Scott Murray's Blog, page 170
November 17, 2015
The Fiver | An entire nation went off to party
The Republic of Ireland made it to Euro 2016 on Tuesday night, joining a list of qualifiers which includes Northern Ireland, Wales, England, Iceland, Albania, Slovakia, Hungary, Not Scotland, Not Holland and a five-a-side team consisting of Eric Pickles, David Dickinson, Andrew Neil, Moomin and the Andrex puppy. Considering Ireland were a shower for a large part of the qualification process, their eventual play-off success against Bosnia-Herzegovina last night either says a lot about Uefa’s decision to allow 512 teams into the finals, or the way Roy Keane looks at people without saying anything or blinking while taking long, deep, deliberate breaths through his nose.
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November 16, 2015
Republic of Ireland v Bosnia-Herzegovina: Euro 2016 playoff – as it happened
Jonathan Walters was the two-goal hero as an organised Ireland saw off Bosnia-Herzegovina and deservedly booked their place at Euro 2016.
9.41pm GMT
A wonderful atmosphere in the Aviva Stadium, as Ireland win the second leg of a major-championship play-off for the first time! They deserved that result, because while the visitors enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, they were undone by rope-a-dope tactics. Ireland soaked up the pressure, conceded very few real chances, and put theirs away when they arrived. The penalty in the first half may have been farcical, but the result was secured in the second, so controversy doesn’t come into it. Ultimately, Ireland are the deserved victors in this play-off, and will be joining the Euro 2016 party! Magnificent scenes. Still, poor old Edin Visca, eh? He was brilliant.
9.38pm GMT
And that’s it! Ireland have made it to France!
9.37pm GMT
90 min +2: Another free kick to the visitors, this time in the middle of the Irish half. Everyone in the box. The ball drops to Ibisevic, on the left-hand side of the six-yard box. Leaning back, he lashes a hell of a shot past Randolph ... and onto the crossbar! So unlucky! But it’s too little, too late. Dzeko and Djuric are booked for some moaning after the ball goes out of play.
9.35pm GMT
90 min +1: The clock ticks by without incident. The crowd in full voice. It’s on!
9.34pm GMT
90 min: Walters, on a hat-trick, tries to complete it from the halfway line. Eh, no. Whelan is replaced by O’Shea. And a mere three additional minutes stand between Ireland and Euro 2016!
9.33pm GMT
89 min: Some McClean clumsiness leads to yet another free kick for Bosnia-Herzegovina out on the right. Needless pressure on his own team, but Randolph calms everyone down with a confident jump and claim.
9.32pm GMT
88 min: A free kick for Bosnia-Herzegovina on the halfway line. Besic hoicks it straight out of play for a goal kick. That’s amused the home support.
9.32pm GMT
87 min: A high ball into the Irish box leads to another Bosnian corner on the left. From the set piece, a massive playground scramble in the six-yard box. Someone should slam it home, really. Dzeko, perhaps, in the middle of it all. But the ball bobbles into the arms of Randolph. If they can’t get a shot on target from that, it’s not going to happen for them.
9.30pm GMT
85 min: Corner for the visitors down the left. It’s whipped to the near post, where Walters and Spahic compete. The referee signals for another corner, then changes his mind. One way and another, the referee has been hopeless tonight. But for all the controversy over the penalty decision, his bungling doesn’t look to have made any difference. Bosnia-Herzegovina haven’t scored.
9.28pm GMT
83 min: Long, going up for a high ball with Zukanovic, flicks a kick into the side of his opponent. It threatens to kick off, and Zukanovic is livid, but the referee shows only yellow.
9.26pm GMT
82 min: Walters is back. Bosnia-Herzegovina can’t get anything going.
9.25pm GMT
81 min: Walters is down getting some attention for ailments minor. The clock is Ireland’s friend.
9.23pm GMT
80 min: Lulic is replaced by Ibisevic.
9.22pm GMT
78 min: A throw deep in Irish territory. Bosnia-Herzegovina knock it around in pretty triangles. Then Lulic embarks on a skitter into the area. He shapes to shoot, but Coleman spreads himself to block. Corner on the left, from which Randolph rises highest to punch clear with confidence.
9.20pm GMT
76 min: Besic, from out on the right, swings one high and long towards Djuric. Randolph rises and claims rather magnificently.
9.19pm GMT
75 min: Coleman bashes a clearance down the right. The pointless Spahic should mop it up, but he miscontrols and allows Long, on his shoulder, to tear clear on goal! Long’s never quite got the ball under control, though, and with Begovic coming off his line, bobbles a poor shot wide left of the goal. That would have been that.
9.17pm GMT
73 min: Brady very nearly releases Long down the inside-left channel, but there’s a bit too much juice on the ball and Begovic comes to the edge of his area to claim. The Aviva is in full voice right now.
9.16pm GMT
71 min: Visca comes zipping down the right yet again. If there’s one player who doesn’t deserve to lose, after his performance over the two legs, it’s this lad. But his cross is smacked clear from the waiting Djuric by Clark.
9.15pm GMT
Finally Brady delivers something special! The free kick, 35 yards out on the left, drops into the six-yard box. Vranjes, at full stretch, looks to hook away from danger, but succeeds only in guiding the ball to Walters, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Walters creams it into the right-hand portion of the net, and Ireland are so close to the Euro 2016 finals now!
9.13pm GMT
69 min: Medunjanin makes way for Djuric. When the game restarts, Spahic gets himself involved once again in nonsense, sticking a high boot into Walters’ trouser arrangement. That really should be a second yellow card. The referee’s had a shocker. But no matter! Because...
9.12pm GMT
68 min: A free kick for Bosnia-Herzegovina, 25 yards out on the right. A chance to load the box. Medunjanin curls it in carefully, but it’s battered clear by the head of Clark. Randolph hasn’t had to make a serious save yet.
9.10pm GMT
66 min: Hendrick sprays a lovely long ball down the left wing to release McClean into space. A rare Irish attack, and he wins a corner off Spahic. They don’t rush to take the set piece. It’s cleared easily enough, but the ball breaks to Hendrick, 30 yards out. He attempts to lob Begovic. Ambitious is the best thing we can say about it. The ball drifts off to the right, and the free players either side of Hendrick launch an internal debate.
9.07pm GMT
64 min: A simple belt down the middle of the park exposes the Irish defence. Lulic and Dzeko swarm around Coleman, who holds his nerve rather magnificently as he brings the ball down from the sky then plays it away from trouble. The smallest misjudgement there, a little miscontrol, and Bosnia-Herzegovina were away. As calm as you like from the Everton star.
9.06pm GMT
62 min: This game is slowly morphing into attack versus defence. Ireland are sitting very deep, with the visitors enjoying most of the possession. They’ve not created too much as of yet, but you know how these things often pan out. The Aviva is a cauldron of nerves as a result.
9.03pm GMT
59 min: McClean is booked for a fairly agricultural shove in the back of Vranjes, who was making good down the right. The free kick, right on the corner of the area by the byline, is pulled back for Pjanic on the penalty spot. Pjanic snaps a shot away first time, but it smacks Coleman in the face. Brave closing down there. Ireland clear the danger.
9.02pm GMT
57 min: Zukanovic goes up to make a fairly simple header, but loses his bearings and allows the ball to smack into his upper arm. He can’t really complain this time. A completely needless free kick, 25 yards out, in a fairly central position. Brady takes it, and can you guess what he does with it? Yep: he smacks it straight into the first white shirt he can see. His delivery has been nothing short of appalling tonight.
9.00pm GMT
55 min: Ireland make a double change. Out go Hoolahan and Murphy. In come McClean and - to great cheers - Long.
8.58pm GMT
54 min: Vranjes slides a delicious ball down the right to release Visca. He’s past Brady, and reaches the byline. His pull back finds Lulic on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. He should trouble Randolph, but fluffs his shot. A very decent chance spurned.
8.56pm GMT
52 min: Randolph sends a kick straight down the field and into the arms of Begovic. With his team under some pressure, and chasing shadows at the moment, he needs to be doing better with his distribution than that.
8.55pm GMT
50 min: Hendrick palms Visca to the floor, just to the right of the Irish box. Free kick. Medunjanin teases a high one towards the far post. Dzeko rises, but the ball is deflected away by McCarthy’s eyebrows. It nearly flies into the top left. But it’s over the bar. Just. Corner, which is cleared easily enough. But it’s clear the visitors aren’t going to get knocked out wondering. They’re coming at the Irish with some force here.
8.53pm GMT
49 min: Visca has a dig from the edge of the area, but succeeds only in belting the ball against Dzeko. Meanwhile here comes karma policeman Matt Dony: “With any luck, sometime in the next 10 years or so, Bosnia-Herzegovina will qualify for a major tournament through play-offs at the expense of France, all due to a controversial hand-ball decision. And the circle will be complete.”
8.52pm GMT
47 min: Bosnia-Herzegovina are on the front foot early doors. Visca makes an almost immediate burst down the right but is brushed off the ball with purpose by Brady. Medunjanin then makes it two poor shots from two in this game: in space down the right, and with options, he decides to fire low towards the bottom-right corner. Randolph could have flung a cap on it.
8.48pm GMT
The visitors get the ball rolling for the second half. They need an equaliser to force extra time: 1-1 is the only result that’d lead to an extra 30 minutes, and possible penalty kicks. They’ve made a change, bringing on Everton’s Muhamed Besic for Cocalic.
8.36pm GMT
Half-time RTÉ advertisements: This selection really gets going around the one-minute mark. “Are clouds of doubt hanging over your livestock?”
8.33pm GMT
And that’s that for the first 45. A ludicrous penalty decision, but the Irish are probably due a bit of hand-ball luck in major-tournament play-offs. Bosnia-Herzegovina will feel aggrieved, but then they’ve done precious little up front so far, and would be going out anyway. Ireland are 45 minutes away from Euro 2016!
8.31pm GMT
45 min: Begovic hits long. Dzeko doesn’t win his header. The visitors really need to hear the half-time whistle, and think up a few new ideas.
8.30pm GMT
43 min: The hapless Spahic bangs into the back of Walters as the pair contest a high ball, in the middle of the Bosnia-Herzegovina half. Not worthy of a yellow in itself, but he’ll be undone by the totting-up procedure soon. Brady’s free kick, with the box loaded, proves yet another risible nonsense. “Has Steven Gerrard been coaching the Irish on free-kicks and corners in his off-season?” wonders Justin Kavanagh.
8.28pm GMT
41 min: Hendrick, in space down the left, floats a lovely high ball into the middle towards Murphy. The striker rises with a view to powering home his first-ever international goal. But Begovic rises higher, and smoothly claims with one hand. Fine football all round.
8.26pm GMT
39 min: Visca delivers a teasing cross into the Irish box from the right. Dzeko is nowhere to be seen.Then Vranjes hits another one from that wing, to the far stick. Keogh cedes no ground to Lulic.
8.24pm GMT
37 min: Bosnia-Herzegovina are enjoying the lion’s share of possession, but doing very little with it. A lot of sterile nonsense in the middle of the park. Ireland harass and harry, and seem happy enough with the way the match is going so far.
8.22pm GMT
35 min: Begovic, with the ball at his feet, looks to hoick clear. He’s closed down by Hoolahan, who raises his hands and blocks the kick. The ball breaks towards the goal, and Hoolahan goes off after it, but eventually the whistle blows. Now that was a hand ball.
8.20pm GMT
34 min: A long ball headed down by Dzeko for the in-rushing Medunjanin. It sits up perfectly, but it’s ballooned over the bar from the edge of the area. A decent chance, but an awful shot.
8.19pm GMT
32 min: Pjanic sliderules a gorgeous pass down the inside-right channel for Visca, who has a head start on Brady. Visca pulls a brilliant ball into the middle, but there’s nobody up with him, and Ireland mop up in the insouciant style. “What a putrid call by Kuipers to give that penalty,” writes JR in Illinois. “I don’t want to win this way. Then again I didn’t want to lose because Thierry Henry decided to play basketball.”
8.17pm GMT
30 min: Coleman is bowled over by Lulic down the Bosnian left. A common-or-garden free kick, but this match is on a rolling boil right now and the crowd bay for more action. In fairness to Coleman, he gets up and carries on without so much as a shrug. “The consistent rubbishness of Emir Spahic might be the difference this evening,” opines Shaun Wilkinson. “As a resident of Germany and reasonably frequent watcher of the Bundesliga, his shambolic display so far comes as no surprise.”
8.15pm GMT
27 min: A royal brouhaha as Pjanic accidentally boots Whelan in the face. Free kick, but as the referee blows, Spahic crashes into Hoolahan. The Irish want the defender sent off, but the referee opts to calm everything down by having a chat with the two captains. The visitors have lost the head in the wake of that controversial penalty decision. Mind you, Spahic was all over the shop before the goal as well. The resulting free kick comes to naught.
8.12pm GMT
26 min: And then the visitors very nearly equalise immediately, as Dzeko cuts in from the left and batters a low shot into the side netting. Randolph had that covered.
8.12pm GMT
... slips the ball calmly into the bottom-left corner! Begovic went the wrong way, but would have had no chance anyway! The Aviva erupts!
8.10pm GMT
23 min: Murphy bursts into the box down the right. His cross brushes across Zukanovic’s hand at close range. The referee points to the spot. Bosnia-Herzegovina are livid, and no wonder because the players were right next to each other, and the defender was clearly trying to get his arms - already down by his side - out of the way.. Lulic is booked for arguing the toss too much. A harsh decision, but it’s been made. Walters steps up, and ...
8.08pm GMT
22 min: Brady again can’t beat the first man with a free kick. Goodness me. The ball’s recycled down the wing, and Spahic comes crashing into the back of Brady. The referee isn’t going to flash a second yellow, and that’s the correct decision, but the big defender needs to watch himself here. Hendrick takes the free kick - and now he’s failing to beat the first man! This is farcical. But no matter, because...
8.06pm GMT
20 min: Walters flicks a ball down the left wing for Hendrick, who looks to burst into space. Spahic comes sliding in from the side, with enough force to pick up a booking. Free kick in a very dangerous position, just to the left of the Bosnian area.
8.04pm GMT
18 min: Lulic sends a delicate chip down the middle and nearly releases Visca, who has made a run inside from the right. But Brady has tracked his man, and puts a stop to his gallop. Fine defensive work.
8.03pm GMT
17 min: Coleman, deep on the right, launches long into the Bosnian box. Walters can’t win the header, but does enough to ensure the ball drops into the D. Rushing in is Hendrick, but his attempt to flick the ball first time past Spahic and set himself up for a shot is a clanking failure. Clank! Goal kick. Walters nearly made something out of nothing there, though.
8.02pm GMT
15 min: After a mucky start, this is turning into a very entertaining game. Brady is sent into space down the left, and fires in another low cross. Zukanovic again blocks out for a corner. Again the corner comes to nothing, headed clear with confidence by Spahic. This doesn’t look like ending goalless, though of course Ireland would take that result right now.
8.00pm GMT
14 min: The visitors are beginning to find some rhythm. Pjanic swings a ball in from the right. Dzeko rises, but can’t get a header away. Keogh stood firm there.
7.59pm GMT
13 min: Pjanic twists and turns into the Irish box down the right. He nearly works a shooting opportunity, but falls over. The ball comes back to him. He springs up, but is denied by Whelan, who squirts the ball out for a corner. The set piece comes to nothing.
7.58pm GMT
12 min: Keogh climbs all over Dzeko as the striker contests a high ball down the left. Free kick, and a chance for Bosnia-Herzegovina to throw a few men forward. They do that, then forget to send the ball forward too. Very strange.
7.56pm GMT
10 min: An over-elaborate corner routine comes to nothing. In fact, the ball having hit the referee, it leads to Visca tearing upfield on the break. Luckily for those bored by manufactured controversy, he runs the ball out of play on the right. The match has suddenly sparked into life.
7.55pm GMT
9 min: Lulic threatens to shoot from the left-hand corner of the Irish box, but is robbed by McCarthy. Ireland flood upfield, switching the ball to the left where Brady turns on the burners. He reaches the byline and fires a low ball towards the near post, where Walters is ready to turn the ball home. Zukanovic slides in to put the ball out for a corner. A marvellous sweeping move, that.
7.54pm GMT
7 min: It’s all a bit scrappy in the early exchanges. Medunjanin hoofs long down the middle, Randolph claiming under no pressure. Randolph then sends a big belt down the park, Begovic claiming possession. Dear oh dear.
7.51pm GMT
5 min: Ireland are enjoying most of the possession though they’re not doing very much with it right now. The players on both sides are understandably nervous, with so much at stake.
7.49pm GMT
3 min: Vranjes goes off on a power run down the right flank, Ireland’s problem area on Friday. Brady holds firm just when it looks like he’ll be skinned on the outside. He’ll need to put in a shift this evening.
7.48pm GMT
Ireland kick off, and lose the ball within six seconds. Bosnia can’t keep it for more than ten. A harum-scarum start. Ireland are eventually awarded a free kick down the right, but with the box loaded, Brady can’t beat the first man. The only way is up.
7.46pm GMT
Before kick-off, a moment’s silence to remember those killed in the Paris attacks on Friday. Not impeccably observed, unfortunately, though in fairness most of the noise came from those telling the few idiots shouting to pipe down.
7.40pm GMT
The teams are out! A wonderful atmosphere in the Aviva, with both sets of fans bouncing. Ireland are in their famous green, Bosnia-Herzegovina in their second-choice white with blue trim. The Irish president Michael D Higgins comes on to shake a few hands in the diplomatic style. Some national anthems. No fog! We’ll be off in a minute.
7.30pm GMT
It’s all kicking off in the warm-up. In the warm-up, for goodness sake. Robbie Keane has taken offence at a couple of Bosnia-Herzegovina players encroaching into Ireland’s half of the pitch as the two squads go through their drills. There’s a full and frank exchange of views in the centre circle with one of the Bosnian coaches. Almost nose to nose. Marvellous. Gloriously petty. Oh this means something all right. Though Keane, at 35, would probably be wise to save his energy for the real thing. You never know, he might get on.
7.25pm GMT
Here’s a magnificent take on tonight’s Bosnia-Herzegovina line-up, courtesy of Sanel Aganovic. “I wanted to give you an insight from a Bosnian fan perspective (although understandably the majority of Guardian readers following this live update will be Republic of Ireland fans). The team lineup differs quite a bit from the team that Bosnia fielded in Zenica few days ago. New additions in starting lineup include Sead Kolasinac, currently playing as LB/CDM for Schalke 04; Haris Medunjanin, CM who is playing for Deportivo La Coruna; and Ognjen Vranjes who is playing as CB for Gaziantepspor.
“It looks that coach Mehmed Bazdarevic is going to give Miralem Pjanic and Medunjanin some additional attacking freedom by having an additional midfielder, and taking the second striker (Vedad Ibisevic) out. If anything, this seems like a more conservative line-up than the one in Zenica, and with less attacking power, with Mensur Mujdza and Ibisevic removed from starting lineup.
7.15pm GMT
Martin O’Neill speaks! “I think we’re ready for it, absolutely. It’s been a long tournament for us, 12 games now, but yeah, the players are ready.” Explaining why John O’Shea is only on the bench, O’Neill points out that the big man is coming back from a muscle injury, and with the possibility of 120 minutes and penalty kicks tonight, “the last thing you want is someone pulling up early on.” As for the other notable returnee, Shane Long “is kicking the ball finely”. And the team’s mindset, having the advantage of that away goal? “There’s no point just trying to keep them out. I don’t think you can do it like that. We’re going to try to win the game.” A look of determination on O’Neill’s face ... but then, when is it any other way?
7.07pm GMT
Republic of Ireland: Randolph, Coleman, Keogh, Clark, Brady, Hendrick, Whelan, McCarthy, Hoolahan, Murphy, Walters.
Subs: Forde, Wilson, O’Shea, McGeady, Long, Keane, McClean, Christie, Ward, Gibson, Arter, Henderson.
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Begovic, Vranjes, Zukanovic, Spahic, Kolasinac, Medunjanin, Cocalic, Visca, Pjanic, Lulic, Dzeko.
Subs: Sehic, Bicakcic, Besic, Ibisevic, Hodzic, Susic, Sunjic, Djuric, Hajrovic, Hadzic, Salihovic, Buric.
6.59pm GMT
Just the one change for Ireland from the team that started in Zenica on Friday evening. Stephen Ward, who was given a torrid time by Edin Visca, drops to the bench. Robbie Brady shifts to take his place at left-back. Into the team comes Jon Walters, returning from suspension, and he’ll give Daryl Murphy a little help up front. Shane Long, back from injury, is an insurance policy on the bench. Meanwhile the visitors make three changes. Out go Vedad Ibisevic, Toni Sunjic and Mensur Mujdza; in come defenders Sead Kolasinac and Ognjen Vranjes, and Deportivo La Coruna midfielder Haris Medunjanin.
4.09pm GMT
A second successive appearance at the Euros is so close for the Republic of Ireland. Martin O’Neill’s team may not have always looked convincing during this qualification campaign - for a while back there it looked like Scotland would pip them to the play-offs, then last Friday in Zenica, they were dominated for large chunks of the first leg of this winner-takes-all showdown with Bosnia-Herzegovina - but they’ve fallen into a rather pleasant habit of getting the job done when it comes to the crunch. Which is all that matters. And now Euro 2016 is very much within reach. It’s been a stunning effort to get this far.
A depleted team were defensively resolute in the first-leg Bosnian fog. And now just one good performance will do. Ireland have home advantage, and an away goal in their pocket. They’ll be further boosted by the return from suspension of John O’Shea and Jonathan Walters, while Shane Long, the hero of that result for the ages against Germany, has been training again after a month out with a knee injury, and may be able to contribute at some stage.
Continue reading...The Fiver | In the hope of getting it fixed in time for the Coronation
Hungary qualified for a major tournament last night. And for the second time in a matter of days, the Fiver wondered whether it had somehow been magically transported back to the 1950s. On Friday evening, after a hearty repast of boiled cabbage with unsalted cauliflower and flavourless carrot, the doors of the television cabinet were excitedly thrown open, and the set within was eagerly tuned to Television Station with the hope of watching the Republic of Ireland take on Bosnia-Herzegovina in the European Nations Cup. But all that could be seen was an eerie white flicker, with indistinct shapes occasionally flashing in and out of view. The Fiver assumed the tube had blown, and tasked four men wearing bowler hats and long brown jackets to haul the blessed contraption down to the repair shop, in the hope of getting it fixed in time for the coronation.
Continue reading...November 13, 2015
Bosnia–Herz v Rep of Ire: Euro 2016 play-off first leg – as it happened
Thick fog almost reduced this game to farce, but Ireland thoroughly deserved the draw they eventually came away with.
9.41pm GMT
And that’s that! A truly farcical second half comes to an end. In the thickest of pea-soupers, Ireland have come away with a very respectable draw, and a priceless away goal! It could have been even better but for Edin Dzeko’s late equaliser, but my goodness they’d have taken this at the start of the evening. It’s nothing more than the Irish deserved for a determined defensive performance, and a place at Euro 2016 is still very much within their reach. Monday night promises to be quite an event. Hopefully we’ll get to see all of it.
9.38pm GMT
90 min +3: Four extra and extra-foggy minutes, will be played. Three have already elapsed without incident. “Sara Jevo (75 min) might have a point,” writes Simon McMahon. “Look at how difficult England, Wales and Northern Ireland find it to qualify for major finals because they can’t pick players from Scotland.”
9.37pm GMT
90 min: For Dzeko, now read McCarthy. He’s already fortunately escaped one booking, and now, having bundled over Duric with extreme prejudice, has fortunately escaped another. He too would have missed Monday’s return. Both teams will be thankful the referee got out of the right side of bed today / wasn’t able to see any further than the end of his nose.
9.35pm GMT
89 min: Dzeko slides in recklessly on Whelan. That’s from behind, and should really have been a booking. But the referee has been very lenient tonight, going against type, and he continues to be so. That’s quite a big non-decision, because Dzeko would have been out of the return leg in Dublin had he gone in the notebook there.
9.34pm GMT
88 min: Lulic is replaced by Hajrovic. “Can’t say I saw either of those goals coming.” Ladies and gentlemen, Fergus Carroll. He’s here all week, try the Ćevapi.
9.31pm GMT
86 min: McGeady comes on for Brady.
9.31pm GMT
The Irish goal exploded from the fog out of nowhere, and so did this. Vranjes scampers away from McClean down the right and whips a low ball into the box. Dzeko cracks a low shot home from the edge of the six-yard box.
9.28pm GMT
84 min: Ibisevic wins a corner down the right, but Pjanic’s delivery is headed clear at the near post by Whelan.
9.28pm GMT
A long whack downfield. Brady drops a shoulder to cut inside from the right, past a floundering Sunjic. He batters low towards the bottom right. It bobbles over Begovic’s hand, and into the net! That took a little bit of piecing together from 1950svision, but it did happen!
9.24pm GMT
79 min: ... nothing much happens. Pjanic sends a daisycutter into the box, perhaps hoping for some crazy pinball in the fog. The ball breaks to Spahic on the edge of the area. Spahic sends a gentle chip into the arms of Randolph.
9.23pm GMT
78 min: Dzeko feeds Pjanic down the middle of the park. McClean rather clumsily attaches a high foot to the playmaker. Free kick, 30 yards out. From which ...
9.21pm GMT
75 min: In the absence of anything to look at - though the football is still going on, we can hear it - here’s another marvellously entertaining treatise on the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina from Sara Jevo: “As a glass half-empty kind of guy, I’m fairly happy with the match so far. To be perfectly honest I was baffled, and in some perverse way insulted, by the coverage of these play-off games here on Guardian. See, we’re not really good at all this football stuff, no matter how much outsiders like to romanticize eastern European teams. Since the break up of Yugoslavia, apart from Croatia’s freak ‘98 WC campaign, we’re all actually quite shite without each other. Imagine Midlands for example, playing footie on their own and trying to qualify for World Cup if England fell apart, and everyone still talked them up as if they’re talking about old powerhouse that was England. Ahem. Yeah, it’s like that. We even have Ibišević - a homeless man’s Rooney.” Isn’t the current Rooney the homeless man’s Rooney?
9.18pm GMT
72 min: Wilson brings down Ibisevic on the right. Before the free kick can be taken, Duric replaces ... Visca. Eh? He’s been the best player on the pitch by some distance today. Unless someone out on the far side has spent the last 20 minutes dribbling up and down the field like Garrincha, of course. There’s no way of knowing that hasn’t happened. But what a strange substitution.
9.16pm GMT
71 min: Visca still appears to be the best home hope. He makes a bit of ground down the right for the nth time, but his hard and low cross is smothered by Randolph with blue indistinct blobs hovering.
9.15pm GMT
70 min: This is preposterous. Will the referee’s patience run out? You couldn’t blame him if he calls this off. If the game’s abandoned, they’ll play out the remaining minutes tomorrow, or at some other mutually agreed time.
9.12pm GMT
67 min: Ward is replaced by Wilson. Hats off to the referee for spotting the substitution board. The only other thing visible is the automated advertising hoarding. Uefa won’t be panicking yet, then.
9.10pm GMT
65 min: Cocalic comes through the back of Murphy. No booking, though there should be. Murphy takes an absolute age to get up, much to the annoyance of the crowd, who whistle and jeer like billy-o.
9.08pm GMT
63 min: This is farcical. Some indistinct white shapes move up and down the far side of the pitch. It’s like watching football in Moominvalley.
9.06pm GMT
60 min: Keogh and Hendrick combine to make an almighty balls up of a common or garden clearance. The ball breaks to Lulic, who has a batter at goal from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Randolph makes himself big to smother. A superlative save.
9.05pm GMT
59 min: McClean comes on for Hoolahan. They might as well have just thrown him on without telling anyone, or taking anyone off. Who’s going to notice in this fog?
9.03pm GMT
9.02pm GMT
56 min: A weird atmosphere now at the Stadion Bilino polje. Quiet and brooding. Hard to know whether it’s because the home side are struggling to break down obdurate opponents, or simply because nobody can see a bloody thing. “Years of watching Ireland seem to be finally making me go blind,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “My mother warned me.”
8.59pm GMT
54 min: Perhaps the best form of defence is attack. Brady finds a little space down the left, and his deep cross is met by Hendrick, coming in from the other flank. His header lands on the top netting, as close as Ireland have come.
8.58pm GMT
53 min: And danger here, too. Once again Visca makes off down the right. His cross is once again for Dzeko, and once again it’s poor. But the ball only comes back to Vranjes, whose whipped high cross causes a little more trouble. Ireland survive, but they’re being pressed back here.
8.57pm GMT
52 min: Pjanic hooks a ball down the right for Visca. If the cross is good, Dzeko is tapping in from six yards. But it bobbles a bit, allowing Clark to slide in and divert the ball towards Randolph. Danger there.
8.55pm GMT
51 min: Bosnia-Herzegovina make their first change: Mujdza is replaced by Vranjes.
8.55pm GMT
50 min: This is like watching television in 1953. Marvellous.
8.54pm GMT
48 min: A free kick just inside the Irish half, Whelan having handled needlessly. Pjanic launches towards a packed box. It’s deflected en route, and pinged harmlessly into the arms of Randolph. Much of that comes with a disclaimer: there’s a real pea-souper in Zenica. It’s probably more of a problem right now for the television cameras (and therefore us) than the players at ground level, but if it gets much worse we could have a problem.
8.52pm GMT
47 min: Brady makes off down the left. His cross is easily cleared, but lands at the feet of Whelan, 25 yards out. He blooters it goalwards, but that’s only going to be any good in rugby.
8.51pm GMT
No changes for Ireland, who were back out nice and early. Martin O’Neill isn’t particularly happy at his side being kept waiting, and makes the point with force and feeling to a Uefa rep. Eventually the hosts turn up. No changes for them, either. It’s fairly foggy in Zenica all of a sudden, incidentally. Visibility might become a problem if things get much worse.
8.36pm GMT
Half-time reading. A simply wonderful Joy of Six, in which Paul Doyle tells the story of some comical Republic of Ireland play-off ineptitude (off the park rather than on it).
Related: The Joy of Six: international football play-offs | Paul Doyle
8.34pm GMT
And that’s that for the opening 45. The hosts have been the better side, but haven’t got much on target, and Ireland will be happy enough with their work so far.
8.32pm GMT
45 min: A bit of a scramble in the Irish area, allowing Dzeko to attempt a shot on the turn from the right-hand edge of the D. It’s blocked at source by Ward.
8.31pm GMT
43 min: It threatens to kick off for a couple of seconds, as Mujdza and Clark both slide in on a 50-50 ball. In truth, both challenges are a bit useless, rather than reckless or vicious, and in the resulting tangle of legs, it’s Mujdza who comes off worse. A boot crumps in his chest. But it’s accidental, and while a few players congregate for a bit of a frown and a shout, it all calms down quickly enough, and everyone’s all right.
8.29pm GMT
41 min: Lulic dribbles with purpose down the left, but his low cross is deflected back to his own keeper by Keogh. A slight sense that the hosts have lost a bit of confidence after failing to turn their early dominance into something tangible.
8.27pm GMT
39 min: Another free kick for Ireland, out on the right. Brady floats it into the box. Begovic rises highest, drops the ball, then flops on it. Danger over. Keogh was close to latching onto that loose ball, though. This is a little better from Ireland, certainly in territorial terms.
8.26pm GMT
38 min: Lulic nearly plants his boot inbetween Whelan’s eyes. Highkick! A free kick near the centre circle, and a chance for Ireland to load the box. Ireland earn a corner on the right after hoicking it forward, but Hendrick’s clever low fizzing kick, which finds Whelan on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box, is miscontrolled.
8.23pm GMT
36 min: Visca has been Bosnia-Herzegovina’s star man so far. He’s sprung clear into the area by a pass down the right from Pjanic. But he’s a stride offside, and his weak shot is blocked by Clark and bounces off to the right of goal anyway.
8.22pm GMT
34 min: Dzeko flicks a header on for Lulic, who goes down in the area after a light shove from Coleman. The home hero was looking for that one, going down very easily, but you’ve seen them given by whistle-happy referees.
8.21pm GMT
32 min: They’ve got something on target now. Dzeko sends Visca skittering off into acres down the right. The resulting cross is only half cleared by Keogh, dropping to Zukanovic on the edge of the area. He attempts to guide a header into the top right, but he’s too far out. No Steve Nicol he. Randolph claims, though he’d have been in a bit of trouble had Ibisevic, in front of him and onside, managed to flick his eyebrows onto Zukanovic’s effort and loop it over the keeper.
8.18pm GMT
30 min: Visca slides a pass down the right for Mujdza. The ball rears off the turf at a right angle milliseconds before reaching the full back. His attempted cross therefore becomes a strange shinner, which flies towards the bottom right. Randolph claims easily enough. It should be noted that, for all Bosnia-Herzegovina’s dominance, that ludicrous mishit is their first effort on target.
8.17pm GMT
8.16pm GMT
28 min: Dzeko and Visca combine down the right. Dzeko reaches the byline and pearls a low fizzer into the Irish six-yard box. Coleman hooks it out before Ibisevic can clank home, though the ball breaks to Visca on the edge of the area. He’s got more time than he thinks, and pulls his shot harmlessly wide left of goal.
8.13pm GMT
26 min: The impressive Visca nutmegs Whelan down the right, and scampers along the wing. He’s tugged back by Ward, who is booked for his trouble. He’s not one of the four Irish players on a yellow, so that’s only a problem for this particular game. But that’s enough, because Visca is a busy menace on his flank.
8.12pm GMT
24 min: Hoolahan is robbed in the centre circle by Pjanic, who rolls the ball quickly forward to Ibisevic. The striker nearly finds his partner Dzeko with a round-the-corner pass that would set him free down the inside-right channel, but Clark steps in to put a stop to the nonsense.
8.10pm GMT
8.10pm GMT
22 min: Visca drops a shoulder and makes off past Brady on the right. He whips in low and hard. Ibisevic steps ahead of Clark on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box, and hammers a low first-time shot into the side netting. Very close. Close enough for half the stadium to celebrate a goal. Nope! But unless Ireland get their act together, it might only be a matter of time.
8.08pm GMT
20 min: The hosts are getting on top. Ibisevic very nearly connects with a right-wing cross, but his effort at a Mark Hughesian bicycle kick doesn’t come off. Then a corner’s won out on the other flank. Pjanic curls in another teaser, but Ibisevic handles as he attempts to chest down, swivel and turn from eight yards.
8.06pm GMT
17 min: Ah hold on, something does come of that Irish corner, sort of. The hosts flood up the other end, and would have opened Ireland up had Dzeko’s pass out to the right not been miscontrolled by Visca, who nearly fell over backwards in the slow-motion, silent-movie style. Visca then feeds Zukanovic on the overlap. He goes over in the area under a lame challenge by Brady. There’s a half-arsed shout for a penalty, but nobody’s heart is in it.
8.04pm GMT
16 min: Deep on the Irish left, Ward slides in on Pjanic. He slips over as he makes the challenge. Pjanic has done nothing, but that’s a free kick for Ireland, and a chance to load the box. This referee’s having a very strange game already. From the free kick, Brady wins a corner down the left, but nothing comes of a poor set piece.
8.02pm GMT
14 min: ... Bosnia-Herzegovina should score. Pjanic curls in a teasing corner, landing it on the head of Zukanovic, free on the penalty spot. The goal’s at his mercy, but he wafts his header weakly to the left. It doesn’t even go out for a goal kick.
8.00pm GMT
13 min: Dzeko slides a pass down the right for the busy Visca, whose low cross is bundled out of play by Clark. Corner on the right. From which ...
7.59pm GMT
11 min: Visca makes off down the right and reaches the byline. He brilliantly hooks back to Pjanic, on the right-hand edge of the D. Pjanic opens his body and looks to power one home, but gets far too much air on the shot, and Randolph doesn’t have to move. Nice move, though.
7.58pm GMT
10 min: Lucky boy, James McCarthy. He should be in the book for a clumsy late clank into the back of Lulic, who was in the business of turning him. The referee, with a reputation for flashing yellow, takes pity on him. Which is just as well, as he’d be suspended for the second leg otherwise.
7.56pm GMT
9 min: Ireland really are struggling to keep hold of the ball right now. Whelan needlessly bangs the ball out of play twice, under no pressure, within 30 seconds. Fortunately for them, the hosts are doing nothing with all their possession.
7.54pm GMT
7 min: Dzeko turns on the burners and makes off down the left. He very nearly bests Keogh on the outside, and if he does that he’ll be heading towards the box clear on goal. But the Irish centre back stays firm, and doesn’t even concede a corner, forcing the striker to run the ball out of play.
7.53pm GMT
5 min: The hosts ping it around awhile. Ibisevic feeds Visca down the right, but the move fizzles out quickly enough. Ireland not seeing too much of the ball right now. Meanwhile here’s the marvellously monickered Sara Jevo with an email titled “Meh”: “Seeing Ibišević in the starting lineup, welcoming back Edin Džeko doesn’t really mean much for us as we’re effectively starting with ten men. Yes, he scores an occasional tap-in but he’s way past his prime and is literally hanging around only on past glories. Plus, we’re playing without a recognized left-back and with that weird diamond in the middle again, and if Pjanić has an off night we’ll look like an incoherent bunch of amateurs. On the plus side, we’re playing Ireland.”
7.50pm GMT
2 min: Now it’s Bosnia-Herzegovina’s turn to hit it long. Pjanic, playing deep, pings it down the inside-right channel but there’s nobody there and Randolph is out quickly to claim. An agricultural start, shall we say.
7.48pm GMT
The hosts get the first half under way. A huge roar as they do so. The ball’s soon lost, and Ireland pump it long down the middle. The hairs on the back of Big Jack’s neck will be standing up somewhere. Murphy very nearly gets the better of last man Sunjic in a power tussle, but he bundles his man over and that’s a free kick to the home side. What a start that would have been.
7.46pm GMT
The teams are out! Bosnia-Herzegovina wear their first-choice blue shirts with yellow trim, while Ireland will play in their second-choice white. Green shorts, mind. One hell of an atmosphere for such a small stadium. National anthems are parped out, players pretend to look interested because it’s more trouble than it’s worth not to, hands are shaken, fists are bumped, pennants get exchanged, and coins are tossed. We’ll be off in a minute!
7.30pm GMT
Here’s a softly spoken Martin O’Neill: “The important thing for us tonight is to play it as tightly as possible. On the other hand, you can’t just sit in all night long, otherwise you’ll get done. So I think we’ve gone with some attacking players that might be able to create something for us. We’ll try to get a goal, but the most important thing is to stay in the tie.”
And this from Andy Turner: “That Frank Sidebottom has let himself go.” He has, he really has.
7.19pm GMT
It’s a depleted Irish XI, with Jonathan Walters, John O’Shea and Shane Long missing for reasons various. Ciaran Clark of Aston Villa steps in at centre back. Leading the line: Daryl Murphy, yet to score for Ireland. Stephen Ward comes in at left back, while up the other end Wes Hoolahan gets a rare chance to do his creative thing. Meanwhile it’s better news for the home side, who welcome back Edin Dzeko.
7.12pm GMT
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Begovic, Mujdza, Sunjic, Spahic, Zukanovic, Visca, Pjanic, Cocalic, Lulic, Ibisevic, Dzeko.
Subs: Sehic, Bicakcic, Kolasinac, Vranjes, Hodzic, Medunjanin, Susic, Djuric, Hajrovic, Hadzic, Salihovic, Buric.
Republic of Ireland: Randolph, Coleman, Keogh, Clark, Ward, Hendrick, McCarthy, Whelan, Brady, Hoolahan, Murphy.
Subs: Forde, Wilson, Pearce, McGeady, Keane, McClean, Judge, Doyle, Christie, Gibson, Arter, Henderson.
7.00pm GMT
While we’re waiting for the team news, here’s the latest sighting of Super Victor, the overly intense and in no way deranged Euro 2016 mascot. He’s a busy boy, posing next to the Coupe Henri Delaunay in Paris, and so won’t have time to barge the sandman out of the way and come at you with extreme prejudice while you sleep. Not tonight, no sir.
2.02pm GMT
Nobody knows play-offs in the European Championships quite as well as the Irish. In the very first tournament, back in 1959, they had to contest one just for the right to compete in the qualifiers. They lost that to Czechoslovakia. Then in 1995, they were defeated in the first-ever qualification play-off, comprehensively so, against Holland at Anfield. And then their attempts to get to Euro 2000 were scuppered in the play-offs by Turkey. A few bruises after a brouhaha were all they took home from that one.
Last time round, however, they broke that unhappy sequence with a 5-1 aggregate victory over Estonia to make it to Euro 2012. So they’re looking to build on that with Euro 2016 in mind. Can they make it two in a row against Bosnia-Herzegovina, and book a ticket to France next summer?
Continue reading...The Fiver | Major championship play-off history
John Higgins has been doing pretty well in the snooker recently. He’s won two of the season’s first four ranking tournaments. Some feel-good news there for fans of Scottish sport. Elsewhere, with Euro 2016 slots already guaranteed for England, Wales, Norn Iron, France, Belgium, Iceland, Basingstoke Town and a five-a-side team consisting of Eric Pickles, Roy Cropper, Lawrence from Felt, Mog the Cat (d. 2002) and Uncle Tom Cobley, the Republic O’Ireland play Bosnia-Herzegovina in the hope of becoming the latest nation situated quite near Scotland to qualify for Europe’s premier tournament.
Continue reading...November 12, 2015
A brief guide to … the drama of Euro play-off qualification
Play-off qualification is a 90s phenomenon, but with goals from halfway, class from Dutch masters and Anglo-Scottish conflicts, there’s been much to savour
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
Continue reading...November 5, 2015
Tottenham Hotspur v Anderlecht: Europa League – as it happened
A late Mousa Dembele stunner sent Spurs to the top of the group, though adventurous Anderlecht were unlucky.
9.57pm GMT
And that’s that! Spurs were second best for the majority of the match, if we’re being honest, but on the other hand there’s no arguing with that long-distance winner from Mousa Dembele, worthy of deciding many a rumble. Spurs fought hard to deny a rampant Anderlecht for long periods of the second half, but held firm, and their reward for doing so is a win that takes them top of the group! There’s more than one way to win a football match, after all. Neutrals will feel some sympathy for Anderlecht, and perhaps also for Jared Barnes (34 mins) who had a lovely joke cued up about the visitors, with Gillet in their team, not being ‘armless after all. Ah well.
9.54pm GMT
90 min +2: Defour, playing quarterback, hits a long pass down the middle. But the Hail Mary doesn’t pay off, and Spurs clear with ease. Son goes off on a skitter to run down more of the clock.
9.53pm GMT
90 min +1: Kane holds the ball up by Anderlecht’s left-hand corner flag. And earns a free kick. Marvellous clock management.
9.52pm GMT
90 min: There will be three added minutes. White Hart Lane has found its collective voice again. Spurs are heading to the top of the Group J table unless there’s some very late drama.
9.51pm GMT
89 min: Acheampong is replaced by Idrissa Sylla.
9.50pm GMT
They’ve been up against it, but now look! Davies and Dembele one-two down the left. Davies crosses. It’s half cleared, but Son picks up possession on the edge of the area, and lays off to Dembele, who romping in from the left unleashes a pearler into the top left! That’s a rare old netburster! And it’ll burst Anderlecht’s hearts, because the visitors have been far the better side in this second half. But this, ladies and gentlemen, is association football!
9.48pm GMT
86 min: But when you’ve got Harry Kane up front, anything can happen. He picks up possession just inside the Anderlecht box, and despite being surrounded by yellow shirts, drops a shoulder, moves to the right, and gets a snapshot on target. Deschacht blocks for a corner, which is easily cleared.
9.46pm GMT
85 min: A rare Spurs attack, Onomah rolling a pass inside from the left, Dembele shooting weakly from 20 yards. Proto smothers the ball.
9.45pm GMT
83 min: The corner isn’t up to much. White Hart Lane has gone very quiet, though. The home heroes are being bossed.
9.44pm GMT
82 min: Ezekiel wins a monster header down the middle, and feeds Okaka, who returns the ball quickly. Ezekiel slides wide left for Acheampong, who wins yet another corner. Before it can be taken, Anderlecht swap N’Sakala for Ibrahima Conte.
9.42pm GMT
80 min: Ezekiel scampers into space down the left. He should probably score as he enters the box ahead of Alderweireld, but he pauses and allows the defender to slide in and concede a corner. The set piece is a waste of everyone’s time.
9.41pm GMT
78 min: Okaka very nearly tears past Davies down the right. The full back stays on his man’s shoulder. Okaka is close to finding Ezekiel, clear in the middle, but Davies bundles out for a corner, which ends in a dismal long-distance effort from Deschacht. Spurs are hanging on.
9.39pm GMT
77 min: The 18-year-old Joshua Onomah comes on for Alli.
9.39pm GMT
76 min: Anderlecht whip two fierce crosses into the Spurs box from the left. Both times, Alderweireld stands strong to head clear with Okaka waiting to batter a header into the goal from close range. Staunch defence, but Spurs are very much second best right now. Unless they can somehow shift the momentum, like they did in the first half, there’s only one winner of this.
9.37pm GMT
75 min: Lamela has got space to scoot into down the left, but carelessly over-runs the ball. Tottenham’s play is a bit panicked right now.
9.35pm GMT
73 min: As a shocked but hardly surprised White Hart Lane processes that news, Mason is replaced by Dembele.
9.34pm GMT
Well, this had been coming. N’Sakala, deep on the left again, swings one into the Spurs box. The substitute Ezekiel steals a march on the Spurs back line, sticks a leg out, and guides the ball off the left-hand post and into the net. No more than Anderlecht deserve.
9.33pm GMT
71 min: Anderlecht are desperately searching for the leveller. N’Sakala, out on the left, loops a ball into the middle. Defour, to the left of the D, chests it down and sends a screaming volley towards the top left. Just a bit high and wide. But Spurs really need to watch out.
9.32pm GMT
69 min: Acheampong skins Trippier on the left, and whips a low cross towards the near post. Alderweireld hacks out. Before the corner can be taken, Ezekiel comes on for Tielemans. Then the set piece, which is half cleared, only to be hoicked straight back down the middle and into the mixer. Mbodji sticks his leg out in a central position and guides the dropping ball to the right, where Okaka can’t find any power to his shot. So close to the equaliser.
9.29pm GMT
67 min: All a bit pinball at the moment. Both teams doing a lot of pressing, pressurising the pass, forcing errors. A gegenmess.
9.26pm GMT
65 min: Alli, his back to play, very nearly releases Son down the left and into the area with a John Barnes flick. Not quite. But very close, and very inventive. Then Lamela tries to curl one into the top right with the outside of his left boot. This is a hard-working Spurs side, but they pretty it up with some lovely flourishes too.
9.24pm GMT
62 min: Anderlecht are not afraid to commit men forward. Deschacht, the defender on the left-hand edge of the Spurs area, wins a corner. Nothing comes of it. This is a wonderfully entertaining, open game.
9.23pm GMT
61 min: Son rolls a pass into the Anderlecht box from the left. It’s half cleared, but only 20 yards out on the left to Davies, who takes a touch and Le Tissiers a stunning dipping volley onto the crossbar. If only that had nestled into the top right, screeching over Proto, we’d have had a picture-book goal for the ages.
9.21pm GMT
60 min: Son’s first touch sends Kane into space down the left. Kane finds Lamela, who shuttles the ball inside for Alli. The young midfielder batters a rising shot towards the top right. It’s deflected off Mbodji’s back for a corner, which is cleared with a crashing defensive header by Gillet.
9.20pm GMT
58 min: Nothing comes of the corner. Eriksen, who has been uncharacteristically quiet, is replaced by Son, who returns after six weeks off with an injured foot.
9.19pm GMT
57 min: Alli slides a pass down the left for Kane, who isn’t far away from latching onto the ball. But Proto is out quickly to smother. Anderlecht fizz up the other end, Defour whipping a gorgeous cross into the box from the right. Okaka would have had a clear header from six yards had Trippier not eyebrowed out for a corner in the nick of time.
9.17pm GMT
55 min: Anderlecht are dominating possession. After a long period of passing in the middle, Defour, on the right, wallops a diagonal ball towards Acheampong on the left. For a second, Trippier having misjudged his high challenge, it looks like the Anderlecht man will be scampering free down the wing. But the flag goes up for a marginal offside. Spurs want to watch themselves here.
9.15pm GMT
53 min: Once again Anderlecht have started the half strongly. Tielemans whips a pass wide right to Defour, who is in a bit of space in the Spurs area. Fortunately for the hosts, he decides to faff around and can’t deliver a shot or find a killer pass.
9.14pm GMT
52 min: Kane sweeps down the left and rolls the ball inside for Lamela, who takes one step into the box and opts to fall over. He claims a penalty, but come along.
9.13pm GMT
51 min: Good word by Acheampong down the left. His cross is deflected out of play to the right of goal, off Trippier’s head. A couple of corners come to nothing. But then Najar goes on a power dribble down the right. He nearly breaks through the Spurs back line thanks to a crisp one-two with Okaka, but Alderweireld steps in to put a stop to his fancy ideas.
9.11pm GMT
49 min: This is enjoyable end-to-end fare. Alli skedaddles down the inside-left channel, but can’t find Lamela on his inside with the visitors stretched. Then Defour, striding down the inside right, whistles a low shot towards the bottom left. That’s going in, and Lloris does very well to stretch out an arm and parry away from danger.
9.10pm GMT
48 min: Anderlecht make their first attack of the half, and the ball drops to the centre back Deschacht, of all people, on the right of the D. He attempts a curler into the top left. Nope!
9.09pm GMT
47 min: But Trippier’s not giving up, and makes another good run down the right. He finds Eriksen in the area. The Danish international wins a corner with a rococo dribble, but then takes it himself from the right, and it’s not much cop.
9.08pm GMT
46 min: Alli sprays the ball wide right for the constantly rampaging Trippier. It’s not quite been the full-back’s day so far, though, and his needlessly rushed cross is blocked by Deschacht.
9.06pm GMT
Anderlecht get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes. And before the action really gets going, here’s some more
gilet
bodywarmer chat, courtesy of Tim Smith: “In my house, the item of clothing in question was referred to as hot water tank lagging, which pretty well sums up the garment, don’t you think?” Hey, form follows function. A bit like Spurs in that first half.
8.55pm GMT
Half-time advertisement:
8.53pm GMT
Alli, dribbling along the left, goes over lamely in the box, and makes a half-arsed claim for a penalty. Nope! Then Kane slips a ball down the left channel for Lamela, who can’t quite get there ahead of Proto, who rushes off his line. And that’s that for the opening 45. Anderlecht were the better team until the goal, but Kane’s brilliant strike changed the momentum of the match as well as the scoreline itself. It should make for a fascinating second half. But as things stand, Spurs are heading to the top of Group J.
8.51pm GMT
45 min: Kane sprays that ball wide right to Trippier again. This time he finds his man. Trippier feeds Eriksen, who drops a shoulder to cut inside N’Sakala and enters the area. But Deschacht forms a barrier. That was a pretty and crisp move.
8.49pm GMT
44 min: Neither side is putting on a passing masterclass right now.
8.48pm GMT
42 min: Eriksen’s delivery is appalling. But Spurs recycle the ball on the left. Alderweireld feeds Alli, who curls a high one towards the far post. Kane rises, but can’t get any purchase on the header he aims towards the top right. Proto plucks the ball from the sky with a yawn.
8.47pm GMT
41 min: Deschacht miskicks a clearance. Alli picks up possession down the right, and is immediately upended by N’Sakala, who is booked for his trouble. He can have no complaints, but gives it a good go anyway, trotting out the old It Was Me First Challenge Guv’not argument. Nope, yellow it is. And a free kick to Spurs in a dangerous position down the right, a chance to load the box.
8.45pm GMT
39 min: Dier fizzes a low, hard pass down the inside-left channel to find Kane in a lot of space on the left-hand corner of the Anderlecht box. What a pass! What delivery! But Kane steps on the ball, then attempts a backheel and falls over. Slapstick stylings. Hey, he’s in credit this evening.
8.43pm GMT
37 min: Spurs are first to everything right now. Kane, cutting in from the left, nearly releases Trippier on the right with a delightful crossfield pass. He’s denied by some determined backtracking from N’Sakala.
8.41pm GMT
34 min: Spurs are seeing a lot more of the ball right now. That goal really has given them a boost. Or it’s certainly knocked the stuffing out of Anderlecht. Perhaps both. “Has anyone made the Gillet/gilet joke yet about Tim Sherwood returning?” asks Jared Barnes. “If not can you assume that I did and that it was really quite funny?” Nope. be my guest. The stage is/was yours. Incidentally, when did gilet overtake bodywarmer in the British common parlance as the most popular proper noun for a padded, sleeveless jacket? If you asked someone to pass your gilet on licensed premises back in the day, you’d have got a chalked pool cue in your eye.
8.37pm GMT
31 min: A frustrated Tielemans lashes a long-distance effort miles over the bar from his position down the inside-right channel. A bit early to get all hot in the face. He’ll do well to remember that Anderlecht came from behind in Belgium, so all is not lost for the visitors. On the other hand, that should have settled a rather pensive and occasionally nervous Spurs. White Hart Lane is a noisy place again.
8.35pm GMT
After a long pause for the Okaka nonsense, the game restarts. Or more to the point, Spurs restart, but Anderlecht don’t. Eriksen, on the edge of the D, slips a pass right to Kane, who rushes in and lashes a first-time shot into the bottom left. Unstoppable! Spurs have been second best up to this point, but where Okaka earlier paused, Kane has been proactive, with extreme prejudice. It’s also worth noting that Okaka was off the pitch when the goal went in, karmic payback for all that pointless rolling around.
8.33pm GMT
28 min: Okaka performs a triple salchow with pike after being brushed lightly in the face by the hand of Lamela. He’s getting short shrift from both crowd and referee as he rolls around on the ground quite a lot, and with feeling.
8.30pm GMT
25 min: Acheampong romps down the left channel, and rolls a ball inside for Okaka, who spins Mason on the edge of the D. He should get a dangerous shot away, but once again is overly ponderous, and allows Mason to get back in and block. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
8.28pm GMT
23 min: This Is Better From Spurs pt.II. Lamela dances in from the left, and enters the area. Toes a-twinkling, he can’t quite end the fancy dribble by guiding a low shot into the bottom right. But that wasn’t far off. The home side finally getting into this game.
8.27pm GMT
22 min: This is better from Spurs, as Alli goes on a scamper down the left and earns a corner. The set piece is cleverly worked to Kane on the left-hand corner of the area. He drops a shoulder and evades two challenges to enter the box, but a heavy touch compromises his ability to shoot, and the ball balloons to the right. Trippier, from 30 yards, hits the worst long-range effort in the history of All Football.
8.26pm GMT
20 min: A lull in the game. Which is good news for Spurs, who have been a bit tatty so far. Some time to work things out, perhaps.
8.23pm GMT
17 min: N’Sakala makes good ground down the left. Spurs are a bit all over the shop. He should find Okaka in the middle, but thankfully from the home team’s perspective, the attempted cross is not of the desired quality.
8.21pm GMT
15 min: Tottenham are being outplayed here at the moment. Najar shuffles his way down the right. Davies isn’t too confident in dealing with the threat. He backs off and backs off. Najar eventually works a little room to shoot on the right-hand edge of the Spurs box, but slices his shot wide right. The away fans are making the most noise in an otherwise nervous stadium.
8.20pm GMT
14 min: The shots rain in on Tottenham’s goal. First Acheampong tries to Van Basten one in from a ludicrously tight angle on the left. It’s not on target, but it wasn’t a bad attempt. Then Tielemans threads a low shot inches wide of the left-hand post. Not sure Lloris was getting to that.
8.19pm GMT
12 min: Vertonghen momentarily turns into Garrincha. He beats two men down the left, hugging the touchline, before reaching the byline and pulling a ball back into the centre. Kane gets a flick on, but there’s nobody on the penalty spot to convert. Mbodji strides off with the ball.
8.16pm GMT
11 min: Lamela makes good ground down the middle. He slips the ball wide left for Eriksen, whose teasing cross into the middle very nearly finds Kane. But Deschacht rises first to intercept the ball.
8.15pm GMT
9 min: From the resulting corner, Gillet is afforded a free header from eight yards. He powers it over the bar, and was offside anyway. But already it’s clear that Anderlecht have come to north London with a mind to cause bother. And it’s not clear that Spurs have the wherewithal to deal with it. They’ve looked rather open at the back.
8.14pm GMT
8 min: Gillet batters long. Okaka holds it up down the inside-left channel, before laying off for Defour, whose rising shot from 25 yards is a goodie. Lloris is forced to tip over. Here’s Graham Down, with reference to that Uefa Cup Final of 1984: “I was there! In the Paxton Road stand. What a fantastic night that was! Now I’m relegated to following the commentary from the other side of the planet, in Wellington, NZ, where it’s a stunning blue sky day and the All Blacks are parading their trophy at mid-day.” You appear to be a lucky charm, Graham. I wonder if this MBM will win a Pulitzer?
8.11pm GMT
5 min: But the best form of defence is attack. Lamela works his way down the right and earns a corner. That one leads to another corner on the opposite side. Under pressure from Vertonghen, who is earning his money so far, Proto punches clear. An eventful start, all told!
8.09pm GMT
3 min: Spurs have learned nothing. Lamela fannies around in the middle of his own half, and allow Okaka to embark on another sortie down the inside-left flank. He’s free on goal! But fortunately for Spurs, he faffs around himself, thinking far too long before cocking his leg to shoot, and Vertonghen can slide in to deny the striker once again. What a duel this is going to be, especially if Vertonghen’s team-mates continue to be so dozy.
8.07pm GMT
2 min: Within 30 seconds, Okaka is causing Spurs bother down the inside-left channel. His presence forces Vertonghen to intervene, conceding a corner. The set piece is a nonsense, and easily cleared, but that’s a slow start by the home team, and a fast one by a striker who caused Tottenham no end of bother a couple of weeks ago.
8.06pm GMT
After a false start, Spurs get the ball rolling. A rare old European atmosphere at the Lane. “Juande Ramos is a mystery,” opines Gene Salorio. “Whatever happened to him at Spurs seems to have stuck. Roberto Soldado in contrast scored two earlier this evening, one of them even not a penalty, and seems to be recovering from his the funk at White Hart Lane.”
8.04pm GMT
Anyway, the teams are out. Spurs in their famous white, Anderlecht in a ludicrous neon lemon. Hey, it did Manchester City no harm at Sevilla the other night. We’ll be off in a minute!
8.03pm GMT
And here’s a quick reminder of how things stand in Group J. Qarabag and Monaco drew 1-1 earlier today, so that puts the French side two points clear at the top, on six. Qarabag are still bottom with four points. But that’s with four games played to Tottenham and Anderlecht’s three. Whoever wins at White Hart Lane tonight will go top: both teams already have four points. A draw will see Anderlecht stay above Spurs in second. This state of affairs could almost certainly have been explained with more clarity, but I’m in a rush and also generally confused, rather like a sweet dog. Think of this entry as a riddle. Imagine it being read out in the soothing tones of Gyles Brandreth.
8.00pm GMT
Mauricio Pochettino speaks! “Our mentality is always to go forward. It’s a good team to win a game. Son is an important player for us, so it’s good that he’s on the bench. We need the three points tonight in a difficult group. It’s very important to take the points.” Yep, he’s up for the cup all right.
7.50pm GMT
White Hart Lane. What a beautiful stadium, huh? And here’s another question, courtesy of Peter Mumola: “Does this line-up ahead of the north London derby indicate that Pochettino thinks this tournament may be their best route to the Champions League?” Here’s an unfashionable answer: perhaps he thinks this tournament is worth winning in its own right. I doubt anyone involved with Spurs would turn their nose up at a repeat of 1984 next May. And it’s not as though obsessing over Champions League qualification at the expense of everything else has done Arsenal any favours over the long haul. Still, each to their own.
7.20pm GMT
A strong starting XI named by Tottenham Hotspur tonight. No thought of Arsenal at the weekend. Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies get their usual European run-outs at full back. On the bench, Son Heung-Min makes a tentative return from injury. Anderlecht meanwhile make three changes to the team that started in their 2-1 victory over Spurs last month. Defender Ivan Obradovic, midfielder Dennis Praet and forward Imoh Ezekiel drop out - the first two altogether, the latter to the bench - with midfielders Andy Najar and Frank Acheampong, and defender Fabrice N’Sakala coming in.
7.10pm GMT
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies, Mason, Dier, Alli, Eriksen, Lamela, Kane.
Subs: Vorm, Son, Dembele, Fazio, Onomah, Wimmer, Carroll.
Anderlecht: Proto, Gillet, Mbodji, Deschacht, N’Sakala, Najar, Dendoncker, Defour, Acheampong, Tielemans, Okaka.
Subs: Roef, Suarez, Nuytinck, Conte, Sylla, Lukebakio, Ezekiel.
2.57pm GMT
Tottenham Hotspur and Anderlecht. It can mean only one thing: the 1984 Uefa Cup final. Spurs prevailed in that one, of course, famously beating the Belgians on penalties, Graham Roberts the hero of the evening with his late, stumbling equaliser and opening spot kick. The deciding penalty, saved by Tony Parks, was taken by Arnór Guðjohnsen, Eiður’s dad. A long time ago.
Then again, 2007 seems a while back too. That’s when the teams next met, in the Uefa Cup groups. Juande Ramos was Tottenham’s boss. Juande Ramos! A blast from the past, right there.
Continue reading...The Fiver | Don’t tell us St Totteringham’s Day is under threat too
FEAST TO FAMINE
The Round of Arsenal is, like Groundhog Day, a folk festival held every February. This long-standing custom involves four defenders emerging from the murky nooks and crannies of the Premier League into the bright lights of Europe. If they are blinded by those lights, they scuttle back into their burrows, and Arsenal’s Big Cup quest is over for another year. But if they see their own shadows, they scuttle back into their burrows, and Arsenal’s Big Cup quest is over for another year. A feast of fun is had by all, even if it means another 51 weeks and six days of winter is pretty much guaranteed.
JUST THE FIVE VERSIONS OF NO LIMIT ON 2 UNLIMITED’S LATEST RELEASE
Continue reading...November 4, 2015
Chelsea v Dynamo Kyiv: Champions League – as it happened
Chelsea were facing more frustration until Willian - with a little help from Eden Hazard - turned on the style during the final few minutes to earn the Blues a crucial, and ultimately deserved, victory.
Match report: Willian’s stunning free-kick clinches victory10.13pm GMT
Related: Willian’s stunning free-kick clinches victory for Chelsea against Dynamo Kyiv
9.37pm GMT
And that’s that! What a strange game. Kyiv were worth a draw when they equalised on 78 minutes, but Willian and Eden Hazard turned on the style afterwards to such an extent that Chelsea are deserved winners. What a final 12-minute spell! A dozen minutes that could change the direction of Chelsea’s season - and Jose Mourinho’s career.
9.35pm GMT
90 min +1: Willian is hooked, so he can receive the standing ovation he’s earned. He’s been utterly magnificent this evening, and Stamford Bridge makes sure he knows it. Cahill comes on in his wake.
9.34pm GMT
90 min: Willian reaches the byline on the left, and dribbles into the area. He can’t find anyone with his cutback. There will be two added minutes. And there’s a strange sense that both teams will be quite happy to hear the whistle now. Chelsea have blown Kyiv away in the last ten minutes!
9.33pm GMT
89 min: Hazard goes scampering into acres down the left, Khacheridi having been caught in possession in the centre circle. He slaps the ball into the side netting. Slightly greedy, but he’s earned the right to shoot.
9.32pm GMT
87 min: Costa earns a corner down the left. They tap it around near the flag. The result’s everything tonight.
9.30pm GMT
85 min: It’s almost as though Hazard is trying to prove a point. More jigging around down the left, and another free kick is won, this time from a clumsy Yarmolenko. The set piece comes to naught. But Chelsea have rediscovered their old selves since Hazard was thrown on.
9.28pm GMT
84 min: Hazard, fresh and full of vim, dances past three men down the left and whistles a ball through the six-yard area. Diego Costa is so close to rushing in to meet it for a simple tap-in, but a deflection takes the ball away from him. Ramires tries to recycle the ball from the other wing, but Kyiv hack clear.
9.27pm GMT
... snaps a stunning free kick over the wall and into the top-left corner! A wonder strike, full of whip and dip! Stamford Bridge erupts in relief! What a moment for Willian. And for Jose Mourinho, perhaps.
9.25pm GMT
82 min: Hazard panics Rybalka into a rash challenge as he twinkles down the inside-left channel. A free kick, 25 yards out. Willian stands over it. And ...
9.24pm GMT
81 min: Yarmolenko goes down awhile, eating up a little of the clock after his ankle was clipped by Baba Rahman. “Dynamo wholeheartedly deserve that,” writes Chelsea fan Dante Danger, “but jeez, Begovic was nowhere... This Chelsea team can’t close out a game.”
9.22pm GMT
79 min: A grim-faced Mourinho responds immediately by throwing on Hazard and Pedro in place of Fabregas and Oscar.
9.22pm GMT
The ball’s hit deep from the right. Begovic comes out and flaps. The ball drops to Dragovic, who earns redemption for that first-half own goal by hammering a shot through a thicket of players and into the keeper-free net!
9.21pm GMT
77 min: Ramires, working at high speed, looks to thread a pass down the inside-left channel to release Fabregas into the box. The pass is too strong, but Fabregas wasn’t responding either. A smattering of discontent from the stands. And that transmits itself down the other end, where Terry and Begovic confuse each other when dealing with a ball down the right. A needless corner. From which ...
9.19pm GMT
75 min: Porto are now beating Maccabi Tel Aviv by three goals to one.
9.18pm GMT
74 min: A free kick for Kyiv down the right. Yarmolenko takes, with the Chelsea box loaded. It’s a fierce curler towards the right-hand post, and Zouma does very well to head out for a corner with Junior Moraes lurking. From the set piece, Vida flicks on towards Junior Moraes at the left-hand post, but the striker can’t connect. Chelsea living very dangerously there.
9.16pm GMT
72 min: Diego Costa is down on the floor, gesticulating at the referee and frowning quite a lot. And he’s got every right, because Buyalskiy has just planted his studs on his thigh. Ouch, ooyah, oof. The striker will be OK, but the Kyiv midfielder is going in the book. Another referee might have flashed red at that.
9.13pm GMT
69 min: Kyiv triangulate down the middle of the park, and suddenly Buyalskiy is tearing through a huge gap in the middle, after a pass that’s opened Chelsea up. Luckily for the home side, Begovic is on the front foot, and strides out of his area to boot clear before the Kyiv man can reach the ball.
9.11pm GMT
67 min: A free kick for Chelsea on the left touchline. They load the Kyiv box. Willian’s whip is glanced on by Terry, and hits Khacheridi on his left shoulder. Chelsea claim a penalty, but not with too much vigour. The resulting corner is a waste of time. But Chelsea are beginning to reassert themselves now, enjoying a larger share of possession.
9.09pm GMT
65 min: Willian turns on the jets to make ground down the inside-right channel. His shot from the corner of the box flies straight across the face of goal. Soon after, Chelsea are coming back at their foes, Fabregas dribbling in the area on the left, then pulling back for Oscar, whose first-time sidefoot towards the top left is parried round the post marvellously by Shovkovskiy. The resulting corner comes to nothing. It’ll be quite surprising if this ends 1-0.
9.07pm GMT
63 min: Yarmolenko, down the right, hits deep for Gonzalez near the left-hand post. Azpilicueta ushers his man away from the ball, which flies harmlessly out of play. Stamford Bridge erupts in a chorus of their Jose Mourinho song. Random, but with feeling.
9.06pm GMT
61 min: This match really could go either way now. Kyiv are right back in it, having carved out a couple of opportunities since the restart. But then Chelsea could so easily have had a couple themselves from close range. Stamford Bridge is hellishly nervous as a result.
9.04pm GMT
59 min: Antunes is quite correctly booked for a cynical lunge on Willan as the winger looks to break into the Kyiv area down the right. Willian’s set piece is curled along the corridor of uncertainty, a brilliant ball across the face of the six-yard box. Zouma sticks a leg out, and somehow guides the ball wide right of the goal. Matic might have gone too early there, as well, so perhaps offside saves Zouma’s blushes. But really, how did that stay out? Willian is a set-piece magician, though.
9.02pm GMT
57 min: Garmash powers down the inside-left channel before cutting inside, riding a couple of half-arsed challenges, then losing control but latching onto a lame attempted clearance by Terry. He shapes to shoot from the edge of the box, but his fellow sub Junior Moraes brushes him away and has a pop himself. Begovic sticks out a strong arm to parry. Gonzalez tries to find the top right with a curler, but that’s no good. Chelsea very close to causing serious problems for themselves there.
8.59pm GMT
56 min: A second change for the visitors, Kravets coming off, Junior Moraes not going his way.
8.58pm GMT
55 min: Chelsea are on the back foot here. Kyiv are whipping balls into their box from either flank, though Terry and Zouma are holding strong in the middle. Porto are now 2-0 up, so their position at the top of the group will be consolidated tonight the way things are going.
8.57pm GMT
53 min: But Kyiv are showing more threat since the restart. A couple of corners down the right, Yarmolenko having caused all sorts of bother. Diego Costa clears the first. The second falls to Gonzalez, on the edge of the box. He shoots through a thicket of players, and claims the ball has hit Ramires on the hand. The referee again makes a fine decision, because there’s no way that’s a penalty kick either.
8.55pm GMT
51 min: Costa, on a baroque meander down the left, dinks a delicious ball into the middle for Willian, who stoops to head home from six yards out. He’s surely scored, cushioning a lovely header back towards the bottom left, but Shovkovskiy sticks out a casual hand, and scoops it off the line. You’ll not see a more insouciant save than that for a while! Chelsea so unlucky not to be two up.
8.54pm GMT
50 min: Some rare space for Yarmolenko down the right. He enters the box, and it’s not clear whether he’s shooting or crossing from a tight angle, but the ball’s deflected off a Chelsea leg, and whistles dangerously close to the top left. It’s only a corner, which is overhit and mopped up by Terry. But a couple of hairy moments for Chelsea at the start of the second half.
8.52pm GMT
48 min: A fairly quiet start to the second half. Willian bursts down the right a couple of times, but can’t get anything going. Then, suddenly, Gonzalez sprays a wonderful ball down the left. Kravets is free and in the Chelsea area! But he dallies, allowing Zouma to stick out a telescopic leg to tackle cleanly. What a brave intervention, because that could so easily have been a penalty kick, and perhaps even a red. But a perfect tackle means there’s no problem.
8.50pm GMT
Porto are winning in Tel Aviv, so as things stand, they’re top of the group, with Chelsea in second, leapfrogging Kyiv. With a view to changing this state of affairs, the visitors make a substitution: Denys Garmash comes on for Sydorchuk.
8.36pm GMT
Half-time entertainment:
8.36pm GMT
Suffice to say, Chelsea don’t agree that the Costa incident wasn’t a penalty. As the teams go off for half time, Costa has to be restrained by Matic from instigating a debate with the referee. His captain Terry does that in a more diplomatic style. Chelsea stomp off in a hot funk, but they should be otherwise happy enough: without playing particularly well, they’re ahead, and looking good to turn their Champions League campaign around. Kyiv have offered nothing up front.
8.34pm GMT
45 min +1: In the first of two added minutes, Costa goes on a power romp down the middle and into the Kyiv box. He’s ahead of Dragovic and should slam the ball home, but with Khacheridi on his shoulder, decides to go down for a penalty. The referee’s not having it, and it’s a great decision. On the touchline, Jose Mourinho does his ironic smiling act. But Costa went down far too easily there, with little or no contact having been made.
8.31pm GMT
45 min: Fabregas has a clank from 25 yards. Nope! It flies wide right, worrying Shovkovskiy not a jot.
8.30pm GMT
44 min: Antunes nearly frees Kravets into the Chelsea box down the left, but Azpilicueta cuts it out. Gonzalez tries to inject new life into the move, but his ball into the area from the same flank is witless and straight through to Begovic.
8.29pm GMT
43 min: The busy Oscar earns a corner down the left. Fabregas takes. Once again, it’s easily dealt with by the opposition. He should let Willian take them again.
8.28pm GMT
41 min: Fabregas dances into space down the left, and reaches the byline. But there’s nobody to find in the middle. Kyiv clear. Chelsea come back at them, Oscar being impressively sent into a pocket of space on the left by a prone Diego Costa, who twists on the turf to make a pass, refusing to give it up. Oscar cuts inside and looks to curl one into the top right, but his shot is high and wide.
8.26pm GMT
40 min: Yarmolenko once again has the option of feeding Vida into acres of space down the right, but for the second time in the match opts to cut inside and waste a fine opportunity to stretch Chelsea. Vida would be within his rights to start a half-time dressing-room barney.
8.24pm GMT
8.24pm GMT
38 min: Kyiv with a free kick deep on the right. Rybalka takes, and aims it towards Vida, level with the left-hand post, ten yards out. Matic sticks out a desperate leg to knock the ball out for a corner. The set piece isn’t very good, but squirts out to Gonzalez, 20 yards from goal. His first-time shot flies 20 yards over the bar.
8.22pm GMT
36 min: Chelsea have their tails up now. Willian goes on another rampaging run down the right. His cutback can’t quite find Diego Costa. Then, seconds later, Fabregas is in space down the right. He curls one into the centre. Diego Costa shapes to Mark Hughes a volley into the net, but the ball’s intercepted and cleared by Dragovic before it reaches the striker. Well, that would have been quite a goal.
8.21pm GMT
Has Chelsea’s luck changed? Begovic is very close to passing the ball straight to Yarmolenko, but the Kyiv man can’t quite make the intercept. Chelsea flood upfield. Willian bursts into space down the right, and looks for Diego Costa in the middle with a low, hard cross. His ball doesn’t reach the striker, but that’s only because Dragovic dives to head spectacularly into his own net. The crowd burst into an unambiguous chant of Jose Mourinho. Are you listening, Roman?
8.19pm GMT
32 min: Matic is brought down by Yarmolenko as he goes on a rangy strut down the left. Free kick, and a chance for Chelsea to load the box. Willian stands over it. And his delivery’s usually so good, but this one doesn’t beat the first man. However, he gets the ball back immediately, and sprays a diagonal ball wide right for Azpilicueta. The full back chips the ball into the middle for Oscar, who must head home from six yards. But Khacheridi bothers him enough, and he can’t make a proper connection. The ball pings out to Costa, who knocks it over the bar for three rugby points. Good chances for Oscar and Diego Costa there, both spurned.
8.19pm GMT
8.15pm GMT
29 min: Oscar is sent scampering into space down the left. He pings the ball inside for Costa, to the left of the D. He thinks about taking a shot, but dribbles down the channel instead and wins a corner. Fabregas takes, but it’s straight down Shovkovskiy’s throat.
8.13pm GMT
27 min: Gonzalez is booked for faffing around at a restart in the middle of the park. He looks confused. That’s livened the home fans up again.
8.12pm GMT
26 min: Stamford Bridge has gone fairly quiet right now, with Kyiv beginning to enjoy longer periods of possession. You can tell the home faithful have been stung too many times this season.
8.10pm GMT
24 min: Yarmolenko looks to Cruyff Turn his way past Baba Rahman. He slips on the heavily watered turf, and executes the splits in an accidental fashion. Ooyah, oof, that’s a painful one. He’ll be OK to continue, but only after rolling around wincing for a while.
8.08pm GMT
22 min: Diego Costa makes good down the left, and fires a low cross into the box. There’s nobody there to convert. Then Willian skedaddles down the right, and hits a similar ball in. Nobody there again. Two fine runs, and both deserved better support.
8.06pm GMT
20 min: Space for Vida down the right. He looks for Kravets with a deep looper, but Begovic comes off his line to make a spectacular one-handed catch.
8.05pm GMT
19 min: Fabregas goes on a dribble down the middle of the park, then looks for a one-two on the edge of the box with Diego Costa. The “one” bit is successful. The less said about the “two”, the better. The ball runs through to Shovkovskiy. Chelsea have been on top here, but they’re not particularly fluent in attack so far.
8.04pm GMT
18 min: A Chelsea corner down the right now. Willian curls a fine ball into the area, dropping towards the penalty spot, but only Terry is anywhere near it, anticipating. Buyalskiy gets there first to clear.
8.03pm GMT
16 min: Hearts in Chelsea mouths for a split second as Azpilicueta heads back down the Chelsea right towards Begovic, but doesn’t catch it properly. Gonzalez very nearly zips in to pick up possession, but the keeper is out to the edge of his area to collect. Just in time.
8.02pm GMT
15 min: Kyiv are slowly getting a foothold in the game. They pass it around the middle awhile, without threatening to get into Chelsea’s final third. Yarmolenko has a chance to send Vida free down the right, but opts to cut inside, and the move breaks down.
8.00pm GMT
8.00pm GMT
13 min: Buyalskiy bundles Fabregas to the floor, out on the right. Free kick. Fabregas pitching-wedges it towards the left-hand post, where Matic rises to head across goal. But Chelsea can’t bundle it in, and it wouldn’t have mattered if they had managed it, for Matic had gone too early and was correctly flagged for offside.
7.58pm GMT
12 min: Kravets goes scampering after a long ball down the left. He gets to it first, but just as it looks like he’s going to break in to the box, or at least earn Chelsea a corner, he’s robbed by some brilliant pick-pocket defending from the back-tracking Azpilicueta.
7.57pm GMT
11 min: Now it’s Kyiv’s turn to give up a cheap free kick. Yarmolenko clips Oscar to the floor, and this will be a free kick, 30 yards out, just to the left of centre. Willian, the set-piece specialist, can’t find a Chelsea head with his inswinger. Dragovic heads clear.
7.55pm GMT
9 min: Up the other end, Kyiv show for the first time, and Ramires panics, shoving over Buyalskiy, 25 yards from goal. The free kick is a tad to the left. Rybalka takes, and batters it straight into the wall.
7.54pm GMT
8 min: The ever-excellent Willian drops deep and plays quarterback. He sprays a brilliant ball out right for Azpilicueta, who exchanges passes with Fabregas before creaming a low cross into the box. On the penalty spot is Oscar, who shapes his body Zidane-style for a first-time batter goalwards. It’s a fine hit, but straight at the keeper.
7.52pm GMT
6 min: Diego Costa draws four white shirts towards him on the left-hand corner of the Dynamo area. He flicks the ball inside for Oscar, who shuttles it further towards the centre for Ramires, who unleashes a first-time pearler goalwards from 25 yards. It’s swerving around, but ends up finding the centre of Shovkovskiy’s chest. The keeper snaffles without fuss. But yes, this is a brisk start from the hosts.
7.50pm GMT
4 min: This is a nice, bright start by Chelsea, who are very much on the front foot. Oscar and Baba Rahman combine nicely down the left, the former feeding the latter. Baba Rahman breaks into the box, but his control is heavy and he runs the ball out of play. A shame for Chelsea, because that was a nice, crisp move, and Kyiv were opened up there.
7.49pm GMT
3 min: Diego Costa powers down the left now, and wins a corner. The set piece causes some pinball bother in the area, the ball pinging out to Ramires, who delivers it back in low and hard. It slams into his own man, Costa, deflects away, and the danger is gone.
7.48pm GMT
2 min: Kravets comes through the back of Zouma. It’s a pointless challenge, because Kyiv are going nowhere, and he’s very fortunate not to pick up an early booking.
7.47pm GMT
The hosts get the ball rolling, and will kick towards the tube station. Sort of. Diego Costa romps down the right wing, but he’s soon knocking Dragovic to the floor in a tussle, and gives away a cheap free kick.
7.44pm GMT
A rare old roar pinging around the walls of Stamford Bridge right now. The Harry J Allstars whipping up a storm as ever. An atmosphere of defiance. Support for Mourinho. Plenty of it. Hearty chants of the manager’s name. The teams take to the pitch, Chelsea wearing their famous blue, Dynamo sporting their equally renowned crisp white. It’s a first-choice aesthetic treat. Mourinho takes his place on the bench, chewing gum, leaning back with his top button open, looking more relaxed than he has for a while. We’ll be off in a minute!
7.36pm GMT
Mourinho speaks! “It’s a very important match. We need a positive result for most reasons. For this competition, because we need a positive result for the competition, and also for the general situation, the bad run of results. So it’s an important match for us. I have 21 fit players, only Ivanovic and Falcao are not ready to play, everybody else is in condition to play, so I have to choose the best team. The day I don’t enjoy a football match, something is going wrong.” All of this said while wearing a fairly grim coupon. BT Sport interviewer Matt Smith treading on eggshells throughout. There was no way he was going to specifically bring up the subject of Eden Hazard. Which is fair enough. You don’t poke a tiger with a pointed stick, even if it does look a bit down in the mouth.
7.10pm GMT
Incidentally, as ever when these Ukrainian giants play, there follows a quick word on what appears to be our free-jazz approach to the spelling of Kiev, Kyiv, Киев, Київ, all that: After Ukraine saw the back of the USSR, they abandoned Russian spellings in favour of Ukrainian ones. This meant that, in English, Lvov became Lviv, Kharkov became Kharkiv and, in the official transliteration of the capital, Kiev became Kyiv (or in good old Cyrillic, Киев became Київ). However, official Guardian style has stuck with the traditional Kiev. Which means that Dynamo Kyiv – the official name of the club – play in Kiev, just as Roma play in Rome and Sevilla come from Seville. No point asking me any further questions, e.g. why?, but I can assure you that, otherwise, I’m here to help.
7.05pm GMT
Dynamo make one change from the team fortunate to escape with a draw in the reverse fixture in Ukraine. Antunes comes in for Danilo Silva at left back. Dynamo don’t really fancy it in England: they’ve played 12 competitive matches here, and lost ten of them, drawing the other two. So it all looks good for the Premier League champions (it bears repeating). Kyiv have been in the goals since the Chelsea visit, mind: a 5-0 cup win over Obolon-Brovar, and a 2-0 victory in the league against Metalist Kharkiv. Not that either opponent is much cop, but then you can only beat what’s put in front of you.
7.00pm GMT
Eden Hazard drops to the bench. A top line, free, gratis, this one’s on Chelsea, for news outlets around the country! That other subject of midweek spin, supposition and chitter-chat, Cesc Fabregas, takes his place in the starting XI. Two other changes from the team that lost to Liverpool last weekend: Abdul Baba Rahman comes in for Gary Cahill, whose place at centre back is taken by the shifted Kurt Zouma, while Nemanja Matic replaces John Obi Mikel.
6.45pm GMT
Chelsea: Begovic, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Terry, Baba Raman, Ramires, Matic, Willian, Fabregas, Oscar, Diego Costa.
Subs: Blackman, Hazard, Kenedy, Pedro, Remy, Cahill, Loftus-Cheek.
Dynamo Kyiv: Shovkovskiy, Vida, Khacheridi, Dragovic, Antunes, Sydorchuk, Rybalka, Yarmolenko, Buyalskiy, Gonzalez, Kravets.
Subs: Rybka, Miguel Veloso, Petrovic, Morozyuk, Junior Moraes, Garmash, Gusev.
3.44pm GMT
It’s fair to say the pressure’s on Chelsea tonight. As if their struggles in the Premier League aren’t bad enough, they’re currently in a tight Champions League spot too, languishing in Group G behind Porto and tonight’s opponents Dynamo Kyiv. A win tonight isn’t essential, but it would be very handy. However a defeat would dump them in all sorts of bother. If Serhiy Rebrov’s team skip off with the spoils this evening, expect news articles anticipating developments, alongside comment pieces and perhaps a sidebar.
But there’s more than enough misery surrounding Stamford Bridge right now. So let’s not add to it. Let’s instead try to deal in a little hope. Yes, Chelsea are in the middle of an appalling run of form: just the one win in their last eight matches, and that against Tim Sherwood’s Aston Villa. But the bare statistics don’t tell the whole story - wouldn’t sport be soul-crushingly dull if they did?
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NASTY LEEDS LEAD NASTY LEEDS FANS UP GARDEN PATH
It’s tough work being a football fan sometimes, having to deal with the constant misery and all those cruel disappointments. Manchester United, for example, have only won 14 major trophies in the last decade, and none in the last 30 months, so you can understand why some of their put-upon supporters finally snapped on Tuesday night and made their feelings known when their winning team failed to replicate the freewheeling stylings of João Saldanha’s Brazil. It was similarly easy to commiserate with those Chelsea supporters who last weekend left their stadium early when it became apparent that the Blues are not quite as good as they were six months ago, when they hoovered up their 15th trophy in 11 years. You wouldn’t treat mangy old curs in this way.
‘YOU WANNA SEE CRAZY?’ … ‘NO, I’VE SEEN THAT MOVIE AND – SPOILER ALERT – IT ENDS WITH A CLOSETFUL OF MY SUITS ON FIRE’
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