Scott Murray's Blog, page 63

Manchester City 2-0 Brentford, Tottenham 2-3 Southampton: Premier League – as it happened

City extended their lead at the top to 12 points, while Saints stunned Champions League hopefuls Spurs with a late comeback

GOAL! Rangers 1-0 Hibernian (Tavernier 5 pen). Ryan Kent is upended as he dribbles infield from the left, and James Tavernier slots the penalty to give the champions, recently deposed at the top of the table by Celtic, an early lead.

What a start for relegation-haunted Norwich! Idah tees up Pukki on the edge of the box, and as things stand, will leapfrog Newcastle into 17th place, just one point behind Everton.

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The Fiver | David Moyes lends a tin ear to the Kurt Zouma-kicking-his-cat episode

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This isn’t the first time David Moyes’s judgment has been called into question. There was that interview in which he thought it would be most b@ntersome to threaten a female journalist with a slap, for example. Then there was the time he decided he was the very man to follow a 38-trophy-winning, paradigm-shifting, even-better-than-Busby legend, because what could possibly go wrong. Neither move was a good look, and on Tuesday evening he completed the personal trifecta by selecting Kurt Zouma, who earlier in the day had been caught on video kicking his poor innocent cat around his house in the piece-of-work style.

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Newcastle 3-1 Everton: Premier League – as it happened

Newcastle outplayed Everton to lift themselves out of the relegation places and draw their opponents into the battle to avoid the drop

4 min: Some space for Fraser down the right, but he can’t find Wood in the middle with his cross. It’s a fast start by Newcastle, and Everton are struggling to retain any sort of possession.

2 min: One hell of an atmosphere at St James’ Park. First Pickford, formerly of nearby neighbours Sunderland, nearly carries the ball out of his box while sliding to claim. Cue loud chants regarding Mackem onanism. Then Mina gifts Shelvey possession, and the crowd yelp as a long-distance dipper only just clears the bar.

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Burnley 0-0 Watford: Premier League – as it happened

Dear oh dear

4 min: It really is a filthy night in Lancashire. The rain is almost horizontal.

3 min: Westwood curls it long. Cornet tries to make something out of the situation, just inside the box on the left, but can’t short his feet out for a shot. Both teams look in the mood.

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Kidderminster 1-2 West Ham (aet; 1-1 after 90 mins): FA Cup fourth round – as it happened

Sixth-tier Kidderminster were seconds away from knocking out West Ham, then seconds away from taking them to penalties, only to have their hearts broken twice

2 min: A scrappy start. The FA Cup at a non-league ground, you wouldn’t have it any other way.

West Ham get the ball rolling. On second viewing, those sky-blue stripes aren’t quite so Coventry-vivid, to be fair. But there we are.

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Man Utd 1-1 Middlesbrough (aet; Boro win 8-7 on pens): FA Cup fourth round – as it happened

Manchester United missed a hatful of chances and paid the price, Boro scoring a controversial equaliser before winning on penalties

4 min: Now it’s Dalot’s turn to play a long pass from the full back position. He sends the ball down the inside-right position, nearly releasing Rashford. Lumley claims without drama this time.

2 min: Shaw lumps forward. Lumley comes to the edge of his box to collect, but Fry gets in his way. The pair confuse each other, the ball breaking to Sancho, who floats a chip over the out-of-position keeper and off the bar! The ball rebounds to Fernandes, who sends his first-time effort to poke home over the bar.

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The Fiver | Carlos Queiroz and Egypt’s declaration of war on Afcon officialdom

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In the lead-up to Thursday night’s Afcon semi-final between Cameroon and Egypt, a minor exchange of views broke out between Samuel Eto’o and Carlos Queiroz. Eto’o, formerly Cameroon’s star striker and now president of their federation, referred to the upcoming match as a “war”, causing Egypt coach Queiroz to respond philosophically. “Football is not about war,” he insisted. “Football is about celebration, it’s about joy, it’s about happiness.” And so the moment those words left his lips, it instantly became inevitable that Queiroz would spend the duration of the game on a rolling boil, a bain-marie of belligerence whose bellicosity would make Vladimir Putin sound like a member of the Beatles in 1967.

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Cameroon 0-0 Egypt (aet; 1-3 pens): Africa Cup of Nations semi-final – as it happened

Egypt avenged their defeat by Cameroon in the 2017 final, knocking out the hosts on penalties to set up a Sunday showdown with Senegal

5 min: A quick word from our man on the scene, Nick Ames, regarding the safety measures put in place in the wake of last month’s tragedy. “All looked OK outside. I had a mad dash myself due to a late flight so had a first-hand view, only just sat down. All fairly calm under heavy direction from security, all relevant gates open etc, but what I would say is the attendance is so far very sparse as a result. It will fill up as the game progresses I expect but still seems to me like many stayed away.”

3 min: Cameroon respond to that early Salah burst with a period of probing in the Egypt final third. Probably no great surprise to say the well-drilled Egyptians hold a firm shape.

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The Fiver | Football putting on a show to rival the Ice Bowl for notoriety

The 1967 NFL Championship Game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys is the single most famous sporting event ever held on US soil, a statement The Fiver makes with the caveat that we don’t know what we’re talking about but have decided to run with it anyway. The match has become immortalised as the Ice Bowl, on account of temperatures being -26C, with a wind chill as low as -57. The field turned into a skating rink, the referee’s whistle stuck to his lips and several players lost toenails due to frostbite. Green Bay won, and afterwards there were snacks.

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Celtic 3-0 Rangers: Scottish Premiership – as it happened

Reo Hatate scored two and set up another as Ange Postecoglou’s increasingly impressive side swept away their arch rivals to go top

6 min: Rangers aren’t happy, Bassey having been prone in the box. But there was no foul - the Rangers men clanked into each other - and the goal stands. Tavernier continues a protest, but it’s all in vain.

Another corner is won out on the right. Aribo heads clear, and runs into Bassey, who falls and stays down. The ball breaks to Hatate, 25 yards out. He sends a low drive through the box. The ball takes a little deflection and flies into the bottom right. What a start!

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