Scott Murray's Blog, page 174

The Fiver | The sharpshooting spirit of João Saldanha

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A LITTLE LOCAL DIFFICULTY

Alex Ferguson, Bob Paisley, Ernst Happel, Jock Stein, César Luis Menotti, Helenio Herrera, Alf Ramsey, Herbert Chapman, Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Bela Guttman, Vittorio Pozzo, Graham Taylor. Some great football managers there. But if you were to ask the Fiver who was the greatest of all, you’d only get one answer: João Saldanha. He was the man who built Brazil’s 1970 World Cup-winning side, but never got to see the job through to completion after accusing Pelé of going blind, arguing viciously and stubbornly with the country’s tinpot dictator over team selection and chasing after his predecessor with a loaded pistol, having taken excessive umbrage at some mild criticism in the papers. Saldanha stood accused of being thin-skinned and emotionally unstable, the fact he had once been a football journalist perhaps the most damning evidence of all. He was dismissed and replaced by Mario Zagallo, and the rest is history. A hot-headed failed journalist, then. The Fiver loves him very much.

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The Tour Championship 2015: Spieth wins the FedEx Cup – as it happened

An astonishing display of putting won the Tour Championship for the amazing Jordan Spieth, who as a result adds the $10m FedEx Cup to his 2015 Masters and US Open titles.

11.01pm BST

So that’s that. What a year of golf it’s been. It’s all about Jordan Spieth, of course: the Masters, US Open and FedEx Cup champion. With special mention to Jason Day as well. What a pair of players! And just think, 2016 is going to be frightening if Rory McIlroy gets his mojo back. But we can’t go a whole live golf blog without a reader email, so just in time, here’s Simon McMahon: “Been a great year. What with the emergence of Spieth as a genuine superstar, and the potential for a rivalry for the ages with McIlroy, Day finally making a major breakthrough, DJ and Bubba doing their thing, rookie of the year Berger, the amateurs at the Open, Fowler, Rose, Reed all winning, not forgetting Lowry at the Bridgestone, it’s been a blast. It’s not all about titles and prize money though, is it? We need the journeymen too. But if you could see to it that a certain Spaniard wins at least one major next year, that’d be great. Ta.” OK, sounds like a plan to me! Everyone on for Augusta National, here, next April? Great stuff. See you all then, and thanks so much for reading our hole-by-hole reports.

Related: Jordan Spieth wins Tour Championship, FedEx Cup title and £7.5m

10.57pm BST

That’s a sensational victory by Spieth. It was a match-play battering in stroke-play form, Spieth hitting Stenson with those sucker-punch birdie putts at 9 and 11, and an astonishingly delicate greenside chip when in bother at 15. The winner’s getting his two trophies now: first the crystal Tour Championship prize, and then the silver FedEx Cup. Plus of course a few pennies. “Thank you. This is incredible. We approach this like a major championship. Mentally we stayed in it, even if I didn’t have my best ball striking, and boy that putter sure paid off!” And then he’s asked how he achieved yet another famous victory. “I got frustrated. I missed two cuts in a row, which I’d never done before. I lost the number one ranking. I was watching Jason Day just dominate golf. And I was frustrated. So I got to work!” All of which speaks volumes. As does his fulsome praise for Stenson, who he describes as a great friend, and thanks him for the fist-bump he gave him after that putt on 11.

10.45pm BST

So here’s how the Tour Championship finished ...

-9: Spieth
-5: Lee, Rose, Stenson
-4: D Johnson, Watson, Casey
-3: Holmes, Z Johnson
-2: Kuchar, Day
E: Bowditch, Matsuyama, Berger, Fowler
+1: Na, McIlroy
+4: Streb, Walker, Bae, Koepka
+5: English, Snedeker, Hoffman
+10: Piercy
+13: Haas
+14: Reed
+18: Kisner

10.40pm BST

JORDAN SPIETH IS THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER ... AND THE $10m FEDEX CUP WINNER! He hits an awful putt from 40 feet, the ball staying miles left of the hole. But he’s not the type to finish without a flourish, and rattles in the ten-foot par saver! He signs for a 69, and once he’s shaken the defeated Stenson’s hand warmly, gives his little sister a cuddle. Then his mum and dad. A very proud family. And you sense this highly impressive and modest young man is equally proud of them. It’s part of his charm. That, and being the best golfer in the world, of course. What a star.

10.36pm BST

The beauty of golf, right here! Henrik Stenson, ground into the dirt on 17, shanking into the crowd, has just raked in a 70-footer from the back of the green for a closing birdie! Stenson can’t even manage a wry smile, but he will do later on once the pain has subsided. That’s wonderful to see, after the indignities he’s suffered on the rest of the back nine. A birdie that’ll give him a share of second place!

10.34pm BST

Spieth finds the heart of 18. Then the rain starts coming down on Stenson’s sorry head. No more indignities, please! Hasn’t the poor man suffered enough. His tee shot isn’t all that, but finds the green. Just. He looks disgusted with his effort. That opening-day 63 seems an awfully long time ago now. The players make their way to the green. The gallery goes daft for Jordan Spieth, this young sensation, the new Nicklaus, the best golfer in the world. He’s not going to stop, is he.

10.30pm BST

Spieth races his putt, from 25 feet, six or seven feet past the hole. Let’s say seven, because it’s still his turn. He rolls the par putt into the heart of the cup, and a huge smile spreads across his face. He knows the job’s done. Stenson pushes his bogey putt wide right of the hole. He’s been a complete mess since 11. An utter shambles. A golfing nervous breakdown.

-9: Spieth (17)
-5: Lee (F), Rose (F)
-4: D Johnson (F), Watson (F), Casey (F), Stenson (17)

10.26pm BST

Stenson bumps a can’t-be-bothered chip from high on the right of 17 and onto the green. His long putt trickles a good six feet past the hole. Up on 18, it’s a miserable finish for Rickie Fowler, who bogeyed 16, doubled 17, and missed a birdie chance on the last. A 74, and he ends up at level par. His partner Casey pars and seems pretty pleased with his 70, guaranteed a top-five finish at -4.

10.23pm BST

Stenson’s misery is complete. Spieth finds the front of 17 with his second. Stenson has no option but to get aggressive - but in going for broke, shanks the ball into the crowd down the right. That’s right out of the hosel. He’s a broken man. That putt of Spieth’s on 11 stole the sun from his heart!

10.19pm BST

This is almost certainly all over now, because Spieth has avoided the water down the left of 17 with his tee shot. Stenson follows him down the fairway. Up on the green, having been a bit wild with his drive, Casey can’t make par. He’s back to -4. And on 18, McIlroy nearly guides a ten-footer into the hole for birdie, but it’s a par, and he signs for a dismal 74. He finishes at +1, and will be singing Auld Lang Syne with added gusto come the end of December.

10.13pm BST

Spieth finds the bunker front right of 16. A chance for Stenson to put a little pressure on, but he doesn’t take it, sending his second shot in the same direction. It doesn’t quite make the bunker, snagging in the long grass. He chips to five feet. Spieth can only splash out to ten, but once again sinks a putt that’ll hurt his partner. Stenson makes his par, but would have been hoping to close in on Spieth there. Nope! Meanwhile Bubba Watson finishes his season with par at the last, and signs for a 67. He’ll end the week at -4.

10.09pm BST

Rory McIlroy had been going nicely on the way back, with birdies at 12 and 16 bringing him back to -2. But he’s just pulled a short iron from the centre of the fairway at 17 into the drink down the left! A triple-bogey 7, the result of some half-arsed chipping up the waterbank, and he’s +1. That just about sums up his 2015. His playing partner Zach Johnson had flayed his tee shot into the drink, but scrambles a bogey. He’s -3. Coming up behind, it’s Paul Casey, who nearly follows Justin Rose into the drinker on the right. With the season nearly over, a few of these lads are getting demob happy now.

10.02pm BST

Spieth’s third into 15 finds deep rough at the back of the green. He’s struggling to make par here. Stenson meanwhile has found the bunker to the left of the green. Shortsided, he does well to get his ball to 30 feet. His birdie putt stops one dimple short, and he remains at -6. A rueful smile. Especially as Spieth didn’t have any green to work with either, but somehow manufactured a delicate flop from thick grass to eight feet, before knocking in the par saver. That chip was out of this world! He’s like no other, this young man. And the gap is still three strokes, with holes are now running out if Stenson is to stop Spieth.

-9: Spieth (15)
-6: Stenson (15)
-5: Lee (F), Rose (F), Casey (16)

9.59pm BST

Casey wings his drive at 16 into trouble down the left. He ends up wedging four into the green, but works it to a couple of feet and drops just the one. He’s back to -5. On 18, Rose chips up to five feet, and knocks in the par putt. Great to see him finish with a par: his 66 sees him tied for the clubhouse lead at -5 with Danny Lee. A fine, nearly brilliant, performance.

9.52pm BST

Rose needs one more club at 18. His tee shot is short of the green. Just short: symbolic of his chances, then, which were in truth scuppered after that OB drive at 10, though to his immense credit he refused to buckle. Three bounce-back birdies showed amazing character, even if it’s all coming undone again on the final holes. Henrik Stenson take note: he’s just pulled his approach into trouble down the left of 15 from the centre of the fairway. And he still looks thoroughly unhappy and frustrated, his shoulders slumped. He really needs to get both shoulders and chin up, because Spieth drove into thick rough down the left of the hole and has been forced to take his medicine and chip out.

9.46pm BST

Spieth very nearly drains his 40-footer on 14 for another remarkable birdie. But it stops on the left lip and that’s a par. Good enough. Stenson finally regroups mentally, and nearly chips in from down the back. Par. Still a three-shot gap, but this might not be over quite yet. Bubba sees a 12-foot birdie effort on 16 slide by the hole. He’ll stay at -4. Rose misses his par putt on 17, squirting it off to the right. He’s back down to -5, passed by Casey who converts his birdie chance at 15 to move into a share of second.

-9: Spieth (14)
-6: Casey (15), Stenson (14)
-5: Lee (F), Rose (17)

9.41pm BST

Paul Casey is certainly on a roll. His third into the par-five 15th is a stunning wedge which does a little handbrake turn a couple of feet from the hole. He’ll have a tap-in for a third birdie in a row, and will move to -6. Rose meanwhile clips a wedge at 17 to five feet, and will have a great chance to save his par. Meanwhile Danny Lee nearly rolls in a 40-foot birdie effort from the back of 18. A par will have to do, though, and he’s signing for a wondrous final-day 65. He ends the championship at -5.

9.38pm BST

Rose gets a free drop from the boozer down the right of 17. His ball snags in knotted nonsense, so he can only lay up with a whipped iron. Back on 14, Spieth pulls his tee shot into the trees down the left. He might have got a friendly break off a couple of punters, though, as his ball dropped from the trees. To be fair, this brilliant young man has earned all the luck he gets. That putt on 11 was one of the most sensational birdies you’re likely to see, effectively a match-play haymaker. He slaps his iron from the rough into the heart of the green. Stenson, from the middle of the fairway, steps away from his ball, the old Monty-style rabbit ears hearing something in the gallery. He shoots the crowd daggers, then whistles his second through the back of the green and down the back at the back. His head’s gone.

9.33pm BST

Pars for Spieth and Stenson on 13. Stenson still has a face on. He’s still three behind his playing partner. He needs to pick himself up and quickly. Things can change in the blink of an eye. Up on 18, Jason Day signs for a 68. Not quite enough to win the FedEx Cup, then, but what a season he’s had: five wins on Tour, including that famous victory at the PGA. The crowd give this popular Australian a huge ovation. He smiles warmly, despite hobbling around with a bad back.

9.29pm BST

Another birdie for Paul Casey, who sends his second at 114 straight at the flag, ten feet below, and rolls in the putt. He’s -5, and will be ruing that nonsense in the mud at the back of 5. More trouble off the tee for Rose, currently tied for second at -6, who wings his drive at 17 into the hospitality stand down the right of the hole. He really didn’t want to dice with the water down the left.

9.26pm BST

Stenson is the picture of defeat. His tee shot at 13 finds the fairway, but he didn’t connect properly and wanders off biting his lip, his limbs flopping around all over the place, swinging his club around in frustration. He’s mentally gone right now, and making no attempt to hide it. You can hardly blame him, after the way Spieth worked him over back on 11. Spieth finds the semi-rough down the right, and seems happy enough with that. Elsewhere, Bubba Watson makes back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15, and suddenly he’s -4. Casey birdies 13 to move to -4 too.

9.22pm BST

That putt of Spieth’s. Oh me oh my. It looks like the killer blow, because Stenson has that thousand-yard stare going on. From the middle of 12, he’s slamdunked his wedge into the bunker, and not gone particularly close with the splash out. He pushes his putt wide right, and that’s a shot gone. Spieth meanwhile wedges to 15 feet, and pushes his right too. The difference is, Spieth was putting for birdie, not par. The Tour Championship, and the FedEx Cup, are now Jordan Spieth’s to lose.

-9: Spieth (12)
-6: Rose (15), Stenson (12)
-5: Lee (16)

9.15pm BST

Matt Kuchar is on quite a roll. Birdies at 11, 13, 14 and 15, and he’s suddenly -3 for the tournament through 16 holes. Rose meanwhile on the par-five 15th creams a 3-wood straight at the flag. He’s left with a 12-footer for eagle. He can’t make the putt, and the resulting birdie will probably not suffice. Because there are astonishing scenes back on 11. Spieth’s tee shot is bang average, on the green but 50 feet shy of the flag. Stenson smacks his tee shot to three feet. But Spieth really is made of the special stuff. He rolls a huge left-to-right breaker up and over a ridge, and into the cup! The moment that wins the tournament? Perhaps. Stenson manages a wry half-smile, despite taking that hammer blow in the guts. Under the circumstances, he does rather well to convert his own birdie, but wow! What a putt! Spieth is phenomenal!

-9: Spieth (11)
-7: Stenson (11)
-6: Rose (15)

9.08pm BST

A brilliant wedge into 10 by Stenson, pin high to eight feet. A fine chance to scramble his par, but his putt horseshoes out. It was a poor effort, never going in, but he has the chutzpah to look genuinely affronted. Spieth however lets him off the hook. His little chip from the side of the green is left a good six feet short, and he leaves the putt up on the high side. It’s hard to know whose bogey was more hapless: Stenson’s bookended by poor strokes, Spieth’s made from the centre of the fairway. Meanwhile Lee, who had birdied 12 and then dropped a stroke at 13, registers back to back birdies at 14 and now 15. This leaderboard is looking rather interesting now:

-8: Spieth (10)
-6: Stenson (10)
-5: Lee (15), Rose (14)
-4: D Johnson (F), Z Johnson (12)

9.02pm BST

Dustin signs for a 64. He had a chance for birdie at the last, pin high with a fairly straight 30-footer across the green. But he leaves it short. He doesn’t look particularly happy, another season gone without one of the big prizes he desperately desires. But he’s ended the campaign well, and ends the tournament at -4. He’s the clubhouse leader.

8.59pm BST

Stenson manages to lash the ball out of the thick stuff, to within 50 yards of the green. From where he was, that’s a decent result. But he needs more than this, because look at this stat: he’s played the front nine in a cumulative score of -7 this week. The back nine: level par. Spieth, meanwhile, is -5 coming back. Well, that’s going to need to change if he’s to win the big prizes on offer here. Spieth offers him a little hope by slamdunking his second into the rough to the right of the green. He’s not too far from the hole, though, so an up and down isn’t exactly a pipe dream.

8.57pm BST

Stenson’s been spooked a little by the events on 9. A wide fairway at 10, and he pulls his 3-wood into thick nonsense down the left. He might get a free relief from a nearby drain cover, but you can’t be relying on fortune like that when you’re playing for ten million bucks. Spieth, naturally, finds the fairway. He’s a superstar. Meanwhile 2014’s Rory McIlroy pings his second at 12 to four feet, and knocks in a birdie putt. He’s back to -1. His partner Zach Johnson birdies the hole too, and moves to -4. He’s wonderfully steady, is Zach Johnson. Which may not be that sexy, but he knows how to get the job done. His painstaking journey back down the 18th at St Andrews, giving high fives to every single punter who wanted one, was one of the great moments of the sporting year. He left nobody hanging. David Puddy would have been proud.

8.50pm BST

Spieth knocks in his birdie putt! A quite brilliant effort caressed in from 15 feet, a gentle left to right break, always dropping from the second it left his putter! He’s out in 34, and Stenson must wonder what he has to do. He’s played this hole perfectly for his birdie - he taps in to convert - while Spieth was all over the shop. But the result’s the same. Spieth really is a force of nature. Speaking of which, there’s been another birdie for Dustin Johnson, this time at 17. That’s five on the back nine, and seven in ten holes! He’s -4. He is box office. In a different way to young Jordan, but it takes all kinds.

-9: Spieth (9)
-7: Stenson (9)
-5: Rose (13)
-4: D Johnson (17), Lee (14), Holmes (12)

8.46pm BST

Spieth and Stenson both find the middle of the 9th fairway with their tee shots. Stenson lays up. Spieth’s second is pushed off to the right, slightly behind a tree. No matter, he whips a wedge over it to 15 feet. He’ll have a look at birdie from there. Stenson meanwhile wedges to a couple of feet. He’s never played the front nine of this course without making birdie. He hasn’t made one yet today, but he’ll keep that record going now. Meanwhile you’ve got to hand it to Justin Rose, who isn’t giving this up despite the double-bogey horror of 10. He’s just followed up his birdie at 12 with another at 13, a 50-footer curled in from the back of the green, right to left, and he’s -5 again! He clenches his fist in determination. He’s still in with a shout.

8.33pm BST

Fowler needs to do something quickly if he wants to win this tournament and the FedEx Cup. His second into the par-five 9th, a driver off the deck, is hooked well left of the green. He chips to eight feet, but can’t knock in the birdie effort. He stays at -3. His partner Casey makes birdie and he’s -3 too. Rose curls in a left-to-right swinger from 15 feet on 12 to move back to -4. Holmes - who had bogeyed 10 - slides in a gentle right-to-left breaker on 11 for a birdie that takes him to -4 too. And then some crucial action at the 8th green. Stenson splashes from the sand to eight feet. Spieth then guides in a lovely left-to-right slider from 20 feet for a birdie. And the pressure causes Stenson to crumble, as he prods with great uncertainty at his par putt. Bogey, and a two-shot gap opens up at the top again!

-8: Spieth (8)
-6: Stenson (8)
-4: Rose (12), Lee (12), Holmes (11)

8.26pm BST

Stenson’s tee shot at 8 finds the rough down the right. In fact he’s just behind a tree. So he squirts the ball out and deliberately flies it into the bunker at the front. Guaranteed control from there. Spieth has an opportunity to apply a bit of pressure, but from the middle of the fairway can only get his ball to within 20 feet. A chance for birdie, but not the sort he was after.

8.24pm BST

Another birdie for Danny Lee! He gets back the shot he dropped at 10 by rattling in a 30-footer with a big left-to-right swing from the back of 12. He’s -4, in a tie for third! Meanwhile up on 18, Robert Streb misses a short par putt, a slightly sad end to an otherwise superlative final round of 65. He ends the tournament at +4, and must wish he’d hit his weekend form a couple of days earlier: a pair of 75s followed by 69 and now this. A very promising player ends the season with a flourish.

8.19pm BST

Spieth and Stenson find the 7th in regulation, but their balls aren’t in birdie territory. Two long putts lagged up, and that’s a pair of pars. Meanwhile another birdie for Dustin Johnson, this time at the par-five 15th. This is a quite amazing run of six birdies in eight holes! And he’s tied for fourth! What a player, what a man. It is impossible not to love him.

-7: Spieth (7), Stenson (7)
-4: Holmes (9)
-3: D Johnson (15), Lee (11), Rose (10), Z Johnson (8), Fowler (8)

8.15pm BST

Kevin Kisner is in the clubhouse with a 73. At +18, he’s almost certainly going to be propping up the leaderboard, unless Bill Hass, at +14 with three to play, does something very daft. So it’s nice that he’ll go away with a slight spring in his step, having birdied 16 and 17. Golf has a habit of taking an awful lot away, so it’s nice when it gives a little something back.

8.10pm BST

Poor old Justin Rose. He responds magnificently to the body blow of hoicking his tee shot at 10 out of bounds, creaming his second ball down the middle of the fairway, then zinging his approach pin high to 20 feet. He’s got a chance to escape with a bogey, and looks to have hit a wonderful putt, but it dies off left at the very last turn, shaving the lip and staying out. A double, and the jig is up. He’s back to -3. Holmes meanwhile pars 9 to reach the turn in 33. All of a sudden, he’s got third place to himself at -4, three off the lead set by Spieth and Stenson.

8.08pm BST

Casey knocks his third at 7 to six feet, and rattles in the par putt. What a magnificent save after the big hook off the tee. He remains at -2. Meanwhile McIlroy is long with his approach at 8. Then he fluffs his chip. His next one is bumped up to a couple of feet, but that’s four bogeys in five holes. The end of the 2015 season can’t come soon enough for McIlroy. This is awkward to watch, though you sense he might have given up on this. He’s not exactly taking his time between shots. Fair enough, he doesn’t exactly need the money.

8.04pm BST

Spieth sends a 45-foot putt scampering hysterically towards the hole. He’s lucky the left-hand lip got in the way, taking plenty of the pace from the ball. It stops six feet behind the hole. But he doesn’t make the one coming back. He had gone 86 consecutive holes without a three-putt, but that brave record has gone down the swanny. Stenson, from similar distance, takes his two putts for par and is now tied for the lead. Bogey for Lee at 10, meanwhile. Where he leads, Rose looks like following.

-7: Spieth (6), Stenson (6)
-5: Rose (9)
-4: Holmes (8)

7.59pm BST

Spieth and Stenson both find the 6th green with their tee shots, but neither are particularly close to the hole. Casey’s woes continue, hooking his tee shot on 7 into all manner of oomska down the left. He’s plugged in the stuff, forced to take his medicine and punch the ball back out onto the fairway. English hopes are now with Justin Rose ... and with perfect timing, he hooks a 3-wood from the 10th tee onto the road down the left. That’s out of bounds, and it’s all over for our Hampshire hero. And him just out in 31 strokes too! That’s golf, ladies and gentlemen.

7.56pm BST

Rose blooters a stunning 3-wood into the heart of the par-five 9th. The ball rather unfairly considers toppling off the back, but just about hangs on in the fringe. No matter! He rolls a left-to-right sharp-angled monster of an eagle putt to 18 inches, and taps in for his fourth birdie of the day. He matches Danny Lee’s front nine of 31, and at -5 he’s right in this now!

-8: Spieth (5)
-7: Stenson (5)
-5: Rose (9)

7.53pm BST

Spieth attempts a Mickelson-style flop from the bank to the right of 5. Nope. He gets under the ball and doesn’t reach the green. He’s still in the fringe. Stenson clips his wedge straight at the flag. It’s going 20 feet past, but clatters into the flag and stops six feet behind the hole. A real chance to save his par now. Spieth very nearly bumps his chip into the hole, but that’s only his third bogey of the week. He’s back to -8. And there’s only one in it now, because Stenson slots his short par saver away. Another birdie for JB Holmes, meanwhile, up on 8. He’s -4.

-8: Spieth (5)
-7: Stenson (5)
-4: Lee (9), Rose (8), Holmes (8)
-3: Z Johnson (7), Fowler (6)

7.46pm BST

Yes, 2015 is not McIlroy’s year. He can only chip to eight feet from the back of 6, then pushes an appalling putt miles wide right. A third bogey in a row, and that fast start seems a very long time ago now. He’s -1, and not looking particularly happy. He’s not attained the level of funk just achieved by Casey, though. He chunks a second chip in a row, and though this makes the green, he’s still got 25 feet to cover for his bogey. That doesn’t drop, and his run of pars is broken by a double bogey. He’s back to -2. But everyone’s struggling right now, and from the middle of 5, both Spieth and Stenson push their long second shots to the right of the green, leaving themselves shortsided with downhill chips from thick rough. Only Danny Lee is trundling along nicely: he rolls in an eight-foot par saver on 9, and he reaches the turn in an exceptional 31 strokes.

-9: Spieth (4)
-7: Stenson (4)
-4: Lee (9), Rose (8)
-3: Holmes (7), Z Johnson (6), Fowler (5)

7.39pm BST

It’s been pars all the way for Paul Casey. Maybe not for much longer. From the centre of the long par-four 5th, he zips his second straight through the green and down a very soggy bank at the back. And he fluffs his chip from the mudbath. He’s still in there. A birdie for Bubba on 7, and he’s back to -2. His partner JB Holmes, who had followed up his aforementioned opening-hole birdie with a bogey on 2, earns his shot back with a chip-in from the fringe. He’s -3 again.

7.31pm BST

Four in a row for Dustin! He chips in from the back of 11, and he’s -2. No celebration. It’s the full Jason Dufner. Another birdie for Danny Lee, who curls in a left-to-right putt from 20 foot on 8. He’s -4 for his round, and for the tournament. Up on 6, McIlroy continues to struggle, his tee shot long and left. Back on 4, Spieth leaves his approach short of the green, but very nearly clips the chip into the cup. He saves his par. Stenson, on the green in regulation, cards another par.

7.29pm BST

McIlroy, from thick stuff high to the right of 5, sends a Mickelsonian lob to eight feet. That’s as good a result as he could have expected from where he was, having had little green to play with. But he’s left with a tester for his par. He can’t make it. He’s back to -2. Bye bye Rory. Meanwhile news of your pal and mine, the wonderfully entertaining Dustin Johnson. The big man should have won the US Open this year, but didn’t. (See also 2010.) He’s not going to win this either, but he appears to be in the mood to go out with a bang. Three birdies on the bounce, 8, 9 and 10, and he’s up to -1 for the tournament. The last one came as a result of a 50-footer raked across the 10th. If the hole hadn’t got in the way, he’d have been somewhere in South Carolina. So he now just needs to card a quadruple bogey at some point this afternoon, and we can all go home having got our money’s worth.

7.20pm BST

Spieth and Stenson are both in the centre of the 3rd green, 15 feet or so from the flag. Stenson is up first, and his birdie chance curls away to the right. He’s not quite giving his putts enough oomph. He’s given Spieth a read, as well. And for a second it looks like another birdie for the Masters and US Open champion, but the ball turns right at the very death. There’s still a two-shot gap at the top. Stenson may feel he’s got away with one there. Meanwhile up on 5, Rory is hitting a fairway wood off the top of a once grassy knoll, now a mudhill. He clips it miles to the right of the green. This is getting away from the world number two right now. 2015 hasn’t been his year.

7.15pm BST

Fowler, hitting a sand wedge 100 yards into 3, finds a bunker at the front. That’s ludicrous. And he’ll pay, splashing miles past the pin off a hard, wet lie. He very nearly saves himself by rolling in a 25-foot left-to-right breaker, but that’ll be a costly bogey. Casey gets up and down from the fringe for par. Rose converts his birdie. And McIlroy makes a royal balls of 4. He fails to reach the green in two, then chunks his third. Still not on the putting surface. He gets up and down, but that’s a bogey, and he’s out of this now you’d think - especially as he’s just flayed his drive at 5 into thick nonsense down the left. His playing partner Johnson birdied 4. Lee, meanwhile, rolls in a very missable 20-footer on 7 to save his par, and keep hold of that precious momentum.

-9: Spieth (2)
-7: Stenson (2)
-4: Rose (6), Casey (3)
-3: Lee (7), McIlroy (4), Z Johnson (4), Fowler (3)

7.09pm BST

Stenson hits his downhill birdie effort at 2 rather apologetically. He’ll have to make do with par. No problem for Spieth, though, who clacks his putt straight into the cup. Suddenly he’s got a two-shot lead. Up on 6, Rose, who was a turn away from raking in a 40-footer for birdie on 5, sets himself up another chance on 6 with a stupendous 5-iron to three feet.

-9: Spieth (2)
-7: Stenson (2)

7.05pm BST

Another birdie for Danny Lee, this time at 6, a left-to-right curler from 30 feet. He’s -3 now. Spieth caresses a stunning 4-iron straight at the flag on 2. Stenson follows that magical shot by firing his tee shot straight over the pin, spinning the ball back towards the hole, leaving a ten-footer for his birdie. Spieth perhaps a foot or two inside, coming across the green along a straighter path. Meanwhile trouble off the tee for both Casey and McIlroy. Casey hoicks an awful tee shot miles left of 3, while McIlroy finds a bunker down the left of 4.

7.00pm BST

McIlroy’s putt across 3 is fairly dismal. He leaves it short and right. Par. A similar mistake from similar distance by Fowler on 2. So much for all that pre-round chat of “aggressive” golf. He pars the hole, as does Casey. Back on 1, Spieth and Stenson both get the putter out from off the front of the green. Stenson leaves his five feet short. A real tester here. He strokes it in though. Spieth isn’t far from draining his, but it stops just short. Pars.

6.55pm BST

Neither Spieth nor Stenson find the green with their second shots at 1. Stenson’s failure there was inexplicable really, from 116 yards out in the centre of the fairway. Spieth can at least claim mitigation, having hit a dreadful tee shot down the left. Speaking of such shots, that’s exactly what McIlroy’s done at 3, finding sand, though he’s clipped his second pin high. It’ll be a 25-footer across the green for birdie, but avoiding bogey was the thing after that tee shot. Meanwhile Day guides in a 25-foot left-to-right slider on 6, breaking a run of pars. He’s -1.

6.52pm BST

Casey and Fowler find the opening green in regulation, but that’s about the best you can say for it. Neither make lengthy birdie putts, and remain at -4. And all of this means that, back on the tee, the final pairing are out! Stenson splits the fairway, but Spieth sends his tee shot off down the left, into fairly thick, boggy rough. Elsewhere, it’s another birdie for Rose, this time at 4, after another delightful approach. Pin high, to 12 feet, and a putt never missing. He’s -3, and making a move. An eventful start for Hideki Matsuyama, who birdies 1, bogeys 2, and now picks up that shot again at 4. He’s -1 overall. And it’s been equally eventful for Bubba. When is it ever not? Bogey at 2, and now birdie at 3. He’s -1 again.

6.47pm BST

Johnson and McIlroy splash out of the bunker at 2 to ten feet. Zach can’t make his putt, the ball always dying off to the left. But Rory can. He gives his par saver a rare old rattle, and it’s always going to be swallowed by the hole. He stays at -4, and walks off the green with the air of a man who knows he’s dodged a bullet there. He can’t afford any silly bogeys. Johnson’s back down at -2, and already looking too far behind. The margins are so slim now.

6.40pm BST

So much for McIlroy’s fast start. He pulls his tee shot at 2 into a bunker to the left of the green. He’ll not have a lot of space to work with there. Zach Johnson follows him in. Neither ball plugs in the wet sand, though, and they’re both on the upslope, so at least they have a chance to scramble their pars. Meanwhile a birdie for Justin Rose at 3, after a stunning second from 100 yards to a couple of feet. He’s -2.

6.37pm BST

McIlroy is out. And he’ll be making birdie at 1, having split the fairway with his tee shot and landed his approach ten feet past the flag, spinning it back to a couple of inches. A gorgeous shot, and a statement of intent. He’ll be up to -4. His playing partner, and the man who made off with his Open Championship title in his absence at St Andrews back in July, is Zach Johnson. A decent second into the heart of the green, but he can’t roll in the downhill 12-footer he leaves himself. Par. But McIlroy’s fast start will have given those above him on the leaderboard, and coming behind on the course, a little pause for thought.

-8: Spieth
-7: Stenson
-4: McIlroy (1), Fowler, Casey
-3: Holmes (1), Z Johnson (1)

6.30pm BST

An opening-hole birdie for JB Holmes, and he’s up to -3 immediately. You never know, you never know. In terms of the Tour Championship anyway: he’d need Spieth, Fowler, Stenson and Watson all to suffer breakdowns today if he wanted to make off with the FedEx Cup as well. He’ll be relying on three of those players being out in uncharted waters: apart from Stenson, none of the folk in the mix today have won the FedEx Cup. Here’s the roll of honour, which, the early years apart, has a sub-major feel to it:

2007: Tiger Woods
2008: Vijay Singh
2009: Tiger Woods
2010: Jim Furyk
2011: Bill Haas
2012: Brandt Snedeker
2013: Henrik Stenson
2014: Billy Horschel

6.20pm BST

2015 has been the breakthrough year for the young New Zealander Danny Lee. He won his first PGA Tour event at the Greenbrier Classic, and he’s looking for a strong finish here. Birdies at 1 and 2, and he’s -2 for the tournament now. No birdie for Day at 2. Or indeed at 3, despite sending his second to 12 feet. He remains at level par for the tournament. All done.

6.15pm BST

There’s a slightly strange atmosphere at East Lake. Only 28 competitors, well under half the size of a usual Sunday field. And only a small number of those with a chance of winning this $10m FedEx purse. So although most of the players are out and about now - and the world number one Day has just creamed his tee shot at 2 pin high to 12 feet - there’s a sense that we’re all killing time a bit until the final three groups come out. Rory and Zach. Casey and Fowler. And then Spieth and Stenson. It won’t be long now. Tum te tum. Here, it was only relatively recently that the arrow within the FedEx logo showed itself to me. I can’t work out whether that’s brilliant or appalling design. A bit too subtle? Or perhaps it’s always been obvious to absolutely everyone else on the planet, and I’m even slower than I already suspected. That is a very strong possibility.

6.00pm BST

The conditions are pretty muddy, but there’s no preferred lies, no lift, clean and place rule. That only happens for standing water on the PGA Tour; players have to deal with mud balls. The world number one Jason Day is out, in a mud-friendly pair of white breeks. He splits the fairway with a 3-wood, then eases his approach to ten feet. A fairly straight putt coming back down for birdie, but it squeaks past the right-hand side of the cup. He didn’t quite hit that with enough conviction, it was never holding its line. And already you suspect his super-slim chances of winning this tournament, and the FedEx Cup, are over. Starting eight behind, he had been talking about a course-ripping front nine of 30 strokes, to put a little pressure on the leaders. For things like that to happen, you need everything to drop. Five victories on the PGA Tour this season for Day, including that breakthrough win at the PGA. It almost certainly won’t be six. To have such worries, huh?

5.50pm BST

Rickie Fowler’s game plan: to “be aggressive, make some birdies, and hopefully scare the boys a bit”. Four shots off Spieth’s lead, and with a very real chance of winning the FedEx Cup if he pulls it off today, that tactic certainly makes plenty of sense. What he’d pay for Jimmy Walker’s start. He’d certainly need to avoid the one made today by the man he pipped to this year’s Players Championship. Kevin Kisner opened his round with three bogeys in a row. After rounds of 76, 77 and 72, his miserable week continues. He’s currently +18, 28th out of 28, four shots worse off than Patrick Reed and eight behind Bill Haas.

5.40pm BST

A fast start for Jimmy Walker, who has birdied the opening three holes. Up and down from behind a tree down the left of 1; a 30-footer raked in at 2; an approach at 3 spun to eight feet. From way down the leaderboard he’s now risen to +5. No chance of winning anything today, of course, but with a huge prize fund for the FedEx Cup, every place on the leaderboard is worth a fair few quid.

5.35pm BST

The two leaders both seem in fine fettle ahead of their toe-to-toe slugfest. Jordan Spieth admits his ball striking is “not there at all”, but his short game - specifically his bunker play and his putting - is back up there to the level of this year’s majors. His record in those again, should anyone need reminding: 1, 1, T4, 2. Astonishing. He’s unquestionably been the number-one golfer this year, which is saying something given the way Jason Day’s been playing, but he’s probably been the most impressive star in All Sports too. Anyone better? No, nobody better. As for Henrik Stenson, he’s his usual deadpan self. Walking into the clubhouse earlier, he smiled at the camera trained on his every step and announced that “now I know what the monkey feels like at the zoo”. He’s quite happy to “still be in the game” despite yesterday’s miserable 72, circumspection his watchword. It couldn’t be poised much better, this. An afternoon rich with promise.

5.30pm BST

The weather: A chance of a little rain, perhaps, though even if it comes it’ll be nothing like the previous days. Waterproofs off. The course itself is still wet and heavy, though, and the wind’s up, so it’ll be quite the test at East Lake nonetheless. The two lads out in front will still have to win this tournament. And there are plenty of folk in the pack waiting for any slip-ups. The FedEx Cup is another matter, though, with Spieth, Stenson and Fowler the trio most likely.

6.36pm BST

The dramatic denouement of the 2015 PGA Tour is upon us. We know it’s that time, because they’re already advertising the start of the 2016 PGA Tour in all the magazines, with a picture of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods comin’ atcha like Premier League footballers. Hey, gotta keep movin’!

But let’s wrap this one up first. At the halfway stage of the season’s final tournament, the Tour Championship at the East Lake course in Atlanta, the conclusion of the race for the FedEx Cup was threatening to become something of a damp squib. And not just because of the rain. Henrik Stenson - who won this tournament and with it the FedEx Cup in 2013 - was three clear of the field and looking good.

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The Tour Championship 2015: Spieth wins the FedEx Cup - as it happened!

An astonishing display of putting won the Tour Championship for the amazing Jordan Spieth, who as a result adds the $10m FedEx Cup to his 2015 Masters and US Open titles.

11.01pm BST

So that’s that. What a year of golf it’s been. It’s all about Jordan Spieth, of course: the Masters, US Open and FedEx Cup champion. With special mention to Jason Day as well. What a pair of players! And just think, 2016 is going to be frightening if Rory McIlroy gets his mojo back. But we can’t go a whole live golf blog without a reader email, so just in time, here’s Simon McMahon: “Been a great year. What with the emergence of Spieth as a genuine superstar, and the potential for a rivalry for the ages with McIlroy, Day finally making a major breakthrough, DJ and Bubba doing their thing, rookie of the year Berger, the amateurs at the Open, Fowler, Rose, Reed all winning, not forgetting Lowry at the Bridgestone, it’s been a blast. It’s not all about titles and prize money though, is it? We need the journeymen too. But if you could see to it that a certain Spaniard wins at least one major next year, that’d be great. Ta.” OK, sounds like a plan to me! Everyone on for Augusta National, here, next April? Great stuff. See you all then, and thanks so much for reading our hole-by-hole reports.

10.57pm BST

That’s a sensational victory by Spieth. It was a match-play battering in stroke-play form, Spieth hitting Stenson with those sucker-punch birdie putts at 9 and 11, and an astonishingly delicate greenside chip when in bother at 15. The winner’s getting his two trophies now: first the crystal Tour Championship prize, and then the silver FedEx Cup. Plus of course a few pennies. “Thank you. This is incredible. We approach this like a major championship. Mentally we stayed in it, even if I didn’t have my best ball striking, and boy that putter sure paid off!” And then he’s asked how he achieved yet another famous victory. “I got frustrated. I missed two cuts in a row, which I’d never done before. I lost the number one ranking. I was watching Jason Day just dominate golf. And I was frustrated. So I got to work!” All of which speaks volumes. As does his fulsome praise for Stenson, who he describes as a great friend, and thanks him for the fist-bump he gave him after that putt on 11.

10.45pm BST

So here’s how the Tour Championship finished ...

-9: Spieth
-5: Lee, Rose, Stenson
-4: D Johnson, Watson, Casey
-3: Holmes, Z Johnson
-2: Kuchar, Day
E: Bowditch, Matsuyama, Berger, Fowler
+1: Na, McIlroy
+4: Streb, Walker, Bae, Koepka
+5: English, Snedeker, Hoffman
+10: Piercy
+13: Haas
+14: Reed
+18: Kisner

10.40pm BST

JORDAN SPIETH IS THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER ... AND THE $10m FEDEX CUP WINNER! He hits an awful putt from 40 feet, the ball staying miles left of the hole. But he’s not the type to finish without a flourish, and rattles in the ten-foot par saver! He signs for a 69, and once he’s shaken the defeated Stenson’s hand warmly, gives his little sister a cuddle. Then his mum and dad. A very proud family. And you sense this highly impressive and modest young man is equally proud of them. It’s part of his charm. That, and being the best golfer in the world, of course. What a star.

10.36pm BST

The beauty of golf, right here! Henrik Stenson, ground into the dirt on 17, shanking into the crowd, has just raked in a 70-footer from the back of the green for a closing birdie! Stenson can’t even manage a wry smile, but he will do later on once the pain has subsided. That’s wonderful to see, after the indignities he’s suffered on the rest of the back nine. A birdie that’ll give him a share of second place!

10.34pm BST

Spieth finds the heart of 18. Then the rain starts coming down on Stenson’s sorry head. No more indignities, please! Hasn’t the poor man suffered enough. His tee shot isn’t all that, but finds the green. Just. He looks disgusted with his effort. That opening-day 63 seems an awfully long time ago now. The players make their way to the green. The gallery goes daft for Jordan Spieth, this young sensation, the new Nicklaus, the best golfer in the world. He’s not going to stop, is he.

10.30pm BST

Spieth races his putt, from 25 feet, six or seven feet past the hole. Let’s say seven, because it’s still his turn. He rolls the par putt into the heart of the cup, and a huge smile spreads across his face. He knows the job’s done. Stenson pushes his bogey putt wide right of the hole. He’s been a complete mess since 11. An utter shambles. A golfing nervous breakdown.

-9: Spieth (17)
-5: Lee (F), Rose (F)
-4: D Johnson (F), Watson (F), Casey (F), Stenson (17)

10.26pm BST

Stenson bumps a can’t-be-bothered chip from high on the right of 17 and onto the green. His long putt trickles a good six feet past the hole. Up on 18, it’s a miserable finish for Rickie Fowler, who bogeyed 16, doubled 17, and missed a birdie chance on the last. A 74, and he ends up at level par. His partner Casey pars and seems pretty pleased with his 70, guaranteed a top-five finish at -4.

10.23pm BST

Stenson’s misery is complete. Spieth finds the front of 17 with his second. Stenson has no option but to get aggressive - but in going for broke, shanks the ball into the crowd down the right. That’s right out of the hosel. He’s a broken man. That putt of Spieth’s on 11 stole the sun from his heart!

10.19pm BST

This is almost certainly all over now, because Spieth has avoided the water down the left of 17 with his tee shot. Stenson follows him down the fairway. Up on the green, having been a bit wild with his drive, Casey can’t make par. He’s back to -4. And on 18, McIlroy nearly guides a ten-footer into the hole for birdie, but it’s a par, and he signs for a dismal 74. He finishes at +1, and will be singing Auld Lang Syne with added gusto come the end of December.

10.13pm BST

Spieth finds the bunker front right of 16. A chance for Stenson to put a little pressure on, but he doesn’t take it, sending his second shot in the same direction. It doesn’t quite make the bunker, snagging in the long grass. He chips to five feet. Spieth can only splash out to ten, but once again sinks a putt that’ll hurt his partner. Stenson makes his par, but would have been hoping to close in on Spieth there. Nope! Meanwhile Bubba Watson finishes his season with par at the last, and signs for a 67. He’ll end the week at -4.

10.09pm BST

Rory McIlroy had been going nicely on the way back, with birdies at 12 and 16 bringing him back to -2. But he’s just pulled a short iron from the centre of the fairway at 17 into the drink down the left! A triple-bogey 7, the result of some half-arsed chipping up the waterbank, and he’s +1. That just about sums up his 2015. His playing partner Zach Johnson had flayed his tee shot into the drink, but scrambles a bogey. He’s -3. Coming up behind, it’s Paul Casey, who nearly follows Justin Rose into the drinker on the right. With the season nearly over, a few of these lads are getting demob happy now.

10.02pm BST

Spieth’s third into 15 finds deep rough at the back of the green. He’s struggling to make par here. Stenson meanwhile has found the bunker to the left of the green. Shortsided, he does well to get his ball to 30 feet. His birdie putt stops one dimple short, and he remains at -6. A rueful smile. Especially as Spieth didn’t have any green to work with either, but somehow manufactured a delicate flop from thick grass to eight feet, before knocking in the par saver. That chip was out of this world! He’s like no other, this young man. And the gap is still three strokes, with holes are now running out if Stenson is to stop Spieth.

-9: Spieth (15)
-6: Stenson (15)
-5: Lee (F), Rose (F), Casey (16)

9.59pm BST

Casey wings his drive at 16 into trouble down the left. He ends up wedging four into the green, but works it to a couple of feet and drops just the one. He’s back to -5. On 18, Rose chips up to five feet, and knocks in the par putt. Great to see him finish with a par: his 66 sees him tied for the clubhouse lead at -5 with Danny Lee. A fine, nearly brilliant, performance.

9.52pm BST

Rose needs one more club at 18. His tee shot is short of the green. Just short: symbolic of his chances, then, which were in truth scuppered after that OB drive at 10, though to his immense credit he refused to buckle. Three bounce-back birdies showed amazing character, even if it’s all coming undone again on the final holes. Henrik Stenson take note: he’s just pulled his approach into trouble down the left of 15 from the centre of the fairway. And he still looks thoroughly unhappy and frustrated, his shoulders slumped. He really needs to get both shoulders and chin up, because Spieth drove into thick rough down the left of the hole and has been forced to take his medicine and chip out.

9.46pm BST

Spieth very nearly drains his 40-footer on 14 for another remarkable birdie. But it stops on the left lip and that’s a par. Good enough. Stenson finally regroups mentally, and nearly chips in from down the back. Par. Still a three-shot gap, but this might not be over quite yet. Bubba sees a 12-foot birdie effort on 16 slide by the hole. He’ll stay at -4. Rose misses his par putt on 17, squirting it off to the right. He’s back down to -5, passed by Casey who converts his birdie chance at 15 to move into a share of second.

-9: Spieth (14)
-6: Casey (15), Stenson (14)
-5: Lee (F), Rose (17)

9.41pm BST

Paul Casey is certainly on a roll. His third into the par-five 15th is a stunning wedge which does a little handbrake turn a couple of feet from the hole. He’ll have a tap-in for a third birdie in a row, and will move to -6. Rose meanwhile clips a wedge at 17 to five feet, and will have a great chance to save his par. Meanwhile Danny Lee nearly rolls in a 40-foot birdie effort from the back of 18. A par will have to do, though, and he’s signing for a wondrous final-day 65. He ends the championship at -5.

9.38pm BST

Rose gets a free drop from the boozer down the right of 17. His ball snags in knotted nonsense, so he can only lay up with a whipped iron. Back on 14, Spieth pulls his tee shot into the trees down the left. He might have got a friendly break off a couple of punters, though, as his ball dropped from the trees. To be fair, this brilliant young man has earned all the luck he gets. That putt on 11 was one of the most sensational birdies you’re likely to see, effectively a match-play haymaker. He slaps his iron from the rough into the heart of the green. Stenson, from the middle of the fairway, steps away from his ball, the old Monty-style rabbit ears hearing something in the gallery. He shoots the crowd daggers, then whistles his second through the back of the green and down the back at the back. His head’s gone.

9.33pm BST

Pars for Spieth and Stenson on 13. Stenson still has a face on. He’s still three behind his playing partner. He needs to pick himself up and quickly. Things can change in the blink of an eye. Up on 18, Jason Day signs for a 68. Not quite enough to win the FedEx Cup, then, but what a season he’s had: five wins on Tour, including that famous victory at the PGA. The crowd give this popular Australian a huge ovation. He smiles warmly, despite hobbling around with a bad back.

9.29pm BST

Another birdie for Paul Casey, who sends his second at 114 straight at the flag, ten feet below, and rolls in the putt. He’s -5, and will be ruing that nonsense in the mud at the back of 5. More trouble off the tee for Rose, currently tied for second at -6, who wings his drive at 17 into the hospitality stand down the right of the hole. He really didn’t want to dice with the water down the left.

9.26pm BST

Stenson is the picture of defeat. His tee shot at 13 finds the fairway, but he didn’t connect properly and wanders off biting his lip, his limbs flopping around all over the place, swinging his club around in frustration. He’s mentally gone right now, and making no attempt to hide it. You can hardly blame him, after the way Spieth worked him over back on 11. Spieth finds the semi-rough down the right, and seems happy enough with that. Elsewhere, Bubba Watson makes back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15, and suddenly he’s -4. Casey birdies 13 to move to -4 too.

9.22pm BST

That putt of Spieth’s. Oh me oh my. It looks like the killer blow, because Stenson has that thousand-yard stare going on. From the middle of 12, he’s slamdunked his wedge into the bunker, and not gone particularly close with the splash out. He pushes his putt wide right, and that’s a shot gone. Spieth meanwhile wedges to 15 feet, and pushes his right too. The difference is, Spieth was putting for birdie, not par. The Tour Championship, and the FedEx Cup, are now Jordan Spieth’s to lose.

-9: Spieth (12)
-6: Rose (15), Stenson (12)
-5: Lee (16)

9.15pm BST

Matt Kuchar is on quite a roll. Birdies at 11, 13, 14 and 15, and he’s suddenly -3 for the tournament through 16 holes. Rose meanwhile on the par-five 15th creams a 3-wood straight at the flag. He’s left with a 12-footer for eagle. He can’t make the putt, and the resulting birdie will probably not suffice. Because there are astonishing scenes back on 11. Spieth’s tee shot is bang average, on the green but 50 feet shy of the flag. Stenson smacks his tee shot to three feet. But Spieth really is made of the special stuff. He rolls a huge left-to-right breaker up and over a ridge, and into the cup! The moment that wins the tournament? Perhaps. Stenson manages a wry half-smile, despite taking that hammer blow in the guts. Under the circumstances, he does rather well to convert his own birdie, but wow! What a putt! Spieth is phenomenal!

-9: Spieth (11)
-7: Stenson (11)
-6: Rose (15)

9.08pm BST

A brilliant wedge into 10 by Stenson, pin high to eight feet. A fine chance to scramble his par, but his putt horseshoes out. It was a poor effort, never going in, but he has the chutzpah to look genuinely affronted. Spieth however lets him off the hook. His little chip from the side of the green is left a good six feet short, and he leaves the putt up on the high side. It’s hard to know whose bogey was more hapless: Stenson’s bookended by poor strokes, Spieth’s made from the centre of the fairway. Meanwhile Lee, who had birdied 12 and then dropped a stroke at 13, registers back to back birdies at 14 and now 15. This leaderboard is looking rather interesting now:

-8: Spieth (10)
-6: Stenson (10)
-5: Lee (15), Rose (14)
-4: D Johnson (F), Z Johnson (12)

9.02pm BST

Dustin signs for a 64. He had a chance for birdie at the last, pin high with a fairly straight 30-footer across the green. But he leaves it short. He doesn’t look particularly happy, another season gone without one of the big prizes he desperately desires. But he’s ended the campaign well, and ends the tournament at -4. He’s the clubhouse leader.

8.59pm BST

Stenson manages to lash the ball out of the thick stuff, to within 50 yards of the green. From where he was, that’s a decent result. But he needs more than this, because look at this stat: he’s played the front nine in a cumulative score of -7 this week. The back nine: level par. Spieth, meanwhile, is -5 coming back. Well, that’s going to need to change if he’s to win the big prizes on offer here. Spieth offers him a little hope by slamdunking his second into the rough to the right of the green. He’s not too far from the hole, though, so an up and down isn’t exactly a pipe dream.

8.57pm BST

Stenson’s been spooked a little by the events on 9. A wide fairway at 10, and he pulls his 3-wood into thick nonsense down the left. He might get a free relief from a nearby drain cover, but you can’t be relying on fortune like that when you’re playing for ten million bucks. Spieth, naturally, finds the fairway. He’s a superstar. Meanwhile 2014’s Rory McIlroy pings his second at 12 to four feet, and knocks in a birdie putt. He’s back to -1. His partner Zach Johnson birdies the hole too, and moves to -4. He’s wonderfully steady, is Zach Johnson. Which may not be that sexy, but he knows how to get the job done. His painstaking journey back down the 18th at St Andrews, giving high fives to every single punter who wanted one, was one of the great moments of the sporting year. He left nobody hanging. David Puddy would have been proud.

8.50pm BST

Spieth knocks in his birdie putt! A quite brilliant effort caressed in from 15 feet, a gentle left to right break, always dropping from the second it left his putter! He’s out in 34, and Stenson must wonder what he has to do. He’s played this hole perfectly for his birdie - he taps in to convert - while Spieth was all over the shop. But the result’s the same. Spieth really is a force of nature. Speaking of which, there’s been another birdie for Dustin Johnson, this time at 17. That’s five on the back nine, and seven in ten holes! He’s -4. He is box office. In a different way to young Jordan, but it takes all kinds.

-9: Spieth (9)
-7: Stenson (9)
-5: Rose (13)
-4: D Johnson (17), Lee (14), Holmes (12)

8.46pm BST

Spieth and Stenson both find the middle of the 9th fairway with their tee shots. Stenson lays up. Spieth’s second is pushed off to the right, slightly behind a tree. No matter, he whips a wedge over it to 15 feet. He’ll have a look at birdie from there. Stenson meanwhile wedges to a couple of feet. He’s never played the front nine of this course without making birdie. He hasn’t made one yet today, but he’ll keep that record going now. Meanwhile you’ve got to hand it to Justin Rose, who isn’t giving this up despite the double-bogey horror of 10. He’s just followed up his birdie at 12 with another at 13, a 50-footer curled in from the back of the green, right to left, and he’s -5 again! He clenches his fist in determination. He’s still in with a shout.

8.33pm BST

Fowler needs to do something quickly if he wants to win this tournament and the FedEx Cup. His second into the par-five 9th, a driver off the deck, is hooked well left of the green. He chips to eight feet, but can’t knock in the birdie effort. He stays at -3. His partner Casey makes birdie and he’s -3 too. Rose curls in a left-to-right swinger from 15 feet on 12 to move back to -4. Holmes - who had bogeyed 10 - slides in a gentle right-to-left breaker on 11 for a birdie that takes him to -4 too. And then some crucial action at the 8th green. Stenson splashes from the sand to eight feet. Spieth then guides in a lovely left-to-right slider from 20 feet for a birdie. And the pressure causes Stenson to crumble, as he prods with great uncertainty at his par putt. Bogey, and a two-shot gap opens up at the top again!

-8: Spieth (8)
-6: Stenson (8)
-4: Rose (12), Lee (12), Holmes (11)

8.26pm BST

Stenson’s tee shot at 8 finds the rough down the right. In fact he’s just behind a tree. So he squirts the ball out and deliberately flies it into the bunker at the front. Guaranteed control from there. Spieth has an opportunity to apply a bit of pressure, but from the middle of the fairway can only get his ball to within 20 feet. A chance for birdie, but not the sort he was after.

8.24pm BST

Another birdie for Danny Lee! He gets back the shot he dropped at 10 by rattling in a 30-footer with a big left-to-right swing from the back of 12. He’s -4, in a tie for third! Meanwhile up on 18, Robert Streb misses a short par putt, a slightly sad end to an otherwise superlative final round of 65. He ends the tournament at +4, and must wish he’d hit his weekend form a couple of days earlier: a pair of 75s followed by 69 and now this. A very promising player ends the season with a flourish.

8.19pm BST

Spieth and Stenson find the 7th in regulation, but their balls aren’t in birdie territory. Two long putts lagged up, and that’s a pair of pars. Meanwhile another birdie for Dustin Johnson, this time at the par-five 15th. This is a quite amazing run of six birdies in eight holes! And he’s tied for fourth! What a player, what a man. It is impossible not to love him.

-7: Spieth (7), Stenson (7)
-4: Holmes (9)
-3: D Johnson (15), Lee (11), Rose (10), Z Johnson (8), Fowler (8)

8.15pm BST

Kevin Kisner is in the clubhouse with a 73. At +18, he’s almost certainly going to be propping up the leaderboard, unless Bill Hass, at +14 with three to play, does something very daft. So it’s nice that he’ll go away with a slight spring in his step, having birdied 16 and 17. Golf has a habit of taking an awful lot away, so it’s nice when it gives a little something back.

8.10pm BST

Poor old Justin Rose. He responds magnificently to the body blow of hoicking his tee shot at 10 out of bounds, creaming his second ball down the middle of the fairway, then zinging his approach pin high to 20 feet. He’s got a chance to escape with a bogey, and looks to have hit a wonderful putt, but it dies off left at the very last turn, shaving the lip and staying out. A double, and the jig is up. He’s back to -3. Holmes meanwhile pars 9 to reach the turn in 33. All of a sudden, he’s got third place to himself at -4, three off the lead set by Spieth and Stenson.

8.08pm BST

Casey knocks his third at 7 to six feet, and rattles in the par putt. What a magnificent save after the big hook off the tee. He remains at -2. Meanwhile McIlroy is long with his approach at 8. Then he fluffs his chip. His next one is bumped up to a couple of feet, but that’s four bogeys in five holes. The end of the 2015 season can’t come soon enough for McIlroy. This is awkward to watch, though you sense he might have given up on this. He’s not exactly taking his time between shots. Fair enough, he doesn’t exactly need the money.

8.04pm BST

Spieth sends a 45-foot putt scampering hysterically towards the hole. He’s lucky the left-hand lip got in the way, taking plenty of the pace from the ball. It stops six feet behind the hole. But he doesn’t make the one coming back. He had gone 86 consecutive holes without a three-putt, but that brave record has gone down the swanny. Stenson, from similar distance, takes his two putts for par and is now tied for the lead. Bogey for Lee at 10, meanwhile. Where he leads, Rose looks like following.

-7: Spieth (6), Stenson (6)
-5: Rose (9)
-4: Holmes (8)

7.59pm BST

Spieth and Stenson both find the 6th green with their tee shots, but neither are particularly close to the hole. Casey’s woes continue, hooking his tee shot on 7 into all manner of oomska down the left. He’s plugged in the stuff, forced to take his medicine and punch the ball back out onto the fairway. English hopes are now with Justin Rose ... and with perfect timing, he hooks a 3-wood from the 10th tee onto the road down the left. That’s out of bounds, and it’s all over for our Hampshire hero. And him just out in 31 strokes too! That’s golf, ladies and gentlemen.

7.56pm BST

Rose blooters a stunning 3-wood into the heart of the par-five 9th. The ball rather unfairly considers toppling off the back, but just about hangs on in the fringe. No matter! He rolls a left-to-right sharp-angled monster of an eagle putt to 18 inches, and taps in for his fourth birdie of the day. He matches Danny Lee’s front nine of 31, and at -5 he’s right in this now!

-8: Spieth (5)
-7: Stenson (5)
-5: Rose (9)

7.53pm BST

Spieth attempts a Mickelson-style flop from the bank to the right of 5. Nope. He gets under the ball and doesn’t reach the green. He’s still in the fringe. Stenson clips his wedge straight at the flag. It’s going 20 feet past, but clatters into the flag and stops six feet behind the hole. A real chance to save his par now. Spieth very nearly bumps his chip into the hole, but that’s only his third bogey of the week. He’s back to -8. And there’s only one in it now, because Stenson slots his short par saver away. Another birdie for JB Holmes, meanwhile, up on 8. He’s -4.

-8: Spieth (5)
-7: Stenson (5)
-4: Lee (9), Rose (8), Holmes (8)
-3: Z Johnson (7), Fowler (6)

7.46pm BST

Yes, 2015 is not McIlroy’s year. He can only chip to eight feet from the back of 6, then pushes an appalling putt miles wide right. A third bogey in a row, and that fast start seems a very long time ago now. He’s -1, and not looking particularly happy. He’s not attained the level of funk just achieved by Casey, though. He chunks a second chip in a row, and though this makes the green, he’s still got 25 feet to cover for his bogey. That doesn’t drop, and his run of pars is broken by a double bogey. He’s back to -2. But everyone’s struggling right now, and from the middle of 5, both Spieth and Stenson push their long second shots to the right of the green, leaving themselves shortsided with downhill chips from thick rough. Only Danny Lee is trundling along nicely: he rolls in an eight-foot par saver on 9, and he reaches the turn in an exceptional 31 strokes.

-9: Spieth (4)
-7: Stenson (4)
-4: Lee (9), Rose (8)
-3: Holmes (7), Z Johnson (6), Fowler (5)

7.39pm BST

It’s been pars all the way for Paul Casey. Maybe not for much longer. From the centre of the long par-four 5th, he zips his second straight through the green and down a very soggy bank at the back. And he fluffs his chip from the mudbath. He’s still in there. A birdie for Bubba on 7, and he’s back to -2. His partner JB Holmes, who had followed up his aforementioned opening-hole birdie with a bogey on 2, earns his shot back with a chip-in from the fringe. He’s -3 again.

7.31pm BST

Four in a row for Dustin! He chips in from the back of 11, and he’s -2. No celebration. It’s the full Jason Dufner. Another birdie for Danny Lee, who curls in a left-to-right putt from 20 foot on 8. He’s -4 for his round, and for the tournament. Up on 6, McIlroy continues to struggle, his tee shot long and left. Back on 4, Spieth leaves his approach short of the green, but very nearly clips the chip into the cup. He saves his par. Stenson, on the green in regulation, cards another par.

7.29pm BST

McIlroy, from thick stuff high to the right of 5, sends a Mickelsonian lob to eight feet. That’s as good a result as he could have expected from where he was, having had little green to play with. But he’s left with a tester for his par. He can’t make it. He’s back to -2. Bye bye Rory. Meanwhile news of your pal and mine, the wonderfully entertaining Dustin Johnson. The big man should have won the US Open this year, but didn’t. (See also 2010.) He’s not going to win this either, but he appears to be in the mood to go out with a bang. Three birdies on the bounce, 8, 9 and 10, and he’s up to -1 for the tournament. The last one came as a result of a 50-footer raked across the 10th. If the hole hadn’t got in the way, he’d have been somewhere in South Carolina. So he now just needs to card a quadruple bogey at some point this afternoon, and we can all go home having got our money’s worth.

7.20pm BST

Spieth and Stenson are both in the centre of the 3rd green, 15 feet or so from the flag. Stenson is up first, and his birdie chance curls away to the right. He’s not quite giving his putts enough oomph. He’s given Spieth a read, as well. And for a second it looks like another birdie for the Masters and US Open champion, but the ball turns right at the very death. There’s still a two-shot gap at the top. Stenson may feel he’s got away with one there. Meanwhile up on 5, Rory is hitting a fairway wood off the top of a once grassy knoll, now a mudhill. He clips it miles to the right of the green. This is getting away from the world number two right now. 2015 hasn’t been his year.

7.15pm BST

Fowler, hitting a sand wedge 100 yards into 3, finds a bunker at the front. That’s ludicrous. And he’ll pay, splashing miles past the pin off a hard, wet lie. He very nearly saves himself by rolling in a 25-foot left-to-right breaker, but that’ll be a costly bogey. Casey gets up and down from the fringe for par. Rose converts his birdie. And McIlroy makes a royal balls of 4. He fails to reach the green in two, then chunks his third. Still not on the putting surface. He gets up and down, but that’s a bogey, and he’s out of this now you’d think - especially as he’s just flayed his drive at 5 into thick nonsense down the left. His playing partner Johnson birdied 4. Lee, meanwhile, rolls in a very missable 20-footer on 7 to save his par, and keep hold of that precious momentum.

-9: Spieth (2)
-7: Stenson (2)
-4: Rose (6), Casey (3)
-3: Lee (7), McIlroy (4), Z Johnson (4), Fowler (3)

7.09pm BST

Stenson hits his downhill birdie effort at 2 rather apologetically. He’ll have to make do with par. No problem for Spieth, though, who clacks his putt straight into the cup. Suddenly he’s got a two-shot lead. Up on 6, Rose, who was a turn away from raking in a 40-footer for birdie on 5, sets himself up another chance on 6 with a stupendous 5-iron to three feet.

-9: Spieth (2)
-7: Stenson (2)

7.05pm BST

Another birdie for Danny Lee, this time at 6, a left-to-right curler from 30 feet. He’s -3 now. Spieth caresses a stunning 4-iron straight at the flag on 2. Stenson follows that magical shot by firing his tee shot straight over the pin, spinning the ball back towards the hole, leaving a ten-footer for his birdie. Spieth perhaps a foot or two inside, coming across the green along a straighter path. Meanwhile trouble off the tee for both Casey and McIlroy. Casey hoicks an awful tee shot miles left of 3, while McIlroy finds a bunker down the left of 4.

7.00pm BST

McIlroy’s putt across 3 is fairly dismal. He leaves it short and right. Par. A similar mistake from similar distance by Fowler on 2. So much for all that pre-round chat of “aggressive” golf. He pars the hole, as does Casey. Back on 1, Spieth and Stenson both get the putter out from off the front of the green. Stenson leaves his five feet short. A real tester here. He strokes it in though. Spieth isn’t far from draining his, but it stops just short. Pars.

6.55pm BST

Neither Spieth nor Stenson find the green with their second shots at 1. Stenson’s failure there was inexplicable really, from 116 yards out in the centre of the fairway. Spieth can at least claim mitigation, having hit a dreadful tee shot down the left. Speaking of such shots, that’s exactly what McIlroy’s done at 3, finding sand, though he’s clipped his second pin high. It’ll be a 25-footer across the green for birdie, but avoiding bogey was the thing after that tee shot. Meanwhile Day guides in a 25-foot left-to-right slider on 6, breaking a run of pars. He’s -1.

6.52pm BST

Casey and Fowler find the opening green in regulation, but that’s about the best you can say for it. Neither make lengthy birdie putts, and remain at -4. And all of this means that, back on the tee, the final pairing are out! Stenson splits the fairway, but Spieth sends his tee shot off down the left, into fairly thick, boggy rough. Elsewhere, it’s another birdie for Rose, this time at 4, after another delightful approach. Pin high, to 12 feet, and a putt never missing. He’s -3, and making a move. An eventful start for Hideki Matsuyama, who birdies 1, bogeys 2, and now picks up that shot again at 4. He’s -1 overall. And it’s been equally eventful for Bubba. When is it ever not? Bogey at 2, and now birdie at 3. He’s -1 again.

6.47pm BST

Johnson and McIlroy splash out of the bunker at 2 to ten feet. Zach can’t make his putt, the ball always dying off to the left. But Rory can. He gives his par saver a rare old rattle, and it’s always going to be swallowed by the hole. He stays at -4, and walks off the green with the air of a man who knows he’s dodged a bullet there. He can’t afford any silly bogeys. Johnson’s back down at -2, and already looking too far behind. The margins are so slim now.

6.40pm BST

So much for McIlroy’s fast start. He pulls his tee shot at 2 into a bunker to the left of the green. He’ll not have a lot of space to work with there. Zach Johnson follows him in. Neither ball plugs in the wet sand, though, and they’re both on the upslope, so at least they have a chance to scramble their pars. Meanwhile a birdie for Justin Rose at 3, after a stunning second from 100 yards to a couple of feet. He’s -2.

6.37pm BST

McIlroy is out. And he’ll be making birdie at 1, having split the fairway with his tee shot and landed his approach ten feet past the flag, spinning it back to a couple of inches. A gorgeous shot, and a statement of intent. He’ll be up to -4. His playing partner, and the man who made off with his Open Championship title in his absence at St Andrews back in July, is Zach Johnson. A decent second into the heart of the green, but he can’t roll in the downhill 12-footer he leaves himself. Par. But McIlroy’s fast start will have given those above him on the leaderboard, and coming behind on the course, a little pause for thought.

-8: Spieth
-7: Stenson
-4: McIlroy (1), Fowler, Casey
-3: Holmes (1), Z Johnson (1)

6.30pm BST

An opening-hole birdie for JB Holmes, and he’s up to -3 immediately. You never know, you never know. In terms of the Tour Championship anyway: he’d need Spieth, Fowler, Stenson and Watson all to suffer breakdowns today if he wanted to make off with the FedEx Cup as well. He’ll be relying on three of those players being out in uncharted waters: apart from Stenson, none of the folk in the mix today have won the FedEx Cup. Here’s the roll of honour, which, the early years apart, has a sub-major feel to it:

2007: Tiger Woods
2008: Vijay Singh
2009: Tiger Woods
2010: Jim Furyk
2011: Bill Haas
2012: Brandt Snedeker
2013: Henrik Stenson
2014: Billy Horschel

6.20pm BST

2015 has been the breakthrough year for the young New Zealander Danny Lee. He won his first PGA Tour event at the Greenbrier Classic, and he’s looking for a strong finish here. Birdies at 1 and 2, and he’s -2 for the tournament now. No birdie for Day at 2. Or indeed at 3, despite sending his second to 12 feet. He remains at level par for the tournament. All done.

6.15pm BST

There’s a slightly strange atmosphere at East Lake. Only 28 competitors, well under half the size of a usual Sunday field. And only a small number of those with a chance of winning this $10m FedEx purse. So although most of the players are out and about now - and the world number one Day has just creamed his tee shot at 2 pin high to 12 feet - there’s a sense that we’re all killing time a bit until the final three groups come out. Rory and Zach. Casey and Fowler. And then Spieth and Stenson. It won’t be long now. Tum te tum. Here, it was only relatively recently that the arrow within the FedEx logo showed itself to me. I can’t work out whether that’s brilliant or appalling design. A bit too subtle? Or perhaps it’s always been obvious to absolutely everyone else on the planet, and I’m even slower than I already suspected. That is a very strong possibility.

6.00pm BST

The conditions are pretty muddy, but there’s no preferred lies, no lift, clean and place rule. That only happens for standing water on the PGA Tour; players have to deal with mud balls. The world number one Jason Day is out, in a mud-friendly pair of white breeks. He splits the fairway with a 3-wood, then eases his approach to ten feet. A fairly straight putt coming back down for birdie, but it squeaks past the right-hand side of the cup. He didn’t quite hit that with enough conviction, it was never holding its line. And already you suspect his super-slim chances of winning this tournament, and the FedEx Cup, are over. Starting eight behind, he had been talking about a course-ripping front nine of 30 strokes, to put a little pressure on the leaders. For things like that to happen, you need everything to drop. Five victories on the PGA Tour this season for Day, including that breakthrough win at the PGA. It almost certainly won’t be six. To have such worries, huh?

5.50pm BST

Rickie Fowler’s game plan: to “be aggressive, make some birdies, and hopefully scare the boys a bit”. Four shots off Spieth’s lead, and with a very real chance of winning the FedEx Cup if he pulls it off today, that tactic certainly makes plenty of sense. What he’d pay for Jimmy Walker’s start. He’d certainly need to avoid the one made today by the man he pipped to this year’s Players Championship. Kevin Kisner opened his round with three bogeys in a row. After rounds of 76, 77 and 72, his miserable week continues. He’s currently +18, 28th out of 28, four shots worse off than Patrick Reed and eight behind Bill Haas.

5.40pm BST

A fast start for Jimmy Walker, who has birdied the opening three holes. Up and down from behind a tree down the left of 1; a 30-footer raked in at 2; an approach at 3 spun to eight feet. From way down the leaderboard he’s now risen to +5. No chance of winning anything today, of course, but with a huge prize fund for the FedEx Cup, every place on the leaderboard is worth a fair few quid.

5.35pm BST

The two leaders both seem in fine fettle ahead of their toe-to-toe slugfest. Jordan Spieth admits his ball striking is “not there at all”, but his short game - specifically his bunker play and his putting - is back up there to the level of this year’s majors. His record in those again, should anyone need reminding: 1, 1, T4, 2. Astonishing. He’s unquestionably been the number-one golfer this year, which is saying something given the way Jason Day’s been playing, but he’s probably been the most impressive star in All Sports too. Anyone better? No, nobody better. As for Henrik Stenson, he’s his usual deadpan self. Walking into the clubhouse earlier, he smiled at the camera trained on his every step and announced that “now I know what the monkey feels like at the zoo”. He’s quite happy to “still be in the game” despite yesterday’s miserable 72, circumspection his watchword. It couldn’t be poised much better, this. An afternoon rich with promise.

5.30pm BST

The weather: A chance of a little rain, perhaps, though even if it comes it’ll be nothing like the previous days. Waterproofs off. The course itself is still wet and heavy, though, and the wind’s up, so it’ll be quite the test at East Lake nonetheless. The two lads out in front will still have to win this tournament. And there are plenty of folk in the pack waiting for any slip-ups. The FedEx Cup is another matter, though, with Spieth, Stenson and Fowler the trio most likely.

6.36pm BST

The dramatic denouement of the 2015 PGA Tour is upon us. We know it’s that time, because they’re already advertising the start of the 2016 PGA Tour in all the magazines, with a picture of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods comin’ atcha like Premier League footballers. Hey, gotta keep movin’!

But let’s wrap this one up first. At the halfway stage of the season’s final tournament, the Tour Championship at the East Lake course in Atlanta, the conclusion of the race for the FedEx Cup was threatening to become something of a damp squib. And not just because of the rain. Henrik Stenson - who won this tournament and with it the FedEx Cup in 2013 - was three clear of the field and looking good.

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Tottenham v Arsenal: Capital One Cup – as it happened

Mathieu Flamini was the unlikely two-goal hero as the defensive midfielder sent Arsenal into the fourth round at the expense of their great rivals.

Match report: Flamini rediscovers scoring flair to down Tottenham

11.08pm BST

Match report: Flamini rediscovers scoring flair to down Tottenham

Related: Arsenal’s Mathieu Flamini rediscovers scoring flair to down Tottenham

9.37pm BST

Or: Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Mathieu Flamini. I think it’s fair to say nobody was expecting that. So Arsenal go into the pot for the fourth round. Spurs will feel a little hard done by: on another day, Harry Kane’s spectacular scissor kick would have flown into the net, and they’d have taken the spoils. But it was scrambled off the line, and the stage was set for Flamini to score his magnificent winner. When a defensively minded player like Flamini scores twice, I guess it’s just your day. Suffice to say, this has been yet another memorable League Cup encounter between the two north London giants.

9.36pm BST

90 min +3: N’jie attempts a spectacular volley from the right-hand edge of the Arsenal D, but only succeeds in slicing the ball across the face of the area. Arsenal speed upfield through Walcott, who whistles a low shot wide left.

9.35pm BST

90 min +2: A free kick for Spurs in the centre circle. A chance for the home side to load the box. Trippier hoicks it into the mixer. Ospina comes through a human thicket to punch clear.

9.34pm BST

90 min +1: Carroll feeds N’jie down the left wing. N’jie’s got space near the area, but balloons his cross out of play to the right of the Arsenal goal. Needless to say Ospina takes plenty of time over his goal kick.

9.33pm BST

90 min: White Hart Lane has fallen into a tense silence. There will be three added minutes. Three minutes for Spurs to save themselves and send us into extra time!

9.32pm BST

89 min: Walcott comes on for Oxlade-Chamberlain.

9.31pm BST

88 min: Debuchy opens his legs down the right and whistles a shot straight at Vorm.

9.31pm BST

87 min: Alli has a belt from distance, but it’s straight at Ospina.

9.30pm BST

86 min: Sanchez battles down the left with Trippier, who sails very close to the wind, nearly bundling the Arsenal man over for a penalty. But not quite. It’s decent defending in the end. Spurs clear their lines, the danger over.

9.29pm BST

85 min: Spurs replace Dier with N’jie, whose first act is to bend down to head an Eriksen left-wing cross. He can only meet the ball with his shoulder, and it flies wide left of the target.

9.28pm BST

84 min: Ramsey skates down the left wing. He’s got Giroud ahead of him, but hesitates and the chance to send the striker clear is gone. The ball’s sent out to the right, where Oxlade-Chamberlain attempts to thread one into the bottom left. It’s wide of the post. No Flamini he.

9.26pm BST

83 min: Arsenal stroke it around the back for a bit. This is high-quality clock management. “This is one of those rare occasions when the ‘he scores when he wants’ chant is genuinely funny,” opines Marie Meyer. “Unless you are a Spurs supporter, I guess.”

9.24pm BST

81 min: Spurs have to respond, and quickly. Trippier makes off down the right and hoys a high cross into the box. Ospina, his head presumably cleared, leaps to gather well under pressure from a couple of white shirts.

9.23pm BST

79 min: That’s as good a finish as you’ll see all season. Ted Drake and Alan Sunderland are the only Arsenal players to score a hat-trick in the north London derby. If Mathieu Flamini joins them on that list, we might as well stop all football. We’ll have seen everything.

9.22pm BST

Sanchez cuts in from the left. His pass inside is deflected into the air. It drops on the right-hand corner of the Spurs D. And who’s this rushing in? It’s Flamini, who meets the ball on the volley, guiding it into the bottom right! That’s an astonishing finish! Two goals for Flamini!

9.20pm BST

77 min: Alli’s first act is to slide in needlessly and recklessly on Mertesacker. It’s a yellow card. The young man a wee bit too eager there.

9.19pm BST

75 min: Chadli is replaced by the highly promising Dele Alli. Mertesacker and Ospina nearly confuse each other on the edge of their own area, but locate the ball before disaster engulfs them. Ospina is in a flat spin right now.

9.18pm BST

74 min: A ball looped into the Spurs box by Ramsey on the left. Wimmer is all over Sanchez, who goes to ground. It’d have been soft and generous, but you’ve seen penalties given for that.

9.16pm BST

73 min: Kane drops a shoulder to get past Oxlade-Chamberlain down the left - then crashes the same part of his body into the advertising hoardings. For a second it looks serious, but he’s quickly up and OK. Must have been catching his breath. But it’s a corner, which is sent deep - and Ospina, upon catching it, nearly drops it into his own net. But he gathers himself - and the ball - by the right-hand post, just before infamy consumes him.

9.14pm BST

71 min: Eriksen piles down the right, enters the box and hits ... hmm, not sure ... it’s either meant to be a shot or a cross. Nope! Nope! Arsenal go straight down the other end, Ramsey sliding a pass down the inside-left channel to allow Giroud to burst into the box. His first-time snatch is deflected wide left, and the resulting corner comes to nothing. This is magnificent end-to-end fun.

9.13pm BST

69 min: Arsenal are beginning to emerge again, albeit gingerly. Sanchez skedaddles down the inside-left channel and sends a pea-roller into the arms of Vorm.

9.11pm BST

68 min: Ramsey scuttles down the inside-right channel and takes a potshot from the best part of 30 yards. It’s not very good, dragged across the face of goal and out of play on the left.

9.10pm BST

67 min: Both teams make a change. Townsend is exchanged for Son, while Sanchez comes on for Campbell.

9.10pm BST

65 min: A ball scooped down the right wing is misjudged by Arteta, who allows Dier to make good towards the box. He earns a corner, which is sent deep by Townsend. Kane is level with the left-hand post, six yards out, and sends a perfect Mark Hughes scissor kick towards the bottom right. He deserves a goal, but it’s not happening for him right now, and Gibbs is there to stoop down and head off the line. A brilliant goalline clearance, but what an effort by Kane!

9.06pm BST

62 min: Spurs are still pinging it around nicely, though. Chadli burns down the left again, shuttling the ball inside for Eriksen, who lays off for Carroll down the channel. Carroll rolls it forward for Kane, who very nearly turns Chambers. Not quite, but Kane would have been one on one with the keeper if he’d managed it. Some neat work down the left flank by Spurs there.

9.04pm BST

60 min: So having said that, Arsenal string a few passes together. After a period of possession, Oxlade-Chamberlain embarks on a baroque diddle down the left channel and nearly sends Gibbs free with a clever pass. The ball’s deflected out for a corner, which is just about dealt with by Spurs. But that’s Arsenal having served notice that they’re back off their break.

9.02pm BST

58 min: In the dugout, Arsene Wenger sits with a face on. As well he might. Arsenal haven’t come out for the second half yet, and are struggling to string more than a couple of passes together.

9.00pm BST

This had been coming. Trippier tears down the right and hoicks a long cross over to Chadli on the opposite wing. Chadli slips into the area and fires a low ball into the six-yard box in the general direction of Kane. Chambers sticks a leg out, as he probably has to, and deflects the ball into his own net! Spurs had been pressing hard, and they’ve got their reward. White Hart Lane erupts!

8.58pm BST

54 min: A corner for Spurs down the left. Townsend, on the edge of the box, looks to curl one into the top right. Ospina gathers the too-careful effort with ease. Spurs are clearly not prepared to die wondering: they’ve started this half very strongly. Over 60% possession.

8.56pm BST

51 min: A free kick for Spurs down the left. A chance to load the box. Eriksen whips it in from the left. It’s headed across to the right for Townsend, who passes wide to an offside Wimmer, Again the flag goes up quite correctly. In the stand, a bloke who is at least 40 leans over the hoardings and delivers a perfectly mouthed “You wanker!” at the official. No need for a lip-reader there. Crisp and clear. Marvellous. Well, it matters, doesn’t it?

8.54pm BST

49 min: Chadli skips down the left. He reaches the left-hand edge of the box, and pulls the ball across to Eriksen, who curls a first-time sidefoot towards the bottom left. Ospina gets down to save brilliantly, but the ball squirts to Kane on the left. Kane fizzes the ball into the unguarded net from a tight angle, a crisp finish. But he’ll not be celebrating, because he was a yard offside and flagged accordingly. That should give Spurs - who have started the half with greater intent - succour.

8.51pm BST

48 min: A bit of space for Carroll down the left. He loops in a cross, but Kane can’t get his head to it. It’s all a bit breathless.

8.49pm BST

46 min: Nobody’s managed to get the ball under control yet. The start of the half has a brisk, hectic, 1980s feel.

8.48pm BST

No changes. Arsenal get the ball rolling again. Here’s Sam Hankins: “‘He lays off to Ramsey, who plays a blind pass.’ You could write that sentence in any MBM in which Ramsey plays. I love him, but it seems like he’s good for a no-look pass to somebody in the wrong kit at least once a game. Of course, now he’ll probably account for two assists in the second half.”

8.35pm BST

Half-time entertainment: A wonderful Joy of Six from the vault, courtesy of Rob Smyth and Simon Burnton.

Related: The Joy of Six: Classic Arsenal v Tottenham matches | Rob Smyth and Simon Burnton

8.33pm BST

Chances at either end. Oxlade-Chamberlain cuts in from the left and nearly finds space to shoot in the box. He lays off to Ramsey, who plays a blind pass to Eriksen. Spurs flood upfield, Kane sent romping down the inside-left channel. On the edge of the area, he drags a shot across Ospina and out of play on the right. It could have been 0-2, it could have been 1-1. As it is, the whistle goes for 0-1. It promises to be a hell of a second half. No flipping!

8.32pm BST

45 min: A free kick for Spurs, the best part of 30 yards out. Eriksen takes it, but not with much conviction. Dier tries to rescue the situation down the right, but runs the ball out of play.

8.31pm BST

44 min: Kane gets his head in the game. A scramble in the Arsenal area, and the striker has the ball at his feet, six yards out. But he can’t work space, and lays back to Eriksen, who drags a weak effort wide. It’s taken a deflection off an Arsenal leg, but the resulting corner comes to nothing.

8.29pm BST

43 min: Celta Vigo are currently battering the European champions Barcelona 3-0 in that La Liga they have over there. What’s this got to do with the north London derby? Ask Matt Dony: “Right, if Iago Aspas can tear Barcelona apart, then Kane can get his head in the game and start to show that last season wasn’t a fluke. Iago Chuffing Aspas!”

8.27pm BST

41 min: Rose roasts Debuchy for pace down the left, and is upended just outside the box for his trouble. Debuchy goes in the book. Eriksen takes the free kick from a tight angle, wheeching it into the six-yard box, but it’s easily headed clear by Chambers. This isn’t going to end 0-1, but who’ll be scoring next is anybody’s guess.

8.25pm BST

39 min: Fazio, in the centre circle, plays a gormless pass wide right to nobody in particular. Oxlade-Chamberlain is first onto the loose ball, and zips down the Arsenal left. He makes it as far as the area, and looks to curl one into the top right, but overcooks it and the ball flies wide. A real chance for a second Arsenal goal, with Spurs very light at the back.

8.24pm BST

37 min: Giroud tears down the left and crosses deep. Campbell tries to reach the ball but, going at full pelt, does a header over the advertising hoardings. Ooyah, oof. The game continues, and Flamini clatters Rose near the right-hand corner flag, his studs not far from the full-back’s Tender Place. Another Arsenal holding midfielder goes in the book. And Campbell’s OK.

8.22pm BST

36 min: A couple of Arsenal corners. Strangely subdued affairs, with little in the way of danger to the Spurs goal, so Vorm does his best to cause a bit of excitement by flapping at the second one.

8.21pm BST

33 min: Arteta is booked for planting his studs in Townsend’s left buttock. Not quite a good old-fashioned toe-end up the arse, but not far off it.

8.19pm BST

32 min: More space for Rose down the left! A huge up and under down the wing, which Debuchy totally misreads. Rose scoots off into the area, though the angle is a little tight. Ospina is out quickly to close him down. Rose shoots wildly over the keeper, the ball well right of the target too.

8.17pm BST

31 min: This is a lot better from Spurs. Kane glides down the middle and slips the ball left to Rose, who is bombing down the channel. Rose drops a shoulder and cuts inside, working space to shoot in the box. But from ten yards he drags his effort wide left of the post.

8.16pm BST

30 min: Spurs need to inject a bit of life into their play. Townsend realises this, and battles hard down the right wing with Campbell. A little too much, as he bowls his opponent over. A lot of frowning, but nothing more.

8.15pm BST

29 min: ... nothing. Ospina claims the set piece with an insouciant skip into the air.

8.14pm BST

28 min: Spurs respond with a long throw down the right. The ball skims off the head of Gibbs and out for a corner. From which ...

8.13pm BST

This comes out of nothing. Giroud, on the left, flicks a pass inside for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who fizzes a shot towards the bottom-left corner from 25 yards. It’s a decent effort, and should be turned round the post by Vorm. But instead the keeper parries it back into the centre of the area, where Flamini rushes in to bury the loose ball. First blood to the Gunners!

8.11pm BST

25 min: Giroud battles again down the left wing. He’s powerful and determined, and looks to have worked space near the area but he’s penalised for excessive force.

8.10pm BST

23 min: Giroud stumbles down the left. He’s going nowhere, the ball snagged under his feet on the touchline, but Fazio clumsily lunges in and concedes a free kick. The set piece doesn’t clear the first man. After a bright start, this game suddenly looks in need of a little inspiration. Anyone?

8.07pm BST

21 min: Eriksen slips a pass down the left to release Chadli into dangerous space. But he’s flagged for offside. This match is getting a little tatty. It’s threatened to spark into life, but not quite yet. Plenty of time, plenty of time.

8.04pm BST

19 min: Rose reaches a ball he had no right to reach, sprinting down the left. His deep cross is guided out for a corner by Gibbs, who is taking no chances. But once again the corner is a total non-event.

8.03pm BST

17 min: Plenty of possession for Spurs, but they’re not in the mood to throw too many people forward right now, and Arsenal are quite happy to let them have it in the midfield. The result is something of a lull.

8.01pm BST

15 min: Then Spurs nearly open Arsenal up, Townsend floating a ball in from the right, Kane’s sensors flashing like billy-o as he winds up for a header, ten yards out and level with the left-hand post. But Chambers is on point, and eyebrows the ball out of play before it reaches Kane. The resulting corner comes to nothing. This is a lovely open game right now.

8.00pm BST

14 min: Ramsey sliderules a pass down the left to release Gibbs, who whips a low cross towards Giroud at the near post. Giroud can’t connect properly and the ball clanks into the air. Campbell tries to salvage the situation by sending a snap header goalward from the penalty spot, but it flies over the bar. Giroud should have done better. The most dangerous moment of the match so far.

7.58pm BST

12 min: Eriksen slides down the left and flicks the ball inside for Chadli, who shimmies this way and that, nearly working space for a shot just inside the box. He’s closed down by Mertesacker. But a very pretty move nonetheless.

7.57pm BST

10 min: Kane goes to work down the left. He’s the embodiment of tenacity, and looks to have earned a corner by bothering Debuchy to distraction. But the referee gives Arsenal the benefit of a foul, for a light shove in Debuchy’s back. The home fans aren’t particularly enthused by this decision, and gesticulate accordingly.

7.55pm BST

9 min: Now it’s Arsenal’s turn to be pushed back a bit. Kane and Eriksen are chasing everything down. Nothing comes of all the harrying, but Arsenal aren’t being allowed to settle.

7.54pm BST

7 min: Chadli passes down the inside-left channel from deep. Chambers lets the ball under his foot, allowing Kane space to run at the Arsenal box. That’s offside, Mertesacker having cleverly stepped up, but a hole momentarily appeared in the heart of the Arsenal defence there.

7.51pm BST

5 min: Spurs respond with a pretty move down the left, Kane, Chadli and Eriksen all involved. Townsend drifts in from the wing and thinks about shooting, but can’t work enough space. An enjoyable end-to-end opening to this match.

7.50pm BST

4 min: Arsenal have started the stronger. Campbell again shows on the right. The ball’s shuttled to the other wing, via Oxlade-Chamberlain, for Gibbs, who crosses deep. Campbell can’t quite get his head on it. But the visitors are on the front foot early doors.

7.48pm BST

3 min: Rose is again in the thick of the action, but this time down the other end, as he needlessly clips a backtracking Campbell down the right wing. A chance for Arsenal to load the box. Arteta’s delivery is a nonsense, and Spurs clear their lines.

7.47pm BST

2 min: Space for Rose down the inside-left channel. He looks to recreate his famous north London derby goal, but his ambitious effort from a very similar position is blocked at source.

7.46pm BST

A friendly pat on the shoulder and a warm handshake between the two managers, and then Spurs get the ball rolling. What bedlam! This is as intense as cup football gets. Which may explain why Spurs give the ball away within ten seconds - and Arsenal can only manage to retain possession for another five or so. This is happening!

7.43pm BST

The teams are out! As the atmosphere crackles around White Hart Lane, the players take to the pitch. Spurs are in their famous lilywhite shirts, Arsenal their equally iconic red with white sleeves. We’ll be off in a minute! “So: it’s official,” writes Charles Antaki. “One Coquelin is equivalent to one Arteta + one Flamini. Though you’d think the combined ages of the two x their square-pass coefficient would sort of count against the equation. Anyway, good to see Arsène taking the Carling Cup seriously, if horribly defensively.” Always nice to show the neighbours some respect.

7.29pm BST

The Guardian Stone Redistribution Service (Glass House branch):

7.15pm BST

Plenty of changes from last weekend. Spurs make eight swaps from the XI starters against Crystal Palace, Harry Kane, Nacer Chadli and Eric Dier the only survivors. Arsenal meanwhile make ten changes, with only Aaron Ramsey from the first XI against Chelsea keeping his place. The lads on Sky are banging on about this, as though it’s some sort of disgrace, but these still look like pretty strong teams. Spurs are happy to welcome Christian Eriksen back to their starting line-up, and keep new goalscoring hero Son Heung-min up their sleeve for later. Meanwhile Arsenal will be pleased to see Per Mertesacker return to the fold, while there’s a fair chance we’ll be seeing Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in good time.

6.50pm BST

Tottenham Hotspur: Vorm, Trippier, Fazio, Wimmer, Rose, Carroll, Dier, Chadli, Eriksen, Townsend, Kane.
Subs: Lloris, Walker, Vertonghen, Winks, Alli, Clinton, Son.

Arsenal: Ospina, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Chambers, Gibbs, Arteta, Flamini, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Campbell, Giroud.
Subs: Macey, Bellerin, Monreal, Ozil, Iwobi, Sanchez, Walcott.

9.22am BST

Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal have quite a history in the League Cup. It all starts at the semi-final stage of the 1968-69 tournament, when John Radford was Arsenal’s hero. He roofed a last-minute winner at Highbury in the first leg - the game would otherwise have been the first goalless draw in a north London derby - and headed a late equaliser in the second at White Hart Lane. Arsenal had made it to Wembley, where they would surely beat third-tier Swindon Town. Eh?

The great rivals met again in the League Cup in November 1980. Ossie Ardiles scored the only goal of a fourth-round tie at a frozen White Hart Lane. On to the 1983-84 Milk Cup, and this time a third-round match at White Hart Lane. Arsenal won that one, Charlie Nicholas and Tony Woodcock the top Gunners. And then the famous 1986-87 Littlewoods Cup semi, and if somehow you haven’t got round to it yet, you really should read Fever Pitch. Funny Girl isn’t bad, either. Anyway, that tumultuous three-match series - settled by Ian Allinson and David Rocastle - was arguably the birth of the modern Arsenal, the first rumbling that George Graham might be onto something. His side went on to beat Liverpool in the final.

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The opening 64 bars of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor

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CARLO AND CARLISLE

Carlisle United were a very decent side in the early to mid 1970s, but even then they couldn’t beat Liverpool. They lost 5-1 in the 1972-73 Milk Cup, 2-0 in the FA Cup a year later, and 1-0 and 2-0 in their only top-flight league campaign another year after that. Since then they’ve been beaten 3-0 twice by the Reds in the FA Cup, in 1977 and 1989. So if the Cumbrians, currently in the fourth tier, manage to knock Liverpool out of the Milk Cup tonight at Anfield, in that context it’d be one hell of a shock. In another context, though, it wouldn’t be, because Liverpool aren’t any good.

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Aston Villa v Birmingham City: Capital One Cup – as it happened

Villa are through to the fourth round after a narrow but ultimately deserved victory over battling Blues.

9.38pm BST

Villa see the final seconds out without fuss. And the whistle goes! They earn the Birmingham bragging rights, and a place in the fourth round. Villa Park erupts! Blues gave it a good go, but they were outclassed by Villa in the second half, with substitutes Grealish and Ayew a huge influence. Though it was Gestede who was the goalscoring hero. He milks the applause rolling down in waves from the Holte End. A decent night’s entertainment, all in all. Congratulations to Villa, and commiserations to Blues. Hope it’s not another four-and-a-half years until the next Second City Derby.

9.36pm BST

90 min +3: Toral breaks into space down the right, but his low cross into the box is intercepted by Westwood. For a second, Birmingham had a little hope there. But it’s gone.

9.36pm BST

90 min +2: Grealish faffs around down by the left-hand corner flag. The clock is Villa’s friend, but Grealish isn’t taking any risks with hopeful crosses into the area.

9.35pm BST

90 min +1: Toral chases a long, hopeful punt down the inside-right channel. Guzan comes out to claim. There’s a light and accidental clattering. Cue both players getting up in each other’s grille. But a second-city stramash fails to break out. This match has been played in a good spirit.

9.34pm BST

90 min: Villa do the short-corner routine, wasting the final regulation minute of the 90. But there will be four additional ones coming right up.

9.32pm BST

89 min: It’s fair to say that Villa Park is a cauldron of tension at the moment. Ayew - who has been excellent since coming on at half time - relieves a bit of the pressure by twinkling down the right and winning a corner.

9.31pm BST

87 min: Ayew jigs in from the right, a slow-motion slalom. He works space to shoot, but only weakly, his shovel towards the top right from 12 yards clawed out by Kuszczak. The resulting corner comes to naught.

9.29pm BST

86 min: Solomon-Otabor has a look from distance, but it’s never bothering Guzan in the Villa goal. Birmingham are not going to die wondering. They’re going for this.

9.28pm BST

84 min: Chances at both ends. First Ayew busies himself down the right. Reaching the byline, he pulls back for Westwood, whose effort aimed for the bottom left goes wide. In the middle, Gestede should have redirected the ball goalwards. Sinclair could also have turned it in by the post. But no. Then Blues go up the other end, but Solomon-Otabor takes a fresh-air swipe at a ball dropping by the right-hand post.

9.26pm BST

81 min: Blues swap Maghuma and Donaldson with Solomon-Otabor and Brock-Madsen.

9.25pm BST

80 min: Grealish is in space down the left. He loops long for Ayew, who fizzes the ball back towards the bottom left. It flies wide, and Grealish isn’t far away from poking into an empty net. But he can’t connect.

9.24pm BST

79 min: Sinclair takes the free kick, and loops it towards the bottom left. Kuszczak tips it round the post. Nothing comes from the corner, other than a silly booking for Westwood as he opts not to return the ball for a goal kick.

9.22pm BST

78 min: Grealish hares into space in the Birmingham half, straight down the middle. Morrison hauls him back cynically. There’s a covering defender, so it’s only a booking. But a free kick, 30 yards out. It nearly kicks off between Morrison and Grealish in a second-phase stramash, but the referee, clearly sick and tired of their nonsense, simply reminds these grown men how old they are, and everyone calms down quickly.

9.20pm BST

76 min: Guzan, having gone in bravely to smother, takes the opportunity of a breather and a mop down with the magic sponge.

9.19pm BST

74 min: Yes, Villa are nervous all right. And Birmingham should be level. Gray holds possession 30 yards from goal, drawing the Villa back line towards him. He then flicks a perfect pass down the inside-right channel to release Maghuma into the area. He’s one on one with Guzan, and has to level this match. But his attempt to flick one under Guzan and into the bottom left doesn’t come off, and the keeper is able to smother. He has the good grace to hold his head in his hands and look pained.

9.17pm BST

73 min: Villa are sitting back a bit now, betraying the nerves of an out-of-form team. A ball bounces down the right wing and nearly foxes Amavi, who is swarmed by Maghuma and Donaldson. The full back manages to clear, but for a second it looked like two Blues would be bearing down on goal.

9.14pm BST

71 min: Kieftenbeld concedes a needless corner down the left. Westwood hangs it in high, but Kuszczak, at full stretch, fingertips the ball away from danger.

9.14pm BST

70 min: Gray sashays in from the right but his effort is weak and wide right. Birmingham aren’t out of this by any means, with enough holes appearing in the Villa defence to give them succour.

9.12pm BST

68 min: Grealish goes dancing into the area from the left. Ball-on-string control. He reaches the edge of the six-yard box, the angle always tight. Kuszczak comes out with his feet, and gets a little touch to the ball. A nanosecond later, and that would have been a penalty, for he’d have missed the ball and clattered Grealish. He’s doubly fortunate, because Villa don’t get the corner they deserve. Grealish considers going apoplectic, but calms down quickly enough.

9.10pm BST

67 min: Toral is into the action quickly, chasing after a deft flick down the right touchline by Donaldson. But Richards, who is in proper No Prisoners mode tonight, is over quickly to put a stop to his gallop.

9.09pm BST

65 min: Davis is replaced by the 20-year-old Spaniard Jon Toral, on loan from Arsenal.

9.08pm BST

64 min: Villa Park is, as you’d imagine, bouncing.

9.07pm BST

Grealish, busy as ever, slides a pass down the left for Amavi, who whips a high ball towards the penalty spot. Gestede leaps and crashes a brilliant header into the left-hand portion of the net, Kuszczak with no chance! That’s a simple but sweet move. Much credit to Grealish for upping the tempo for Villa.

9.05pm BST

61 min: Ayew slides in aggressively on Maghuma. Davis lunges in on Ayew. Both should be booked. Neither are.

9.04pm BST

60 min: Corner for Birmingham down the right. A waste of time. But the away side are beginning to get a foothold again.

9.03pm BST

58 min: A lot of Villa passes in the middle of the park. Birmingham holding their shape. A strange incident as Villa pump it long. Grounds attempts to head back to Kuszczak, but accidentally heads sideways towards Gestede, lurking on the penalty spot. He’d have been clear hand the ball not accidentally pinged off Spector’s head and in the direction Grounds had been hoping for in the first place, into the arms of his keeper.

9.00pm BST

55 min: A rare second-half foray upfield for Birmingham. Maghuma slaloms down the inside-right channel and breaks into the box, then squares low for Donaldson. But the ball’s behind his partner, and Villa clear. The atmosphere had gotten subdued before the half-time whistle, but it’s right back up to fever pitch now.

8.58pm BST

53 min: This is all Villa right now. Birmingham penned back. Veretout slides a beautiful pass down the right wing to release Amavi into space. Amavi curls a cross into the box. Sinclair, on the penalty spot, connects with his head but can only flash the ball wide left. Much, much better from the home side. Birmingham aren’t quite hanging on - they’re defending resolutely enough, and aren’t panicking under the pressure - but they are second best right now.

8.55pm BST

51 min: Villa have come out with their tails up, a new intensity. Grealish is wandering around at pace, gesticulating a lot. Come on, come on, come on. He whips a ball in from the left, aimed for Gestede but breaking to the feet of Sinclair, who scoops a shot over the bar from six yards. What a miss, albeit under pressure. Villa are gifted a corner they don’t deserve. Birmingham mop it up.

8.52pm BST

49 min: That Villa change has seen Bacuna, who had been operating in the midfield, drop back to right back. Richards and Clark are the new central defensive partnership. Ayew makes good down the left and wins a corner. The set piece is wasted by Westwood.

8.51pm BST

47 min: Gray is flipped into the air as he perambulates down the left. Free kick, and he’ll take it himself. Like Gleeson’s witless effort earlier, it’s way too high, allowing Guzan to claim under no pressure, despite the box having been loaded.

8.50pm BST

Villa make a double change. Agbonlahor and Lescott off, Grealish and Ayew on. Agbonlahor was feeling his hamstring, but Lescott is a victim of the tactical hook, Villa adding to their attacking mix.

8.37pm BST

Half-time advertisement:

8.34pm BST

And that’s that for the first half. Both teams depart to a chorus of boos. The match seriously tailed off after a breezy opening 15 minutes, but I strongly suspect that’s not the point of the jeering. The boos are, just because. Nevertheless, this is a cup tie, which means the second half is almost certainly going to jangle the nerves. And there’s the promise of extra time and penalty kicks too. No flipping!

8.32pm BST

45 min +1: Nope! He looks for the top-left corner of the goal, but only finds the top-left corner of the stand.

8.31pm BST

45 min: Kieftenbeld sends Clark tumbling over, 25 yards from the Birmingham goal, just to the left. A chance for Bacuna, standing over the resulting free kick, to send Villa into the changing rooms on a high.

8.30pm BST

44 min: Bacuna attempts to recreate David Beckham’s 1996 goal for Manchester United against Wimbledon. Same position on the pitch. Not the same result, however. Kuszczak, who had been off his line, would have been in position to gather on the line had the effort been on target. Which it wasn’t, spinning off to the right. Still, top marks for ambition, and it was all entertaining enough.

8.28pm BST

43 min: What a day for Volkswagen, though.

8.27pm BST

41 min: Clark is booked for a fairly agricultural slide on Donaldson as the Birmingham forward skedaddles down the right. The free kick is lifted into the Villa box. Richards heads clear. Maghuma, 25 yards out, attempts to return with a casual volley, but gets it all wrong.

8.25pm BST

39 min: Half chances at either end. Maghuma cuts in from the right and looks to curl one into the top left. It’s not far wide. Then Westwood finds a little space on the right-hand corner of the Birmingham box, trying to poke a riser into the top-right. Not quite enough power on it.

8.24pm BST

38 min: A free kick for Birmingham deep in Villa territory, down the left. Blues load the box. Gleeson takes, and hoicks it high enough for Guzan to claim it unchallenged. What a waste.

8.23pm BST

35 min: Gray bursts into space in the Villa half, but plays the wrong pass with Donaldson in acres and the home side light at the back. Then down the other end, Bacuna hits a hot cross straight through the area from the right. Ever feel life is passing you by? “I’m sitting in Amsterdam watching Bayern v Wolfsburg,” writes Anthony O Connell. “Wolfsburg were winning 1-0. They are now 5-1 down and Robert Lewandowski has scored five goals in nine minutes. The fifth is an absolute belter!” Wolfsburg are sponsored by Volkswagen, aren’t they? A whole lot of karma going on there.

8.18pm BST

32 min: Lescott, on the halfway line and under no pressure whatsoever, nearly concedes a corner with a lumpen backpass. Guzan gathers. It’s difficult to decide what was worse then: the execution of the backpass, or the cripplingly unambitious idea in the first place.

8.16pm BST

31 min: Maghuma rakes a pass down the inside-right channel, having robbed a dithering Lescott. Donaldson scampers after it, and should get a shot away as he strides into the area. But he delays, then with the opportunity closed down, faffs around before losing control. Villa were extremely exposed then.

8.15pm BST

29 min: Sinclair busies himself and slips the ball down the inside-right channel for Agbonlahor, who takes a step into the area before pulling a dismal effort across the face of goal and out of play well to the left of the target.

8.14pm BST

28 min: All a bit scrappy now. Birmingham will be perfectly happy with the way things are going. Villa are a long way from coherence. The home support is becoming subdued as a result.

8.12pm BST

26 min: Bacuna with a long throw into Blues’ box from the right. Westwood tries to guide a header goalwards from a position on the right-hand corner of the area, but he’s never going to power anything in from there. Kuszczak gathers in the insouciant style.

8.09pm BST

23 min: Westwood takes a free kick in the centre circle. Villa have loaded the box. He finds the head of Gestde, who heads down and wide right of the target from the edge of the area. Far too far out to cause any damage. Grounds and Kuszczak usher the ball out of play for a goal kick.

8.08pm BST

22 min: Agbonlahor is booked for a late slide on Grounds, who was looking to power off down the left wing. That was a simple decision for the referee.

8.07pm BST

21 min: Grounds, under no pressure whatsoever from Agbonlahor down the right, concedes a corner anyway. Westwood hoicks it long. Richards rises to meet it with a header 12 yards out, level with the left-hand post. But it’s an aimless and weak effort, squirting off to the right.

8.06pm BST

19 min: Gleeson flicks Donaldson free down the inside-left channel. Guzan is well off his line. Donaldson tries to flick one over the keeper and into the top right. But there’s not enough juice on the effort, and Guzan claims it with ease. Oh, and now the flag’s up anyway. But there are spaces in this Villa defence. Can Birmingham take advantage?

8.04pm BST

18 min: Gray is sent scampering into acres down the right. His low cross is hacked out of the Villa box by Clark, but only to Kieftenbeld, who has a dig from 25 yards. It dribbles apologetically wide left of goal, and he was penalised for controlling with his hand anyway.

8.03pm BST

17 min: Great work by Amavi down the left wing, winning a ball he never should have won, then powering along the touchline. Gestade is in the middle yearning for a good cross, but Amavi’s delivery is woeful, blootered high and deep into the stand behind the goal.

8.01pm BST

14 min: It’s been frantic, but there’s a bit of a lull. Birmingham stroke it around the back awhile. The Championship side are playing with poise and confidence. They look calm and in control, despite the pressure-cooker atmosphere in Villa Park tonight.

7.58pm BST

11 min: Westwood slides a stunning pass down the right to release Bacuna into space. Bacuna wheechs a low ball into the area. Agbonlahor slides in, but can’t quite make contact. Kuszczak gathers, and receives a hoof in the nadgers for his troubles. No harm meant. A complete accident. Everyone’s soon up and about. But that was a lovely, crisp, simple move from the Villa.

7.56pm BST

9 min: This is a wonderfully open, end-to-end game. Sinclair busies himself in the Birmingham box, to the left. A shot that’s blocked. The ball rolls left to right, nearly falling to Gestede, but he can’t get a shot away from six yards. Kuszczak comes out to gather, but doesn’t. Eventually Grounds bustles the ball away from danger. So close to the opener. Then Gray hassles Lescott into the concession of a cheap corner out on the left. The set piece comes to nothing.

7.54pm BST

8 min: Gray aims for the top right, but succeeds only in lifting the gentlest of wafts up and down and into Guzan’s grateful arms.

7.53pm BST

7 min: Birmingham are pinging the ball around nicely, and Villa look anxious. Maghuma has his back to goal, just outside the Villa box to the right. Lescott charges in and shoves him over. Free kick. Lescott can have no complaints, though he argues the toss anyway. This is a set piece in a very dangerous position.

7.52pm BST

5 min: Donaldson gets the better of Richards after being clattered by him once again. The ball breaks down the inside-right channel for Maghoma, who is in a little space on the edge of the area. He takes a touch inside the box, then whistles a low shot inches wide of the left-hand post. Guzan wasn’t getting down to that had it been on target. Birmingham could - it’s not quite a “should” - be ahead.

7.50pm BST

3 min: Westwood curls a cross in from the right. Gestede, on the edge of the Birmingham D, chests down and attempts to lash the ball into the bottom-left corner. It’s a weak effort, and well wide left. Birmingham go up the other end, Gleeson spraying a delightful ball down the left flank to release Gray into a little space. Gray jinks and twists, and he’s got friends in the middle, but his high cross is all over the place, and flies harmlessly behind the goal. A nice open start, though.

7.48pm BST

2 min: The first big challenge of the evening, a power shoulder from Richards into the back of Donaldson. CLATTER. Play on. There, that’s set a tone.

7.46pm BST

Birmingham get the ball rolling. They’ll be kicking towards the Holte End in this first half. Bedlam, bedlam, bedlam. This is a stunning atmosphere.

7.45pm BST

The teams are out! And the bedlam is ON. Aston Villa are wearing their famous claret-and-blue shirts. Birmingham are in their equally renowned blue, with white diagonal sash across their chest. They’ve got a lovely retro BCFC badge going on this year. Rangers might want a word. Rowett, incidentally, is continuing to play down his team’s chances. “They’re playing at a higher level than us,” he’s told battered broadcaster Sky. “They spent £50m in the summer to our £500,000 and a bag of crisps.” We’ll be off in a minute!

7.43pm BST

Marvellous entertainment on Sky Sports, as a couple of fans have balanced a step ladder outside the broadcaster’s box, shimmied up it, and started battering the window with some vigour. They’re doing it for you, folks. I should stress that we can’t actually see the aforementioned ladder, but it’s been referenced by the Sky presenter (Dave? Simon? Chris?) who has a full view of the incident and is peering out of the window while wearing a fixed smile that doesn’t quite mask his understandable concern. How did they smuggle a ladder into the ground? That’s showing an admirable dedication to the art of TV criticism.

7.26pm BST

So Tim Sherwood drops Jack Grealish to the bench, while Rudy Gestede makes his third start in a Villa shirt. Meanwhile for Birmingham, Jacques Maghoma comes into the side, part of a three-man attack alongside Clayton Donaldson and Demarai Gray. “Let’s hope tonight’s game lives up to this,” writes Jim Powell, with reference to some second-city Savagery of times past. And he’s writing that as a Birmingham supporter! Mind you, the 0-2 result in favour of Blues that day - it was one of The Peter Enckelman Matches - has probably allowed their fans to see the bigger picture regarding this particular skirmish and enjoy it like everyone else.

6.55pm BST

Aston Villa: Guzan, Bacuna, Richards, Lescott, Amavi, Veretout, Clark, Westwood, Gestede, Agbonlahor, Sinclair.
Subs: Bunn, Hutton, Richardson, Ayew, Sanchez, Gil, Grealish.

Birmingham City: Kuszczak, Caddis, Spector, Morrison, Grounds, Gleeson, Kieftenbeld, Davis, Gray, Maghoma, Donaldson.
Subs: Legzdins, Robinson, Solomon-Otabor, Toral, Shinnie, Lowry, Brock-Madsen.

10.53am BST

It’s been the best part of five years since the last Second City derby. That’s an awful lot of waiting and anticipating, so Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood’s prediction of “blood and thunder” may not be too far off the mark. Birmingham City boss Gary Rowett is meanwhile milking his side’s status as underdogs. “There’s more pressure on them ... we can go a little bit freer.” Ah! Free! Free can mean anything in football. Free scoring. The freedom to express oneself artistically. A freely swung haymaker. The possibilities are endless as the evening stretches out ahead.

On the one hand, Villa have enjoyed the best of the recent exchanges between the two clubs. Let’s take the last ten years as our sample. Villa have won six of the nine derbies contested during that period. They’ve drawn two of the other three. And they’ve not conceded a goal at Villa Park against Blues for 203 minutes. But would Birmingham swap their solitary win during that decade for Villa’s superior record? Not likely! For that sole triumph - a 2-1 victory in December 2010 - was one of the staging posts en route to their famous 2011 League Cup success. Quality trumping quantity in this instance (though in the interests of balance, Villa fans are permitted to console themselves with the 5-1 thumping of Blues in 2008).

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The Fiver | Small fry compared to Lord Ashcroft

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FERGIE CRISTINA BARCELONA

Last weekend, as The Fiver perambulated at speed through the foyer of the grand Hotel Marina Cristina in San Sebastián carrying two bathrobes, six fluffy towels and a sack containing 200 bottles of body lotion, David Moyes swept majestically down the stairs. Normally The Fiver would have stopped to chat, but a rather agitated bellhop was on our tail, ranting incoherently about the declined transfer of monies and the whereabouts of assorted toiletries and monogrammed linen. Suffice to say that as we sprinted past, in order to avoid a frightful scene with this gauche and belligerent jobsworth, we managed to ascertain that Moyes, resident in one of the plushest suites, looked bronzed, happy and healthy. Life seems to be treating him well.

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A brief guide to Man Utd v Southampton: the fixture that shaped the Premier League

When United lost to Saints in 1986, Ron Atkinson was fired and a certain Alex Ferguson took over. It’s a fixture that has made a repeated impression on the Premier League

With the Guardian’s unstoppable rise to global dominance (NOTE: actual dominance may not be global. Or dominant) we at Guardian US thought we’d run a series of articles for newer football fans wishing to improve their knowledge of the game’s 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.

Manchester United enjoy fierce local rivalries with Manchester City and Liverpool (and to a lesser extent an enmity with Everton, details of which can be found here.) They have also battled for Premier League supremacy with Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and, especially, for the best part of a glittering decade, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. Plenty of reasons for simmering feuds there.

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Dinamo Zagreb v Arsenal: Champions League – as it happened

Olivier Giroud is foolishly sent off as Arsenal are deservedly downed by the champions of Croatia.

9.39pm BST

There’s enough time for Coric to miss a one on one with Ospina - Gabriel with the mistake to let him in - and then it’s all over! Dinamo have their first win over Premier League opposition! It’s much deserved, too: they were the better side throughout. Arsenal’s 18th consecutive group campaign suffers a cold start. A chance to get things going in a fortnight at home against Olympiacos, who were battered 3-0 by Bayern Munich tonight. But in the meantime, Olivier Giroud has plenty of time to think on.

9.37pm BST

90 min +4: Campbell fouls Ademi on the halfway line. He’s very lucky to escape a second booking. It’s a chance for Dinamo to work that clock, baby. Ademi takes his time to get up.

9.36pm BST

90 min +3: Sanchez works his way down the left and wins a corner off Benkovic. The ball’s looped into the mixer, but Gabriel’s header clears the bar by many, many yards. The home crowd are beginning to make some noise again.

9.35pm BST

90 min +2: Arsenal are forced to faff around in their own half.

9.34pm BST

90 min +1: Soudani brings down Sanchez on the left. The free kick’s hoicked into the box. Koscielny is penalised for the lightest of shoves amid a melee.

9.33pm BST

90 min: Rog is booked for a fairly cynical lunge on Campbell, keeping Arsenal penned deep in their own territory for a while. There will be five added minutes.

9.32pm BST

89 min: Koscielny earns a cheap free kick down the left wing. A free kick that’s as good as a corner. Arsenal load the box. Cazorla stands over the ball. But the delivery fails to beat the first man. That delivery, under the circumstances, is dreadful. But Arsenal are at least making the hosts work for their victory. Can they deny them it?

9.31pm BST

88 min: And now Pjaca is replaced by Benkovic.

9.30pm BST

87 min: Campbell is booked for bringing down the pacy Pjaca.

9.30pm BST

86 min: You wouldn’t put huge sums of money on this ending up 2-1. Who’d score the next, though, is anyone’s guess. Rog romps down the middle and slides the ball down the inside-right channel for Soudani, who shapes to shoot but is denied by a stunning slide tackle by Gabriel.

9.28pm BST

85 min: Campbell clumsily brings down Pivaric on the left. The free kick’s looped long. Sigali is free, six yards out. His header goes straight at Ospina. He should have scored. Though the flag, incorrectly, goes up, so it doesn’t matter. But still.

9.27pm BST

84 min: Walcott is making a huge difference. Debuchy rakes a pass down the right, and Walcott nearly nips in. He earns a throw down that wing. Arsenal work the ball around this way and that. Coquelin overhits a ball meant for Campbell down the right. More relief for the home side, who are beginning to question previous certainties now.

9.25pm BST

82 min: Antolic is replaced by Rog.

9.24pm BST

81 min: Well that’s silenced a previously bouncing stadium. Campbell bustles down the right, and scoops a ball inside for Walcott, who doesn’t quite connect properly as he rushes into the area. Eduardo gathers. Dinamo, previously comfortable, suddenly look a little shaky.

9.23pm BST

From absolutely nothing! Sanchez flicks a pass down the left, with the hosts asleep. Walcott is sent scuttling clear down the channel. He opens up his body, and guides a lovely finish into the bottom left. Arsenal, against all odds, are right back in this! And Walcott doesn’t half like this stadium!

9.21pm BST

78 min: Antolic is sent scampering down the right. With Arsenal light at the back, he guides a low ball inside for Soudani, who would be clear on goal had Ospina not raced out to intercept with his feet. He then clatters into Coric, fairly according to the ref, before clearing his lines properly.

9.19pm BST

75 min: Sanchez brings a high ball down with a gentle wave of his boot. Then whacks it straight into Antolic’s arse. That just about sums up Arsenal’s night. Flashes of quality with little end product.

9.17pm BST

73 min: Fernandes is replaced by Coric, 18, the great young Croatian hope. Better than Boban, Modric and Prosinecki is how he’s being billed. No pressure, then, son!

9.13pm BST

71 min: Campbell plays a cute slide-rule pass down the inside-right channel. Walcott is sprung clear into the area. He’s a smidgen offside. So close. He clatters into Eduardo, as the keeper comes off his line. Or perhaps he took Walcott’s shot straight in the coupon. Either way, he’s getting balls of cotton wool shoved up his beak. Looks like he’ll be OK, but this is an opportunity for Dinamo to manage the clock a little. Professional football, and all that.

9.11pm BST

68 min: Pinto is sent scampering into acres down the right. His cross isn’t particularly good, but it’s headed out lamely by Koscielny, and Pinto can have another ramble. He chips weakly into Ospina’s arms from a dangerous position. Arsenal can be thankful for Pinto’s profligacy there. They can’t keep giving up chances like that.

9.09pm BST

67 min: ... and now the ball’s over the bar, Sanchez looking to whip the ball over the wall and into the top-left corner, getting plenty of up but not enough down.

9.09pm BST

66 min: Pinto is booked for clattering Sanchez as the Arsenal man makes his way across the front of the Dinamo box, right to left. Free kick, just to the left of the D, a couple of yards further out. Sanchez and Ozil over it ...

9.07pm BST

64 min: Arsenal make a triple substitution. Gibbs, Arteta and Oxlade-Chamberlain off; Coquelin, Campbell and Walcott on.

9.06pm BST

62 min: Fernandes and Pinto combine delightfully down the right wing. Pinto digs a cross out from near the corner flag. Ospina is bundled over the middle as he comes to claim, the pressure released. Arsenal, having worked their way back into contention, are struggling again in the wake of the Fernandes goal.

9.04pm BST

60 min: The hosts stroke it around the back awhile. Time to soak up the atmosphere. It is blistering right now. Arsenal are in all sorts of bother. Dinamo will never get a better chance to beat Premier League opposition.

9.01pm BST

... the corner, from the left, is whipped to the near post. Fernandes makes up for giving up that golden chance by planting his head on the ball, and sending it flying into the top left! Not sure what Koscielny was doing there, but competing for that ball wasn’t it.

9.00pm BST

57 min: Soudani dances in from the right, George Best style. The ball is shuttled left for Fernandes, who is in space but allows his shot to be deflected over the bar. But no matter, because ...

8.59pm BST

56 min: Ozil exchanges passes with Oxlade-Chamberlain down the right. He’s clear in the area! And offside again. That’s a very close decision, but again, probably right.

8.58pm BST

54 min: Ozil has the ball in the net, but it won’t stand. Sanchez powers down the middle. He whips a pass out right for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who creams a first-time ball back down the middle to release Ozil. Ozil threads a shot into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the box. A delicious finish, though Eduardo may well have stopped playing, the flag having gone up for offside. It looked miles off at first, not quite so obvious on the replay. But just about the right decision. Arsenal are vastly improved since the break.

8.55pm BST

51 min: Ozil is really putting himself about right now. He triangulates his way down the left, and is very nearly sent clear into the area by a crisp pass from Gibbs. But instead of striding into the box to shoot, he attempts an over-elaborate backflick. Bad decision there, but Ozil’s a bundle of energy right now.

8.53pm BST

48 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain is cynically blocked down the right by Antolic, who is booked. Ozil whips a low free kick into the danger zone but it’s hacked clear. Arsenal are soon coming back at Dinamo, though, down the left through Gibbs, who flicks inside for Ozil. A chance to equalise? Not quite, there’s little time, and he can’t get a shot away. Eduardo gets in the road, and the danger’s gone. But that’s better from Arsenal. It couldn’t get much worse.

8.51pm BST

47 min: Pinto has a punt from distance. The ball balloons off Koscielny and out for a corner on the right. Machado, on the penalty spot, heads the ball on for Soudani, who hits the post from a couple of yards! He prepares to make amends by banging home the rebound, but Sigali gets there first and squirts the ball wide left! What an astonishing double miss! Arsenal were all over the shop, and should be two down.

8.48pm BST

It’s going to be fascinating to see Arsenal attempt to fight their way out of this pickle. The monumentally daft Giroud really has put his team-mates in a tight spot, because Dinamo were the better team when it was 11v11. No changes as the hosts get the game under way again. Incidentally, it’s goalless between Olympiacos and Bayern Munich. “To be fair, if I looked like Giroud, I’d spend a fair portion of my time in front of the mirror having a good, long look,” is a fair point well made by Matt Dony.

8.33pm BST

Half-time entertainment - and possibly a full-time score prediction - courtesy of Steven Hughes:

8.32pm BST

The Gunners can have no complaints. Dinamo have been by far the better side, and fully deserve their lead. As for Olivier Giroud, dear oh dear. This should be one hell of a second half. No flipping!

8.31pm BST

44 min: Replays of the goal suggest the ball did indeed fly in off poor old Oxlade-Chamberlain. It wasn’t his fault. He was on Pivaric’s shoulder, putting the pressure on, and the Dinamo full-back’s shot pinballed off the keeper, back onto him and into the net. Impossible to get out of the way.

8.29pm BST

42 min: The resulting free kick comes to nothing, a fairly dismal dig from distance by Antolic. If Dinamo had their shooting boots on, Arsenal would be in even more trouble right now. It’s bad enough as it is, mind.

8.27pm BST

40 min: He’s clattered clumsily from behind by Giroud! A second yellow - the first having been awarded for crass stupidity - and the striker’s sent packing! That’s one of the most pointless red cards you’ll see. Once Giroud’s finished in the early bath, he should spend a bit of time in front of the mirror having a good, long look.

8.26pm BST

39 min: Pjaca is unceremoniously upended by Arteta down the inside-right channel. Dinamo make an awful hash of the free kick, Antolic mistiming the free kick into the box. But the ball breaks off Gibbs and back to Pinto. And as he takes a touch ...

8.24pm BST

37 min: Machado makes good down the right and whips a dangerous cross towards the near post. Ospina and Koscielny make a meal of mopping up the mess, but they manage it after a fashion.

8.21pm BST

35 min: Gibbs finds a little space down the left and crosses deep. The ball loops off Pinto and out for a corner on the right. Cazorla takes, and it’s headed clear at the near post by Fernandes. There’s been no real danger for Dinamo since the goal, but Arsenal are at least making territorial inroads now.

8.19pm BST

34 min: Ademi steals the ball off Sanchez in the middle, and bombs into the Arsenal half. He lays off to Soudani, who soon concedes possession. Now it’s Gabriel’s turn to batter a clearance upfield in the no-nonsense style.

8.18pm BST

32 min: Sanchez, his toes twinkling, dances in from the right and very nearly makes himself space to shoot in the area. Sigali is quickly on hand to close him down and hammer the ball miles from danger. A bit better from Arsenal, who have taken their sweet time to clear their heads since letting in the opening goal.

8.17pm BST

31 min: Debuchy, who has arguably been Arsenal’s best player so far, makes himself known down the right. He claims to have been illegally bundled to the floor near the area by Fernandes, but doesn’t get the decision. Unlike Giroud, he decides against waving his arms around in semaphore shapes.

8.15pm BST

29 min: Fernandes is in acres down the left. Arsenal are light at the back, and he’s got Pjaca and Soudani on his inside. The pass is misplaced, allowing Koscielny to usher the ball back to Ospina. The visitors are suddenly looking rather ragged.

8.14pm BST

26 min: This stadium is bouncing now. Arsenal can’t say they weren’t warned. Dinamo have been attacking with elan.

8.13pm BST

Machado, in a central position 25 yards out, backflicks to the left for Soudani, who hesitates to buy time, then slides a delicious pass down the left channel to release Pivaric into the box. Pivaric, having timed his run to perfection, hits his shot into Ospina, who has come out to smother well. The luck deserts Arsenal: the ball pinballs off Ospina, back onto the back-tracking Oxlade-Chamberlain’s shins, then into the left-hand portion of the net. A scrappy end to a lovely move.

8.10pm BST

23 min: And now he’s in the book. This is bloody daft. He’s climbing all over the back of Antolic as the two contest a high ball. The referee blows for a common-or-garden foul. And Giroud blows up in the expansive style, waving his arms like billy-o. Eh? What’s the point? A booking it is.

8.08pm BST

22 min: Giroud flaps his arm into Ademi’s face. It’s really nothing, but then again you’ve seen players penalised for that sort of carry-on. He gets away with it, though.

8.07pm BST

21 min: Soudani busies himself down the left wing, twisting and turning and eventually laying off inside for Antolic, who is rushing in with purpose. Three rugby points. He had time and space there. Arsenal can’t keep giving up those chances. It’ll only take one sweet connection.

8.05pm BST

19 min: The set piece comes to nothing, a poor shot from distance by Debuchy. He started the whole passage of play off with that glorious pass down the wing, so it’s hard to be too critical.

8.05pm BST

18 min: What a miss by Giroud! A gorgeous spray down the right wing by Debucchy to release Oxlade-Chamberlain. The Ox reaches the byline, and whips a low one to the near post. The ball clanks off Giroud’s head, and hits the bottom of the right-hand post. Giroud should bury the rebound from a couple of yards, but it clanks off his body, into the body of the desperately sprawling Eduardo, and out for a corner.

8.03pm BST

17 min: A bit of space for Giroud down the inside-left channel, Sanchez having supplied him from the wing. He’s about to shoot, but Taravel slides in to concede a corner. Cazorla’s set piece looks for Sanchez, who tries to rise and meet the ball on the penalty spot. But it’s a little bit too high. It’ll be a big surprise if this game stays goalless for any length of time.

8.01pm BST

15 min: Pivaric, Fernandes and Antolic combine well down the left. Dinamo are enjoying themselves down this flank. Antolic retrieves what looks like a lost cause by the corner segment, and pulls back low and hard into the area. Fortunately for Arsenal, there are no dark blue shirts in the centre - they’re all on the left flank! - and Gabriel can mop up.

7.59pm BST

13 min: Sanchez clips a pass down the left wing for Giroud. The striker nearly reaches it on the edge of the box, but Eduardo comes off his line to kick clear. This is a very entertaining game, both teams pinging it around in a very attractive style.

7.57pm BST

11 min: This Pjaca looks highly decent. Pivaric cuts in from the left and feeds the young man with a pass shifted inside. Pjaca again drops a shoulder, shimmies to the right, and once again lumps a wild one high and wide right from 20 yards. But he’s not afraid to run at Arsenal, and he’s causing a little bother. If he gets his shooting boots on too, Arsenal better watch out.

7.56pm BST

10 min: The second corner comes in from the right. Ozil. It’s a wicked whip along the corridor of uncertainty, and Eduardo comes out to flap. The ball clanks into Sanchez, on the edge of the six-yard box. He can’t control, and Dinamo blooter clear.

7.55pm BST

9 min: Giroud bustles down the left and wins a corner off Sigali. Cazorla takes. And he finds the head of Giroud, on the penalty spot. Giroud winds his neck back and powers a stunning header towards the top right. It’s whistling in, but Eduardo fingertips it out for another corner. Great football all round.

7.53pm BST

7 min: Pjaca picks up possession down the inside left, drops a shoulder, shifts the ball inside, and strides into space. He’s got time to shoot, 25 yards out, but lashes an awfully wild effort miles wide and right. But that was a good little burst from a young player who has only recently broken into the Croatian national team. The crowd enjoyed that.

7.51pm BST

6 min: Giroud flicks a clever reverse pass down the right for Debuchy, who reaches the byline and stands one up into the middle. Sanchez rises to meet with his head, six yards out, but he’s penalised for climbing.

7.50pm BST

4 min: The Dinamo captain Antolic looks to power down the inside-left flank, but a one-two with Fernandes doesn’t quite come off. The home side struggling to retain possession right now. Arsenal already looking confident and comfortable.

7.48pm BST

3 min: Gibbs embarks on a speedy run down the left, and very nearly breaks into the area. Not quite. Arsenal looking to press down both flanks. They’re passing it around at speed. Manchester City take note.

7.46pm BST

Arsenal get the ball rolling. They pass it around the back awhile, getting a good old feel of the ball. Then a long hoick down the right for Oxlade-Chamberlain to chase. For a second it looks like he might scoot into the box, but the space in front of him is closed down quickly enough. The away side on the front foot immediately, though.

7.45pm BST

The teams are out! Dinamo are in their first-choice blue shirts, a state of affairs which allows Arsenal to wear their famous red and white. A classic aesthetic, and no mistake. The Dinamo shirts are rather fetching actually, a deep, dark blue with a yellow flash across the shoulder. Shades of Wimbledon, always a good look. A rare old atmosphere in Zagreb, both sets of fans giving it plenty. The official Uefa bastardisation of Handel parps from the PA speakers. Hands are shaken, coins are tossed. The ball will be moving around with some force in a minute or two!

7.29pm BST

Making small talk to pass the time until kick off: The nights are fair drawing in, eh?

7.05pm BST

Arsenal make six changes from the starting XI against Stoke City last weekend. One eye on the Chelsea game on Saturday, no doubt. Only Gabriel, Laurent Koscielny, Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez survive the cull, though Mikel Arteta, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Olivier Giroud all came off the bench in that 2-0 victory at the Emirates. Theo Walcott may be a little disappointed not to be starting: not only did he score against Stoke, he also helped himself to a hat-trick at this very stadium when England beat Croatia 4-1 in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers back in 2008.

2008!

6.55pm BST

Dinamo Zagreb: Eduardo, Ivo Pinto, Sigali, Taravel, Pivaric, Paulo Machado, Ademi, Antolic, Soudani, Pjaca, Fernandes.
Subs: Jezina, Henriquez, Hodzic, Coric, Benkovic, Rog, Matel.

Arsenal: Ospina, Debuchy, Koscielny, Gabriel, Gibbs, Arteta, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud.
Subs: Cech, Chambers, Monreal, Flamini, Coquelin, Campbell, Walcott.

12.12pm BST

Arsenal’s 18th successive group stage campaign begins this evening. Last time round, they made it to the knockout stages for the 15th time in a row, and are expected, along with group favourites Bayern Munich, to get through yet again this season. They’ll certainly be hopeful of a positive result against Dinamo Zagreb tonight: the Croatian champions, who are back after a two-year absence, have never made it out of the groups in their four previous attempts. They’ve never won against Premier League opponents, losing the last six matches against English teams. Arsenal meanwhile have won seven and lost only two of their last 11 away fixtures in this competition. And they won 3-0 here back in 2006. All signs on Arsene’s 8-ball point to yes.

Then again, Dinamo are on quite a run. They’re 41 matches unbeaten in all competitions since a 1-0 loss to Astra Giurgiu in last season’s Europa League. Last season they became the first team to make it through a Prva Liga campaign unbeaten. Dinamo’s Algerian striker El Arbi Hilal Soudani has scored six goals in his last five games for club and country. Dinamo have won their last three games 4-1, 3-0 and 4-0. And perhaps Arsenal will have one eye on Saturday’s crunch Premier League fixture at Chelsea. So you never can tell. It’s on!

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The Fiver | An evening likely to make little or no difference to anything

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TONIGHT’S TV AND RADIO

Seventy-eight years ago to the day, Arsenal took part in the first ever live televised football match. It was a glorified training session against their own second string, barely of interest even to the few hundred homes in north London capable of receiving a signal from the bent coat-hanger gaffer-taped to the top of the BBC’s pile at Ally Pally. But it was a groundbreaking event nonetheless. It’s apt, then, that Arsenal celebrate this anniversary tonight by making another appearance on a channel nobody’s watching, BT Sport, as they disappear behind the digital curtain to face Dinamo Zagreb in Big Cup. Oh ITV! We hardly knew ye!

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