Scott Murray's Blog, page 21

Benfica 2-1 Toulouse, Milan 3-0 Rennes and more: Europa League playoffs – as it happened

Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored twice to give Milan the advantage against Rennes

2 mins: Ugh, there’s a bit of a kit clash going on in Feyenoord versus Roma. Red, white and black plays … black and white with red numbers. How does that still happen in modern football?

Roma have the likes of Chris Smalling, Houssem Aouar, Stephan El Shaarawy and Renato Sanches on their bench. It’s been a purposeful start from both teams in Rotterdam.

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FC Copenhagen 1-3 Manchester City: Champions League last 16, first leg – as it happened

The champions of Denmark, coming off a two-month winter break, had no answer for relentless City

2 min: City take their first touches of the ball and are bombarded with pantomime whistles. A fine old-school European night already.

1 min: Copenhagen are on the front foot immediately, Claesson attempting a Mark Hughes style bicycle kick on the edge of the City D. Rodri, last year’s final hero, bravely blocks and wins a free kick in the process.

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Manchester City 2-0 Everton: Premier League – as it happened

Erling Haaland scored a late double to down determined Everton

2 min: City are on the front foot quicksmart. Foden probes down the right a couple of times. Nothing doing there yet, so the hosts switch it and Doku wins the first corner of the afternoon on the left.

1 min: An immediate whack upside the head for McNeil, and play is stopped. His own man Branthwaite at fault there. Thankfully he springs up quickly and is good to continue.

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Aston Villa 1-3 Chelsea: FA Cup fourth-round replay – as it happened

Chelsea set up a fifth-round rematch of the 1970 final with Leeds, after easily seeing off an underperforming Villa side

1 min: McGinn makes trouble down the left but can’t find Tielemans in the middle with his dinked cross. Chelsea struggle to clear the ball.

Villa get the game underway. A fine atmosphere. “Nice pyro during the walkout!” writes Joe Pearson. Hope the match is as fiery.”

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Plymouth Argyle 1-4 Leeds United (aet): FA Cup fourth round replay – as it happened

Leeds ran out convincing winners in the end, after being taken to extra time by their battling hosts

3 min: Piroe pings a ball down the centre to release Anthony on goal. The flag immediately goes up for offside. Not sure about that at all; Sorinola may have been playing him on. Plymouth get away with one there.

2 min: Wright probes down the inside-left channel and floats a cross towards Hardie on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Hardie’s not far away from getting a toe to the ball, but the wind takes it out for a goal kick.

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Newcastle 4-4 Luton, Brighton 4-1 Crystal Palace, Burnley 2-2 Fulham – as it happened

The goals flew in on a dramatic day in the Premier League

Burnley v Fulham. Two changes for Burnley after the midweek 3-1 loss at Manchester City. Aaron Ramsey and debutant Lorenz Assignon replace Ameen Al Dakhil and Johann Gudmundsson; Maxime Esteve is on the bench and hopes to make his debut as well. Fulham make three changes after their goalless draw with Everton. Tim Ream, Harrison Reed and Rodrigo Muniz replace Issa Diop, Tom Cairney and Raul Jimenez. Deadline-day loan signing Armando Broja is ready on the bench.

Brighton v Palace. Brighton make four changes after their 4-0 humiliation at Luton. Tariq Lamptey, Jack Hinshelwood, Evan Ferguson and Bart Verbruggen come in for Danny Welbeck, Pervis Estupiñán and Jason Steele, who drop to the bench, and James Milner, who is injured. Palace make two changes in the wake of their 3-2 victory over Sheffield United. Jeffrey Schlupp and debutant Daniel Muñoz replace Michael Olise, who is only fit enough for the bench, and Eberechi Eze, who misses out altogether.

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Transfer deadline day: Lyon attack West Ham after Benrahma deal fails – as it happened

The January transfer window offered some late drama as Saïd Benrahma’s move to West Ham collapsed acrimoniously

This is not disclosed, but looks like Forest’s deal for Ribeiro would be worth more than £10m and if the transfer becomes permanent.

Nottingham Forest have announced the signing of Rodrigo Ribeiro from Sporting. The 18-year-old striker has joined the club on loan for the remainder of the season, in a deal which could become permanent beyond that. Per the club:

An exciting young forward, Ribeiro came through the ranks, making his professional debut for Sporting in the Champions League against Manchester City in March 2022. A Portugal Under-20 international, Ribeiro scored six goals in nine matches as Sporting reached the semi-finals of the Uefa Youth League last season, and has featured 10 times for the club’s academy side in the Portuguese third tier this term. Ribeiro will wear the No 37 shirt in Nottingham.

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Liverpool 4-1 Chelsea: Premier League – as it happened

Conor Bradley scored his first goal for Liverpool and set up two others as the league leaders routed Chelsea

2 min: Palmer drops deep and sends a first-time pass down the inside left. Sterling can’t quite get there ahead of the sliding Alisson, who smothers. Both teams already look well up for this.

1 min: Liverpool are on the front foot immediately. Bradley making his presence felt on the right flank. Then he takes a quick throw to release Jota on a run towards the byline. Jota cuts back but there’s nobody in red to take advantage.

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Nottingham Forest 1-2 Arsenal: Premier League – as it happened

Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka scored for Arsenal before Taiwo Awoniyi’s late strike made for a nervy finish

5 min: Better from Forest, as Dominguez wriggles his way out of a tight spot in the centre circle and launches the home side’s first attack of the evening. He tries to find Wood down the inside-left channel but gets the pass all wrong and Saliba is able to put a stop to the move.

4 min: Still all Arsenal. Rice nearly releases Smith Rowe into the Forest box from the right. Too much on the pass, and it’s a goal kick. Still a raucous atmosphere. But for how long? Much more of this territorial dominance from the away team, and the patience of the home crowd will be tested for sure. Early days of course.

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Bournemouth 5-0 Swansea: FA Cup fourth round – as it happened

Bournemouth routed their Championship opponents in a tie that was effectively over before a quarter of an hour had passed

4 min: Now Fisher comes out of his box to clear. The Swansea keeper giving it plenty of swash and buckle early doors.

3 min: A long pass down the Bournemouth left. Sinisterra chases after it. Wood does enough to shepherd the ball back to Fisher, who elegantly wedges over the still-going Sinisterra to clear.

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