Scott Murray's Blog, page 33
April 19, 2023
Bayern Munich 1-1 Man City (agg 1-4): Champions League quarter-final – as it happened
Bayern battled in the first half, but City improved in the second to set up another semi-final clash with Real Madrid
2 min: Pavard and Coman combine at pace down the right. The latter whips in dangerously. Choupo-Moting winds his neck back, preparing to head home from six yards, but Stones judges the situation to perfection and flicks away just in time. So close to a stunning start by Bayern!
After a three-minute wait, the ref is back, and Bayern launch the ball long. Here we go, then. “Only one thing going for Bayern, that’s Tuchel,” argues Jeff Sax. The crowd too, though, right?
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April 13, 2023
Manchester United 2-2 Sevilla: Europa League quarter-final, first leg – as it happened
MBM: Marcel Sabitzer scored twice in the first half but a mixture of bad luck and rank defending allowed Sevilla to dramatically draw level
2 min: That’s got the home crowd going, if nothing else. On the touchline, José Luis Mendilibar wears a furrowed brow. A stressful start for the Sevilla coach.
26 seconds: Manchester United have the ball in the net! Antony steals the ball from Gudelj, 30 yards out, and slips the ball down the inside-left channel to release Sancho, who strides into the box before slotting into the bottom left! Clinical … but clearly offside. Up goes the flag.
Continue reading...April 12, 2023
Real Madrid 2-0 Chelsea: Champions League quarter-final, first leg – as it happened
Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio made the difference for the reigning champions on an evening that saw Ben Chilwell sent off
The teams are out! Real Madrid wear their meringue whites, while Chelsea sport royal blue. In the tunnel beforehand, Carlo Ancelotti had a good long friendly catch-up with Kalidou Koulibaly, no doubt reminiscing about their time together at Napoli. Now out on the pitch, the erstwhile Chelsea coach shares a big hug with his successor and former player Lampard. A quick blast of Uefa’s remix of Zadok the Priest (Version) and we’ll be off soon. Meanwhile, also defending the honour of Chelsea’s manager, here’s Aditi Modi: “I don’t really believe there’s much Frank has to lose here. Everyone expects Chelsea to lose, and they most probably will. But if they lose by a non-embarrassing scoreline, that’s as close to a win as could be expected from them, against the record champions and under the circumstances.”
In defence of Frank. “I don’t see how Lampard could have put out a better team to be honest,” begins Julian Menz. “Three in midfield to match Real’s, James and Chilwell in their preferred positions. Chelsea’s stinking form going into the game says Real will win comfortably, but I have a sneaking feeling Chelsea will actually show up tonight. And yes, I’m clutching at straws.”
Continue reading...April 9, 2023
Jon Rahm wins the Masters 2023 – as it happened
Rahm is faced with a treacherous bunker shot. He’s got to aim 40 feet left of the pin, and land softly, hoping the slope doesn’t take his ball away towards the fairway. He executes it almost perfectly. The ball lands like a feather, turns 90 degrees right, and then, thanks to the camber on the other side of the green acting as a backstop, rolls back into the heart of the green, stopping 12 feet from the flag. The best he could do. On Sky, Ewen Murray points out that Seve would have been 66 today, and he’d have doffed his cap to that one. Rahm rolls in the putt, one of the great up and downs on this famous hole. That’s a staunch save, because Koepka chips and putts with minimal fuss. The pair walk off with their pars, Rahm the happier having made three big putts in a row. Koepka must be wondering what he has to do to shake this guy off.
Brooks doesn’t take care of business on 9. He’s in the middle of the fairway, having watched Rahm send his tee shot onto pine needles down the right, then hit a mud ball into the bunker to the left of the green. But though he lands his approach on the green pin high, there’s too much backspin on his ball, which tumbles back down the false front and onto the fairway. An up-and-down contest coming up.
Continue reading...April 8, 2023
The Masters: third round suspended for day – as it happened
JT’s playing partners Cameron Young and Jon Rahm are doing much better. Both birdie 12. It moves the big Spaniard to within two strokes of leader Brooks Koepka; meanwhile that’s Young’s third birdie in five holes and the Match Play runner-up is suddenly right back in the mix.
-12: Koepka (F)
-10: Rahm (12)
-8: Bennett -a- (F)
-7: Young (12)
-6: Morikawa (F), Hovland (13)
April 7, 2023
The Masters 2023: second round – as it happened
A brutal start to the second round for Tyrrell Hatton. The 31-year-old from High Wycombe finished second behind Scottie Scheffler at the Players last month, shooting 29 on the back nine on Sunday, a tournament record. An opening round of 71 yesterday will have given him further encouragement for this week; however he’s just traversed Tea Olive like the Keystone Kops in their Ford Model T. Zig-zagging from the trees on the left to the gallery on the right, then flubbing a chip, he ends up with a double-bogey six and drops back to +1 overall. Hey, a farcical start to the round didn’t do Jon Rahm any harm yesterday. That’s what Hatton, another notorious hot-head, will need to tell himself.
Trouble for the leader Brooks Koepka on the par-three 6th. He pitches his tee shot ten feet to the left of the flag. Problem is, the spin takes his ball back and to the left, then down a slope that takes his ball 64 feet from the flag. The fine margins at Augusta National. Another big par save coming up?
Continue reading...April 6, 2023
The Masters 2023: first round – as it happened
Jon Rahm four-putted the first but recovered to shoot 65, sharing the lead with Brooks Koepka and Viktor Hovland after day one
As if making two holes-in-one on consecutive holes in yesterday’s par-three contest wasn’t achievement enough, Seamus Power nearly emulates Louis Oosthuizen’s 2012 albatross on 2. He creams his second downhill from 239 yards to five feet, and tidies up for the first eagle of the week. He’ll be given some lovely crystal by the committee for that; more importantly, having started with a bogey, he’s also now got a share of the lead at -1.
Meanwhile, apropos the aforementioned CBS theme, here’s Dan O: “Just making sure you’re aware of this. It’s pretty awful but also kind of cool? I only just heard it last year and still can’t really believe there’s a version with lyrics.” It is difficult to believe, yes. Nevertheless, all together everyone, you know the words: ♬ It’s the legions of Arnie’s Army and the Golden Bear’s throngs / and the wooden-shafted legend of Bobby Jones♯
Continue reading...April 1, 2023
Chelsea 0-2 Aston Villa: Premier League – as it happened
John McGinn capped a great week with Scotland by scoring his first Villa goal in 16 months as Unai Emery’s impressive team continued their rise up the table
2 min: Havertz makes good down the left and crosses. The ball pings off a defender and flies into the path of Kovacic, who skies a speculative effort into the aforementioned end.
1 min: A bit of space for Chilwell down the left. He hoicks dismally into the Shed, and holds his hand up in embarrassment.
Continue reading...Manchester City 4-1 Liverpool: Premier League – as it happened
City swept Liverpool aside with a regal second-half performance, Jack Grealish in irrepressible form
2 min: Grealish prepares to take a throw. Gundogan and Fabinho shove each other. Gundogan goes down claiming to have taken a deliberate one in the face. It all looked reasonably innocent, and the referee gives both players a stern talking-to.
1 min: Gakpo, pressing hard from the get-go, nearly blocks Ederson’s clearance. A slightly nervy start by the City keeper.
Continue reading...March 28, 2023
Scotland 2-0 Spain: Euro 2024 qualifying – as it happened
Scott McTominay was the two-goal hero as Scotland deservedly beat three-time champions Spain at Hampden
4 min: Other than that, it’s a fairly staccato start to the match. Neither side yet to properly settle.
2 min: Christie and McGinn shuttle the ball down the middle for Dykes, who takes a whack from the left-hand edge of the D. Porro blocks well. A decent early showing by the hosts.
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