma, Branislav Ivanovic, Kenedy and Pedro; in come Abdul Baba Rahman, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill and Oscar.
The hosts and champions of Israel welcome back winger Tal Ben Haim from injury. He takes his place in the Maccabi starting XI alongside central defender and former Chelsea and Bolton Wanderers star Tal Ben Haim. You can spot the potential for confusion here. The defender gets first dibs on the name as the older man; the younger player styles himself as Ben Chaim to make life a little easier for all concerned.
6.53pm GMT
Maccabi Tel Aviv: Rajkovic, Dasa, Ben Haim, Carlos Garcia, Ben Harush, Igiebor, Alberman, Peretz, Ben Chaim, Rikan, Zahavi.
Subs: Lifshitz, Ben Basat, Itzhaki, Azulay, Tibi, Mitrovic, Vermouth.
Chelsea: Begovic, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Baba Rahman, Fabregas, Matic, Oscar, Willian, Diego Costa, Hazard.
Subs: Blackman, Ivanovic, Zouma, Mikel, Pedro, Remy, Loftus-Cheek.
11.03am GMT
Chelsea’s defence of their Premier League and League Cup titles haven’t exactly gone as planned, but as Crisis Seasons go, things could be worse. Should they win tonight at Maccabi Tel Aviv, and if Dynamo Kyiv fail to match that result at Porto, Chelsea will have qualified for the knockout stages of this year’s Champions League. Here, they were flailing around on the domestic scene in 2011-12, too, weren’t they? And look what happened then.
Victory tonight is very much on the cards. Chelsea eased to a 4-0 win when these teams met in September. Maccabi have lost every single game in this year’s competition. And Jose Mourinho’s side are, according to the man himself, slowly “getting their confidence back”. They beat Dynamo in their last Champions League game, were frankly unfortunate to lose at Stoke City in the Premier League, then on Saturday registered their first league win in a month against Norwich City. Thin gruel for a team used to tearing flesh off the bone at the top table, perhaps, but when things haven’t been going so well, you’ve got to take any positives going.
Continue reading...The Fiver | Deciphering a doctor’s handwriting
Renowned genetic engineer Dr Wenger was very busy in his lab during the late 1990s, a fecund period of creativity that saw him invent raw vegetables, pasta, steamed fish and water. He subsequently transferred his genius for innovation and thinking outside the box to the world of product development and, since 2000, has been working on designs for a coat that can be successfully zipped up in less than six-and-a-half hours. He’ll get there in the end, we’re sure of it.
Continue reading...November 21, 2015
Manchester City v Liverpool: Premier League – as it happened
Liverpool flew out of the blocks and blew City away with a sparkling attacking display.
7.22pm GMT
And that’s that! Jurgen Klopp comes onto the pitch to congratulate his rampant Reds. They were simply magnificent in attack during the first half, and held their nerve in the second when it looked as though City might get back into it. In the end, it was a rout, and Liverpool’s first win at the City of Manchester Stadium since 2008. The home side’s second-half performance was much better than their abject first 45-minute display, but by then the damage was done. So after today’s fixtures, Liverpool are up to ninth, City drop to third, and Leicester City move top of the Premier League. A day of drama worth waiting a fortnight for.
Related: Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool run riot in rout of Manchester City
7.20pm GMT
90 min +3: Sagna wins a corner off Toure down the right. Lovren heads De Bruyne’s outswinger firmly away. City have been awful, of course, but De Bruyne has been excellent. City’s best player tonight.
7.19pm GMT
90 min +2: Liverpool just playing keep-ball now.
7.19pm GMT
90 min +1: The away supporters on a Rodgers and Hammerstein tip right now.
7.17pm GMT
90 min: Lallana is replaced by Kolo Toure. There will be four added minutes. “I may cautiously reassess my prediction at this point,” writes Phil Sawyer.
7.17pm GMT
7.16pm GMT
89 min: Sterling gives the ball away on the edge of the Liverpool box. Ibe strides upfield on the counter. He’s got options either side, but hesitates and is robbed. Iheanacho makes good down the right wing, and finds Ferdandinho sliding in at the right-hand post. He guides the shot wide right of goal. “This game has vindicated Sterling’s decision to join City,” writes Paul Griffin. “On this showing, he would not get first team football at Liverpool.”
7.14pm GMT
87 min: Liverpool, after a fashion, clear the corner. Up the field, Benteke threatens to steal the ball off a tentative Mangala on the halfway line. Had he managed it without being overly aggressive - as he nearly did before the ref blew his whistle - he was clear on goal.
7.13pm GMT
85 min: Delph curls one towards the top right. Mignolet parries poorly to the right, allowing Iheanacho to fire a ball across the face of goal. Sterling waits to sidefoot home, but Skrtel deflects the ball out for a corner. “Skrtel was already my choice for MOTM, now that. He’s been immense.” Marie Meyer, there, who can speak for this MBM.
7.11pm GMT
83 min: City look utterly dejected. Their fans make for the exits. Jurgen Klopp will have some sympathy for Manuel Pellegrini right now.
7.10pm GMT
The corner’s swung in from the right. Skrtel rises, half-wins a header, and shoves everyone out of the way to absolutely belt a shot into the top right! It’s not near the postage stamp, or anything, but the harsh power of the shot beats Hart, who had no chance to react. What a finish! Skrtel showing Benteke how to go about his business there, in the no-nonsense style.
7.08pm GMT
80 min: City are beginning to test Liverpool now, coming back at them again and again. De Bruyne wins a corner down the left, Lovren sliding in again. Skrtel heads powerfully clear. Then Ibe rolls a pass down the right to release Benteke. He’s clear! He must romp on goal, but hesitates, allowing Mangala to come back and hassle him. He finally gets a shot away, but Hart parries round for a corner.
7.06pm GMT
79 min: Sterling romps into space down the left, but his cross isn’t up to much. Mignolet claims. And it’s a good minute for the Liverpool keeper, who comes out to batter a long City pass back upfield, with Sterling threatening to zip clear down the left wing.
7.05pm GMT
78 min: City go up the other end, but with Liverpool light at the back, Iheanacho shoots lamely from distance out on the right. Mignolet watches the ball drift wide left.
7.04pm GMT
77 min: Firmino, who has been excellent in every facet of his game, bar all those fluffed one-on-ones, is replaced by Benteke. Ibe races down the left, and pulls a brilliant ball back into the centre. Lallana waits for it, but it’s toe-poked clear by Sagna before he can put boot on ball.
7.03pm GMT
75 min: De Bruyne bursts down the left. He skates past Milner and fires a low ball towards the near post. Lovren, sliding in, nearly turns the ball into the bottom left. It’s inches wide. From the corner, hit deep, Iheanacho finds the ball at his feet, 12 yards out on the right. He can’t get a shot away, and Moreno blocks. City beginning to probe again.
7.00pm GMT
73 min: Lallana is upended out on the right. Milner’s free kick, with the City box loaded, is no good. City take the ball up the other end, looking purposeful for a while, but eventually losing their way in the final third. Ihenanacho loops a harmless ball forward, Mignolet gathering with ease.
7.00pm GMT
6.59pm GMT
71 min: Ibe twists and turns down the left to win a corner. City can’t clear the set piece, and the ball slowly bounces to Firmino on the penalty spot. He’s got a split second to get a shot away, but can only pop a weak one straight into Hart’s chest. He’s had three one-on-ones with Hart now. Success rate: 0%. Though he does of course have a goal to his name.
6.57pm GMT
70 min: Fernandinho turns on the pace down the middle, but is stopped in his tracks by the perfectly timed toe of Can. Another player on a booking, so he had to be on the money there. As it was, a fine challenge which halted a dangerous City attack. This isn’t over by a long chalk.
6.56pm GMT
68 min: Liverpool make their first change, a limping Coutinho replaced by Ibe. He seems to be holding his hamstring, but then it also looked like he was telling his manager it wasn’t too bad. Not that my Portuguese/German lip-reading skills should be totally trusted.
6.54pm GMT
67 min: Aguero is replaced by Iheanacho. Lovren manages to concede a corner on the right by kicking a clearance against himself. Liverpool deal with the set piece. This is one wild game.
6.53pm GMT
66 min: De Bruyne swings a stunning low free kick into the Liverpool box from deep on the right. He finds Ferndando, who somehow scoops a shot over the bar from six yards. Someone’s going to score soon. But who?
6.52pm GMT
64 min: Milner passes back down the City left. It’s an appalling pass, and Sterling is onto it, one on one with Mignolet but facing a tight angle. Sterling finds Aguero on the edge of the D. Aguero powers towards the top right, and it’s going in, but Mignolet stretches to claw the ball from the sky. Milner owes his keeper a pint.
6.50pm GMT
62 min: Liverpool have the ball in the net, but the offside flag goes up. Can wins the ball in the middle of the park, and hoicks the ball long for Firmino down the inside-right channel. He just needs to play it inside for Coutinho, but delays. When the ball finally goes forward, an offside Coutinho rounds Hart on the right and finishes calmly, but it’s an exercise in futility.
6.48pm GMT
60 min: Liverpool Should Be Out Of Sight pt4. Can rolls a ball across the face of the City area from the left. Coutinho dummies, and Firmino is free. He’s one on one with Hart, and again batters his shot into the keeper when a simple dink would have seen him score. The resulting corner comes to nothing. A turning point? Or more accurately: another turning point?
6.47pm GMT
59 min: More slapstick shenanigans as Milner tries to play a reverse pass down the right to release Clyne into space, but only manages to fall flat on his face. “It’s a strange and nerve wracking situation to be in, hoping that City attack more so that Liverpool can spring the counter-attack again,” adds Nervousness’s Phil Sawyer. “Basically, I’m gibbering here. Also, pleased to see from my previous email that I’ve already forgotten how to spell Sterling’s name correctly. That’ll learn him.”
6.46pm GMT
58 min: All a bit scrappy in the midfield. Then a loose ball breaks down the City right, allowing Aguero to put Lovren under pressure. From the resulting throw, Sterling cuts in from the right and has a shot which, rather wonderfully for fans of base comedy, hits Skrtel on the arse.
6.44pm GMT
56 min: Moreno makes good down the right, into the City box. He rolls the ball across to set Firmino up for a tap-in, but Mangala toe-pokes it out of his road. Now it’s City’s turn to struggle to clear their ranks. They manage it after a while, but only after Milner had a quick look at causing trouble down the right.
6.42pm GMT
54 min: City pin Liverpool back. De Bruyne, on the right, floats a cross to the far post. Fernandinho is racing in to head home, but Milner holds his position and heads out for a corner. The set piece is half cleared by Liverpool, then Delph tries to find the bottom-right corner from 35 yards. That’s not going to happen, is it. The ball trundles apologetically out of play to the right of goal.
6.39pm GMT
52 min: The best form of defence for Liverpool will be attack. Firmino shoots from out on the left and his shot is deflected away for a corner. Liverpool make a balls of it, but Aguero bowls Milner over down the Liverpool right, and that’s a free kick, and a chance for the visitors to load the box. The set piece is nothing to write home about.
6.37pm GMT
49 min: The last time Liverpool were three up in the league? Selhurst Park at the end of the 2013-14 season, and we all know what happened there. No wonder, then, that they look a little nervous now. Milner and Lucas do the old pincer movement on De Bruyne in the centre of the park. The area the foul’s committed in probably influences the referee’s decision to keep his card in his pocket. Lucas on a booking, of course.
6.35pm GMT
48 min: De Bruyne floats a cross into the Liverpool box from the left. It’s not far from Fernandinho, rushing in from the right, but Mignolet is out quickly to claim.
6.34pm GMT
47 min: Can is booked for a slide on Fernandinho. Advantage City in the midfield, where both of Liverpool’s defensive players are on yellow cards.
6.33pm GMT
46 min: Delph plays a cute pass down the inside-left channel and into the Liverpool box. Sterling comes across with the hope of latching onto the pass, but Mignolet is out quickly to smother. “Things could be worse for City,” begins Simon McMahon. “At least Joe Hart turned up at the right ground, unlike Brechin City keeper Graeme Smith, who arrived at Ochilview in Stenhousmuir today only to be told that Brechin were actually at home. Cue an 80-mile dash to Glebe Park in time for 3 o’clock. He made it, but Brechin lost 2-1.”
6.32pm GMT
City get the ball rolling for the second half, having made two changes. Delph and Fernandinho are on for Navas and Toure. A prediction from Phil Sawyer, and he’s saying what most Liverpool supporters are thinking, I’ll be bound: “Liverpool to lose it 5-3 from here. Stirling hat-trick in the second half, you mark my words.”
6.21pm GMT
Half-time advertisement: Shankly’s Village tells the remarkable story of Glenbuck, a small Ayrshire mining village which was birthplace to Bill Shankly and 52 other professional footballers, four of them his brothers. An evocative and heartwarming tale, which at one point sees wee Wullie getting the strap from his schoolmaster after moving the schoolroom clock forward by 30 minutes, so he could get out early for a kickabout. Magical.
6.19pm GMT
What a wild half of football. Liverpool could be five goals clear. As it is, they’re only ahead by two. Only! Anything could happen in the second half. It promises to be intense. You’ll not be going anywhere, will you?
6.17pm GMT
45 min +1: Space for Aguero on the left. He enters the box and wins a corner off a sliding Skrtel. Liverpool clear the set piece, but the ball’s soon coming back at them. Firmino eventually intercepts and calms the situation down by belting the ball up the other end.
6.15pm GMT
45 min: There will be two minutes added to this half. If City get another ...
6.14pm GMT
Mignolet plays a tight pass out to Clyne on the Liverpool right. It allows City to come at Liverpool with purpose. Aguero shimmies in from the City left and curls a peach into the top right! What a gorgeous finish! But another goal that’s resulted from defensive nonsense.
6.13pm GMT
43 min: All a bit scrappy now. What City would give for a little something before half-time.
6.12pm GMT
40 min: A loose pass back to Mignolet from Lovren, the keeper under pressure. He hacks to Kolarov, who makes a run down the left and wins another corner. Again Skrtel powers clear. City should take succour that, for all their shambolic play in this half, Liverpool aren’t exactly watertight themselves.
6.09pm GMT
38 min: Lucas is booked for grabbing Aguero round the shoulder as the striker skitters through the midfield. A cynical one, and his fifth caution of the season. He’ll miss the upcoming game against Swansea City.
6.08pm GMT
37 min: Sterling makes off down the left in an attempt to turn the tide. He reaches the byline and chips one into the middle, but Skrtel deflects it into the arms of Mignolet.
6.07pm GMT
36 min: Liverpool should be out of sight pt.II. Lallana slips a ball inside from the left. Coutinho juggles it, then prods forward down the channel for Firmino, who squirts a diagonal shot across Hart and inches wide of the right-hand post. It could easily be five.
6.06pm GMT
35 min: Liverpool should be out of sight. Mangala plays a ridiculous square pass to Coutinho, who finds Firminho free on the right. He’s one on one with Hart, who saves brilliantly.
6.05pm GMT
34 min: They’ve just shown a replay of the Aguero penalty shout. He battered the ball into Skrtel’s face. No pen. “With Firmino and Coutinho running the show, it really is just like watching Brazil,” suggests Gar Byrne. Well, someone had to.
6.03pm GMT
Coutinho warms Hart’s hands from 20 yards. The ball breaks to the left. Can backkeels down the left. Coutinho is free. He rolls the ball to the right for Firmino, who taps home carefully. That’s a majestic team goal. But what a backheel! City were Can opened.
6.02pm GMT
31 min: Aguero runs at Skrtel in the Liverpool area, down the left. Skrtel slides in to block, and it looks as though the ball hits the defender’s arm. But City don’t get the decision. They don’t appeal too strongly, though it’d be interesting to see that again.
5.59pm GMT
29 min: More annoyance tumbles down from the stand, as Kolarov wins a corner on the left. Skrtel crashes a clearing header into the middle of the park, and City shuttle the ball all the way back to Hart.
5.59pm GMT
27 min: City can’t get the ball forward, though they’re seeing enough of the ball. Liverpool holding their shape. Hart ponders a long kick for a few seconds, and the crowd quickly get on his back. Understandable frustration at what they’ve seen so far.
5.56pm GMT
25 min: Firmino flicks the ball over Demichelis’s head down the left. He toys with him in the cat / ball of wool style. Fernando arrives, in emergency mode, to batter out for a corner. The set piece comes to nothing, but City are all over the shop here.
5.54pm GMT
What a counter attack this is. Firmino battles his way past a spinning Mangala and Demichelis in the middle of the park. He drifts to the right of the D, bringing both men with him, then dinks a pass back into the middle. Coutinho is running in to meet it, and sidefoots into the bottom-right past a wrong-footed Hart. That’s a goal of electric brilliance in attack, though City’s centre backs were on a silent-movie tip there.
5.52pm GMT
22 min: But City are suddenly on their game again. De Bruyne finds space down the right and fires a low ball into the six-yard box. Sterling is waiting to slam home, but Clyne nips in ahead and hammers clear.
5.51pm GMT
21 min: A rare period of sustained possession for City. They probe down both flanks, through Kolarov on the left, then Navas on the other wing, but can’t open a firm Liverpool up.
5.50pm GMT
19 min: Liverpool are all over City right now. Milner has a dig from the best part of 30 yards, which is a bit optimistic. On the touchline, Jurgen Klopp is beside himself with rage. He’ll be desperate for his team to get another while they’re on top.
5.49pm GMT
17 min: Clyne, Milner and Firmino ping it around the right wing. Eventually Clyne chips one down the inside-right channel to release Lallana once again - and once again the flag goes up, correctly, for offside. Liverpool were much smarter then, though, City living on the edge. Lallana rolls the ball inside for Coutinho, to demonstrate how they’d have walked the ball into the net had they timed that correctly.
5.46pm GMT
15 min: Lallana tries to release Milner down the right with a cheeky backheel. A wee bit too clever for his own good, that, as it flies out of play for a goal kick. City are looking a bit ragged at the back, to say the least. They can be thankful that Liverpool have started to over-elaborate.
5.45pm GMT
14 min: Clyne slides a ball down the right to release Lallana into the area. The flag goes up for offside, quite correctly. Lallana bollocks his team-mate, because the pass was needlessly delayed. Had it been played in time - and Clyne was under no pressure whatsoever - City were in all sorts of bother.
5.44pm GMT
12 min: City come straight back at Liverpool, through Navas down the right. His low ball into the area is looking for Aguero, but is intercepted by Skrtel. Good luck at guessing which way this game is going to go. Both teams are streaming forward with extreme prejudice!
5.42pm GMT
11 min: De Bruyne is causing all sorts of bother down the right. Moreno is leaving big gaps behind him as he attacks. Can and Skrtel swarm and snuff out the attack. Liverpool tear forward on the break, Coutinho spraying the ball to the right for Clyne. The full back is in acres of space, and should perhaps be greedy enough to take a shot. But when he drops a shoulder to cut inside, he looks for a pass inside for Firminho, and it’s no good.
5.40pm GMT
10 min: ... the ball drops to Sterling on the penalty spot. He goes over his own feet as he tries to dig the ball out for a shot. The crowd claim a penalty, but in fairness the player himself doesn’t bother. This is relentless stuff.
5.39pm GMT
9 min: City respond with a crisp move down the right, De Bruyne and Mangala earning a corner. From which ...
5.39pm GMT
Hart hoicks forward to Sagna down the City right. He’s dispossessed by Coutinho, who rolls down their left. The ball’s played forward to Firmino, who pulls a low ball into the centre. It’s intended for Coutinho, who has kept running, but Mangala tries to intercept. However he gets in an awful tangle, and the ball’s dispatched in slow-motion into the bottom-left corner. What a strange goal. Marvellous intense pressing by Liverpool, though.
5.37pm GMT
6 min: Can is allowed to embark on a long wander down the inside-left channel. His one-two with Coutinho on the edge of the box nearly opens City up. Then a second phase of play, Coutinho, Moreno, Firmino and Can clipping the ball around in pretty triangles. Can is sprung into space, but he’s offside. Neat play. Both sides looking confident in attack, less so in defence.
5.35pm GMT
4 min: Liverpool betray some nerves, Coutinho losing the ball in the middle of the park and allowing Sterling to tear clear down the left. Sterling drops a shoulder to come inside but can’t get his shot away. City looking dangerous though.
5.34pm GMT
3 min: Aguero goes on a twinkle-toed scamper down the inside-left channel and nearly breaks through the Liverpool back line. Skrtel hooks out with a last-ditch tackle. City come back at Liverpool and win a corner down the left. Skrtel, a one-man brick wall right now, heads clear.
5.33pm GMT
2 min: City try to break down the right through Navas and De Bruyne, but can’t keep the move going. Sterling takes his first touch, and the first pantomime of the season is underway. Huge boos from the away fans, followed by even louder cheers from the home support.
5.31pm GMT
20 seconds: Coutinho, sitting deep, plays a ball down the middle of the park with a view to releasing Lallana. Too much juice on the pass, but City were a bit light at the back there. A very early sign that Liverpool are in the mood to go for it, because sitting back would just ask for trouble?
5.30pm GMT
Heartfelt applause tumbles down from the stand, the teams get into their pre-match huddles, and then the game gets underway. Liverpool set the ball rolling. There’s a cracking atmosphere in the City of Manchester Stadium.
5.28pm GMT
The teams are out! Manchester City in their famous sky blue, Liverpool in their equally well-known red. It’s an aesthetic delight. But before kick-off, the players mingle in the centre circle to demonstrate how the whole world has France’s back, as La Marseillaise is defiantly trumpeted across the stadium. We’ll be underway in a minute.
5.20pm GMT
And now it’s the turn of a cheery Jurgen Klopp to have his say. He’s asked about the possibility of taking all three points tonight, and laughs quite a lot before answering. “We all know about the quality of Manchester City, a big team and a big manager. We must not allow them to play their rhythm, because if they play at their rhythm they are pretty strong. Set the level of intensity, that’s what we try to do. They have to run, we have to run. We must not forget to play football, it’s important not to be hectic. And very important: Shoot. The. Ball. In. The. Goal. Don’t concede one, and then everything’s OK. That’s football! Cool, eh?”
5.10pm GMT
Manuel Pellegrini - whose team are third in the table as a result of the earlier games, now trailing new leaders Leicester City and second-placed Manchester United - speaks! “For different reasons this is the best starting XI I could pick for this game. Otamendi had played too many games in a row, Fernandinho the same thing. I am not thinking about the Champions League. I am only thinking about Liverpool, and the three points that would take us back to the top of the league. I think Sterling must be calm, and play the way he has done all season. Of course it is a special game for him against a former club, but I don’t think this will have an influence on him.”
5.00pm GMT
Tonight’s half-and-half scarf. It’s damn cold out there. Those scarves are warm and snuggly. What’s to be gained by feudin’ and a-fussin’?
4.50pm GMT
Today’s flimsy excuse to put up a link to City!, the best warts-and-all football documentary there is: It starts with a 3-0 Liverpool win at Maine Road in October 1980. That game is followed by one of the most gloriously petulant press conferences in the history of All Football. Malcolm Allison, wine glass charged and cigar on, simply oozed star quality, didn’t he.
4.40pm GMT
Two of the best strikers in the Premier League make their returns from injury tonight. Manchester City welcome back Sergio Aguero, and plonk him straight in the starting XI. No messing. Liverpool meanwhile can select Daniel Sturridge once again after his latest lay-off, though perhaps understandably they’re being a tad more cautious, naming him as a substitute rather than throwing him straight into the maelstrom of an away game at City.
4.35pm GMT
Manchester City: Hart, Sagna, Demichelis, Mangala, Kolarov, Toure, Fernando, Jesus Navas, De Bruyne, Sterling, Aguero.
Subs: Zabaleta, Caballero, Delph, Clichy, Fernandinho, Otamendi, Iheanacho.
Liverpool: Mignolet, Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno, Can, Lucas, Milner, Coutinho, Lallana, Firmino.
Subs: Toure, Benteke, Sturridge, Allen, Ibe, Bogdan, Randall.
3.07pm GMT
The international break came at the wrong time for Manchester City. Sure, they only drew their last game in the Premier League, but they were the better team at Aston Villa, and before that were really hitting form. Six goals against Newcastle United, five against Bournemouth and Crystal Palace, late winners against Borussia Monchengladbach, Sevilla and Norwich, a determined draw at rivals Manchester United, and a scintillating display in the return at Sevilla, as good a performance as you’ll see from anyone in the Champions League all season. All that, and they had big players missing. Yet they were moving through the gears in style.
The international break came at the right time for Liverpool. Their last game in the Premier League was Jurgen Klopp’s first defeat in English football, and it was a strange one against Crystal Palace. On a different day, with better finishing, they could have won that game. Having said that, on a different day, with better finishing, Palace could have run up quite a score. Klopp, it’s fair to say, has a lot of work to do. And at last, over the last fortnight, he’s had time to get some of it done. It’ll be fascinating to see how his players respond, especially as the transfer window will be opening soon, and a few of these lads need to make an impression on their new boss and quick.
Continue reading...Watford v Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened
United edged past resilient Watford with a last-minute winner at Vicarage Road
2.37pm GMT
And that’s that! A hectic finish, but United go top of the Premier League for at least a couple of hours with one of their famous late, late shows! A draw looked a fair result after Watford’s equaliser - the home side had put on a spirited display in the second half. But United weren’t in the mood to accept their fate, and cranked up the pressure in the final moments, Watford bucking under a relentless burst of old-school pressure. It’s the sort of thing title-winners do, is that.
Related: Manchester United claim last-gasp win at Watford after Troy Deeney own goal
2.36pm GMT
90 min +4: Some head tennis in the United area. Ighalo, on the penalty spot, hits a shot on the swivel, but it’s straight at De Gea, who knows a thing or two about positioning. What a quietly effective goalkeeping performance from the United keeper!
2.34pm GMT
90 min +2: There will be four added minutes. The first couple have been taken up by United celebrations, and Watford wandering around in a stunned fashion.
2.33pm GMT
... Smalling nearly flicks home into the top left. Gomes tips round brilliantly. From the second corner, Lingard finds a bit of space in the left of the box. He hammers low to the right. Gomes saves wonderfully again, but the ball squirts out to the right. From a tight angle, Schweinsteiger fires back across goal, and Deeney - the hero a minute or two ago, slides the ball home in an attempt to hook clear. What drama! What a never-say-die attitude from Manchester United. Old school, huh?
2.30pm GMT
89 min: Memphis makes trouble down the left to earn a corner for United. From which ...
2.29pm GMT
Deeney hammers it down the middle. Well, a little to the left, which is the same side De Gea’s gambled on. But the ball’s over the keeper and into the net. Watford are level! And on their second-half performance, they deserve it.
2.27pm GMT
86 min: A throw down the left. Deeney flicks it on for Ighalo, who is grabbed from behind by Rojo. The United defender is also clipping away at his legs. It’s a soft penalty, but a stupid challenge. And a chance for Deeney to scramble a point for the hosts!
2.26pm GMT
84 min: Watford are pressing forward, but United rob the ball and break down the other end. Blind, on the left, lofts a gorgeous pass down the middle for Lingard. Gomes has rushed out to the edge of his area, rashly so. He’s open to the lob. Lingard goes for it, but doesn’t get any elevation on the effort, and the ball lands softly in Gomes’s relieved arms. That should have sealed it for United.
2.23pm GMT
82 min: Young is down getting treatment, having possibly injured himself while clattering into Ake a couple of minutes ago. It might be a concussion issue, as the physio is doing that thing with his fingers. Ah he’s back up, though he is blinking quite a lot. The Watford fans not particularly happy at the long break in play, with time against them.
2.21pm GMT
79 min: Memphis fails to take advantage of a long hoof down the left which had released him into acres of space. He’s overly ponderous, and a chance to put the game away is spurned. Mata is then replaced by the 19-year-old Belgian-born Brazilian midfielder Andreas Pereira.
2.19pm GMT
77 min: Ake looks to break down the left. Young hangs a leg out, and as Ake goes over it, he holds his arms up in apology. Having just been booked, that could have been costly for Young, but Ake rather sportingly made nothing of it. The Watford man was impeded there, so he’d have been within his rights.
2.17pm GMT
76 min: Lingard was booked a couple of minutes ago for failing to get out of the way at a quick Watford free kick. Apparently.
2.17pm GMT
75 min: Ighalo cushions a long ball down for Deeney, on the edge of the United box. Deeney hits a pearler towards goal, but straight down De Gea’s throat. Either side of the keeper, and that was bursting the net.
2.15pm GMT
74 min: It’s end-to-end entertainment. Abdi curls one in from the left. The ball twangs off Schneiderlin’s back and into the arms of De Gea. United go up the other end, Lingard pressurising Watson into clumsily conceding a corner kick. Watford break upfield from the set piece through Paredes, whose refusal to give up possession as he powers down the left forces Young into a cynical trip. He’s rightfully booked.
2.12pm GMT
71 min: Ighalo backflicks down the inside-left channel to release Capoue into the United box. He can’t get a shot away. The ball breaks to Abdi, level with the left-hand post, 12 yards out. He hammers a low shot through a thicket of players and towards the bottom left. De Gea tips round the post with his fingertips, at full stretch. A simply astonishing save. The corner comes to nothing. Watford so close to levelling things there.
2.11pm GMT
69 min: Both sides make a change. Nyom is replaced by Paredes, while Jones - who looks to have picked up a foot injury - makes way for McNair.
2.09pm GMT
68 min: Watson cynically clips Young’s ankles as the former Watford man goes down the right wing. That’s the first booking of the match.
2.09pm GMT
67 min: But 2-0 would be even better, of course. Lingard robs Anya down the right. He slips the ball inside for Mata, who shuttles it further on to Memphis on the left-hand edge of the Watford D. Memphis looks to scoop a curler into the top right, but it’s well wide of the post.
2.07pm GMT
65 min: A bit of a lull. Watford enjoying a little more possession, but not doing a great deal with it. United quite happy to sit back and let them go nowhere. Louis van Gaal, one senses, would be beside himself with happiness if this ends 1-0, a job done with clinical ease.
2.03pm GMT
62 min: Watford are right back in this game now. Capoue nutmegs Lingard down the left. He shuttles the ball inside for Ighalo, who scoops back down the flank for Ake. Smalling is across quickly to batter the ball out of play, just before the left back can tear into acres of space.
2.02pm GMT
59 min: A corner for Watford down the right this time. It’s whipped into the six-yard box, where Ighalo tries to swivel the ball home. But Rojo - who had conceded the set piece - stands firm to block and clear. Meanwhile let’s put some meat on the bones of Martin Stannard’s half-time report from China, courtesy of the Guardian’s Asian Big Cup Hot Stamping Action correspondent (and guardian.com sports editor) James Dart:
66' RED CARD!! Salmin Khamis has been sent off for a stamp on Zheng Long! #ACLFinal #ACL2015 pic.twitter.com/WXdEumYG6o
1.58pm GMT
56 min: Then again, one goal and Watford are right back in this. Ake makes off down the left. His low cross is cushioned by Ighalo to Deeney, on the edge of the box. Deeney blooters a fine rising shot goalwards, but it’s straight at De Gea, who can tip over the bar. The corner is a waste of everyone’s time, but that’s much better from the home side.
1.56pm GMT
55 min: Corner for United down the right. Mata swings it to the near post, where Schweinsteiger, the Teddy Sheringham de nos jours, attempts to flick on. He gets too much on the ball, and clanks it out of play to the right of goal. But Watford are living dangerously here.
1.55pm GMT
53 min: Watford can’t get out. United press them back, knocking the ball hither and yon. Eventually Memphis, cutting in from the left, attempts a shot from the edge of the box. It nearly goes out for a throw on the far side. You can’t win ‘em all. Meanwhile here’s a bit of movie trivia from Steven Wyatt: “In that clip from Casablanca, the teary blonde shouting Vive la France! is the actress Madeleine LeBeau, who had to flee Paris with her Jewish husband in 1940. So she isn’t acting.”
1.53pm GMT
51 min: More fluid United movement, this time down the right. Mata feeds the ball inside for Jones, of all people. His attempted snapshot is blocked at source, and wafts gently into the arms of Gomes.
1.52pm GMT
50 min: Anya has his first run down the right wing. He hooks a ball into the box, but De Gea claims easily enough.
1.50pm GMT
49 min: From the best part of 30 yards, Schweinsteiger looks to launch one into the top left. Nope! But his side have started the half strongly.
1.49pm GMT
48 min: As is the next one United win, after some pretty triangulation down the left, with the lively Memphis very much at the centre of it all.
1.48pm GMT
47 min: Capoue gives the ball away in the midfield to Memphis, who briefly considers attempting to lob Gomes from distance. Instead he slides the ball left to Lingard, who is free on the edge of the box. He shoots hard and low towards the bottom left, Gomes saving brilliantly, tipping around the post. The corner’s a non-event.
1.47pm GMT
Watford make a change, hooking Jurado in favour of Ake. That means Anya, the Scottish Garrincha, moves from left back to right wing. Hopefully we’re in for a rollocking second half. Though the following email from Martin Stannard suggests we might be looking in the wrong place: “What you’re watching there seems very tame compared to what I just saw here in Southern China. Turning on the TV in the vain hope that the early match might be on, the usual Chinese game was there. But some guy - didn’t catch his name but definitely Middle Eastern - was just sent off for stamping on someone’s chest. It looked pretty damn painful. Anyway, he didn’t want to go, and the words ‘left the field kicking and screaming’ don’t begin to do justice to his exit. It took four people to drag him away and they made a very poor job of it; I only wish you could’ve seen it. Sport at its entertaining best.”
1.34pm GMT
Half-time nostalgia: Manchester United haven’t always been the most glamorous team in English football.
1.32pm GMT
Watford win a corner down the right, which leads to a United break that peters out pitifully. A dismal end to a half United dominated until Herrera’s injury and their enforced reshuffle. Both teams will be looking to take it up a notch in the second half, though United will be happy enough with what they’ve got. Not least because that’s now 600 minutes without a ball bothering the United net.
1.30pm GMT
44 min: And now Gomes shanks a clearance straight to Memphis, and is very lucky the United striker doesn’t engage his brain with options to cause a light-at-the-back Watford a lot of problems. This is very sloppy from the home side.
1.29pm GMT
43 min: Britos follows a long United punt back to his own box. Gomes comes out to meet it too. Lingard very nearly nips in between them. For a team that don’t concede too often, Watford have been a dithering mess at the back so far today. United could easily have had a couple more.
1.27pm GMT
42 min: It’s momentarily descended into scrappy nonsense, this.
1.25pm GMT
40 min: Memphis comes in from the left, and creams a right-footed shot towards the bottom left. The ball bounces just in front of Gomes, forcing him to parry round the post for the purposes of safety. United’s corner, played miles back down the wing, is too clever for its own good. But all in all, they’re looking pretty dangerous today.
1.23pm GMT
38 min: Blind loops a cross in from the left. Mata tries to flick the ball into space for himself down the left channel, but it balloons off Watson and back to Gomes.
1.22pm GMT
36 min: Brilliant work from Nyom, who claims a throw on the right touchline before the ball goes out of play. Blind stops, but Nyom traps the ball on the line, then races off with it. He whips a cross into the middle for Deeney, but Jones heads clear. Capoue lashes wildly over from 25 yards. Much better from Watford.
1.19pm GMT
34 min: Deeney is fairly fortunate to escape a booking after a studs-up contribution to a 50-50 ball with Rojo. It was clumsy rather than malicious, and the referee makes do with a bit of finger wagging.
1.18pm GMT
32 min: Young works hard down the right to earn a corner out of not very much. Mata curls one to the near post. Schweinsteiger flicks it on, and having beaten Gomes it looks like going in, but Deeney hooks it off the line. So close to a second for United.
1.16pm GMT
30 min: Rojo isn’t up to speed yet, and some poor control allows Deeney to scamper off down the right. He’s ushering the ball out for a corner, but it hits the flagstick and stays in play, forcing him to play a pass, and allowing Rojo to redeem himself with a block that earns a goal kick.
1.14pm GMT
29 min: Ighalo is sprung into a little space down the left, but United have held the sort of line George Graham, Steve Bould and Tony Adams would be proud of, and the flag goes up for offside. Watford are doing absolutely nothing in attack.
1.13pm GMT
27 min: Nyom has got his clumsy boots on today. Now he pointlessly bundles over Memphis down by the left-hand corner flag. The United attacker was going nowhere. So this is effectively a corner. A high ball into the box isn’t cleared properly, and Schneiderlin tries a dipping, screeching volley from the right-hand side of the D. It’s over the bar, but not by much.
1.11pm GMT
25 min: Herrera pulled up while chasing Anya down the left wing. Not at much speed, it has to be said. But it is very cold. He’s replaced by Rojo. United look like they’re going to go three at the back, with Young and Blind as wing-backs. They were totally on top, so it’ll be interesting to see how an elaborate change of playing system will affect them.
1.09pm GMT
24 min: Herrera is down on the turf, holding his hamstring and shaking his head. It doesn’t look as though he’ll be able to continue.
1.07pm GMT
21 min: The set piece is a pointless nonsense. The ball goes back to Young, on the halfway line. He steps on the ball like Gerry Young in the 1966 FA Cup final, allowing Deeney to tear free down the left. Watford are two on one! But Deeney’s pass inside to Ighalo is behind his partner, allowing Smalling to get back to cover. Ighalo twists gorgeously to make a bit of space on the right, but then slices his shot miles right of the post. Watford should have at least forced a wonder save from David De Gea. But nothing.
1.05pm GMT
20 min: Schweinsteiger switches play to the right wing for Young, who whips one to the near post. Cathcart steps in ahead of Memphis to head out for a corner.
1.04pm GMT
18 min: Blind makes a bit of space for himself down the left, and swings a low cross into the area. It’s only half cleared by Britos, and falls to the feet of Mata on the penalty spot. Fortunately for Watford, the ball clanks between Mata’s boots, and he can’t dig it out for a shot. Cathcart hoicks clear.
1.03pm GMT
17 min: United pass it around the back awhile, and over-elaborate, Smalling knocking the ball out of play on the Watford left. A chance for the home side to put a little pressure on the visitors, but the throw goes back up the flank and possession’s lost quickly enough. Watford look very unsure of themselves at the moment.
1.00pm GMT
15 min: Nyon glides inside from the right, but his curling cross is easily cleared by Smalling. Lingard, breaking quickly, should send Mata scampering free into the Watford half down the left, but his pass is overcooked, and the danger is over.
12.58pm GMT
13 min: That goal was no more than United deserved after a crisp start. They’ve been in complete control of this game so far. And as things stand, they’ll be going top of the Premier League table, for a couple of hours at least.
12.57pm GMT
United pass it around patiently up and down the right flank. Mata, Lingard and Young are all involved. Suddenly Herrera bursts into life, swinging a ball towards the near post, where from ten yards Memphis guides a gentle volley into the top right. That was a decent ball in, but a simply superlative finish!
12.54pm GMT
8 min: Deeney picks up a loose Schneiderlin pass in the middle of the park and feeds Ighalo, who freezes 25 yards from goal. It is fairly nippy. United rob the ball off him and go up the other end through Young down the right. Young - who returns to his old club for the first time since being sold to Aston Villa nine years ago - hoicks a cross miles over the bar.
12.52pm GMT
6 min: This is all United right now. They’re pressing hard up front, and stroking it around calmly at the back. Watford are struggling to get a feel of the ball in the early exchanges.
12.50pm GMT
4 min: Memphis, cutting in from the left, nearly finds Mata at the far post. Watford half clear. Herrera knocks it back into the box. Nyom then slices an appalling clearance back over his head and over the bar. Gomes had come out to claim. That could have been super-embarrassing. It’s bad enough that Nyom’s given away a corner in such a ludicrous fashion. But the set piece is dealt with easily enough. Not the most solid of starts from the home team.
12.48pm GMT
2 min: United start very fast. Jones feeds Lingard down the inside-right channel, but the young man miscontrols instead of breaking free into the box. The ball is recycled, and Mata scoots down the right. His low cross should be met by Memphis at the near post, but he’s mistimed his run. Lingard tries to meet the ball in the middle, but can’t connect. On another day, United would be leading. Attack, attack, attack attack attack? It looks like United are planning to do just that.
12.45pm GMT
A warm round of applause for La Marseillaise, both teams get in pre-match huddles, and the hosts get the ball rolling. There’s a fantastic atmosphere at Vicarage Road.
12.43pm GMT
The teams are out! Watford in their vivid yellow shirts and black shorts, Manchester United in their famous red shirts with white shorts. We’ll be off soon, but first the players mingle in the centre circle for minute to reflect on last week’s dreadful events in Paris, and a rendition of one of the most defiant musical statements of all.
12.20pm GMT
Quique Sanchez Flores talks! “It is amazing to play every time here at Vicarage Road, because our fans support the style we are trying to play, and I am very happy. We have to improve always. We have been training together for four months, and are on the right road. I have made a change today because sometimes players come in tired after the international break. I respect Louis van Gaal, so United are gong to be very tough. We will have to be at our best to win today.”
Related: Quique Sánchez Flores, the fighter who prefers pragmatism to artistry at Watford
12.10pm GMT
Louis van Gaal speaks on subjects various. “Paris was a tragic event, and we spoke about that. Can you play or not? Can you focus or not? Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger said they could focus, so that was that ... I don’t have many options this weekend, so it is not easy for me. It is difficult. You will have to look to see how we play! [Massive cheeky grin] ... I am very happy if Memphis scores. It will give him a big boost. I hope he scores. But it doesn’t matter who is scoring. Manchester has to score.”
11.59am GMT
Watford make a single change to the team that went down 2-1 at Leicester City a fortnight ago. José Manuel Jurado comes in for Nathan Aké, who drops to the bench.
Manchester United meanwhile make four changes to the side that started their 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford. Phil Jones, Morgan Schneiderlin, Ander Herrera and Memphis Depay come in for Marcos Rojo, a sub today, the injured Michael Carrick and Anthony Martial, and the ill Wayne Rooney.
11.50am GMT
Watford: Gomes, Nyom, Cathcart, Capoue, Britos, Anya, Watson, Jurado, Abdi, Ighalo, Deeney.
Subs: Oulare, Paredes, Ake, Guedioura, Ibarbo, Diamanti, Arlauskis.
Manchester United: De Gea, Jones, Smalling, Blind, Young, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Mata, Ander Herrera, Lingard, Depay.
Subs: Rojo, Romero, McNair, Darmian, Rashford, Andreas Pereira, Goss.
3.04pm GMT
The last time Watford played one of last season’s top four, they were beaten 3-0 at home by Arsenal. A comprehensive defeat on the face of it, but the scoreline didn’t tell the whole story. Quique Sanchez Flores’s team went toe to toe with the Gunners for the first hour of that match, before a few multi-million-pound stars let their presence be known. On another day, had Odion Ighalo slotted away his first-half one-on-one, the story could have been awfully different. Watford had other chances too. It’s not often a team gets belted by three and yet comes away with credit, but the Hornets did so that evening.
Tough ask this afternoon, though. Manchester United aren’t exactly firing on all cylinders, but they’re fourth in the table, two points off the lead. And for a team who, if you listen to their critics, haven’t launched a single attack since Charlie Mitten joined Santa Fe in 1950, they’re not that bad going forward. They’ve scored three goals on six occasions so far this season and four goals once, and only failed to find the net five times. OK, they’re not exactly banging them in like Preston North End in 1888, but what most teams in the country would give for goalscoring problems like theirs.
Related: Manchester United’s Louis van Gaal says he expected more from Memphis Depay
Continue reading...November 17, 2015
England v France: international friendly – as it happened
Dele Alli and Wayne Rooney scored the goals on an emotional night at Wembley.
9.52pm GMT
The final whistle blows, and it’s been a good evening for England, who scored a couple of gorgeous goals, Dele Alli’s first-half screamer particularly impressive. France gave their all, but in the end it was understandably too much: they were missing that extra spark of energy, emotionally spent after the longest four days. But the result doesn’t really matter. Roy Hodgson hugs Didier Deschamps warmly on the touchline, and as the players depart, the tricolore continues to light up the Wembley arch. Liberté, égalité, fraternité.
Related: Football stands together for France before England win on poignant night
9.49pm GMT
90 min: Pogba, cutting in from the left, strides past Jones and attempts to curl one into the top right. It’s too high.
9.46pm GMT
88 min: Alli, the man of the match, is replaced by Jones.
9.44pm GMT
85 min: This game was keenly contested for the most part, but it’s petering out now. Understandably so.
9.43pm GMT
83 min: Schneiderlin is replaced by Sissoko. Griezmann tries to release Digne down the left, but overcooks the pass. The stadium announcer gives out tonight’s attendance: 71,223. Every one unbowed.
9.41pm GMT
82 min: France stroke the ball around for a while, then Pogba sprays an impatient long pass down the right for Sagna, who is never getting it.
9.39pm GMT
80 min: A couple of England changes now. Barkley and Kane are replaced by Bertrand and Shelvey.
9.38pm GMT
78 min: Koscielny, of all players, goes on a Beckenbauer-style dribble down the inside-left channel. He eventually slides the ball wide to Digne, whose high whipped cross is claimed by Butland.
9.35pm GMT
76 min: The very busy Coman cuts inside from the left and looks to cream one into the top right from 25 yards. It’s pretty wild.
9.34pm GMT
74 min: Coman, in a central position, slams a pass towards Griezmann, hovering on the right of the England D. If that ball was softer, Griezmann would have been able to control and break free into the box, but there was far too much force behind it. France haven’t done much in attack, but it’s not been for the want of trying.
9.32pm GMT
73 min: Kane battles with Varane down the left wing. He’s got no right to win the ball, never mind a free kick, but that’s what he does, placing himself in front of the defender and forcing the mistake. Lallana loops the free kick to the far post, allowing Lloris to claim easily.
9.30pm GMT
71 min: Coman goes on a power run down the inside-right channel and wins a corner, a futile effort as the set piece is hit straight down Butland’s throat.
9.30pm GMT
70 min: Lallana and Kane combine down the right to win a corner. Before the kick can be taken, a large advertising banner blows onto the pitch down the other end. It’s hauled off by one poor bloke - those things look damn heavy - although Butland comes across to help with the last few heaves. And then the corner, which was less interesting.
9.28pm GMT
68 min: Sterling dribbles down the left and is obstructed near the area by Diarra. Before the free kick can be taken, he makes way for Lallana. Then the set piece, a long-range one-two between Barkley and Rooney which probably looked like a good idea when Roy Hodgson was scribbling on his chalkboard.
9.26pm GMT
67 min: That was Martial’s last act of the evening. He’s replaced by Griezmann.
9.25pm GMT
65 min: Pogba flicks a delightful back heel down the left channel on the edge of the box to release Martial into the area. Martial should score, but Butland stands tall to smother the shot. What a goal that would have been. Such a shame.
9.23pm GMT
63 min: Coman battles hard down the right, but just as it looks as though he might break inside and into the area, he loses out to a determined Sterling. It’s just not happening up front for France.
9.21pm GMT
62 min: France are seeing most of the ball. England seem happy enough to let them have it in the middle of the park, because they’re running out of ideas whenever they get to the final third.
9.19pm GMT
59 min: Pogba sells Alli a stunning dummy to the left of the England D, then nearly scoops a shot into the top right. Butland wasn’t getting fingers to that, but the ball sailed a couple of inches over the crossbar.
9.17pm GMT
57 min: Another couple of changes by France. Giroud comes on for Gignac, while Cabaye makes way for Diarra, who receives a beautiful smattering of applause from the Wembley crowd in recognition of his bravery in testing circumstances.
9.15pm GMT
55 min: France ping it around the middle again, but can’t get anything going up front. England are holding their shape well.
9.13pm GMT
53 min: Martial dribbles into the England box from the right, and momentarily turns into Ricky Villa. After the 15th or 16th adroit dragback, he looks to have jemmied open enough space for a shot - and then is denied at the last by (who else?) Alli. He’s the complete all-action package this evening, is Alli.
9.12pm GMT
51 min: Schneiderlin faffs around down the England left, conceding possession to Kane. The striker floats inside and unleashes a rising pearler towards the top-right corner. Lloris isn’t anywhere near it. The ball flies inches wide of the post. A marvellous thump. And seeing we’ve just mentioned the 1950s, one of those no-nonsense blooters you’d associate with that era.
9.09pm GMT
49 min: England, Alli especially, have been very impressive so far. This is apparently the youngest England XI since the late 1950s. “But,” chirps Simon McMahon, “at an average 5.3 letters per surname, is this the ‘shortest’ England team ever?”
9.08pm GMT
France spend the first two minutes of the half passing the ball around quite a lot. But then Alli wins another big tackle in the middle of the park, besting Pogba, and sending Sterling away down the left. Sterling, to the side of the area, loops a cross to the right-hand corner of the six-yard box for Rooney. Rooney shapes and hammers a volley towards the bottom right. It sneaks in past Lloris, who probably should have done a lot better, but that’s a lovely goal by England either way.
9.04pm GMT
Les Bleus have made two changes, Pogba and Coman coming on for Matuidi and Ben Arfa. Meanwhile England have swapped Hart for Butland.
8.59pm GMT
Half-time reading: More love going back and forth across the Channel, in the classic sporting style.
Related: The Joy of Six: classic cross-Channel sporting battles | Scott Murray
8.51pm GMT
It’s a friendly, and one being played in strange and awful circumstances. But both teams are going for it, and it’s been very entertaining. England deserve their lead, thanks to Dele Alli’s stunning tackle-and-goal combo. Both teams walk off to another warm round of applause.
8.48pm GMT
44 min: Sterling embarks on a rococo run down the left. He cuts into the area, and opts to shoot instead of passing to Barkley on his inside. His curler towards the bottom right is deflected off Koscielny, but not into the net this time. The resulting corner comes to nothing.
8.46pm GMT
42 min: Gibbs makes off down the left and fizzes a low cross towards the near post for Barkley. The midfielder is hoping to slide in and bundle one home, but Varane intercepts and knocks out for a corner. That corner comes to nothing. “I am very happy that the match is going ahead at Wembley, and very disappointed that these creatures succeeded in the Germany match being cancelled in Hanover,” writes Birgit Priv. “We, the Germans, really wanted to show our solidarity! At the end of the day we won’t be beaten by these creatures, we must all stand together in these difficult times.”
8.45pm GMT
41 min: Kane has a lash from the right-hand edge of the D, and nearly finds the bottom corner. Lloris claims, and sends France down the other end. Gignac looks for the bottom-right corner himself, but Hart is behind it all the way.
8.44pm GMT
What a goal this is! Alli crunches into a fully competitive tackle with Schneiderlin in the middle. The ball breaks to Rooney on the right. Rooney slides it back into Alli, who had sprung up. He advances on the box, and from 25 yards, sends a dipping screamer up, down, and into the top left. A slight deflection off Koscielny, but take nothing away from Alli. That was stunning play! His first senior start, as well.
8.41pm GMT
36 min: Barkley and Gibbs attempt to work something down the left, but no. All too intricate. England are much more impressive going forward when they’re breaking quickly.
8.38pm GMT
34 min: No goals here, not yet. But the deadlock has been broken in Copenhagen, where Sweden are currently the bosses of hosts Denmark. Nick Ames has all the details on the MBM.
Half-time: Denmark 0-1 Sweden (1-3 on agg): Euro 2016 playoff https://t.co/oilrbe2248 (Photo: BPI/Rex) pic.twitter.com/dVeq7EOFuc
8.37pm GMT
32 min: And so would this. Ben Arfa cuts in from the right, then plays a clever angled pass down the inside-right channel. Cabaye, racing in from the middle, very nearly latches onto the pass, but Hart is out quickly to claim (after nearly pushing the ball back up the park to Ben Arfa, but a save’s a save).
8.36pm GMT
31 min: The closest we’ve come to a goal. Kane, to the left of the centre circle, spreads a pass to Rooney down the inside right. Rooney turns Koscielny this way and that. Just before he gets to the box, he sends a rising shot inches high of the top-left corner. That would have been a picture-book goal.
8.34pm GMT
30 min: After a patient passage of England passing, Alli bursts down the right and earns a corner, from which Cahill causes more trouble than he should really be allowed to. Amid a mild tussle, he can’t get a header or a shot away. Koscielny eventually hoicks clear.
8.32pm GMT
28 min: Lloris dips into a bag of tricks marked Garrincha, and very nearly turns into a keeper called Felix. Kane is this close from picking his pocket, as the keeper makes a meal of launching a clearance down the left. Lloris just about got away with that. Try that again, and Kane would be rolling a ball into an open goal.
8.30pm GMT
26 min: Rooney opens up play with a right-to-left crossfield pass, allowing Gibbs to make good ground. He one-twos crisply with Sterling. Too crisply, as Sterling’s pass forward flies out of play with France all out of position.
8.28pm GMT
24 min: France pass it around the midfield awhile. It’s all very neat and tidy, without causing England any problems. Eventually Ben Arfa gets fed up, swinging a cross into the England box from a deep position on the right. There’s nobody in the box bar Hart.
8.25pm GMT
21 min: Sterling, 30 yards out in a central position, tries to spin Schneiderlin. The French midfielder handles the ball. Free kick. Rooney takes the free kick, and sends a curler over the wall and towards the top left. But it’s telegraphed, and not hit with any real venom, so Lloris can gather in the insouciant style.
8.24pm GMT
19 min: ... England break upfield through Kane down the left. Kane sweeps a gorgeous crossfield pass towards Alli on the right-hand corner of the French box. If Alli traps it, he’s in acres of space, clear on goal. But he lets the dropping ball run underneath his feet. Danger over.
8.23pm GMT
18 min: Martial drops a shoulder to come inside from the left, and tries to power a curler into the bottom left. Hart smothers. Then France come at England again, through Cabaye down the inside-right channel. If he connects, he’s troubling Hart. But Cahill sticks out a leg to hook the ball over the bar for a corner. From which nothing happens. Although ...
8.21pm GMT
17 min: Sterling, Clyne and Barkley tap it around the front of the French area in an aesthetically pleasing style. Then Sterling suddenly slides a ball down the inside-right channel, looking to release Clyne on goal. Lloris is out quickly to smother, just before the full-back can get his toe to the ball.
8.20pm GMT
15 min: Martial makes a bit of ground down the left. Had Digne processed the scene properly, he’d have made off further down the channel with a view of being released by Martial. But he hovers out on the touchline, waiting for a pass that never came. England were a bit light there.
8.17pm GMT
13 min: A bit of space for Sterling on the right. He whips a low cross towards Rooney, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Rooney looks to snap a first-time effort into the bottom right, but doesn’t quite connect.
8.16pm GMT
11 min: Hart, possibly in an attempt to lighten the mood, nearly batters a goal kick straight out of play on the right. Fair enough if you’re trying to find someone near the halfway line, but he was trying to roll a simple pass to Clyne, right next to him, just outside the box. England, presumably to a man shaking their heads sadly, allow Ben Arfa to run purposefully towards the box. He slides the ball left for Gignac, but the striker can’t make enough space to curl one across Hart and into the top right, which was obviously his intention. The shot is blocked.
8.13pm GMT
9 min: Lloris hacks a hopeless clearance straight to his Spurs team-mate Kane, on the right-hand corner of the box. The goal is gaping, but instead of shooting, Kane whips it into the middle for Rooney. Varane steps in to hack out for a corner and save his keeper’s blushes. The resulting set piece comes to nothing.
8.11pm GMT
7 min: Now the England fans are adding a bit of volume too, as Barkley and Rooney combine down the inside-left channel. They probe and prod, but can’t get anywhere near the French box. France finally intercept and break upfield. Matuidi slides a ball down the right channel for Cabaye, who unleashes a ripper from the best part of 30 yards. It rises over the right-hand side of the crossbar, but wasn’t too far away. Hart almost certainly had it covered.
8.08pm GMT
4 min: Martial makes a nuisance of himself to the left of the centre circle, then feeds the ball down the channel for Ben Arfa. The move peters out after an elaborate series of triangular passes over which Barcelona would think twice, but for a second, while going direct, France had England in a little trouble there.
8.06pm GMT
2 min: England pass it around the back awhile. Then France take a turn to do so. A slightly eerie atmosphere for the first 90 seconds or so, before the French fans find their voice. Digne makes off down the left, and very nearly wriggles out of a tight position to break into the box. But a combination of Clyne, and Sterling coming over to cover, stops him.
8.04pm GMT
The home side get the ball rolling. A huge cheer as they do so, which will have cleared a few lumps in throats.
8.03pm GMT
The teams take their position around the centre circle for a minute’s silence to honour the fallen. It is impeccably observed. The only sound a security helicopter hovering above the stadium. Several of the French players look visibly shaken and overcome with emotion, André-Pierre Gignac in particular. Both teams get into their own huddles, in a possibly futile attempt to get into the mood for a football match. But here we go.
8.00pm GMT
La Marseillaise. As stirring as you’ve ever heard it. Which, given what a gorgeously rousing anthem it is, really does say something. Tricolres flutter in the stands. The players clasp each others’ hands. Paul Pogba reserves a hug for Wayne Rooney. Both teams mingle in the centre circle to link arms as emotionally charged applause continues to spill down from the stands. “Hello from France,” begins Michael Cosgrove, “where my French girlfriend would like to say just how immensely touched she is by the wonderful support for the people of France that is being shown at Wembley. ‘Oh qu’il est beau, la stade!’ she says.”
7.56pm GMT
A gloriously warm round of applause rings around Wembley as the two teams take to the pitch. The players troop on behind the French tricolore. The Duke of Cambridge, flanked by the two managers Didier Deschamps and Roy Hodgson, lay wreaths at the edge of the playing field. The players link arms. God Save the Queen will be sung first, and then it will be the turn of La Marseillaise, when a tricolore will cover the home end.
7.52pm GMT
The teams are in the tunnel. England in white, France, as ever, Les Bleus. They’ll be out in a minute. But right now, the football almost seems a secondary event to the singing of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem. So should you wish to join in ...
Allons, enfants de la patrie
Le jour de gloire est arrivé
Contre nous, de la tyrannie
L’étendard sanglant est levé
Entendez-vous, dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes.
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons!
Qu’un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons.
7.49pm GMT
Roy Hodgson speaks: “We see the game as a show of solidarity, and a show of defiance. The French team and Federation were sure the game should go ahead, to show the terrorists they can’t win. When they said that’s what they wanted, that’s what we wanted too. The atmosphere doesn’t feel like it normally feels. We care and are appalled by events on Friday night.”
7.36pm GMT
Back to Wembley, and tonight’s team news. Lassana Diarra and Antoine Griezmann are among France’s substitutes. Diarra’s cousin Asta Diakite was one of the 129 people murdered in the attacks, while Griezmann’s sister escaped the killing at the Bataclan.
England meanwhile hand full international debuts to Eric Dier and Dele Alli. Only Joe Hart, Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane remain from the side that lost in Spain on Friday. Wayne Rooney returns to the starting line-up as captain.
7.33pm GMT
More from Hanover, where a German police official has told local television that a bomb attack was planned in the stadium. Keep up with that story over on our rolling news blog.
Related: Paris attacks: concrete 'explosion' plans prompt Germany stadium evacuation – live
7.25pm GMT
Tonight’s half-and-half scarf: Often such a divisive item, but so appropriate tonight.
7.20pm GMT
England: Hart, Clyne, Cahill, Stones, Gibbs, Dier, Alli, Barkley, Rooney, Sterling, Kane.
Subs: Butland, Smalling, Jones, Walker, Bertrand, Shelvey, Mason, Lingard, Lallana, Heaton.
France: Lloris, Sagna, Koscielny, Varane, Digne, Matuidi, Schneiderlin, Cabaye, Martial, Ben Arfa, Gignac.
Subs: Mandanda, Jallet, Evra, Perrin, Griezmann, Giroud, Diarra, Mangala, Sissoko, Pogba, Coman, Costil.
7.10pm GMT
An update on the Germany-Holland cancellation. According to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, the suspicious package was later shown to be harmless. All the latest here.
7.05pm GMT
Meanwhile, for anyone thinking of belting out a few heartfelt (and hopefully wine-soaked) lines of La Marseillaise later on, here’s the way to do it. With feeling, basically. Video courtesy of our man Adam Sich, who is filming down Wembley Way.
7.00pm GMT
A view of this evening’s match from Bruno Constant, l’Equipe’s correspondent in London, who has been talking to Dominic Fifield. “We all know the players struggled initially with the idea of playing this match. That was only natural. The knee-jerk reaction, in those first few hours after the attacks, was to be reluctant to play.
“Then, I think, over time they realised - like all of us - that the match had to be played. There were two options. Either everyone stays at home, behind closed doors, being afraid and staying away from events like this. Or we stand, we live, we refuse to be afraid and we win.
6.50pm GMT
The pitch-perfect brilliance of David Squires pt. XXXVIII. His cartoon today looks at tonight’s match following the Paris attacks. Click here, but set an alarm clock for 7.55pm just in case you get lost in his archive. Easily done.
6.40pm GMT
Owen Gibson, of this parish, has been talking to some of the England fans streaming into Wembley. William Thomas, 24, who has travelled from Sheffield wearing a red Steven Gerrard England shirt and carrying a Tricolor in his back pocket, said it was important for the match to go ahead.
“It’s definitely the right thing to do. I want England to win but if they lose I won’t be disappointed. I’ll try my best with La Marseillaise, French wasn’t my best subject at school. For someone who doesn’t support football it’s hard to understand but there is a bond between fans. They try and try to drive us apart but the more they [terrorists] do it, the closer we get. We’re all human – atheist, Muslim, Christian, it doesn’t matter.”
6.35pm GMT
More on the situation at the Germany-Holland game, where a suspicious object has reportedly been found inside the HDI-Arena.
Related: Germany v Holland friendly cancelled due to suspicious object in stadium
6.30pm GMT
The game goes on at Wembley, though. The match programme was printed before last Friday’s atrocities, so the FA have inserted the following on a separate sheet:
Tonight’s matchday programme went to press last Thursday, before the terrible events that unfolded a day later in Paris, and we would like to take this opportunity to pass on our heartfelt condolences to the French nation.
The events in Paris have shocked all of us, and we are thinking of the victims, their loved ones and all those affected by these tragic events at this time.
6.24pm GMT
Worrying news breaking from Hanover. Tonight’s friendly between Germany and the Netherlands has been cancelled, the stadium evacuated 90 minutes before the scheduled kick-off.
OFFICIAL: Police have confirmed that Germany vs. the Netherlands has been cancelled in Hannover. More to follow... #GERNED
6.20pm GMT
A Guardian Witness callout: Are you planning on singing La Marseillaise today as a show of respect? Share your videos with us. If you’re attending the game at Wembley this evening, and joining the crowd singing the French national anthem, we’d also like to see those videos too.
6.10pm GMT
Fans are beginning to flock to a heavily guarded Wembley. A crowd of around 80,000 is expected tonight, a show of cross-channel unity and defiance. Our man Dominic Fifield has been out and about talking to some of the French supporters. He spoke to a group of seven, all proudly wearing French scarves, who had come over in a minibus from near Lille this morning, including two kids aged nine and 11.
“We bought the tickets to watch a football match, but we’re actually going to attend something completely different,” said Laurent Mathieu. “This has become more than about football. The whole fact that the game is taking place sends out a message that terrorism, and attacks like that on Friday night, will not win. They cannot win. This is about us lifting our heads back up, showing the world that we carry on. The result doesn’t matter, but the occasion really does.”
5.06pm GMT
Four days ago, this fixture was nothing more than a common-or-garden international friendly, an excuse for us all to revel in the glorious everyday banalities of association football. An opportunity to celebrate England’s perfect qualification for Euro 2016, France’s five-game winning run, and the infinite possibilities offered by Harry Kane and Anthony Martial. A chance to grumble about the inability of Roy Hodgson’s side to retain the ball, to rue that Wayne Rooney isn’t ten years younger, to wish that Karim Benzema was a bit less daft. A chance to enjoy a pint, a pie, maybe a goal or two if we’re lucky, or at least a slapstick shoving match between professionals old enough to know better. The simple mundanities we take for granted.
But after the heinous tragedy of Paris, all that has changed. This match now takes on a significance that is at once both horrific and heartening. Horrific because of the need to mourn all those innocent souls slain on Friday night; heartening because it is an early chance to show France that the world has her back.
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