Scott Murray's Blog, page 84

March 6, 2021

Burnley 1-1 Arsenal: Premier League – as it happened

A draw seemed about right after an afternoon of rollicking entertainment at Turf Moor, featuring a rescinded penalty and red card, plenty of penalty-box pinball, more VAR controversy, and one of the most absurd goals you’ll see in a good while

2.46pm GMT

Nick Ames was at Turf Moor. His report has landed. Here it is, you know what to do. Thanks for reading this MBM!

2.45pm GMT

A dejected Mikel Arteta takes his turn. “It’s a tough place to come and a difficult pitch ... but if you don’t score the big chances that we had, if you give a goal to the opponent, and you don’t get the decision when it’s a clear penalty ... we made a mistake but it can happen when you play short or long ... someone has to explain to me what a penalty is ... we have to look at ourselves and not find any other excuses ... we should have won the game ... you have to win by two or three goals when you play like that ... if you give any hope to a team in the Premier League they are going to take it.”

2.40pm GMT

Sean Dyche speaks to BT. “Overall another good point ... I was super-pleased with the physical capability of our players, who kept going at Arsenal for the whole 90 minutes ... I’m a fan of VAR ... that’s when it’s worth its weight in gold, it clearly hits him on the shoulder ... it’s a funny one about the referee, he couldn’t wait to get the red card out, just give yourself a second, absorb it, then make a decision ... he’s a fine referee in my opinion too ... our defending was outstanding, especially at the end ... and we created the golden chance of the game ... if you press them for the whole game, sometimes you get your reward ... it’s not easy to do that, trust me ... our team has a strong mentality, no doubt.”

2.32pm GMT

Erik Pieters, at the centre of everything after coming on, speaks to BT Sport. “It was a good 30 minutes of me, wasn’t it?! I got a yellow, a red, a shot on goal! We defended all of us to make sure we didn’t lose this game. With a bit more luck and clinical finishing, we could have taken the three points. You hear different stories, shoulder is hand ball, shoulder is not hand ball. Our equaliser was a bit lucky, but they all count. It was a great effort from the lads. I didn’t see the scramble at the end, forget about that!” A tinder-dry interview from an extremely chuffed player. He was worth the price of admission alone.

2.27pm GMT

Not entirely sure how Burnley survived that in the end. The pinball game in their box, right at the end, would surely end in a goal nine times out of ten; 99 out of 100 perhaps. But not this time. VAR also denied Arsenal two penalties for handball, though only one was the correct decision. However, you can’t win matches after giving away a goal like Granit Xhaka did, you just can’t, it’s not on. Either way, Burnley fully deserved their point after a staunch second-half display, during which they had their chances too. Arsenal stay in 10th with 38 points, while Burnley remain in 15th on 30.

2.23pm GMT

That was sheer lunacy. A magnificent second half. What a match!

2.22pm GMT

90 min +4: This is absurd, even by this match’s circus standard. Bagatelle in the Burnley box. The ball breaks to Ceballos, who sidefoots powerfully towards the top right. But the ball crashes off the upright and clear!

2.20pm GMT

90 min +3: Luiz wedges into the Burnley box. The ball breaks to Aubameyang on the penalty spot. He’s got to score, but Mee throws himself into the road of the shot, blocking and clearing!

2.19pm GMT

90 min +2: As does the second. Seems that penalty/red card brouhaha has tuckered everyone out.

2.18pm GMT

90 min +1: The first goes by without incident.

2.17pm GMT

90 min: The ball nearly breaks to Rodriguez in the Arsenal box, but Luiz gets in the road to block any danger. There will be a minimum of

30
four extra minutes.

2.16pm GMT

89 min: Arsenal have enjoyed 83 percent possession during the last five minutes. Burnley respond by taking their sweet time over a free kick, extracting some of the sting from the game.

2.15pm GMT

88 min: Can this game go on for another 30 minutes, please?

2.14pm GMT

86 min: Credit where it’s due, VAR did the business there. Meanwhile, as the dust settles, Rodriguez comes on for Vydra.

2.13pm GMT

85 min: VAR spots that the ball came off Pieters’ shoulder, so Andre Marriner reverses both of his decisions. Justice is done. This game, ditchwater-dull for so long, has exploded into glorious technicolour!

2.12pm GMT

84 min: Saka crosses from the left. His dipping cross is met by Pepe, who volleys goalwards. The ball pings off Pieters on the goalline, off the bar, and into the arms of Pope! What an escape! But the ref thinks it’s a hand ball, so points to the spot and flashes the red card to Pieters.

2.10pm GMT

82 min: Now it’s Arsenal who nearly hit the front! Tierney rolls a delicious ball along the corridor of uncertainty from the left. It reaches Pepe, eight yards out. He’ll surely whip home! But he takes a fresh-air swipe, and the ball rolls away from the danger zone. What a chance!

2.08pm GMT

80 min: Vydra chests a long ball down, then exchanges passes with Wood. Vydra takes a step down the inside-left channel and slips the ball back to Wood, a gorgeous one-two-three. Wood is one on one with Leno! He slams low and hard. Leno blocks brilliantly. Well, this match has livened up!

2.06pm GMT

79 min: Pieters nearly adds insult to injury by sending a sensational dipping volley towards the top left from the best part of 30 yards! Leno tips over. Vydra nearly finds the top-right with a header from the resulting corner, but steers it just wide.

2.05pm GMT

77 min: “Proximity” has been cited as the reason for the non-decision. VAR is a fiasco, like that’s breaking news.

2.04pm GMT

76 min: On BT Sport, former referee Peter Walton, a company man good and true, expresses surprise that the penalty wasn’t given, which tells you all you need to know.

2.03pm GMT

75 min: VAR says no. That is nonsense. Pieters had his arm extended and batted the ball away!

2.02pm GMT

74 min: Pepe twists and turns down the right, in the Burnley box. He claims a handball against Pieters. Nothing doing, they’re too close together. The ball bounces up against Pieters’ right arm again. That looks more of a shout, with the defender’s arm out to the side. VAR will check. This could be a penalty, you know.

2.00pm GMT

73 min: Arsenal stroke it around, but in their own half. Burnley are more than happy to let them be about their business.

1.59pm GMT

71 min: Pieters comes through the back of Lacazette, who nearly razes Turf Moor to the ground with his ear-splitting screams of pain. That’s initially a worrying sound, but thankfully nothing too serious, and the striker’s soon up and about again. Pieters receives a yellow card for his clumsiness.

1.57pm GMT

69 min: Pepe comes on for Willian.

1.56pm GMT

68 min: Vydra wriggles on the edge of the Arsenal box and nearly turns into space. He miskicks and falls under pressure from that man Saka. Burnley want a penalty, but Vydra had kicked Saka’s shoe, and quite correctly neither referee nor VAR chappie are interested.

1.54pm GMT

67 min: Burnley make a second change, replacing Gudmundsson with Brady, who returns after a three-match absence.

1.53pm GMT

66 min: Pieters chests down on the left flank and shapes to bomb forward. He’s bundled over from behind by Saka, who is on a booking and really needs to watch himself now. Not enough for a second booking, but he’ll be testing the referee’s patience.

1.52pm GMT

65 min: Still scrappy. Pope has had very little to do since the restart.

1.51pm GMT

63 min: Arsenal send on Lacazette in place of Odegaard, while Burnley replace Taylor with Pieters.

1.49pm GMT

61 min: It’s all very scrappy, which surely benefits Burnley more than it does Arsenal. “Re Michael Gibson’s ‘come on Arsenal, stop mucking about’ half-time exhortation: that’s some of that cockney rhyming slang, right?” writes Geoff Wignall, whose nickname may or may not be Effand.

1.47pm GMT

59 min: Arsenal stroke the ball this way and that, but can’t find a gap in the Burnley back line. Here’s AB Parker, replying to Paul Tingen of 49-min fame: “Playing out from the back is the way the elite teams play nowadays and has more benefits than it has downsides. If anyone really feels that’s not true, I refer them to Liverpool last year, and City since Pep has come in. Xhaka has a mistake in him and needs shifting. It’s been five years since he’s come in now and we haven’t reached the Champions League once with him. Meanwhile, it’s the fault of his midfield partners, his managers, or maybe, just maybe it’s his fault? If a midfielder can’t control a ball in a tight space, what is he there for?”

1.45pm GMT

57 min: Burnley are much-improved since the break. Arsenal still haven’t quite cleared their heads after Xhaka’s music-hall turn.

1.42pm GMT

55 min: Saka is booked for a cynical - and wholehearted - block on Taylor.

1.41pm GMT

53 min: The corner’s whipped into the six-yard box by Brownhill. Leno claims and drops under pressure from Tarkowski, but gathers at the second attempt. That was better goalkeeping than this entry makes it sound, because it was like Piccadilly Circus in that six-yard box. Leno was under attack from all angles.

1.39pm GMT

52 min: Corner for Burnley, as Taylor pressures Saka down the left.

1.38pm GMT

51 min: Saka dribbles infield from the right, turning and slamming a shot straight at Mee. The ball breaks to Odegaard, who whistles a low drive towards the bottom right. Pope gathers, but only at the second attempt. That was a highly decent strike.

1.36pm GMT

49 min: A fairly uneventful start to the half, so let’s dip into the bulging MBM postbag again. “Much as I enjoy having a go at Xhaka, as he can be very ponderous in the way he plays, this preposterous goal was an accident waiting to happen, and not primarily Xhaka’s fault,” argues Paul Tingen. “It’s a direct outcome of Arteta’s obsessive playing-out-from-the-back tactics. So the blame should before anything go to Arteta, then to Leno for passing to Xhaka in his own penalty area, while Xhaka’s already under pressure. Why did Leno not hoof the ball upfield, as any half-decent goalie would have done in that situation? He must have had the manager’s instructions in mind. Or is it taboo to criticize Arteta?”

1.35pm GMT

47 min: Nothing’s going right for Po’ Granit. Now his shirt has been ripped in the punk-rock style. I’m assuming that just happened, rather than during a full and frank exchange of views in the dressing room.

1.33pm GMT

Here we go again. Burnley get the second half underway. Xhaka looks fine, no signs of his being slapped for 15 minutes straight.

1.31pm GMT

Half-time postbag.

“In the dressing rooms, both managers will be singing ‘Dammit, Granit!’ to the popular tune from Rocky Horror. Only one will be singing the ‘I love you’ part” - Fred Decker.

1.20pm GMT

Half-time reading.

1.17pm GMT

Arsenal have dominated. They’ve been the better team. But the hosts are level thanks to one of the stupidest goals you’ll see in a good while. Xhaka will presumably be making his apologies during the break.

1.16pm GMT

45 min: Luiz intercepts in the centre circle and feeds Willian down the left. Willian wins a corner off Tarkowski. Burnley just about deal with the corner. There will be one additional minute.

1.14pm GMT

44 min: Granit Xhaka, though.

1.13pm GMT

42 min: Arsenal had been comfortable, but now they’re rocking a bit, and Leno does well to keep hold of a low McNeil drive from a tight angle on the left.

1.13pm GMT

41 min: There’s some blame on Leno, who should have just cleared his lines but gave Xhaka a dilemma instead. Even so, Xhaka should have spotted Wood standing right next to him, and he probably shouldn’t have been trying to execute a cute scooped pass towards Luiz on the right wing anyway. That was preposterous.

1.11pm GMT

Mari passes back to Leno, who decides against bashing clear and passes to Xhaka, six yards in front of him, instead. Xhaka, facing his own goal, plays a blind pass to his left, slapping the ball off the hip of the lurking Wood and into the net! That’s pure farce, and once again, Xhaka, sent off in the corresponding fixture at the Emirates, has made a royal show of himself against Burnley.

1.08pm GMT

37 min: Arsenal break and Burnley are extremely light at the back. Aubameyang romps down the middle of the park and slips Saka into the box on the right. Saka is clear, but can’t sort his feet out to shoot, allowing Brownhill to stick in a toe and clear.

1.07pm GMT

36 min: Xhaka creams a long pass down the left for Aubameyang. Pope hares out of his box to head clear, just in time. Aubameyang wasn’t far away from nicking the ball around the keeper, though, at which point Burnley would have been in a world of trouble.

1.05pm GMT

35 min: Burnley enjoy a rare period of possession in the Arsenal half, but do very little with it. Arsenal hold their shape, there’s no way through. On the touchline, Sean Dyche is a study in frustration as he watches his charges toil impotently.

1.03pm GMT

33 min: The ball bounces all over the shop. High and unpredictable. They’ve not watered the pitch.

1.01pm GMT

31 min: Arsenal are beginning to push Burnley back. The hosts are struggling to get out of their own half.

1.00pm GMT

29 min: Saka slips Odegaard away down the right. The pass is a little heavy, but Odegaard manages to stop it on the byline, then flick it back for the incoming Partey, who opens his body and sidefoots over the bar from the edge of the box. Not a million miles away, and that would have been a very pretty goal.

12.59pm GMT

28 min: The ball breaks to Wood, swivelling on the left-hand edge of the Arsenal D. His weak shot bobbles through to Leno, who hasn’t had his gloves warmed yet.

12.58pm GMT

27 min: Lowton crosses from the right. Xhaka heads clear. Westwood hoicks a first-time return over the bar. Meanwhile the referee has a quick word with Mari, for a late slide on Vydra earlier in the move. Next transgression will be officially recorded, I’ll be bound.

12.56pm GMT

26 min: Tierney takes an age over a throw. That’s all there is to report right now.

12.55pm GMT

24 min: To be fair to Saka, that all happened in a flash, and he’d done extremely well to get into that position in the first place. But, well, a miss is a miss.

12.54pm GMT

22 min: A huge miss by Saka! He one-twos with Aubameyang and breaks into the box down the inside-right channel. He’s surrounded by Taylor, Mee and Tarkowski, but somehow manages to barge through everyone, the ball breaking fortunately at his feet. He pokes past Pope, and surely must have thought he’d done enough, but the ball flashes across goal and inches wide of the left-hand post. How on earth did he manage that?

12.51pm GMT

21 min: Now Partey does his work down the other end of the field, blootering a high clearance upfield with a satisfying thud.

12.50pm GMT

19 min: Partey shovels a clever pass down the inside-left channel. The ball’s dropping over Aubameyang’s shoulder, on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Lowton sticks out a disruptive leg and connects, but the ball still falls to the striker, who pokes a first-time effort wide left. That was decent defending by Lowton, even if it looked a wee bit scruffy. He did all he could, enough to make things harder for Aubameyang.

12.47pm GMT

17 min: Arsenal continue to dominate possession, albeit in the good old sterile style.

12.46pm GMT

15 min: Aubameyang gets a yard of space down the inside-left, but upon entering the box can’t get an effective shot away. He looks in the mood against his bunnies.

12.45pm GMT

14 min: Saka wins a corner out on the right. The set piece isn’t all that, but the ball bounces loose, 25 yards out. Partey is steaming in at absurd speed, with a view to shooting, and it’d have been interesting to see what he’d have achieved had Mee not cleared just in time.

12.44pm GMT

13 min: McNeil dribbles with purpose down the left, entering the box and approaching the byline. His cross-cum-shot is snaffled by Leno. Then Burnley come again, Tarkowski launching long down the left for Taylor, who digs out a cross that sails into the stand. But the home side are finally showing signs of life.

12.42pm GMT

11 min: Xhaka steals the ball in midfield and sends Arsenal on a dangerous-looking counter. He slips a pass to Odegaard, who overthinks the whole situation and eventually he loses possession.

12.40pm GMT

10 min: Arsenal have started magnificently. Calm and in control. They’ve enjoyed 67 percent possession so far.

12.39pm GMT

8 min: That wasn’t great goalkeeping, though Aubameyang took his shot early and caught the keeper by surprise. Pope may blame himself, given he got a hand to the ball, but not enough to stop it dribbling over the line. Anyway, it’s eight in seven against Burnley for the Arsenal striker. Throw in the own goal he scored at the Emirates earlier this season, and he’s quite the man for these fixtures.

12.37pm GMT

Willian whistles down the middle of the park with great intent. It’s a brilliant run. He slips wide left to Aubameyang, who drops a shoulder to breeze past Lowton and into the box, then fires towards the bottom left. Pope gets a weak hand to it, and can’t keep it out.

12.34pm GMT

4 min: Arsenal win the first corner of the game, down the left. Odegaard’s corner isn’t any good. Penny for the thoughts of Mari and Luiz, who had both trudged upfield to contest the set piece.

12.33pm GMT

3 min: Saka flicks cutely down the right, making space, but is penalised, slightly harshly given his stature, for a high foot. Taylor had to stoop to head, as well. But there you go.

12.32pm GMT

2 min: Mee passes long. Vydra flicks towards Wood, but Mari reads the danger well and makes the first clearance of the afternoon. “Time for Willian to build on his display of half decent footballership,” suggests Charles Antaki. “Arsenal fans would be happy with more of what he showed against Leicester, but that’s what was said after his very first game against Fulham, way back in what seems like a different century, when he was good. Odd to say of a 32 year old, but he might yet be again.”

12.30pm GMT

Here we go, then! Arsenal get the ball rolling ... but only after the knee is taken. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.

12.26pm GMT

The teams are out! Burnley in their famous claret and blue threads, Arsenal in third-choice blue. We’ll be off in a minute!

12.15pm GMT

Mikel Arteta speaks to BT. “We haven’t had much time in recent months to train, but this week we had some time to do that, to recover, to prepare the game as good as possible because we know how tough it is to come here ... we have to rotate ... everybody is in top form, we have four games in nine days so everyone will be involved ... Martin Odegaard is settling in really well, adapting really good ... Burnley is tough and really competitive, a real threat.”

12.04pm GMT

Sean Dyche talks to BT Sport. “We weren’t a million miles off ... now and then a game gets away from you, especially when you’re up against the super powers, so I thought we bounced back well against Leicester ... it was an energetic performance ... there was a real edge to it ... Arsenal are a good outfit ... they’re in transition but they have some very strong individuals ... trust me, it’s not easy to beat these teams.”

11.42am GMT

Some breaking Burnley news ahead of the game: Phil Bardsley has signed a new contract. The 35-year-old full-back stays at Turf Moor until the end of next season.

11.40am GMT

One change for Burnley. Johann Berg Gudmundsson comes in for the hamstrung Jack Cork.

Arsenal make five changes. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey and Calum Chambers replace Alexandre Lacazette, Nicolas Pepe, Emile Smith Rowe, Mohamed Elneny and Cedric Soares. Smith Rowe (hip) and Soares miss out altogether.

11.32am GMT

Burnley: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Gudmundsson, Westwood, Brownhill, McNeil, Vydra, Wood.
Subs: Brady, Peacock-Farrell, Stephens, Rodriguez, Pieters, Bardsley, Long, Dunne, Benson.

Arsenal: Leno, Chambers, Luiz, Pablo Mari, Tierney, Thomas, Xhaka, Saka, Odegaard, Willian, Aubameyang.
Subs: Bellerin, Gabriel, Ceballos, Lacazette, Holding, Pepe, Elneny, Ryan, Martinelli.

4.15pm GMT

Both of these teams are coming off the back of a promising showing against Leicester City. On Wednesday evening, Burnley, rebounding from a trouncing at Spurs, were more than deserving of a point against the Champions League hopefuls. As for Arsenal, they responded to going behind at the King Power last Sunday with a highly impressive three-goal salvo for the win.

Sean Dyche’s men were the ones most in need of a boost. They’ve only tasted victory in one of their last eight games, and are still nervously looking over their shoulder at the relegation places. They could do with completing a league double over Arsenal for the first time since 1963, having won 1-0 at the Emirates back in December, Granit Xhaka needlessly getting himself sent off, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang putting past his own keeper.

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Published on March 06, 2021 06:46

March 5, 2021

The Fiver | Jürgen Klopp must solve a tricky and trippy Mersey-infused poser

These are difficult times for Liverpool. The club hasn’t won a major trophy for nearly nine months, while it’s now a whopping 22 days since they were deposed as the world’s best club team. To quote the hooked and miffed Mo Salah’s Mr 15%: “.”

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Published on March 05, 2021 08:06

March 4, 2021

Liverpool 0-1 Chelsea: Premier League – as it happened

Mason Mount secured a deserved win for Chelsea, and condemned Liverpool to their worst run at home since the club was founded in 1892

11.12pm GMT

... and so we reach the end of a historic night at Anfield. Chelsea followed Burnley, Brighton & Hove Albion, Manchester City and Everton in beating Liverpool on their own patch. Five losses in a row at home for Liverpool, something that’s never happened since the club were formed in 1892. Miserable and very strange times for a side that swept everyone aside en route to the title last year. By contrast, Chelsea are on the up, and were deserved winners tonight; 1-0 flatters Liverpool. They look genuine top-four material, and ready for a title tilt next season. Andy Hunter was at Anfield to witness history. Here’s his report. But before you go, here’s one for the road, courtesy of Robin Hazlehurst: “Unless you’re all drinking from the bottle, you’re going to need one-time Carlisle goalie and famous goal scorer Jimmy Glass.” Chin chin, everyone. Nighty night!

11.04pm GMT

An extremely low-energy Jurgen Klopp emerges. “The individual quality of Mason Mount in that one situation made the difference ... we didn’t score in other situations ... it was a tight, intense game ... that’s it, pretty much [sighs] ... we had more situations but didn’t score ... but I’d have to watch it back ... we didn’t defend it well, and these details decide these games ... it’s the quality of Chelsea, the first time Fabinho played for a while, you cannot defend Chelsea completely for 95 minutes so they don’t have any chance ... but with all the possession we had again, we need to have more chances ... [exasperated drawing of breath] everything was really good until the final pass ... you are close but not close enough and it’s not even a chance ... unfortunately you cannot just say it is only at home, we have lost a lot of games now ... we know everything, but it’s not about Anfield, it happens in general too often ... in the decisive moments we have to improve and show our quality ... it is not very often, but Mo today looked like he was suffering, having played a lot of games ... you are right, I could have taken off Sadio or Bobby but it looked like Mo suffered the most ... [tonight’s defeat] is a massive blow ... if you lose that many games, you don’t have the right to go to the Champions League, you have to win games and we know that ... [another exasperated sigh] and we work on it, but for tonight it was not enough.”

10.44pm GMT

Thomas Tuchel speaks to Sky. “We played with courage ... excellent moments with the ball ... we had moments when we needed to suffer but never lost the attitude to defend ... the desire and courage to defend up front ... it was a well-deserved win, a big performance and a bit result ... the performance was very complex, we were strong in transition, in defending, winning second balls, counter pressing ... everybody was very brave ... they needed to adapt their positions all the time ... it’s a six-point game, but the race is on, there is still 11 games to go ... we go step by step, there is no other way ... we can never rest because there is no time for that ... I have felt a big part of the club from the first moment ... I am delighted to be part of it.”

10.35pm GMT

The post-match managerial interviews are still to come. But in the meantime, Andy Hunter’s report is in. Here it is!

10.25pm GMT

“On a more positive note for Klopp ... the Champions League home leg against RB Leipzig will be played in Budapest,” quips Gary Byrne. Can they play there every week?

10.20pm GMT

Mason Mount, who secured Chelsea’s first win at Anfield since 2014, talks to Sky Sports: “It’s very tight at the top four and we want to push it ... we’ve been keeping clean sheets and are good defensively ... we haven’t been scoring enough and maybe should have had a couple more tonight but it was good to score ... the gameplan was to press them high ... be brave ... win the ball back up high ... most of the time the defensive line is quite high so the runs were on and we tried to exploit that.”

10.13pm GMT

Thomas Tuchel’s certainly enjoying his honeymoon. What a start he’s made to his Chelsea career! This team were going nowhere under Frank Lampard, but the former Dortmund and PSG man has turned the ship around. Champions League football next season is a distinct possibility now. The reigning champions are stuck in reverse, seventh, a top-four finish a pipe dream unless they relocate their mojo quicksmart. Jurgen Klopp walks off the pitch, grey and haunted, staring approximately one thousand yards into the distance.

10.06pm GMT

For the first time since the club was founded in 1892, Liverpool have lost five consecutive home matches. That this run has occurred after a 68-game unbeaten run is almost beyond comprehension. But here it is. Chelsea, worthy winners tonight, return to the top four, and celebrate accordingly.

10.05pm GMT

90 min +3: Chelsea take their sweet time over the throw, as Liverpool would in their situation. On the touchline, Klopp looks thoroughly miserable, completely defeated.

10.04pm GMT

90 min +2: The corner’s no good, and Chelsea push out. Mane tries to come back at the visitors down the left, but runs the ball out for a throw. The look on his face suggests he knows the jig is up.

10.03pm GMT

90 min +1: In the first of three extra minutes, Liverpool force a corner down the right. Before it can be taken, Havertz comes on for Werner.

10.03pm GMT

90 min: These are the sort of matches where the Kop has so often sucked a late equaliser into the net. But there’s nobody there.

10.02pm GMT

88 min: It nearly kicks off between Kovacic and Mane, the former having cynically tapped the ball off the latter’s head as the Liverpool man fell to the turf, pushed from behind by Rudiger. The referee calms the situation down.

10.00pm GMT

87 min: Milner hoicks down the left. Christensen steps across to deny Firmino access to the ball. Chelsea’s defence has been superb tonight, and on that subject here’s Stan Tarazi: “With the white wines, don’t forget to ChillWell.”

9.58pm GMT

85 min: Firmino dribbles delightfully down the left, reaches the byline, and fires into a six-yard box that contains seven Chelsea players and no red shirts. The ball pinballs its way to Kabak, who can’t force it goalwards from a right position on the right. As close as Liverpool have come, although that’s not particularly close.

9.57pm GMT

84 min: A long pass down the left nearly releases Jota, but he has to settle for a corner. The set piece is powerfully headed clear by Azpilicueta.

9.55pm GMT

83 min: Liverpool are pinning Chelsea back, sort of, if you can pin back a team that look perfectly comfortable. Mendy still hasn’t had anything to do.

9.54pm GMT

81 min: Werner nearly gets through down the middle again, but Alisson comes off his line to gather. Meanwhile Andrew Goudie brings “Alan Corkscrew” to the party. Thank goodness somebody remembered one.

9.53pm GMT

80 min: Milner comes on for Thiago, while the goalscorer Mount makes way for Kovacic.

9.52pm GMT

79 min: Robertson crosses from the left. Christensen hoicks away. Liverpool are totally bereft of ideas. Not so Paul Griffin, who names our head sommelier: “Chateau Neuf du Pep.”

9.49pm GMT

77 min: Werner is sent free down the inside-left channel. He’s one on one with Alisson, who does very well to spread himself to block and keep Liverpool’s hopes alive. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.

9.48pm GMT

75 min: Liverpool are going nowhere. This run at home, coming off the back of a 68-game unbeaten spell, is nothing short of astonishing. The decline from the brilliance of last season is hard to fathom.

9.45pm GMT

73 min: Chelsea haven’t offered too much in attack during this second half, but then the onus isn’t on them to do so. Liverpool have been woefully short of ideas.

9.44pm GMT

71 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain sends Mane into a little space down the right, but his cross is way too long for Jota and easily shepherded away from danger by Christensen. Here’s Colum Fordham: “To respond to an excellent Macon Mount, Liverpool need a fine Bobby Saint Firmin or the spirit of an Ian Saint-Julien.”

9.42pm GMT

69 min: Space for Pulisic down the left. He gets two chances to deliver a cross, but messes them both up. “Nacer Chablis, surely,” suggests Adrian Riley. I’m beginning to think Mac Millings has much to answer for.

9.40pm GMT

68 min: A Liverpool free kick out on the right leads to a corner on the left. That ends up in the arms of Mendy, who hasn’t yet had a serious save to make.

9.39pm GMT

66 min: Chelsea send Pulisic on, replacing Ziyech. “Bend your elbow like David Malbec-ham,” quips Alan Webb, while James Beesley notes that “Chelsea have a youngster on their books named George Nunn. Blue Nunn?”

9.38pm GMT

65 min: Chelsea spend a bit of time in the Liverpool half. A few passes. A free kick that comes to nothing. The clock, their friend, ticks on.

9.37pm GMT

63 min: Robertson whips in from the left. Jota and Firmino confuse each other on the penalty spot, and the ball flies harmlessly out for a goal kick. On the bench, Salah flings something to the floor. He’s not best pleased at being hooked.

9.36pm GMT

62 min: Liverpool make a double change. On come Jota and Oxlade-Chamberlain for Jones and a slightly miffed Salah.

9.35pm GMT

61 min: Some space for Werner down the right. He sends the ball towards Stanley Park. Meanwhile a fair point is raised by Dave Horwell: “No room for Danny Rosé?”

9.33pm GMT

60 min: Liverpool are enjoying more possession, but Chelsea are well-organised and aren’t offering any half-chances, never mind proper opportunities to score. “A Fine Wines XI without even a place on the bench for Blue Nuno Gomes? Or Paul Don Masson?” Simon McMahon there, slugging straight from the Californian carafe.

9.30pm GMT

58 min: Salah looks for Alexander-Arnold down the right. The wing-back wins a corner, and takes himself. He rolls a training-ground effort towards Wijnaldum near the penalty spot, but it’s read well by Rudiger who clears in the no-nonsense style.

9.29pm GMT

56 min: Liverpool, almost completely drained of confidence, are living extremely dangerously. Ziyech hares down the right on a break, and should find Mount clear in the middle, but sends his pass too close to Alisson. Then Ziyech pings from a deep position on the right, nearly finding the outstretched leg of Werner in the Liverpool box. Alisson again gathers.

9.27pm GMT

54 min: Mount and Chilwell combine crisply down the left. Chilwell has a shot from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. His rasp is parried by Alisson, but rebounds to Ziyech, who creams towards the bottom right. Fabinho blocks off the line, and Liverpool clear.

9.25pm GMT

52 min: Chelsea calm Liverpool’s early second-half storm with some sterile possession. “No room for a pint of Sammy Chab-Lee?” splutters Jonathan Frankham.

9.23pm GMT

50 min: Liverpool win their first corner of the game, out on the right. Fabinho meets it, but his header sails harmlessly wide left and high. This is better from Liverpool, though. The paint must be peeling off their dressing-room wall.

9.22pm GMT

49 min: Firmino dribbles down the right and looks to flick into the middle. His cross clanks the arm of Kante, which was raised, but neither referee nor VAR shows interest in giving a penalty, the players both so close together. You saw those given earlier in the season, but here we are now.

9.20pm GMT

47 min: Liverpool start quickly, Alexander-Arnold romping down the right, but delivering neither cross nor shot. “Presumably the Wine XI is delivered in a Jimmy Case and stored in a Mo Cellar.” Please be upstanding and raise a glass for Tatiana Blackstone, everyone.

9.19pm GMT

Liverpool, now kicking towards the Kop, get the second half underway. Klopp gave a sullen Mane a much-needed cuddle as the teams trotted out. Like Chelsea, they’ve made no changes, though you’d imagine the returning Diogo Jota will get a runout soon enough should the scoreline stay the same or get worse for the home side.

9.11pm GMT

Half-time correspondence. “Further to Peter Oh’s 21st-minute correspondence, please allow me to present my all-time Fine Wines XI,” writes Mac Millings.

9.03pm GMT

A one-goal lead is the least Chelsea deserve. They’ve been excellent. Liverpool not so much. The Reds are facing a fifth consecutive Anfield defeat straight in the face, something that’s never happened since the club was formed in 1892. They’re also in serious danger of falling well behind in the race for a Champions League spot next season. Much to play for in the second half for the misfiring champions.

9.01pm GMT

45 min: Salah cuts in from the right and curls low towards Jones, who attempts to trap and spin. He doesn’t trap. Had he managed it, he’d have been clear down the middle. Liverpool have created next to nothing.

9.00pm GMT

44 min: So that’s Gary Naylor, of 33 mins fame, bang on the money again. Liverpool’s high line is all over the shop. And they’re nearly caught out again, Werner haring after yet another long pass, Robertson doing just enough as the last man. Liverpool could easily be three goals down.

8.58pm GMT

Mount glides after a long pass down the left. He drops a shoulder to get past Fabinho, takes a couple of touches as he runs along the front of the box, and having made room spears an unstoppable shot into the bottom right! Simple but brilliant, and Liverpool are behind at Anfield once more.

8.56pm GMT

41 min: James fizzes a hot backpass towards Mendy, who juggles calmly and clears under pressure from Mane. He offers his team-mate a wry smile once the job is done.

8.54pm GMT

39 min: Robertson curls towards Mane from a deep position on the left. The ball nearly sends his team-mate clear, but Azpilicueta has read the danger brilliantly and steers it back to Mendy just in time.

8.53pm GMT

37 min: Mount rasps a shot high over the bar from the edge of the box. It’d have been interesting had that gone in, because Mane felt he was illegally hauled back by Azpilicueta earlier in the move.

8.50pm GMT

35 min: The tempo of the match notably drops.

8.49pm GMT

33 min: Liverpool stroke it around for a bit, but not with any great conviction. “Do you think it’s an ego thing for Klopp to continue to play this high line?” wonders Gary Naylor. “It’s beginning to look like the W formation.”

8.47pm GMT

31 min: Rudiger’s useless ball infield from the left is snaffled by Mane, who hares forward with Firmino and Salah in support. He wedges a pass wide right for Salah, who plays an instant first-time ball down the channel. But Mane hasn’t continued his run into the box. Liverpool’s front three are all out of whack at the moment, like that’s breaking news.

8.45pm GMT

30 min: Thiago finds Jones down the left with a clever diagonal pass. Jones cuts into the box and looks for the top right, but nearly hits the corner flag.

8.44pm GMT

28 min: Salah, deep on the right, loops a glorious pass towards Mane, free on the penalty spot. Mane attempts to sweep the dropping ball into the bottom right, but gets his timing all wrong, and thrashes his boot through thin air. To be fair to Mane, that would have been a picture-book goal had it whistled in.

8.43pm GMT

27 min: Werner was flagged offside because his right shoulder was leaning forward as he prepared to start his run, putting him just ahead of Robertson on the other side of the pitch. A sickener for the visitors, who would have been well worth their lead. But Chelsea have taken that disappointment in their stride, and again Werner streaks away, this time down the left. He runs the ball out of play, much to Liverpool’s relief.

8.41pm GMT

Liverpool and Alisson breathe a sigh of relief. Werner was half-an-inch offside, which VAR points out in reasonably short order this time.

8.39pm GMT

Thomas Tuchel knows. A simple long Jorginho pass down the middle. Werner is clear! Alisson comes out in a desperate attempt to blooter clear, but Werner gets there first and rounds him on the left. He rolls into the net despite a desperate last lunge from Kabak.

8.38pm GMT

22 min: Some saucy work at the back by Kabak, who deals with a high cross from the left while under pressure from Ziyech by deliberately cushioning a looping header over the Chelsea man and into the arms of Alisson. Delightful when it comes off!

8.36pm GMT

21 min: Liverpool are struggling to keep hold of the ball. Chelsea have started this match with a very impressive swagger. “Is Fabinho-Kabak the umpteenth central defensive pairing that Liverpool have fielded this season, or is it more than that? If this combination clicks, I reckon you could call it Fab-Kab, which sounds like a description of an outstanding red wine.” That’s some vintage Peter Oh punning. Chin chin, old boy.

8.34pm GMT

19 min: Chilwell is sent scampering into acres of space down the left and wins a corner off Fabinho. Chelsea send the big lads up. Mount takes, but Robertson and Salah combine to clear and launch a counter. But that burst upfield breaks down quickly, allowing Chelsea to counter the counter. Werner speeds down the left, but his low cross evades everyone. Chelsea are all over Liverpool at the minute, to the point of having enjoyed 81% possession during the last five minutes.

8.33pm GMT

17 min: Chelsea are beginning to ask some serious questions. Azpilicueta hooks over his shoulder down the right. Thiago misjudges the bounce. Werner is alone on the penalty spot! But the bounce isn’t kind to him either. His only option is to attempt to help the ball over Alisson, but he can’t get enough on it, and it’s an easy claim for the keeper. Then, seconds later, Azpilicueta has a lash from 25 yards. It’s always going over, but the visitors are on top.

8.31pm GMT

15 min: Anyway, it’s not as though the Chelsea attack needs too much work. Mount and Werner nearly open Liverpool up with a cute combination down the left, then James scampers into space down the right. Nothing comes of either move, but the visitors are pinging it around with confidence.

8.29pm GMT

13 min: Liverpool probe slowly. They face two banks of blue shirts. No way through. Tuchel knows his onions, and is clearly determined to sort out that previously Lampardian back line before worrying about anything else. “An injury for Nat Phillips? Tonight he truly became a Liverpool centre-half.” Niall Mullen there, because somebody had to.

8.26pm GMT

11 min: Chilwell sends a high diagonal pass from the left towards Werner, on the edge of the D. Werner takes it down sensationally, working a yard of space from the nearby Kabak, and whips a glorious effort towards the top right. Just over, but not by much, and it’s not certain that Alisson would have got to it had it been on target. A fun, lively start to this match.

8.25pm GMT

9 min: Another fine Kabak pass, this time left to right, gives Mane the chance to spin Christensen down the inside-right channel. Christensen sticks out a lazy leg, which Mane brushes. Mane tries to stay on his feet, and the move peters out. It’d have been interesting to see whether the referee or VAR would have given a penalty if Mane had opted to hit the deck. It would have been soft, but you’ve seen them given, and who knows what VAR decides these days.

8.22pm GMT

7 min: James fails to deal with a long Kabak pass down the left. His uncertain chest-down allows Robertson to take possession, and eventually try a shot on goal from the edge of the box. He drags it lamely wide right.

8.21pm GMT

6 min: A long pass nearly finds Salah free down the middle, but Mendy is out quickly to blooter clear.

8.21pm GMT

5 min: There’s been a late refereeing change, by the way. Craig Pawson has had to stand down due to some Covid-related issue, so Martin Atkinson steps in to play his usual ear-splitting solo on the great metal pipe of officialdom.

8.19pm GMT

4 min: Some more possession for Liverpool, but it’s all a bit too intricate, Chelsea not offering much in the way of space.

8.17pm GMT

2 min: After that fast start by the visitors, Liverpool take the opportunity to make some nerve-settling passes back and forth between their defenders.

8.16pm GMT

50 seconds: Chelsea, kicking towards the Kop, are on the attack immediately. Werner speed-speed-speeds down the right and crosses low, Fabinho forced to slide out for a corner. But the flag goes up for offside.

8.15pm GMT

Chelsea get the ball rolling ... but only after taking the knee. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.

8.15pm GMT

The teams are out, both sporting their famous first-choice colours. Liverpool in red, Chelsea in blue. We’ll be off soon, but only after some warm applause for the departed legend Ian St John.

8.09pm GMT

Thomas Tuchel tells Sky why he’s selected Timo Werner over Olivier Giroud. “Speed. Speed. Speed. Speed against the high line. We expect we need it at the highest level, and he has the speed, so this is why he is in. We fight for the top four. It’s a big match.”

Jurgen Klopp meanwhile reports that Nat Phillips hasn’t been dropped in favour of Fabinho; he was simply unavailable for selection. “If you have options it makes you stronger. It’s brilliant news, obviously. I said to the boys: I don’t want to make this match bigger than it is. But it’s big! It’s ”

8.03pm GMT

A perfect storm. It’s World Book Day! It’s Liverpool-Chelsea! So what better opportunity to recall the time this fixture condemned Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool to the ranks of football’s great Nearly Men? It’s a caper commemorated by Neil Atkinson of The Anfield Wrap in a book called From The Jaws Of Victory, a collection of bittersweet essays that celebrate the teams that didn’t quite make it. The publishers are offering MBM readers 15% off and free shipping for the duration of tonight’s game. Also contains other teams and our very own John Ashdown.

7.53pm GMT

The in-form Richarlison has just won another game for Everton. Their 1-0 victory at the surely doomed West Bromwich Albion lifts Carlo Ancelotti’s upwardly mobile side into fourth place (46) knocking Chelsea (44) down to sixth and Liverpool (43) seventh. Spurs are hot on Liverpool’s heels, too, in eighth spot (42) after their 1-0 win at Fulham. If all that doesn’t concentrate minds in both dressing rooms at Anfield tonight, nothing will.

7.40pm GMT

Liverpool say goodbye to a couple of old friends tonight. Ian St John, who passed away on Tuesday, was one of the two major Scottish signings, along with Ron Yeats, that turned Bill Shankly’s team of Second Division nearly men into champions of England. He scored one of the most important goals in the club’s history: a 117th-minute diving header against Leeds United at Wembley in 1965 that brought the cup to Anfield for the very first time. He was also a legend at Motherwell and the immensely likeable foil to his old pal Greavsie. Rest well, Saint.

Phil Chisnall is also making a final darting run to the great penalty area in the sky. Chisnall only played nine games for Liverpool between 1964 and 1966, but ticks three memorable boxes all the same. He scored in a 5-0 European Cup win at KR Reykjavik, the club’s first-ever European game; he was part of the team that faced Arsenal on the opening day of the 1964-65 season, meaning he starred in the very first edition of Match of the Day; and he remains to this day the last player to transfer directly between Manchester United and Liverpool, having moved from Old Trafford that summer as cover for the injured ... Ian St John. God speed, Phil.

7.24pm GMT

Some pre-match reading. Just in case you missed any of it.

7.22pm GMT

Liverpool make two changes to the side named for the 2-0 win at Sheffield United. Alisson returns after the death of his father last week, taking the place of Adrian in goal. Fabinho is also back, lining up alongside Ozan Kabak in defence at the expense of Nat Phillips.

Chelsea make three changes in the wake of the 0-0 draw with Manchester United. Timo Werner, Reece James and Jorginho replace Olivier Giroud, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mateo Kovacic, who all drop to the bench.

7.17pm GMT

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Kabak, Robertson, Thiago, Wijnaldum, Jones, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Milner, Keita, Adrian, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jota, Shaqiri, Origi, Rhys Williams, Neco Williams.

Chelsea: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger, James, Kante, Jorginho, Chilwell, Ziyech, Mount, Werner.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Alonso, Pulisic, Zouma, Kovacic, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi, Havertz, Emerson Palmieri.

2.15pm GMT

Manchester United and Leicester City dropped points yesterday. So this is suddenly a door-ajar opportunity for fifth-placed Chelsea and sixth-placed Liverpool to make up some ground in the race for a top-four spot. Chelsea are in-form, yet to taste defeat under new boss Thomas Tuchel; reigning/outgoing champions Liverpool are by contrast stuttering, having lost their last four games at Anfield, though at least they snapped a four-game losing streak at Sheffield United on Sunday.

Whichever way you look at it, there’s a lot riding on this. No need to big it up. Here’s hoping they add to this list of memorable encounters (written before Stevie’s slip and Frank’s touchline meltdown, but you remember those anyway, so). Kick off is at 8.15pm GMT.

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Published on March 04, 2021 15:12

The Fiver | Rhythmically peppering suggestions with words like 'eff' and 'jeff'

The manager of Pope’s Newc O’Rangers has, historically speaking, been prone to the odd emotional outburst. Take the way Jock Wallace used to rhapsodise about the Battle Fever. Or the manner in which Walter Smith would give journalists beneficial advice, rhythmically peppering his kind suggestions with words like “eff” and “jeff”. Or the elegant grace with which Graeme Souness would plant his studs in an opponent’s fruit bowl, or upend urns of hot water before being offered out by the tea lady for a square go. Volatility seemed to be part of the job spec.

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96 mins on the clock at Hillsborough and Wednesday have a corner against the 10-man Millers.

Let's be honest, we're all waiting for them to break our hearts with another last minute goal.@JohnBreckin, take it away...#rufc |#ForeverTogetherForeverProud pic.twitter.com/FUR9Lzxwop

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Published on March 04, 2021 07:56

March 2, 2021

Manchester City 4-1 Wolves: Premier League – as it happened

Wolves came close to a point before City sped away in the last ten minutes to make it 21 wins on the bounce

10.22pm GMT

Jamie Jackson was at the Etihad tonight. His report has landed, so you know what to do: clickity click! Meanwhile thanks for reading this MBM. Stay safe. Nighty night!

10.21pm GMT

Nuno’s turn. “First half we were organised but not a threat ... it was difficult to recover the ball ... in the second much better until we reached the draw ... but after the draw we lost control of the game again and made clear mistakes ... but we were in the game at 1-1 and threatening ... but the game went away from us ... we were 1-1, and that says the team was compact and organised ... City are very talented ... the way they press and recover the ball really punishes you.”

10.13pm GMT

Pep talks. “Well deserved ... it was a fantastic game ... we suffered because we conceded a goal with their first shot on target ... it is so difficult to play against them ... but we were fantastic ... we played really well ... after 1-1 we suffered for five minutes, but calmed that situation and we created a lot of chances at the end ... yeah, well deserved ... we lost two balls because we wanted attack too quick ... sometimes you need more process ... but the rest was brilliant.” He’s then asked about continuing the 21-match winning run, and his answer is simple: “Man United.” He’s not deviating from his mantra: one game at a time.

10.06pm GMT

Riyad Mahrez, named man of the match, speaks to BT Sport. “It was a tough game ... I think we started very, very good ... we could have killed the game in the first half ... it was offside for maybe this [pinches thumb and forefinger] ... second half was more difficult, they pressed higher ... they managed to score but we finished very good, we never gave up, kept pressing and made chances to score ... sometimes you can have the ball for 95 percent but you have to kill the game and we didn’t do it in the first half ... the last ten minutes was so good ... we are very happy, we keep going ... we have to play game by game and see what happens ... the quality of every player is so good and everyone makes his contribution.”

10.00pm GMT

Pep Guardiola’s relentless side now have a 15-point lead at the top of the Premier League table. Manchester United, in second, come to the Etihad on Sunday. Should City win the derby, making it 22 wins on the bounce, they’ll surely be home and hosed. They’re surely home and hosed even if they don’t. Meanwhile Wolves, for all their second-half effort, remain in 12th with 34 points.

9.55pm GMT

That’s the final act of the evening. As contradictory as it may sound, the 4-1 scoreline is the least City deserve for their dominance, determination and overall panache, and yet simultaneously harsh on Wolves, who came so close to eking out a draw, and even threatened to find a winner for a while. City are 21 up!

9.53pm GMT

Gundogan aims for the bottom right. Rui Patricio parries well, but the rebound falls to Jesus, who slams home. The flag goes up for offside, and the referee initially rules it out, but VAR spots Coady playing Jesus onside. Goal!

9.51pm GMT

90 min +2: A huge sigh of relief for City, who were made to work hard to keep their winning streak alive.

9.50pm GMT

90 min +1: The first of three added minutes is mainly taken up with cavorting.

9.50pm GMT

The sub’s first touch gifts City the clincher. Otasowie dawdles with the ball at his feet, just inside his own box. Rodri strips him and feeds Gundogan inside. Gundogan and Sterling combine to tee up Mahrez, who sweeps into the bottom left. 21 up!

9.48pm GMT

89 min: Walker is forced to reach top speed to deny Neto a free run down the left. That’s almost as valuable as his assist. Staunch, with City otherwise extremely light at the back. Otasowie replaces Neves.

9.46pm GMT

87 min: Moutinho whips to the near post. Laporte heads clear. Neto sends it back in from the left. Dendoncker slams a header miles over the bar. Half a chance, if not a sitter.

9.45pm GMT

86 min: But here we go. Neto takes on Walker down the left and earns a corner. Moutinho, their dead-ball specialist, races over to take.

9.44pm GMT

85 min: Wolves seem a little stunned, having done so well to hold City to a one-goal lead, then haul themselves level. For a while, they threatened to take the lead themselves, until City settled. They haven’t really responded to Jesus’ goal.

9.42pm GMT

83 min: City were rocking for a few minutes after Wolves’ equaliser, but how they cleared their heads, gathering themselves to come at their opponents again, like a train! What moxie! Mentality monsters, to borrow a phrase coined by last season’s champions.

9.40pm GMT

81 min: Gundogan comes on for Silva.

9.40pm GMT

Mahrez slides Walker clear down the right. Walker fizzes into a crowded six-yard box, looking for Sterling. The ball clanks off Dendoncker’s heel, teeing up Jesus, six yards out. Jesus makes no mistake, slamming home, and City’s run is back on!

9.38pm GMT

79 min: City are pressing hard. Wolves are holding firm. But then ...

9.37pm GMT

77 min: Yep, this is locked into a groove alright. Once again, Wolves half-clear a corner. Once again, Sterling looks to send a curler into the top right. This one’s beaten Rui Patricio, but shaves the outside of the post. Sterling cocks his head back and wails in frustration. Such a good effort. He’s been marvellous tonight.

9.35pm GMT

76 min: Wolves half-clear the corner. City come again, Rodri crossing from the right. Coady again heading out for a corner. Wolves half-clear again. Sterling tries a curler towards the top right. Blocked. Another corner. Safe to say a pattern is developing.

9.34pm GMT

75 min: Mahrez probes down the right. He curls in low. Coady dives low to turn the ball out for a corner. “Here in Finland we get the official Premier League broadcast,” reports Kári Tulinius. “When Coady headed it in, the score ticked up to 2-0. I understand the scorekeeper, the idea that anyone but City would score the next goal seemed ludicrous, the game had settled for a nap under a blanket of City domination.”

9.32pm GMT

73 min: Mahrez crosses from the right. Jesus prepares to flick goalwards, but Coady eyebrows out for a corner, then clears the set piece himself. Coady is really putting in a captain’s shift here. But then City come back at Wolves, Silva rolling a ball down the right for Mahrez, who crosses low. Sterling elegantly back-flicks towards the bottom left. It flies inches wide. Wow! What a finish that would have been.

9.30pm GMT

71 min: Neto becomes the first man to go in the referee’s notebook, for a cynical clip on De Bruyne’s ankle. City load the box for the resulting free kick, but nothing occurs.

9.30pm GMT

70 min: Wolves have come alive, City are suddenly all over the shop, and good luck guessing which way this is going to go. Moutinho crunches into Rodri and sends Wolves on a five-on-three counter. Traore lashes wastefully over the bar. City go up the other end, De Bruyne slamming a shot straight at Rui Patricio from the edge of the box.

9.28pm GMT

69 min: The corner’s worked long to Hoever on the left. His low cross is deflected off Laporte, towards the bottom left. Ederson reacts extremely well to change direction and gather, because that was squeaking into the corner.

9.27pm GMT

68 min: City want to watch themselves here, mind you. Traore makes a bit of space for himself on the edge of the City box, and shoots. Dias does extremely well to arrive on the scene and block. But Wolves come again, Traore burning a path down the right and pearling a rising shot towards the top right. It’s deflected off Dias, and sails inches wide of goal for Wolves’ first corner of the match.

9.25pm GMT

66 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner. A couple of City players already wearing furrowed brows of frustration. A bit too early to get down on yourselves, chaps.

9.24pm GMT

65 min: Silva threads a pass down the inside right and releases Jesus into the box. He’s one on one with the keeper, albeit facing a tight angle. His low drive is heading across Rui Patricio and into the bottom left, but the keeper sticks out a toe to deflect it out wide for a corner! What a save that was.

9.23pm GMT

63 min: Jesus tries to respond immediately with a bustle down the right, but his powerful shot is always rising over the bar. All of a sudden, that 20-game winning run looks in jeopardy!

9.22pm GMT

62 min: All that possession, and City have been punished by Wolves’ first foray into their area! That was Wolves first touch in the City box, and Ederson is still yet to make a save.

9.20pm GMT

Wolves are level, City are stunned! Moutinho curls towards the far post. Dias has dropped too deep, allowing Coady to power through and stoop to steer a header into the bottom right!

9.19pm GMT

60 min: Wolves work their way back into the game, pinging some passes of their own hither and yon. Suddenly Neto springs in from the right and finds Moutinho, who is clattered from behind by Rodri. A free kick, 30 yards out, just to the right of centre.

9.17pm GMT

58 min: City continue to hog possession, but they’re not pinging it around at quite the same speed of earlier.

9.15pm GMT

56 min: Wolves make the first change of the match. Silva comes on for Jonny.

9.15pm GMT

55 min: De Bruyne romps down the left with a view to cutting back for Sterling, but runs the ball out of play for a goal kick. The overall quality of City’s play hasn’t been matched by their actions in the Wolves box.

9.13pm GMT

54 min: Mahrez drops a shoulder to swan in from the right. He aims for the top left, but Rui Patricio parries with strong hands. City are asking questions again.

9.12pm GMT

53 min: Rodri bulldozes his way down the inside left, all the way into the box. He shapes to shoot, but lumbers a little, and by the time he’s sorted himself out, Wolves can block.

9.10pm GMT

51 min: Sterling backheels De Bruyne into space down the inside-left channel. That’s a lovely touch. De Bruyne enters the box and whistles a low diagonal shot towards the bottom right. Rui Patricio fingertips the ball inches wide of the post. Nothing comes of the resulting corner. So close to a second!

9.08pm GMT

49 min: Silva surveys his options on the edge of the Wolves box on the right. Walker tears past him, begging to be sent clear on the overlap. Silva delays the pass, and by the time he plays it, Walker is miles off. City come again, Sterling, De Bruyne and Cancelo combining down the left, the latter crossing into an area bereft of City players. Wolves clear.

9.06pm GMT

47 min: Traore runs down the middle of the park, De Bruyne yet again shipping possession uncharacteristically easily. He’s got Neto in acres on the left, and should release him on goal, with City light at the back, but opts for Semedo to the right instead. There’s nowhere for Semedo to go, and the chance to stun City early in the second half is spurned.

9.03pm GMT

City get the second half underway. No changes to either side.

8.54pm GMT

Half-time chores. Quickly clean the kitchen. Put out the bins. Pop into the Little Room to attend to personal affairs. Pour yourself a beer. Sign up for the Fiver.

8.50pm GMT

Jesus skitters down the left. His shot is blocked and loops towards Bernardo, just by the right hand post. Bernardo heads down towards the corner. Rui Patricio saves, and Bernardo skies the rebound. And that’s the final act of a half which City have dominated, Wolves nearly passed into submission ... but there’s only one goal in it. Both managers, for different reasons, will go in feeling a strange mixture of contentment and frustration.

8.48pm GMT

45 min: Closer than I thought. But Laporte was an inch or so ahead of Dendoncker, and it’s still 1-0.

8.47pm GMT

44 min: Mahrez’s corner is half cleared. Semedo is robbed by Jesus, who slips the ball down the right for Mahrez. A cross towards the far post is helped on towards Laporte, who slams home. They celebrate, but surely that’s going to be ruled out for offside.

8.45pm GMT

43 min: De Bruyne shoots from 25 yards. It’s deflected out for another corner on the right.

8.43pm GMT

41 min: Neto carelessly gives the ball away with a blind infield pass to Jesus, allowing the striker to scoot towards the Wolves box. The ball’s worked wide left to Sterling, whose shot is blocked and loops towards Jesus. He chests down for Mahrez. His shot is deflected out for a corner, which is claimed easily by Rui Patricio.

8.41pm GMT

39 min: A rare period of possession for Wolves in the midfield. Hoever is once again waiting in acres on the right touchline, but by the time Moutinho eventually finds him, he’s surrounded and gives up possession. Wolves punished for being too ponderous.

8.39pm GMT

37 min: De Bruyne drives down the left and feeds Cancelo on the overlap. Cancelo wins a corner, but he’s correctly flagged offside, having carelessly gone too soon.

8.38pm GMT

36 min: City with more of the sterile possession in the midfield.

8.37pm GMT

34 min: Mahrez leaves Jonny in a cloud of cartoon dust. Off he goes down the right, before turning around and beating him again for good measure. Nothing comes of the run, and once again City fail to convert pretty play into a genuine chance. But it’s not going to take much for them to start clicking again.

8.35pm GMT

32 min: Silva has an opportunity to release Jesus down the right, but doesn’t hit the pass. If there’s one criticism of City tonight, it’s their inability to find the killer final ball. Rui Patricio hasn’t been called into action too many times, despite all of the home side’s possession.

8.32pm GMT

31 min: Silva and Mahrez combine cutely down the right, the latter pulling back from a tight angle. For once there’s nobody in the middle to take advantage, and Semedo is on hand to clear.

8.31pm GMT

29 min: Moutinho spreads a lovely diagonal ball towards Hoever on the right touchline. The young defender is in acres of space, and he’s got time to consider his options, so you can picture the look on his face after clumping a clumsy and witless first-time cross deep into the stand behind the goal.

8.29pm GMT

27 min: Suddenly the pace is stepped up, and De Bruyne nearly finds Sterling down the inside-left with a forensic pass. Just a little too much juice on it; goal kick.

8.28pm GMT

26 min: City spend a couple of minutes stroking it around the back in late-70s Liverpool style. Just because they can.

8.26pm GMT

24 min: De Bruyne isn’t going to play three bad balls in a row, and here he whips a stunning reverse pass down the left, inches away from releasing Jesus into the box. Rui Patricio comes to the edge of his area to claim, in the nick of time.

8.25pm GMT

22 min: Traore tries to capitalise on another loose De Bruyne pass in midfield, but as he strides into the opposition half, Laporte comes in to forcefully block and clear. Traore takes a whack on the shin for his trouble. He’s up and about soon enough. That was another City error, though, and those careless balls will give Wolves a little succour. Goodness knows they need some.

8.22pm GMT

20 min: City quickly re-establish their attacking dominance. De Bruyne nearly finds Mahrez in space on the right. Jonny gets eyebrows on the pass, just in time. On the touchline, Nuno looks concerned, and with good reason.

8.21pm GMT

19 min: De Bruyne loses possession in the centre circle, and Wolves make it to City’s final third for the first time this evening. Traore, Semedo and Neto try to work something down the right, but they’re soon forced to turn tail. Small acorns, all that.

8.19pm GMT

17 min: City continue to stroke and strut, strut and stroke. They are purring, and that goal had been coming, even though we’d barely played 15 minutes.

8.18pm GMT

More bother for Dendoncker. Rodri, quarterbacking from deep, sends a sensational diagonal pass towards Mahrez on the right. Mahrez enters the box and fires an unplayable low cross into the six-yard box. Dendoncker sticks out a leg to stop Sterling tapping home, and can only fizz the ball into his own net. There was nothing the poor guy could do. But what a pass, what a move. City are astonishing.

8.16pm GMT

13 min: Dendoncker is in all sorts of trouble down by his left-hand corner flag. Under severe pressure, he clips a reverse pass up the flank to Rodri, who immediately sends Sterling scampering into the box, down the inside left. He reaches the byline but can’t find Jesus at the near post. Rui Patricio claims.

8.13pm GMT

11 min: According to the pass-o-meter, City have so far made 107 passes to Wolverhampton’s 15. That seems extremely generous to Wolves. Is that thing broken?

8.12pm GMT

10 min: Mahrez curls dangerously in from the right. Sterling, who generates some spring despite his average stature, nearly gets his head on the ball at the far post. Rui Patricio has to stand tall in order to punch clear.

8.11pm GMT

9 min: Coady makes a meal of clearing, and gifts De Bruyne a shot from the left of the D. His blooter is deflected out for City’s second corner of the evening. Wolves take the best part of a minute to clear the corner, but after a game of head tennis, manage it eventually.

8.09pm GMT

7 min: The possession-o-meter reading so far: 87 percent for City, 13 percent for Wolves. That seems extremely generous to Wolves. Is that thing broken?

8.07pm GMT

6 min: City aren’t giving Wolves a second’s peace. Moutinho is robbed by Sterling, who drops a shoulder in an attempt to make room, 25 yards out, but can’t quite get a shot away.

8.06pm GMT

4 min: Cancelo and De Bruyne combine down the left. Dendoncker hectically hacks the latter’s cross clear. Wolves have barely touched the ball. By the looks of it, they’re in for a long night.

8.04pm GMT

3 min: Nothing comes of City’s first, but not, I’ll be bound, their last, corner.

8.04pm GMT

2 min: City quickly establish a possession tip. It’s not long before Cancelo rolls a glorious pass down the inside-left channel for Sterling, who enters the box and looks to chip over Rui Patricio. The keeper blocks and it’s just a corner.

8.02pm GMT

Wolves get the ball rolling ... but only after taking the knee. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.

8.01pm GMT

Pre-match title sequence. Rest well, Saint.

8.00pm GMT

The teams are out! It’s a cold, clear, crisp evening in Manchester. City wear their famous sky blue, while Wolves trot out in third-choice red. We’ll be off in a minute. Meanwhile, with City chasing the world record of 27 consecutive wins set by the New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid, Graham Moger ponders one of the Welsh club’s previous guise: “Total Network Solutions is arguably the best team name I’m aware of. After Young Boys obviously.” Surely the time-honoured answer to this question is the Eswatini collective Eleven Men In Flight, although Pellets, recently dropped by Spurs in the Europa League, seem to be getting some traction at the moment, presumably on account of being one of those words, like trousers or taint, that never stops being funny, no matter how many times you say it.

7.49pm GMT

The pre-match philosophies of Pep, as told to BT Sport: Don’t think much. Try to play. Try to win the game. Everybody is fit, everybody deserves to play.

Nuno takes his turn: The shape is the foundation. Then the dynamic is what is important. The boys are OK and ready to go.

7.09pm GMT

Manchester City once again showcase the depth of their squad, making six changes to the team that squeaked past West Ham on Saturday. Raheem Sterling, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Gabriel Jesus and Aymeric Laporte replace Sergio Aguero, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ilkay Gundogan, Fernandinho, Ferran Torres and John Stones, who are all named as subs.

Just the one change to the Wolves team that started the 1-1 draw at Newcastle. It’s a defensive one: Ki-Jana Hoever takes the place of Willian Jose, who drops to the bench.

7.01pm GMT

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Laporte, Joao Cancelo, De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, Sterling.
Subs: Stones, Gundogan, Aguero, Zinchenko, Steffen, Torres, Fernandinho, Foden, Garcia.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Rui Patricio, Dendoncker, Coady, Saiss, Hoever, Neves, Joao Moutinho, Jonny, Nelson Semedo, Pedro Neto, Traore.
Subs: Ait Nouri, Willian Jose, Boly, Silva, Gibbs-White, Vitinha, Ruddy, Kilman, Otasowie.

3.01pm GMT

We’re all thinking about it ... but Pep Guardiola insists his Manchester City side are in Eyes Only On Next Match mode, that they’re not assuming the Premier League is already in the bag, and they’re certainly not worried about the world record for the most consecutive victories in all competitions. That’ll be because they need to win another 22 matches on the bounce to beat Olympique Lyonnais Feminin’s total of 41, so come off it. But the men’s total of 27, set by Welsh side TNS, is in reach. They’re 20 down, just eight more to go.

Whether they’ll be happy to see Wolves tonight is a moot point. City won easily enough in the corresponding fixture earlier in the season, 3-1, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s men did the double over them last season, 3-2 at Molineux, 2-0 at the Etihad. No other team has taken more points from City - seven - since Wolves came back to the big time in 2018. And while the City formbook is there for all to see, Wolves are in decent nick too, having taken seven points from their last three matches, and it would have been nine had Newcastle’s Martin Dubravka not made an absurd last-minute save at the weekend.

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Published on March 02, 2021 14:22

The Fiver | Football's coming home (to Montevideo, hopefully)

Exactly why the honest folk and true of Her Majesty’s Government have decided that a big new performative dollop of bellicose patriotism is necessary to take everyone’s attention away from the omnishambles of the last 11 years is not clear. After all, if the polls are anything to go by, nobody seems to give a toss. But grifters gonna grift, and now they’ve pledged £2.8m towards a potential joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup by England, Scotland, Wales, Norn Iron, the Republic O’Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, the Falkland Islands, the Pitcairn Islands, the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey and Gib. What a glorious nation! What a glorious ragtag ensemble of glorious nations!

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Published on March 02, 2021 07:56

February 27, 2021

Leeds United 0-1 Aston Villa: Premier League – as it happened

Anwar El Ghazi’s early goal was enough for Villa, who stood firm as Leeds huffed and puffed

7.48pm GMT

Marcelo Bielsa is presumably catching up with Anwar El Ghazi. But never mind! In lieu of his take on tonight’s proceedings, here’s Andy Hunter’s match report, which has just landed ... and when you’re done reading that, make sure to visit Simon Burnton who is at the controls for Newcastle-Wolves. Thanks for reading this MBM!

7.39pm GMT

Dean Smith’s verdict. “It’s a really tough place to come ... our gameplan came off really well, we pressed well in the first half ... in the second we went with a low block and gave them few chances ... we wanted to play safety first and did that today ... we got on the front foot early ... we got our rewards ... our intensity level was much better than last week ... the players have shown today that they’re a good team ... they played a team who score goals freely and kept a clean sheet.”

7.37pm GMT

Here’s the hero of the hour, Anwar El Ghazi, speaking to Sky. “The last time we were here was hectic and chaotic, so I’m happy this time was a better end for me ... the last time I was really disappointed. I was very upset because of the play-offs and everything, so I am happy with the result today ... we know Jack Grealish is very important for us, and without him it’s going to be a hard game, so the boys played really well ... I will have a talk with Marcelo Bielsa [his former boss at Lille] inside, I have a very good relationship with him, he is a very good coach, one of the best I have ever had, I have a lot of respect for him.”

7.27pm GMT

Villa remain in eighth place, but now they’ve got 39 points and a game in hand on sixth-placed Liverpool. Leeds also stay where they were, in tenth spot with 35 points. A tight game, but on balance Villa deserved to edge it. They were effervescent in attack during the first half, and resolute at the back in the second. Leeds had most of the ball after the break, but did very little with it. A rare low-scoring game involving Marcelo Bielsa’s side. He warmly congratulates his opposite number Dean Smith, who will be extremely happy with the way his side performed without their talisman Jack Grealish.

7.23pm GMT

Redemption and revenge for Anwar El Ghazi, sent off in the famous Championship brouhaha a couple of seasons ago, and the scorer of the only goal tonight!

7.22pm GMT

90 min +5: Harrison works his way down the left. His low cross flies straight through the box. Nobody in white can get near to it.

7.21pm GMT

90 min +4: Raphinha whips it into the mixer. Martinez rises to claim. Targett, again tiptoeing on the tightrope, gives Bamford a little shove, but not enough for a penalty.

7.19pm GMT

90 min +3: Hernandez dribbles down the right and digs out a cross. Martinez claims, but it’s taken a clip off Mings and it’ll be a corner. Meslier comes up for it!

7.18pm GMT

90 min +2: Leeds press but Villa intercept and break. Watkins wanders towards the corner flag, managing the clock in the professional style.

7.16pm GMT

90 min: If Villa are to avenge their defeat by Leeds at home earlier in the season, they’ll need to survive for five more minutes.

7.15pm GMT

89 min: A huge chance for Leeds. Harrison dribbles down the inside left. He scoops towards Raphiniha at the far post, six yards out. He’s got to work Martinez at the very least, but heads weakly downwards and wide right.

7.14pm GMT

88 min: El Ghazi, as things stand tonight’s matchwinner, is replaced by Trezeguet. He has been fantastic tonight, especially in the first half.

7.14pm GMT

87 min: Hernandez, his blood perhaps still boiling in the wake of his slightly unfortunate booking, miscontrols when found by Ayling on the penalty spot, the ball clanking between his feet. Just for a split second, a glorious chance presented itself.

7.12pm GMT

86 min: Ayling crosses from the right. Bamford bravely dives low to meet it with a diving header. His effort is deflected for a corner. Raphinha’s delivery is below par.

7.10pm GMT

84 min: In the age-old traditions of the insult-injury double whammy, Hernandez is booked for complaining about the challenge.

7.10pm GMT

83 min: Hernandez is clattered from behind by Targett, who really is chancing his arm now. Hernandez claims he’s been elbowed in the back of the head. The referee isn’t interested.

7.08pm GMT

81 min: Dallas intercepts a loose Traore ball, allowing Dallas to scamper up the other end. The ball’s shuttled wide right for Raphinha, but Nakamba closes down the space and shuts down all the options.

7.06pm GMT

80 min: El Mohamady is booked for taking his sweet time over a free kick.

7.05pm GMT

79 min: Villa make their first change of the evening. Sanson, their new purchase from Marseille, comes on for Ramsey.

7.04pm GMT

77 min: Targett should probably be walking. Having already been booked, he catches the back of Raphinha’s leg with his studs. Just a foul, and a free kick that comes to nothing. Targett’s a lucky chap.

7.02pm GMT

75 min: Hernandez has a whack from distance. Ramsey blocks and deflects out for a corner. The set piece is half-cleared, finding Klich, 30 yards out. Nothing wrong with backing your talent, of course, but even the great Peter Lorimer - godspeed, Lash - would think twice about volleying home from there. Miles high and wide.

7.00pm GMT

74 min: Marcelo Bielsa cuts a frustrated figure as he prowls panther-like up and down the touchline. He’s played all his cards now, and time is running out. His team haven’t managed to create a single thing in this second half. He’ll keep pounding.

6.58pm GMT

72 min: McGinn is clipped from behind by Klich, who having been booked already wants to watch himself here. Just a free kick.

6.57pm GMT

70 min: Roberts is replaced by Hernandez. “I’d advocate a sin bin for hauling back,” writes Andy Tuohy. “10-15 mins? A paltry yellow card isn’t enough if someone has a clear chance going forward.” Yes, a good idea. Or a free swing. I’d be easy either way. The punters would love it, although obviously we also have to think of the kids.

6.55pm GMT

68 min: Some space for Alioski down the left. His low cross is dangerous, but somehow evades all the white shirts in the box. Mings clears. Villa tear up the other end, Ramsey feeding El Ghazi down the left. He’s one on one with Ayling, and beats him easily enough, but takes his shot early and sends it off down the M1.

6.53pm GMT

66 min: A free kick for Villa, out on the right. Mings meets it with a header that’s deflected over by Cooper. Nothing comes of the corner.

6.52pm GMT

65 min: Costa is replaced by Harrision.

6.52pm GMT

63 min: Klich is booked for a clip on El Ghazi.

6.50pm GMT

61 min: Both players are booked. You’d have to have some sympathy with Roberts, who was just trying to get on with things, and lashed out in frustration at the brazen cynicism. There wasn’t any contact either, but Targett went down clutching his shin. Players should be allowed a free pop when they’re stopped from taking quick free kicks. That’d stop it soon enough.

6.48pm GMT

60 min: Leeds launch a quick break. Targett fouls Roberts, to put a stop to their gallop. Roberts tries to take a quick free kick to regain the momentum. Targett sprawls cynically on his back to stop him. Roberts attempts to shove him away in frustration. Targett collapses to the floor in theatrical style. Here we go.

6.45pm GMT

59 min: All of a sudden, the pace of the game drops significantly. This will help Villa more than Leeds. The hosts could do with raising the tempo again.

6.44pm GMT

57 min: Nothing coming off for Leeds at the moment. Alioski chases another long pass down the left, but again El Mohamady has his opponent’s number. Goal kick.

6.42pm GMT

55 min: Cooper tires to release Raphinha down the inside-left channel. Raphinha can’t reach the sliderule pass, eased away by El Mohamady. That’s some fine off-the-ball defending.

6.41pm GMT

53 min: Struijk, who was ignominiously hooked early in the corresponding fixture at Villa Park, doesn’t complete the 90 tonight either. He’s replaced by Alioski.

6.38pm GMT

52 min: Cooper strides out from the back and sends Costa romping down the right. Costa wins a corner off Mings, who insists the Leeds man got the last touch. Happily for those tired of confected controversy, nothing comes of the resulting set piece.

6.36pm GMT

50 min: Costa and Ayling combine well down the right. Ayling’s cross is headed clear by Konsa, under pressure from Bamford.

6.34pm GMT

48 min: Leeds’ turn to have a free kick. Raphinha takes, out on the right. For once, his delivery is no good, bouncing over a row of players on the edge of the Villa box and harmlessly into Martinez’s arms.

6.33pm GMT

47 min: Struijk hauls Ramsey down, and it’s a free kick to Villa on the left touchline. A chance to load the box. Traore takes. Bamford half clears. Traore dribbles back towards the Leeds area. The door slams shut, but that’s a fast start to the half by the visitors.

6.31pm GMT

Leeds get the second half underway. No changes.

6.20pm GMT

Your half-time chores. Make yourself a cup of tea; run the vacuum over the carpet in the hall; take a visit to the Smallest Room for personal tasks; subscribe to our mildly diverting daily email. Be about your business!

6.17pm GMT

How has there only been one goal in this?

6.16pm GMT

45 min: Llorente is kicked by Watkins. There’s not much in it, but Llorente rolls around theatrically, then threatens to knock Watkins’ block off when the striker tries to haul him up off the floor. The referee reminds both players that they’re grown men, and we move on.

6.15pm GMT

43 min: Ayling loses his scrunchie and for a couple of minutes his locks flow free in the mid-1980s hair-metal style.

6.12pm GMT

41 min: Free kick for Leeds out on the right. Another opportunity for Raphinha to showcase his wonderful dead-ball skills. He curls in high, inviting the flick-on. Ayling obliges, looping the ball towards the top left. Martinez claims.

6.10pm GMT

40 min: ... Villa nearly score on the break! Roberts is dispossessed by Watkins, who tears upfield and eventually sends a bobbling shot into the arms of Meslier. Such a dangerous counter, but having done all the hard work to get there, Watkins should have done better.

6.09pm GMT

39 min: Raphinha, ever the threat, wins a corner down the left and takes it himself. He pulls it back for Costa, surprising everyone in the crowded box. Costa fires it goalwards, but there are too many players in the road, and his shot deflects out for a second corner. From which ...

6.08pm GMT

37 min: Nakamba is clipped from behind by Roberts, who is perhaps fortunate not to go into the book. The game’s been played in a good spirit, though, and so the referee just delivers a quiet lecture.

6.05pm GMT

35 min: Raphinha whips in low from the left. Martinez handles perfectly, the ball having just evaded Bamford at the near post. Leeds are certainly knocking.

6.04pm GMT

34 min: Raphinha buzzes in from the left and finds Ayling in the centre with a low diagonal pass. Ayling spins and tries to float a chip over Martinez and into the top left from 25 yards. It’s always going wide, but full marks for artistic ambition.

6.03pm GMT

33 min: Some space down the right this time. Klich has time as well, and three team-mates lined up along the six-yard box to aim for. His high hoick evades everyone, a severe disappointment. Throw for Villa.

6.01pm GMT

31 min: Dallas and Raphinha again launch a two-man sortie down the left. Again the communication goes awry. But Villa were backpedalling in panic there. Leeds are getting plenty of joy down this flank.

6.00pm GMT

30 min: Leeds play long. Mings heads back towards Martinez, who claims on the edge of his box under intense pressure from Bamford. The home side are pushing hard.

5.59pm GMT

28 min: Bamford sweeps a pass wide left for Raphinha, who twinkles his way into the box before slipping a pass towards Dallas on the outside. Dallas hasn’t read his intentions, and that’s a goal kick. After Villa’s confident start, Leeds are beginning to get a foothold in this game.

5.57pm GMT

27 min: Ayling whips a low cross in from the right. Bamford takes a fresh-air swipe at it. The ball ricochets off McGinn and into the arms of Martinez. That could have gone anywhere.

5.56pm GMT

26 min: Roberts flays one over the bar from the edge of the Villa box. He looks disappointed not to have worked the keeper at the very least.

5.56pm GMT

25 min: El Ghazi really is on one tonight. He exchanges crisp passes with Watkins, down the inside-left channel, then launches a heatseeking daisycutter towards the bottom left. It’s inches wide, with Meslier rooted to the spot.

5.54pm GMT

24 min: Costa gets the better of Targett as the pair contest a high ball down the Leeds right. Costa flees the scene with the ball, and he would have got away with a slight nudge had he not looked back guiltily. That persuaded the referee to blow up, and his box-bound run is brought to a halt.

5.52pm GMT

22 min: The astonishing Raphinha twists McGinn’s blood down the inside-left channel. He earns a corner. Cooper meets the set piece with a strong header, but only sends the ball straight at Martinez, who claims in the dependable style.

5.52pm GMT

21 min: A check by VAFingR for El Mohamady’s garden-variety foul on Dallas. For goodness sake. After an age, we are told what we knew already, that it was a free kick and nothing more.

5.50pm GMT

19 min: Leeds put together a lovely series of first touches down the left, Cooper and Klich eventually teeing up Dallas, who creams a shot wide left from 20 yards. Better from Leeds, with Villa having enjoyed 45 percent of possession in the home side’s final third so far.

5.48pm GMT

18 min: El Ghazi has another whack from distance, this one curling deliciously towards the bottom right. Meslier requires telescopic fingers to stop the shot.

5.47pm GMT

17 min: Leeds are struggling to get out of their own half right now. Villa are on top.

5.45pm GMT

15 min: El Ghazi’s corner leads to another, which lead to a couple of throws out on the left flank. Ramsey eventually ships possession and Leeds can finally clear their lines.

5.44pm GMT

13 min: A small pocket of space for El Ghazi, just to the right of the D. He whips viciously towards the top left. Meslier sticks up a strong hand to tip over. El Ghazi looks in the mood, vengeance uppermost in mind.

5.42pm GMT

11 min: Of course, Leeds score as many as they concede, and they nearly equalise when the ball’s worked to Raphinha on the left. He shoots. Blocked. The ball breaks to Roberts, just inside the box. His pelt is parried by Martinez. Leeds are losing, but they could just as easily be 2-1 up.

5.40pm GMT

10 min: That’s the 27th first-half goal conceded by Leeds so far this season. Nobody has let in more. Next on the list: West Brom (26), Sheffield United (20) and Crystal Palace (19).

5.39pm GMT

9 min: Or maybe it’s just coincidence, who knows. The never-ending trippy weirdness of sport, though, huh?

5.38pm GMT

7 min: As mentioned in the preamble, the last time this fixture was played, El Ghazi was sent off in controversial circumstances, having been grifted by Bamford. The events at both ends of the pitch early doors this evening suggest some sort of karmic footballing deity genuinely does exist.

5.36pm GMT

The corner’s hit long. Watkins, to the left of the D, aims for the top right. Just like Bamford up the other end, he slips. But the ball falls to El Ghazi, level with the right-hand post and clear, six yards out. He slips the ball past Meslier, and what a start this has been!

5.34pm GMT

4 min: Now Villa have a corner down the right, Traore winning it off Dallas. And from it ...

5.33pm GMT

3 min: El Ghazi takes it himself, and whips to the near post. The ball strikes Ayling’s limply hanging arm. Villa want a penalty, but they’re not getting one. Leeds clear. It’s fair to say this has been an eventful, topsy-turvy start, but hey, this is Leeds United, what else did you expect?

5.32pm GMT

2 min: Villa go up the other end, and with their first attack of the evening, win a corner on the left, El Ghazi doing the work.

5.31pm GMT

19 seconds: Bamford scampers down the right and tricks his way past Konsa. He enters the box and curls towards the far corner, but slips on the rutted pitch while doing so. Nevertheless, Raphinha nearly pokes it in at the far stick, but can’t quite get his boot on it. So close to a sensational start!

5.30pm GMT

Villa get the party started ... but only once the knee has been taken. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.

5.27pm GMT

No word from Marcelo Bielsa, but who needs pre-match interviews anyway? The teams are out, Leeds in their famous white, Villa in second-choice black. We’ll be off sooner rather than later.

5.09pm GMT

Dean Smith has made his changes “to get more energy in the middle of the pitch.” In his interview with Sky, he also says: “Leeds are a very good team ... they have their own way of playing ... we need to deny them space to run into ... we’re not a one-man team, we have some very good players who have excelled in the Premier League this year.”

4.40pm GMT

Leeds make one change to the side named for the victory over Southampton. Helder Costa takes the place of Jack Harrison, who drops to the bench.

Aston Villa make two changes to the XI selected ahead of their defeat by Leicester. Marvelous Nakamba and Jacob Ramsey replace the benched Douglas Luiz and Ross Barkley.

4.35pm GMT

Leeds United: Meslier, Llorente, Cooper, Struijk, Ayling, Klich, Dallas, Helder Costa, Roberts, Raphinha, Bamford.
Subs: Alioski, Casilla, Hernandez, Harrison, Davis, Gelhardt, Cresswell, Jenkins, Huggins.

Aston Villa: Martinez, Elmohamady, Konsa, Mings, Targett, Nakamba, McGinn, Traore, Ramsey, El Ghazi, Watkins.
Subs: Heaton, Taylor, Douglas Luiz, Trezeguet, Barkley, Engels, Sanson, Davis, Hayden.

5.00pm GMT

Aston Villa return to Elland Road for the first time since April 2019. That was a brouhaha for the ages, huh? Both teams were gunning for promotion, and the tinderbox exploded when Mateusz Klich played on after Jonathan Kodjia was down injured, scoring to put Leeds ahead. Cue a big cartoon cloud with boots and fists sticking out of it. Anwar El Ghazi was sent off after locking horns with Patrick Bamford, the striker later copping a two-match ban for conning the referee with a dive. Marcelo Bielsa cooled everyone’s boots by allowing Villa to score an unchallenged equaliser, a gesture of sportsmanship that earned the Leeds boss a Fifa Fair Play Award. The match finished 1-1, a fatal blow to Leeds’ promotion hopes.

Now, we’re supposed to think of the kids, aren’t we. But come off it and come on. More, please!

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Published on February 27, 2021 11:48

Manchester City 2-1 West Ham: Premier League – as it happened

City moved 13 points clear at the top after a hard-earned victory over impressive West Ham

2.49pm GMT

Jamie Jackson was at the Etihad to see City stretch their lead to 13 points. His report has landed. Your final task of this MBM: to click and enjoy. Thanks for reading!

2.47pm GMT

David Moyes takes his turn. “I thought we did a good job against a really good side ... just disappointed that we get a chance with the last kick of the game, to get an equaliser, and we don’t ... but even so I have to say well done to the players for the performance ... we worked really hard and were unfortunate not to come away with something ... I’m pleased to see John Stones is back in form and doing so well, though I wish he hadn’t scored today!”

2.43pm GMT

Pep talks to BT Sport. “Being fourth in the table means a lot ... they have quality with Lingard and Fornals ... after 50 minutes we knew we were not going to paint something beautiful ... it was all about getting the three points ... after the Champions League game with just two days, it’s normal these kind of things happen.” Which is pretty much the same point regarding scheduling that Jurgen Klopp made at Brighton back in November, albeit more sarcastically. Des Kelly lets it slide this time.

2.35pm GMT

The match-winner John Stones gives “a lot of credit” to West Ham. “Their position in the table speaks for itself ... we’re really satisfied ... we weren’t at our free-flowing football, but that’s how they set up against us ... some days it doesn’t come off for the forwards, and today me and Ruben chipped in ... we’re just glad to keep this winning run going.”

2.24pm GMT

That result puts Manchester City 13 points clear (62) of Manchester United and Leicester (49) at the top. West Ham remain in fourth (45) but will be usurped by Chelsea (43) tomorrow if Thomas Tuchel’s honeymoon continues with a win at Stamford Bridge over Manchester United.

2.22pm GMT

City win their 20th game in a row! But they were made to work hard for it by an impressive West Ham side.

2.22pm GMT

90 min +4: A huge chance for West Ham! Lingard drives down the inside-right channel and curls towards Diop, who has found space between Stones and Dias! Diop heads wide right when he surely should have scored. What a miss.

2.20pm GMT

90 min +3: Bowen bursts down the left and is unceremoniously checked by Fernandinho, who is booked as a result.

2.19pm GMT

90 min +2: Jesus clumsily bowls Lingard to the floor, and it’s another chance for West Ham to throw something into the City box. Lingard swings it in. Ederson claims, and Soucek had fouled Stones in any case. Free kick.

2.18pm GMT

90 min +1: West Ham win a corner down the right, but do nothing with it.

2.17pm GMT

90 min: There will be four added minutes.

2.15pm GMT

89 min: Rodri comes on for Gundogan.

2.14pm GMT

87 min: Cresswell takes, but Dias clears with ease.

2.13pm GMT

86 min: Benrahma and Lingard combine to bust out of a tight spot on the left. Lingard dribbles infield and is brought down by Fernandinho. Free kick in a very dangerous position.

2.12pm GMT

84 min: A double change for West Ham, Bowen and Benrahma coming on for Antonio and Johnson. They’ll go four at the back for the last few minutes as they chase the equaliser.

2.10pm GMT

82 min: Foden wins a corner down the left and takes it himself. Randolph punches clear under pressure. West Ham are beginning to tire, having put in quite the shift.

2.09pm GMT

81 min: City continue to do their thing. Activity on the West Ham bench, but they can’t do anything while the hosts stroke it about.

2.08pm GMT

79 min: Mahrez shoots. It’s deflected out for a corner. Nothing comes of it, but City are in complete control now. Twenty in a row is very much on. What’s left to conquer for City in the Premier League? Stuart Arden has an idea: “Never mind the midfielders, perhaps Pep’s next team will be entirely built from centre backs.”

2.04pm GMT

77 min: City draw a little of the sting from the game, stroking it around in the sterile fashion.

2.02pm GMT

75 min: Ederson is fine, back up and about.

2.01pm GMT

74 min: ... but the keeper stays down, having taken a whack to the ribcage. City will hope he’s just winded, but on come the physios.

2.00pm GMT

73 min: A free kick for West Ham out on the right. Lingard sends a garryowen into the City box. Ederson does extremely well to leap and claim under pressure from Dawson.

1.59pm GMT

72 min: As things stand, City will go 13 points clear of neighbours United at the top.

1.57pm GMT

70 min: West Ham have been magnificent, City slightly under par. But look at the scoreline. Never mind the obvious quality: what moxie this Manchester City side possesses!

1.56pm GMT

Dawson half-clears Mahrez’s corner. City recycle. Zinchenko slips Mahrez into space down the right. Mahrez twists Johnson’s blood, then pulls back for Stones, who sweeps majestically into the bottom left! Beautifully worked!

1.54pm GMT

67 min: Jesus and Foden hassle Coufal down the City left. Coufal is forced to handle. Free kick. Foden loops it in. Coufal eyebrows it out for a corner on the right.

1.53pm GMT

65 min: Pep makes his second tweak to the slightly misfiring City machine. Torres is replaced by Foden.

1.52pm GMT

64 min: West Ham come at City on the counter again, Lingard nearly releasing Coufal down the right. Yet again the final ball is lacking; yet again City were backpedalling in a panic. This is a really impressive performance by West Ham.

1.51pm GMT

63 min: City knock it around, but West Ham are set firm. City need a spark. They’re missing the free-jazz stylings of Cancelo.

1.49pm GMT

61 min: Pep blinks first. Off goes the ring-rusty Aguero, on comes Jesus.

1.48pm GMT

60 min: Torres drifts in from the left and sets a curler towards the top right. Diop blocks bravely. Randolph was at full stretch, preparing to tip round, so hopefully that’s a positive sign regarding any injury.

1.46pm GMT

58 min: So close at both ends! Torres gives the ball away cheaply to Fornals, who advances into the City box, over-elaborates, then nearly finds Soucek on the penalty spot. City break through De Bruyne, who strides magnificently down the left, enters the West Ham area, and whistles a come-and-tap-me-in ball through the six-yard area. Nobody there. This is a great game!

1.44pm GMT

56 min: Lingard fizzes down the middle, with Soucek to his left and Antonio to his right. He can’t quite find the defence-splitting pass, but he continues to impress. He’s looked on top of his game since joining on loan from Manchester United.

1.42pm GMT

55 min: A bit of space for Walker down the inside-right channel. He decides to roll the dice from distance, but drags a low shot well wide left.

1.41pm GMT

54 min: West Ham look very comfortable at the moment. But of course we’ve been here before.

1.39pm GMT

52 min: The corner is a complete waste of time, hoicked miles over Dawson’s head, and West Ham’s big men race back to their positions.

1.38pm GMT

51 min: Antonio spins Walker elegantly down the left and wins a corner off the City full-back. A chance for West Ham to load the box with the big lads.

1.38pm GMT

50 min: A pause in play as Randolph receives treatment. He looks to have pulled something while taking a goal kick. He’s good to continue for now, but he doesn’t look particularly comfortable and Martin warms up, just in case.

1.37pm GMT

48 min: Lingard turns on the jets and romps down the inside-left channel. Fernandinho blocks him beautifully on the edge of the box. Had that been mistimed by so much as a millisecond, it’d have been a penalty. As it was, that’s a sensational defensive challenge.

1.34pm GMT

47 min: City are on the front foot quickly, Mahrez sweeping a cross in from the right. Randolph sees it out for a goal kick without drama.

1.33pm GMT

City get the second half underway. They’ve got 45 minutes to keep this absurd winning run of theirs going. No changes.

1.21pm GMT

Your half-time chores. Make cup of tea, eat snack, visit the Little Room, ablute, subscribe to occasionally mildly amusing tea-time email. Be about your business!

1.18pm GMT

City have been imperious in patches, but West Ham have also been excellent, resolute in defence and lively in attack. The visitors deserve to be level, and a 20th win on the bounce is by no means a shoo-in for the league leaders. An exciting second half awaits!

1.17pm GMT

45 min: West Ham have City on the run again, hectically scuttling backwards as Lingard and Antonio launch a quick counter attack. Lingard picks the wrong pass, or Antonio makes the wrong run, depending on which way you read it. Whatever, the move peters out.

1.15pm GMT

You know what, this had been coming. West Ham play City at their own game, pressing high up the pitch. They win the ball and slip wide right for Coufal, who is in acres. Coufal crosses low. Lingard flicks towards the bottom left, where Antonio is on hand to trundle in from a yard or two. West Ham deserve this!

1.13pm GMT

42 min: Lingard probes down the right, with City again on the back foot. He can’t find the killer pass, but he’s been really lively this afternoon.

1.12pm GMT

40 min: It’s possible, had Antonio scored, that VAR would have fingered Lingard for being a shade offside. But it would have been close, and the naked eye sees nothing these days.

1.11pm GMT

39 min: West Ham come so close to equalising! Dawson sprays a glorious pass wide right for Soucek, who feeds Lingard down the wing. Lingard crosses. Fornals swipes and misses. Antonio, on the penalty spot, traps, swivels, and drags a shot towards the bottom left. It clips the outside of the post and out. What a fine move.

1.08pm GMT

37 min: City are oozing class now, spraying it about hither and yon. Gundogan and De Bruyne take turns to bring down awkward balls and wriggle out of tight spots. Mahrez sprays a pass wide for Walker, whose fierce low cross is blocked. This is lovely to watch.

1.06pm GMT

35 min: De Bruyne whips in from the left this time. Randoph stoops to claim with safe hands, a fine intervention with City shirts lurking around him.

1.04pm GMT

33 min: Poor West Ham, they’d started so well, too.

1.04pm GMT

32 min: Walker goes long, and the suddenly extremely busy Randolph is forced to race from his box and blooter clear under pressure from the storming Aguero.

1.04pm GMT

31 min: The City tails are up now, Torres whistling a shot straight at Randolph. West Ham try to respond positively, Fornals nearly reaching a long pass down the right channel, but the ball pings off him for a goal kick.

1.02pm GMT

... but City recycle possession down the right. De Bruyne fires a heatseeking cross towards Stones and Dias at the far post. Dias gets there, rising high and battering a header past Randolph, who finally has something to do, picking the ball from his net.

1.00pm GMT

29 min: Johnson doesn’t seem on it this afternoon, and he’s now booked for hauling Mahrez down, a cheeky tug on the shoulder. It might be a long shift now for the young left-back. The resulting free kick leads to a corner, which leads to nothing.

12.59pm GMT

27 min: West Ham sweep upfield, Coufal, Soucek, Antonio and Lingard combining well, from the right-back position to the left wing. Johnson lets everyone down with a poor pass infield, Walker intercepting, West Ham having committed men in attack. Shame, that was a fine flowing move.

12.57pm GMT

26 min: In fact, City haven’t had an attempt on goal yet, either on or off target. David Moyes will be extremely happy with the way this is going.

12.56pm GMT

25 min: Aguero tries to spin Coufal down the inside-left channel. He’s clipped. Nothing comes of the resulting free kick, and Aguero is a picture of frustration. A big frown. He’s been waiting for this for months, and City haven’t worked an opening of not yet.

12.54pm GMT

23 min: West Ham have the air of confident men. No wonder: only City are ahead of them in the recent form table.

12.52pm GMT

21 min: Torres and De Bruyne attempt to open up West Ham with a crisp one-two down the left. Too crisp. Goal kick. West Ham continue to hold firm.

12.51pm GMT

19 min: Cresswell slips a pass infield from the left. Lingard loops it to Soucek at the far post. Soucek heads back across goal, hoping to tee up Antonio. Ederson and Zinchenko get in an awful muddle, clattering into each other, the keeper flapping, but the ball doesn’t drop to Antonio. Lingard has a slam from a tight angle on the left. Just a corner, that leads to nothing, but for a second there City were in panic mode.

12.48pm GMT

17 min: De Bruyne tries again down the inside-left flank, and nearly releases Aguero into the box with a through ball. But the West Ham gate slams shut again.

12.46pm GMT

15 min: Lingard has a probe down the left but City swarm him and he’s forced to turn tail. West Ham will be happy enough with their start, though.

12.45pm GMT

14 min: You can’t keep De Bruyne quiet for too long, though, and here he zips past three men down the inside-left channel, bursting into the box and cutting back for Torres. A fresh-air swipe allows Rice to clear, though the West Ham captain takes a whack in his Special Zone and is forced to take a couple of sharp intakes of breath.

12.43pm GMT

12 min: Mahrez troubles Johnson again down the right, and draws a foul. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box for the free kick. De Bruyne’s delivery is uncharacteristically woeful, and easily cleared by the West Ham defence.

12.42pm GMT

11 min: Some space for Mahrez down the right. He drops a shoulder to glide past Johnson, but his curl into the box is headed away easily by Dawson.

12.41pm GMT

10 min: West Ham seem happy to commit men in attack. Rice bursts down the middle and feeds Soucek, who nearly finds Coufal romping down the right. Zinchenko reads the danger and intercepts without fuss.

12.39pm GMT

8 min: City go again with the metronomic passing. The Hammers are holding their shape well, though, and City haven’t achieved anything in the final third yet.

12.38pm GMT

6 min: Ederson plays a ludicrous pass out from the back, towards Fernandinho, who has Soucek right on his shoulder. Fernandinho flicks away from danger just in time. Soucek slides in, and it’s a foul, but he was entitled to compete for that. City’s keeper gets away with one.

12.35pm GMT

4 min: De Bruyne’s fancy flick down the left nearly releases Gundogan into the box. West Ham clear long, and Dias deals with the situation under pressure from Lingard and Antonio. A sign that West Ham will be happy to press high up the pitch and ask City a few questions, perhaps.

12.33pm GMT

2 min: It’s not long before City are pinging the passes around in a very confident style, befitting a team on a 19-win tear-up.

12.31pm GMT

West Ham get the ball rolling ... but only after the knee is taken. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.

12.27pm GMT

The teams are out! City wear their sky blue, while West Ham sport third-choice black. We’ll be off sooner rather than later.

12.17pm GMT

Both of the managers have been talking to BT Sport. Nothing much to report, other than Fabianski had his arm “stood on” during training and it’s “swollen up”. Guardiola and Moyes both agree that City are in good nick right now. “We have a fantastic squad and everyone deserves to play,” Pep says, while Moyes adds: “They’re a test for anybody ... they’re the in-form side ... their squad is so strong and they’re fit as well ... they’ve got a very strong team.” And that’s all they wrote.

11.40am GMT

The big news: Sergio Aguero is back, making his first start for City since October, when he faced ... West Ham. He’s one of seven changes to the team that won in Monchengladbach during the week. Also back in: John Stones, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kevin De Bruyne, Ferran Torres, Fernandinho and Riyad Mahrez. Dropping to the bench: Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus. It’s fair to say City have a decent squad.

West Ham make two changes to the side that beat Spurs last weekend. Lukasz Fabianski injured his elbow in training, so Darren Randolph pulls on the gloves. Jarrod Bowen makes way for Ben Johnson.

11.32am GMT

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Mahrez, Aguero, Torres.
Subs: Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Steffen, Laporte, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Mendy, Joao Cancelo, Foden.

West Ham United: Randolph, Diop, Dawson, Cresswell, Coufal, Soucek, Rice, Johnson, Fornals, Lingard, Antonio.
Subs: Balbuena, Benrahma, Lanzini, Noble, Bowen, Martin, Trott, Odubeko.

5.12pm GMT

Manchester City are hoping to make it 20 wins in a row in all competitions today. Twenty in a row! This carry-on is beyond outrageous, but City’s amazing run can be partially explained by Pep Guardiola’s mindset, and his ability to compartmentalise, taking things one careful step at a time. “The challenge is not to win 20 or 21, the challenge is to beat West Ham. This is the only challenge that we have. The results are a consequence of what we do day by day. When you win you are a genius and when you lose you are a disaster. I don’t listen much.”

City have done much of this without the injured Kevin De Bruyne, who could return to the starting XI this weekend. “He’s fully fit.” Three small words from Pep that will send a shiver down the division and up David Moyes’ spine. The Hammers have lost on their last four visits to the Etihad, and have been on the wrong end of some City spankings in the last few years: two 5-0s, a couple of 4-0s, and a 4-1. But they did grind out a draw at the London Stadium back in October, and they’re fourth in the league right now, deservedly so. City are strong favourites, of course they are, but all hope is not lost.

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Published on February 27, 2021 06:49

February 26, 2021

Manchester United v Milan in Europa League last 16 and more – as it happened

All the latest news, press conferences and previewsPremier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

4.55pm GMT

With Mr Roy having taken the headline slot, that’s us done for the day. Thanks for reading. Hope to see you all tomorrow: there will be MBMs of City-West Ham, Leeds-Villa and Newcastle-Wolves, plus Clockwatch of course. Enjoy your Friday night in!

4.51pm GMT

In-form Fulham hope to make it five matches unbeaten at Crystal Palace on Sunday. Their former boss Roy Hodgson will do all he can to deny them, but once his current team conclude their business with the Cottagers, he’ll be “rooting” for them to stay up. He says: “It’s a club I have enormous affection for and, alongside Palace, there’s no doubt they would be the two clubs where I would have the most affection here in England. Once this game’s over, and hopefully we’ve sent them packing without any points from this game, I shall be 100 per cent behind them in every other game and certainly rooting for them to stay in the league. In Scott and his coaching staff they have the men there to do it and they have the playing staff, too. We have enormous respect for them. We’ll have to pull out the stops if we’re going to be smiling at the end of the game.”

4.43pm GMT

Celtic host Aberdeen tomorrow, hoping to close the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership to a mere 15 points. With Rangers now a dot on the horizon, a tenth title in a row appears little more than a pipe dream, a state of affairs that cost Neil Lennon his job this week. Their captain Scott Brown has made it clear that he doesn’t want to take over. “I am still too young for that,” he says. “Now is not the right time for me to be jumping into becoming a player/coach or a coach or anything like that. I think I’ve still got a lot to offer on the field or with the lads on the training ground.” Brown also paid tribute to his old boss. “The manager is a legend of the club as a player and as a manager. He’s had two spells and there’s always going to be ups and downs, always going to be heartbreaks but I’m sure the manager will be feeling as bad as everybody else.”

4.35pm GMT

Tomorrow’s lunchtime game could see Manchester City go 13 points clear at the top before anyone else has had a chance to kick a ball. The match preview is in. Here ‘tis.

4.25pm GMT

Some very sad news regarding Leeds United legend Peter Lorimer. The club have announced that he is “currently in a hospice battling a long-term illness”. A statement adds: “Peter, his wife Sue and their family would like some privacy at this time, but also want to thank the Leeds United fans across the world for their wonderful messages of support. The club will update fans on Peter’s progress in due course.”

God speed, Lash. Even in that Revie side, packed to the rafters with genuine all-time greats, Lorimer stood out. Here are 20 snapshots of his genius.

4.15pm GMT

The last Fiver of the week, thank goodness, has landed. Here it is. If you’re not a subscriber, get on board. It’s free, and the unsubscribe tool is easy to use, if you suddenly feel you’ve made a terrible mistake.

4.10pm GMT

Just clock-watching until you knock off for the weekend? Us too. This quiz may help you waste a few minutes. We’re wishing our lives away, you know.

4.00pm GMT

Some rare good news for Newcastle, with the Toon hovering precariously above the relegation zone. Federico Fernandez could return to the defence for the visit of Wolves; Joelinton has recovered from the knock he received in the defeat to Manchester United; and the fit-again Martin Dubravka could return in goal in the wake of Karl Darlow’s average performance at Old Trafford. Wolves, who are looking to make it five Premier League matches without defeat, will still be without Willy Boly and Daniel Podence.

3.50pm GMT

A bit more on the upcoming Chelsea-United clash. Thiago Silva, out with a thigh injury picked up during the 1-0 win at Tottenham at the start of the month, won’t make it. He’ll return to full training next week. Chelsea have no other injury concerns, though. By contrast, while Manchester United are hopeful that Edinson Cavani, Donny Van De Beek and Scott McTominay can return, and that Dan James recovers after limping off with a calf problem against Real Sociedad, nothing is yet certain.

3.45pm GMT

Aston Villa return to Elland Road tomorrow for the first time since April 2019. That was a brouhaha for the ages, huh? Both teams were gunning for promotion, and the tinderbox exploded when Mateusz Klich played on after Jonathan Kodjia was down injured, scoring to put Leeds ahead. Cue a big cartoon cloud with boots and fists sticking out of it. Anwar El Ghazi was sent off after locking horns with Patrick Bamford, the striker later copping a two-match ban for conning the referee with a dive. Marcelo Bielsa cooled everyone’s boots by allowing Villa to score an unchallenged equaliser, a gesture of sportsmanship that earned the Leeds boss a Fifa Fair Play Award. The match finished 1-1, a fatal blow to Leeds’ promotion hopes.

Now, we’re supposed to think of the kids, aren’t we. But come off it and come on. More, please!

3.35pm GMT

Stamford Bridge hosts the game of the weekend, if we’re playing by the usual rules, as Chelsea host Manchester United. It’ll be the third time Thomas Tuchel has faced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this season, PSG and United having met in the Champions League groups last autumn. They also went up against each other in the 2018-19 knockouts, and as things stand, both managers have two wins to their name. Interestingly enough, all four of those PSG-United matches were won by the away side, so United’s long unbeaten run on the road is understandably giving the new Chelsea boss pause. “We know that it is a big challenge because of their unbeaten away record so far,” he says. “We know what we are up against, a team that can hurt you any second with individual quality and with speed. They are a strong team away, they can defend very compact and they are very, very good in transition. Whoever plays it will be a big challenge to defend all this, to defend counter-attacks. The implications are huge. If we get a win out of this game, it is huge and if they get a win, it is huge for them to increase the difference between us.”

3.25pm GMT

Nuno Espirito Santo is “totally confident, for sure” that Raul Jimenez will play again before the end of the season. Jimenez fractured his skull at Arsenal in November, clashing heads with David Luiz, but the 29-year-old striker has returned to light training, raising the prospect of a return this season. “The speed [of his recovery] is the speed that we need to follow,” Nuno says. “We have to be very aware of the circumstances and avoid any kind of contact. He’s been able to participate in the initial part of the training sessions. Just him being with his teammates is a big help for him, and for us. We are following the right protocols with no rush, but we’re delighted Raul is getting better and better day by day. It’s fantastic for us.” The Mexican international has been a big miss for Wolves, having scored 27 goals in all competitions last season and seven in 15 appearances for club and country during this one.

3.17pm GMT

Jurgen Klopp reports that Diogo Jota has looked sharp in training, to the point that he may return from injury on Sunday evening at Sheffield United. Fabinho and James Milner are unlikely to make it, though, while Jordan Henderson is out for at least a month after groin surgery. Klopp also declined to comment on whether Alisson would be involved, in the wake of the tragic death of the keeper’s father in a swimming accident back home in Brazil. “No comment about that. There’s nothing to say. I don’t want to read anything tomorrow I said this or I said that. It’s not the time for that. We didn’t think about that [his playing on Sunday] so far, really.”

3.06pm GMT

First Jose with his pressure-as-oxygen musings, now Zen Pep. There must be something in the air today. Patchouli oil, we’ll be bound.

3.04pm GMT

A bit more on Pep from Jamie Jackson, our man in Manchester: Pep Guardiola has spoken of his admiration for David Moyes, comparing him to the zen-like presence of a certain deity. “The season [of West Ham] speaks for itself, the way he understands football - he has a lot of experience. I dream of arriving one day in his position - like everything is calm. He is like Carlo Ancelotti: everything is calm, they live like Buddha life, in the good and bad moments.”

3.00pm GMT

Blues blues. Birmingham City are in a right state at the minute. They host QPR tomorrow, desperate for a win that would keep their heads above water: they’re currently just one place and two points above the relegation zone, having played a couple more matches than 22nd-placed Rotherham. A run of four losses in the last five, and 11 in the last 16, suggest hopes won’t be stratospherically high. Time perhaps to dream of better times, salad days, and our Sports Network can take you there.

2.50pm GMT

Pep has also been heaping praise on his opponent in the dugout tomorrow, the rejuvenated David Moyes. “I admire this type of person, like [Roy] Hodgson. They have incredibly long careers. I would love to have these careers for many years and the passion to do the job. I cannot forget my first game in the Premier League was against Sunderland and [Moyes] was the manager there. He was so kind to me, he gave me some advice about the Premier League: try to buy the best wine as possible to invite the manager when you win the game!” Should you still need help, Pep...

2.41pm GMT

Manchester City are hoping to make it 20 wins in a row in all competitions tomorrow. Twenty in a row! This carry-on is beyond outrageous, but City’s amazing run can be partially explained by Pep Guardiola’s mindset, and his ability to compartmentalise, taking things one careful step at a time. Ahead of tomorrow’s visit of West Ham, he insisted: “The challenge is not to win 20 or 21, the challenge is to beat West Ham. This is the only challenge that we have. The results are a consequence of what we do day by day. When you win you are a genius and when you lose you are a disaster. I don’t listen much.” And to think City have done much of this without the injured Kevin De Bruyne, who could return to the starting XI this weekend. “He’s fully fit.” Three small words from Pep that will send a shiver all the way

up and
down the division.

2.32pm GMT

On the subject of Burnley, and indeed Spurs, Sean Dyche has laughed off reports linking the Lilywhites to Nick Pope. A £50m summer bid for the Burnley keeper has been mooted, but Dyche isn’t having any of it. Workshopping another of his stand-up bits, the Clarets boss quipped: “If they offered a bag of crisps and a pint of lager, the way things are going, I might actually take it. If someone can find a way of changing the rules of the country to get me a pint and a bag of a crisps, I’d have to try and hang on to Popey best I could.” A strong whiff, post the success of Lookie Likeys, of difficult second album syndrome here. But good news for Burnley fans, who will be hoping the club keeps hold of a very fine shot-stopper.

2.24pm GMT

Jose Mourinho has responded to folk questioning his work at Tottenham Hotspur. Mourinho has come under intense scrutiny after five Premier League defeats in six, but he exuded calm this afternoon, claiming that pressure is his oxygen. In a statement that veered dangerously close to beat poetry, he explained: “The problem is if you don’t have pressure. I felt in trouble when I was at home and did not have pressure for a few months. That’s the problem. It comes like oxygen. It is our life.” Spurs host Burnley on Sunday afternoon, and could do with three points that would take them up to eighth, providing Leeds do a number on Aston Villa tomorrow night.

2.11pm GMT

Thanks Baz. Right, I’ll just need to acclimatise, see what’s what, a process that could take anything between five minutes and two-and-a-half hours. In the meantime, I can exclusively reveal, having just come off Fiver duty, that today’s edition of everyone’s favourite tea-time football email will be

as teeth-grindingly unfunny as ever
about the Europa League draw. If that’s not incentive to stay awhile, I don’t know what is.

2.05pm GMT

Parish notice: With piping hot press conference chat to come from Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp, among others, it’s time to hand this blog over to somebody who knows what they’re doing. Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for Mr Scott Murray ...

2.01pm GMT

Southampton: Hasenhuttl has also told reporters that Takumi Minamino will miss Monday night’s ding-dong with Everton, while Theo Walcott will not be fit until after the international break.

1.57pm GMT

Southampton: Ralph Hasenhuttl has announced that Oriol Romeu is out for the rest of the season. Having made one of the greatest tackles in Premier League history, the Spanish midfielder later hobbled off during his side’s midweek defeat at the hands of Leeds. X-rays have revealed he has fractured his ankle and will miss the rest of the season.

1.44pm GMT

Manchester United: Speaking of Ole, the Manchester United manager has revealed that Juan Mata will be out for a couple of weeks with injury, but Donny van de Beek, Scott McTominay and Edinson Cavani are all available for selection for United’s game against Chelsea on Sunday. Daniel James, will need to be assessed, while Paul Pogba remains sidelined and will miss “a few weeks more”.

1.39pm GMT

Newcastle United: Steve Bruce further incurred the wrath of Newcastle United fans for having the temerity to actually smile while talking to Ole Gunnar Solskjær in the immediate aftermath of Newcastle’s defeat at the hands of Manchester United last Sunday.

“Listen, I’ve known Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for 20 years,” said Bruce when this very, very important issue was raised at his press conference this morning. “If I’m caught smiling with him ... he was complimenting us on how well we played. That’s it. If that’s a bad thing that I’ve smiled with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer then ... unfortunately ... OK. Let it be.”

1.19pm GMT

Some Europa League admin: Because Uefa rules preclude teams from the same city playing at home on the same night, it seems likely that the fixtures in Tottenham’s tie against Dinamo Zagreb will be switched around. Spurs have said they will confirm the nitty-gritty of their schedule in “due course”.

1.13pm GMT

1.00pm GMT

West Brom v Brighton: Deep in the relegation mire, West Brom host Brighton in tomorrow’s 3pm kick-off and are in desperate need of a win. Graham Potter’s side somehow contrived to lose against Crystal Palace on Monday despite bossing them in every available metric apart from the only one that really matters: the scoreline.

12.44pm GMT

Dinamo Zagreb v Tottenham Hotspur: Tottenham last met Dinamo Zagreb in the old Uefa Cup on 6 November 2008. It was an easy win for Spurs, who prevailed 4-0 courtesy of a Darren Bent hat-trick and a goal from Tom Huddlestone.

12.40pm GMT

Olympiacos v Arsenal: These clubs are no strangers to each other, having met in last season’s Europa League knockout stages and the 2015 Champions League group stages. In all four games, the home side lost. They also met in the Champions League in 2009-10, 2011-12 and 2012-13.

12.34pm GMT

Manchester United v AC Milan: The last of Manchester United and AC Milan’s meetings came in the 2009-10 Champions League Round of 16. United progressed on that occasion, winning 3-2 at the San Siro before spanking the Italian side 4-0 at home. It was a bittersweet return to Old Trafford for David Beckham, who came on as a sub for AC Milan on a night Wayne Rooney scored twice. Ji-sung Park and Darren Fletcher also chipped in with goals to see their side into the last eight.

12.29pm GMT

Rangers v Slavia Prague: Slavia Prague will probably also be happy with what looks like a pretty kind draw. The sides have never met before.

12.28pm GMT

Rangers v Slavia Prague: Rangers will probably be happy with what looks like a pretty kind draw.

12.27pm GMT

And that concludes the draw for the Round of 16 for this season’s Europa League and there’s some interesting match-ups, with perhaps Manchester Un ited’s tie against AC Milan the pick of them.

12.20pm GMT

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12.13pm GMT

Some draw admin: “It’s a completely open draw,” says Mr Heselschwerdt. He invites Hakin to give the balls in the official Uefa tombola a good swirl as he reads out the teams who are left in the comeptition. Here we go ...

12.11pm GMT

Sound the Hakin Yakin klaxon! The former Swiss midfielder, who played for Basle and Young Boys, is welcomed on stage and proceeds to address Pedro in German, a language I’m sorry to say I do not speak. He appears to be singing the praises of Young Boys for making it to the last 16. “For a Swiss player, it’s always a highlight to play in European competition,” he says.

12.08pm GMT

Michael Heselschwerdt speaks. Uefa’s head of club competitions takes to the stage to express his regret that delegations from the various clubs left in the comeptition can’t be in attendance today. He goes on to thank clubs for their cooperation and flexibility in these difficult times and congratulates Granada and Slavia Prague for making it through to the final 16.

12.05pm GMT

Good things come to those who wait. As ever, these Uefa draws are preceded by what can seem like no end of pomp and ceremony and we’re currently being treated to a montage of highlights from The Road to Gdansk, where this year’s final will be played.

12.03pm GMT

They’re ready to go in Nyon. Handsome, debonair Uefa media chief and former Guardian Football Weekly contributor Pedro Pinto is chairing proceedings and is looking typically dashing in a nice navy blue suit.

11.40am GMT

Europa League: The Round of 16 draw is scheduled to take place at Uefa HQ in Nyon at noon (GMT) and fans of Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal and Rangers will be tuning in with interest. The four British teams will be joined by AC Milan, Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb, Dynamo Kyiv, Granada, Molde, Olympiacos, Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk, Slavia Praha, Villarreal and Young Boys . There is no seeding or country protection, which means teams from the same leagues can be drawn against each other.

11.36am GMT

Everton: Carlo Ancelotti has announced he is in for the long haul and wants to be in charge of the club when they move into their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock in 2024. Everton’s plush new 53,000-capacity ground is scheduled for completion in time for the 2024-25 season after being approved by local councillors this week, while the Italian’s contract is due to expire at the end of the previous season.

I would like to stay as long as possible,” said Everton’s manager. “I would like to be there when the new stadium will be opened. It will be a good achievement for me, of course. I think to finish the contract in 2024 you did a good job and when you did a good job the contract will not be stopped in 2024, it will continue.”

11.04am GMT

Newcastle United: Steve Bruce has been addressing the press ahead of Newcastle’s match against Wolves at St James’ Park, where a large banner calling for his dismissal was left last overnight. Fourth from bottom of the table and just three points ahead of upwardly mobile Fulham, Newcastle are in grave danger of sleepwalking towards relegation and the natives on Tyneside are increasingly restless.

“When the daffodils are up the crux of the season is upon us,” he said, channeling his inner William Wordsworth while talking about the likelihood of Newcastle getting relegated. “We’ve still got a lead but it seems Newcastle are the only ones in it. There are six or seven teams. You can talk about tactics as much as you like, it’s all about players.”

10.50am GMT

West Ham: David Moyes has dismissed talk linking him with the vacant manager’s job at Celtic, telling reporters he is “going nowhere”. The Scot is one of several men to have been linked with the Celtic gig since Neil Lennon’s resignation earlier this week.

“I’ve got no intentions of going anywhere,” he said this morning. “I’ve already spoken to David Sullivan, we’re up to date and things are quietly ticking along. “I don’t want anything to get in the way of what we’re doing just now. I’m not going to come out and say I’m signing a big contract or doing anything else that in any way might change things around. I just really want to go about the job and try and be professional.”

10.42am GMT

Aston Villa: Dean Smith has revealed that Jack Grealish will miss out on Villa’s match against Leeds United at Elland Road tomorrow evening as he recovers from a leg injury. Villa’s star was also absent for his side’s defeat at the hands of Leicester City last weekend, prompting a subsequernt storm in a teacup after Leicester got wind of his injury when several Aston Villa players removed Greealish from their Fantasy Football teams.

Speaking to the press yesterday, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa said he hoped Grealish would be fit for the encounter, despite the threat he poses. “He is a great player who can unbalance you,” he said. “But I always prefer that opponents have their best players available because even if that fortifies a team, and makes them more scary to face, it’s also a stimulus for us to face such players, to try to neutralise them.”

10.29am GMT

With their coronation as Scottish champions a formality, Rangers spanked five past Royal Antwerp to make it to the last 16 of the Europa League for the second consecutive season. “We wanted to be very bold and we picked two very aggressive, ambitious teams,” said a very proud Rangers manager, Steven Gerrard. “The players deserve all the plaudits that will come their way.” Ewan M urray was at Ibrox for the Guardian.

10.22am GMT

Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side were held at Old Trafford by Real Sociedad, but the four first leg goals they scored without reply were more than enough to see them through to the next round of the Europa League. Jamie Jackson was at Old Trafford for the Guardian ...

10.19am GMT

Arsenal put their fans through the wringer, relying on a late goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to send them through to the last 16 of the Europa League. Bukayo Saka was the hero, picking out his team-mate with a sublime cross to the far post, putting the ball on a plate for Aubameyang in the 87th minute.

10.12am GMT

Brendan Rodgers has taken full responsibility for his side’s strangely flat performance against Slavia Prague last night, when goals from Lukas Provod and Abdallah Sima tsent the Czech team into the last 16.

10.07am GMT

The big news this morning is that Liverpool’s skipper is recuperating after surgery to repair his groin injury and will be sidelined for six to eight weeks. Having been forced off the pitch during last weekend’s Merseyside derby, Henderson joins the very long list of Liverpool’s lame and halt, and will miss as many as 10 Liverpool matches, as well as three England games. We wish him a speedy recovery.

9.56am GMT

Greetings and welcome to our rolling blog covering all the news that’s fit to print (and plenty more that may not be) as we look forward to another hectic weekend of football action. We’ll bring you top content from various managerial press conferences, keep you posted on any big developments and bring you a blow-by-blow account of the Europa League Round of 16 draw from the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland at noon (GMT). Leicester City are out following their surprise defeat to Slavia Prague, but Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester United and Rangers are all in the upturned Uefa hat.

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Published on February 26, 2021 09:13

The Fiver | Leicester City and The Round of Brendan Rodgers

Just as Big Cup has its Round Of Barcelona (the Round Formerly Known As The Round Of Paris Saint-Germain (the Round Formerly Known As The Round of Arsenal)), so the world’s greatest second-rate pan-European competition must have its own bespoke branding for the phase of the tournament whose losers must wonder why they ever bothered. And so Uefa bigwigs convened at Fancy Premises in Nyon on Friday to announce that, from next season, the last-32 stage of Big Vase will be renamed The Round Of Brendan Rodgers, to commemorate the former Liverpool and Queen’s Celtic tactical maestro’s latest hastily aborted foray across the continent. Leicester might even turn up for it next time. Let’s hope Brendan stocks up on tea and toast.

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Published on February 26, 2021 08:00

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