Scott Murray's Blog, page 56

Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea: Premier League – as it happened

Chelsea were the better side, but Cristiano Ronaldo earned United a point with an equaliser that came immediately after Marcos Alonso’s opener

4 min: Matic brings down Jorginho on the right. A chance for James to swing a free kick into the mixer. United half clear, but Mount takes up possession on the opposite flank. He aims a curler towards the top right but only manages to hit McTominay full in the mush.

2 min: Chelsea hog the ball during the opening exchanges. A few thousand empty seats around Old Trafford at the minute, for aforementioned reasons.

Continue reading...

The Fiver | The West Ham of 2022 will hope history augurs well against Frankfurt

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

Eintracht Frankfurt already have one European trophy to their name. They won Euro Vase back in 1980, on away goals, in a two-legged final against Borussia Mönchengladbach, but while The Fiver isn’t knocking it in terms of achievement, on these shores, and in plenty of other areas outside the old Bundesrepublik Deutschland we’ll be bound, that’s not what they’re principally known for. And what they’re principally known for is, having the temerity to take the lead in the 1960 Big (né Li’l) Cup final at Hampden against Real Madrid, who then went on to roll seven goals past the hilariously static Eintracht keeper and Antony Gormley muse Egon Loy. Ach Richard Kress! Was hast du getan! Du hast den Käfig der Bestie erschüttert!

Continue reading...

Manchester City 4-3 Real Madrid: Champions League semi-final, first leg – as it happened

City flew out of the blocks and were well worth their four goals, yet they could have had more, and Real kept on their tails with three stunning strikes of their own

What a start for City! After stroking it around for a little while, Mahrez swans in from the right, cuts back, and curls in for De Bruyne, who runs from deep to split the Real defence and meet the cross, steering the ball into the bottom left with a brave, controlled header from close range. Wow!

1 min: “We’re not really here,” holler the home fans. The sweet-and-sour third-tier sugar rush of 1998-99 seems a long time ago.

Continue reading...

The Fiver | How the entire course of history can be changed by tiny bodychecks

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

1956 was a memorable year for both Manchester City and Real Madrid. That June, Madrid won the inaugural edition of the hot, new, pan-European club football competition Li’l Cup – look how li’l! – while a month before in May, City triumphed in the FA Cup final, Bert Trautmann’s neck, Don Revie cosplaying as Nandor Hidegkuti, all that. Real immediately built on their success and by the mid-60s had conquered Europe on another five occasions. City also moved on, and by this time found themselves in the Second Division losing at home to Swindon in front of 8,015 fans. Of course they did. Oh old-school City! You’ll always have a very special place in everyone’s heart.

Continue reading...

Brentford 0-0 Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened

Spurs fail to get a shot on target for the second match in a row, as they lose ground on Arsenal in the race for fourth

2 min: Spurs draw a few pretty triangles down the right. Suddenly Kane shovels a pass along the channel for Son, springing his partner free. But the flag goes up for offside.

1 min: A late refereeing change: Martin Atkinson has replaced Andre Marriner as man in the middle.

Continue reading...

Arsenal 3-1 Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened

Another day, another chastening defeat for United, as Arsenal boost their hopes of Champions League qualification

4 min: That was a fine Arsenal move, though Telles should surely have cut out Xhaka’s cross. He was all over the shop.

Arsenal certainly are! Xhaka swings a couple of balls into the United box. United half clear. Xhaka has a third go, from the left. The ball drops to Saka, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Saka aims for the bottom left. De Gea fingertips it out, but only to Tavares, who bundles in from a couple of yards. Oh United.

Continue reading...

Burnley 2-0 Southampton: Premier League – as it happened

Burnley played some of their best football of the season to see off lacklustre Southampton and boost their survival bid

38 seconds: Forster races out of his area to blooter clear, only just getting there in time ahead of Rodriguez. A fast start to this game all right.

19 seconds: Walker-Peters makes his way down the right and hits a cross-cum-shot that only just clears the crossbar. Pope had it covered.

Continue reading...

The Fiver | It’s not yet clear how the Erik ten Hag era will go farcically wrong

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

Pity poor Fiver, who had several bons mots regarding Thursday’s relegation-infused battle between Burnley and Southampton ready to go – proper zingers they were, too – when white smoke suddenly started parping out of the chimneystack at Old Trafford. The Theatre of Dreams isn’t in the best nick at the moment, so there were initial worries that the 1967 Baby Belling that heats up all the matchday pies had finally given up the ghost, but upon closer examination it proved to be even more epochal news than that. Turns out the papal conclave had finally gotten round to making an informed decision for the first time since 1986, and so it was announced the new manager of Manchester United would be Erik ten Hag, to the surprise of absolutely nobody and the resigned disappointment of Mauricio Pochettino. Oh Mauricio! You’ll always have Paris.

Continue reading...

Liverpool 4-0 Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened

Liverpool went top after dismantling an awful Manchester United side

United get the ball rolling ... but only after everyone takes a knee. The gesture is met with good grace. There’s no room for racism.

The teams are out! Liverpool wear red, forcing Manchester United into their Sharp / Lee Sharpe throwback strip. Speaking of retro stylings, here’s the very kind Justin Kavanagh: “A great Joy of Six, Scott, as always. However, with Phil Jones in, and Crisitano Ronaldo out, I’m not sure how much further nostalgia United fans can take. To put it in perspective, imagine a recently resigned Luis Suárez was out tonight for Liverpool, and Danny Wilson was getting a surprise recall.” We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.

Continue reading...

The Fiver | Day one of the Business End of the season is a biggie, then

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

Easter historically marks the point on the calendar where things in the world of football begin to sort themselves out, the effective start of the Business End of the season, and this year has been no different. Derby County’s relegation to the third tier for the first time since 1984 was confirmed on Monday. Burnley look nailed on to be heading in that direction too, if the sacking of Sean Dyche, Maxwell Cornet’s radar, and the state of that takeover are anything to go by. And the immediate future of a couple of other clubs could be shaped on Tuesday as well, depending on what happens at Anfield between Liverpool and Manchester United. You may as well watch it, there’s nowt else on.

Continue reading...