Scott Murray's Blog, page 24

Arsenal 2-1 Wolves, Burnley 5-0 Sheff Utd and more: Premier League clockwatch – as it happened

Arsenal moved five points clear at the top while Burnley finally won at home as they routed Sheffield United

It’s time for Simon McMahon’s weekly letter and scene-setter from Scotland, and once again he proves himself a man after my own heart. “Dundee United’s trip to Morton is one of many to have fallen victim to the weather up here, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on the goings-on at Inverness. Big Dunc’s boys would be doing his old Tannadice mates a big favour if they could continue their unbeaten run against Raith, who are four points behind United at the top of the Scottish Championship with a game in hand. Older readers will remember it was an unfortunate incident whilst playing against Raith Rovers at Ibrox that resulted in the fiery forward spending three months in the big hoose at Barlinnie. Let’s hope for more none of that type of nonsense in the Highlands today, eh?”

FULL TIME: West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Leicester City. So Leicester go four points clear after all. For a couple of hours at least: Ipswich kick off at Portman Road against Coventry in just over half an hour. Leeds and Southampton also have home fixtures coming up, against Middlesbrough and Cardiff respectively. We’ll keep you posted on those.

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Liverpool 4-0 LASK, Aston Villa and Rangers in action: Europa League – as it happened

Liverpool made it through to the last 16 after an easy victory at Anfield, while West Ham, Brighton and Aston Villa also won in Europe

Goal! Freiburg 2 Olympiacos 0 (Michael Gregoritsch 8)

Goal! Freiburg 1 Olympiacos 0 (Michael Gregoritsch 3)

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Brentford 0-1 Arsenal: Premier League – as it happened

Kai Havertz popped up late to send Arsenal back to the top of the table

4 min: Trossard is illegally stopped mid-dribble down the left. Odegaard dinks the resulting free kick into the mixer. Martinelli clanks a poor header over from six yards. He had more time than he realised.

2 min: Brentford get their foot on the ball and Yarmoliuk finds a bit of space down the right. His cross is no good and easily cleared. A rare old atmosphere this evening at the Brentford Community Stadium, lubricated by some lovely afternoon pints no doubt.

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Wales 1-1 Turkey: Euro 2024 qualifying – as it happened

A draw ended Welsh hopes of automatic qualification

4 min: James busies himself down the right but can’t find anyone with his low cross. The ball deflects out for a throw. Thoughts of the goal against Armenia on Saturday as Roberts flings in long from the right. But Cakir comes through a crowded box to claim with confidence. Great keeping.

2 min: Cakir launches long down the right. The nippy Sari nearly gets the better of Rodon but the Wales left-back does well to stick to his opponent’s shoulder and ensure he can’t enter the box.

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North Macedonia 1-1 England: Euro 2024 qualifying – as it happened

England rounded off their successful Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a draw in Skopje

3 min: Grealish and Rice combine cutely down the inside-left channel, the former crossing low for Watkins at the near post. Watkins can’t quite prod home from close range. The ball’s deflected out for a corner, from which …

1 min: Lewis’s debut begins, and he’s immediately barged off the ball by Alimi, who sends Miovski skittering free down the right. But it was an overly aggressive shove, and the whistle goes. Alimi wags his finger in disapproval. Welcome to international football, young man.

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Armenia 1-1 Wales: Euro 2024 qualifying – as it happened

Automatic qualification is now out of Welsh hands after a draw in Yerevan

3 min: Armenia have settled. Wales are struggling to get a touch, but they’re keeping the hosts well away from their box.

2 min: A fairly hectic start to the game. No surprise, really, given both teams really need the win. Nerves will be jangling.

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England 2-0 Malta: Euro 2024 qualifying – as it happened

England huffed and puffed against a spirited Maltese side but did just enough to claim all three points

28 seconds: Guillaumier robs Gallagher, 30 yards from the England goal. He feeds Teuma, who whistles a low drive inches wide of the left-hand post. Not entirely sure Pickford had that covered. Malta so close to doing a San Marino on England!

A warm round of applause – and a huge cheer of appreciation - in memory of Sir Bobby. Then Malta get the ball rolling.

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Georgia 2-2 Scotland: Euro 2024 qualifying – as it happened

Scott McTominay made it seven goals in seven qualifiers while Lawrence Shankland scored late to end Scotland’s losing run

2 min: The match ball was swapped just before kick off. Now the referee’s not happy with the new one either. Third time lucky, then.

1 min: A few boos from the home fans as Scotland hog possession and stroke it around the back.

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Manchester United 1-0 Luton, Arsenal 3-1 Burnley, and more: clockwatch – as it happened

Arsenal leapfrogged Spurs into second, Manchester United squeaked past Luton, and Everton’s revival continued with a win at Palace

FULL TIME: Sunderland 3-1 Birmingham City. The Black Cats move into the play-off spots thanks to goals from Jobe Bellingham and Adil Aouchiche, and a Dion Sanderson own goal … but that’s not really the top line, is it? The Gary Rowett / Gianfranco Zola dynamic continues to be mined in ersatz fashion by Wayne Rooney. He took over from John Eustace, who had won his last two matches in charge of Blues 4-1 and 3-1; Rooney’s now presided over four losses and a draw. The fixtures haven’t been particularly kind, to be fair, and Rooney is attempting to implement a new style of play … but the upcoming visit of Sheffield Wednesday suddenly looks like a must-win if he’s going to get the more suspicious denizens of St Andrew’s onside.

That result means Spurs pass up the chance to clamber back to the top of the Premier League table … and gives Arsenal the chance to nip ahead of them into second spot with a win against Burnley this afternoon. Wolves move up three places to 12th, and could end the day 11th if Everton do a number on Palace.

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West Ham 1-0 Olympiakos, Rangers 2-1 Sparta Prague: Europa League – as it happened

There were wins for West Ham, Rangers and Brighton in the Europa League and Aston Villa in the Conference but Liverpool lost in Toulouse

Aberdeen will be knocked out of the Conference League if they fail to beat PAOK tonight and Eintracht Frankfurt win at HJK Helsinki. They make two changes in the wake of their League Cup semi-final win over Hibs. Duk and Ryan Duncan come in for Bojan Miovski and Leighton Clarkson.

PAOK: Kotarski, Vieirinha, Troost-Ekong, Koulierakis, Baba, Tsingaras, Schwab, Despodov, Konstantelias, Taison, Brandon.
Subs: Michailidis, Meite, Murg, Andrija Zivkovic, Kedziora, Zivko Zivkovic, Lyratzis, Ozdoev, Vrakas, Samatta, Rafa Soares, Tzimas.

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