Scott Murray's Blog, page 83
March 16, 2021
The Fiver | A pitiful state of affairs that often leads to painful introspection
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Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, The Fiver finally stopped emitting the peals of loud, rich, booming, theatrical, industrial-strength laughter that began when Juventus got themselves knocked out of Big Cup during the week in which the brains of their operation, Andrea Agnelli, revealed plans to reconfigure the very same tournament in ways designed to benefit certain badly-run behemoths. The continuous seven-day guffaw marathon came at a heavy cost to The Fiver, who dislodged two items in its special area, and is now sitting in a tepid puddle. But, on balance, it was still worth it. One hundred million euros for that, yet further away from the dream than ever. What a business!
Related: David Squires on … Agnelli and the Champions League fans of tomorrow
Continue reading...March 15, 2021
Wolves 0-1 Liverpool: Premier League – as it happened
Diogo Jota scored the only goal on his return to Molineux as a Liverpool player
10.37pm GMT
Paul Doyle was on point at Molineux this evening. His report has landed, so you know what to do: click, click, click. All that’s left is to wish Rui Patricio a speedy recovery, and all of you sweet dreams. Thanks for reading this report. Nighty night.
Related: Rui Patrício injury overshadows Diogo Jota's Liverpool winner at Wolves
10.35pm GMT
Jurgen Klopp speaks to Sky, firstly about Rui Patricio. “What an awful situation. I spoke to one of the staff and they are rather positive. It was a shock.” As for the game? “It’s all about the result. A big fight. We wanted three dirty points, we’re completely fine with that as we try to get back on track. We had very good moments when we should have done better offensively, but defensively the whole game was really good. We defended really well, that was our main target. The goal we scored was beautiful. We got the three points and everybody is fine. A lot of good news tonight. We go into the break with a positive feeling.”
10.26pm GMT
As for the game, he tells Sky Sports: “We played a good game. Competitive, we had chances, we defended well, and we played good football. We had some chances we should have taken advantage of. The building and the creations was good. The result was not good, but the actions were fantastic. A lot of things to improve, but our positive attitude shows we can compete.”
10.23pm GMT
Nuno gives us a very welcome update on Rui Patricio. “He is OK. He is conscious, fully conscious, he remembers what happened, he is aware, the doctors tell me he is OK. It was a collision with Coady, a knee on the head, but he is OK. We speak already, thank God he is OK. He is going to recover so everything is OK.”
10.18pm GMT
Diogo Jota scored on his first return to Molineux in Liverpool red, but his first thoughts are with his old team-mate Rui Patricio. “Life is more important, I hope it’s nothing too serious, we wish him a speedy recovery.” Then the game and his winning goal: “These teams defend well, and we need to take advantage when they are unbalanced. They were at that moment, and the quick triangulation from Sadio to Mo and back again, then to me on the left, a good movement, a good goal, and it helped for the victory we were looking for a long time in the league. We need to improve, and hopefully this will start of a run until the end of the season.”
10.10pm GMT
Wolves had their chances, a couple right at the end there. But Liverpool hang on for a victory that they deserved on balance ... just about. They leapfrog Everton and Tottenham into sixth place on 46 points, five behind fifth-placed Chelsea (51) who have played the same number of games (29). Their hopes of a top-four finish aren’t quite extinguished yet. Wolves remain in 13th on 35 points, but their main concern will be the health of keeper Rui Patricio, who took a nasty knock to the head/neck near the end of the match. Hopes and prayers.
10.06pm GMT
... that’s that. The whistle goes.
10.06pm GMT
90 min +18: Space for Traore on the right. His cross is way too long. Neto tries again from the other flank. Alisson clears. Traore tries again. Too long again. Dendoncker hoicks out for a goal kick, and ...
10.04pm GMT
90 min +17: Gibbs-White crosses dangerously from the left. Phillips, facing his own goal, hooks clear at full stretch. That’s excellent defending.
10.04pm GMT
90 min +16: Wolves lump it forward in the Hail Mary style, but Alexander-Arnold calmly cushions a header back to Alisson.
10.03pm GMT
90 min +15: Neto bustles down the left but Alexander-Arnold holds firm. He half-clears, but Wolves come again, Traore looping in from the right. The ball’s deflected towards Silva, who attempts a header from six yards but shoulders it instead. Alisson plucks from the sky.
10.02pm GMT
90 min +14: Salah, just inside the Wolves box on the right, tries to scoop a shot into the top left. It’s well wide. Had it been on target, Ruddy was stranded in no-man’s land.
10.01pm GMT
90 min +13: Boly bundles Salah over out on the right. A free kick and a chance for Liverpool to load the Wolves box. Alexander-Arnold swings in, Oxlade-Chamberlain flicks goalwards, and Dendoncker is forced to eyebrow out for a corner.
10.00pm GMT
90 min +12: All a bit low-octane so far, which is more than understandable.
9.59pm GMT
90 min +11: The game finally restarts, Ruddy having replaced his stricken team-mate in the Wolves goal. There will be seven extra minutes played from this point.
9.58pm GMT
90 min +9: Rui Patricio has finally been put onto the stretcher, and is carefully being carried off. May his god go with him.
9.57pm GMT
90 min +7: The offside flag went up pretty quickly, in the old style, and that the new edict of pointlessly playing on with the flag kept down didn’t seem to be a factor here. Everything happened in a blur.
9.53pm GMT
90 min +5: Players wait patiently, making sure they keep warm, passing and stretching.
9.51pm GMT
90 min +3: The players of both sides congregate in the centre circle, as Rui Patricio continues to receive medical attention.
9.49pm GMT
90 min +1: They’ve announced seven added minutes, though Rui Patricio has yet to be stretchered off, the medical staff taking all the necessary time and care.
9.48pm GMT
90 min: Ruddy prepares to come on for Rui Patricio. Wolves had used up all of their substitutes, but with the keeper having taken a sickening blow to the head, a concussion replacement can be made. That means Liverpool will get an extra sub, if they choose to make one. Both teams will obviously have a fair bit of injury time to play through.
9.46pm GMT
88 min: On come the medical staff, as well as the stretcher.
9.45pm GMT
87 min: While Salah was slotting home, Coady clattered into his own keeper. Rui Patricio is out flat, and lying stock still. Worrying signs.
9.44pm GMT
86 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain slips a lovely ball down the inside-right channel to release Salah on goal. Salah draws Rui Patricio and whips home. But it won’t count. Salah was clearly offside. No need for VAR.
9.43pm GMT
85 min: Gibbs-White is immediately involved, sent into space down the middle by Silva’s clever flick. Gibbs-White tries to release Neto to his right, but Kabak is on hand to block and clear. A fine last-ditch intervention.
9.41pm GMT
84 min: Gibbs-White comes on for the excellent Semedo.
9.41pm GMT
83 min: A cute turn in the centre circle by Milner sends Oxlade-Chamberlain and Salah away on the attack. But they pause fatally on the edge of the Wolves box and the move peters out.
9.39pm GMT
82 min: That’s Jota’s last act of the evening. The former Wolves man, this evening’s goalscorer, is replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain. The sub is immediately involved, raking a long pass down the middle for Salah, who can’t control or wriggle free. Coady mops up.
9.38pm GMT
80 min: Salah is sent into space down the inside right. He strides into the box and looks for the bottom left. Rui Patricio tips away. Mane comes back at Wolves down the left and feeds Jota, who whips towards the near corner. Rui Patricio swallows that one up.
9.37pm GMT
79 min: Mane looks to curl one into the bottom right corner from distance, but Rui Patricio is behind it all the way. Wolves go up the other end, Semedo crossing from the right. Silva wins a header on the penalty spot, but can’t generate enough power and it’s straight at Alisson.
9.36pm GMT
77 min: Only Crystal Palace (13) and Newcastle United (12) have let in more late goals than Liverpool’s 11 this season. Mind you, Wolves have shipped ten themselves during the last 15 minutes of their matches, so it’s swings and roundabouts.
9.34pm GMT
76 min: Wolves make their second change, replacing Neves with Dendoncker.
9.33pm GMT
75 min: Liverpool may be leading, but they look exactly what they are: a team that have lost six of their last seven. Two-pass moves are at a premium. Wolves have a faint whiff of blood in the nostrils.
9.31pm GMT
73 min: Traore has a dig from distance. It’s straight at Alisson, who parries and claims easily enough.
9.30pm GMT
72 min: All a bit scrappy. Liverpool’s nerves look shredded already, as they slash at a series of attempted hoofs upfield. They can’t quite release the pressure. Here’s Peter Oh: “I agree with Edward Graves (47 min) that Thiago Alcântara tends to complain too much about referees’ reactions to his full-throttle challenges. I thought of him more as a pass master. I didn’t realise he could be so Paul Scholes in his approach to lunge-tackling opponents from dodgy angles. And then so Cristiano Ronaldo in pleading his purity and innocence.”
9.28pm GMT
70 min: Wolves replace the disappointing Willian Jose with the highly promising Fabio Silva.
9.27pm GMT
69 min: Milner’s first act is to clear the Liverpool box just in time, with Moutinho racing in, preparing to shoot. That had to be timed perfectly, or he’d have upended the Wolves midfielder and conceded a penalty.
9.26pm GMT
67 min: Liverpool make a double change to their midfield, replacing Thiago and Wijnaldum with Keita and Milner. Thiago goes off shaking his head, but treading a disciplinary tightrope yet again, he surely can’t be surprised.
9.25pm GMT
65 min: Traore cuts back from the right. Alisson manages to bundle the ball clear of a crowded box. Moutinho comes in from the left and falls just inside the box. He wants a penalty but the referee suggests Alexander-Arnold’s shove on his shoulder was gossamer-light. Wolves are beginning to ask some questions.
9.22pm GMT
63 min: Rui Patricio plays Otto into trouble, just to the right of the Wolves box. Thiago comes in to nick, but is upended by Otto. The resulting free kick nearly drops to Mane, six yards out, but Rui Patricio claims, and it looks like Mane was offside anyway.
9.21pm GMT
62 min: Wolves find themselves attacking, three on three. Willian has Otto to one side, Traore the other. His attempted pass to Traore is clumpish and whistles through to Alisson. A good situation wasted.
9.19pm GMT
61 min: Jota spins Moutinho and is cynically clipped from behind by his victim, who is fortunate not to go in the old book.
9.18pm GMT
60 min: Moutinho is very close to springing Traore down the inside right, but Robertson reads the danger, comes across, gets in the way, and earns a cheap foul.
9.17pm GMT
59 min: Coady is very nearly stripped on the edge of his own box by Jota. Coady recovers just in time, before being hooked from behind by his frustrated ex-colleague. A free kick and a friendly nod.
9.16pm GMT
58 min: A long pass down the Wolves left nearly releases Jota, but Kabak does enough to sort things out for Liverpool. The next goal is a biggie, but it’s not clear who’ll be scoring it. “Portuguese is definitely the most spoken native language in the starting line-ups tonight. I count nine, and Thiago probably another given his papa. A record in the Premier League?” I’ll pass it on to the good folk at The Knowledge, Will Wherity.
9.13pm GMT
56 min: Robertson romps down the left and curls infield for Salah. His pass is too close to Boly, but the defender slams the ball straight into Salah, who is able to dribble into the box ... but no further. Boly recovers well, and with some help from Jonny, snuffs out the danger.
9.12pm GMT
54 min: Jonny and Neto combine neatly down the left, but can’t quite open Liverpool up. All of a sudden, the home side are enjoying a spell.
9.11pm GMT
52 min: Saiss is booked for a fairly agricultural slide into his old pal Jota. Alexander-Arnold takes the resulting free kick, looping it long. Kabak nearly gets a head on it at the far stick, a decent attempt under pressure, but it flies out for a goal kick.
9.09pm GMT
51 min: Salah takes up possession 25 yards out on the right. He attempts the spectacular, with simpler options either side. Goal kick. Wolves quickly counter, Traore crossing from the right. Alisson punching out. Again, the keeper not looking totally confident. But he does just enough to get it clear.
9.07pm GMT
49 min: But it’s Wolves who win the first corner of the half. Moutinho swings it in from the right. Liverpool struggle to clear it. Saiss curls in magnificently from the right and finds Coady, eight yards out. He should at the very least work Alisson; he should probably score, to tell the truth. But in aiming for the top right, he misses high and wide. Big chance. Wolves have had them.
9.05pm GMT
47 min: Liverpool restart with the air of a team who have been told to step it up a gear. Thiago is haring around in an extremely excitable style. Having already been booked, he needs to watch it. “Thiago has mastered that ‘what in the world are you talking about???’ look for EVERY SINGLE FOUL he commits,” notes Edward Graves.
9.03pm GMT
Wolves get the second half underway. No changes.
8.50pm GMT
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Related: The Fiver | Who’s the greatest: Messi or Ronaldo? The answer is obvious
8.49pm GMT
Wolves should have gone ahead just before half-time. Instead they’ve gone behind just before half-time. The small margins.
8.48pm GMT
What a sucker punch. Liverpool launch a last-ditch counter as the half peters out, Phillips winning a towering header to send Mane down the middle. He slips to Salah, to his right. Salah returns to Mane first time. Mane shuttles it on further to Jota, also first time. The former Wolves man lashes towards the bottom left. The ball squeaks past Rui Patricio’s hand. Jota celebrates meekly, but that was a lovely goal.
8.46pm GMT
45 min: Wolves should be leading. Jonny reaches the byline down the left and cuts back into the box. The ball evades everyone in the middle, ending up at the feet of Neves, in acres just inside the area on the right. He’s got enough time to take a touch and line himself up ... but drags a dismal effort wide left with Alisson and Phillips standing there fearing the worst. What a chance for Wolves. What a let-off for Liverpool.
8.43pm GMT
43 min: Neves tries to whip the resulting free kick into the bottom right from 30 yards. Alisson handles this one.
8.43pm GMT
42 min: Alisson opts to punch the corner clear, when catching looked the easier option. The decision leads to some head tennis in the box, and Liverpool only half clear their lines, a state of affairs that leads to Thiago clipping Traore. Thiago looks surprised when he’s booked for persistent fouling, but nobody else does.
8.41pm GMT
41 min: Semedo probes down the right and crosses. It’s headed out for a corner on the right by Kabak.
8.40pm GMT
39 min: Thiago blocks Neves, and is fortunate to escape a booking. That’s two not-quite-yellows now. One more foul and you’d imagine he’ll be seriously testing the referee’s patience.
8.39pm GMT
38 min: Salah jigs down the right and cuts back for Alexander-Arnold, who chips a cute diagonal ball forward, into the Wolves box. Mane improvises to meet it with his head, fully horizontal, inches from the turf. The ball whistles inches wide of the bottom right. That would have been a picture-book goal. On the touchline, Klopp applauds theatrically.
8.37pm GMT
37 min: Neves is booked for hanging out a cynical leg to stop an in-flight Mane.
8.37pm GMT
36 min: Semedo is this close to releasing Traore down the right with a sliderule pass. The red door slams shut, just in time.
8.35pm GMT
34 min: After a rocky few minutes, Wolves have steadied the ship. There’s been a nice ebb and flow to this, with both teams taking turns to control possession.
8.33pm GMT
32 min: Traore releases Semedo down the right. Semedo loops long, towards the far post, where Willian prepares to volley home. Phillips, airborne at full stretch, manages to flick away from the Wolves striker with his eyebrows, just in time. That’s great football all round.
8.32pm GMT
31 min: Neto embarks on a power dribble down the left. It takes a couple of Liverpool players to put a stop to his gallop, then he clips Thiago on the heel as he prepares to counter. The match continues to trundle along at an entertaining lick.
8.30pm GMT
29 min: A better stat for sore red eyes: Liverpool have enjoyed 89% possession during the last ten minutes. For all their travails this season, they’ve never been that far away from clicking back into their groove.
8.28pm GMT
27 min: Sky have just flashed up this statistic: from their last 70 shots, Liverpool have scored two goals. Two goals! That works out as a 3% conversion rate. Lies, damn lies, and all that, but what an odd state of affairs for a team that has been so effervescent for so long. And to think the defence has been copping all of the flak.
8.25pm GMT
25 min: Some cute triangulation between Alexander-Arnold and Salah down the right. It leads to some pinball in the Wolves box, the ball not quite dropping for either Thiago or Salah. Eventually the ball’s worked wide left for Robertson, who crosses deep. Too deep. Goal kick.
8.23pm GMT
23 min: Mane clicks through the gears on the left, reaching the byline but not quite able to find Salah in the six-yard box with his cutback. Then he launches another two attacks down the same flank. Neither come to anything, but he’s looking lively, and Liverpool are finally beginning to apply a little pressure.
8.22pm GMT
21 min: The breezy end-to-end antics continue. Alexander-Arnold crossing deep from the right, not quite finding Mane or Salah, Traore striding down the middle but unwilling to slip a pass left to Willian, who was on the cusp of being offside.
8.20pm GMT
20 min: The resulting corner, not so dangerous. Their old boy Jota tries to launch a counter, but soon runs out of road on the left.
8.19pm GMT
19 min: Traore wins a corner down the right. The home side look dangerous in every attack.
8.17pm GMT
17 min: A replay of the Mane chance suggests Rui Patricio might have laid a glove on the striker’s boot. Had Mane opted to go down, VAR might have had some rock’n’rolling to do.
8.16pm GMT
15 min: At the start of that Wolves counter, Thiago clattered into Moutinho in his trademark clumsy style. There didn’t seem to be any intent - Thiago kicked the ground first, losing his footing - but it’s a sore one for the Wolves midfielder. The pair make up once he’s up and about again.
8.15pm GMT
14 min: Wolves break upfield, and it’s their turn to waste a fine chance, as Willian, Traore and Neto overthink a three-on-two. This is great fun.
8.14pm GMT
13 min: Thiago plays a lovely ball down the middle for Wijnaldum, who immediately feeds Mane. He’s free! He tries to round Rui Patricio on the left, but takes it too wide and can’t slot home. What a huge chance!
8.12pm GMT
11 min: Traore teases Mane down the right and flicks a cross into the Liverpool box. Willian can’t get a head on it. Liverpool break up the other end, Jota, Salah and Mane combining well down the left, only for the move to peter out near the Wolves area. A nice flow to this.
8.09pm GMT
9 min: Wolves are enjoying the lion’s share so far. Liverpool are struggling to string anything together.
8.07pm GMT
7 min: Phillips tries to release Robertson down the left with a raking diagonal. Steven Gerrard used to make those look easier than they are.
8.05pm GMT
5 min: Traore barrels down the middle and feeds Semedo to his right. Semedo drops a shoulder to see off Robertson, and faces down Allison ... who blocks brilliantly. That’s made up for his earlier error. Traore may well have been flagged offside from the initial pass, but still. This is lively!
8.04pm GMT
4 min: This is the 100th league meeting between Wolves and Liverpool. Every single one has been in the top flight.
8.03pm GMT
3 min: Liverpool go straight up the other end and win a corner that comes to nothing. Early signs that both teams are in the mood to give this a right go.
8.03pm GMT
2 min: An early fumble by Alisson, who goes to claim Traore’s right-wing cross but clatters into Semedo instead. A penalty? Nope, though much more force might have changed the referee’s mind. Semedo wasn’t getting to the ball anyway, Kabak in the business of clearing, but still. File under: seen them given.
8.00pm GMT
Liverpool get the ball rolling ... but only after taking the knee. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.
8.00pm GMT
Before kick-off, Wolves captain Conor Coady lays a wreath in memory of club historian Graham Hughes. Fittingly, he places it in front of the stand that bears Hughes’ name.
7.57pm GMT
The teams are out! Wolves are wearing ... we’ve already covered this ... while Liverpool take to the field in first-choice red. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
7.50pm GMT
“Have Wolves ever had a kit that wasn’t gorgeous? Their badge and old gold are pretty much design-atrocity-resistant.” Our picture guru Paul Bellsham provides us with the exception that proves the rule. Po’ Bully!
7.47pm GMT
Nuno Espirito Santo talks to Sky Sports. “We face a very good team full of talented players ... a fantastic manager ... champions of the Premier League ... so it will be very tough today ... all the teams have struggled this season ... we know that we can hurt them if we use our speed, our talent ... we must attack ... too bad Molineux is not full to give Diogo Jota a full standing ovation because he did a lot for us.”
Jurgen Klopp also. “Fabinho gives us a lot of things ... giving other players the opportunity to be slightly higher, slightly wider ... he’s a very important player, we would have played him in midfield more often if it was possible ... we have ten games to go, a lot of points, we have to go for them ... we have to fight for them ... let’s make sure it will happen tonight.”
7.16pm GMT
Wolves will be sporting Feed Our Pack logos this evening, highlighting an initiative to help combat holiday hunger. Fans can purchase a virtual ticket to support the campaign: details can be found here on the official club website.
7.06pm GMT
Wolves make one change to the XI that started the 0-0 draw at Aston Villa. Willy Boly takes the place of Leander Dendoncker.
Liverpool meanwhile looked a little bit more like their old selves in beating RB Leipzig last week. As a result, they name the same starting XI. Divock Origi is out with a muscle problem, while Roberto Firmino continues to rest a sore knee.
7.02pm GMT
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Rui Patricio, Boly, Coady, Saiss, Nelson Semedo, Neves, Joao Moutinho, Jonny, Pedro Neto, Traore, Willian Jose.
Subs: Hoever, Silva, Gibbs-White, Vitinha, Ruddy, Dendoncker, Kilman, Marques.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Kabak, Robertson, Thiago, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Salah, Jota, Mane.
Subs: Milner, Keita, Adrian, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Tsimikas, Shaqiri, Rhys Williams, Neco Williams.
3.09pm GMT
This is a fixture that has twice secured a league championship for Liverpool. Albert Stubbins brushed Stan Cullis aside to score the winner in the final fixture of the 1946-47 season, as Liverpool pipped Wolves, Manchester United and Stoke City to the title. Then in 1975-76, Bob Paisley’s team left it late at Molineux, but three goals in the last 14 minutes secured a 3-1 victory that saw off QPR in the race for the old First Division.
There’s not quite so much riding on their visit to Molineux this evening. Having lost six of their last seven games, the best Liverpool can hope for this year is to scrape a top-four finish. Even that looks a tall order, although defeats for West Ham and Everton, plus Chelsea’s draw at Leeds, manes they could make up a bit of ground in the chase if they win tonight. Their recent record against Wolves suggests that’s far from a pipe dream: they’ve won their last eight league matches against Wanderers in a row, and their 4-0 annihilation of Nuno Espirito Santo’s side at Anfield was arguably their best performance this season.
Continue reading...The Fiver | Who’s the greatest: Messi or Ronaldo? The answer is obvious
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It’s the question that’s been on everyone’s lips for years and years. Who’s the greatest: Messi or Ronaldo? The answer, as regular Fiver readers already know, is neither. Which is not to say that everyone’s favourite two contemporary superclub-shielded good-time Charlies aren’t amazing players in their own right – you can tell that by the sheer number of goals the pair have been bloodlessly running up – but in terms of windswept romance they’re nowhere near the likes of Obdulio Varela, Josef Masopust or Florian Albert [stop it, you’re trying too hard - Fiver Ed.] Cruyff, Maradona or Pelé.
Related: Ronaldo embraces perfection as he declares himself ahead of Pelé | Nicky Bandini
Continue reading...March 13, 2021
Everton 1-2 Burnley: Premier League – as it happened
Dwight McNeil’s sensational long-distance curler was the difference as Burnley edged away from the relegation dogfight and condemned Everton to yet another Goodison defeat
7.53pm GMT
Andy Hunter was our man at Goodison Park. His take is in. You know the drill: clickity click! Enjoy that report ... and thanks for reading this one. Nighty night!
Related: Dwight McNeil's stunning strike seals victory for Burnley at Everton
7.52pm GMT
A clearly livid Don Carlo offers his analysis. “A big disappointment ... we lost a big opportunity to climb the table ... we made the same mistake we made in most games this season at Goodison, we didn’t start well ... we were 2-0 down and to get back is difficult ... we tried but it was not enough ... we were not good in balance, and in transition ... they were strong and won a lot of second balls ... this is the reason for the defeat ... we should have created more opportunity ... we were not clinical up front ... we missed passes and crosses ... on the quality aspect we could do much better ... at home we were not good enough, but we were fantastic away ... the next game at home, we have to do better.”
7.48pm GMT
Michael Keane’s view. “It’s a big missed opportunity ... no disrespect to Burnley but we feel at home we should be winning these games ... it didn’t go our way today ... first half, we weren’t good enough and we got punished for it ... Burnley played to their strengths and won more second balls ... they seemed a lot sharper and I don’t have an explanation for that ... we could have scored another goal, but they could have scored one or two as well ... our home form is something we need to sort out ... we want to get in Europe ... we’ve got to focus on the next game, we’ve got ten left, and every opportunity to get into Europe.”
7.39pm GMT
Sean Dyche talks to Sky. “We’ve come out of a tough run of games with some points on the board, and finished off with a very good win ... every time we pressed and nicked it, we looked a threat ... it could have been more at half-time, which I don’t say very often [small smile, eyebrow arches] ... the quality of moments we got into ... second half, they come out a bit lively for the first 15, 20 minutes, but I thought we handled that well ... we had some really good opportunities ... if there is a gripe, over the season we haven’t always maximised our chances, but we did today.” As for the phantom penalty? “I have no clue how that’s not a penalty ... we’re all flummoxed, good or bad ... that’s impossible.”
7.34pm GMT
Burnley’s star man Dwight McNeil speaks to Sky. “It’s a great win ... we haven’t been in bad form, a few draws, so today it’s a great win for the lads to get three points and move up the table ... the lads tell me to shoot more, because in training I do put some goals in, and today it paid off ... you get self-confidence when the team around you believe you can pull stuff off like that ... we came in today full of confidence ... we always felt comfortable ... we know the resilience in the team ... we feel closer to safety but it doesn’t guarantee us, so we come back after the international break and go again.”
7.30pm GMT
Joining Evertonians in the slough of despond: half-time star Justin Kavanagh, who sat through the damp squib at Elland Road earlier, but only caught the second half of this one. “No goals since I started watching this one either. My apologies to Gary Naylor and co.”
7.27pm GMT
Burnley deserve their win completely. They were the better side for the entire match, with McNeil, Wood and Vydra all superb in attack. At times, especially during the first half, they played some exceptionally attractive football. Their three points consolidates their 15th place; they’re now on 33 points, five ahead of Newcastle in 16th and seven clear of the relegation places. Everton by contrast were flaccid, and while their home form isn’t quite as absurd as the run currently being endured by their good pals over the park, four defeats in their last five league matches at Goodison is a dismal return. It’s seriously compromised their bid for Europe. They remain in sixth on 46 points; fifth-placed West Ham have two extra points and a game in hand.
7.22pm GMT
The whistle goes, and that’s a huge three points for Burnley in their battle to avoid the drop! They’re surely too good to go down.
7.22pm GMT
90 min +3: Pieters and Westwood both hit the turf, requiring treatment as the clock ticks on. While we wait, Sky co-commentator Jamie Carragher names Dwight McNeil as man of the match. A fine choice.
7.20pm GMT
90 min +2: Up comes the keeper! What a story this could be! Digne takes. Burnley clear, though not quickly enough to aim for the unguarded goal. But that’s all they need to do.
7.19pm GMT
90 min +1: The first of three extra minutes passes by without too much incident ... until Keane slides a pass down the right, behind a snoozing Brady. Coleman wins a corner.
7.18pm GMT
90 min: Keane barges into the back of Rodriguez, who is more than happy to purchase the free kick. Brady hangs it above the head of the nervous young keeper, who claims confidently. Sweet Virginia.
7.17pm GMT
89 min: Gomes drags a shot left to right across the face of goal. He didn’t catch that at all.
7.16pm GMT
88 min: Pope claims. A poor corner.
7.15pm GMT
87 min: The ball breaks to Iwobi, just inside the Burnley box on the right. His snapshot is blocked by Mee. Everton come again. Coleman drives low from the edge of the D. That’s deflected out for a corner on the right. Digne to take.
7.13pm GMT
85 min: Pope is booked for taking a professional amount of time over a goal kick.
7.12pm GMT
84 min: ... nothing of note occurs.
7.12pm GMT
83 min: Iwobi crosses low from the right. Westwood hangs out a leg and deflects out for a corner. From which ...
7.09pm GMT
81 min: McNeil drives in from the right and plays a fine diagonal pass towards Rodriguez, who bursts into the box from the left and tests Virginia. The keeper does well to parry clear.
7.07pm GMT
79 min: McNeil is bowled over by King, 30 yards out in a central position. Brady decides to test the nervous young keeper, but doesn’t work Virginia, hoicking the ball miles over the bar.
7.06pm GMT
78 min: Vydra, who has been excellent today, troops off exhausted. He’s replaced by Rodriguez.
7.05pm GMT
77 min: Digne loops the free kick long. Keane flicks on, towards the top right. Just wide. Better from Everton.
7.05pm GMT
76 min: ... but they’re not giving up, and Richarlison, having been quiet for a while, turns the jets on down the left touchline. Tarkowski comes across to cynically clean him out. Booking, and a free kick in a dangerous position.
7.04pm GMT
75 min: Digne whips a cross in from the left, but there’s nobody in blue to meet it. Pope claims calmly. Everton, having started the second half well, look a little short of ideas now.
7.02pm GMT
74 min: Coleman’s first involvement sees him stripped of possession by Brady. He’s very lucky that Keane noticed what was about to unfold, coming across to nick the ball back, before Brady could make hay.
7.01pm GMT
73 min: Everton make their last swap of the evening: Coleman comes on for Holgate.
7.00pm GMT
72 min: Not for the first time this evening, Burnley will wonder how they haven’t scored a third goal.
7.00pm GMT
71 min: Burnley have suddenly turned up the heat. Brady whips a cross from the left. Wood dives in, Keith Houchen style, at the far post. Godfrey flicks away just in time. Then from the resulting corner, Mee skims the top of the crossbar with a header! And to complete a triptych of near misses, Vydra twists on the edge of the box, but Virginia smothers his shot just when it looks like squeaking into the bottom right.
6.58pm GMT
69 min: Godfrey and the debutant goalkeeper Virginia confuse each other under a Wood flick-on. The ball drops to Vydra, but he’s facing the wrong way and can’t connect when he spins. The open goal remains in tact.
6.55pm GMT
67 min: On the bench, Gudmundsson gets some ice applied to his left ankle.
6.55pm GMT
66 min: An attacking change for Everton, as King replaces Davies. Meanwhile Burnley make their first sub of the evening, Brady coming on for Gudmundsson.
6.53pm GMT
65 min: Vydra clears. Everton have had a lot of possession since the restart, but they haven’t managed to seriously work Pope.
6.52pm GMT
64 min: Westwood slides a pass down the inside-left channel to find Wood just inside the Everton box. He considers shooting from a tight angle but instead passes infield to nobody. Everton break at speed and win their fourth corner of the match. Digne to take, from the left.
6.51pm GMT
62 min: Calvert-Lewin is nearly released by a simple long ball down the middle from Davies. His touch is heavy, though; the ball clanks off his shin and sails through to Pope.
6.50pm GMT
61 min: Brownhill and Digne contest a loose ball in midfield. Digne catches Brownhill on the follow-through, hurting himself in the accidental collision. A loud yelp, but after a worrying beat, he’s soon up and about again.
6.47pm GMT
59 min: ... Keane nearly hits the corner flag with an attempted volley towards the top right. Full marks for ambition from the former Burnley man.
6.46pm GMT
58 min: Out on the right, Pieters barges Richarlison over from behind. Everton load the box. Gomes swings it in, and ...
6.44pm GMT
56 min: McNeil tries to release Wood with a cushioned pass down the right, but Keane anticipates the danger and intercepts.
6.42pm GMT
54 min: Iwobi dinks a ball in from the right. Calvert-Lewin tries to trap and spin, but the ball breaks through to Pope. Calvert-Lewin goes over, with Tarkowski on his shoulder, and claims a penalty, but he’s never getting one for that minimal contact.
6.40pm GMT
52 min: Everton stroke it around the back, but make no other progress.
6.38pm GMT
50 min: Pieters has an opportunity to send McNeil scampering into space down the left, but his pass is way too strong. Goal kick. McNeil is buzzing around in a very progressive style, though, lively, sharp and dangerous.
6.36pm GMT
48 min: ... but Burnley only half clear, and the ball is shuttled back to Digne, who crosses wonderfully this time. He finds Calvert-Lewin on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Calvert-Lewin mistimes his jump and the ball clanks out off his shoulder for a goal kick. Promising early second-half signs for the hosts.
6.35pm GMT
47 min: Everton launch an attack in short order, and Gomes creams a long-distance effort towards the bottom right. Pope extends his fingers to tip around the post. Digne’s delivery of the resulting corner is awful ...
6.33pm GMT
Everton get the second half underway. No half-time changes.
6.21pm GMT
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6.20pm GMT
That’s the end of a glorious half of football. Everton could easily have had a couple more; Burnley could have helped themselves to a hatful. Magnificent fun, with the promise of plenty more in the second half. Go nowhere, else you may live to regret it, like poor Justin Kavanagh: “Great. I spend 90 minutes watching the non-materializing goalfest at Elland Road, so decided enough footie for one day and go out to walk the dog. I get back, drowned by the rain, to find a three-goal thriller is unfolding in the BURNLEY game, with a goal-of-the-season contender.” See you in 15, then!
6.18pm GMT
45 min +3: Earlier in that move, Lowton slid in heavily on Davies, and now he’s booked as a result.
6.17pm GMT
45 min +2: Burnley have been by far the better, more dangerous side. Yet their lead is precarious, and Iwobi nearly sends Calvert-Lewin free with a sliderule pass down the middle. The Everton striker is denied the chance to level the scores by Mee’s excellent hook clear.
6.16pm GMT
45 min +1: McNeil slides a pass down the left for Vydra, who tiptoes along the byline, but can’t find anyone with his cutback.
6.15pm GMT
45 min: Almost immediately, Virginia is called into action, Gudmundsson teeing up Brownhill on the edge of the Everton box. He handles the low drive very confidently. That was Burnley’s tenth attempt on goal! It’s been one hell of a first-half performance, especially in the context of their goalscoring record away from Turf Moor: just eight all season before today.
6.13pm GMT
43 min: Pickford has done his best, but he can’t continue. He’s replaced by Joao Virginia. The 21-year-old from Portugal makes his Premier League debut.
6.11pm GMT
42 min: Allan curls long from a deep position on the left. He very nearly releases Calvert-Lewin, who can’t control properly, allowing Pieters to guide the ball back to his keeper.
6.10pm GMT
40 min: This is relentless. Burnley ping it around aesthetically yet again, teeing up Brownhill, whose creamed shot is deflected out for a corner. Everton deal with the set piece easily enough.
6.09pm GMT
38 min: Westwood is booked for climbing on Calvert-Lewin’s back as the Everton striker tries to bust down the inside-right channel. Free kick, which Calvert-Lewin meets, six yards out, only to blaze his header over.
6.08pm GMT
36 min: Burnley sweep down the middle yet again, McNeil, Wood and Vydra combining with some cute triangles. McNeil tries to curls goalward again. Godfrey blocks, his arm up, but Burnley aren’t getting a penalty for this either. This one is more understandable, McNeil having really hit that at him hard, at close proximity. But that won’t improve Burnley’s mood.
6.06pm GMT
35 min: Tarkowski is beyond annoyed, having been blocked off by Iwobi when attacking a free kick, then being hit by Westwood’s shot while prone on the edge of the Everton box. He rants at the referee a bit. The referee pays no attention.
6.03pm GMT
33 min: The Everton tails are back up. Richarlison glides towards the Burnley box and aims for the bottom right. Pope does extremely well to smother. A great game, this.
6.03pm GMT
He’ll be chewing a little less maniacally now! Davies, partly to blame for the opening goal, whips a cross in from the right. It’s an absolute beauty, right on the head of Calvert-Lewin, who powers past Pope from close range. Everton are back in it!
6.02pm GMT
31 min: On the touchline, Carlo Ancelotti chews gum with Peter Reidesque intensity. Allardycian levels of mastication.
6.00pm GMT
30 min: Burnley continue to press Everton back. A free kick flung in from the left. A corner from the right. A cross from the right. Everton just about deal with each situation, but they’re clinging on by their fingernails here.
5.58pm GMT
28 min: Pickford stays down, having hurt his hip while diving towards Gudmundsson’s shot. He looks uncomfortable and pained, but he’ll continue for now.
5.57pm GMT
27 min: Burnley are all over Everton, who are all over the place! Gudmundsson strides down the middle and curls a low drive onto the base of the left-hand post and away! So unlucky not to make it three.
5.56pm GMT
26 min: As Burnley celebrate McNeil’s goal, their captain Mee has words with the referee regarding the penalty. You can understand his annoyance, the decision not to award one was very generous.
5.55pm GMT
This is an absolutely sensational goal. McNeil receives a pass infield from the right. He drops a shoulder to sell Allan a dummy, then opens his body to power an unstoppable curler into the very top of the top left corner. Pickford had no chance, and that is one of the goals of the season!
5.54pm GMT
23 min: The corner is swung deep. Mee contests with Holgate at the far stick. The ball hits Holgate’s arm and Burnley want a penalty. Holgate’s arm was held above his head, but neither referee nor VAR chappie is interested. Everton are extremely fortunate to get away with that. Perhaps they thought Mee was grappling a little too enthusiastically.
5.52pm GMT
22 min: Wood strides down the middle, having taken down a long ball with his chest and spun. He aims for the top right, but his effort is deflected out for a corner on the right.
5.51pm GMT
20 min: Mee and McNeil combine to upend Richarlison just to the right of the Burnley D. The referee lets play go on, with the ball breaking free to Holgate on the right. His low cross pinballs back to Pope. Everton would have much preferred the free kick, I’ll be bound.
5.49pm GMT
19 min: Gudmundsson lofts a high pass down the right and nearly finds Vydra in the Everton box, but Pickford is alert and comes to the edge of his area to claim.
5.47pm GMT
17 min: Richarlison probes down the left and tries to make space for a shot, but as he attempts a curler towards the top right, Tarkowski gets right on top of him to block. Richarlison has looked lively so far.
5.45pm GMT
15 min: Burnley usually ship an early goal - they’ve conceded during the first quarter of an hour ten times this season - so this is a break from the norm. It’s a poser for Everton, too, given their none-too-impressive recent form at Goodison.
5.44pm GMT
This is a lovely finish! Davies is barged off the ball by Brownhill, who sends McNeil away down the left. McNeil reaches the byline and cuts back. Wood takes up possession on the edge of the box, drops a shoulder, and curls a glorious shot into the bottom right, Pickford rooted to the spot.
5.42pm GMT
12 min: Another opportunity for Richarlison to steam towards the Burnley box. He considers shooting, and in retrospect should have done, because he overhits his threaded pass through to Calvert-Lewin and Pope smothers.
5.40pm GMT
10 min: Nothing of note happening, which gives Lafua Michael the chance to question Ancelotti’s selection of Alex Iwobi. “Ancelotti says: ‘I want to know his preferred position.’ Don’t bother, Carlo, his preferred position is on the bench, and rightly so. If you can’t work your socks off for the team, you’ll even be lucky to be on the bench in Monsieur Mourinho’s team. It’s no coincidence the Super Eagles, of late, are performing like eaglets.”
5.38pm GMT
8 min: Digne curls it in from the left. It’s half cleared and drops to Davies, whose attempt at a first-time screamer is blocked the second it comes away from his boot.
5.37pm GMT
7 min: Davies meanders down the right and is pointlessly shoved to the ground from behind by McNeil. A chance to swing a free kick into the box. Gomes obliges. Vydra heads behind for a corner.
5.36pm GMT
6 min: Pope’s long clearance is headed down by Wood into the path of Vydra, who is unable to control. Shame for Burnley, as McNeil was in space to Vydra’s left, with the Everton back line light of staff.
5.35pm GMT
5 min: Everton stroke it around the middle of the park. Burnley seem happy enough to let them do so.
5.34pm GMT
4 min: The corner is a waste of our time.
5.33pm GMT
3 min: ... but it’s Everton who take the first shot in anger. Richarlison is allowed to meander a long way down the inside-right channel. He creams one towards the top right. Pope does very well to turn it around the post for a corner.
5.31pm GMT
1 min: A couple of early long balls pumped forward by Burnley. Everton deal with them, but don’t look 100 percent comfortable doing so. Gauntlet down?
5.30pm GMT
Burnley get the ball rolling, but only after taking the knee. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.
5.30pm GMT
The teams are out! The players emerge to the traditional strains of the second-best theme tune from a 1960s cop show. Everton in blue, Burnley in third-choice yellow. We’ll be off in a minute. Book ‘em, Mosso.
5.16pm GMT
Sean Dyche takes his turn on the mic. “It’s been tight ... we’ve had a couple of good performances against Leicester and Arsenal, two really good sides ... a pretty big blip against Spurs but they played very well and that can happen ... so the mentality is good ... I would question why we have three weeks off now, but that’s done ... obviously it would be beneficial to get a result today but beyond that it gives us three weeks to get everyone fit ... that would give us a stronger chance in the nine games that are left ... we’ve got to defend well today but hopefully ask them some questions as well.”
5.04pm GMT
Carlo Ancelotti has his eye on a top-four finish, telling Sky: “It is an important opportunity to get a result ... the game of Chelsea taught that it is difficult to play in the Premier League, and it will be difficult tonight against Burnley ... we want to improve ... we are on time to have a good result because the fight for Europe is still there.”
4.37pm GMT
Everton make just one change to the side named for the 2-0 defeat at Chelsea. Tom Davies replaces Gylfi Sigurdsson, who was a fitness worry but takes a place on the bench. Yerry Mina and Seamus Coleman return from injury as substitutes.
Burnley also make a single change to their starting XI from their last game. Erik Pieters, who came on and made quite the impression in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal, nearly scoring a screamer before getting himself sent off only to be allowed back on again, replaces the hamstrung Charlie Taylor.
4.32pm GMT
Everton: Pickford, Holgate, Keane, Godfrey, Iwobi, Davies, Allan, Andre Gomes, Digne, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison.
Subs: Sigurdsson, King, Mina, Nkounkou, Coleman, Virginia, Broadhead, Tyrer, Onyango.
Burnley: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters, Gudmundsson, Westwood, Brownhill, McNeil, Vydra, Wood.
Subs: Brady, Peacock-Farrell, Stephens, Rodriguez, Bardsley, Long, Nartey, Dunne, Benson.
11.44am GMT
Everton and Burnley were both founder members of the Football League ... and if we get a match like the corresponding fixture back in 1888, we’ll not be doing too bad. On a crisp November afternoon, the hosts ran out at Anfield (kids, ask great-great-great grandma) and raced into a 3-0 lead, only for Burnley to set up a barnstorming climax by pulling a couple back. A futile effort, as Everton held on for a 3-2 win, a result that put them fourth in the table.
Fast forward 133 years, and Carlo Ancelotti’s side can only go fifth with a victory today. They’ll be confident of doing so, having won three of their last four games, while Burnley haven’t won in five and are glancing nervously over their shoulder at the relegation zone. However, you can slice the recent form both ways, given that Everton were well beaten at Chelsea last Monday, and their form at Goodison hasn’t been convincing at all, with three home defeats in their last four. Meanwhile Burnley have toughed out a couple of impressive draws in their last two outings, against Leicester and Arsenal, while they’ve already won on Merseyside this season.
Continue reading...Leeds United 0-0 Chelsea: Premier League – as it happened
A rare goalless draw involving Leeds!
2.48pm GMT
That, my MBM friends, is your lot. Richard Jolly was at Elland Road, and his report has landed. Enjoy, and thanks for reading this live blog.
Related: Édouard Mendy keeps Leeds at bay to extend Chelsea's unbeaten run
2.47pm GMT
Leeds are represented on BT by Luke Ayling. “It’s a fair result, there weren’t many chances in the game ... we broke the press a few times ... it was one of those games ... each team got in good positions but the final ball was lacking ... a good point for us ... we’ve had quite a few injuries but I think it’s been the same for every team ... it’s been a long couple of years but that’s normal.”
2.36pm GMT
Thomas Tuchel gives his verdict to BT. “The pitch was super hard to play ... we had a couple of chances to go 1-0 ahead, but they put pressure on you ... there were enough chances, but sometimes it is like this, I don’t want to be too harsh ... sometimes you miss some big chances ... as long as we have chances and don’t concede too many, the results will be there ... it is like this ... good goalkeeping, good defending ... it was very slippery, very bouncy ... the boys are disappointed which is a good sign ... we played a good game.”
2.27pm GMT
Ben Chilwell speaks to BT. “People would have predicted goals ... they’re a difficult team to play against ... it was a tough game ... it wasn’t the best pitch to play on ... it was disappointing that we didn’t get the win ... I had a chance in the second half that I should have scored ... defensively we’re solid but going forward we want to score more goals ... we know that Mendy is going to make vital saves for us ... it’s tight between third and eighth and these games are the ones we want to be winning.”
2.25pm GMT
Leeds remain in 11th place on 36 points, while Chelsea stay in fourth on 51. Should West Ham, Everton and Spurs win their games in hand, Chelsea will drop to seventh. A better result for Leeds on the whole, but Tuchel’s unbeaten honeymoon continues apace.
2.22pm GMT
It’s only the second goalless draw this season featuring Leeds. It’s four clean sheets in a row for Thomas Tuchel’s newly parsimonious Chelsea. A fair result, and a much better game than the scoreline makes it sound.
2.21pm GMT
90 min +3: On 15 minutes, this MBM stated: “There is no way this game is going to end 0-0.” Pulitzer, please!
2.20pm GMT
90 min +2: Rudiger forces a corner on the right. James takes. The ball brushes Werner’s brow. Leeds clear.
2.19pm GMT
90 min +1: Raphinha romps down the left and tries to win a corner off Christensen. The ball ricochets back off his boot and out for a goal kick. He lashes the ball into the hoardings in irritation.
2.18pm GMT
90 min: There will be three added minutes.
2.18pm GMT
89 min: Chelsea stroke it around without much in the way of verve. Christensen again tries to up the tempo, Beckenbauering his way down the middle, but his final ball forward is no good and snaffled by Meslier.
2.16pm GMT
87 min: Phillips wedges a pass down the inside right. It should release Roberts, Chilwell having played him onside, but he can’t take the ball with him. For a split second, Leeds had an open route to goal.
2.15pm GMT
86 min: Hudson-Odoi sashays infield from the left and looks for the bottom right. Easy for Meslier.
2.14pm GMT
85 min: The play is extremely bitty, the whistle repeatedly blasting for offsides and minor transgressions. All of which gives us time to consider the suggestion of Justin Kavanagh: “Can I nominate Jock Spleen as manager for Millings angrymen XI?”
2.12pm GMT
84 min: A bit of space for Chilwell, who romps down the left and hooks infield towards nobody. Meslier claims.
2.12pm GMT
83 min: Chelsea ping it around again, but they aren’t quite as slick as they were earlier. All a bit aimless in the middle of the park.
2.10pm GMT
81 min: Hudson-Odoi nearly makes an immediate impact, but he can’t latch onto a long pass down the middle. Meslier collects on the edge of his area.
2.09pm GMT
80 min: That’s the second time this season Rodrigo has been sent on and subsequently hooked. It happened to him against Sheffield United, too. He’s gone straight down the tunnel.
2.08pm GMT
79 min: A strange one this by Bielsa, who subs one of his subs. Off goes a confused Rodrigo, to be replaced by Klich. Meanwhile Chelsea sacrifice Mount for Hudson-Odoi.
2.07pm GMT
78 min: Raphinha takes. A free header for Rodrigo, on the penalty spot. He heads downwards and straight at Mendy, who makes a meal of gathering, but eventually does so. What a chance that was.
2.05pm GMT
77 min: Leeds win a corner on the right. They work it out to Llorente, just to the right of the D. His powerful sidefoot is deflected over the bar by James. Inches away!
2.04pm GMT
75 min: Before the free kick is taken, the referee has a word with Alioski, who has just been booked and was subsequently spotted tugging at James. A stern lecture, no more.
2.03pm GMT
74 min: The game takes a turn for the worse. All a bit shapeless, a tad scrappy. Christensen attempts to pick up the pace down the middle, and is clipped from behind by Rodrigo, who is booked for his trouble.
2.00pm GMT
72 min: Rudiger has a dig from distance. The ball dips towards the bottom right, but that’s an easy parry for Meslier.
2.00pm GMT
71 min: Alioski is booked for arriving late on Werner. Ayling is back up and running, incidentally.
1.59pm GMT
70 min: A glorious spin by Roberts out on the left touchline, wriggling away from a couple of blue shirts, seemingly having no space whatsoever to work with. Nothing comes of the resulting raking pass down the flank for Raphinha, but what skill!
1.57pm GMT
69 min: While the physios work their magic on Ayling, Chelsea send on Werner and James for Pulisic and Ziyech.
1.56pm GMT
67 min: A daft injury to pick up, this. The whistle goes, the game obviously stopped, but Ayling decides to continue dribbling down the middle. He clatters into Rudiger, and takes a whack to his knee. A sore one, by the looks of it. On comes the doc.
1.54pm GMT
66 min: Costa’s first act is to breeze past Chilwell and instigate some bedlam in the Chelsea box. Raphinha tries to sweep into the bottom left, but his effort is deflected wide. Nothing comes of the corner.
1.53pm GMT
64 min: Leeds make their second change of the afternoon, replacing Harrison with Costa. On the subject of their enforced first, here’s Giancarlo M Sandoval: “The importance of Bamford’s pressing cannot be overstated. He defends and creates spaces from the front and Leeds have looked a bit defanged by his absence.”
1.51pm GMT
62 min: Havertz rolls inside from the right. Mount dummies, allowing the diagonal pass to release Chilwell down the inside-left. Chilwell enters the box and must surely score, but suffers a rush of blood and slices a weird effort way wide left.
1.49pm GMT
60 min: A free kick for Leeds out on the left leads to a corner on the right. It’s only half cleared, the ball dropping to Alioski, whose tame shot pinballs softly before the danger is properly dealt with second time around.
1.48pm GMT
59 min: Pulisic tries to thread a shot into the bottom right from a tight angle, but it’s easy pickings for Meslier.
1.47pm GMT
58 min: Mount saunters infield from the left and is awarded a very cheap free kick upon being brushed by Ayling. Nothing comes of the set piece, which means we’re spared any confected outrage. Speaking of which ... “If we can broaden Mac Millings XI out to involve argy-bargy and controversy, Imre VARadi will surely be the first name on the team sheet.” Simon McMahon at full stretch there.
1.44pm GMT
56 min: A couple of Leeds corners waste our time.
1.44pm GMT
55 min: Raphinha has been quiet, but he nearly scores here. On the penalty spot, with his back to goal, he spins and aims for the bottom right. Mendy, having anticipated a shot towards the bottom left, adjusts and sticks out a strong hand. What reflexes!
1.42pm GMT
54 min: Space for Kante in the Leeds box on the left. He elects to cross when he probably should have shot. Leeds clear.
1.42pm GMT
53 min: Rudiger sends Chilwell tearing down the left. Chilwell sends in a cross that nearly replicates Paul Konchesky’s freak goal in the 2006 FA Cup final for West Ham, but the ball ends up with Ziyech on the other flank. He crosses. Havertz contests at the far post but can’t convert.
1.40pm GMT
51 min: Chelsea are dominating possession again, while Cian O’Mahony thinks Millings’ XI should be “managed by Giovanni Scrappatoni”.
1.38pm GMT
49 min: That was really strange defending by Leeds, with everyone bar Llorente running away from Havertz, leaving the Chelsea man a clear path to goal. Havertz should have done better, given the gift, but full marks to the keeper. Meanwhile Leeds go up the other end, Roberts sending a pea-roller into Mendy’s arms.
1.36pm GMT
48 min: Azpilicueta races down the right and finds Havertz infield. Leeds generously open up a route to goal, and are indebted to Meslier, who tips the resulting drive over the bar. The resulting corner leads to nothing.
1.34pm GMT
46 min: The rain’s stopped, and the sun’s out. A typical spring day in God’s own county.
1.33pm GMT
Chelsea get the second half underway. No changes. Speaking of substitutions, here’s Richard Hirst: “Congratulations to Mr Millings, but it seems inappropriate to have Trevor Brooking in such a team. Can we put Alan Brawl in midfield instead?”
1.22pm GMT
Half-time entertainment, courtesy of Mac Millings. To commemorate that 1970 FA Cup final replay, please allow me to present my all-time Argy-Bargy XI:
1.18pm GMT
Just enough time for Havertz to steer a weak shot from a tight-ish angle on the right into the arms of Meslier, and that’s the end of a very entertaining first half. Chelsea have dominated, and yet Leeds have still had a goal disallowed and hit the bar. That’s Bielsa’s Leeds! More of it soon.
1.16pm GMT
45 min: One corner leads to another, which leads to a throw deep on the right that leads to another throw deep on the right. Chelsea eventually clear their lines. There will be one additional minute.
1.14pm GMT
44 min: ... except that’s not how Leeds think, is it. Harrison makes his way down the left, his attempted cross deflected out by Azpilicueta for a corner.
1.13pm GMT
42 min: Chelsea line up on the edge of the box. Pulisic delivers. Meslier flicks clear. Chilwell curls from the left. Meslier claims confidently. Leeds could do with hearing the half-time whistle.
1.12pm GMT
41 min: This is being played at 101 mph. Leeds snapping into every challenge. Alioski goes a bit too far and knocks over Ziyech. This will be a free kick, out on the right, in a very dangerous position.
1.09pm GMT
39 min: Mount has a rake from the best part of 30 yards. Straight at Meslier, who claims at the second attempt.
1.08pm GMT
37 min: Mount sprays diagonally towards Ziyech on the right. A wonder pass that drops to his team-mates feet. He’s momentarily free, but Phillips comes across to cover. Corner. Rudiger meets the set piece, but can’t get anything meaningful on it, and the ball dribbles into the arms of Meslier.
1.06pm GMT
35 min: Bamford can’t continue, and is replaced by Rodrigo. A look of sheer frustration on Bamford’s face. He had been looking forward to playing against his former club.
1.05pm GMT
34 min: Chilwell drops a shoulder to make space down the inside-left channel and fizzes a low shot inches wide. He claims a deflection that might not have happened, but gets the decision anyway. Nothing comes of the resulting corner, so it doesn’t make any difference.
1.03pm GMT
32 min: Bamford banged his hip in an aerial challenge with Rudiger. After a quick bit of physio, he’s going to try to run it off.
1.01pm GMT
31 min: Phillips looks to have completely recovered from that early knock, but now Bamford goes down. Chelsea knock the ball out so he can get some treatment.
12.59pm GMT
29 min: The corner is beyond useless, beyond everyone.
12.59pm GMT
28 min: Christensen intercepts a Dallas pass in the middle, then sends Kante away. The midfielder drives down the centre of the pitch and looks for the top right. His effort is deflected away for a corner.
12.57pm GMT
27 min: Something of a lull, albeit one decorated by plenty of pretty Chelsea triangles.
12.56pm GMT
25 min: It’s lashing down now, and according to the good folk and true of BT Sport, most of the rain is being directed by the wind straight into poor Mendy’s face.
12.54pm GMT
23 min: Roberts picks up the first booking of the afternoon for an ersatz tribute to the ghosts of 1970. Jorginho was his victim.
12.54pm GMT
22 min: Another fine defensive header by Rudiger, horizontal this time as he dives to clear Harrison’s cross, and this time Chelsea launch a counter. Ziyech and Pulisic again combine down the right, the latter crossing, Meslier claiming. The offside flag goes up belatedly.
12.52pm GMT
20 min: Dallas curls in dangerously from the left. Bamford hovers, but Rudiger heads clear. This match continues to flow as rain begins to fall.
12.49pm GMT
18 min: Ayling takes an accidental whack in the mouth, Mount fighting for possession with elbows out. A brief pause and he’s good to go again, no hard feelings.
12.48pm GMT
17 min: Mendy got a fingertip to that, you know. A fingernail perhaps. A fine save. Leeds have now hit the woodwork at both ends. What a team.
12.47pm GMT
15 min: Roberts, just to the left of the Chelsea D, spins and attempts a curler towards the top right. His effort slams off the bar and away. This is preposterous. This is Leeds! There is no way this game is going to end 0-0.
12.46pm GMT
14 min: Ziyech drives down the right and releases Pulisic, who whips another low cross into the danger zone. Meslier gets a hand on the ball, and Ayling clears without resorting to classic circus tricks this time.
12.43pm GMT
12 min: Chelsea are looking dangerous with every attack. They’ve enjoyed 71 percent of possession so far.
12.42pm GMT
10 min: This is absurd! Pulisic and Havertz try to work space down the inside right. Ayling attempts to hoof clear, but accidentally hits Llorente, standing next to him. The ball balloons backwards, over the stranded Meslier ... then off the crossbar and into the keeper’s arms! So close to a bleak farce for the ages.
12.40pm GMT
9 min: A textbook example of end-to-end football, right there. A mere 17 seconds separated Havertz’s miss with Roberts’ disallowed goal.
12.39pm GMT
7 min: Christensen peals a pass down the right, hoping to release Ziyech. He nearly manages it, but Alioski is across quickly to cover. Chelsea come again down the same flank, Pulisic crossing low, Havertz unable to force home from close range. What a miss! Meslier gathers, then launches a counter. Bamford is set free down the right. He rolls into the middle, where Roberts slams home. But the flag goes up, Bamford having gone too early. Offside!
12.35pm GMT
5 min: Chelsea establish an early modicum of control. Plenty of passing and probing. Leeds meanwhile do what they do, and press, press, press.
12.34pm GMT
3 min: Dallas clatters into Chilwell. It’s not exactly Hutchison on Bremner, but it’s a saucy one nonetheless. Just a free kick.
12.32pm GMT
2 min: Leeds are kicking towards the Norman Hunter Stand in this first half. They’re quickly on the front foot, pressurising Azpilicueta down the left, but Rudiger clears. Then Phillips knocks into Mount, and looks to have rolled his ankle. An early concern for the hosts, but he hobbles on.
12.30pm GMT
Leeds get the ball rolling ... but only after the knee is taken. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.
12.28pm GMT
No pre-match word from Marcelo Bielsa. All part of his enigmatic charm. Anyway, here come the teams! Chelsea troop down from the John Charles Stand wearing their royal blue, then Leeds emerge from the tunnel in all-while splendour. It’s a windy day in West Yorkshire. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
12.14pm GMT
Thomas Tuchel has a quick chat with BT, concentrating mainly on Kai Havertz. “He had an excellent match against Everton ... I was doubting the decision a little bit to start him, but he proved he has the physical capacity, he was impressive and decisive and that’s why we’ve decided to give him another game to keep the momentum.”
11.41am GMT
Leeds make three changes to their starting XI after the 2-0 defeat at West Ham. Pascal Struijk, Ezgjan Alioski and Jack Harrison replace Mateusz Klich, Helder Costa and the injured Liam Cooper.
Six changes for Chelsea from the side named ahead of the 2-0 win over Everton, and with Atletico Madrid coming up on Wednesday. Christian Pulisic, Ben Chilwell, Antonio Rudiger, Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante and Hakim Ziyech step up; Kurt Zouma, Marcos Alonso, Reece James, Kovacic, Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi all drop to the bench.
11.31am GMT
Leeds United: Meslier, Ayling, Llorente, Struijk, Alioski, Phillips, Raphinha, Roberts, Dallas, Harrison, Bamford.
Subs: Koch, Poveda-Ocampo, Casilla, Helder Costa, Rodrigo, Berardi, Klich, Shackleton, Jenkins.
Chelsea: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger, Chilwell, Kante, Jorginho, Ziyech, Mount, Pulisic, Havertz.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Alonso, Werner, Zouma, Kovacic, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi, James, Emerson Palmieri.
2.14am GMT
To a certain generation, as well as the combat connoisseur, Leeds United and Chelsea can mean only one thing: the 1970 FA Cup final replay. Ding ding! Seconds out!
Related: Chelsea 2-1 Leeds United (aet): 1970 FA Cup final replay – as it happened
Continue reading...March 9, 2021
Porto stun Juventus in extra time: Champions League – as it happened
11.09pm GMT
Jacob Steinberg’s verdict is in. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Related: Sérgio Oliveira and 10-man Porto stun Juventus in extra-time thriller
10.51pm GMT
That’s one hell of a performance by Porto. By far the better side in the first half, the jig looked up in the second, after they conceded a couple of goals in short order and went down to ten men. But they dug in, the old warrior Pepe overseeing a heroic defensive stand. And could a Juventus defeat have ended any other way, the decisive blow, Sergio Oliveira’s late free kick, sailing between Cristiano Ronaldo’s feet? A third European Cup continues to elude Juve; Porto’s quest for their third remains on!
10.46pm GMT
Perhaps understandably, after that emotional maelstrom, tempers threaten to spill over at the end. Porto cavort, while Andrea Pirlo has a full and frank exchange of views with the referee. Porto boss Sergio Conceicao momentarily looks like embarking on some sort of freewheeling rampage. Not sure what about. It all calms down quickly enough, anyway.
10.43pm GMT
You’ll do well to see a better match in the Champions League this season. This decade, perhaps. What amazing drama. What entertainment!
10.42pm GMT
ET 30 min +4: There is one last chance for Juve, a free kick out on the right. Cuadrado swings it in! There’s some head tennis, then Marchesin flaps clear. The referee puts his whistle to his mouth, and ...
10.41pm GMT
ET 30 min +3: Probably not, because Kulusevski has fouled Diaz in the centre circle and time isn’t on their side.
10.40pm GMT
ET 30 min +2: Rabiot lashes a wild effort miles over the bar from distance. Mbemba is booked, presumably for timewasting. Have Juve got anything left? Has this classic got one last twist?
10.39pm GMT
ET 30 min +1: The first of three extra minutes. A desperate Juve win another corner, on the left. Porto, equally desperate for wildly different reasons, just about clear.
10.38pm GMT
ET 30 min: Even more drama coming up! De Ligt, just inside the Porto box, goes over Grujic’s leg. There’s going to be a VAR check ... but there was no contact. Just a corner.
10.37pm GMT
ET 29 min: This is breathless. As things stand, Porto are going through on away goals.
10.36pm GMT
A couple of corners for Juve. Ronaldo meets the first with a powerful sidefoot, only for Marchesin to save sensationally. Then Rabiot rises to meet the second, planting it into the top right! What drama here! Juve not out of it yet!
10.35pm GMT
ET 26 min: That wasn’t just a keeping mistake; the wall jumped, the low free kick whistling between Ronaldo’s legs!
10.33pm GMT
McKennie is rounded by Oliveira, 25 yards out. He brings him down. Free kick. Oliveira gets up and takes the free kick himself. He sends a daisycutter skidding towards the bottom left ... and it squeezes in, Szczesny getting a hand to it, to no avail! Porto are going through!
10.32pm GMT
ET 23 min: Morata scoops a tame effort straight at Marchesin. Rabiot is booked for a late challenge on Diaz.
10.31pm GMT
ET 22 min: Just before Grujic’s shot, Diaz dropped a shoulder to make his way past a sliding Cuadrado, who does exceptionally well to get his arm out of the road. The ball missed his arm by inches. No penalty.
10.29pm GMT
ET 21 min: Then up the other end, time and space for Grujic to shoot, just to the left of the D! He’s so ponderous, though, and his eventual dribbled effort slowly bagatelles its way through the Juve box before being hacked clear.
10.28pm GMT
ET 20 min: Kulusevski drops a shoulder to diddle Manafa down the left. He shoots low towards the near corner. Mbemba throws himself at the shot, which deflects back off Kulusevski and out for a goal kick!
10.26pm GMT
ET 19 min: Now Pepe deflects Ronaldo’s low drive out for a corner, from which nothing comes.
10.26pm GMT
ET 18 min: Cuadrado crosses from the right. Pepe, for the millionth time this evening, heads clear. He smiles broadly. The old timer is enjoying himself.
10.24pm GMT
ET 17 min: It’s attack versus defence again. Porto digging in, presumably having decided that penalties are their most realistic chance of advancing.
10.24pm GMT
ET 16 min: Bernardeschi fizzes in a low cross from the left, but it’s hoicked clear by Grujic.
10.23pm GMT
Porto get the second half of extra time underway. Marega has been magnificent but has run himself into the ground. Martinez comes on in his place.
10.20pm GMT
Crunch time coming up!
10.19pm GMT
ET 15 min +1: Bernardeschi’s second act is to win a corner down the left, but nothing comes of it.
10.18pm GMT
ET 15 min: There will be two extra minutes of this first period of extra time.
10.18pm GMT
ET 14 min: Bernardeschi’s first act is to pick up a booking for clattering Grujic.
10.17pm GMT
ET 13 min: Ronaldo races after a pass down the inside-left channel. He’s about to get to it, just inside the box ... but Marchesin comes out and executes a sensational (and extremely risky) sliding tackle to save the day! Ronaldo wants a penalty but the challenge looked clean. What a tackle!
10.15pm GMT
ET 12 min: Yep, that’s the end of Chiesa’s evening. He’s replaced by Bernardeschi, while Arthur makes way for Kulusevski.
10.14pm GMT
ET 11 min: A couple of opportunities for Chiesa to cross from the right. A couple of uncharacteristically poor deliveries follow. The young man getting a little bit tired.
10.13pm GMT
ET 9 min: Corona wins a corner down the left. Porto play it short. Corona, tight on the byline, spins and shovels a cute ball into the middle, where Marega should score from six yards. But Marega can’t generate enough power in the header and Szczesny claims. What a brilliantly worked corner, though!
10.11pm GMT
ET 7 min: Diaz nicks the ball off Sandro in the centre circle and is brought down for his trouble. Sandro is booked ... and so is Oliveira for some reason. The Porto midfielder will miss the first leg of the quarters if his team make it.
10.08pm GMT
ET 5 min: McKennie spins on a ball bouncing freely on the edge of the Porto penalty box. It’s a lovely bit of skill that fashions a chance to shoot out of nothing, but Mbemba closes him down and blocks. Great football all round.
10.06pm GMT
ET 3 min: Cuadrado is booked for shoving his arm in Corona’s face, falling over and handling the ball, and having the brass neck to complain about the award of a free kick. Nothing comes of the set piece, but that means the Juve right-back will miss the first leg of the quarters should his team win through.
10.05pm GMT
ET 2 min: A fairly slow start to extra time as both teams strive to get back up to speed. It was a hell of a 90-minute ride, after all.
10.03pm GMT
Juve get the first half of extra time underway! No changes during the turnaround.
9.58pm GMT
We’re going to extra time ... and possibly penalty kicks. What a match this has been! Porto have done exceptionally well to stay alive (with a little help from the woodwork).
9.56pm GMT
90 min +5: Morata wins a corner down the right. One last chance for Juve, maybe?Cuadrado to take. Marega heads powerfully clear. That should be that.
9.55pm GMT
90 min +4: Chiesa is booked for a late lunge on Grujic. This has been great fun. More please! Extra time promises to be a blast.
9.54pm GMT
90 min +3: Cuadrado dribbles down the right, drops a shoulder and enters the box. Then he whips a glorious rising curler towards the top left ... only for the ball to twang the underside of the bar and away!
9.53pm GMT
90 min +2: Marega tries to launch a counter with a long pass down the right, but Corona doesn’t have the legs to chase.
9.52pm GMT
90 min +1: De Ligt loops a pass down the middle. Morata brings it down. He’s clear on goal! He finishes delightfully, flicking the ball across Marchesin and into the bottom right ... but he’s correctly flagged offside. VAR double-checks, to make sure, but it’s no goal.
9.51pm GMT
90 min: A third Porto change, as Grujic comes on for Uribe. There will be five added minutes!
9.50pm GMT
89 min: Rabiot and Chiesa exchange cute passes down the inside-left channel and nearly open Porto up. Manafa steps across to intercept and clear, just as Chiesa was thinking about a shot.
9.48pm GMT
87 min: The corner ends up at the feet of Rabiot, 25 yards out. His rising shot is always missing to the left. The scoreline of this match could have been anything.
9.47pm GMT
86 min: And now up the other end, Chiesa crosses from the left. Ronaldo has his neck wound back, only for Marega to eyebrow out for a corner just in time!
9.47pm GMT
85 min: Diaz and Marega combine their way into the Juve box on the left. Marega turns back, then suddenly spins and flashes a low shot towards the bottom left. The side netting ripples. So close!
9.45pm GMT
83 min: Sarr makes good down the inside-left and sends a screamer goalwards from 25 yards. It’s straight at Szczesny, who makes a meal of parrying. Porto are suddenly asking a couple of questions, with Juve understandably getting a bit nervous; any mistake now and they’ll almost certainly be out.
9.44pm GMT
82 min: Chiesa could, probably should, have given Juve the lead. He tears down the left and enters the box, but his shot from a tight-ish angle is parried well by Marchesin. Morata goes to meet the rebound and swipes fresh air.
9.43pm GMT
81 min: But you never know, and here’s Corona barrelling down the right. His deep cross finds Oliveira in space, just inside the Juve box on the left. He could bring the ball down, but opts to cushion a header towards ... well, who exactly? Nobody there.
9.41pm GMT
80 min: Marchesin kicks long, in the hope of releasing Corona. Nowhere near. Porto are offering absolutely nothing in attack right now. The ten men look extremely unlikely to fashion a shock winner.
9.40pm GMT
78 min: A huge chance for Ronaldo, who rises to meet another of Cuadrado’s superb right-wing crosses. He’s six feet out, unchallenged, but misjudges, sending a header back across the face of goal and out to the right. It should have been three. As things stand, we’re all heading to extra time.
9.38pm GMT
77 min: Porto have lined up nine men on the edge of their own box. Juve probe this way and that. Chiesa scoops a diagonal ball into the box from the left; McKennie tries to loop a header back over Marchesin and into the top left. He can’t get enough on it.
9.36pm GMT
75 min: Juve make a double change, replacing Bonucci and Ramsey with De Ligt and McKennie.
9.36pm GMT
74 min: Marega makes a couple of runs, one down the left, the second down the middle. He nearly reaches Uribe’s pass, but Szczeney comes out to smother. A reminder that a Porto goal would seriously disrupt the narrative arc of this match.
9.33pm GMT
72 min: Bonucci creams a long pass down the left. Chiesa, on a hat-trick, can’t quite get the dropping ball under control as he barges his way into the box, and the keeper is able to come off his line to claim.
9.31pm GMT
71 min: Porto make their second change, replacing Zaidu with Luis Diaz.
9.31pm GMT
69 min: Cuadrado is hauled over as he makes his way down the right. The free kick is rolled infield to Rabiot, who fizzes a daisy-bothering shot towards the bottom right. Marchesin parries, Ramsey chases the rebound, and the flag goes up for offside.
9.29pm GMT
68 min: Replays show a prone Marchesin responding to conceding Chiesa’s second goal by swinging a frustrated boot in the general direction of the nearby Morata’s special area. A naughty one.
9.28pm GMT
66 min: Porto can’t get out. Bonucci diddles Manafa down the left and shoots from a tight angle. Overly optimistic, with Chiesa waiting in the centre. It’s blocked, and nothing comes of the corner.
9.26pm GMT
65 min: Chiesa, who has single-handedly kept Juventus in this season’s competition over the two ties, crosses deep from the left. An easy snaffle for the keeper, but you can’t get everything right.
9.25pm GMT
Yep, it’s going to be a long half hour for Porto all right. Cuadrado crosses deep from the right. Chiesa rises highest at the far stick and powers a header into the top left! Marchesin had no hope of keeping it out, and it’s all level!
9.23pm GMT
62 min: Porto make a defensive substitution, swapping Otavio for Sarr. Then there’s another Juve corner, which leads to some head tennis in the Porto box. This could be a long half hour for Porto.
9.22pm GMT
61 min: Another Pepe clearance slams Uribe on the arm. Juve want a penalty but they’re not getting one.
9.21pm GMT
59 min: Easy to forget that Porto are still leading this tie, and should they snaffle another away goal on the counter, Juve will have a new mountain to climb, facing ten men or no. Porto remind everyone of this by winning a corner, though nothing comes from it.
9.19pm GMT
57 min: This is superb entertainment. From the corner, there’s a little space and time for Bonucci to have a crack from a tight angle on the left. Pepe again performs heroics to block, and nothing comes of the resulting set piece.
9.19pm GMT
56 min: Juve are this close to levelling the tie on aggregate! A looped pass down the inside left. Chiesa takes down, enters the box, cuts across Marchesin and prepares to slide the ball into an empty net ... only for Pepe to extend a telescopic leg, taking the ball off Chiesa’s toe and sending it out for a corner via the base of the right-hand post!
9.17pm GMT
55 min: Taremi initially channels his inner Antonio Rattin and refuses to leave, but soon accepts his fate and departs. How quickly it all changes!
9.16pm GMT
54 min: A long ball punted down the middle. Taremi chests down. He’s offside, so blooters the ball goalwards in frustration. Ronaldo and Bonucci lead protests immediately, surrounding the referee and demanding a booking. They get their wish! Bjorn Kuipers gives himself a few seconds to think, then flashes a second yellow and a red.
9.14pm GMT
52 min: And now Ramsey flashes a header straight at Marchesin from a right-wing cross. Now it’s Porto’s turn to be rattled, and Taremi is booked for a poor challenge on Chiesa.
9.13pm GMT
51 min: What a strike by Chiesa, and what a lovely move. It’s almost as though Porto were lulled into a false sense of security, Juve having signally failed to fly out of the blocks at the start the second half. But suddenly they clicked into gear, and here we are. Freshly energised, they win a corner. Nothing comes of it, but that’s not the point. Juve suddenly have the wind in their sail!
9.11pm GMT
Juve stroke it around patiently. Bonucci suddenly shovels a pass down the inside-left channel. He stuns the dropping ball, teeing it up for Chiesa, who curls a sensational shot across Marchesin and into the top right! Juve are back in it!
9.08pm GMT
47 min: Juventus stroke it around the back. There’s no out-ball. Porto stand in position. A pattern may have been set.
9.06pm GMT
Porto get the second half underway. Hold firm, and they’re in the last eight. Juve - grim-faced as they trooped back out - need a goal and quick. No half-time changes. Meanwhile here’s Ursolin Waxoh: “I agree with both your aesthetic reasoning that Juve’s crest is nicer looking and with your other correspondents’ more nostalgic view that Porto’s is worthier. See, we can all get along!”
8.51pm GMT
Half-time entertainment. Relax the old eyes before the second 45.
Related: Madrid derby, Der Klassiker and what next for Barcelona? – Football Weekly
8.50pm GMT
There’s just enough time for Juve to waste a corner, and that’s the end of an excellent first half for Porto. Juve need to find two in order to take this to extra time; they’ve struggled to make chances against this stingy Porto defence. Should the visitors score again - and they look more than capable - this will almost certainly be all over. Big second half coming up!
8.48pm GMT
45 min +3: Otavio is booked for a cynical check on Cuadrado.
8.48pm GMT
45 min +2: The delivery isn’t all that. But Rabiot makes a meal of clearing and Oliveira is given time to take a shot from the right-hand corner of the box. He skelps a fierce effort towards the bottom right; Szczesny does very well to smother.
8.46pm GMT
45 min +1: In the first of four added minutes, Chiesa brings down Corona out on the right. A free kick in a dangerous area. Oliveira to take.
8.45pm GMT
45 min: Arthur hauls down Manafa from behind as the Porto full back threatens to break into space on the right. No booking. The referee is in a very generous mood tonight.
8.44pm GMT
44 min: The game suddenly gets very stretched, and within ten seconds or so, both keepers take their turn to race out of their areas and clear, Szczesny with a volley, Marchesin with a header. This match has been absurdly open.
8.43pm GMT
42 min: Bonucci might have been offside, to be fair. But even so.
8.42pm GMT
41 min: Cuadrado loops the corner into the mixer. Ronaldo heads down towards Bonucci, who prepares to swivel and slam the ball home from six yards. But Marchesin stoops to scoop the ball off the Juve captain’s boot. A goal-saving intervention, though Bonucci was strangely hesitant there.
8.40pm GMT
40 min: Chiesa whips a better cross in this time. Morata is winding his neck back, six yards out, but Mbemba does extremely well to read the danger and head out for a corner. The set piece is worked back to Arthur, whose low drive through a thicket of players is deflected out for a corner on the right this time.
8.38pm GMT
38 min: Juve are really struggling to find gaps in the heavily manned Porto defence. They’re enjoying the lion’s share of possession, for all the good it’s doing them.
8.37pm GMT
36 min: Chiesa lumps in a cross from the left. Easy pickings for Marchesin. Juve haven’t given the keeper too much to do. A couple of saves, and that’s it.
8.35pm GMT
34 min: We go again. “That JJ logo reminds me of the tracks of the old racing car game Scalextric, which is apt for a team run by the owners of Ferrari and Fiat,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “Their team looks like flying off the track tonight, though, the fate of all Scalextric cars that took the corners too fast.” Meanwhile Porto are running much more smoothly like TCR.
8.32pm GMT
32 min: Sandro wins a corner for Juve down the right, but all that comes of it is an ugly clash of heads between Demiral and Pepe. Uribe also takes a knee to the back of the noggin. On come the physios, and everyone else can take a breather and a slug of water.
8.31pm GMT
30 min: Porto have dropped back, six men along their last line of defence. There’s no room for Juve, so Rabiot has a whack from 30 yards. It’s heading towards the bottom left, but easily gathered by Marchesin. Here’s Colum Fordham: “I concur with Alan Gomes (like his reasoning re the crest – let’s go old school) and Ursolin (Agnelli’s proposal is horrific) but write from Naples where Juve is loathed by the many (Napoli fans) and loved by the few (some unfortunate misguided people such as my Vespa mechanic Gennaro -otherwise a really sound guy). I would love Porto to score quite a few goals – they’ve just scored the first and that brings joy to my heart – and knock La Signora out of the tournament. Viva neutrality!”
8.28pm GMT
28 min: Juve remind everyone of the threat they nevertheless still carry. Cuadrado swings in from the right. The ball drops to Morata at the far stick. He chests down and fires towards the near corner. Marchesin blocks superbly, and nothing comes of the resulting corner. This match is so much fun.
8.26pm GMT
26 min: Zaidu creams a volley towards the top left. Inches over. It’s Porto’s eighth attempt on goal already. They look like scoring pretty much every time they attack.
8.25pm GMT
25 min: It’s an end-to-end romp, this. Morata jigs in from the right and loses his footing once he enters the Porto box. He wants a penalty, Pepe having breathed on him, but he’s not getting one. Then Corona and Otavio take turns to whistle shots down Szczesny’s throat. There is no way tonight’s game is ending 0-1.
8.24pm GMT
23 min: Juve are rocking. Since the restart, Porto have come at them three times on the counter. They’ve over-elaborated on each occasion, but the hosts are living very dangerously. Meanwhile here’s Grant Tennille: “What with Big Cup, Juventus, and today’s Fiver uppermost in mind, it’s hard not to recall the image of an utterly knackered Zidane physically and literally crashing out of the 2002 World Cup while haring after an overcooked pass against ... Uruguay, was it? A defining moment, and one that seemed to play no small part in the subsequent and shockingly sensible binning of the ‘second group stage’ in Big Cup shortly thereafter. And yet, here we are.”
8.22pm GMT
22 min: Teremi slides in recklessly on Demiral, and he’s somewhat fortunate not to go into the book. The referee giving the Porto attacker a free hit there.
8.21pm GMT
21 min: A slightly grey pallor washes across Andrea Pirlo’s face. Juve now need two goals to take this to extra time, three if they’re to win. And there’s no room for error at the back.
8.19pm GMT
Oliveira sends Szczesny the wrong way, rolling the penalty into the bottom left. So clinical.
8.18pm GMT
17 min: Ramsey nearly slips Morata clear into the Porto box, but Mbemba steps in to intercept and clear. They break. Marega crosses low from the right. Demiral barges into the back of Taremi, who was trying to spin him, and the referee points to the spot!
8.16pm GMT
15 min: So having said that, the game settles into its first slight lull, both teams perhaps deciding that they’ve been sailing a little too close to the wind.
8.15pm GMT
13 min: Imagine the bedlam in this stadium after that start, were it full of fans. Haste ye back, one and all.
8.12pm GMT
11 min: Throw for Porto deep in Juve territory on the left. Zaidu flings in. It’s half cleared, dropping to Otavio, just to the left of the D. Otavio attempts a volley, cutting across the ball and hoping for the top-right corner, but he gets it all wrong and finds the right-hand corner flag instead. Full marks for ambition, though. “I sort of agree with Alan Gomes. While I see the modernity of Juve’s minimalist crest, it reminds of when my stapler jams and I’m left with two twisted bits of metal.” Et tu, Peter Oh?!
8.10pm GMT
9 min: Ronaldo is stopped illegally by Uribe as he sashays down the inside right channel. Free kick. Cuadrado takes. Ramsey tries to guide into the top left with his eyebrows, but the ball clears the crossbar by a couple of centimetres. This is great fun. How it’s still 0-0 I’ll never know, and it’s not often you can say that before the ten-minute mark.
8.08pm GMT
8 min: Well what a start that was. Somewhere, in a parallel universe, it’s 3-1 to Porto and Juve are in a world of bother.
8.08pm GMT
6 min: Porto go close again! Zaidu makes ground down the left and pulls back from the byline. Taremi’s strong sidefoot is parried brilliantly by Szczesny. Taremi tries to steer the rebound home, but his header grazes the top of the bar. Wow.
8.07pm GMT
5 min: Or maybe not. Porto break up a Juve attack and Uribe leads a counter. He slips a pass down the inside right, allowing Marega to stride into the box. He can’t quite round Szczesny on his right, running the ball out of play for a goal kick. But that was close.
8.05pm GMT
4 min: Juve are on the front foot here. Porto sitting back, a bank of four in front of a bank of five. It could be a long evening for Taremi up front.
8.04pm GMT
3 min: Cuadrado whips a cross in from the right. Morata meets it with a powerful header. Marchesin stops it flying into the top left with a sensational strong arm. What a start to this game! It could easily be one apiece already.
8.03pm GMT
2 min: Porto come straight at Juve, with Marega making a nuisance of himself under a high ball. It breaks to Uribe, who sends a low rasping shot inches wide of the left-hand post.
8.01pm GMT
And we’re off! Juve get the ball rolling. A reminder that they trail 2-1, which is the only scoreline that can take us to extra time. “I know I will sound like a square ol’ fuddy-duddy, but in that picture I like Porto’s crest better,” writes Alan Gomes. “It’s too busy, a jumble of colours and symbols and letters. Any designer worth their salt would recoil in horror at it. But it is charming in its quaintness. and it has everything a badge could have: club colours, a totemic animal, national/regional symbols, an old-style leather ball. It’s not pretty, but it means something - it probably means a lot of things. Juve’s sleek, modern, pretty design could be the logo for an accounting firm or a film studio. It’s made for Agnelli’s ‘fan of tomorrow’.” Each to their own, huh.
7.57pm GMT
The teams are out! Juventus are in their Notts County inspired black and white stripes - albeit fashionably distressed versions thereof - while Porto wear blue away from home, just like Mansfield Town. Nottinghamshire hasn’t had this much representation in the European Cup since the glory days of Brian Clough. Anyway, we’ll be off in a minute or two.
7.39pm GMT
Pre-match postbag. “Here’s hoping that Porto do complete the job,” begins Ursolin Waxoh. “Nothing against Juventus or Him - I just want Andrea Agnelli to pay for proposing this horrendous thing. But of course, if Porto beat Juventus, more proof it will be to the likes of the Agnellis that their ‘perfect’ format is needed, right?”
This MBM is of course strictly neutral when it comes to this evening’s result; good luck to both teams. However, the Fiver is likely to have your back, Ursolin, if the tenor of today’s edition is anything to go by, while our man Paul MacInnes also has his doubts about the sagacity of this crackpot scheme.
Related: Champions League avenger Agnelli risks futile push for fan of tomorrow | Paul MacInnes
7.29pm GMT
Pennant watch. The commemorative gift Leonardo Bonucci will hand over is a masterclass in crisp modern design. I love that badge.
7.15pm GMT
Juventus make six changes to the starting XI named in Portugal three weeks ago. Arthur, Aaron Ramsey, Alvaro Morata, Juan Cuadrado, Leonardo Bonucci and Merih Demiral replace Giorgio Chiellini, Matthijs de Ligt, Danilo, Weston McKennie, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.
By contrast, Porto are in If It Ain’t Broke mode. They start with the same 11 players who ran out for the first leg.
7.05pm GMT
Juventus: Szczesny, Cuadrado, Bonucci, Demiral, Alex Sandro, Chiesa, Arthur, Rabiot, Ramsey, Morata, Ronaldo.
Subs: Chiellini, de Ligt, McKennie, Pinsoglio, Bernardeschi, Di Pardo, Dragusin, Frabotta, Fagioli, Kulusevski, Buffon.
Porto: Marchesin, Manafa, Mbemba, Pepe, Sanusi, Corona, Sergio Oliveira, Uribe, Otavio, Marega, Taremi.
Subs: Diogo Leite, N’Diaye, Diaz, Grujic, Felipe Anderson, Martinez, Evanilson, Nanu, Sarr, Vieira, Francisco Conceicao, Costa.
4.24pm GMT
Porto go into this Round of 16 second leg against Juventus in the driving seat, thanks to a 2-1 victory in the first leg at the Estádio do Dragão. The Portuguese champions thoroughly bossed their Italian counterparts three weeks ago, but Federico Chiesa’s late goal threw Juve an away-goal lifeline.
Both teams are coming off the back of a league victory, Juve a 3-0 win over Lazio, Porto 2-0 victors at Gil Vicente. Porto will be buoyed by their record of closing out European ties having won the first leg - 34 out of 42 - and that while Juve have managed to win 15 of the 34 ties in which they’ve lost the first away leg, they couldn’t manage to pull off the trick at this stage last season against Lyon.
Continue reading...The Fiver | European football's dirty protest in administrative form
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It’s long been established that football fans can’t have nice things. Not allowed. Take our league, which used to have logical divisions like First, Second, Third and Fourth, but now makes even less sense than a marketing executive seven hours into an evening on the chop. Clubs like Ipswich, Watford, Southampton and QPR could launch genuine title challenges and nobody would bat an eyelid. Every season was a different world, played on fresh terrain. Now the same clique dine at the top table year in, year out, to the point that a poor title defence, pretty much par for the course back in the day, becomes a jaw-dropping break from the norm, a strange object of wonder to be mocked by a generation of compliant rubes.
Related: Andrea Agnelli says agreement on 'ideal' new-look Champions League is close
Continue reading...March 8, 2021
Chelsea 2-0 Everton: Premier League – as it happened
Thomas Tuchel’s unbeaten honeymoon continues as Chelsea confidently swat Everton aside at Stamford Bridge
9.34pm GMT
More reaction from the Bridge:
Related: Thomas Tuchel praises Kai Havertz for 'excellent' Chelsea false-nine display
8.48pm GMT
Jacob Steinberg was our man at Stamford Bridge tonight. His report has landed. You know what to do: click click click click. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Related: Jorginho and Kai Havertz on song as Chelsea outclass top-four rivals Everton
8.17pm GMT
Jacob’s report to come soon. In the meantime, here’s what the Press Association have had to say about it. You can start doing whatever it is you get up to below the line, too.
Related: Jorginho and Kai Havertz on song as Chelsea outclass top-four rivals Everton
8.10pm GMT
Also a reminder that Michael Butler is at the controls for West Ham United versus Leeds United. That one’s already started, and Leeds are very much on the front foot during the early exchanges.
Related: West Ham v Leeds: Premier League – live!
8.07pm GMT
No word from the managers, with BT Sport switching their focus to Bristol City v Reading in the WSL. It is International Women’s Day, after all. But it won’t be long before Jacob Steinberg’s dispatch from Stamford Bridge lands, so stick around for that.
Related: Women’s Super League: talking points from the weekend’s action
8.00pm GMT
That win consolidates Chelsea position in the top four. They’re now four points ahead of fifth-placed Everton, three behind Leicester, who are third. Everton still have a game in hand, mind. Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta talks to BT Sport: “Every victory is a step forward. We know we had to cover the ground we lost. Tonight was a very good performance. It’s very pleasing to see the team fighting for the ball, and with our quality we could have scored more goals. We are still far from where we want to be, but we are on the right path.”
7.53pm GMT
There’s just enough time for Pickford to turn Mount’s long-distance piledriver away from danger, and that’s the end of a comprehensive win for Chelsea. The 2-0 scoreline flatters Everton. Thomas Tuchel’s honeymoon extends to 11 unbeaten games. Right now, given the form they’re in, they look a shoo-in for a top-four spot. Everton not so much.
7.51pm GMT
90 min +2: The second of four added minutes nearly sees Kante steer a looping header into the top left. It sails wide, but had it been on target, Pickford wasn’t getting there, whether he shouted “wide!” or not.
7.50pm GMT
90 min: Davies is booked for a ludicrous swipe at Alonso. With play stopped again, Chelsea finally send on Pulisic ... but now it’s poor Werner making way. Havertz has done a sly number on his compatriot there! A clever way to give the hook the swerve.
7.48pm GMT
89 min: Havertz, who tonight has enjoyed one of his best performances in a Chelsea shirt, is replaced by Pulisic. Ah hold on, he’s pretending not to see the board, and play starts again. Pulisic doesn’t seem particularly pleased about it.
7.46pm GMT
88 min: Richarlison storms down the left and feeds Davies infield. Davies backflicks to tee up Bernard, who skies a hysterical shot deep into the Shed End. A rank end to a lovely sweeping move, by some way Everton’s best of the match.
7.45pm GMT
86 min: Nothing doing at the corner.
7.44pm GMT
85 min: Davies loses possession in midfield and suddenly Chelsea are three on two. Werner’s shot from the left is parried by Pickford. Kante returns the rebound. Pickford tips over. A fine double save by Pickford, but what does Werner have to do to score?
7.42pm GMT
83 min: Holgate crosses from the right. It’s deep. Too deep. Goal kick. Everton have been very poor up front this evening.
7.40pm GMT
81 min: Nothing comes of the corner, but Chelsea are soon coming back at Everton. Werner has the ball at his feet in the box again, but he’s quickly swarmed and can’t work space for a shot.
7.39pm GMT
80 min: A simple long ball down the right opens Everton up. Werner eases Godfrey out of the way and he’s one on one with Pickford, albeit facing a tight angle. He goes for the bottom right and Pickford kicks out for a corner.
7.38pm GMT
79 min: Kante comes on to close this game out. Kovacic makes way.
7.37pm GMT
78 min: Chelsea hog the ball. The clock ticks on. Everton haven’t really threatened to get back into this game.
7.35pm GMT
76 min: Everton make their final change, Bernard coming on for Gomes. “I guess Everton can only break so many away loss streaks that go back to the 90s in one year, right?” You’ll always have Anfield, Brad Wilson.
7.34pm GMT
75 min: Another corner for Everton, this time earned by King down the right. Digne sends a dangerous in-swinger into the six-yard box. Mendy flaps but just about fingertips away, then he’s clattered by Godfrey and the whistle goes for a foul.
7.33pm GMT
74 min: Richarlison probes down the left and wins a corner off James. Digne’s corner lands in a crowded box but somehow avoids everyone. The ball eventually sails away from the danger zone.
7.31pm GMT
72 min: Everton are nearly undone by a garden-variety long pump upfield. Havertz and Werner are on Godfrey’s tail. The defender, the last man, does extremely well to position himself to draw a foul from Havertz. Had he not dealt with that, Everton were in a serious pickle.
7.29pm GMT
70 min: Ah, this looks like good news. Zouma, having got up and out some weight on his leg, appears fine to continue. That looked unpleasant for a minute back there.
7.28pm GMT
69 min: While the Chelsea medical staff continue to look at Zouma - he might have tweaked his knee - Everton replace Sigurdsson with King.
7.27pm GMT
68 min: Zouma goes down with nobody around him. A slight slip. He looks in some pain. On come the trainers.
7.25pm GMT
66 min: Hudson-Odoi has been highly decent tonight, but that’s the end of his evening. He’s replaced by Mount.
7.24pm GMT
A hop and a skip, and Jorginho rolls the penalty into the bottom left, sending Pickford the wrong way with the eyes. Crisp and confident.
7.23pm GMT
64 min: Kovacic rolls a fine pass down the inside-left channel for Havertz, who enters the box and is in the process of rounding Pickford on the outside when the keeper brings him down. The referee points immediately to the spot.
7.21pm GMT
62 min: James barrels down the middle and looks to find either Hudson-Odoi or Havertz up ahead with a floated pass. Pickford reads the danger well, off his line to confidently claim before the ball can get anywhere near a blue shirt.
7.19pm GMT
60 min: Hudson-Odoi is a constant menace down the left. He again sails in from the flank and this time goes for goal himself, sending a rising rasp towards the top left. Pickford again takes no chances with a shot that might be going over anyway, and tips out for a corner. Nothing comes of it.
7.17pm GMT
58 min: James tries to catch out an out-of-position Pickford with a cheeky long-distance effort, but it’s always heading wide left.
7.16pm GMT
57 min: Davies comes on for Iwobi. Then there’s finally a bit of space for the in-form Richarlison, 20 yards out. He should work the keeper at least, but hoicks his shot wide right. Everton, so close to going two down, were nearly level. A match suddenly on the proverbial knife-edge.
7.15pm GMT
55 min: Nope. No goal. Havertz is a wee bit unfortunate there. I suspect if referee David Coote had given that the other way, VAR wouldn’t have overruled him in that instance either. We’re in the realm of clear and obvious error, in other words. Umpire’s call.
7.13pm GMT
53 min: Hudson Odoi drifts in from the left and shovels a pass forward for Havertz, who chests down, swivels, and lashes low past Pickford into the bottom right. Goal! Or has that hit his arm? It’s close, especially when you factor the t-shirt rule into the equation. The whistle goes, no goal, but VAR is going to have a check.
7.10pm GMT
51 min: Alonso curls the free kick powerfully towards the top right. It’s going over, just, but Pickford is taking no chances and fingertips the ball out of play. Fortunately for the Everton keeper, nothing comes of the resulting needless corner.
7.09pm GMT
50 min: James is interrupted mid one-two with Havertz by Digne. The Everton full back celebrates his 100th appearance for the club with a yellow card. A free kick just to the right of the box.
7.07pm GMT
48 min: It’s all Chelsea again. Everton once more finding it tricky to escape their own half. “What a national treasure Gary Naylor is,” purrs Justin Kavanagh. “He even translates the German tactics for us. Surely this Scouse wunderding is a direct (or maybe indirect) descendent of a Bletchley Park codebreaker. Fantastisch Herr Naylor!”
7.04pm GMT
46 min: Chelsea are on the front foot quickly, Hudson-Odoi steaming down the middle and nearly finding Werner with a clever sliderule pass down the right channel. Not quite, but there’s a statement of intent.
7.03pm GMT
Here’s the second half, then. Chelsea get it going. No half-time changes. As we published some pre-match Evertonian optimism ahead of the first 45, it’s only fair and right in terms of balance that we post some pessimism now. “Everton had virtually zero attacking opportunities,” sighs Mary Waltz. “I love how Carlo has made my team an honest contender for the top four for the first time in many years, but he has quite a challenge at the break. Chelsea have imposed their will on my Toffees and I don’t know what he can do to change the direction of this fixture.”
6.52pm GMT
Half-time tasks. Subscribe to the Fiver. Read today’s Fiver. Unsubscribe from the Fiver. Check the contrast and brightness of your device’s screen using this picture of tonight’s fashionably attired goalkeepers.
6.47pm GMT
There’s just enough time for Gomes to finally force Mendy into meaningful work - he aims low, but not particularly hard, towards the bottom right - and that’s the end of the first half. Chelsea deserve their lead; Everton have a few posers to solve.
6.46pm GMT
44 min: “You can hear Tuchel on BT Sports if you work out how to get the crowd noise off,” says Gary Naylor. “He was screaming ‘Schlecht.. am links’ earlier which suggests that he worked out quickly that Everton were ‘bad’ on the right (and they are - Holgate and Iwobi!) and that Werner and Havertz should go ‘down the left’. I fear vier-nul.” I like the artificial crowd, plus I don’t know how to get rid, so we’re relying on Gary and Jacob for any more of Tuchel’s bons mots.
6.43pm GMT
42 min: Nothing comes of the corner. Meanwhile here’s Mike Mackenzie: “Should Everton finish in top four, then Carlo Ancelotti should win Manager of the Year. Discuss.” We at the Guardian are contractually obliged to proselytise for Marcelo Bielsa, and at great length, but Don Carlo would of course also be a decent shout for his sterling work at Goodison. He certainly wouldn’t look out of place alongside some of the greats to have previously won this bauble: Joe Kinnear, Dave Jones, Alan Pardew, George Burley, Danny Wilson. Quite the roll of honour.
6.41pm GMT
41 min: Alonso barges his way into space down the middle, and forces a shot towards the bottom left. It’s heading in, but Pickford manages to turn around the post. Close to number two.
6.39pm GMT
39 min: Calvert-Lewin nearly gets on the end of a speculative long pass down the middle. Not quite. Mendy has been a virtual spectator.
6.39pm GMT
38 min: Can lulls be hectic? If so, here’s one. A fast-paced load of nothing.
6.37pm GMT
36 min: Everton are struggling to get anything going in the Chelsea half. They’re still snapping at Chelsea’s heels, but to little effect.
6.36pm GMT
34 min: More news from Jacob Steinberg at the Bridge. “Reece and Kai got a big lecture from Tommy T after the goal. He’s been hammering ‘Reecey’ all game.” He’s a proactive perfectionist, is Tuchel. As indeed is Jacob, hence these bonus dispatches from the frontline.
6.33pm GMT
32 min: Chelsea deserve the lead on balance. They’ve been much more progressive. Even so, Everton had been looking solid, and it took a big stroke of luck to break the deadlock.
6.33pm GMT
Hudson-Odoi slips a pass down the left for Alonso, who crosses low. Havertz flicks towards the bottom right. It’s heading wide by the looks of it; what is certainly clear is that the ball takes a huge deflection off Godfrey, the ball whistling into the bottom left!
6.31pm GMT
30 min: The corner leads to an absurd game of pinball on the penalty spot. Chelsea can’t clear, Everton can’t get an effort on goal. Eventually the ball appears to leave the area of its own accord, and the game is over.
6.29pm GMT
29 min: Digne pings the free kick off the Chelsea wall, and now it’s a corner.
6.29pm GMT
28 min: Havertz sashays down the inside right and appears to be brought down by the side of the D by Godfrey. But the referee isn’t interested, and Chelsea’s frustration is compounded when Richarlison falls over Jorginho’s leg down the other end, and the official buys that one. A free kick just to the right of the D, in a very dangerous position.
6.26pm GMT
26 min: It’s all a bit average, this. No real excitement in either box. Plenty of time for everyone to get their gamefaces on.
6.25pm GMT
24 min: MBM corrections and clarifications. Our man at Stamford Bridge, Jacob Steinberg, reports that I was talking toot through my top hat eight minutes ago. “For what it’s worth, Pickford shouted ‘wide’ on that Jorginho volley.” So there you have it. Damn that BT Sport piped crowd noise!
6.22pm GMT
22 min: Havertz dribbles at pace down the right, having been set free by Hudson-Odoi. He reaches the byline and dinks towards Werner in the middle. Pickford reads the danger well, plucking the ball from the air. But Chelsea are getting a little closer, bit by bit.
6.20pm GMT
20 min: Everton will be happy enough with the way this is going. It’s been all Chelsea, pretty much, but Pickford hasn’t had his hands warmed yet.
6.18pm GMT
18 min: Alonso curls it in. Pickford punches clear. Jorginho has another go at a first-time shot, but this one loops harmlessly high and wide left. Nowhere near.
6.17pm GMT
17 min: Holgate is booked for clipping Werner as the Chelsea striker perambulates down the left. Free kick, and a chance for the hosts to load the box.
6.16pm GMT
16 min: James tries to up the tempo with a power run down the inside right. He’s allowed to get as far as the edge of the box. He shoots. Deflected. Corner. James takes himself. Godfrey half clears, Jorginho meeting it with a low shot that whistles through a thicket of players and sails inches wide of the bottom left. Had that been on target, Pickford wasn’t getting anywhere near it.
6.15pm GMT
14 min: Chelsea ping a few triangles. The Everton lines hold firm. A slow burner, this.
6.12pm GMT
12 min: Everton look happy to sit back and wait for a chance to counter. A long ball launched down the right nearly finds Calvert-Lewin free, but Mendy is able to gather at the edge of his box, just in time.
6.11pm GMT
11 min: Kovacic and Havertz combine well down the middle, the latter nearly wriggling into the box, but once again Everton hold their shape and there’s no way through.
6.10pm GMT
10 min: Chelsea continue to ping it around nicely, but the final ball’s not there yet, with Everton pressing like billy-o. Space and time at a premium right now.
6.09pm GMT
8 min: Hudson-Odoi and Holgate tussle on the edge of the Everton box. Hudson-Odoi falls backwards but still manages to tee up Alonso with a clever toe-poke. But he’s adjudged to have wrestled Holgate to the floor with him. Free kick, and no chance for Alonso to even consider shooting.
6.07pm GMT
7 min: Everton haven’t had much of a touch yet. Chelsea have started confidently, establishing some early control.
6.05pm GMT
5 min: Werner makes his way down the right and earns the first corner of the match off Godfrey. James takes short, a neat one-two with Alonso. He pulls back for Werner, who skies a first-time swipe into the Shed. An average end to a clever training-ground move.
6.04pm GMT
4 min: The seafoam green and charcoals are kicking towards the Matthew Harding Stand in this first half, Chelsea facing the Shed End. Still not much happening, in other words.
6.02pm GMT
2 min: A fairly nondescript start as Chelsea have a good old stroke of the ball, this way and that.
6.00pm GMT
And we’re off! Everton get the ball rolling, but only after everyone takes the knee. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.
5.58pm GMT
The teams are out! Chelsea are in their first-choice royal blue, Everton sport third-choice seafoam green and charcoal, it says here. We’ll be off in a minute, but before all that, here’s some pre-match optimism courtesy of Matt Burtz: “We can always play ‘coulda, shoulda, woulda’ until we’re blue in the face (no pun intended today), but back in January 2016 Everton should have won at Stamford Bridge after Ramiro Funes Mori scored a 90th minute goal, only to for John Terry to equalize with a clearly offside goal in the *98th* minute (where’s VAR when you need it?). However, this edition of Everton is ending streaks left and right, and they will definitely give it a go today, and with Carlo at the helm anything is possible. Three clean sheets in a row, also.”
5.50pm GMT
BT Sport asks both managers if this fourth-versus-fifth clash is a must-win. “If at the same time you are able to win while the others lose, because they are your opponents, they are six-point games,” says Thomas Tuchel. “We are in a good shape, they are in a good shape, it is a big match.” Carlo Ancelotti agrees: “It is a really important game ... a difficult game but the momentum is good and we hope to do our best.”
5.06pm GMT
Five changes to the Chelsea XI that started the 1-0 win at Anfield last week. Kurt Zouma, Marcos Alonso, Mateo Kovacic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Kai Havertz take the places of Antonio Rudiger, Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount and Hakim Ziyech. Thiago Silva is back from injury, but only takes up a place on the bench.
Everton make two changes to the team that won 1-0 at the Hawthorns. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Allan replace Bernard and Abdoulaye Doucoure. James Rodriguez is still out with a sore calf.
5.02pm GMT
Chelsea: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Christensen, James, Kovacic, Jorginho, Alonso, Hudson-Odoi, Havertz, Werner.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Rudiger, Thiago Silva, Kante, Pulisic, Giroud, Mount, Chilwell, Ziyech.
Everton: Pickford, Godfrey, Holgate, Keane, Digne, Andre Gomes, Allan, Iwobi, Sigurdsson, Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: King, Nkounkou, Bernard, Davies, Virginia, Broadhead, John, Tyrer, Onyango.
2.52pm GMT
Welcome to our coverage of fourth versus fifth. It’s a huge game in the race for a place in next season’s Champions League, between two teams very much on an upward trajectory.
At the start of the season, you would have thought fourth would be about par for Chelsea, give or take. Things didn’t go to plan under Frank Lampard, but his replacement Thomas Tuchel has turned it around, and only Manchester City have earned more points than Chelsea since his arrival. Everton meanwhile are certainly exceeding pre-season expectations in fifth, and are looking for their tenth win on the road this season, a total not matched since 1987, the last time they won the title.
Continue reading...The Fiver | Unconscionably naff nonsense that has to stop
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It was a super Sunday for the Queen’s Celtic, as far as The Fiver can make out. Their latest dismal attempt to convert any, just one, of a bucketload of gilt-edged chances, this time at Dundee United, means they’ll be spared the ignominy of the Pope’s Newc O’Rangers securing the title and gambolling like giddy goats at Parkhead in a fortnight’s time. But if that wasn’t enough cause for celebration, Sunday’s result also rubber-stamped the club’s failure to erase the greatest team in the history of Scottish football from the record books by surpassing their nine in a row. Hats off to $tevie Mbe for ensuring that Jock Stein’s legends remain in the pantheon. A belated nod to Wim Jansen, too, come to think about it.
Related: 'It's incomparable' – Rangers fans' journey from Brechin to another title
Continue reading...March 6, 2021
Bayern Munich 4-2 Borussia Dortmund: Bundesliga – as it happened
Bayern bounced back from Erling Haaland’s early double whammy to continue their winning streak in Der Klassiker
7.30pm GMT
That was a classic Klassiker! Erling Haaland had the visitors two goals up in short order, then midway through the first half, Thomas Meunier had a glorious opportunity to make it three. Just for a split second, a first Dortmund win at Bayern for seven years looked on. But Meunier spurned the chance, and a minute later Bayern were back in it. From then, with the benefit of crystal-clear hindsight, it was only a matter of time, even if Bayern left it late to find the winner. Robert Lewandowski’s hat-trick brings him to 31 league goals this season; if he scores a goal a game for the remainder of the season, he’ll be wiping Gerd Muller’s 1971-72 total from the record books. Oh, and Bayern are back in the box seat as they chase their 31st German title. Thanks for reading. Gute Nacht!
7.25pm GMT
Dortmund started fast and should have gone three up in the first half. But you can’t let a side like Bayern off the hook, and look what’s happened. Robert Lewandowski is what’s happened! Bayern go two clear of Leipzig again at the top.
7.23pm GMT
90 min +1: What a curate’s egg of a performance by Lewandowski, who has looked off the boil for the most part! A series of wild shots, but he’s poached one, rolled in a penalty, and finished the evening with a pearler! Gerd Muller’s 40-goal Bundesliga record from 1971-72 is well in his sights now!
7.21pm GMT
A hat-trick for Lewandowski, his 14th for Bayern, and his 31st goal of the season. Davies plays a low diagonal pass infield from the left, Lewandowski lashing a glorious shot into the bottom left!
7.19pm GMT
This had been coming. Can is barged off the ball by Sane. Bayern stream forward. The ball drops to Goretzka, on the edge of the box. He sweeps a volley into the bottom left. No real pace, but that’s a forensic strike. What a comeback!
7.17pm GMT
87 min: Tigges, spotting Neuer on walkabout, whips a speculative effort goalwards from the centre circle. It’s not a bad idea, and pretty well executed, but Neuer gets himself back into position quickly, and claims. What a smash-and-grab that would have been!
7.16pm GMT
85 min: Dortmund are hanging on here, tired and making more mistakes. Morey, trying to shepherd the ball out of play, allows Davies to scamper along the byline on the left. Dortmund half-clear, but Lewandowski is soon challenging for the ball at the left-hand post. The visitors just about get away with it.
7.14pm GMT
84 min: Gnabry chests down a seriously poor Hummels pass out from the back and bowls down the left. The Dortmund defender is very fortunate that Gnabry’s cross is hopeless, flying over everyone’s head.
7.11pm GMT
82 min: Sule meets this one, sending a header flashing wide left. Had that been on target, it’s not clear that Hitz would have reached it. Dortmund hearts very much in mouths.
7.11pm GMT
81 min: Sane moves up a gear on the right and crosses deep. Morey is forced to head out for yet another Bayern corner. The set piece is worked back to Kimmich, who looks to curl one into the top right. It’s deflected out for a corner on the other side.
7.09pm GMT
79 min: Kimmich nearly releases Muller down the inside-right channel with a delicate diagonal wedge. Just a little too much juice on the pass and it flies out for a goal kick.
7.07pm GMT
78 min: Gnabry has another dig from distance. He drags it well wide right.
7.06pm GMT
76 min: Reus makes way for Reinier, passing the captain’s armband to Hummels as he departs.
7.04pm GMT
74 min: Gnabry digs out a shot from the edge of a crowded D. The ball takes a deflection and nearly loops into the top right. Hitz needs every inch to pluck the ball out of the sky before it nestles in the net.
7.02pm GMT
73 min: Bellingham’s first task is to clear the first of a couple of Bayern corners, as the home team look for the winner. Can deals with the second.
7.01pm GMT
71 min: Dortmund throw on a couple of other players. Bellingham and Morey come on for Delaney and Zagadou.
7.00pm GMT
70 min: That’s a costly last-ditch intervention, though. Boateng has damaged his hamstring and must be replaced by Martinez.
7.00pm GMT
69 min: The power of the clap is illustrated as Dahoud nearly releases Reus down the middle with a forensic pass. He’s denied by Boateng, who stretches to poke the ball away from Reus.
6.58pm GMT
68 min: Dortmund continue to struggle to break into the Bayern half. On the touchline, their interim boss Edin Terzic claps his hands in an encouraging manner.
6.56pm GMT
66 min: Gnabry, who came on last weekend against Cologne to score a couple of goals, replaces Coman.
6.55pm GMT
64 min: Neuer takes a careless swipe at a clearance, slicing hysterically, but he gets away with it. A lack of concentration, perhaps, the intensity of this game having dropped dramatically.
6.53pm GMT
62 min: Sane battles for a long ball down the middle, and cushions it into the path of Lewandowski, who shanks wide and high. He doesn’t look right on top of his game this evening, having taken a few wild swipes now. He’s still scored twice, though!
6.52pm GMT
61 min: Haaland is getting some treatment to a wound on his ankle. He doesn’t look in any distress, though. Precautionary, with a big Champions League tie against Sevilla coming up.
6.50pm GMT
60 min: Dortmund aren’t taking any chances with Haaland, after those scrapes with Boateng and Kimmich, and he’s replaced by Tigges, while Brandt replaces Hazard. Some much-needed fresh legs for the visitors.
6.49pm GMT
59 min: Coman embraces his inner Garrincha and dribbles down the left in the 1950s style. It’s a glorious ball-glued-to-boot run, and it really doesn’t matter that there’s no end product. Lovely to watch.
6.47pm GMT
57 min: A slight lull in proceedings, which will be welcomed by Dortmund, who have done most of the chasing and scurrying this evening.
6.45pm GMT
55 min: Haaland has taken a couple of sly knocks from Boateng and Kimmich. He’s not totally happy about it, but the referee doesn’t show any interest.
6.43pm GMT
53 min: Sane crosses from the right. Hummels clears with a very pleasing low and perfectly horizontal diving header. The sort John Terry used to specialise in. Like someone fly-tipping a roll of carpet out the back of a speeding van.
6.41pm GMT
51 min: Bayern set about re-establishing their territorial dominance. This could be a long half for Dortmund, unless they can successfully spring Haaland away on the counter once or twice.
6.40pm GMT
49 min: Kimmich in the thick of the action. He comes together with Reus in his own area. Dortmund want the penalty, but it looks as though Reus, dangling his leg behind, was trying to instigate the contact. They’re not getting a spot kick of their own. Seconds later, Kimmich slaps a shot from distance straight at Hitz. The keeper should claim easily, but spills the shot off his chest. He does extremely well to block Coman, who tries to force the loose ball home. Nearly a calamity.
6.37pm GMT
47 min: So close to another sensational start for Dortmund! Schulz crosses deep from the left. The ball’s too high for Haaland, but drops to Dahoud, who lashes into the side netting. Neuer may have had that covered, though the shot was travelling and would have taken some stopping.
6.35pm GMT
Dortmund get the second half underway. Neither manager has made any half-time changes.
6.22pm GMT
Half-time checklist. Make cup of tea. Put out bins. Personal hygienic tasks in the Little Room. Subscribe to occasionally moderately amusing daily football email. Check, check, check, check ... and relax.
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6.19pm GMT
It’s fair to say the much-trumpeted Lewandowski-Haaland shootout has delivered. What a breathlessly entertaining half of football. Mehr Bitte!
6.17pm GMT
45 min +1: The corner is half-cleared, falling to Alaba, 25 yards out. Alaba peals a wild effort high over the bar.
6.17pm GMT
45 min: Sane and Sule combine to win a corner down the right. They couldn’t, could they?
6.16pm GMT
A hop and a skip, and Lewandowski rolls the penalty into the bottom left, Hitz having been sent the wrong way.
6.15pm GMT
43 min: Yep! It’s a spot kick! Clearly the right decision.
6.15pm GMT
42 min: Coman dribbles down the left and into the box. He cuts back hoping to pass Dahoud. He goes over. The referee isn’t interested, and Dortmund break through Reus, who is upended by Kimmich. However, after the stop in play, VAR intervenes. It looks like Dahoud clipped Coman.
6.13pm GMT
40 min: A long punt finds Haaland on the edge of the Bayern box. He brings it down elegantly, thinks about a curler, then tries to wedge a pass infield for Reus. Nope. But that’s a reminder that, for all of Bayern’s pressure, it wouldn’t take too much for Dortmund to re-establish their two-goal lead.
6.11pm GMT
39 min: Alaba shovels a pass down the left. It should release Coman into the box, but he decides to check back instead of striding goalwards, and the chance is gone. Bayern work the ball around to Lewandowski, who slots a perfect rugby conversion from 20 yards.
6.09pm GMT
37 min: Hummels professionally clips Coman as the Bayern winger makes his way down the left. He’s fortunate not to see yellow for that. Zagadou heads the resulting free kick clear.
6.07pm GMT
35 min: Sule barges down the middle and nearly breaks clear. Then Muller tries a similar tactic out on the left, only to run the ball out for a goal kick. The wind is definitely in the Bayern sail.
6.06pm GMT
34 min: It’s effectively attack versus defence now. Dortmund look tuckered out after their fast start.
6.05pm GMT
32 min: Sane is a constant menace. His cute backheel down the inside-right channel tees up Lewandowski just inside the box. Lewandowski swivels and aims for the bottom left. Hummels sticks his boot in to deflect and clear. Dortmund are hanging on a bit here.
6.03pm GMT
31 min: No. The ball clearly hit Reus on the shoulder. We play on.
6.03pm GMT
30 min: Nothing comes of the resulting free kick. Bayern come again, though, Coman crossing, the ball pinging off the shoulder of Reus. Bayern want a penalty, and there’s going to be a VAR check.
6.02pm GMT
29 min: From a tight angle on the left, Coman pearls a shot towards the near post, Hitz kicking away splendidly. Then, as Coman tries to recycle possession, Meunier kicks him not so splendidly. A yellow card for the Dortmund right-back. It’s not been a banner four minutes for Meunier.
6.00pm GMT
28 min: Lewandowski, the blood pumping, picks up a yellow card for a late clatter on Dahoud. This is breathless stuff.
5.59pm GMT
What a costly mistake that was, because seconds after Dortmund spurn a chance to make it 0-3, Bayern reduce the arrears to a single goal! Sane drops a shoulder to make space down the right, fires a low cross-cum-shot towards the bottom left. Lewandowski is on hand to slam home for his 29th goal of the season!
5.58pm GMT
25 min: And again! Dahoud slips Meunier into the box on the right. Meunier is entitled to shoot, and probably should have done, because his attempt to tee up Haaland in the middle is no good and easily cleared. It should be three.
5.56pm GMT
24 min: But they get out this time, and Haaland, already on a hat-trick, romps into space down the left. He comes inside hoping to shoot, but Boateng and Alaba combine to close down his options. For a second, a jaw-dropping third goal looked on the cards.
5.55pm GMT
23 min: It’s all Bayern, and the match is now being played solely in Dortmund’s final third. The visitors can’t get out, no matter how often they intercept and try to launch a quick counter. The ball keeps coming back.
5.53pm GMT
21 min: Sane drops a shoulder to make good down the right. He reaches the box but no opportunity to shoot presents itself, and he can’t find anyone with his cutback.
5.52pm GMT
19 min: Here’s one! Sule swings one in from the right. Goretzka chests down, the ball dropping to Lewandowski on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. You’d expect him to at least work the keeper - you’d expect him to score, really - but instead he pulls a shot into the side netting. A decent chance and an uncharacteristic outcome.
5.51pm GMT
18 min: Lewandowski flicks a speculative effort over the bar from 25 yards. He’s not had a serious sniff yet. There’s time.
5.50pm GMT
17 min: Kimmich, deep on the left, swings a high ball towards Sane, rising at the far post, a couple of yards out. He’s not far away from steering a header home from a tight angle, Hitz having got his angles all wrong, but the ball clears the crossbar, just. Close to a goal that would change the mood.
5.48pm GMT
16 min: Bayern are enjoying the lion’s share of possession, pressing Dortmund back, but the final pass is lacking.
5.46pm GMT
14 min: Davies whips a ball into the Dortmund box from the left. It somehow evades Lewandowski and Sane, plus several yellow shirts and the keeper, flying harmlessly out of the box on the other side.
5.45pm GMT
13 min: This sort of thing doesn’t happen to Bayern Munich very often. It’s going to be interesting to see how the German, European and world champions respond to this.
5.43pm GMT
11 min: It’s a good time to point out BVB’s recent record here at the Allianz Arena. They’ve not won here since 2014, losing on their last six visits by an aggregate score of 24-2. Now look! A long way to go, obviously, but still.
5.42pm GMT
There’s no stopping this guy! Dahoud plays a first-time diagonal pass to release Schulz into acres down the left. Schulz feeds Hazard on the overlap. Neuer comes, but he’s not getting there before Hazard, who rolls infield for Haaland, who taps into an unguarded net. This is sensational!
5.39pm GMT
7 min: Hazard spreads a lovely diagonal ball towards Meunier on the right. Again he finds Haaland in the middle, but there’s not quite enough room for the striker to line up a shot, and he’s unable to wriggle free into the box. Dortmund causing havoc down this flank.
5.37pm GMT
5 min: Goretzka is good to go again. That’s an eventful start all right.
5.37pm GMT
4 min: Bayern try to hit back immediately from a free kick 30 yards out. Kimmich sends it wide left for Coman, who crosses into the mixer. Goretzka rises, hoping to head home, but Hitz comes out and punches powerfully clear. He gets a bit of Goretzka too, collateral damage. On come the trainers to apply some wet sponge to a sore noggin.
5.35pm GMT
What a start for Dortmund! Hummels sprays the ball wide right for Meunier, who loops infield. The ball breaks to Haaland, 25 yards out in a central position. He takes aim for the bottom right. There’s a slight nick off Boateng, and it whistles into the corner, away from the despairing lunge of Neuer. That took 74 seconds.
5.32pm GMT
Bayern get the party started ... but only after a long wait for Joshua Kimmich to deal with an intransigent bootlace. He eventually wins the battle and we’re off.
5.28pm GMT
The teams are out! Bayern in red ...
5.23pm GMT
In other early Bundesliga news, Bayer Leverkusen won 1-0 at Borussia Monchengladbach, taking Dortmund’s fifth place from them. But there was better news for BVB elsewhere: third-placed Wolfsburg lost 2-1 at Hoffenheim, while fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt were held 1-1 at home by Stuttgart. Should Dortmund turn over Bayern this evening, they’ll make up some ground in the race for a top-four Champions League spot. Worst case, they’re not going to lose too much ground.
5.06pm GMT
RB Leipzig have taken over from Bayern at the top of the Bundesliga table. They’ve just closed out a 3-0 win at Freiburg, their sixth league victory in a row, Christopher Nkunku, Alexander Sorloth and Emil Forsberg with the goals. That means Bayern need at least a point tonight to regain leadership on goal difference; a win will restore the two-point cushion they had this morning. Whatever happens this evening, Julian Nagelsmann’s team will be in good spirits ahead of their Champions League last-16 second-leg against Liverpool on Wednesday. They’re certainly in much better form than their opponents, whose first-leg 2-0 lead looks far less comfortable right now than it normally would.
4.55pm GMT
Bayern make two changes to the side named for the 5-1 win against Cologne last week. Thomas Muller and Kingsley Coman replace Eric Choupo-Moting and Jamal Musiala, who both drop to the bench. Serge Gnabry, not long back from injury, is also named as sub despite scoring two late goals against Cologne.
Dortmund make four changes to the team selected for the midweek 1-0 German Cup win at Borussia Monchengladbach. Thorgan Hazard, Nico Schulz, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Thomas Meunier are in; Mateu Morey and Jude Bellingham drop to the bench, while Jadon Sancho and Raphael Guerreiro are missing altogether after picking up injuries against the Foals.
4.38pm GMT
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Süle, Boateng, Alaba, Davies, Kimmich, Goretzka, Sane, Müller, Coman, Lewandowski.
Subs: Hoffmann, Gnabry, Martinez, Choupo-Moting, Sarr, Hernandez, Roca, Dantas, Musiala.
Borussia Dortmund: Hitz, Meunier, Hummels, Zagadou, Schulz, Can, Delaney, Reus, Dahoud, Hazard, Haaland.
Subs: Bürki, Morey, Moukoko, Brandt, Reinier, Bellingham, Piszczek, Tigges, Passlack.
2.41pm GMT
Willkommen, Bundesliga-Fans, Hipster und andere Zeitverschwender, zur minutengenauen Live-Berichterstattung des Guardian über Der Klassiker! The two giants of modern-day German football, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, meet for the 129th time this evening at the Allianz Arena, with the 2020-21 title very much on the line. Not for Dortmund, you understand; they’re well out of the race, trailing Bayern by 13 points. But the hosts have it all to play for, as they strive to stay ahead of RB Leipzig at the top.
The recent results of Der Klassiker suggest Bayern will get the win they crave. Back in November, they won 3-2 in Dortmund, their fourth consecutive win against their rivals. It was also their seventh victory in the last eight, a sequence that has included some proper thumpings: 4-0, 4-1, 5-0, 6-0. They’ve got Dortmund’s number right now.
Related: Gerd Müller merits exalted place in history whatever Lionel Messi does
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