Scott Murray's Blog, page 61
March 2, 2022
The Fiver | Chelsea, Roman Abramovich and old-school memories of the Bridge
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Winning five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, two Big Cups, two Big Vases, a Super Cup and a Club World Cup is all good and well, but some Chelsea fans of a certain vintage still yearn for how things were before Roman Abramovich pitched his tent in Москва-на-Темзе all those years ago. Life was more innocent back then, what with the electric cattle fence surrounding the pitch, the frequent run-ins with Millwall, betting the farm on a behemoth of a stand in the middle of an economy-jiggering oil crisis and going nine matches without a goal in the old Second Division. Say what you will about Chelsea, but one way or another, they’ve rarely been boring.
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March 1, 2022
Peterborough United 0-2 Manchester City: FA Cup fifth round – as it happened
Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish were the difference as Peterborough made City work hard for their place in the quarter-finals
2 min: Benda nearly suffers a catastrophic start in the Peterborough goal, dropping the ball to pass upfield but failing to notice Jesus closing him down at warp speed. Jesus blocks the kick, the ball rebounding and only just missing the open goal to the left. That won’t settle any pre-match nerves.
1 min: A first touch of the ball for Zinchenko is met with cheers of support.
Continue reading...The Fiver | Everton just can’t catch a break
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It’s not the greatest time to be a fan of Everton Football Club. Admittedly, that’s something that could have been said at pretty much any point during the last 9,776 days – the amount of time elapsed since the club lifted their last trophy, less a week to factor in a brief period of contentment following the winning of that 1995 FA Cup – but here we are. Oh the Ev! Oh Joe, Howard, Walter, David, Roberto, Ronald, Sam, Marco, Carlo and Rafa! Those parvenus across the park have just lifted their 16th trophy during your drought! How on earth has it come to this for the School of Science?
Continue reading...February 26, 2022
Everton 0-1 Manchester City: Premier League – as it happened
City re-established their six-point lead at the top of the table with the sort of scrappy win that decides titles
The teams are out. No air-raid siren to greet the players, just the theme to Z-Cars. City wear t-shirts with the Ukraine flag and the legend NO WAR. Everton emerge draped in the flag of Ukraine. Then a timely spin of the 1960s Hollies classic He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother. A lovely moment where humanity prevails. Poor Zinchenko on the City bench looks close to tears but the brave young man gives a supportive crowd the thumbs up. We’ll be off in an emotional minute. Godspeed Ukraine.
Frank Lampard also speaks very well in the circumstances. “We have a lot of empathy as a club, it’s a people’s club. The decision to be involved was Vitalii’s, he’s never given me the inkling he doesn’t want to be involved. It’s a small release for him to train with us and feel he’s part of our family. The onus is on us to support him. There’s not much help we can give to know we’re there for him. A tough time for him, and I’m sure both sets of fans will show big reactions to those players.”
Continue reading...Leeds 0-4 Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened
Spurs bounced back from defeat at Burnley as Leeds continued to ship goals at an alarming rate
2 min: Firpo races down the inside-left channel with great purpose. His link-up with Harrison doesn’t quite come off, but James comes at Spurs again and Kulusevski barges him over in a panic. A free kick just to the left of the Spurs box. Everyone in the mixer.
Spurs get the ball rolling ... but only after the knee is taken by both teams. Plenty of applause greets the gesture. There’s no room for racism.
Continue reading...February 23, 2022
Atlético Madrid 1-1 Manchester United: Champions League last 16, first leg – as it happened
The hosts were the better team, but Anthony Elanga’s late goal puts United in the driving seat with their home leg to follow
United get the first leg of this Round-of-16 tie underway. The visitors take the knee first, to a cacophony of whistles from the home support. There’s no room for racism.
The teams are out! Atletico Madrid, Los Colchoneros, are in mattress-homage red and white stripes. That forces United into third-choice 90s-throwback blue and black. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes, once Uefa have bastardised Zadok the Priest, and captains Jan Oblak and
Bruno Fernandes
Harry Maguire have exchanged pennants. We’ll be off before you know it!
The Fiver | Cristiano Ronaldo having Atlético Madrid’s number and then some
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The omens are decidedly mixed for Manchester United before their Round of Arsenal tie against Atlético Madrid in Big Cup. On the one hand, they boast a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. Over a long period of time, the old boy has regularly heaped misery upon woe on to Diego Simeone’s fuming noggin. CR37 scored against Atléti for city neighbours Real to help his side win the 2014 final. He slotted the winning penalty against them in the 2016 final. He swatted them aside in the 2017 semis with a hat-trick, then scored another treble for Juventus in a stupidly dramatic comeback from 2-0 down at this stage in 2019. It’s fair to say he’s got their number … specifically 25, which is how many goals he’s scored in 35 meetings. Poor Diego. Po’ Diego’s a-cold.
Continue reading...February 22, 2022
Chelsea 2-0 Lille: Champions League last 16, first leg – as it happened
Chelsea take a two-goal lead to France in three weeks’ time after a no-nonsense victory over the French champions
1 min: Chelsea get on the front foot immediately, Pulisic grooving down the left and slipping infield for Ziyech, who nearly releases Havertz with a clever ball down the inside-left channel. Not quite. Lille clear their lines.
Lille get the first leg of this round of 16 tie underway ... but only after both teams take the knee. Stamford Bridge responds with warm applause. There’s no room for racism.
Continue reading...February 19, 2022
Manchester City 2-3 Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened
The leaders thought they’d salvaged a point with an injury-time penalty, but Harry Kane injected some life back into the title race with a late, late winner
1 min: City snaffle possession in double-quick time, then Dias attempts to release Sterling down the inside-right channel. Lloris comes to the edge of his box to claim.
Spurs get the ball rolling ... but only after everyone takes a knee. There’s no room for racism.
Continue reading...West Ham 1-1 Newcastle: Premier League – as it happened
Newcastle nudged further away from the relegation zone while West Ham passed up their opportunity to get back into the top four
4 min: Nothing comes of the second corner, but this is a confident start by Newcastle. West Ham are still cold.
3 min: A free kick for the Toon out on the right. Schar hoicks a long diagonal ball into the West Ham box. It drops to Joelinton, on the corner of the six-yard box. West Ham snoozing. Joelinton goes for goal. Fabianski blocks out for a corner, and a game of pinball breaks out. Murphy has a dig. Blocked. The ball twangs over the bar for another corner.
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