Scott Murray's Blog, page 64

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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The Fiver | The Scottish title race is suddenly very much in the balance

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Last Saturday certainly was a day to forget for poor old Allan McGregor. He got up at the crack of dawn to travel the 187 miles north from Ibrox to Dingwall for a lunchtime kick-off, and will wonder why he bothered. The hapless Pope’s Newc O’Rangers keeper endured a shocker, fumbling a cross that let Ross County back into the game, then inexplicably letting a bobbling ball ping off his chest in the last few seconds of added time, teeing up a Staggie to slam home from close range and deny the champions a couple of precious points. It’ll have been a long four-hour drive home after that carnival display. And an uncomfortable one, too, if several items later discovered along the southbound A9 – three square wheels at Aviemore, a radiator with steam parping out of it near Pitlochry, a large water-filled flower and bucket of glitter outside Perth – were anything to do with him. Reports remain unconfirmed. Honk.

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Burkina Faso 1-0 Tunisia: Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final – as it happened

Dango Ouattara scored the only goal of the match and was sent off as Burkina Faso made it through to the last four

8 min: Koffi stays down receiving treatment, having taken a knee in the thigh. Plenty of cooling spray is applied, and the keeper is quickly back up and running.

6 min: Khazri makes good down the right and cuts back for Msakni on the penalty spot. The Tunisian captain takes a heavy touch but chases after 50-50 ball. He clatters into the Burkina Faso captain Koffi in goal. For a second, it looks as though he’ll be able to force the ball under the keeper and over the line, but the whistle goes for a free kick.

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Fulham 1-1 Blackpool, Celtic 1-0 Dundee United, and more – as it happened

Reading were trounced again, Bolton hit Sunderland for six, Oxford’s Cameron Brannagan scored four penalties, and Celtic closed the gap on Rangers

It’s 3pm! Kick off!

Some more pre-match reading, courtesy of our unofficial Dundee United correspondent Simon McMahon. “United go to Glasgow today on a red-hot streak of two straight wins, following last Saturday’s extra-time defeat of Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup, and a last-minute winner against Ross County in midweek bringing a first league win in, well, ages. Looking at the league table, fourth place is still very much up for grabs, but then so is fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth. I’d happily take a defeat today if it meant a win at Dens on Tuesday.”

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The Fiver | Antonio Conte’s lid hovering in mid-air on a constant jet of steam

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It sounds counter-intuitive on the face of it, but failing to sign all of your targets during the transfer window need not be a bad thing. Take Manchester City, for example, who are currently shoo-ins for the Premier League having already scored 55 goals, yet if they’d got what they wanted last summer, would now be lumbered up front with a slow, sour-faced, superannuated crosstown legend getting in the way of all the kids, and, even worse, five-goal spent force Harry Kane. Conversely, successfully getting your own way can end up backfiring. Yes, it’s Spurs and Harry Kane again, isn’t it.

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Football transfer rumours: Granit Xhaka to join Mourinho at Roma?

Today’s fluff feels like it is being used

It’s been a busy transfer window for Tottenham Hotspur, in terms of effort if nothing else. They’ve been working to close deals for Wolves winger Adama Traoré and Porto trickster Luis Díaz, but it’s increasingly looking like the pair are making respective runs to Barcelona and Liverpool instead. What the Rumour Mill would give to be a fly on the wall when Antonio Conte runs into Daniel Levy in the canteen this morning.

Tanguy Ndombele meanwhile is off to PSG, but if Spurs fans sense optimism whistling out of the exit door with him, there’s a smidgen of hope in the form of Bayern Munich keeper Alexander Nubel, who is being lined up to shadow Hugo Lloris. This isn’t helping, is it.

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Ivory Coast 0-0 Egypt (4-5 pens): Africa Cup of Nations last 16 – as it happened

Egypt will face Morocco in the quarter-finals after Mohamed Salah scored the decisive penalty in the shootout

5 min: Gradel drops a shoulder and makes his way past Elneny down the left. He aims for the top right but the shot is blocked. It’s a fast start by the Ivorians.

3 min: The first shot in anger is taken by Kessie, who spins into a bit of space, 25 yards from goal, and drags a low effort wide right of the Egypt goal. El Shenawy had it covered.

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The Fiver | Newcastle’s bulging wallet and teams demanding the moon on a stick

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This current transfer window hasn’t been particularly interesting, has it? There’s been such a lack of real drama that it’s less likely to slam shut next Monday evening than gently mist over, whereupon The Fiver will grasp the opportunity to draw a peepee and balls on it with its finger, as well as maybe some rude words starting with the letters eff and jeff, and yes we are an arm of one of the world’s leading broadsheet newspapers, but what else are you gonna do when presented with a steamy pane of glass? Peepee and balls, that’s right. Hey, we don’t write these rules, we just live our lives.

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Morocco 2-1 Malawi: Africa Cup of Nations last 16 – as it happened

Gabadinho Mhango put underdogs Malawi ahead with a long-range jaw-dropper, but Morocco proved too strong, Achraf Hakimi sealing the deal with a world-class strike of his own

6 min: It’s Morocco who are stringing most of the passes together during these early exchanges, but it’s all in the middle of the park. The final ball lacking so far, Malawi holding their shape.

4 min: Chriwa rakes a free kick down the left channel in the hope of releasing Madinga. There’s too much juice on the pass and the ball flies out for a goal kick.

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The Fiver | Watford’s fight against the current with waterway enthusiast Cap’n Roy

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Watford are currently plummeting down the swanny at great velocity, so perhaps it’s no surprise that they’ve selected waterway enthusiast Roy Hodgson as their new manager. A master of long-term planning and leaving nothing to chance, Mr Roy famously went on a day cruise down the River Seine during Euro 2016 instead of scouting Iceland, and the in-depth stream-based observations gleaned on that crucial fact-finding mission will undoubtedly stand him in good stead for Watford’s upcoming battle against the current. Land ahoy!

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