Scott Murray's Blog, page 188
February 10, 2015
Liverpool v Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened | Scott Murray
A helter-skelter evening of excellent excitement was decided late by Mario Balotelli, who scored his first league goal for Liverpool.
9.54pm GMT
And that’s that! The whistle blows on a superlative match. Whether Tottenham deserved to lose is a moot point - they contributed so much to the occasion - but Liverpool won, playing very well themselves. And it was Mario Balotelli - who else? - who decided a madcap evening. Marvellous entertainment, and Liverpool have hauled themselves back into the race for fourth. Balotelli, after such a frustrating start to his Liverpool career, could be forgiven for skittering all round Anfield to celebrate such an important goal, but opts to wander off calmly, like a man popping out to the shops for 20 Bensons and a pint of milk. Magnificent.
9.53pm GMT
90 min +4: A throw for Spurs down the right. It’s hoicked into the Liverpool area, but cleared upfield.
9.52pm GMT
90 min +3: Sakho is down, getting a bit of treatment after being clattered by Kane. Skrtel and Kane spoil for a fight. Kane is booked. Spurs don’t have time for this nonsense.
9.51pm GMT
90 min +2: The free kick is witlessly blootered out of play on the right. Liverpool watch another 60 seconds float into the ether.
9.50pm GMT
90 min +1: A free kick for Spurs, deep on the left. The visitors load the box.
9.49pm GMT
90 min: Can goes on another power dribble down the middle. He attempts a shot from the edge of the D. It’s so bad it’s going out for a throw on the right, but Balotelli stops it from leaving the field of play with a needlessly elaborate (but very aesthetically pleasing) back heel. Liverpool tippy-tap it around for a bit, hoping to waste time. But they lose it soon enough, and there’s going to be four minutes of added time. Can Spurs grab a share of the spoils? You couldn’t say they didn’t deserve it, if they do.
9.47pm GMT
88 min: Coutinho is bouncing, too. On the floor, shoved unceremoniously to the ground by Paulinho, who goes in the book.
9.46pm GMT
87 min: Plenty of time for Spurs to salvage something, of course, especially in this febrile atmosphere. Coutinho is penalised for clanking into the back of Lamela. Spurs lump the free kick long for Kane, but the young star can’t quite get anything going. Anfield is bouncing and rocking.
9.44pm GMT
86 min: That was a very well-worked goal by Liverpool. Ibe really does look a player, blessed with skill and pace, but perhaps more importantly smart and calm. A clever one-two with Lallana to release his team-mate into the area.
9.43pm GMT
85 min: Tottenham react to falling behind by sending on Soldado, who replaces Dembele.
9.43pm GMT
Lallana slides the ball out wide right to Ibe, who draws his man before sliding a pass back to his team-mate. Lallana strides into the area, and fires a low cross into the six-yard box, where Balotelli batters home from close range! Anfield erupts. Balotelli barely raises an eyebrow. You know how he rolls.
9.40pm GMT
82 min: These two teams appear a little bit tired now. No wonder.
9.40pm GMT
81 min: Eriksen is replaced by Chadli.
9.39pm GMT
80 min: Dembele rolls a pass wide right for Kane, who from the corner of the penalty area looks for the bottom left! He’s nothing if not confident. This one’s dragged across the face of goal and out for a goal kick, though.
9.37pm GMT
79 min: The corner is a thundering non-event.
9.37pm GMT
78 min: Moreno, in a thicket down the left, whips a crossfield pass to Ibe, who makes off down the wing before one-twoing with Balotelli and winning a corner. Before the set piece can be taken, Markovic is replaced by Lallana. “Rose’s flank attacks in the Arsenal game were excellent,” argues Will Oliver. “He was worth a place on that day.”
9.35pm GMT
76 min: It’s been a high-octane affair, this. But some of the sting is drawn from the atmosphere, as Walker is down getting a spot of treatment. It’s pretty much the first stoppage of the evening!
9.33pm GMT
74 min: Sturridge is replaced by Balotelli. As if this game wasn’t freeform enough already.
9.32pm GMT
73 min: Can goes on a Beckenbaueresque strut down the middle of the park, before sashaying off to the left wing. He’s got the beating of Walker, who brings him down and leaves a sly foot in. It’s only a yellow.
9.29pm GMT
70 min: Coutinho strokes another ball down the left channel, this time for Moreno. The full back whistles a shot towards the bottom-left corner, but Lloris is behind that one. “If it saves you some time, you don’t need to add ‘despite Liverpool looking a little light at the back’,” suggests Matt Dony. “We’ll just assume that’s the case unless told otherwise.”
9.27pm GMT
69 min: A change for each side. Gerrard departs for Lovren, while Mason is sacrificed for Paulinho.
9.27pm GMT
67 min: Coutinho rolls a lovely ball towards Sturridge, down the inside left. Just as the striker cocks his leg to shoot, Dier comes in to execute a perfect slide tackle. Anfield screams for a penalty, but the correct decision is a corner. Henderson’s delivery isn’t up to much.
9.25pm GMT
65 min: Ibe embarks on a baroque ramble down the right, then inside, as he makes for the area. He lays off to Markovic, who miscontrols. Spurs flood upfield but can’t quite get it together, despite Liverpool looking a little light at the back. This is like a cup tie.
9.22pm GMT
64 min: Dembele is booked for a nothing challenge on Moreno in the middle of the park. Quite a few bookings so far, and to be honest, it’s not been a nasty game. “For all the excellent progress being made under Pochettino, week in week out I struggle to see why Danny Rose makes it into the team ahead of Davies,” sighs Peter Crosby. “Looked dodgy first half and a stupid challenge like that seemed like an inevitability.”
9.22pm GMT
63 min: An equaliser is nothing more than Spurs deserve. Markovic romps into space down the right, but his attempt to finds Moreno at the far post is neither one thing or the other.
9.21pm GMT
Gerrard’s poor challenge costs Liverpool. Eriksen whips a gorgeous free kick towards the top left. Mignolet parries brilliantly, but only to Kane, to the left of goal. Kane zips a ball into the middle, allowing Dembele to chest home from a couple of yards. Mignolet is livid, claiming Kane was offside. And he might have been, by an inch or two. But you can’t be giving offside for that. Benefit of doubt to the attacker, see.
9.19pm GMT
60 min: Spurs have been the better team since the restart, despite falling behind. They press Liverpool back, panicking Gerrard into a late slide on Kane. That’s a free kick, 25 yards out, just to the left of goal, and a deserved booking for Gerrard.
9.17pm GMT
57 min: Spurs come straight back at Liverpool, through Lamela down the right. Liverpool look wide open, but Lamela hesitates, and Kane is forced to settle for the corner. From the set piece on the right, another corner’s won on the left. Mignolet punches that one clear. Dier attempts to volley a return, and just about sources the Kop. A sorry end, but Tottenham were looking extremely dangerous there. This is a great end-to-end game, and it’ll be quite a surprise if it ends 2-1.
9.15pm GMT
56 min: Sturridge should release Markovic clear on goal, down the inside-right channel, but his attempted slide-rule pass is easily blocked by Vertonghen. A chance spurned, there.
9.14pm GMT
55 min: Mason powers down the middle of the park. Sakho gets a block in. But in comes Lamela, who meets the loose ball and absolutely smashes a rising shot towards the top-left corner from the edge of the D. Mignolet tips over the bar, a spectacular stop. What a save! The corner comes to nothing.
9.12pm GMT
Gerrard blooters the spot kick into the top right, though Lloris got a fingertip to it. That’s the Liverpool captain’s tenth goal of the season, and his fifth penalty.
9.11pm GMT
51 min: Liverpool show up front for the first time since the restart, Moreno latching on to a speculative Gerrard crossfield ball and winning a corner by the left-hand post. The resulting set piece isn’t up to much, Dier guiding a deep ball out of play on the right. From the wing, Sturridge dribbles into the area, and is clumsily upended by Rose. It’s a cheap one, a totally unnecessary challenge by the full back.
9.09pm GMT
50 min: Mason loops a ball down the inside-right channel to find Kane in the area. Kane spins and shoots in one smooth movement, but he’s blocked by Sakho. Fine play all round, that.
9.08pm GMT
49 min: Spurs have come out on the front foot, though. Eriksen isn’t far away from rolling a defence-splitting pass into the Liverpool box to release Bentaleb, but the ball’s hacked clear at the last.
9.07pm GMT
48 min: A slower start to this half, though. Perhaps both teams have decided that they simply couldn’t keep carrying on like that.
9.05pm GMT
46 min: But Ibe’s first job of the second half is to battle Rose for a ball down the Spurs left, the left-back hoping to break into the Liverpool area. Ibe is strong and wins the goal kick. An early sign that Tottenham certainly aren’t going to settle for a point, though.
9.04pm GMT
And we’re off again! Spurs get the ball rolling, kicking towards the Kop. No changes. If this is half as good as the first period, we’ll be doing all right. “Ibe is revealing himself to be quite the player is he not?” asks Michael Cosgrove. “He’s becoming a real menace for defences. I only have to read ‘Ibe wriggles free of...’ or ‘Ibe sets off down the right...’ and I’m expecting something to happen.”
8.51pm GMT
Half-time entertainment: Anyone for an old Joy of Six, celebrating some classic matches between these two grand old clubs? A stellar cast of stars includes, among others, Dave Mackay, Willie Stevenson, Terry Dyson, Cliff Jones, Terry McDermott, Jimmy Greaves, Ian St John, Kevin Keegan, Pat Jennings, Ronnie Whelan, Garth Crooks and Teddy Sheringham. Marvellous.
8.49pm GMT
That was breathless, free-form, highly entertaining nonsense. How there’s only been two goals in it, I’ll never know. Another 45 minutes like that will do very nicely indeed.
8.48pm GMT
45 min +2: Sturridge hits the right-hand post with a back heel! Ibe causes more bother down the right. He finds the striker with his back to goal, six yards out. And there’s the back heel, which his hammered onto the post with Lloris beaten all ends up! What an effort that was. Markovic, a couple of yards away, wanted the lay-off for a simple tap-in, but you can’t blame Sturridge after that.
8.47pm GMT
45 min +1: Dembele turns Sakho down the right wing. Sakho - who had been attempting to tap-dance on the ball, before falling over in the slapstick style, brings his opponent down. A no-brainer of a booking, in more ways than one.
8.46pm GMT
45 min: There will be two added minutes of this. Is it nearly half time already?!
8.43pm GMT
43 min: Free kick for Liverpool down the right. Gerrard hoicks it aimlessly towards the far post, Spurs clearing with ease. Once again, the Liverpool captain hasn’t been at his best, but that’s the nature of time for you.
8.42pm GMT
41 min: Mason slips a fine pass down the inside-left channel, releasing Kane into the Liverpool area. He’s one on one with Mignolet, but the keeper smothers well. It should be a corner, but the flag goes up for offside, incorrectly as Ibe was sitting deep.
8.41pm GMT
40 min: Skrtel is booked for a nick on Kane’s ankles, as the two compete for a ball in the midfield. Clumsy, and cheap, but he can’t complain too much.
8.39pm GMT
38 min: Ibe embarks on a high-velocity zig-zag, drifting in from the right. Upon reaching the edge of the box, he hammers a rising, swerving shot towards Lloris, who parries brilliantly. Vertonghen steps in to head the rebound gracefully back into the arms of the grateful keeper.
8.38pm GMT
36 min: A game of head tennis in the midfield. Must have been six or seven in a row there, little triangulated passes, mainly off Tottenham heads. Spurs channelling their inner Harlem Globetrotters. Hope the PA guy has a copy of Sweet Georgia Brown to hand, just in case something like this breaks out again.
8.35pm GMT
34 min: Ibe causes a bit more bother down the right, but though he makes it past a couple of white shirts en route to the penalty area, can’t do anything when he gets there, and Spurs clear the danger.
8.33pm GMT
32 min: Eriksen loses possession again in the middle. Spurs are taking all sorts of risks. A long ball’s looped down the park. Markovic nearly gets to it, 30 yards out, and if he did he’d have been able to lob it over Lloris, advancing rashly from his area. But Vertonghen applies enough pressure to put the Liverpool man off. This is not going to end 1-1.
8.31pm GMT
31 min: Henderson has a couple of shots from the edge of the Spurs box. Both are blocked. Then Coutinho wins a corner down the left, but Dier clears the set piece. This is as open a game as there’s been all season.
8.30pm GMT
29 min: Mason whips a dangerous looking ball into the Liverpool area from the left. Skrtel saves the day with Kane lurking, a lovely diving header upfield. Meanwhile a rather fine moment on BT Sport a couple of moments back there, as the commentator announces how they’ve secured 42 live matches a season between 2016 to 2019. Mid-boast, the producer accidentally cuts to a shot of an empty corridor outside the Anfield changing rooms, one bloke ambling down it, hands in pockets. Live and exclusive!
8.28pm GMT
28 min: Eriksen is booked for a cynical tug on Ibe, who was looking to break down the right. From the set piece, Henderson knocks down for Sturridge, 25 yards out. The striker volleys towards the top left, but it’s a good few miles over the bar. Wild.
8.27pm GMT
Liverpool’s back four are all over the shop. Sakho’s marking Kane on the edge of the D. He wanders towards Lamela, to the left, and misses the Dane’s pass inside while doing so. Totally wrong-footed. Kane’s suddenly free in the area! He takes a touch, and batters a shot straight past Mignolet, pace beating the keeper. What a start to the game this is!
8.24pm GMT
24 min: Mason picks up the first booking of the evening for a fairly crude lunge into the back of Markovic. He doesn’t complain.
8.24pm GMT
23 min: This is bombing along at 100 miles per hour. Both teams pressing like billy-o. It’s magnificent entertainment. The ball breaks to Kane on the halfway line. He tries to beat Mignolet, a la Xabi Alonso. The ball flies well wide right of the target, but hats off for ambition.
8.22pm GMT
20 min: Another Spurs gift! Sturridge intercepts another sloppy pass and makes off for the box at the Kop end. He’s just ahead of Dier, and about to shoot, just inside the area, when the defender extends a telescopic leg and somehow blocks. A brilliant challenge, which diverts the shot over the crossbar. Then there’s some karmic payback for Spurs, who have been very generous with all these presents: the referee gives them the goal kick. Sturridge doesn’t look best pleased about it, but this is the way it is.
8.20pm GMT
19 min: Eriksen lifts a pass over Can down the left, releasing Rose into the box. Skrtel blocks for a corner. The set piece, worked in from the left, is nearly turned into the goal from six yards by Bentaleb, doing his best Cruyffesque flick. Another corner, which is cleared. Spurs are pressing for a quick equaliser.
8.18pm GMT
17 min: Liverpool are extremely open at the back. Kane advances on the Liverpool box, and slides a pass left to Eriksen, who’s free in the area. He shoots low, but from nowhere, Can slides over to block for a corner that’s easily cleared. I’m guessing this won’t be ending 1-0.
8.16pm GMT
Kane nearly breaks clear into the Liverpool box down the right. He opts not to shoot immediately, but cuts inside. Mason has a dig, but Mignolet is behind it all the way. Liverpool launch the ball upfield, and Markovic picks up possession 40 yards out, to the right of goal. Markovic drifts left as he reaches the area, then sends a bobbler towards the bottom right. Lloris should parry at least, but allows the weak(ish) effort to flap his hands back. The ball flies into the net, and Markovic has his first goal at Anfield. What an open start to the game this has been!
8.14pm GMT
13 min: Magnificent play by Ibe, who is released down the right by a raking crossfield Gerrard pass. He twists Rose this way and that, reaches the byline, and finds Markovic on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Markovic lays off for Sturridge, just behind him. Sturridge slaps a shot towards the bottom left. It’s a brilliant effort, but parried wonderfully by Lloris. Dier clears.
8.12pm GMT
12 min: A bit of space for Moreno down the left. He reaches the byline and pulls a fierce ball back for Markovic, whose first-time blooter from 12 yards, just to the left of goal, sails high into the Kop. “They should invite that cat back,” opines Marie Meyer. “The pitch looks like it is infested with moles.”
8.11pm GMT
10 min: Rose miscontrols again, and can’t even connect with a handball. He’s trying to stop Ibe cutting in from the right. And he eventually does that, by taking the young winger down, 30 yards from goal, just to the right of the target. Gerrard takes the set piece, and looks to whip one into the top-right corner. It’s not that far off, but high enough, and Lloris watches it fly over.
8.10pm GMT
9 min: Another slack pass in the midfield by Spurs. Sturridge goes off on a powerful run down the inside-right channel. He’s just clear of the last man, but once he reaches the area, his low shot towards the bottom left is easily smothered by Lloris.
8.08pm GMT
7 min: Lamela plays a delicious reverse pass down the inside-right channel to release Kane into the Liverpool area. Well, nearly. It goes out for a goal kick, just, with Mignolet off his line to cover. Kane leaps over Mignolet and makes a half-arsed claim for a penalty, but he doesn’t really seem to believe it himself. The keeper taking a chance there, though.
8.07pm GMT
4 min: Spurs are seeing a little bit more of the ball than the hosts. Already a suggestion that they’re getting the upper hand in the middle of the park. But then Mason gifts the ball to Markovic in the centre circle. Markovic tries to feed Sturridge with a flicked pass down the left channel. But it’s overhit, and out for a goal kick.
8.04pm GMT
3 min: Rose misses his kick while attempting to clear upfield. Ibe picks up possession and romps down the right, winning a corner. Gerrard takes, and hits deep. Skrtel gets on the end of it, but the ball clanks between his legs. He can’t get a shot away.
8.02pm GMT
2 min: Dembele goes on a determined meander down the inside-right channel. He nearly breaks clear into the box, but opts to feed Kane on the outside, and the move peters out. A strong start by the visitors, though. “I must take issue with Ian Copestake,” insists Paul Ewart. “I’m sat in Finland with a face on because Joe Allen’s not playing. Well more because Lucas is injured to be honest and because the skipper’s back in the middle. I thought Brendan had learned his lesson. Let’s hope I’m wrong.”
8.01pm GMT
The Gerry and the Pacemakers (kids, ask granny or grandad) seven-inch (kids, ask granny or grandad) is whacked on the turntable, the crowd join in, and the referee blows his whistle: we’re off! Liverpool must have lost the toss, because they’re being made to kick towards the Kop in the first half, something they’re never that keen on. They also kick off. Both sets of fans giving it plenty.
7.58pm GMT
The teams are out, on a cold night at Anfield! A fine atmosphere under the lights. The pre-match niceties are being observed, hands, pennants, mascots, the whole palaver. One of the Liverpool mascots is frozen by a bout of shyness, and doesn’t want to go out. Poor wee mite. Hope he enjoys the rest of his evening. We’ll be off in a minute! “Surely the Seeing is Believing organisation missed a good bit of humorous PR by not sponsoring the Premier League refs, rather than Liverpool?” quips Justin Kavanagh.
7.45pm GMT
Why we may see goals tonight. “Thank heaven for Brendan’s decision not to include Joe Allen as a starter,” sighs Ian Copestake. “I had promised myself that if he had, I would not go to the pub to see the game but would sit on the couch arms folded with the face on till the final whistle.” You might have the face on anyway, because Liverpool’s selection looks quite the attacking gamble. Three defenders, two of whom like to dribble upfield at every given opportunity, a marauding full back, two wingers, a playmaker, a striker, a bloke on a valedictory lap of honour, and Jordan Henderson asked to hold it all together. It could be a shambles. It could also be brilliant. Either way, let’s hope Mario Balotelli and Adam Lallana get thrown on at some point; Liverpool may as well go the whole mercurial hog. Liverpool owner John Henry’s in the stand tonight, too, so you can’t accuse Brendan Rodgers of playing it safe. This swashbuckling Tottenham side, who have played out a 2-2, a 4-2 and a 5-3 in recent weeks, look almost conservative by comparison. Almost.
7.12pm GMT
Daniel Sturridge starts for the first time in the Premier League since Liverpool won 3-0 at White Hart Lane in late August. Mario Balotelli’s made the squad, too, so memories of that sunny day will be strong in the home dressing room.
Tottenham Hotspur meanwhile are unchanged from the weekend. That’s no surprise given how wonderful they were against Arsenal. Spurs will be turning out in their famous white shirts ...
7.04pm GMT
Liverpool: Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Sakho, Markovic, Henderson, Gerrard, Moreno, Ibe, Coutinho, Sturridge.
Subs: Johnson, Lovren, Lambert, Lallana, Allen, Balotelli, Ward.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose, Bentaleb, Mason, Lamela, Eriksen, Dembele, Kane.
Subs: Paulinho, Soldado, Vorm, Townsend, Fazio, Chadli, Davies.
7.00pm GMT
The last time Spurs took a point away from Anfield was in February 2012. A fairly tedious 0-0 draw, mainly remembered for the return of Luis Suarez from the Evra suspension, Harry Redknapp’s plane north being grounded due to technical difficulties, and a first-half cameo from this Lil Bub tribute act:
6.30pm GMT
3-2. 5-0. 4-0. 3-0. Liverpool’s recent record against Tottenham Hotspur – four wins, two at home, two away, with 15 goals scored and only a couple shipped – is as good as it gets in football. All runs must come to an end sometime, of course, but on the face of that evidence – and the fact that Spurs have only won in the league at Anfield four times in the last 103 years – you’d have Brendan Rodgers’ side down as strong favourites here tonight.
But it is, of course, never quite as simple as that. Liverpool are on a decent-enough run of form right now. It’s no defeats in the league since mid December, an eight-game run. And their much-maligned defensive unit – Simon Mignolet, Emre Can, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho – haven’t conceded a goal in the league for four matches. Daniel Sturridge is back and already looking sharp, while the super-promising Jordon Ibe is the new vibe. But Raheem Sterling and Lucas are injured tonight, while Steven Gerrard’s form has fallen off a cliff, games passing him by with worrying regularity. He might be timing his exit well, you know.
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The Fiver | 60% of the time, it works every time
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LOUIS LONG BAAL
It’s easy to mock, but statistics can help us better understand the world around us. Here’s one by way of illustration: 57% of the folk who willingly spend more than three seconds per decade analysing data from football, a game conceived back in the 1850s as a fun diversion from the mundanities of work, subsist on a predominantly meat-paste-based diet. Another 26% wear slacks consisting of 70% polyester, 20% cotton, and 10% dried juices from food-flavoured spreads. And 15% are listed on at least one official State Department register, and accordingly monitored by the authorities, for the greater good of society. But a few normal people read stats, too, required to pore over them for purposes of work rather than pleasure. Economists, for example. Or scientists, or structural engineers. Or Louis van Gaal, who needs them for his job at Manchester United, where his chief responsibilities appear to be starting arguments in press conferences, and wearing an affronted look on his coupon in press conferences, if the fruits of the first eight months of his labour at Old Trafford are anything to go by.
BREAKING NEWS
February 7, 2015
Everton v Liverpool: Premier League - as it happened | Scott Murray
After 16 years, Steven Gerrard says goodbye to Merseyside derbies (in the Premier League, at least) with a damp squib of a match.
7.22pm GMT
Another Goodison draw, then. Steven Gerrard looks deflated, there’s no fairytale ending for him in Merseyside derbies. Unless something daft’s going to happen in the Europa League. Something daft’s not going to happen in the Europa League, is it?
7.21pm GMT
90 min +2: Mignolet lumps a goal kick upfield. Lambert, under it, concedes a pointless free kick. Barkley makes good for the Liverpool box, but loses possession soon enough.
7.20pm GMT
90 min +1: Liverpool take a throw-in. If there was more to report, I’d report it.
7.19pm GMT
90 min: Barkley can pick a pass all right. He slides one down the inside-right channel to release Lennon into the area. Lennon, on the byline, whips one into the middle, but Mignolet claims at his near post. There will be three added minutes of this tumult.
7.18pm GMT
89 min: Not much of note is being achieved at the moment. A lot of nervous energy about; it’s very frantic. “Lambert?” wonders Marie Meyer. “Rodgers really is a sentimental softie, isn’t he?”
7.17pm GMT
88 min: And now Gerrard nearly writes the fairytale script! Barkley gives the ball away in the middle, allowing Sturridge to romp off down the left. The striker passes infield for Gerrard, who connects first time on the edge of the D. He’s looking to sidefoot powerfully into the bottom left, but the effort’s well wide.
7.15pm GMT
87 min: Everton nearly win it! Barkley slides a pass down the right for Coleman, who is in acres of space! He takes a step into the box and unleashes a riser towards the top left. It’s heading in, but parried brilliantly by Mignolet. That’s Everton’s first shot on target.
7.15pm GMT
85 min: A double change by Everton. Barkley comes on for Naismith, while Besic is replaced by Alcaraz. Just before the switches, Lukaku wasn’t far away from meeting a deep Barry left-wing cross with a header from 12 yards.
7.13pm GMT
7.13pm GMT
84 min: Sturridge, on the left, shuttles the ball inside for Gerrard, on the edge of the Everton D. Gerrard further moves it on for Lambert, who turns and looks to slash a diagonal shot into the bottom left. He doesn’t catch it properly.
7.12pm GMT
83 min: Lambert, 30 yards out and under a high ball, chests down and attempts a power volley. It’s blocked at source by Stones. Liverpool have turned it up a little here.
7.11pm GMT
82 min: Can rolls a ball down the right for Sturridge, who fires a low cross into the area for Gerrard. Jagielka toes out for a corner on that side. Before it can be taken, Sterling is replaced by Lambert. The resulting set piece is a waste of everyone’s time.
7.09pm GMT
80 min: That mini spat has enlivened things, though. Sakho - not for the first time today - is caught dawdling on the ball, by Lennon, and Liverpool are nearly opened up down the right. A ball’s eventually swung into the box, Skrtel heading clear. The crowd are up for this again, though. It’s on! A ten-minute classic, please!
7.08pm GMT
78 min: Wahey! It all kicks off! Ibe and Besic tangle, the latter pinning the former to the deck. Then Henderson and Naismith jog over, exchange words, and suddenly the blue funk descends on both players. For a second, it looks like blows might be exchanged, Henderson giving it the bouncer eyes, just as he did to Diego Costa the other week. But it all calms down quickly enough. Henderson and Besic are booked, and to be fair the pair are soon exchanging smiles, with twinkles in the eyes. There’s lovely.
7.06pm GMT
76 min: Lukaku gets the better of Can this time, though, bombing down the left and breaking towards the box. Moreno, tracking back to help, concedes the corner. The set piece is a nonsense, Lennon eventually slicing the ball into the stand, Mignolet not threatened at all.
7.04pm GMT
75 min: Can and Lukaku have a dribbling contest to the left of the Liverpool area. For a second it looks like the striker will power clear into the box, then Can digs his way out of trouble. Eventually the pair end up in a tangled heap of legs and arms, like clothes straight out of the washing machine. Free kick to Liverpool, though it was a fairly equal fight. And a pleasantly entertaining diversion. Yes, it’s come to this.
7.02pm GMT
73 min: ... and with the box loaded, fails to beat the first man. That’s poor, but in keeping with much of this game.
7.01pm GMT
72 min: Ibe zips past Oviedo yet again. He’s put on his face by the full back, an incredibly clumsy attempt from behind to win the ball. A booking, and a free kick, 25 yards out, level with the right-hand edge of the Everton area. Gerrard takes ...
7.01pm GMT
7.00pm GMT
70 min: Ibe skins Oviedo down the right. The pull back finds Sturridge, who can’t get a powerful shot away at close range. Then Can dances into the Everton area down the right, a real twinkle-toed effort in a tight spot. He slips the ball back to Moreno, who blooters miles over the bar. That’s a little better from Liverpool, if still not particularly great.
6.58pm GMT
69 min: Now Coleman, in spaces down the right, finds the middle of the Gwladys Street End with his cross. Nobody in the stadium’s particularly happy right now.
6.57pm GMT
68 min: Jagielka, on the halfway line, hoofs a ball straight upfield into the arms of Mignolet. There wasn’t anyone within 20 yards of the keeper. Dearie me.
6.56pm GMT
67 min: Coleman turns the gas on, and wheechs down the right, leaving Moreno for dust. He exchanges passes with Lennon, then crosses towards Lukaku, but Skrtel clumps a header clear, then the flag goes up for offside. That’s better from Everton, though.
6.54pm GMT
65 min: Allen clatters into Naismith again. A free kick for Everton, 35 yards out, on the left. It’s cleared without fuss by Skrtel. Nothing much is coming off right now, for Everton or Liverpool. It’s pretty poor stuff at the moment, in fact, if we’re being honest with ourselves.
6.52pm GMT
62 min: Henderson tries the same thing, but down the other channel. He nearly springs Sterling free, but Coleman steps in to intercept. A fine read by the Everton full back. Here’s Justin Kavanagh re the Everton fan’s good old-fashioned double two-fingered salute to Gerrard (10 mins): “He’s going to miss that in California when they’ll be shouting ‘nice play, dude!’ and giving him the double two-fingered peace sign.”
6.50pm GMT
61 min: Henderson, from the centre circle, rolls an exploratory pass down the inside-right channel. It’s overcooked, and out of play for a goal kick, but wasn’t far away from releasing Ibe into the box. That would have been something, if it had come off. On the touchline, Brendan Rodgers gives his vice-captain the thumbs up.
6.48pm GMT
60 min: Liverpool are pressing Everton back, albeit without threatening much. The home side respond by swapping Mirallas for Lennon, who comes on to make his Everton debut.
6.46pm GMT
57 min: It’s gone scrappy again. Everton will be happy enough to disrupt Liverpool’s early second-half flow, though.
6.44pm GMT
55 min: Coutinho, perhaps as a precautionary measure, having felt the force of Besic’s challenge towards the end of the first half, is withdrawn in favour of Sturridge. The new man takes Sterling’s place up front, with Sterling dropping back into Coutinho’s playmaking role.
6.43pm GMT
53 min: Coutinho slips a lovely ball down the inside-left channel to release Sterling, who shoots straight at Joel from an admittedly tight angle. The corner, from the left, drops to Gerrard, who executes a spectacular bicycle kick, level with the right-hand post, 12 yards out. The ball’s flying goalwards, but skims off Naismith’s head and out for three rugby points. The next set piece comes to nothing. But Liverpool have carved out a few chances since the restart, and Everton need to regroup quickly.
6.41pm GMT
51 min: McCarthy gives the ball to Coutinho, who sprays a pass down the inside left for Sterling to run onto. Sterling enters the area and looks for the bottom right, but his shot is weak and easily snaffled by Joel. Everton are doing their level best to self-destruct here, though. Really daft mistakes.
6.40pm GMT
50 min: Barry nearly gifts Liverpool the lead. He loses the ball cheaply to Coutinho, who has Ibe and Gerrard to his right, with only Stones back for Everton. But he’s caught between shooting and passing, and does neither, finding Stones instead. The Everton defender does his best to give Coutinho a second chance at working an opening on the edge of the area, but eventually Gerrard is flagged offside.
6.38pm GMT
49 min: ... and curls a mighty fine effort inches wide of the bottom-left corner. I think Mignolet might have been able to turn that round the post were it on target. But a decent effort from distance, nevertheless. That would have wiped out his moral debt from that penalty against West Brom, and then some.
6.37pm GMT
48 min: Allen clips Naismith’s ankles, a totally unnecessary challenge which gives Everton a free kick, 30 yards out, just to the left of goal. Mirallas looks as if he’s got the top corner in his sights. He steps up ...
6.35pm GMT
47 min: All a bit scrappy since the restart. The atmosphere’s dropped a couple of notches, too. Plenty of time for these two teams to address that.
6.34pm GMT
The teams are out again, and we’re off! No changes. Naismith had landed on his head while clambering over Allen (16 mins) and for a while in the first half it looked as though Barkley might replace him. But he’s out and about again. Liverpool get the ball rolling.
6.23pm GMT
Half-time feelgood factor: Just in case you missed it, the BBC were interviewing random folk on the streets of Liverpool earlier this week, asking them for their favourite Merseyside derby memories. The reporter, Tony Wilson soundalike Stuart Flinders, innocently asked one gentleman if he could remember a particular FA Cup encounter in 1967 ... only to discover he was talking to Liverpool legend Tommy Lawrence, who played in the game!
In England the first real exponent of the sweeper-keeper’s art was Liverpool’s Tommy Lawrence. Nicknamed the Flying Pig for the way he would charge from his line, his willingness to act as an additional defender allowed Liverpool to play with what was, for the time, an aggressively high offside line.
6.18pm GMT
And that’s that for the opening 45. Like we said at the start: high-octane, if not particularly distinguished. Entertaining, though, with Liverpool coming closest through Ibe’s pearler. The second period should be fascinating. No flipping!
6.16pm GMT
45 min: Coutinho is upended by Besic, and grimaces quite a lot. Looks like he’s twisted his left knee in a robust but fair challenge. He immediately signalled to the bench, but that might have been more in panic than pain. After a mop down with a damp sponge, he’s trotting around again.
6.13pm GMT
43 min: Ibe has the better of Oviedo right now. He teases him again, down the right, and wins a corner out of not very much. Coutinho’s delivery is, however, appalling.
6.11pm GMT
40 min: Sterling is upended down the right wing. Liverpool load the box. Gerrard elects to slip a surprise ball left for Can, whose looped forward ball is easily cleared by Everton. What a waste of good field position. Liverpool guilty of over-thinking, there.
6.09pm GMT
39 min: Mirallas - who was brilliant at Anfield despite Everton’s 4-0 loss last January - steals the ball off a sleeping Allen. He should be rewarded for his bustling efforts with a corner kick, the ball coming off Can, who had come over to help. But no dice.
6.08pm GMT
38 min: Lukaku powers down the left after a long ball, and so nearly gets the better of Can, who was looking concerned until the flag went up for offside.
6.07pm GMT
37 min: McCarthy is booked, and rightly so, for a fair old lunge on Coutinho. He doesn’t insult the referee’s intelligence by complaining, instead taking his medicine like an adult.
6.06pm GMT
36 min: Coutinho drops a shoulder, cuts in from the left, and attempts to recreate his winner at Bolton. All good until the final execution, as the ball loops harmlessly into Joel’s hands. Liverpool have drawn a little of Everton’s sting in the last couple of minutes, and the crowd quieten accordingly.
6.04pm GMT
34 min: After a quiet period, Liverpool apply a little pressure. Ibe, Sterling and Coutinho are all heavily involved in a move of Extreme Triangulation back and forth across the front of the Everton box. But the home team hold firm, closing all gaps. Eventually both momentum and ball are lost.
6.02pm GMT
32 min: Barry launches long for Lukaku down the left. He’s very nearly clear in the box, but Skrtel holds his line and bundles the ball away before a shot can be struck in anger. Though Mignolet hasn’t had a shot to save yet, Everton look the more likely to break the deadlock right now.
6.00pm GMT
29 min: Everton stroke it around the back awhile, opting to take a little heat out of the game. But suddenly they spring forward through Mirallas down the right. His first cross is cut out by Sakho, the second by Skrtel. He’s causing all manner of trouble. Right at the start of Everton’s move, Sakho was hustled off the ball by McCarthy and Naismith. Everton are playing a pretty impressive pressing game right now.
5.57pm GMT
26 min: Ibe skitters down the inside-right channel, teasing Oviedo this way and that. Then, 30 yards out, he unleashes a rising heatseeker towards the top left. It’s off target, but only just, battering the left-hand post and away to safety. What an effort from the young man!
5.55pm GMT
24 min: Before Naismith could be treated, Liverpool had launched an attack, unaware of the stricken Everton player’s status. Sterling chases a long ball down the left, and is nearly released into the box, but Stones holds his ground. Sterling claims a penalty when the ball hits Stones on the arse, which is cheeky all right. Naismith’s back on, by the way.
5.53pm GMT
22 min: Coleman goes on a barnstorming run down the right. He loops a cross into the middle. Can should cut it out, but misjudges his leap. The ball falls to Naismith, who is clear, ten yards out, but perhaps surprised by the ball’s arrival, miscontrols. And it looks like he’s injured himself while twisting his body in a futile effort to connect. He’s down receiving treatment, anyway.
5.51pm GMT
20 min: Lukaku and Naismith ping a couple of passes together down the inside-right channel, nearly opening up Liverpool again. Sakho is on hand to steal possession before the decisive pass can be made. But Everton, after a slow start, are beginning to impose themselves.
5.50pm GMT
19 min: Naismith nearly bustles clear into the area, down the inside-right, after a stramash on the edge of the Liverpool box. Skrtel gets a toe in to poke out for a corner, before the Everton man can cock his leg back to shoot. The corner comes to nothing.
5.49pm GMT
17 min: A strange business here, as Sterling screws a shot from the left channel across the face of goal. Ibe should get to the loose ball first, but hesitates, perhaps unwilling to clatter Joel, as he might do if he arrives quickly. The ball bounces out of play on the right, apologetically, when for a while it appeared Ibe would be sidefooting into an empty net.
5.47pm GMT
16 min: That’s a big loss for Liverpool. Lucas has been exceptional of late. Joe Allen was anything but against Bolton during the week. Then again, Allen’s developing a habit of drawing fouls from the opposition. Neil Danns fouled him twice to get himself sent off in the Bolton game, and now Naismith’s penalised for clambering all over him, Allen’s first act of the match.
5.45pm GMT
15 min: It’s all over for Lucas, who appears to have a problem with his thigh. Looking extremely unhappy, he walks off with the left-hand leg of his shorts hoicked up, to illustrate the problem. Joe Allen will be on in a minute.
5.43pm GMT
12 min: Crystal Palace Simon Mignolet comes out to play, hoicking a simple pass straight out of play down the left. He’s been decent of late, to be fair, but that’s just inviting trouble. Besic comes back at Liverpool, rolling a ball down the left-hand channel in the hope of springing Naismith free. Can steps across to snuff out the danger in a very calm manner.
5.41pm GMT
10 min: Barry fairly agriculturally upends Coutinho, 25 yards out, just to the left of goal. Gerrard takes the free kick. It’s heading for the top left, but is tipped over by Joel. Magnificent effort, magnificent save. Behind the goal, a Everton fan gestures to Gerrard, a good old-fashioned double two-fingered salute, her hands thrust into the air several times so there’s no ambiguity. Marvellous. She should get a free season ticket for that. Nothing comes of the corner.
5.39pm GMT
8 min: Sterling chases after a long ball down the left. Joel comes out to claim, but backtracks. Sterling attempts to beat the retreating keeper at the near post, but can only find the side netting. Coutinho was screaming for a pull-back on the edge of the area, and has a face on as a result.
5.38pm GMT
7 min: Sakho decides to embark on a Beckenbaueresque run from deep on the left. He’s quickly dispossessed by Naismith, but the Everton man’s flick for Mirallas down the wing finds his team-mate offside. Seconds later, Mirallas is zipping down the same flank, whipping a low cross into the area. Mignolet is out quickly to smother.
5.36pm GMT
5 min: Coleman rolls a ball down the right for Mirallas, who appears to be shoved to the floor by Sakho. But there’s no decision. Everton make do with a throw, from which the ball’s pumped fairly aimlessly into the Liverpool box.
5.34pm GMT
3 min: A free kick for Liverpool, 30 yards out to the left. Gerrard’s deep set piece, meant for Skrtel, is easily cleared by Everton, who break upfield. Lukaku rakes a pass down the inside-left channel for Mirallas, who lets the ball clank between his legs. A quick return ball would have split Liverpool in two there. Both teams already showing their attacking intent.
5.33pm GMT
2 min: Ibe makes good down the right. He shifts the ball inside for Sterling, who drops a shoulder and makes spaces on the edge of the box. He should shoot, really, but opts to shift left to Moreno, who is in acres. Moreno romps into the box, but his pull back isn’t much cop. Everton breathe again.
5.31pm GMT
And we’re off! Everton get the ball rolling, kicking towards the Park End Stand in the first half. One hell of a roar. Everton launch it long, and Moreno shoves McCarthy in the back. This’ll be a free kick in a dangerous position, 30 yards out, down the right. The ball’s swung into the area, and headed powerfully clear by Skrtel. A high-octane, if not a particularly distinguished, start.
5.28pm GMT
The teams are out! What an atmosphere, as hands are shaken and coins are tossed. You don’t need to be told, but we’ll say it anyway. Everton play in their famous blue strip ...
5.07pm GMT
Everton honour the 96. A plaque has been unveiled at a pre-match ceremony by Everton chairman Bill Kenwright and Margaret Aspinall, chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, in memory of the fans who lost their lives on that terrible day back in 1989. Kenny Dalglish and Colin Harvey, the managers of Liverpool and Everton that year, were also in attendance. Here’s to justice.
4.45pm GMT
An eye-opener in each starting XI. For Everton, Leighton Baines is missing, a knee injury keeping him out. His place is taken by Bryan Oviedo. Meanwhile Liverpool hand only a second Premier League start to 19-year-old winger Jordon Ibe. Now, a fixture with the status of the Merseyside derby doesn’t necessarily need such a boost, of course, but unexpected team changes - whether through injury or curveball selections - always an extra frisson to a match, don’t they? The appetite’s whetted, that’s for sure. The last two stagings of this fixture ended 2-2 and 3-3. Another 4-4 to file alongside the famous Cup game of 1991, then? Few would complain.
4.33pm GMT
Everton: Everton: Robles, Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Oviedo, McCarthy, Besic, Barry, Mirallas, Lukaku, Naismith.
Subs: Gibson, Kone, Barkley, Lennon, Browning, Alcaraz, Griffiths.
Liverpool: Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Sakho, Ibe, Henderson, Lucas, Moreno, Gerrard, Sterling, Coutinho.
Subs: Johnson, Lovren, Lambert, Sturridge, Allen, Markovic, Ward.
4.00pm GMT
Nine Merseyside derbies have been and gone since Everton last tasted victory in one. That was a 2-0 win back in October 2010, Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta scoring the goals that registered a result more comprehensive than the scoreline makes it sound. “I refuse to accept that we were in any way outplayed or inferior,” insisted Roy Hodgson after the game, his voice barely audible over the twittering of the little birds circling his head, or the spinning of his eyes, clanking around in their sockets on a hot wash programme.
Leighton Baines, Seamus Coleman, Phil Jagielka, Tim Howard and Sylvain Distin all contributed to that fully deserved win. Still around at Everton, they’ll be telling their stories in the dressing room today, in the hope of encouraging the Toffees to end a sticky run in this fixture.
Continue reading...Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal: Premier League – as it happened | Scott Murray
Harry Kane scored twice as Arsenal were blown away by a second-half Spurs whirlwind.
2.38pm GMT
That Harry Kane, huh? He’s just helped Tottenham to leapfrog Arsenal, and make it to the top four! That was a fully deserved victory by Spurs, who were all over Arsenal during that second half. Arsenal, though not at their best, didn’t even play particularly badly; they were simply blown away by the Spurs swarm, and by that man Harry Kane, who is some player all right. Champions League football - and a finish above Arsenal for the first time in a couple of decades - is a very real possibility now!
2.38pm GMT
90 min +5: The excellent Mason is replaced by Paulinho, the classic time-wasting measure.
2.37pm GMT
90 min +4: Stambouli hacks clear. The whistles are deafening. Ramsey is booked for a shoulder charge on Bentaleb, who was making off down the left. That surely should be it!
2.36pm GMT
90 min +3: Monreal hoicks the ball goalwards from 25 yards. A deflection, the ball zipping out for a corner on the left. Ozil will take.
2.36pm GMT
90 min +2: It’s easily cleared by Spurs. Kane tries to win a corner down the left, but runs the ball out of play himself.
2.35pm GMT
90 min +1: Arsenal have the ball. Spurs are sitting deep. Nerves are jangling all around White Hart Lane. Bentaleb clatters into Ozil, and is booked for his trouble. This will be a free kick, 35 yards from goal, out on the right.
2.34pm GMT
90 min: Rosicky whistles a shot at the Tottenham goal from 25 yards. It’s moving this way and that through the air, and might have taken a small deflection, but Lloris handles it calmly. There will be four additional minutes.
2.33pm GMT
89 min: The last throw of the dice by Arsenal, as Akpom comes on for Coquelin. Spurs respond, as Lamela is replaced by Stambouli.
2.32pm GMT
88 min: White Hart Lane is bouncing. Spurs are a few minutes away from their first victory over Arsenal in five games!
2.30pm GMT
This is exquisite, from English football’s new star striker. A cross from deep on the left by Bentaleb. It’s high, and dropping onto Kane’s head. The striker’s on the penalty spot, backpedaling, yet rises high, keeps strong, and guides a pinpoint header back into the top left. Ospina was totally wrong-footed by that clever, clever finish!
2.28pm GMT
85 min: It’s become quite scrappy, as the nerves kick in. Both teams are pushing forward for the winner, though all moves are breaking down as soon as they begin right now.
2.27pm GMT
84 min: Giroud is booked for a late face-to-face clatter on Mason. Nobody really complains.
2.27pm GMT
83 min: Eriksen finds a little space down the left, and slides a clever ball further down the channel, with a view of releasing Chadli into the area. Chadli didn’t read that at all, and Ospina snaffles.
2.26pm GMT
80 min: Eriksen sashays down the left, and pulls one back for Lamela, who screws a shot from the penalty spot over the bar, and wide left to boot. Kane was behind him, in a better position, but made no shout. Speaking of shouts, there was a slight coming together between Chadli and Mertesacker, as the pair contested that free kick a minute ago. Chadli gently tugged the hand of Mertesacker, who crashed to the floor. It would have been the most ridiculous of penalties, but Arsenal will certainly argue that you’ve seen those given.
2.23pm GMT
79 min: Ramsey is bundled over, 30 yards from goal. Free kick, but before that’s taken, Mason goes in the book, having hoicked the ball away so Arsenal can’t take a quick one. The eventual set piece comes to nothing.
2.21pm GMT
78 min: Welbeck, departing to a chorus of boos, is replaced by Walcott, who arrives to a chorus of boos.
2.20pm GMT
75 min: Chadli comes on for Dembele. “I must say (well, I don’t have to) that the White Hart Lane Pie of the Day looks a terrific deal at £3.50,” begins Mac Millings. “In these modern times, I would have expected it to cost around 10 times as much (in which case, I would have opined that, at that price, it had better contain some genuine Pochettino).”
2.19pm GMT
74 min: Ozil curls a delicious cross in from the left. Giroud, ten yards out, meets well, but his header flashes wide of the left-hand post. Arsenal so close to retaking the lead, there, despite having been on the back foot for so long.
2.18pm GMT
73 min: Magnificent graft by Giroud, who chases a lost cause down the left and, extending a Quinnesque telescopic leg, hooks the ball into the middle when it looked like going out for a goal kick. It loops to Welbeck, who nearly bustles into the six-yard box, where he’d have a free shot at goal. But Vertonghen isn’t having it, and hustles hard before clearing.
2.16pm GMT
72 min: No, not quite, but he’s not far off. Eriksen whips the ball up and down, over the wall and towards the bottom left. Not sure Ospina had that covered, but it’s just over the bar. A decent effort, that.
2.15pm GMT
71 min: All a little bit scrappy at the moment. Kane and Welbeck take turns to apply a little pressure, but the final ball’s lacking. But Spurs are enjoying the lion’s share of possession, and some territorial advantage, and Giroud is panicked into bundling Eriksen over, 25 yards out, a smidgen to the right of centre. Will this be the moment Eriksen gets his dead-ball chops up?
2.11pm GMT
68 min: The quiet Cazorla is replaced by Rosicky.
2.10pm GMT
67 min: Lamela’s arm flaps into Monreal’s grid. The referee decides there was no malicious intent, which seems a fair enough decision. Time for everyone to take a wee breather, though.
2.09pm GMT
65 min: Another Tottenham corner. From the left, it comes to nothing. But this is extremely impressive stuff by Spurs, who are really going for their rivals here.
2.08pm GMT
64 min: This is relentless, and magnificent entertainment. Bentaleb, 25 yards out and level with the left-hand post, hammers a stunning shot towards the bottom right. Ospina saves brilliantly, though Kane’s onto the rebound. No matter, for the keeper spreads himself well to block. What a save! A slight shame that Ospina won’t get the credit for a stunning point-blank block, for the flag goes up for offside, Kane having jumped the gun.
2.07pm GMT
63 min: Kane wins a corner down the left. Dier meets the set piece by sending a header towards the top right. Ospina might not be getting there, but Coquelin is guarding the post on the line, and heads clear. Then Mason lashes a shot goalwards, but it’s straight at Ospina.
2.05pm GMT
61 min: But Arsenal aren’t exactly finished as an attacking force. Welbeck cuts in from the left, and on the edge of the area curls a spectacular effort towards the top right. It’s flying in, but Lloris tips round the post. The corner, from the right, is met by Koscielny, whose header towards the bottom right is gathered by a stooping Lloris. This is super stuff.
2.04pm GMT
2.03pm GMT
59 min: Arsenal are all over the shop right now. Relentless pressure from Spurs, as Eriksen, Kane and Dembele all take whacks from the edge of the area. Arsenal hack clear in the determined style. Dembele eventually drops a shoulder, to the right of the D, and attempts to thread a ball into the bottom left. He’s nearly successful, but Ospina keeps it out. Kane, sliding in from the left, somehow misses when presented with an open goal, but it doesn’t matter, as he’s flagged offside anyway. But the away side are rocking, and Spurs have their tails up!
2.01pm GMT
Lamela takes a corner from the right. It’s flicked on at the near post by Dembele, and the ball’s heading into the top left. Ospina tips it away brilliantly, but it’s all he can do to send the ball to the feet of Kane, six yards out, level with the left-hand post. Bang! And it’s in. Spurs deserve that equaliser. This game is on, and White Hart Lane erupts accordingly.
1.59pm GMT
54 min: Eriksen’s delivery is appalling, headed clear with ease by Giroud at the near post. The Dane gets another opportunity to send a ball in from the right wing, but that one’s dealt with in the no-nonsense style by Arsenal, too. He’s a magnificent dead-ball technician, Eriksen, but he’s been poor today.
1.57pm GMT
53 min: Welbeck zips off down the left and nearly skins Walker, but his low cross is blocked at source by Vertonghen. Spurs go up the other end through Dembele down the right. Koscielny slides in, clumsily so, and concedes a free kick. He’s booked for his trouble, too. Eriksen will take the set piece from a dangerous position to the right of the Arsenal box.
1.54pm GMT
50 min: Cazorla, in-form Cazorla, has been quiet today, but he springs up here, curling one towards the bottom-right corner from the right-hand edge of the Spurs D. Lloris, at full stretch, fingertips it round the post. Lovely football all round. The same can’t be said of the resulting corner, not that Spurs care, clearing it eventually as they do.
1.52pm GMT
49 min: Spurs have started the stronger. They’re seeing plenty of the ball in Arsenal’s half, though the visitors are holding a firm line, and Spurs can’t find the killer ball. Eriksen’s not far from releasing Kane into the area down the inside-left with a lovely crossfield pass, but the striker’s bustled out of it.
1.51pm GMT
47 min: So much for Rose and Welbeck calming down. The pair challenge for a ball down the Arsenal right. Rose steps in ahead of Welbeck, and is bundled into touch, the normal rules of contract having been transgressed. It’s not enough to earn a second yellow, but Welbeck needs to watch himself here, because the referee’s patience might run out soon.
1.49pm GMT
And we’re off again! Arsenal get the ball rolling. Speaking of which, on the half-time whistle, Rose got the ball rolling towards Welbeck, at some pace from close range, which explains all that nonsense. Grown men. They’ll both need to calm down. Within 25 seconds, the ball’s rolling right to left across the front of the Arsenal area. Bentaleb, racing in, meets it first time, but can only shank his shot well wide left. That’s a determined start to the half by the home side, though.
1.39pm GMT
Official Tottenham half-time repast™: Pies containing spiced Argentinian steak. Mmm-hmm, yes please, sir. And don’t spare the chimichurri.
1.35pm GMT
And that’s that for the half. Before the players depart, Rose and Welbeck, both grown men, go nose to nose, chests puffed out in the try-me-go-on-try-me style. They’re pulled apart, and everyone makes off down the tunnel. Chances are the next 45 minutes will provide much entertainment, if all this is anything to go by. No flipping!
1.33pm GMT
45 min +2: In the second of two added minutes, Welbeck is booked for stepping across Rose with the full-back in full flight down the left. Eriksen whips the dead ball straight down Ospina’s throat. His delivery has been a bit off today. Most unlike him.
1.31pm GMT
45 min: Bellerin brings down Eriksen on the left. The ball’s looped into the Arsenal box. Dier eventually sends a squirter of a shot towards the right-hand side of the goal. Ospina wanders across to trap the ball, whistling.
1.30pm GMT
44 min: Monreal is booked for a fairly cynical body check on Walker, who was making good down the right wing. Eriksen takes the free kick, whipping it to the far post, where Welbeck is forced to guide an emergency header wide left with white shirts lurking. The resulting corner comes to nothing. Tottenham’s corners have been dismal so far. Chances to apply more pressure on Arsenal spurned.
1.29pm GMT
42 min: Kane is released into the Arsenal area, brilliantly, by an Eriksen flick down the inside-right channel. Kane takes a stride before lashing a low shot across goal and inches wide of the left-hand post. Brilliant. However, had it gone in, that would have been flagged offside. Incorrectly, as it happens. Spurs haven’t had the luck with the decisions so far.
1.27pm GMT
40 min: It’s scrappy, all of a sudden. Ospina comes off his line to punch a high ball clear. He connects, but also flattens Kane while doing so, much to the home support’s annoyance. Kane gets up, dusts himself down, and after another phase of play, drags an average shot miles wide left of goal from the edge of the area.
1.25pm GMT
1.24pm GMT
38 min: Bentaleb hoofs Ramsey in between the nipples. Oof! Another accidental occurrence. We move on.
1.22pm GMT
36 min: Kane is booked for an old-fashioned slide on Giroud. The Arsenal striker has been limping around for a while already, feeling his ankle. That won’t have helped any. Seconds earlier, Welbeck had clattered into Lloris while chasing a ball down the middle, but the collision was accidental, unavoidable, and resulted in no sanction.
1.21pm GMT
34 min: Walker zips down the right and crosses into the Arsenal box. It’s not a particularly good ball, but it takes a deflection and suddenly it’s sitting on the penalty spot, waiting to be hit. The Arsenal back line are wrong footed, but the Spurs attack are having to react, too. Lamela gets there just ahead of Eriksen, leaning back and lifting a poor shot over the bar. That might have been better left for Eriksen, but Lamela wasn’t to know.
1.18pm GMT
32 min: Eriksen tries to curl one into the top right from 25 yards out, down the inside-left channel. Ospina doesn’t move, but that’s because he doesn’t have to, the ball flying miles wide of the target.
1.17pm GMT
31 min: Another Spurs corner, taken by Eriksen on the left. Same old, same old. But Spurs are on top right now, even if the scoreline is not their friend.
1.16pm GMT
30 min: A really poor touch in midfield by Mertesacker in the centre circle allows Dembele to stream forward. He feeds Kane, who can’t make anything happen, but no worries, as the ball breaks to Mason, 30 yards out. The midfielder looks to arrow a shot into the top-right corner, but the excellent Ospina is behind it all the way. Another Spurs shot turned round that right-hand post. The set piece leads to nothing. But Spurs are keeping the pressure on Arsenal, who are having to work hard to keep hold of their lead.
1.14pm GMT
28 min: Tottenham have really been going for it, so Arsenal take the sting out of proceedings by stroking it around the back awhile. The pace suddenly drops, though the crowd are still giving it plenty.
1.12pm GMT
26 min: Eriksen busies himself down the left and wins a corner off the backtracking Bellerin. The Dane takes the set piece himself. He hits it high and deep, but it’s swallowed easily enough by Ospina, who appears to have got over that early tweak. That was a confident take.
1.10pm GMT
24 min: Rose is clearly of a mind to make something happen this afternoon. Again he breaks into the Arsenal box, and nearly draws a foul from Welbeck, who is tracking him closely; dangerously so, for the smallest tap of an ankle will result in a penalty kick. Welbeck isn’t rash, though, and Rose eventually wallops a high cross through the six-yard box and out of play for a goal kick.
1.08pm GMT
22 min: And here’s more of it. Rose, who has been slightly dodgy at the back so far but excellent going forward, bombs down the left again and from 12 yards hammers a low shot across Ospina and inches wide of the right-hand post. Mason isn’t far away from sliding in to convert.
1.07pm GMT
20 min: Spurs haven’t let that early blow affect them too much. They’re piling forward with some panache. First Dembele wins a corner down the right. Tottenham’s set pieces haven’t been up to much so far, though, and that continues. Then a minute or so later, Bentaleb drops a shoulder to advance down the middle, before dragging a shot just wide right.
1.05pm GMT
18 min: A replay of the goal, with one of those fancy lines drawn across the pitch by the TV folk. It might be that Ozil was in fact offside, his big toe ahead of Dier, perhaps. But it would have been a very picky official who wheeched a flag up for that, with the benefit of doubt always going to the attacker in such marginal circumstances. It looked a decent decision, though don’t expect consensus.
1.03pm GMT
16 min: Arsenal are causing Spurs quite a lot of bother down the right wing. It’s as though the pitch is tilting towards the East Stand. A couple of calls for handball in the area, the ball rolling down Vertonghen’s arm, then clanking off Mason’s, but neither man knew much about it. The referee’s not interested, and to be frank, neither are the Arsenal players, who appeal for the penalties in a very half-arsed fashion.
1.01pm GMT
14 min: A more constructive response, now. Rose makes good down the left and unleashes a pearler of a daisycutter towards the bottom right. Once again, Ospina turns it around the post at full stretch, with Kane lurking. It would appear the keeper’s all right. The resulting set piece comes to naught. This is magnificent, end-to-end entertainment.
12.59pm GMT
12 min: Tottenham’s response is through Mason. And through the back of Ozil. No yellow card.
12.58pm GMT
This was so simple. And it happened in slow motion. Welbeck zips down the left, burning Rose with ease. Upon reaching the edge of the area, he drags a pullback to Giroud, level with the right-hand post, 12 yards out. Giroud shoots, but miskicks, the ball squirting left to Ozil, who is unmarked ten yards from goal. Blooter! And it’s in. For a second, it looks like Ozil is miles offside, but he’s being played on by Dier, who is hanging deep in Welbeck territory. Another fast start at White Hart Lane for Arsenal!
12.56pm GMT
10 min: Rose is sent clear down the left wing. He’s in acres. Arsenal are backtracking with some panic. Rose whips a dismal cross into the box, looking for Kane in the middle but getting nowhere near his team-mate. Ospina, at the near post, wanders over to save, though perhaps shaken by that early injury concern, doesn’t gather in the comfortable style, the ball bouncing on the floor before being gathered at the second attempt.
12.54pm GMT
7 min: There’s a couple of minutes between save and corner, because Ospina rolls around on the floor, having tweaked something on the left-hand side of his body while making the save. Ooyah oof. It’s decided he’s OK to continue, for now anyway. Spurs should be testing the keeper immediately at the set piece, with a base hoick into the box, but opt to play it short instead. Nothing comes of it.
12.52pm GMT
5 min: Mason passes poorly in the midfield, allowing Arsenal to break along the left through Ozil. The ball’s shuttled on to Monreal, who crosses low into the Spurs box. Rose performs a song and dance before hacking clear, but hack clear he does. Spurs flood up the other end, Kane picking up the ball down the inside-left channel. He’s got Eriksen on the overlap down the wing, but opts instead to curl one towards the right-hand post. It’s going in, a superlative effort, but Ospina tips the ball round the post at full stretch.
12.49pm GMT
3 min: Lamela, dropping deep, attempts to spray a pass down the inside-right channel to release Kane. It’s a clever effort, threaded through the eye of a needle, but Koscielny steps in to intercept before the ball can reach the young Spurs striker. The spectators are singing quite a lot. It’s loud.
12.48pm GMT
2 min: It’s one minute, 41 seconds before Arsenal get their first meaningful touch. They quickly lose the ball, as Cazorla and Giroud unsuccessfully attempt to make their way down the left. All a bit scrappy right now.
12.47pm GMT
And we’re off! Spurs get the ball rolling, and they’ll be kicking towards the Park Lane end. They stroke it around the back awhile, not really interested in going anywhere right now. It’s all about getting a feel.
12.43pm GMT
The teams are out! A belting atmosphere at White Hart Lane today. As if you expected anything else. It’s handshake time. Or handslap, gentlemanly shaking being so 1890s. We’ll be off in a minute!
12.11pm GMT
A classic aesthetic, as always, in the North London derby. Tottenham will be wearing their famous, crisp, white shirts ...
12.01pm GMT
So Tottenham welcome back Nabil Bentaleb and Eric Dier as starters. North London derby fixture Emmanuel Adebayor doesn’t even make the squad. Meanwhile no Alexis Sanchez for Arsenal. The Chilean had hoped to be named at least as substitute, despite a hamstring tweak, but it would appear he’s not in good-enough nick. And Theo Walcott is nudged onto the bench by the returning Danny Welbeck, despite having scored in his last two games. It’s tough at the top.
11.55am GMT
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose, Bentaleb, Mason, Lamela, Dembele, Eriksen, Kane.
Subs: Paulinho, Soldado, Vorm, Fazio, Chadli, Stambouli, Davies.
Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey, Welbeck, Cazorla, Ozil, Giroud.
Subs: Szczesny, Gibbs, Gabriel, Rosicky, Walcott, Flamini, Akpom.
11.53am GMT
“Everything is no more than Saturday.” As laconic football observations go, it may not quite be up there with “The ball is round”, “Football’s not a matter of life and death, it’s more important than that”, and “If God had meant football to be played in the air, he would have put grass in the sky”. But then again, Mauricio Pochettinho isn’t talking in his first language. And in any case, there’s something rather lyrical about the Tottenham Hotspur manager’s pithy aphorism. It’s all there, if you’re looking for it, packed into six little words: acknowledgement of the supreme importance of the North London derby; a manifesto, a commitment to concentration, effort and honour; and a rallying cry to send his troops into battle. Not bad for something that’s half the length of a haiku.
Arsene Wenger’s no poetic slouch himself, mind you. “I can be torn between my head and my heart,” he wondered, when asked whether his in-form team will sit tight or take the game to a Spurs side who recently tore a usually parsimonious Chelsea to shreds. “But the first thing my heart wants is to win.” It sounds even better than it reads, on account of Wenger’s lilting accent. Ah, the yearning. We are all lost in reverie.
Continue reading...February 4, 2015
Bolton v Liverpool: FA Cup fourth-round replay – as it happened | Scott Murray
Liverpool are the last team to make it to the fifth round, and they left it late, wonderful goals from Raheem Sterling and Phillipe Coutinho putting the gloss on an average performance against ten-man Bolton
9.42pm GMT
Liverpool scrape through, just, and will travel to Crystal Palace in the fifth round. What a second half, and what a finale. Bolton can consider themselves very unfortunate, but the dismissal of Danns was their undoing. And the brilliance of Phillipe Coutinho, Emre Can and Raheem Sterling has kept Gerrard’s 35th-birthday FA Cup final dream alive. “I’m sure I read something recently about Coutinho’s inability to shoot,” concludes Matt Dony. Ssh!
9.40pm GMT
90 min +6: Sturridge’s backheel down the right frees Borini into the area. Borini shoots, and hammers a shot towards the bottom right corner. And, a tapped corner aside, that’s the last action of the match, because ...
9.39pm GMT
90 min +5: And in goes the free kick. Vela rises to meet it, but can’t find a team-mate with the knockdown. Liverpool break upfield, and have men over, but Sturridge loses the ball while racing down the right channel.
9.38pm GMT
90 min +4: Can, rather ridiculously, bundles Mills over, 35 yards from goal. That will allow Bolton to load the box!
9.38pm GMT
90 min +3: Bolton are in Liverpool territory, but can’t string anything together when they get close to the opposition box. Feeney is putting himself about in the determined style.
9.37pm GMT
90 min +2: Poor Neil Lennon looks shaken, as well he might. Bolton so close to the fifth round. Can they force extra time?
9.36pm GMT
Goodness me! Coutinho picks up a Henderson pass down the inside-left channel, 25 yards out. He drops a shoulder, nudges the ball inside, and sends a spectacular looping, bending shot over Lonergan and into the top-right corner. Unstoppable!
9.34pm GMT
90 min: Henderson slips the ball down the right for Can, who backheels a return. Henderson’s presence forces a corner. Mills clears the set piece, but it’s coming straight back at Bolton. Sterling, to the left of the D, shifts the ball inside for Gerrard, whose low shot is easily blocked. There will be five added minutes before extra time is a consideration!
9.32pm GMT
88 min: Unless Liverpool can find something against the ten men, of course. Moreno makes space down the left and crosses deep, but misses both Borini and Sturridge in the middle. After another couple of phases, Gerrard whips a cross in from the right, but Borini’s header, aimed towards the bottom left, is weak and easily gathered by Lonergan. But suddenly it’s the home side who are looking anxious.
9.31pm GMT
Time was running out for Liverpool, and suddenly Bolton are prised apart. Can, 30 yards out and level with the right-hand post, scoops a delicious diagonal ball over the Bolton back line. It drops perfectly for Sterling, breaking into the area down the inside left. Sterling meets the dropping ball on the volley, sweetly, and sends it wheeching into the net! What a pass, and what a finish! We’re on for extra time as things stand.
9.28pm GMT
83 min: Can, in the middle of the park, 30 yards out, takes a touch to the left, drops a shoulder, advances on the area, and looks for the top right. It’s a great shot, and he’d have found that corner, too, but Lonergan tips the ball onto the crossbar. The resulting set piece comes to naught. That’s three times the woodwork has come to Bolton’s rescue. This might not be Liverpool’s sort of night. Bolton, as history has shown, certainly aren’t Liverpool’s sort of team.
9.25pm GMT
81 min: Trotter is caught napping by Borini, just to the right of the Bolton D. That’s great harrying by the striker, and sets up Sterling for a shot, 20 yards out. But Sterling lays off right for Henderson, who slices an effort meant for the top-right corner well wide of the target. Borini hurt himself while buzzing around Trotter there, but he’ll be OK by the looks of it. Then again, we thought that about Markovic.
9.24pm GMT
79 min: Sterling cuts in from the left and shoots. Blocked. The ball breaks right to Borini, but Gerrard, over-eager in his 700th game, gets in his team-mate’s way. Borini can’t get a shot away. This is turning into a shambolic display on Liverpool’s part. Bolton have been staunch.
9.22pm GMT
78 min: Gudjohnson and Mills flick the ball back and forth to each other as they bowl down the middle of the park. Liverpool can’t get the ball off them. In the end, Henderson pokes the ball towards his own right-hand corner flag. Mills holds it up there for a while - with 12 minutes still to go! - and eventually wins a throw. Excellent play.
9.21pm GMT
76 min: Gerrard attempts one of those Hollywood Passes he’s famous for. It turns out to be one of those Hollywood Passes he’s infamous for. Liverpool are panicking.
9.20pm GMT
74 min: Liverpool knock it hither and yon, 25 yards out, but to little effect. Can gets fed up and pearls one towards the top left. A deflection, and a corner to Liverpool on the left. The set piece is headed clear by Wheater. Henderson, to the right of the D, chests down and volleys goalwards. The ball deflects off Wheater’s eyebrows and batters the right-hand post. The woodwork saves Bolton again - although to be fair, given the deflection, that would have been a fortunate one for Liverpool.
9.17pm GMT
73 min: A free kick for Liverpool, 20 yards out, wide on the left. Gerrard’s appalling effort finds the top-right corner of the stand behind the goal.
9.17pm GMT
72 min: The magnificent young Clough makes way for Trotter, who has been sent on to sit in and shore up the midfield.
9.15pm GMT
71 min: Space for Feeney down the right, who was found by a lovely raking crossfield pass by Mills. Feeney loops the ball to the far post, where Gudjohnson meets it, six yards out. He’s ahead of Can and Skrtel, but doesn’t get any power on the effort. He should have scored. Instead, the ball sails softly into Mignolet’s hands.
9.14pm GMT
70 min: Sturridge comes on for the hopelessly ineffective Joe Allen. Mind you, Steven Gerrard hasn’t been much better. Liverpool are badly missing Lucas, who calms the entire team down.
9.13pm GMT
68 min: Coutinho jigs around to win a corner down the left. Gerrard meets Coutinho’s whipped delivery on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, but can’t guide a header anywhere near the target. What a finale we have on our hands here, because Bolton have looked comfortable at the back for the most part.
9.11pm GMT
67 min: A corner for Liverpool. Bolton deal with it easily, and zip up the other end through Clough, who scampers down the left, cuts inside, and unleashes a marvellous effort towards the bottom left. It’s only inches wide of the post, though Mignolet had it covered. This young man looks a proper talent.
9.10pm GMT
66 min: Danns, on a yellow card, slides in on Allen. It’s an idiotic challenge, which leaves the referee no option. A second booking, and he’s off.
9.09pm GMT
65 min: For 60 seconds, he’ll limp on. Borini comes on for Markovic. Liverpool now only have one more chance to get Daniel Sturridge on, or to get Joe Allen off, whichever way you’d like to look at this.
9.08pm GMT
64 min: Markovic lies on the turf, face down. Not sure what happened there, but he’s not looking particularly happy. Winded, perhaps. Fabio Borini gets stripped off, but the young winger pulls himself together after a couple of minutes and will limp on.
9.06pm GMT
61 min: Corner to Bolton, out on the right, after Can struggles to deal with Feeney’s ball inside from that wing. Bolton don’t do much with the set piece, allowing Liverpool to break. Liverpool have more men upfield than Bolton, but over-elaborate and the home side shuttle back to throw a blanket over the move. Liverpool look rattled.
9.05pm GMT
60 min: Allen is booked for some challenge or other in the middle of the park. Is this better than being a total non-event? Not really, no.
9.03pm GMT
Gudjohnsen owes Liverpool one for that miss in the 2005 Champions League final. And this might be it! He sends Mignolet off to the left, and slips his penalty straight down the middle!
9.02pm GMT
58 min: Clough picks up possession to the left of the D, and takes a step into the box and to the left. He’s clipped by Skrtel. Lightly, but that’s enough for a penalty!
9.01pm GMT
57 min: Markovic wins a corner off Wheater down the right. Coutinho’s delivery finds Skrtel, 12 yards out, level with the left-hand post. Skrtel leans in and tries to caress the ball goalwards with his nipples. Blue-sky thinking, so a tick for that, but back to the drawing board, perhaps.
9.00pm GMT
56 min: Henderson’s first act is to spray a godawful pass out of play down the right, Markovic left with no chance of reaching it. The only way is up for Liverpool’s vice captain.
8.59pm GMT
55 min: Wheater is quite correctly booked for coming straight through the back of Sterling. While the grimacing young Liverpool star gets a little treatment, Lallana, who has some unspecified complaint, is replaced by Henderson.
8.58pm GMT
53 min: Sterling is sent clear down the inside-left channel by Coutinho. He’s one on one with Lonergan, but hesitates, allowing Dervite to slide in to block. Sterling checks back and latches onto the loose ball, near the left-hand corner of the box. Sterling bends one towards the top right. It’s heading in, but Lonergan, at full stretch, palms clear. Brilliant football all round, that.
8.56pm GMT
52 min: Space for Sterling down the right, but he’s quickly closed down by Wheater, and though the winger gets a cross away, he’s rushed into sending it straight into the arms of Lonergan.
8.56pm GMT
51 min: Coutinho rolls a lovely pass down the left to send Sterling racing towards the Bolton area. When he reaches the edge of the box, he slides a pass towards the penalty spot, but Moreno, rushing in like billy-o, can’t get there. Liverpool aren’t clicking tonight.
8.54pm GMT
50 min: And now an offside down the other end, as Coutinho latches onto a loose ball down the right, flicking it into the area for Gerrard. The Liverpool captain’s clear on goal, but he was a yard ahead of the Bolton back line. The flag goes up, and this isn’t very good at the moment. Plenty of time still for this match to get going.
8.53pm GMT
48 min: Skrtel concedes a free kick, preposterously, by shoving Mills in the back. It allows Bolton to load the box and Moxey to hook a dead ball into the area from 40 yards up the left wing. It’s a diagonal delivery, and Wheater, level with the right-hand post, rises to win a fine header, planting it back into the middle, but Gudjohnsen is easily offside.
8.51pm GMT
47 min: Moxey throws long into the Liverpool area from the left. Mignolet comes to punch, and is upended by Gudjohnsen, who is in a no-nonsense mood. A free kick ... and a slow start to this second period.
8.50pm GMT
46 min: A scrappy start to the half. On a cold night, the teams are just warming up again.
8.49pm GMT
The best part of a couple of minutes pass before Bolton bother turning up. Our gaff, our rules, seems to be the message here. No changes, both teams as they were. And Bolton get the second half underway!
8.48pm GMT
Liverpool come out to play. Where are Bolton? Still in the changing room, that’s where! Saucy Neil.
8.38pm GMT
Half-time advertisements: In memory of the Normid co-operative superstore at Burnden Park ...
8.34pm GMT
Entertaining, if not accomplished. Bolton will be happy enough, while Liverpool will curse Sterling’s effort off the right-hand post. Level pegging seems about right, though. We’re still a long way from finding out who will be visiting Crystal Palace in the fifth round. No flipping!
8.33pm GMT
45 min +1: In the one and only added minute of the first half, Liverpool ping it around in front of the Bolton box awhile. Markovic cuts in from the right and thinks about shooting, but lays off to Coutinho, who drops a shoulder, pushes the ball back to the right, and looks to curl one into the right-hand side of the net. It’s wide, but a decent effort.
8.32pm GMT
44 min: Danns scuffs a shot from 25 yards. It still finds Gudjohnson in the area, 12 yards out. Gudjohnson can only send the ball miles into the sky, but he’s looking to head the dropping ball goalwards. Mignolet comes out and punches clear with purpose.
8.30pm GMT
42 min: Gerrard creams a pass down the middle of the park, Sterling scampering after it. He takes a couple of touches before being clipped by Dervite. The defender holds his hands up; it should be a free kick for Liverpool, 35 yards out. But the referee gives nothing. A poor decision, though in fairness hardly a game-changing one: Sterling still had plenty of distance to travel, and men to beat. Another illustration, however, of Bolton’s complete unwillingness to bow to supposedly superior opposition.
8.27pm GMT
40 min: Feeney zips down the right and, near the corner flag, digs out a superb cross. If only the big man Wheater could keep up with the attack. No white shirts in the area, allowing Mignolet to pluck the ball from the skies.
8.26pm GMT
39 min: Bolton are coming back into this. The game tilts into Liverpool’s half for the first time in a while, though the home side aren’t doing much with their possession and territorial advantage. Still, it’s halted Liverpool’s momentum. And it’s clever game management.
8.25pm GMT
36 min: Bolton have been under the cosh for the last ten minutes or so, but they’re not likely to lie down. Mills meets a dropping ball, 30 yards from goal, just to the left, and sends it pealing towards the Liverpool net. Mignolet was behind it all the way, but that’s a fine effort nonetheless. “I’ve heard the Steven Gerrard chant so many times tonight that I can’t make out whether it’s the Liverpool version or everyone else’s versh,” writes Jonny Mac. “Can we not not come to an agreement that the ‘Alt. Version’ can only be used by Chelsea and Man City? I mean, come on Bolton, WTF?” Ha. A fine idea. But don’t worry, everyone will get sick of it soon enough*.
* Everyone might not get sick of it soon enough.
8.22pm GMT
35 min: Shots at either end. Lallana has a weak-ish effort from 20 yards that goes straight at Lonergan, while Dervite attempts to beat Mignolet, off his line, from the halfway line. Or it might have been a dreadfully sliced attempt at a cross. Not sure.
8.21pm GMT
34 min: Liverpool are beginning to move up through the gears. Coutinho goes on a trademark Brazilian (1914-2013) run, skittering down the inside-right channel. He breaks into the area with a view to shooting, but Wheater sticks out a perfectly timed leg to block the ball and then clear. Magnificent defending, for anything mistimed would have been a penalty.
8.19pm GMT
31 min: Liverpool come straight back at Bolton. Moreno strides down the left, then slips one inside for Lallana, who on the edge of the D spins and slides one in for Sterling, on the penalty spot. Time stands still for a while, as Wheater opts not to lunge in. Sterling sizes up the situation like a golfer, takes out a wedge from his bag, and chips one towards the top right. It’s a brilliant effort, Lonergan beaten all ends up, but it clatters off the upright and away. Superb effort.
8.17pm GMT
30 min: Can goes on a determined dribble down the inside-right channel. Unopposed, he reaches the area, but instead of shooting lays off for Coutinho to his left, who in turn shuttles it on to Moreno. The full back reaches the byline, but his pull back doesn’t find a red shirt. Bolton clear.
8.15pm GMT
29 min: Danns goes in the book for a late slide on Allen. No malicious intent, just mistimed. But yellow it is.
8.15pm GMT
28 min: Sterling draws a couple of white shirts towards him down the left, then flicks a pass to Moreno along the wing. Moreno sprints into the box, and is sort of bundled over by Wheater before he can take a shot. But the referee’s having none of it, and quite rightly so, because though there was a little contact, Wheater was coming in from the side, and Moreno went to ground far too easily having over-run the ball. The full back was trying to buy one there.
8.13pm GMT
26 min: It’s amateur hour right now. Dervite has a shot from 25 yards. It flies out of play on the left, almost level with the edge of the Liverpool box.
8.11pm GMT
25 min: Moxey, under some, but not much, pressure from Markovic, needlessly heads behind for a corner from 25 yards out. Dear me. Luckily for Bolton, Gerrard’s resulting set piece, from the right, clears the entire area.
8.10pm GMT
23 min: Feeney whips another ball into the Liverpool box from the left. Mignolet is out to claim, and well, because Wheater was floating around again, with extreme prejudice.
8.09pm GMT
22 min: Bolton seeing more of the ball right now. Liverpool getting a little bit frustrated. “Given that Lucas has gradually undergone the remarkable reinvention from sigh-inducing journeyman to must-have talisman, I’m nervous that he is not on the pitch for a game like this,” writes Dan Rookwood, erstwhile MBM scribe of this parish. “Rodgers told him he was surplus to requirements at the start of the season but he’s proved him and everyone else (apart from Benitez) wrong.” I would ask Dan how he’s doing, folks, but I know full well he’s gadding around NYC, wearing expensive threads, twirling a cane no doubt. Any more detail and we’re all going to feel very bitter.
8.07pm GMT
19 min: Danns makes good down the left. Can has him covered, by Lallana panics and clips the Bolton man’s ankles. That’s a no-brainer of a free kick, in more ways than one. It’s just to the left of the Liverpool area. Feeney takes the set piece, and finds the head of the behemoth Wheater, who plants a header towards the bottom left from 10 yards. Mignolet is behind it all the way. Bolton, after a slightly slow start, are right in this game now.
8.03pm GMT
16 min: Vela finds space down the left. Nearing the corner flag, he pulls a low ball back into the area. Gudjohnson, coming in from the left, meets it first time, and blooters high and wide to the left. A dreadful finish, but Bolton have a smooth move to their name tonight now, too.
8.02pm GMT
14 min: Feeney jigs down the right, and loops a delicate, dangerous cross into the area. There are plenty of white shirts sniffing around, but Can calmly chests the ball down and clears. Liverpool fly up the other end, Sterling taking on Wheater as he zig-zags down the left. Entering the area, he shoots low towards the bottom right. Lonergan is down to smother, albeit grabbing the ball at the second attempt with Lallana rushing in. This is an entertaining game, with both teams giving as good as they’re getting.
7.59pm GMT
12 min: Liverpool ping it around very prettily in the middle of the Bolton half. The baroque moves of Lallana feature quite heavily. Eventually the ball’s laid off to Coutinho, racing down the inside-right channel to meet the ball, 25 yards out. Coutinho has a shot, and sends a poor effort bobbling well wide left of goal.
7.58pm GMT
10 min: Clough steals the ball off Allen, who isn’t exuding presence. Clough dances at pace down the inside-right channel, and has Mills nearby in a little bit of space, but he hesitates and Gerrard comes back to put a stop to his gallop. He looks a player, does
Allen
Clough.
7.56pm GMT
8 min: During that previous move, Feeney clipped Sterling on the ankle. Sterling needs a bit of time to recover, but he’s up and about soon enough. “I do agree with Ian Copestake, but I try really hard to be more positive about Joeallen,” writes Matt Dony. “He grew up near me, he’s a tidy enough footballer, and his short passing is (on the whole) neat. But then I watch Xabi Alonso play, and something deep inside me aches.”
7.55pm GMT
7 min: Skrtel sashays out of defence like Franz Beckenbauer. Yes he does. He slides the ball forward for Coutinho, who flicks to Lallana beside him. The play’s over-intricate, but the ball breaks right for Gerrard on the right-hand edge of the D. Gerrard sends a daisycutter straight down Lonergan’s throat. A smooth move.
7.52pm GMT
5 min: Coutinho drops a shoulder, 25 yards out from goal, then slides Lallana into the box down the left. Lallana fires a low cross through the area, and out of play to the right of goal. A dangerous ball, that, and one which Sterling didn’t anticipate.
7.51pm GMT
4 min: But Bolton are pressing hard, and force Can into a rushed clearance into touch. Clough the irritant there. Vela tries to dance down the left but the ball’s whipped off his toe. Then Liverpool race up the other end through Sterling, but the winger-cum-striker loses control as he romps down the middle of the park. A high-octane start to this game.
7.49pm GMT
2 min: Liverpool stroke it around the back awhile. It’s like watching their 1978/79 team, only with added anxiety every time Martin Skrtel touches the ball. The away fans are meanwhile giving it plenty, returning the favour, Bolton fans having won the singing competition at Anfield. Not that the home supporters are sitting on their hands. It’s a rare old atmosphere.
7.47pm GMT
Bolton gather themselves in a huddle. The fans create noisy bedlam. And we’re off! Liverpool get the ball rolling, and in doing so, Gerrard joins Ian Callaghan and Jamie Carragher as the only players to turn out for Liverpool Football Club 700 times or more. An exclusive set. “I don’t think the inclusion of Allen in the team shows respect to anyone or anything,” argues Ian Copestake.
7.44pm GMT
The teams are out! Portentous music parps out of the PA. Hands are shaken. We’ll be off in a minute! “Thanks for the history lesson, but history only gets you so far, doesn’t it?” writes Peter Oh. “As a Liverpool fan I write that without even a hint of irony.” A self-aware football fan. Whatever next?
7.42pm GMT
The managers have spoken! To be fair, they’ve not really said much of interest, but there’s time to kill before kick off, so we might as well go with it. Neil Lennon has “no hesitation” in playing the “talented” Zach Clough tonight, while Brendan Rodgers expects a “tough game” although points out that his team are “in good momentum”. Tum te tum.
7.37pm GMT
A classic aesthetic for this evening’s entertainment. Bolton will be wearing their famous crisp white shirts, always a sharp look. As modelled here by a famous old boy ...
7.19pm GMT
No Emile Heskey for Bolton this time. The other Wanderers veteran, Eidur Gudjohnsen, is still standing, though. And perhaps he owes Liverpool one in cup competition, seeing he somehow missed that close-range chance in the dying seconds of the 2005 Champions League semi-final at Anfield while a Chelsea player. How did he put it wide? Anyway, Bolton make three changes from the game at Anfield: first-choice goalkeeper Andy Lonergan is back, as are David Wheater and Zach Clough, the latter having scored twice at the weekend against Wolves.
Meanwhile Steven Gerrard makes his 700th appearance in a Liverpool shirt. Brendan Rodgers has named pretty much as strong a team as he can, showing full respect to both Wanderers and the FA Cup. As well he might: Bolton were exceptional at Anfield. Neil Lennon’s turned them around brilliantly this season. Gerrard and Joe Allen are in for Jordan Henderson and the injured Lucas Leiva, who has a thigh problem that should be fine for the weekend’s Merseyside derby. They’re the only changes from Saturday’s 2-0 home win over West Ham.
6.51pm GMT
Bolton Wanderers: Lonergan, Wheater, Dervite, Ream, Feeney, Vela, Danns, Moxey, Gudjohnsen, Mills, Clough.
Subs: McNaughton, Hall, Trotter, Fitzsimons, Threlkeld, Iliev, Walker.
Liverpool: Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Sakho, Markovic, Allen, Gerrard, Moreno, Lallana, Coutinho, Sterling.
Subs: Johnson, Lambert, Henderson, Sturridge, Manquillo, Borini, Ward.
6.45pm GMT
Bolton Wanderers are 6-1 to win this tie tonight, while Liverpool are 2-1 on. That’d be about right, you’d think, huh. Liverpool are one of the bigger movers and shakers in the Premier League, after all, while Bolton are currently a mid-table Championship concern. But history has a funny way of weighing folk down. Bolton Wanderers, you see, absolutely own Liverpool when it comes to cup competition.
They did, of course, famously knock Liverpool out the last time these clubs met in the world’s oldest competition. Graeme Souness’s shower were the holders back in 1993, but should have been dispatched at Burnden Park by Bruce Rioch’s third-division side in the original third-round tie. Bolton were 2-0 up within 22 minutes through John McGinlay and Mark Seagraves, but let it slip in the second half, Mark Winstanley running a Ronny Rosenthal rebound into the net. Ian Rush equalised on 82 minutes, and an Anfield replay was required. No matter, because in the return McGinlay headed Bolton ahead early doors, Andy Walker added another in the second half, and Wanderers had one of their most famous modern victories in the bag. “We were outplayed and outfought by the better team,” admitted Souness. “They deserved to win, they were better in all departments. The vast majority tonight played as if they had never been told what passion and this football club is all about.” Rioch meanwhile could have heaped praise his team, but saved the plaudits for the fans instead. “All 8,500 of them were magnificent.” That’s local derbies for you.
Continue reading...The Fiver | A blue-collared armless garment hanging off a peg with Tim Sherwood's name on it
TIM’S IN! (NEARLY)
Tim Sherwood. There he was, last season, on the touchline, managing Tottenham Hotspur, in his body warmer, hectically waving his non-insulated arms about. Put a paddle in each hand, and you’d have been able to pick out a message in semaphore. W-H-Y-D-O-A-L-L-Y-O-U-C-L-O-W-N-S-I-N-T-H-E-P-R-E-S-S-B-O-X-K-E-E-P-R-E-F-E-R-R-I-N-G-T-O-M-Y-B-O-D-Y-W-A-R-M-E-R-A-S-A-G-I-L-E-T-I-T-S-A-B-O-D-Y-W-A-R-M-E-R-I-F-Y-O-U-R-E-F-E-R-R-E-D-T-O-Y-O-U-R-B-O-D-Y-W-A-R-M-E-R-A-S-A-G-I-L-E-T-I-N-T-H-E-D-R-I-N-K-E-R-R-O-U-N-D-M-Y-W-A-Y-Y-O-U-D-G-E-T-Y-O-U-R-E-A-R-S-W-A-R-M-E-D-A-N-D-A-W-E-L-L-A-I-M-E-D-A-N-D-W-E-L-L-D-E-S-E-R-V-E-D-B-O-O-T-U-P-T-H-E-A-R-S-E.
February 3, 2015
Man Utd v Cambridge: fourth-round replay – as it happened | Scott Murray
Cambridge United of League Two were resilient, but Manchester United of the Premier League were, in the end, too good. Still, what if that chance on 51 seconds had gone in?
9.58pm GMT
And that’s that. The result was pretty much what everyone expected. Manchester United were professional and pretty, while Cambridge were resilient and determined, as they had to be to limit the biggest club in the country to three goals. But they’ll always wonder what might have happened had Tom Elliott found the net on 51 seconds. Ah well, they’ll always have that 0-0 draw at the Abbey.
9.57pm GMT
90 min +3: And the game finishes as it started, with Cambridge nearly scoring! Elliott cuts in from the right, one-twoing with Champion, and eating up much of the Manchester United half. He slides a diagonal pass towards McGeehan, who for a second is clear down the inside-left channel! McGeehan is about to get closed down, though, so he’s forced to shoot from the edge of the box, and nearly curls a powerful sidefoot into the bottom left! Not quite. Brave Cambridge, though.
9.55pm GMT
90 min +2: They’re still doing it, albeit to little effect.
9.54pm GMT
90 min +1: Manchester United pass it around quite a lot.
9.53pm GMT
90 min: There will be three added minutes.
9.51pm GMT
87 min: A final change for Cambridge, as Miller comes on for Nelson. Miller nearly gets on the end of a free kick, hoofed into the Manchester United box from a deep position down the left. In fact Elliott gets in ahead of his team-mate, to little effect, the ball sailing serenely towards De Gea.
9.50pm GMT
86 min: Rooney, the best part of 30 yards out, just to the left of the goal, attempts another curler into the top right. It’s flying along a perfect arc, but not travelling at any pace, and Dunn can calmly pluck the ball from the sky.
9.48pm GMT
84 min: A lull, with both United taking turns to pass the ball around the middle of the park awhile. Donaldson attempts to break off down the left, but that scheme comes to a swift end.
9.46pm GMT
81 min: That’s it for Rojo, who won’t be too happy with his delivery from wide areas tonight - it was erratic at best - but will be extremely pleased with his first goal for Manchester United. He’s in credit. And he’s replaced by Young.
9.44pm GMT
80 min: Rojo is in a lot of green space down the left. With team-mates screaming for the ball in the middle, his cross should be better, and he’ll have to settle for a corner, Nelson bundling out well. From the set piece, Rooney tries to curl one into the top right from the left-hand corner of the box. Nope.
9.41pm GMT
77 min: McNair makes good down the right and hoicks a low ball into the centre. Rooney tries to help it on into the bottom left, but doesn’t get enough on the ball, and it squirts off wide left of goal. Meanwhile the other results are in. It’s 3-1 wins for Preston and Sunderland, over Sheffield United and Fulham respectively. So it’s going to be Bradford-Sunderland, and Preston-Manchester United. That latter fixture, between two local rivals, hasn’t been played since 1972.
9.39pm GMT
75 min: Rooney is playing emergency left back as a high ball is launched into the Manchester United box from the left. Tait outjumps him but Rooney does enough to put the Cambridge full back off. He bundles the ball well wide right of the target.
9.37pm GMT
A Rooney-esque finish, this. Wilson takes up possession 30 yards from goal, in a central position. He edges to the left, shoulders wide and head down, then lashes an unstoppable shot across Dunn and into the bottom right from the edge of the box. The keeper had no chance. A superlative goal.
9.35pm GMT
71 min: Di Maria is replaced by Herrera.
9.35pm GMT
69 min: Elliott is sprung clear down the left! But the flag goes up for a non-existent offside. Hmm. Cambridge have carved Manchester United open once or twice in this match, despite the home team’s almost total dominance.
9.33pm GMT
68 min: Shots at either end. First Kaikai scores three rugby points, then Di Maria forces Dunn into tipping the ball over the bar from a position 25 yards out down the left. From the set piece, Fellaini is foiled at the right-hand post, his shot deflected out for another corner that’s wasted. Manchester United haven’t taken their foot off the gas at all, and neither have they played badly. They’re just being held to two goals by a staunch Cambridge United side.
9.31pm GMT
66 min: The frustrated van Persie is replaced by Wilson. No big tantrum is thrown, and he doesn’t look injured, but instead of sitting on the bench with his team-mates, he’s straight off down the tunnel. Let’s see this turned into something it isn’t.
9.29pm GMT
65 min: A little bit of space for Morrissey, who has the chance of a shot from a central position, 20 yards out. But there’s little time for a backlift, and he drags it well wide of the right-hand post.
9.28pm GMT
64 min: More anguish for van Persie. Di Maria chips a delightful ball down the inside-left channel for the striker, who powers into the box and, on the turn, hammers a low shot goalwards. But Dunn, despite being wrongfooted, twists in mid-air and parries clear. A brilliant save! Nelson does the decent thing by his keeper, hacking clear.
9.27pm GMT
62 min: Tait powers down the right and diddles his way past a lumbering Fellaini. His low cross would have been met in the middle by Donaldson, but Rojo’s diving header concedes a corner instead. From that set piece, another corner. And from that one, Elliot can’t get on the end of an elaborate McGeehan backheeled flick-on. Manchester United clear, and weren’t seriously threatened in truth, but that’s a decent passage of play from the fourth-division side.
9.24pm GMT
61 min: A second change by Richard Money: Simpson is replaced by Kaikai.
9.24pm GMT
59 min: Di Maria, on the right-hand edge of the Cambridge box, takes a touch inside and looks to curl an exquisite shot into the top left. That might have beaten Dunn’s desperate dive, but the excellent Coulson stepped in front of the keeper to batter a header clear. Magnificent play all round.
9.22pm GMT
58 min: Manchester United are being given corners for nowt right now. And again van Persie is involved, the ball clanking off his arm as he challenges Coulson for a high ball. Nothing comes of it. But the Dutch striker seems hell bent on getting on the scoresheet tonight. He’s been a whirling dervish since the restart, a supreme irritant buzzing around this Cambridge back line.
9.20pm GMT
55 min: In the other ties, the goals have been flying in, and both matches have turned around. Preston now lead Sheffield United 3-1, while Sunderland are 2-1 up on Fulham. As things stand, it’s going to be Bradford City versus Sunderland and Preston North End versus Manchester United.
9.18pm GMT
53 min: Rooney belts a shot straight at Dunn from 25 yards. The keeper parries, but only into the path of van Persie, who is now officially livid with himself after ballooning over from close range, from a position just to the left of goal.
9.17pm GMT
52 min: Incidentally, between those van Persie chances, Chadwick was replaced by Morrissey.
9.15pm GMT
50 min: A couple of chances for a increasingly irritated van Persie within the space of 120 seconds. First he heads wide left and high from close range, after meeting McNair’s excellent right-wing cross. Then he’s bursting into the area down the inside-right channel, but shoots straight into Dunn’s chest. The ball clanks back off the striker for a goal kick, but Manchester United are gifted a corner. Another corner comes from that, and then ... nothing.
9.14pm GMT
48 min: Rojo is found in acres of space down the left, in the Cambridge area. His cross sails into the Stretford End. Very poor, but he’s got the good grace to look appalled at his own effort. “If you were looking for Dion Dublin highlights, might I suggest the show he played his homemade percussion instrument (‘the Dube’) with Ocean Colour Scene?” writes Tom Adams. “Google it and thank me later.” Nobody’s going to thank you for reminding them of Ocean Colour Scene, though, are they. And whatever next? Robert Rosario playing tea-chest bass with Spacemen 3?
9.11pm GMT
And we’re off again! Cambridge knock it around for 50 seconds or so. And if Donaldson hadn’t hogged the ball, and slid a ball down the inside-right channel, McGeehan would have been clear on goal! On another day, Manchester United could easily have conceded a goal within a minute of each half starting. Is someone rohypnol-ing the oranges?
8.56pm GMT
Half-time entertainment. Here’s Dion Dublin scoring a late winner for Cambridge United against Chesterfield in the 1990 Fourth Division play-off final. And here he is sealing Manchester United’s first-ever Premier League win, four games into the 1992/93 season, against Southampton at the Dell.
8.54pm GMT
The ball’s at van Persie’s feet, in the Cambridge box down the left. He tries a few Chadwickesque spins and turns of his own, embarking on a route that, if mapped, would be not dissimilar to a treble clef. He nearly opens up the defence for a shot, but it’s blocked by Coulson. And that’s that for a half, which started with the fourth-division side (0p) hitting the post within a minute, and ended with the home side (£233.6m) rather understandably in full control. It’s been a blast, though, with both teams bringing plenty to the table. Don’t miss the second 45!
8.52pm GMT
45 min: McNair clumsily bundles Chadwick over down the left, in the midfield. The free kick’s worked into the Manchester United area, where Chadwick is again involved, attempting a dainty dragback and turn, in the hope of making space for a shot, ten yards out to the left of goal. But Smalling is on hand to put a stop to his notions.
8.49pm GMT
43 min: And this is a corner to Cambridge, Rojo panicking slightly under a high ball with Donaldson on his shoulder. Evans deals with it easily enough. And Manchester United tear up the pitch on the break, with Di Maria blazing down the left. Rooney is in acres down the inside-right channel. Di Maria loops a perfect crossfield pass onto his foot. Rooney checks his run - rat-a-tat-tat - so he can meet the ball on the volley, just to the right of the D. Which he does, but not particularly well, the shot squirming miles left of the target. Wow, that would have been some finish.
8.47pm GMT
40 min: McGeehan, 40 yards out down the inside-left channel and with his back to the play, turns and lashes a gorgeous diagonal pass to Donaldson, who cuts in from the right and reaches the Manchester United area. He shoots across De Gea, not particularly confidently, the ball bobbling apologetically past the left-hand post. But that’s a decent attack by Cambridge.
8.45pm GMT
39 min: United are pinging it around in a very aesthetically pleasing fashion right now. Lots of lovely little triangles. Cambridge are having to work very hard to keep them at bay.
8.43pm GMT
36 min: Rooney swings a cross into the Cambridge area from a deep position on the right. Fellaini brings it down with his hand, highly deliberately. A couple of moments later, and Di Maria is flashing a shot over the bar from 25 yards. Manchester United are well on top after a slow start.
8.40pm GMT
34 min: Well, it’s over unless Manchester United start doing silly things. van Persie faffs around in the middle of the park, gifting possession to Cambridge. Within seconds, Donaldson is in space, bowling down the inside-right channel. But Rojo is quickly in to smother any shot at source.
8.39pm GMT
A couple of corners for Manchester United out on the right. The first finds the side netting. The second ends up, after a fashion, in the net. The corner’s driven to the far post, where Fellaini, 12 yards out, chests down and guides the ball, via a deflection, to van Persie, down the channel. van Persie waves his foot-wand, clipping the ball inside for Rojo, six yards out. Rojo glances a header into the right-hand side of the net past a flailing, helpless Dunn. This is over, in case you were still feeling tense.
8.37pm GMT
30 min: Di Maria turns on the burners down the left. His low cross into the box is met by Mata, who miskicks as he tries to dispatch the ball into the net from six yards. He should have scored. Nelson fails to clear properly, and McNair comes trundling down the inside-right channel to connect with the clearance on the edge of the area. He lashes a shot goalwards, but it’s deflected wide right. The corner comes to naught. But Manchester United are beginning to create proper chances now.
8.34pm GMT
27 min: A minor stramash in the Manchester United area, as Smalling and Evans fail to deal with a simple high ball. No Cambridge player can make meaningful contact, though, and eventually the bother calms down.
8.32pm GMT
So much for that respite! McNair rakes a lovely ball from the right into the middle for Mata, who in turn spreads it wide left for Di Maria. The winger stands a ball up to the back post for Fellaini. The ball’s headed down into the centre, and turned into the goal from close range by Mata. Manchester United celebrate, not so much in joy, or indeed relief, but having experienced an end to irritation. Cambridge had been resilient up until now.
8.30pm GMT
24 min: Tait races at high speed down the right-hand touchline. He looks to beat Rojo, but the Argentina international isn’t having a bar of it. That’s a determined run, though, and one which gives Cambridge’s under-pressure defence a little respite.
8.29pm GMT
21 min: McNair makes his presence felt down the right, and wins a corner, though he was hoping to fizz a low cross into the six-yard box. The resulting set piece is plucked from the sky by Dunn. Now then: the winners of this tie will face the winners of Sheffield United versus Preston North End. Well, Jamie Murphy has given Sheffield United the lead on 38 minutes.
8.26pm GMT
20 min: Di Maria has been down receiving treatment. He’s just had his ankle stepped on by McGeehan. It was a clumsy rather than malicious challenge, not helped by the fact that Di Maria slipped towards McGeehan as he was making the tackle. Di Maria looks like he’s fine to continue, and no offence appears to have been taken.
8.25pm GMT
18 min: Another Manchester United cross from the left. Just like on 16 min, Rooney traps, but this time he’s in control, and nudges the ball back to the left. From the edge of the box, he unleashes a low screamer goalwards. It’s Manchester United’s best effort so far, a really hard belt. But Dunn is right behind it.
8.23pm GMT
17 min: van Persie bustles to win a corner down the left. It’s a hopeless waste of effort, as the resulting set piece is a hopeless waste of time.
8.22pm GMT
16 min: Another cross from the left. Di Maria. Rooney gets on the end of it, 12 yards out, trapping the ball. But he’s unable to dig a shot out from under his feet. McGeehan clears. A lot of crossing by Manchester United so far. A lot. It’s like David Moyes never went away.
8.20pm GMT
14 min: Rooney, 30 yards out, pitching wedges a delightful ball towards the well-upholstered nut of Fellaini, at the left-hand post. The big man heads back across into the middle, but Coulson, who has been immense so far, skelps back upfield from the six-yard box.
8.18pm GMT
12 min: Blind, down the inside-left channel, dinks a ball into the Cambridge area towards the far post. Rooney gives Taylor a crafty nudge in the back. He heads back into the mixer, but the ball clanks off a confused Taylor’s noggin and flies towards the top right. Not at any great speed, in fairness, and Dunn claims.
8.17pm GMT
10 min: A free kick for Cambridge in the middle of the park. Donaldson garryowens it into the Manchester United area, and that’s an easy one for De Gea to claim. Hugo Rodallega has given Fulham the lead against Sunderland on 28 minutes, by the way.
8.15pm GMT
8 min: Evans shanks a hopeless clearance straight out of play under no pressure whatsoever. It leads to nothing of import, but perhaps betrays a little nervousness on Manchester United’s part. “Van Gaal, and some Man United fans, may be worried that there’s a hurricane on the way,” writes British television historian and fate-tempter Simon McMahon. “Don’t worry, there isn’t.”
8.12pm GMT
6 min: Di Maria curls one in from the left, but Coulson clatters a header back upfield. Then Rojo tries a cross from the same wing; the same defender bangs clear. A magnificent atmosphere in Old Trafford, by the way. The away fans are obviously of a mind to enjoy themselves tonight, whatever happens, though that start has given them an added boost. The home fans aren’t letting them have it all their own way, either. The FA Cup, right here.
8.10pm GMT
3 min: An affronted Manchester United push Cambridge back in their own half awhile. A couple of balls are swung into the box from either flank, but dealt with easily enough. Cambridge hit the post, though!
8.09pm GMT
51 seconds: Cambridge hit the post!!! Dear me! Blind miscontrols in the middle of the park. He prods it back to his own keeper, down the inside-left channel. But he takes as much turf as ball, and it apologetically rolls to Elliott, who is free and bearing down on goal, in a dead central position! The striker reaches the edge of the box, and though he ends up leaning backwards while striking the ball, manages to guide it past De Gea towards the bottom-right corner. It’s not quite accurate enough, and shaves the outside of the post. That is an astonishing enough start, but just imagine if that had gone in!
8.07pm GMT
And we’re off! Manchester United (£233.6m) set the ball rolling against Cambridge (0p). McNair lumps it forward, and Dunn gathers. And then ...
8.05pm GMT
The teams are out! Portentous music blazes out of the Old Trafford PA system, as the Uniteds of Manchester and Cambridge take to the glorious turf. Manchester United are in their famous red and black, Cambridge United are proudly dressed in their shimmering yellow and black. “Are those temperatures on that weather map in Fahrenheit?” wonders a shivering Kaustubh Mone.
8.02pm GMT
Louis van Gaal’s opposite number Richard Money was speaking to the same broadcaster, Post Office Telecommunications Sport, earlier. He’s looking forward to the game, thinks Manchester United are obviously hot favourites, but is happy they’re playing a lot of their big names, otherwise what’s the point in trying to get to Old Trafford in the first place? That’s the sort of positive attitude that earns one a European Cup winners medal (1981 with Liverpool, but you knew that already).
7.56pm GMT
Louis van Gaal patiently suffers a pre-match interview. You should win, shouldn’t you, Louis? “They play long balls and have tall players. It is difficult to play against these teams. Chelsea lost to a lower-league team after being 2-0 up at home. So everything is possible. It is what I always say: the death or the gladioli.” I can think of at least one famous supporter of Manchester United who will surely be a fan of van Gaal’s lyricism.
7.33pm GMT
Kick off has been delayed. Weather issues leading to transport bother, you see. The game now gets going, all being well, at 8.05pm.
7.17pm GMT
“Everything is against you at Manchester United and everything is in favour of the underdog.” Now you can criticise Louis van Gaal all you like for unnecessary whining ... but he’s not really whining, is he? He’s just accepting the fact that everyone other than supporters of Manchester United, and probably Peterborough United too, would like to witness an unlikely upset this evening.
To this end, van Gaal has shown both Cambridge United and the FA Cup plenty of respect, naming a super-strong side. Victor Valdes might have been hoping to make his Manchester United debut, but David de Gea keeps his place in goal. Meanwhile Paddy McNair, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans, Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata all come into a £££££ team also starring Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Angel di Maria. There are three World Cup finalists in there, four if you count the chap who sat through a final on the bench.
7.03pm GMT
Manchester United: De Gea, McNair, Smalling, Evans, Rojo, Blind, Fellaini, Mata, Rooney, Di Maria, van Persie.
Subs: Valdes, Jones, Valencia, Herrera, Young, Falcao, Wilson.
Cambridge United: Dunn, Tait, Coulson, Nelson, G Taylor, Donaldson, Champion, McGeehan, Simpson, Chadwick, Elliott.
Subs: Miller, Norris, Gaffney, Morrissey, Ball, B-J Taylor, Kaikai.
6.30pm GMT
Manchester United have endured one or two FA Cup shockers against lower-league opposition at Old Trafford in recent times. But one or two is as many as you’re getting. An infamous 1-0 defeat to third-division Leeds United in 2010. An embarrassingly narrow 1-0 victory over Crawley Town in 2011. And, er, well, that’s about it. Two shockers, and one of those was a win. You can blame Fergie for this state of affairs; the Leeds debacle aside, the country’s grandest manager just didn’t get turfed out of the world’s oldest institution by those downstairs. So Cambridge United watch out, not least because there’s another lesson to learn. In 2006, non-league Burton Albion shocked the biggest club in England by holding them 0-0 at the Pirelli Stadium in the third round, just as fourth-division Cambridge did at the Abbey Stadium in the fourth round a couple of Fridays ago. But Old Trafford wasn’t such a forgiving place for the replay: Burton were battered 5-0.
Cambridge are expected to meet a similar fate tonight: they’re 25-1 for the win, and 12-1 to claim another draw, while Manchester United are 18-1 on. Still, what’s the point in turning up if there’s no hope whatsoever? Cambridge were magnificent at the Abbey, restricting the 11-time cup winners to a couple of decent chances. Fight and determination appears to be in this side’s DNA: they were three down at half time at Luton on Saturday, but battled back to 3-2, Johnny Hunt scoring a pearler (though he’s cup-tied). A defeat, it’s true, but one so nearly avoided, and their first in six games, all of which is worth at least a little something, no? And Manchester United have suffered other humiliations at home to lower league opposition in modern times, albeit in the League Cup: defeats by York City (1995), Coventry City (2007) and Crystal Palace (2011). It’s not much, truth be told, but Cambridge will clutch hold of every single straw there is, before going into battle against this Manchester United side, who are beginning to look their old selves under Louis van Gaal, having suffered just one defeat in the last 15.
Continue reading...The Fiver | All those lengthy kerbside interviews
IT WAS ALL YELLOW
Viewers of last night’s transfer deadline programme on Sky Sports will have considered the decision to splash the colour yellow everywhere for the purposes of branding most apt. A modernist, avant-garde, abstract take on what happens when you mix p1ss and wind. Yes, the whole shebang was a noisy waste of time, promising much and delivering little, a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Jim White Day, some people call it. Yes, that’s it, Jim White Day. The tale signifying nothing told by an idiot is named after Jim White.
Continue reading...December 18, 2014
The Fiver Christmas Awards 2014
Welcome to the 15th Fiver Christmas Awards. Or is it the 16th? Oh, we don’t know. We’ve disingenuously pretended to forget how many times we’ve held these awards at least a dozen times, so there’s a starting point for anyone who cares enough to tot it up. Furthermore, it’s now more than a decade since we awarded Bayer Leverkusen an unprecedented Fiver Christmas Awards quadruple, and in honour of their legendary coach Klaus Toppmöller (kids, ask your grandparents) we declare that now is a time for cigarettes and booze. And curly hair, with locks springy enough to hold a lit cigarette, just in case you have a can of Purple Tin and a quadruple gin on the go at the same time. But as well as it being time for cigarettes and booze, and hairstyles specifically designed to assist in the consumption of cigarettes and booze, it’s also time to dole out a few awards. Mainly because we sense you’re losing interest already, and if we don’t start soon, the Fiver will be in your bin folder quicker than we can say “Gah!”, “Wah!” and “Oh reader! How could you!?”
THE BOB SHANKLY / WILLIE WADDELL / LORD FERG / JIM McLEAN AWARD FOR CARTEL-BUSTING
THE PIERS MORGAN AWARD FOR BEST SELF-AGGRANDISING IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY
THE DR NICK RIVIERA AWARD FOR BEST MEDICAL ADVICE
Continue reading...December 11, 2014
Everton v FC Krasnodar: Europa League – as it happened | Scott Murray
A young, experimental Everton side were beaten by their Russian visitors, but the Toffees top their group nevertheless
9.56pm GMT
Barry hoicks a long free kick into the Russian box. Granqvist heads clear. And that’s that. A brave performance by Everton’s youngsters. Their first defeat in Europe this season, but it matters not: they advance to the knockout stage as group winners, and will be seeded in Monday’s draw. The experimental noodling didn’t really go anywhere, but then jazz doesn’t have to.
9.54pm GMT
90 min +1: Whoosh! There goes that first added minute.
9.53pm GMT
90 min: Browning is replaced by right back Gethin Jones. And Joaozinho is swapped for a Krasnodar kid of their own, Aleksandr Ageev.
9.51pm GMT
88 min: Everton are seeing a lot of the ball, but doing very little with it. Nobody minds. This doesn’t matter. Meanwhile the experimental introduction of Long has caused hep jazz cat ‘Django’ Donnacha Kavanagh (9 mins) to lose himself in chin-stroking be-bop bliss. “At last, the sound engineer has had enough. Watch the guitar hero win it.”
9.49pm GMT
85 min: A lull. And then Long works a little space down the left, but his low cross is easily claimed by Sinitsin.
9.44pm GMT
82 min: Long immediately zips off down the left wing, panicking Sigurdsson into a ludicrous sliding tackle. The young striker’s dumped into the advertising hoardings. He’ll be OK, but the Krasnodar full back is going into the book. The free kick’s whipped in high from the left, allowing Kone to slap a header over the bar from eight yards. A rare chance spurned.
9.43pm GMT
80 min: Conor McAleny, who has looked very decent tonight, is replaced by striker Chris Long.
9.42pm GMT
79 min: Krasnodar’s turn to string a few pretty passes together. They’re going nowhere in particular, but pushing Everton back, and that clock’s only ticking in one direction.
9.40pm GMT
77 min: Browning and Oviedo work well down the right wing, the latter backheeling for the former to wing a deep cross towards Kone. The striker, six yards out, attempts to control, but only runs the ball out of play on the left. In fairness, close control comes at a premium now, because it’s truly hammering it down in Liverpool right now.
9.37pm GMT
74 min: The goalscorer Laborde is replaced by Burmistrov.
9.37pm GMT
73 min: What a farce. Joaozinho is found in acres down the left. He’s all alone in the box, with only Robles to beat. But he fannies around, then instead of taking a pop, rolls the ball to the right for Izmailov, who nudges the ball to the right, then attempts to thread a shot through a thicket of confused Evertonians and into the bottom left. The effort squirms wide left. That should have sealed victory for the Russians. That was a nonsense.
9.33pm GMT
70 min: A couple of Krasnodar corners come to naught. “I’m at a stage adaptation of It’s A Wonderful Life in er... Penge,” reports Gary Naylor. “It’s the interval and George Bailey is in need of rescue. If things carry on like this for Bobby M over Christmas, maybe Clarence can pop into Goodison and effect another saving of a soul.” Nice idea, but I’m not sure the cynics who populate the world of football believe in fairy tales such as “every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings”. Every time a referee whistles, a Premier League manager bristles? I’m sorry. But you can hardly expect me to improve on the work of Frank Capra at the best of times, never mind while I’m in the middle of a Europa League MBM.
9.32pm GMT
68 min: And Kone nearly provides it, embarking on a high-speed slalom down the inside-left channel, breaking into the box, and nearly finding young Dowell with a pull back. For a second he had the option to go over Petrov’s clumsy sliding challenge, but stayed honest. He couldn’t quite work the opening for a shot, which was the big shame.
9.30pm GMT
67 min: Garbutt finds a bit of space down the left and wheechs a shot down Sinitsin’s throat from the edge of the box. Everton have enjoyed themselves down this flank since the restart. You could see a goal coming from this wing.
9.27pm GMT
64 min: Oviedo curls a pass down the right to find Dowell on the right-hand edge of the D. The young lad shoots, but his effort is blocked out for a corner by Sigurdsson. Sinitsin punches Garbutt’s corner towards the halfway line, no half measures.
9.26pm GMT
63 min: Granqvist loops a ball down the inside-left to release Kaleshin into the area. He’s got a chance to shoot, ahead of Oviedo, albeit from a tight angle. But he trips over his own feet. Everton were fortunate there.
9.25pm GMT
61 min: Wanderson wangs the resulting free kick, 25 yards out in a central position, many miles over the bar. Three rugby points. That is ludicrous. Miles over! What a waste.
9.23pm GMT
60 min: Pienaar is booked for a clumsy skittle on Pereyra, who was coming at Everton a mere 30 seconds after sending a shot whistling past the left-hand post.
9.21pm GMT
57 min: Garbutt teases a lovely ball into the Krasnodar box from the left, but Oviedo fails to get enough purchase on his shot. This young Everton side are knocking it around in the trademark Martinezesque style, if nothing else.
9.18pm GMT
54 min: McAleny is involved again, sending Dowell into space down the left. The young winger’s cross is behind Kone, but clanks off the shins of Oviedo, 12 yards out centrally. Oviedo holds his head in his hands, screaming ostentatiously. He knows he should have done better. A controlled shot, at least.
9.17pm GMT
52 min: McAleny, who has looked the business at times this evening, glides in from the left, dips his hip, and skelps a shot straight at Sinitsin from the edge of the box. Decent work. “I clicked on that link for ‘Great Expectations’. It wasn’t what I hoped it would be. Boom!” Scat’s Matt Dony there, contributing a few polyrhythms to the piece.
9.14pm GMT
50 min: Kone turns sharply, just to the right of the Everton D, steps into the box, and absolutely batters a rising effort towards the top right. Sinitsin, who has looked impressive so far this evening, parries with purpose.
9.13pm GMT
49 min: Laborde should score his and Krasnodar’s second, bursting free into the Everton box down the right. But he shoots straight at Robles, who nevertheless smothers well. Pereyra attempts to float a chip home from 30 yards, but that’s easy pickings for the keeper.
9.12pm GMT
48 min: A slow start to the half by Everton. But now they win a free kick down the left. Garbutt whips it into the area. Not a bad delivery, but nobody takes a chance to attack the ball. Sinitsin claims.
9.10pm GMT
No changes. Krasnodar set the ball rolling, which means we can piece together the start of the match. The kick off, as not transmitted by ITV4, would have been Everton’s. “Not to be the stereotypical ugly American, but if there is a more Brazilian name than Joaozinho out there, I’d like to know it,” opines Daniel Stauss. “Off to clean my guns with my obese fingers now.” You could be right. Edson Arantes do Nascimento? Manuel Francisco dos Santos? Alan Carvalho of Red Bull Salzburg?
8.54pm GMT
Half-time experimental entertainment:
8.53pm GMT
A team who play together every week leads an experimental XI full of kids. No huge surprises. No drama, either. Back in 15! You too, no? Ah go on. It’s strangely agreeable, this. Football not so much as jazz, but as easy listening.
8.51pm GMT
43 min: Kone’s arm crunches into Kaleshin’s face. Just the yellow card. Across Stanley Park, Lazar Markovic will be twanging an eyebrow up and down like billy-o.
8.49pm GMT
41 min: Kone bustles with purpose down the inside right, making something out of nothing to set Everton on the attack. He feeds McAleny on the run down the right. McAleny has two goes at finding someone with a cross, but can’t quite manage it. McAleny’s name sounds lovely in commentary. That lovely rhythm. A monicker to roll around the tongue, like a ball of malt whisky, like Makelele, or Tshabalala. People like to say salsa.
8.46pm GMT
40 min: Pienaar is lucky to escape a booking for a thunderous challenge on Kaleshin.
8.44pm GMT
38 min: Joaozinho pitching-wedges a lovely cross into the Everton box from the left. Wanderson is inches away from rising and connecting with a header, ten yards out. A feeling that one would have crashed into the net, for the want of those inches. Wanderson was shaped to hammer that one goalwards.
8.42pm GMT
36 min: Laborde shoulder-charges Garbutt to the floor. Sportingly, he goes over to help the young man up as he slides across the greasy Goodison turf on his nipples. That early assault by Granqvist on Atsu apart, this hasn’t exactly been Brazil versus Hungary 1954.
8.41pm GMT
34 min: Another corner for Everton down the left. And once again, Alcaraz towers over everyone else to win the header. But again it’s off target. Goodison very quiet right now.
8.39pm GMT
32 min: McAleny goes on a dance down the inside-right channel, eventually sending a dribbler towards the bottom left from 20 yards. It worries Sinitsin nonetheless. The keeper considers turning the ball round the post, before thinking better of it. Good decision, as the ball apologetically trundles past the woodwork.
8.37pm GMT
Patient play by Krasnodar, who triangulate awhile down the left wing. Suddenly a ball’s flashed down the channel, releasing Laborde into the box. He tries to round Robles on the outside, but can’t manage it, pushed wide left. No worries! As Robles jogs back to his line, Laborde turns and whips a first-time shot into the bottom-left, on the keeper’s inside. Initially very good keeping, and then very bad keeping. A mixed bag for Robles.
8.34pm GMT
28 min: Wanderson attempts to burst into space down the Krasnodar left on two occasions, but each time runs into a blue wall. I’ll level with you, it’s not brilliant entertainment, this. In fairness, one can hardly expect this Everton selection to immediately start pinging it around like Real Madrid circa 1960, and it is tipping down in stair rods to boot.
8.32pm GMT
25 min: Laborde, to the right of the Everton D, has a look for the top right. The ball flicks off an Everton shirt for a corner. Granqvist makes a nuisance of himself at the near post, but can only hoick the ball out for a goal kick. “How is it I turn out for my team every Sunday morning, straight out of the car, mild hangover, and take to the pitch, play a ‘blinder’ for 90 mins and walk off, sound as a pound?” wonders Chris Lawlor, a man one vowel shy of a Liverpudlian legend. “These guys don’t play from week to week, come onto a pristine pitch and pull something or other within five mins?! They wouldn’t last three mins at the municipal park on Sunday morning. Soft arses.” A refreshingly old-school attitude, this, and one approved by this MBM. They should wear shinpads the size of novels, knock back large brandies before taking the field, and suck down restorative half-time cigarettes. Filterless. I belong in 1947.
8.27pm GMT
21 min: Garbutt busies himself down the left, bursting through a gap and reaching the byline. His pull back doesn’t find a blue shirt, but the ball eventually works its way to Pienaar, 25 yards out. Pienaar takes a whack towards the bottom right. Sinitsin opts to punch it clear as he slides along the turf. A good, if unconventional, save.
8.26pm GMT
20 min: A long pause as Robels gets large wads of cotton wool stuffed up each nostril to stem blood drawn by that Wanderson shot. After a change of shirt, he’s fine to continue. This isn’t exactly high-octane stuff, I’m not selling you short here.
8.22pm GMT
16 min: Everton’s entire defence goes AWOL. Wanderson tears clear down the right from a deep position, enters the area, and attempts to blast into the top right from a tight angle. Robles is guarding his near post well, and parries around it. The resulting set piece ends in nix. Well, this has certainly picked up!
8.21pm GMT
15 min: There is now! Dowell gets involved in the middle of the park and slides a ball down the inside-right channel for Kone, who launches a heatseeker towards the top left from 25 yards. He’s creamed that one! But Sinitsin is behind it all the way, and turns the ball out for a corner which comes to naught.
8.19pm GMT
14 min: Not a whole load going on, it has to be said.
8.17pm GMT
11 min: Kieran Dowell, a 17-year-old winger, comes on in Atsu’s stead.
8.17pm GMT
10 min: Before Everton can make a change for the stricken Atsu, they win a corner down the left. From it, Alcaraz rises ten yards out, and plants a header inches wide of the right-hand post. Magnificent effort.
8.15pm GMT
9 min: Atsu has hobbled off. No change yet, though. “If I was Bobby Martinez, I’d get Long on ASAP,” suggests Donnacha Kavanagh. “He’s going to need some guitar in there to balance the keys/brass.” Oh but we’re going out there tonight, baby. Out there. The normal rules don’t apply in improv. Throw away the dots.
8.13pm GMT
7 min: Atsu hares after a long ball down the right wing. He’s not upended by a hooligan this time, but he does appear to have pulled a hamstring. He’s holding the back of his leg and grimacing a lot.
8.11pm GMT
5 min: It’s tipping down in north Liverpool. The lights have yet to fuse.
8.10pm GMT
3 min: Not much of an atmosphere at Goodison. It’s almost as though nothing’s riding on this. “You forgot to mention Scottish ‘giants’ Celtic in your list of Europa hopefuls,” writes Simon McMahon. “I’m told that their new central defensive pairing of Lemon Jefferson and Willie McTell played pretty well tonight.”
8.09pm GMT
No idea who kicked off, because ITV4 were covering the Besiktas-Spurs farce, and the lights have gone out twice over there. It’s still going on! Good old Uefa, and their bullshit scheduling. Anyway, at shimmering, shiny, well-lit Goodison, we arrive at the 90-second mark, just in time to see Granqvist booked for scything down Atsu as the Everton man looks to burst down the right. Truly, the only way is up.
7.58pm GMT
Experimental Everton: Robles (drums), Browning (double bass), Alcaraz (clarinet), Barry (tuba), Garbutt (alto saxophone), Atsu (tenor saxophone), Oviedo (piano), Ledson (organ), Pienaar (trumpet), McAleny (soprano saxophone), Kone (percussion).
Subs: Grant (trombone), Long (guitar), Kenny (electric piano), Griffiths (vibraphone), Williams (electric bass), Jones (tabla), Dowell (scat vocals).
Krasnodar: Sinitsyn, Petrov, Sigurdsson, Granqvist, Kaleshin, Laborde, Izmailov, Gazinskiy, Pereyra, Joaozinho, Wanderson.
Subs: Burmistrov, Novak, Kavlinov, Kuzmichev, Ageev, Nesterenko, Starkov.
7.05pm GMT
So Everton are already through to the Round of 32 as group winners, regardless of what happens here tonight against Krasnodar, who are already out. But don’t close that browser! For fascination can still come your way! Roberto Martinez has promised to name an “experimental” side. Ninety-odd minutes of avant-garde exploration, it’s like Big Fun by Miles Davis, only in football form.
And how about this to whet the appetite? Martinez has pledged to field “a couple of youngsters that are really exciting. I don’t want to mention their names just yet. It’s exciting for us as a club to show another two diamonds of our development system, to show the good work being done in a fantastic environment.” Defender Tyias Browning (20), full-back Luke Garbutt (21) and
electric pianist Herbie Hancock (29)
striker Conor McAleny (22) are all expected to feature.
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