Scott Murray's Blog, page 87

February 5, 2021

The Fiver | Oh for the glory, glory days of Christian Gross

On Thursday evening, a mere three hours after The Fiver’s jobby extravaganza, in which we took advantage of legitimate journalistic reasons to write about jobby and use the word jobby, Tottenham Hotspur took to the field at their pristine stadium and set about defiling it with what appeared to be some sort of still-life tribute to the work of Italian conceptual artist Piero Manzoni. Either that, or it was a garden-variety dirty protest. There must have been something in the air.

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Published on February 05, 2021 08:10

February 4, 2021

Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Chelsea: Premier League – as it happened

Jorginho’s first-half penalty was enough for Chelsea to see off unadventurous Spurs

12.30am GMT

10.29pm GMT

David Hytner was in north London to witness Chelsea’s victory. His report has landed, and here it is. You know what to do: click, click, click! Thanks for reading this MBM. Stay safe and warm, wherever you are. Nighty night!

10.28pm GMT

Jose’s up. “It was a bit of a struggle in the first half. But how many chances? The penalty? So the struggling is what it is. We didn’t have the ball, correct. We didn’t create in the first half, correct. But the struggle is the penalty that decides the game. A couple of chances they had, a couple of chances we had. In the end the penalty is not a penalty that you say, dangerous situation, one on one, almost scoring; it is just a penalty that is difficult to accept, so if you lose the game with a penalty like this, it is a bit painful. But in the second half we were different. The spirit was different, the confidence too. I believe that Lucas and Lamela helped the team to change the dynamic. The team stuck together until the end, fought until the end, and that is a positive thing. To finish the game in a positive spirit helps. It was not easy for us to control it. Vinicius is a player who has an incredible spirit, but his understanding of how to press, the positions of the press, are not something that he is comfortable with. So it was difficult. But no chances. But in the second half we pressed and I think we deserved a little bit more.”

10.14pm GMT

Thomas Tuchel speaks to BT Sport. “Every experience we make is a step forward if we are hoping to learn from it. There were moments in the first half when we totally controlled the game. In the second half we lost a bit of confidence. We escaped the pressure but could not finish. So minute by minute we lost ball possession, but we never lost belief and we never lost the structure or the intensity to defend. If it is necessary to suffer, you have to be ready to suffer. I would like a bit more killer instinct, a bit more aggression in the box towards the goal. There were chances where we lacked a bit of determination. But it’s best if we have something to improve yet we still win. And it was a big win in an away game, and I am very happy. It is not only about tactics, it’s not only about how what we play but how they live it, and they live it 100 percent, with full power and full intensity. We were brave and the winners and it was deserved.”

10.05pm GMT

A word with Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount, named man of the match by BT. “We should have scored more. I had a couple of chances, we had a couple of other chances, we should be more clinical. But we had good possession and it was good to come here and control the game throughout. I thought we played very well. We’re all learning, but obviously it’s going well so far. We are working on different formations, different tactics.”

9.55pm GMT

Thomas Tuchel is delighted. That’s a fine statement victory in only his third match as Chelsea boss. His team climb over Everton and Spurs into sixth, four points off the Champions League spots; Spurs slip to eighth. Chelsea were much the better side, though they made hard work of it in the end, failing to convert all that dominance into more than one goal. Spurs showed a bit of desire in the last ten minutes, and might have snatched something, but were punished for their overall lack of ambition. Much for Mourinho to think about; it’s probably for the best that the stadium was empty this evening.

9.51pm GMT

Chelsea hold on, Jorginho’s first-half penalty the difference. It’s yet another win over their London rivals, who have now lost their last three matches on the bounce.

9.50pm GMT

90 min +3: Hojbjerg, Son and Moura combine crisply down the inside-right channel. The ball is teed up for Son, on the edge of the box. He leans back and sends his one and only half-chance of the match over the bar. That’s the best football Spurs have played all evening. Why leave it so long?

9.49pm GMT

90 min +2: Spurs have possession, but only in the middle of the park. No opportunity to launch a Hail Mary.

9.49pm GMT

90 min +1: Lamela bustles in from the right and curls towards the far post. James is well positioned to clear, with a hopeful Hojbjerg rushing in.

9.48pm GMT

90 min: Werner, just inside the Spurs box on the left, curls powerfully towards the top right. It looks a decent effort, but it’s blocked bravely by Dier. There will be three extra minutes.

9.47pm GMT

89 min: Dier floats a dismal effort wide left of goal. Mendy not forced into work. What a waste.

9.45pm GMT

88 min: Azpilicueta shoves Son to the floor, and this is a free kick in a dangerous position, 30 yards out, right of centre. Azpilicueta is booked for his cynicism.

9.45pm GMT

87 min: Aurier crosses from the right. It’s a sensational ball to the far post. Vinicius rises, six yards out ... but sends his header wide of the bottom-left corner. That’s an awful miss. Despite it all, Spurs should be level.

9.43pm GMT

86 min: Moura spins past Jorginho into space and launches high in the stand. Mourinho applauds.

9.41pm GMT

84 min: Mount swings it in. Hojbjerg makes up for his transgression by heading it clear.

9.40pm GMT

83 min: Pulisic cuts in from the right and is dragged back by Hojbjerg. A free kick 30 yards from goal, right of centre.

9.39pm GMT

81 min: Lamela performs a little ballet along the byline to the right of the Chelsea goal. He’s eventually closed down. But Spurs come again, through Moura down the left. Kante is concerned enough to clatter into him, earning a yellow. Are Chelsea getting a little nervous?

9.37pm GMT

79 min: But this is nice. Lamela dribbles right to left, 25 yards out, and curls powerfully towards the bottom left. Mendy is forced to fingertip around the post. Nothing comes of the corner, apart from a yellow card for Pulisic, for a foul during the move before Lamela’s shot.

9.36pm GMT

78 min: As Spurs toil, a reminder that Gareth Bale is on the bench.

9.35pm GMT

77 min: A wee set-to between Lamela and Rudiger. Some light wrestling, followed by a bit of theatrical frowning, nothing more. The referee reminds both players that they’re grown adults, and we play on.

9.33pm GMT

76 min: Werner slips a ball down the inside-left channel for Mount, who aims low and hard towards the bottom right. Lloris parries clear. Spurs are living dangerously.

9.32pm GMT

74 min: Rudiger sprays a pass down the left. He finds Werner, whose shot is blocked. James picks up the rebound and shoots. Blocked. Finally Pulisic has a go. A third block.

9.31pm GMT

73 min: Kovacic is replaced by Kante as Chelsea look to shore it up.

9.31pm GMT

72 min: Son earns a corner off Rudiger down the right. He takes it short, and quickly. Lamela crosses; Christensen heads clear. A reminder that, for all Chelsea’s dominance, parity is still well within reach for Spurs.

9.28pm GMT

71 min: It’s Pulisic’s turn to drive down the middle at speed. He’s got Werner to his left, but delays the pass, and instead of sending his team-mate clear in the box, is upended fairly by Davies.

9.27pm GMT

69 min: Here’s Justin Kavanagh re my half-time ‘jobby’ count: “it’s not often indeed, Scott. And I reckon if Mourhino continues producing this jobby, he’ll soon be out of a jobby. There, I’ve doubled your daily Scrabble score.” To this end, Jose sends on Moura and Lamela in place of Ndombele and Bergwijn.

9.26pm GMT

68 min: Kovacic strides down the middle with extreme prejudice. He’s got Werner and Mount either side, but opts to go himself. He bobbles a shot wide left. Wonderful run, dismal finish. Ultimately very poor.

9.25pm GMT

66 min: Some heroics in the Spurs goal from Lloris. First off, a header off his own line, Dier nearly chipping his own keeper with an absurdly strong looping backpass. Great improvisation. Then Mount swings one in from the right, Lloris punching clear under extreme pressure, just in time as well, from Pulisic, who was extending to poke home.

9.22pm GMT

65 min: Chelsea make their second change of the evening, swapping Hudson-Odoi for Pulisic.

9.21pm GMT

64 min: Werner works his way down the left and fizzes an extremely tempting cross through the six-yard box. Nobody in Chelsea blue has taken a gamble, though. James retrieves the ball on the right, and tees up Alonso, who lashes wildly over the bar from the edge of the box.

9.20pm GMT

63 min: Hojbjerg breaks the monotony by clattering into Jorginho, earning himself a pointless booking.

9.19pm GMT

62 min: It’s all gone a bit scrappy.

9.19pm GMT

60 min: One corner leads to another. From the second, the ball drops to Rudiger at the far post. He chests down. Dier blocks again, less painfully this time. The flag goes up for offside anyway. “I’m just wondering if the phrase ‘valid journalistic reasons’ has ever been seen within a country mile of the Fiver.” Some harsh but ultimately fair analysis from Daniel Strauss.

9.17pm GMT

59 min: Mount glides down the middle at top speed. He slips a pass to Werner, just inside the box on the left. Werner opens his body to shoot. Aurier nips in from the back, just in time, to toe-poke out for a corner on the right.

9.16pm GMT

58 min: Chelsea ping it around in the sterile fashion. The Spurs snap has slowed a little.

9.15pm GMT

56 min: Chelsea are beginning to rediscover that verve. Kovacic sashays down the middle of the park, one-twos with Mount, and gets a snapshot off. Dier blocks with his trouser arrangement. Ooyah, oof. That’s gotta hurt. He goes down to attend to his special area, but he’s up again soon enough.

9.12pm GMT

54 min: Hudson-Odoi, to the right of the D, drags a low diagonal shot wide left of the post. Not too far away from a second goal that would put Spurs under serious pressure.

9.11pm GMT

53 min: Spurs are snapping at Chelsea’ heels. A little too much here, as Davies clips James. Still, another ref might have allowed play to go on, in which case Vinicius would have latched onto the loose ball and romped into the box from the left.

9.09pm GMT

52 min: Spurs are playing at a significantly higher tempo, albeit for little reward so far. But they have put a stop to Chelsea’s first-half gallop. The visitors haven’t rediscovered their rhythm since the restart.

9.07pm GMT

50 min: Mount spins Alderweireld on the halfway line, and is hacked down for his trouble. A booking for the Spurs defender. No argument.

9.07pm GMT

48 min: Mendy plays an absurdly risky pass out from the back. Son rolls Jorginho and the ball breaks to Ndombele, in space on the edge of the box. The whistle goes for a pretty generous foul. The Chelsea keeper got away with one there. Spurs are within their rights to be a bit annoyed about that.

9.05pm GMT

47 min: It is now really pelting down at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The pitch is getting pretty sodden. Davies flings a cross in from the left, forcing Alonso to turn the ball behind for a corner. Nothing comes of it, but some promising early signs that Spurs are finally coming out to play.

9.02pm GMT

Spurs, who surely can’t continue to play as listlessly, get the second half underway. They have to do something. No changes. “I reckon if fans had been in the ground for the last few games, Mourinho’s position would be in serious doubt,” argues Martin Gamage. “Spurs are playing with such a lack of ambition it’s almost breathtaking in its own way.”

8.53pm GMT

Half-time entertainment. It’s not often there are valid journalistic reasons for repeatedly using the word “jobby” while working for a broadsheet newspaper. You’ve got to seize these extremely rare opportunities when they present themselves. A banner day. Don’t die wondering, folks.

8.49pm GMT

There’s just enough time for Mount to line up a shot from the edge of the Spurs box. Dier deflects it into the arms of Lloris, and the whistle goes. This half-time scoreline flatters Spurs. Mourinho, face like thunder, is down the tunnel like a flash. Cue trenchant discussion in the home dressing room?

8.45pm GMT

45 min: Son drives purposefully down the left, but there are no options for him in the middle. He’ll be counting down the days until Kane’s return. Meanwhile the referee will be counting down two added minutes.

8.44pm GMT

44 min: The half is petering out. “José would seem to be saving his players for the League Cup final, but is completely unaware it has been rescheduled from February to April,” quips Gary Byrne.

8.42pm GMT

42 min: A free kick for Spurs out on the right, and a chance for Spurs to worry Chelsea at long last. Son curls it in nicely. Aurier rises above everyone and sends a downward header wide right from eight yards. He should probably have done better, but that’ll give the hosts a little succour. For all Chelsea’s dominance, Spurs came very close to equalising there.

8.40pm GMT

40 min: Hudson-Odoi’s work down the right wins Chelsea’s fifth corner of the evening. Mount and Hudson-Odoi exchange clever passes, opening up space with Spurs snoozing. Mount’s got time and space in the box, but seriously overcooks a cross that flies over the bar in the rugby-union style. A real let-off for Spurs, who had switched off.

8.39pm GMT

38 min: Chelsea have sure been impressive, but it’s also the case that Spurs have been abysmal so far. A rare occasion where the home side are probably happy the fans are absent. By way of illustration, here’s Guy Hornsby: “This is fun isn’t it. When is José going to realise that Eric Dier isn’t a centre back? It was a brainless challenge in the box. Our back four looks like a bunch of under-11s.”

8.36pm GMT

36 min: A dejected Silva is helped off down the tunnel. He’s replaced by Christensen. “Tottenham Hotspur do know that it’s the team that score more goals that wins the match don’t they?” asks Gary Naylor, of a glory-glory club that certainly used to.

8.34pm GMT

34 min: Everything’s gone to plan for Chelsea so far. But this is an unwelcome sight for them. Silva looks to have pulled something while executing an acrobatic clearance upfield. He’s prone on the turf, wearing the expression of a man who knows his race is run.

8.32pm GMT

32 min: By contrast, Spurs have achieved next to nothing in attack. There’s very little movement. They pass it around the back awhile, unsure of the next move. Eventually the ball is clanked out of play, allowing Chelsea to come back at them. Mount drags a shot wide right from distance.

8.31pm GMT

30 min: There’s a notable spring in Chelsea’s step. Every task is being carried out at pace. Tuchel hasn’t taken long to establish some non-negotiable ground rules, the first step en route to implementing a new style.

8.29pm GMT

28 min: Wily Werner was certainly looking for that penalty, more than happy to topple over Dier’s outstretched leg. But Dier should never have given him the opportunity to do so. Clever play from the striker. None too smart by Dier.

8.26pm GMT

26 min: Chelsea continue to swarm around Spurs, who can’t get out of their final third. This is really impressive from the Gegenpensioners.

8.25pm GMT

No hop, skip or jump by Jorginho. He goes direct, and thrashes the ball into the left-hand side of the goal. Lloris went the right way, but was powerless to stop it. This is no more than Chelsea deserve.

8.24pm GMT

23 min: See 21 min, except replace Silva with Azpilicueta and Hudson-Odoi with Werner. Werner takes up possession in the area. Dier slides in to block. Werner is about to dribble off with the ball. Dier sticks out a telescopic leg, and carelessly clips Werner to the ground. Penalty.

8.22pm GMT

22 min: ... though to be fair to Silva, it continues to lash down in north London, and this pitch is very slick.

8.21pm GMT

21 min: Silva looks to release Hudson-Odoi, who is in acres down the inside-right channel. Too much juice on the ball. Lloris claims. Silva looks sick, an opportunity squandered.

8.20pm GMT

20 min: Dier robs Werner on the edge of the Spurs box, and launches long for Vinicius. He holds the ball up well, and it eventually ends up with Ndombele on the left. Ndombele enters the box and whistles a hard cross-cum-shot into the arms of Mendy. The first time this evening that Spurs have had a whiff of danger about them.

8.18pm GMT

18 min: Ndombele has the ball at his feet, 30 yards out. He tries to find Son in the area with a neat dink forward, but Son fails to read his intent, sprinting the wrong way, and the ball sails harmlessly through to Mendy.

8.16pm GMT

16 min: This is all Chelsea, who have flown out of the traps at an impressive lick. They’ve had over 80 percent of possession during the last five minutes. On the touchline, Jose doesn’t seem too worried about it.

8.15pm GMT

14 min: Mount swings it in to the far stick. Silva reaches to win a header, though he’d have perhaps been better to leave it to Rudiger, just behind him and winding his neck back powerfully.

8.14pm GMT

13 min: Chelsea look really confident here, a team with a plan. That plan seems to be mainly concentrated on their right flank. James finds more space, and pings a cute cross to the far post, forcing Aurier to head behind for another corner.

8.13pm GMT

8.12pm GMT

12 min: Hudson-Odoi has a whack from the edge of the box. It’s not great, but deflected out for a corner. From that, Jorginho has a look. Harmless. Goal kick. It is hosing down.

8.10pm GMT

10 min: Chelsea are stroking it around in a very aesthetically pleasing style. They’re well on top, though how much of that is down to their new manager, or Tottenham’s passive counter-based gameplan, is at this early stage moot. A bit of both perhaps.

8.08pm GMT

8 min: Spurs break from the Chelsea corner, Vinicius barging his way down the middle at speed. He’s got Son as an option, but his indecision is fatal. The counter peters out.

8.07pm GMT

7 min: Kovacic slides a ball down the right for James to chase. It looks like going out for a goal kick, but Davies is taking no chances and slides it out himself for a corner. The resulting set piece is a bit of a non-event, much to Davies’ relief.

8.06pm GMT

6 min: Spurs launch their first sortie into Chelsea territory. Son has a speculative dig from 20 yards, but it’s straight down Mendy’s throat.

8.05pm GMT

4 min: Mount and Alonso exchange passes along the byline, Mount pulling the ball back to Werner on the penalty spot. Werner’s first-time slapshot is blocked by a sliding Davies, but the flag goes up for offside. Alonso the culprit, though it was close, and it’d have been an interesting VAR decision had Werner scored. A crisp training-ground move from the corner, though.

8.03pm GMT

3 min: Chelsea look lively. Hudson-Odoi and Mount combine down the right and earn the first corner of the game. Mount to take.

8.03pm GMT

2 min: Chelsea are on the front foot early doors. Werner is clipped by Ndombele out on the right. Mount swings in the free kick. Spurs have some trouble hacking clear, but manage it in the end. Then James stands on Ndombele’s foot to totally relieve the pressure on Spurs. Accidental, so a free kick, nothing more.

8.01pm GMT

12 seconds: Azpilicueta, quarterbacking from deep, launches long down the middle. Werner gets on the end of it, looping a header from the edge of the box towards the top left. It’s too high, but not by much, and Lloris was backtracking in a panic for a second. What a start that would have been!

8.00pm GMT

Tuchel and Mourinho share a friendly embrace, and then the whistle goes. Both teams take the knee. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out. Chelsea get the ball rolling.

7.57pm GMT

Here come the teams! Spurs are in their lily white, while Chelsea wear blue. Always extra-special when both teams can wear their first-choice gear. One of the more combustible fixtures in the calendar is a mere heartbeat away!

7.46pm GMT

Jose Mourinho’s turn for a chat with Des, and he’s specifically asked about Vinicius. “He came here to face a difficult challenge, but he knew it. As a team guy he comes with that spirit of ‘I’m going to help the team’, especially when Harry Kane is not on the pitch. Let’s not compare the boys, because comparing is not a good thing, but he has lots of energy and an incredible spirit. He’s a popular guy in the dressing room, he’s a target man. We trust him.”

7.45pm GMT

Thomas Tuchel speaks to BT Sport. “I enjoyed my first two matches and now it’s my first London derby and we’re here to win. We have a squad with many good players who deserve to play. We change from game to game to what we think suits us best. Today is Reece James’s turn to show up, and I hope he can. Everybody prefers to play Spurs without Harry Kane, that is clear, but normally we love to play the best in the world, and Harry is one of them, so it would have been no problem. Now we have to adapt and sometimes it is harder to prepare, because you don’t know what solutions the opponent is going to find. So there’s always an up and a down side. But hopefully it’s our game today.”

7.30pm GMT

Pre-match reading.

7.06pm GMT

Tottenham make three changes to the team named at Brighton. Carlos Vinicius, Eric Dier and Serge Aurier take the places of Gareth Bale, Joe Rodon and Davinson Sanchez, all of whom drop to the bench. Vinicius is making his first start in the Premier League.

Chelsea make one change to the side that beat Burnley. Reece James is back, Tammy Abraham dropping to the bench. Kai Havertz has the night off altogether.

7.02pm GMT

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies, Hojbjerg, Sissoko, Bergwijn, Ndombele, Son, Vinicius.
Subs: Doherty, Sanchez, Winks, Bale, Lamela, Hart, Rodon, Tanganga, Lucas Moura.

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

4.28pm GMT

Tottenham Hotspur once went 16 years without a win over Chelsea in the Premier League, so the current wait of two years and two months isn’t anything to be panicking about. Yet. But since then, they’ve lost four and drawn two of their six league meetings. Throw in a semi-final defeat in the League Cup and Chelsea appear to have their London rivals’ number again.

Spurs could do with snapping this winless sequence, and not just because it’s a hot-button local issue. They’re in a bad place right now, having lost their last two, against Liverpool and Brighton, toyed with humiliation against Wycombe in the cup, and seen their star turn Harry Kane hobble off on both ankles. A statement victory tonight would reignite their top-four hopes, and go some way to silencing the whispers suggesting Jose Mourinho is prematurely shifting into his beloved third-season earth-scorching mode.

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Published on February 04, 2021 14:29

The Fiver | It appears the envelope is not all that Bobby Bulloch has been pushing

The role of the co-commentator has evolved significantly over the years. Listen back to very old FA Cup finals on the BBC, and you’ll hear Kenneth Wolstenholme turning to former Arsenal full-back Walley Barnes maybe a couple of times per half for some gentle observations delivered with avuncular pipe-sucking, rocking-chair warmth. Later on, Jimmy Hill would develop a more opinionated style, which usually involved moaning about roughhouse Argentinian tactics at World Cups (‘66 and ‘86) while conveniently ignoring the fact that England were doing most of the fouling, hoofing, shoving and elbowing, displays of blind patriotism so staunch they register 11 on The Fiver’s box-fresh patented Starmerometer™.

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Published on February 04, 2021 08:30

February 3, 2021

Burnley 0-2 Manchester City: Premier League – as it happened

City scored early and never looked back at Turf Moor

8.11pm GMT

Jamie Jackson was at Turf Moor to witness City win their 13th game in a row. His report has landed. Here it is, for your edification - and don’t forget to follow Liverpool-Brighton with Simon Burnton, too. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!

7.51pm GMT

Nothing comes of it, and that’s that. Burnley have done well to keep the score down to a respectable level, having been played off the park by City. A 2-0 loss flatters them. City go three clear of Manchester United with a game in hand. If they win at Anfield on Sunday, they’ll become hot favourites to reclaim their title. They’re pretty strong favourites as it is anyway.

7.49pm GMT

90 min+1: Only just, though. Before it can be taken, the ever-fussy Martin Atkinson chooses to lecture Tarkowski in the high-handed style. A short one’s eventually taken after 55 seconds of that first added minute.

7.47pm GMT

90 min: Sterling cuts in from the left and whistles a shot straight into Pope’s chest. Burnley clear, but City aren’t satisfied, nicking the ball and coming again, Silva winning a corner down the left. It’ll be taken in the first of three added minutes.

7.46pm GMT

88 min: Gudmundsson pearls one goalwards from an ambitious distance. Over it flies. In the dugouts, Dyche seems happy enough with his team’s efforts, clapping some encouragement. They’ve certainly done extremely well to limit City to a couple of goals, given the sheer dominance of the visitors.

7.44pm GMT

87 min: It’s Mumbongo’s turn to go into the book, for a couple of frustrated pecks at the heels of Stones.

7.42pm GMT

85 min: Now Stephens hooks Mahrez’s leg. Just a free kick, but he wants to watch himself here.

7.40pm GMT

83 min: Stephens is booked for clumsily clattering into the back of Mahrez.

7.38pm GMT

81 min: Benson comes on for Westwood.

7.37pm GMT

80 min: City are purring again. Mahrez glides down the right, drifts infield, and finds Silva in the box. Silva can’t sort his feet out, and it’s an uncharacteristic end to the attack.

7.36pm GMT

79 min: After that brief flurry of Burnley activity, normal service is restored and City stroke it around in metronomic fashion. Meanwhile here’s Dave Manby: “What would you do if Jesus came to Liverpool? To which the graffiti artist replied: move Ian St John to outside left.”

7.34pm GMT

77 min: Nothing comes of the resulting free kick. Mumbongo comes on for Rodriguez.

7.33pm GMT

75 min: Ederson has had nothing to do, so boredom may explain why, having come out of his box to clear a long pass intended for Vydra, he over-elaborates. Instead of bashing upfield, he chips the ball to the right, then clumsily upends the nearby Pieters. He’s booked.

7.31pm GMT

73 min: Cork is replaced by Stephens.

7.30pm GMT

71 min: He should have had one, though. Tarkowski clearly clipped Jesus as the pair tussled. For some reason, VAR isn’t interested in this one. What a complete fiasco VAR is. It’s never too late to admit a mistake. We won’t rub it in.

7.29pm GMT

70 min: City are this close to unlocking Burnley in sensational fashion. A ball whipped in by Mahrez from the right. Gundogan, spinning on the penalty spot, could shoot himself but chest-passes down into the path of Jesus. Everything opened up at once! Tarkowsi flings himself in the road to stop a certain goal. Burnley clear, though Jesus goes over in the tussle, claiming a penalty. He’s not getting one.

7.26pm GMT

69 min: It’s raining heavily now. A miserable evening to be out chasing shadows.

7.24pm GMT

67 min: Gundogan shoots from distance. Deflected. Corner. Cleared. Burnley are doing extremely well to keep this score down. Meanwhile here’s ecumenical patter expert Richard Hirst: “Pope saves and Jesus scores from the rebound! It beats the old saying seen outside a Liverpool church: Jesus saves ... but Keegan scores from the rebound.”

7.22pm GMT

65 min: Zinchenko comes on for the ever-excellent Cancelo.

7.22pm GMT

64 min: Burnley finally show in attack, and impressively so. Westwood lobs a long pass down the right. Vydra chests down, swivels and pelts a decent volley inches wide and high of the right-hand corner. That’s their first attempt at goal.

7.20pm GMT

63 min: Gundogan drives diagonally right to left, then tees up Sterling just inside the Burnley box. Sterling steps on the ball and a wonderful chance is spurned.

7.19pm GMT

62 min: City stroll on.

7.17pm GMT

60 min: City continue to dominate utterly. What Burnley would give to hear the final whistle now.

7.16pm GMT

58 min: VAR has to stick its effing neb in, though. Out come the rulers, and this beautiful sport edges one more paper cut closer to death. After a minute of faff, what was spotted by the assistant referee is confirmed by some pen-pusher at Stockley Park.

7.14pm GMT

56 min: After a mesmeric series of passes, City walk the ball into the net. Jesus is sprung into the box on the right. He rolls into the centre for Mahrez, who slams home from a couple of yards. But it’s offside.

7.11pm GMT

54 min: Pope with the heroics again. Mahrez cuts in from the right and curls powerfully towards the top left. Sterling is looking to make sure, racing to head home. Pope extends at full stretch to punch clear. City could quite easily have had three or four goals in this second half already.

7.10pm GMT

52 min: Another long pass down the inside left, and once more Sterling is free and clear. But Pope has read the danger early, racing from his box to blooter clear. The Burnley keeper has more than made up for his early error; this second half could have turned ugly already were it not for his last-ditch interventions.

7.07pm GMT

50 min: Gundogan picks up a loose ball in the midfield and slips an extraordinary defence-splitting pass down the left. Sterling is miles clear! He enters the box and opens his body, hoping to sidefoot past Pope and into the bottom right. Pope blocks brilliantly, though Sterling should have scored.

7.05pm GMT

48 min: Gundogan has a rasp from 25 yards. It’s not far from screaming into the top-right corner. Pope would have probably had it covered, though had it been on target he’d have needed to showcase stronger fingers than he did for City’s opener.

7.03pm GMT

46 min: Sterling is immediately on the front foot, jetting down the left before swinging right for Cancelo, who has a belt from the edge of the area. The shot is blocked.

7.02pm GMT

City get the second half underway. It’s an exercise in damage limitation for Burnley, surely. No changes. Incidentally, the half-time score in the other 6pm kick-off sees Leicester lead Fulham 2-0, Justin adding a second just before the whistle. The pressure piling up on the champions to get a result against Brighton later.

6.57pm GMT

Half-time gig. “Dearest Scott, while we are on a musical tip, please allow me to introduce my all-time Musical Genres XI:

Rock ‘n’ Rolliver Kahn
Joel Matip-Hop
Soul Campbell
Psychederek Mountfield
Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson
Ashley Grime
Jazza
Disco
Niko KranjčaR&B
Michael Chopera
Ole Gunnar Sol-Ska.”

6.48pm GMT

Half-time entertainment.

6.47pm GMT

City have Burnley exactly where they want them. Unless something extremely strange happens in the second half, the leaders will go three clear of Manchester United with a game in hand.

6.46pm GMT

45 min: City continue to swan about, using no more energy than is necessary. There will be one added minute.

6.43pm GMT

43 min: City have got their imperial swagger on again.

6.42pm GMT

41 min: Mahrez brings down a long ball delicately, while racing down the right at top speed. What control. He cuts back for Cancelo, who whistles a shot straight at Pope. For a second, that looked like a third for City.

6.41pm GMT

40 min: Burnley have a chance to get themselves back into the game in short order. Westwood splits the City defence down the middle with one pass. Vydra is clear ... but he sidefoots wide of the left-hand post. Ah, up goes the flag. He’d have been offside anyway.

6.39pm GMT

City triangulate patiently down the right. Suddenly there’s a little pass rolled down the channel to give Gundogan a yard. He enters the box and whips low and hard through the six-yard box. Sterling’s there to tap in.

6.38pm GMT

37 min: Tarkowski wriggles out of danger and sprays a pass wide left for McNeil, whose deep cross becomes easy meat for Ederson. Lovely play by the Burnley defender; shame about the end of the move.

6.35pm GMT

35 min: The corner’s worked back up the right wing to Cancelo, who becomes the latest player to whip viciously into the Burnley box. Pope claims this one. City are beginning to re-establish their early dominance.

6.34pm GMT

34 min: Mahrez loops from the right. Pope punches clear under intense pressure from Jesus. City come back again, Rodri floating a pass into the mixer, forcing Pieters to eyebrow out for a corner on the right.

6.32pm GMT

32 min: Let’s go back to the Eighties. Pope all the way through to Ederson.

6.31pm GMT

30 min: Gundogan sprays right to Mahrez, who lays off to Rodri. He curls with pace towards Silva in the centre. It’s an inch too high. Tarkowski heads clear just before it reaches Jesus. That was a hell of a cross.

6.30pm GMT

29 min: A long pass down the inside-right channel. Suddenly it looks like Vydra is clear of the City back line! But he doesn’t back his pace, and turns tail, all momentum jiggered.

6.28pm GMT

28 min: So having said that, Pope’s forced into action. Sterling swans in from the left and rolls across to Jesus, whose snapshot is deflected high into the air and claimed by the keeper.

6.27pm GMT

26 min: Burnley have worked their way back into this game impressively since that nightmare start. They’ve not forced Ederson into any meaningful action, but then Pope’s had very little to do since his mistake. “Re Lift Off with Dychea: Nick Pope took it a little too literally with his T-Rex arms gaffe on the first goal.” I should have known I could rely on glam rock’s Gary Naylor.

6.24pm GMT

24 min: Leicester City have gone a goal up at Fulham. Iheanacho on 21 minutes. As things stand, Manchester City will go three clear at the top, while Leicester leapfrog Liverpool into third.

6.23pm GMT

22 min: McNeil drives down the left and digs out a fine cross by the corner flag. It loops towards Rodriguez at the far post. Rodriguez can’t win the header, and there’s nobody about for Burnley to make anything of the second ball. City clear.

6.22pm GMT

21 min: Rodri knocks Cork over, 30 yards out, and it’s a chance for Burnley to load the box at the free kick. City deal with the set piece again, but at least Burnley are spending a bit of time upfield now.

6.21pm GMT

19 min: City deal with the corner easily. Then Stones hoicks it long. Tarkowski miskicks and lets Sterling through! Pope reads the danger and comes out to clear ... but he can’t connect either. It looks like Sterling’s going to round the keeper before rolling into an empty net, but Pope recovers his poise, sticks out a leg, and makes a last-ditch tackle that allows him to bundle clear.

6.19pm GMT

18 min: Lowton creams a pass down the right for Rodriguez, who forces the covering Dias into a mistake, Vydra earning a corner from the loose ball.

6.17pm GMT

16 min: A half-clearance drops to Cancelo, who sends a glorious volley towards the bottom left from distance. It’s blocked well by Mee.

6.16pm GMT

15 min: Still all a bit untidy. Burnley have at least disrupted City’s early smooth rhythm.

6.15pm GMT

13 min: The game goes a little scrappy, which will suit Burnley. Here’s Mat Rayner: “Lift Off with Dychea? I stand and applaud! Thanks for the memories.” This isn’t about the praise, it’s just to show that at least one person got the reference to a show last broadcast in 1974.

6.12pm GMT

11 min: Gudmundsson curls long from the right. Vydra can’t get anything meaningful on the cross, and City clear, but that’s a little better from Burnley. Baby steps.

6.10pm GMT

10 min: Burnley can’t get the ball. Given the recent history between these two clubs, this is looking like a long night for the hosts.

6.09pm GMT

8 min: Cancelo strides down the right and swings in for Jesus. Pope does well to claim just before Jesus meets it with his head. Burnley need to clear their heads and quick.

6.08pm GMT

7 min: Gundogan strokes a diagonal pass down the right for Mahrez, who chests down and tears past Pieters in one smooth movement. He rasps a shot straight at Pope, guarding the near post. The flag goes up for offside, though it looked close, and VAR would surely have had a look, so great save.

6.06pm GMT

5 min: Are you thinking about what happened last night too?

6.04pm GMT

Sterling beats Lowton with ease down the left. He slips inside for Silva, who sends a rising shot straight at Pope from an angle. Pope parries, but weakly, the ball dropping to Jesus, six yards out. He heads the rebound into the bottom right, and it’s exactly the start Burnley were dreading.

6.03pm GMT

2 min: Not quite yet. Burnley win it back soon enough, and McNeil sends a ball down the left. Too strong for Vydra. Goal kick.

6.01pm GMT

The knee is taken ... there’s no room for racism, kick it out ... and Burnley get the ball rolling. A long pass forward and a foul. City take up possession. A pattern already set?

5.59pm GMT

Before kick off, the players take a minute to remember Captain Tom. Warm, generous, warm-hearted applause by way of a salute.

Related: Captain Sir Tom Moore obituary

5.57pm GMT

Here come the teams! Burnley wear their famous claret, while Manchester City sport their third-choice kit, turning Turf Moor into Paisley Park. The leaders look relaxed. The smile on their faces, it speaks of profound inner peace. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.

5.49pm GMT

Sean Dyche speaks to BT. “Six points from the last three games has been pleasing. They’re good outfits, the teams we’ve just played. This is a different challenge. We take it on with that freedom that comes when you play these sides, no expectation on us, I think everyone will be expecting them to win, and win well. Our job is to not make that happen. It’s not impossible, but improbable. We need them to have a quiet night. If we’re on a good performance level, you never know.” The sort of straight-talking analysis we’ve come to expect from Burnley’s manager. Hey, if you don’t know him by now, you will never, ever, ever know him.

5.45pm GMT

Peter Oh draws inspiration from the free-jazz press-conference stylings of Sean Dyche: “Too bad Burnley striker Chris Wood is out injured. Not only is he a decent player to watch (see the excellent headed goal against Villa recently), he’s also an uncanny Woody Harrelson ‘lookie-likie’, which adds a Hollywood feel to Burnley matches.”

5.38pm GMT

Pep Guardiola talks to BT Sport. “We don’t play every game to make runs. Your focus always has to be the next one. We can play more fluidly, defend set pieces better. We don’t have much time to train between games, but we try to have specific things to do. Everyone will be so important for the next month.”

5.20pm GMT

Lift Off with Dychea. You want up-to-the-minute pop-culture references? We got up-to-the-minute pop-culture references!

5.10pm GMT

Burnley make two changes to the XI named at Chelsea. Robbie Brady and Chris Wood miss out altogether, both injured, making way for Johann Gudmundsson and Jay Rodriguez.

City make five changes to the starting line-up selected against Sheffield United. Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, John Stones, Joao Cancelo and Rodri come in for Ferran Torres, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fernandinho.

5.08pm GMT

Burnley: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters, Gudmundsson, Westwood, Cork, McNeil, Rodriguez, Vydra.
Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Stephens, Bardsley, Long, Nartey, Dunne, Benson, Driscoll-Glennon, Mumbongo.

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

1.14pm GMT

Manchester City’s last seven results against Burnley: 5-0, 3-0, 5-0, 4-1, 1-0, 5-0, 5-0. Given that Manchester United threw the title gauntlet down in some style last night, battering nine goals past Southampton, the Clarets can be forgiven for being wary ahead of this one, with City presumably preparing some sort of response. The leaders are on a 12-game winning streak in all competitions, while Burnley are coming off the back of insipid defeat at Chelsea. The hosts are priced at 14s for the victory. All signs point to a City victory ... but then nobody expected Burnley to win at Anfield a fortnight ago, and look what happened there. Strange game, football.

Kick off is at 6pm GMT. It’s on!

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Published on February 03, 2021 12:11

The Fiver | Southampton's garden-variety thrashing became Thundering Humiliation II

Manchester United didn’t get off to the best of starts when they visited the Dell in January 1987. After 85 seconds, their inexperienced midfielder Liam O’Brien carted notorious Southampton hard man Mark Dennis into the Solent and was sent for the earliest of early baths, a Football League record at the time. Nick Holmes put Saints ahead two minutes later. But sometimes it’s harder to play against 10 men, isn’t it, eh, yep, you’ve heard that one, and United looked deep within themselves, dug in, drew level after 11 minutes through Jesper Olsen, and resolutely hung on for a well-earned point.

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Published on February 03, 2021 07:58

January 30, 2021

Arsenal 0-0 Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened

Alexandre Lacazette and Edinson Cavani both went close, but nobody could find a winner at the Emirates

12.34am GMT

7.53pm GMT

No word from Mikel Arteta, with attention switching to the Saints-Villa 8pm kick-off. You can follow that here with Simon Burnton. But you can also read David Hytner’s verdict on the big game at the Emirates, which has landed for you to peruse at your leisure and pleasure. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!

7.45pm GMT

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer talks to Sky. “I felt we had the bigger chances to win the game. Decent performances, good defensively, two massive chances in the second half. We had a good performance. You come away with a share of possession, the bigger chances. There was a spell when we dropped off and were a little bit passive, but otherwise I’m pleased with the boys. Wednesday night was a disappointing one, but today was a good performance. We take this point and move on, it’s Southampton again.”

7.35pm GMT

David Luiz, Sky’s man of the match, speaks: “It was a great game. Both teams tried to win. Both had opportunities. It was a proper match. It’s frustrating because we love to win, but we tried our best. We have to try to improve every single day. You have to be humble. The boss is doing a great job. The young boys have progressed a lot and are fantastic. The team has a great atmosphere. We are far from first. But the ambition has to be there, for the first position. When it is mathematically possible, you have to try.”

7.28pm GMT

That’s a new club record set by Manchester United: 18 undefeated away matches in the league. Not that they’ll be particularly pleased with their performance this evening. Alexandre Lacazette came closest to scoring, belting a free kick off the underside of the bar, though Edinson Cavani missed two chances from a combined distance of roughly eight yards, so both teams will go away thinking they might on another day have nicked it. But as goalless draws go, it was more than entertaining.

7.24pm GMT

Both teams had their chances, but this is probably a fair result on balance. Arsenal leapfrog Chelsea into eighth place, while United remain in second, three behind leaders Manchester City having played a game more.

7.22pm GMT

90 min +5: Fred has a lash from 25 yards. Nope.

7.21pm GMT

90 min +4: Nketiah comes on for Lacazette.

7.21pm GMT

90 min +3: Lacazette is groggy, but thankfully there seems to be no need for stretcher and neck brace. He’s gently lifted to his feet.

7.20pm GMT

90 min +2: Lacazette has come off worst. Maguire is up and about again, while the Arsenal striker has yet to get up.

7.19pm GMT

90 min +1: The first of three added minutes is spent seeing to Maguire and Lacazette, the former having executed that aforementioned Harry Kane trick. Suffice to say there will now be more than three added minutes.

7.18pm GMT

90 min: But the short end is, Cavani has now missed two extremely presentable chances in the six-yard box. That won’t have happened too many times in his career.

7.17pm GMT

89 min: Wan-Bissaka curls in from the right. Cavani connects, six yards out, with a low bicycle kick. It’s a wonderful effort, but whistles inches wide right. Martial was standing behind him, and probably better placed, but you can understand Cavani going for it himself.

7.14pm GMT

87 min: Cedric takes, aiming for the top left, but it’s no good.

7.14pm GMT

86 min: Arsenal probe. A few nice first touches for Odegaard. Then Wan-Bissaka kicks Willian up the jacksie and it’s a needless free kick to concede. It’s just outside the United box to the left.

7.12pm GMT

84 min: Bruno slides Greenwood into space down the right. Greenwood pulls back for Martial, who fails to react. Bellerin blooters clear.

7.10pm GMT

83 min: Smith-Rowe, who has been excellent, is replaced by the new boy Odegaard.

7.09pm GMT

81 min: Space for Pepe down the right. He strolls into the box and tries to steer a low diagonal shot across De Gea and into the bottom left. Not far away at all, but wide.

7.07pm GMT

80 min: Some space for Rashford down the right. He enters the box and lashes violently into the side netting. That’s his last contribution tonight: he’s replaced by Greenwood.

7.07pm GMT

78 min: Rashford crosses from the right. Holding clears. Lacazette pulls the Harry Kane aerial trick on Pogba, backing in. Pogba lands awkwardly, but thankfully he’s up and about again quickly.

7.04pm GMT

77 min: Bellerin has a bash from the corner but his shot is easily blocked.

7.04pm GMT

76 min: Luiz takes, the free kick pinging off the wall and out for a corner on the left.

7.03pm GMT

75 min: Arsenal are dominating possession again. Lacazette tries to spin clear down the inside-left channel, between Maguire and Lindelof, and the former decides to take him down. A free kick and a booking for Maguire.

7.00pm GMT

73 min: Willian drifts in from the left and is unceremoniously upended by Pogba, who goes in the book for his cynicism.

6.59pm GMT

71 min: Fred has a whack from distance. It’s deflected into the path of Martial, who prepares to shoot from an angle on the left, only for the offside flag to go up.

6.58pm GMT

70 min: United have steadied the ship after that brief storm. Plenty of probing, albeit to little effect in the final third.

6.55pm GMT

68 min: And so following that, United nearly take the lead against the run of play, Cavani and Martial thinking about shooting from the edge of the box, Shaw firing low into the mixer from the left. Luiz hacks out for a corner, from which Pogba wafts a weak effort straight at Leno from distance.

6.54pm GMT

66 min: And now Smith-Rowe forces De Gea into action, skelping a shot towards the bottom right from 12 yards. Great save this time. Arsenal have come mighty close to scoring on four separate occasions since the restart.

6.53pm GMT

65 min: Lacazette takes. A gorgeous fierce shot, with little backlift. It’s aimed towards the top right, but twangs off the underside of the bar and out! So unlucky!

6.52pm GMT

64 min: A long ball down the right nearly releases Lacazette. Maguire ties himself in knots and is forced to drag his man down, just to the right of the D. Big free kick coming up.

6.51pm GMT

62 min: Luiz advances on the United box and considers a shot. He tries to release Pepe instead. Pepe can’t sort his feet out, so gives it back. Luiz has a crack now. It’s well over.

6.50pm GMT

61 min: Replays show Cavani shot wide. How on earth did he miss from there? Absurd. No clip from Cedric, though the ball may have shaved Leno’s leg, hence the corner. That doesn’t explain the miss, though.

6.47pm GMT

59 min: That’s as close as United have come. Both teams will wonder how they’ve yet to find the net.

6.47pm GMT

58 min: Shaw and Martial one-two their way into the Arsenal box from the left. Shaw fizzes low and hard into the centre. Cavani must surely slam home from close range ... but he’s put off by Cedric, who nicks the shot out for a corner. That was inches wide of the left-hand post. Nothing comes of the resulting set piece.

6.44pm GMT

57 min: Willian gingerly leaves the pitch, but soon perks up and comes back on.

6.44pm GMT

56 min: Willian is down. He looks to have a problem with his left knee. The physio comes on and has a long look.

6.42pm GMT

54 min: Martial and Cavani one-two briskly down the middle. They would have opened Arsenal up were it not for Luiz’s last-gasp interception. Superb football all round.

6.41pm GMT

53 min: The corner’s no good either. United clear easily. But this has been a decent start to the second half by Arsenal. They’ve had 83 percent possession since the restart! Will they come to rue the failure to convert one of those two fine chances?

6.39pm GMT

52 min: Wan-Bissaka is booked for sliding in clumsily on Cedric. This is effectively a corner out on the left. Pepe fizzes it in. Wan-Bissaka clears out for an actual corner this time.

6.38pm GMT

50 min: Nothing comes of the corner. Arsenal come again, Willian reaching the byline on the left and cutting back for Pepe, who creams a first-time effort towards the bottom left. It looks to have the beating of De Gea, but Maguire stands firm to block bravely. Wonderful defending.

6.37pm GMT

48 min: Bellerin crosses from the right. It’s a poor ball, but somehow finds its way to Willian, on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. He should score, with only De Gea to beat, but stabs at the ball with great uncertainty. A weak effort is blocked out for a corner.

6.35pm GMT

47 min: A really scrappy start to the half. Neither team put anything resembling a passing sequence together.

6.32pm GMT

United get the second half underway. They’ve made no changes, but Arsenal have replaced Martinelli with Willian.

6.19pm GMT

Half-time entertainment. In lieu of goals at the Emirates ...

6.16pm GMT

Nothing comes of the corner, and the whistle goes at a good time for Arsenal, with United beginning to ask some serious questions.

6.15pm GMT

45 min: Bruno looks for the top right. Luiz flicks over the bar. That’s fine defending, because it didn’t look like Leno would get to an on-target effort.

6.14pm GMT

43 min: Shaw curls dangerously from the left. Wan-Bissaka takes a fresh-air swipe. Xhaka tries to clear but is dispossessed. The ball lands at the feet of Rashford, one on one with Leno on the edge of the six-yard box. Leno does extremely well to close him right down, forcing Rashford to attempt a dragback before shooting. Blocked. The ball breaks to Bruno, who is upended on the edge of the D. Great chance for United here.

6.11pm GMT

41 min: Corner for United out on the left. Maguire meets it with a header, but it’s tame and straight at Leno. The keepers haven’t had too much to do.

6.11pm GMT

40 min: It’s very scrappy now. Both teams could do with some tactical tweaks. Fortunately opportunity for a pow-wow is coming up soon.

6.08pm GMT

38 min: United stroke it about, though they don’t really go anywhere. The game almost grinds to a complete halt.

6.07pm GMT

36 min: McTominay is really struggling. Down he goes. He looks green. He’s really not enjoying himself. Down the tunnel he goes, hopefully to find some sweet relief. Martial comes on in his place.

6.04pm GMT

34 min: A couple of half-chances for United, as Wan-Bissaka flashes a header wide right, then Bruno curls one wide right from a deep position on the left, using Luiz as a shield.

6.03pm GMT

33 min: Not sure that pill has helped McTominay too much. He’s grimacing and not moving freely. Or maybe moving freely is the exact problem. Poor fellow.

6.02pm GMT

32 min: Rashford tries a Le Tissieresque juggle and volley from 25 yards. It flies wide left by some distance.

6.01pm GMT

30 min: Bruno crosses from the right. Luiz clears. Smith-Rowe swans past Fred and romps into space down the middle. He slips Pepe into space down the right. Pepe reaches the box, throws a couple of dummies, and attempts a curler into the bottom left. It’s inches wide. That would have been a fine goal.

5.59pm GMT

29 min: Pogba, to the left of the D, chips a cute diagonal pass towards Rashford, preparing to volley home from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Martinelli comes to Arsenal’s rescue, reading the danger and racing back in time to head out for a corner, just before Rashford can connect. Nothing comes of the set piece.

5.58pm GMT

27 min: Martinelli storms in from the left and curls towards Lacazette at the far post. The inswinger takes Maguire out of the game, but there’s a little too much on it, and the ball evades the striker, just, flying out for a goal kick.

5.57pm GMT

26 min: Pepe glides in from the right flank and swans past Shaw, who is forced to stick out an arm and drag him back. A free kick 25 yards out. Xhaka curls it to the far post, where Luiz loses Wan-Bissaka and heads across the face of goal. Nobody in red reacts. That was well-worked.

5.55pm GMT

25 min: Bellerin has a whack from distance. His shot is deflected out for a corner on the right. Pepe takes, and Xhaka aims a header towards the top right. It’s easy for De Gea.

5.53pm GMT

23 min: Cavani drives down the right and forces Holding to toe-poke out for a corner. Before it can be taken, McTominay trots to the touchline, clutching his stomach. He’s given a pill to settle things down. The corner comes to nothing.

5.51pm GMT

21 min: A little bit of space for Pepe down the right. He enters the box and has options in the middle, but whistles a wild drive into the side netting.

5.50pm GMT

20 min: Shaw’s corner is half cleared. The ball drops to Fred, who attempts to gently shovel a shot into the top right. It’s heading in, but Leno extends a finger to tip away sensationally. Arsenal deal with the second corner much more easily.

5.49pm GMT

19 min: Wan-Bissaka curls in from the right. Luiz hysterically slices out for the first corner of the game.

5.48pm GMT

18 min: Rashford and Bruno attack down the United right. They’re two on one with Luiz. Rashford enters the box and attempts a one-two with Bruno, to his right. The move breaks down. Cavani, in acres at the far post, seethes with some justification.

5.46pm GMT

16 min: Lacazette strides towards the United box and sends a rising rasper towards goal. It’s hit with venom but straight at De Gea and an easy claim.

5.46pm GMT

15 min: Bruno plants his studs on Xhaka’s heel. Was that a deliberate rake? You’ve seen players penalised for less, but both referee and VAR give him the benefit of the doubt. He’ll need to calm down, something he’s signally failed to do since the incident with Cedric.

5.45pm GMT

13 min: Arsenal and United love a good bench-emptying brawl, and one nearly kicks off here. Cedric sticks an arm in Bruno’s face as the pair contest a high ball. It’s a foul and a booking for the Arsenal man. Bruno explodes in rage, with Cedric up in his grille. He considers throwing hands before deciding against it. Other players rush in, but only to calm things down.

5.42pm GMT

11 min: Luiz strides forward and suffers a huge rush of blood. Attempting a shot from the best part of 35 yards, he nearly manages to hit the corner flag on the right. As ever, full marks for ambition for the ever-entertaining Luiz, if not for execution.

5.41pm GMT

10 min: United press high and hard. Arsenal, with Partey, Cedric and Xhaka in the thick of it, escape well by executing a couple of crisp triangles. A good contest already, this.

5.39pm GMT

8 min: Now Bruno wants a penalty, as he’s nudged by Cedric, the pair contesting Shaw’s deep cross from the left. There’s not much in it, and he’s not getting one.

5.38pm GMT

7 min: Xhaka hangs out an arm, giving Rashford a slap in the face as the pair tussle down the United right. Accidental, according to the referee. We play on.

5.37pm GMT

6 min: Smith-Rowe and Pepe combine really well down the right. The ball’s slipped inside for Lacazette, who twists and turns but can’t work space for a shot. A couple of promising signs for Arsenal down the flanks.

5.35pm GMT

5 min: Arsenal launch their first attack of the evening, Martinelli slipping a pass down the left for Cedric, whose deep cross skims off the top of Lacazette’s head.

5.33pm GMT

3 min: United continue to stroke it around. Arsenal don’t seem minded to pile forward and leave a load of space for the visitors to romp into.

5.32pm GMT

1 min: United are out of the blocks quickly, Shaw racing down the left and reaching the byline after 30 seconds or so. But there’s nobody in the middle yet, so he’s forced to turn tail and the move fizzles out. A very early statement of intent by United, though.

5.30pm GMT

Arsenal get the first half underway ... but only after everyone takes a knee of solidarity, respect, equality and love. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.

5.26pm GMT

The teams are out! Arsenal wear their famous red shirts with white sleeves, while Manchester United sport third-choice black. A world of fun is only a couple of heartbeats away. “I have a partly repressed joy watching Ole resurrect United,” writes Bill Hargreaves. “He has an expression like the lost dog in the park that only wants a good home, only to turn into your best buddy and a stalwart advisor.”

5.16pm GMT

Mikel Arteta welcomes Martin Odegaard. “He is starting on the bench. He’s only done one and a half sessions with us, so he’s not familiar with the way we do it. But we brought him in because we know he can make a difference for us.”

Meanwhile Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has also been talking to Sky: “We have loads of games in a short space of time. [The changes are] not a reaction [to defeat]. There should be fresh legs there today. It’s Arsenal, that should be motivation enough. We haven’t done well here lately but traditionally we have had some good results here. When you lose you want to play again, it’s just the way it is.”

4.52pm GMT

Arsenal will move into seventh if they win tonight. United will remain in second, whatever happens: Manchester City have just seen out a 1-0 victory against Sheffield United, Gabriel Jesus making the difference in the ninth minute, and extend their lead over United at the top to four points.

4.37pm GMT

Arsenal make one change to the team that won at Southampton during the week. Gabriel Martinelli comes in for Bukayo Saka, left out altogether as a precautionary measure with a sore hip. Kieran Tierney and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are both still out, but new loan signing Martin Odegaard might get on a bit later: he’s on the bench.

Manchester United replace nearly half of their starting XI after losing so dismally at home to Sheffield United. Anthony Martial, Axel Tuanzebe, Alex Telles, Nemanja Matic and Mason Greenwood make way for Edinson Cavani, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Scott McTominay and Fred.

4.32pm GMT

Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Holding, Luiz, Cedric, Partey, Xhaka, Martinelli, Smith-Rowe, Pepe, Lacazette.
Subs: Gabriel, Odegaard, Willian, Runarsson, Maitland-Niles, Chambers, Elneny, Willock, Nketiah.

Manchester United: de Gea, Wan Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, McTominay, Fred, Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Pogba, Cavani.
Subs: Bailly, Martial, Greenwood, James, Henderson, Alex Telles, Matic, van de Beek, Tuanzebe.

11.30am GMT

Manchester United haven’t beaten Arsenal in the league since April 2018, when Marouane Fellaini scored a last-minute winner at Old Trafford. They’ve lost 2-0 on their last two visits to the Emirates, and lost this season’s corresponding home fixture 1-0 back in November. Arsenal have picked up 16 points from the last 18 on offer, while United went down flaccidly against bottom side Sheffield United the other day. Form slightly favours the Gunners, then, but when was form a factor in an epic rivalry that has delivered brilliance, bench-emptying brawls, and everything in between? Let the duel commence, this could be a whole lot of fun.

Kick off is at 5.30pm GMT. It’s on!

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Published on January 30, 2021 11:53

Everton 0-2 Newcastle United: Premier League – as it happened

Callum Wilson scored twice to secure a deserved victory for effervescent Newcastle

2.50pm GMT

Andy Hunter’s verdict is in. Be about your business: clickity click! Thanks for reading this MBM.

2.49pm GMT

Some straight talking from Everton captain Seamus Coleman. “It’s obviously a massive disappointment for us. You’ve got to outfight the opposition in this league and today Newcastle wanted it more, which for us isn’t good. But that’s what happened today. As a team, and as individuals, we weren’t up for the fight as much as Newcastle. Words are easy, but it’s all about actions. Ancelotti is not happy, but what happens in the dressing room will stay between us. Newcastle fully deserved it.”

2.43pm GMT

A content Steve Bruce speaks to BT. “When you come here you have to play well to get something. We’ve seen signs against Villa and Leeds. Getting people back fit has been really important for us. But the way they went about their work today was excellent, because it’s been a tough few weeks to say the least, and that’ll give them confidence. We’ve played a certain way for a long, long time, to play deep and play on the counter, it’s something we’ve tried to work on and change. It was good to see them play well. All round, we had some really big players. They all played their part. When we’re all right, we know we’re OK!”

2.31pm GMT

Callum Wilson, man of the match without question, talks to BT Sport. “It’s been a long time coming. We’ve needed to pull our fingers out, to be honest. We’ve shown glimpses over this run of playing better, but today it all came together, with the result as well. Games were going by, we were slipping down the league, we had four or five defeats which is not nice as a footballer. But today everyone to a man stood up to the challenge. I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t get a hat-trick. I’m critical of myself, and I’ll take the two, but should have had three! It was nice to get a performance for Steve Bruce, and for the fans at home.”

2.25pm GMT

A brilliant win for Newcastle! Much needed, too. They’re still in 16th spot, but nine points clear of the relegation zone, their losing streak now a thing of the past. Everton meanwhile remain in seventh.

2.23pm GMT

90 min +4: Wilson has been sensational from start to finish, and thoroughly deserves his two-goal haul. Newcastle deserve this result, too. They’ve played excellently this afternoon. A lot of it very easy on the eye, as well. Everton by contrast deserve nothing. They’ve been extremely poor.

2.22pm GMT

Newcastle break from the Everton corner. Saint-Maximin creams a pass up the left touchline to release Lewis into acres. Everton have committed everyone upfield, and there’s nobody back. Lewis curls into the middle for Wilson, all alone. He takes a touch and lashes the ball past Pickford to seal the points for the Toon!

2.21pm GMT

90 min +2: Shelvey takes. It’s a decent whip, but always sailing over the bar. Everton go up the other end, Digne winning a corner out on the left. Newcastle deal with it. So much so that ...

2.19pm GMT

90 min +1: Keane bundles Wilson to the ground. The Newcastle striker takes a professional amount of time to get back up. Free kick, the best part of 30 yards out.

2.18pm GMT

90 min: There will be five added minutes.

2.18pm GMT

89 min: First up, VAR checks a coming together off the ball between old pals Mina and Wilson. Nothing wrong with that. And there’s to be no upgrade on Hendrick’s yellow either. We play on.

2.17pm GMT

88 min: Nothing comes of the corner, and Everton breathe again. They try to break upfield. Hendrick goes after a loose ball and plants his studs on Richarlison’s boot. Just a yellow, though VAR is going to take another look.

2.16pm GMT

87 min: Shelvey plays a cute pass in from the left for Almiron, who slides Wilson clear. Wilson rounds Pickford on the left, but his shot from a tight angle hits the upright. The ball clanks off Mina and out for a corner. So close to sealing what would be a deserved victory!

2.14pm GMT

85 min: It’s Newcastle’s turn to win a corner. Nothing comes of it, but they’re 60 seconds closer to ending their losing run with an unexpected win.

2.13pm GMT

84 min: Darlow prepares to take the goal kick at glacial speed, and is booked for his cheek.

2.12pm GMT

83 min: Digne crosses low from the left. Hayden blocks the ball onto Richarlison, and it flies out for a goal kick.

2.11pm GMT

82 min: Corner for Everton out on the left. Darlow, a different man from the bag of nerves during the early exchanges, punches clear. Digne tries to return it spectacularly, but that one’s deep in the Gwladys.

2.09pm GMT

80 min: James, quarterbacking from deep, tries to find Richarlison with a long pass down the middle. He does find him, though only by blootering the ball slap-bang in his startled face. A proper slapstick comic cut.

2.08pm GMT

79 min: James is booked for a frustrated swipe at Almiron’s heels.

2.07pm GMT

78 min: So having said that, Coleman weaves dangerously down the right and fires low into the mixer. Schar does extremely well to block with a telescopic leg, blue shirts lurking behind him.

2.06pm GMT

77 min: Newcastle seem pretty comfortable right now. On the touchline, Carlo Ancelotti and Duncan Ferguson stare blankly at a spot exactly one thousand yards ahead.

2.04pm GMT

75 min: Saint-Maximin diddles Keane with a breathtaking twist and spin. The spirit of Diego Maradona lives forever.

2.03pm GMT

74 min: Everton respond through Calvert-Lewin, who drives down the left and wins a corner off Manquillo. But the visitors deal with the set piece easily.

2.02pm GMT

Shelvey sends an outswinger towards Wilson, 12 yards out, level with the right-hand post. Wilson rises high, pivots, and steers a glorious header across the despairing Pickford and into the bottom left!

2.00pm GMT

72 min: Hendrick wins a corner for Newcastle out on the right. And from that ...

1.59pm GMT

70 min: So much for Everton’s second wind. They’re struggling to string more than a couple of passes together. Gomes tries to get things started by pushing a pass down the inside-left channel for James, but it’s too forceful and sails out for a goal kick.

1.57pm GMT

68 min: Saint-Maximin’s first act is to send Hayden into space on the left. A corner’s won. Nothing comes from it.

1.56pm GMT

67 min: Here comes Newcastle’s not-so-secret weapon. Saint-Maximin replaces the quiet Fraser. If Saint-Maximin has half the impact he had against Leeds, Everton will have a few problems to solve in the next 20 minutes or so.

1.54pm GMT

65 min: James crosses from the right. Schar does well to divert the ball away from Richarlison at the far post. Gomes picks up the second ball and wins a corner, but the set piece is no good whatsoever. The first signs of an Everton recovery, though.

1.52pm GMT

63 min: Wilson and Shelvey cause some more bother in the Everton box. Everton hold their shape, but they visitors are getting on top now. A change, then: Iwobi makes way for Gomes.

1.51pm GMT

61 min: Hendrick’s work down the left earns a corner off Mina. Before it’s taken, Keane is booked for a foul earlier in the move. The corner leads to another from the right. Shelvey wants a penalty when his hook hits the nearby Doucoure on the arm, but the referee is quite correctly not interested.

1.48pm GMT

60 min: Shelvey sashays away from two blue shirts in the centre circle and drives down the middle. His pass wide for Lewis isn’t so fancy, and the move breaks down. But after a slow start to the second half, Newcastle are beginning to find their rhythm again.

1.47pm GMT

58 min: Manquillo and Sigurdsson accidentally kick each other while competing for a loose ball. Newcastle get the benefit of the decision. The free kick’s flung in from the right. Schar and Richarlison clatter into each other, the Everton man coming off worse, but after some medical attention he’s up and on his feet again.

1.45pm GMT

56 min: After a fashion, the corner leads to some pinball in the Newcastle box. Calvert-Lewin tries to poke something goalward, but Clark blocks.

1.44pm GMT

55 min: Calvert-Lewin cuts in from the left and curls powerfully towards the bottom right. Darlow fingertips around the post. Corner.

1.43pm GMT

54 min: Lascelles goes down, but doesn’t make a fuss. He quickly leaves the field of play, to be replaced by Clark.

1.42pm GMT

53 min: Space for Fraser out on the right. He curls into the centre for Wilson, who strides into the box ahead of the Everton back line! Wilson meets the ball first time, sending a sidefoot across Pickford and inches wide of the left-hand post. What a chance that was!

1.41pm GMT

52 min: Everton are taking it smooth and slow. Yacht rock in football form.

1.39pm GMT

51 min: Newcastle haven’t rediscovered their first-half verve yet. It’s all Everton, albeit with very little of the action unfolding in the final third.

1.38pm GMT

49 min: Digne, out on the left, fires a diagonal pass to James, who cushions into the path of Calvert-Lewin. The striker has the ball at his feet, just inside the box. He can’t quite sort it all out, and falls over, hoping to get a penalty decision. We’ll never know about that, because it turns out James was a fraction offside.

1.36pm GMT

47 min: Everton hog possession early doors. James slips wide left to Richarlison, who hooks into the middle, hoping to find Calvert-Lewin. Lascelles heads clear, just in time.

1.33pm GMT

Everton get the second half underway. No changes, though Allan Saint-Maximin has been warming up.

1.21pm GMT

Half-time advertisement. A big one later today. MBM to come, but for now ...

1.19pm GMT

The teams trudge off. Newcastle will be happy with their neat, fresh football. Everton not so much. Big team-talks coming up. Nicely poised for some second-half fun.

1.18pm GMT

45 min +2: Richarlison aims a forensic shot towards the top left. Inches wide and high. Frustration is written all over his face.

1.15pm GMT

45 min: There will be three additional minutes of first-half action.

1.14pm GMT

44 min: Everton try to play it out from the back. They get themselves in all sorts of trouble, Newcastle pressing high and hard. Hayden steals the ball on the edge of the box and takes a shot, but falls backwards in doing so. The ball dribbles apologetically to Pickford.

1.13pm GMT

43 min: Lascelles is clipped by Sigurdsson, who jumped into a 50-50 with studs showing. Having just been booked, he needs to take care.

1.12pm GMT

42 min: Newcastle take their sweet time over a free kick in their own half. The ref has a word with captain Lascelles, theatrically tapping his wrist.

1.10pm GMT

40 min: James is down again, in the throes of agony. He’s been clipped on the foot by Hayden this time. There doesn’t seem to be too much in this one, though, and the referee waits patiently for the Everton man to get back up.

1.09pm GMT

38 min: Newcastle are playing some very nice football. This time it’s Almiron who shows what he can do, bustling down the right a couple of times. One cross, hit on the turn while surrounded by blue shirts, was little short of sensational, though Lewis couldn’t take it down at the far stick, under pressure from Coleman.

1.06pm GMT

36 min: Richarlison is this close to planting a curler into the top-right corner. Darlow was beaten, but the ball sails an inch or so wide.

1.05pm GMT

35 min: Shelvey looks for the top right but welts the ball high over the bar. He has the good grace to hang his head in shame. Everton go up the other end, Calvert-Lewin flicking neatly to James, who enters the box from the right and bashes a shot into Darlow’s chest. A good game, this, now.

1.04pm GMT

34 min: Wilson continues to shine. Some cute footwork deep in his own half earns some space and time to launch an attack. Newcastle ping it up the left wing, Hendrick and Lewis combining well. The ball’s slipped infield to that man Wilson, who spins Sigurdsson and is upended just to the left of the D. Sigurdsson goes into the book. It’s a free kick in a very dangerous position.

1.02pm GMT

32 min: That was a fine reaction save by Pickford. Pure instinct. Wilson flashed that header at him from close range. The Newcastle striker looks in the mood today.

1.00pm GMT

30 min: Hendrick whistles the corner towards Wilson by the near post. Wilson flicks goalwards. Pickford fingertips onto the crossbar and out for another corner. The second one is a non-event, but that’s the closest either side has come to opening the scoring.

12.59pm GMT

29 min: An increasingly confident Newcastle are pinging it around nicely. Some very pretty triangles. Then suddenly Manquillo rakes a pass down the right for Wilson, who earns another corner, off Digne.

12.58pm GMT

27 min: Mina isn’t happy at all. An ice pack is applied to his jaw. He’ll be good to continue but he’s quietly fuming. He gives Wilson a hard stare. This may not be the end of it.

12.56pm GMT

25 min: Wilson shaves Mina’s chin with a brush of his forearm. He had a wee look at where Mina was before doing that. No great contact, but you could make an argument for intent. Neither referee nor VAR operative are interested, though.

12.54pm GMT

24 min: Some lovely footwork from Wilson on the edge of the Everton box. He tees up Shelvey, to the right of the D. Shelvey looks for the bottom left. His effort is deflected, and looks to have beaten Pickford, but the ball squeaks wide of the post. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.

12.52pm GMT

22 min: Iwobi races past Lewis down the right far too easily. His cross is eventually hacked clear by Lascelles. Everton come back at Newcastle through Richarlison, who has a bash from distance. It’s parried well by Darlow.

12.51pm GMT

21 min: There we go, it’s that booking we were expecting for Shelvey. It’s for a late clip on James.

12.50pm GMT

20 min: Lewis forces a corner down the left. The set piece is only half cleared. Almiron tees up Hayden, who has a belt from the edge of the D. It’s straight at Sigurdsson and blocked.

12.49pm GMT

18 min: Digne crosses high from the left. Darlow claims confidently under pressure. That should settle those early nerves.

12.47pm GMT

17 min: More space for Iwobi down the right. He scoops into the box but Richarlison is flagged offside. This match has so far been lively if not yet particularly exciting.

12.46pm GMT

15 min: Iwobi drops a shoulder and zips in from the right. He’s clipped from behind by Shelvey. Fairly cynical, and Shelvey’s got to watch himself here. One more foul and you suspect he’ll be in the book. James swings in the free kick. The ball hits the top of the unsighted Mina’s head and sails harmlessly over the bar.

12.44pm GMT

14 min: Shelvey curls it deep. Mina heads clear. Pickford hasn’t had anything to do yet.

12.43pm GMT

13 min: Manquillo has been tidy down the right, too. He prepares to scoot past Digne and is unceremoniously checked. Free kick. Newcastle load the box. Shelvey to take.

12.42pm GMT

12 min: Better from Newcastle, as Wilson and Hendrick combine crisply on the edge of the Everton box, Wilson seeing his shot deflected over for the corner. Everton deal with the set piece easily.

12.41pm GMT

10 min: Shelvey pulls James down by the shoulder. The Everton star stays on the ground, grimacing awhile. Eventually he gets up, not particularly happy. The referee’s not interested in pursuing the matter.

12.39pm GMT

8 min: Everton are clearly smelling blood. Digne crosses again from the left. Darlow punches out for a corner, though he’s not far away from clanking the ball into his own net. Nothing comes of the set piece, but Darlow needs to get it together and quick. He’s been all over the shop so far.

12.37pm GMT

6 min: Darlow’s uncertain start continues, as he mishandles Digne’s cross from the left, letting the ball squirm away from him. It should have been a simple gather, but he needs to hack clear under pressure from Iwobi on the right. Very strange behaviour.

12.36pm GMT

5 min: James curls from the left. It’s a peach of a cross, dropping towards Digne on the edge of the six-yard box. Darlow comes out to punch clear but flaps a bit. Digne’s header balloons over him and very nearly drops into the top right. Just wide.

12.34pm GMT

4 min: Richarlison backs himself in a footrace with Lascelles down the left. He knocks the ball past the Newcastle captain and is cleaned out for his trouble. A no-brainer of a booking, in more ways than one.

12.32pm GMT

2 min: Pickford blooters long. Darlow races out of his box to head clear, and is clattered late by Calvert-Lewin. The referee has a quiet word. A lively start by both teams.

12.32pm GMT

1 min: Newcastle are on the front foot immediately, kicking towards the Gwladys Street Stand. Manquillo drives down the right and forces Sigurdsson into conceding a corner. From that, Hendrick attempts a snapshot from the edge of the box, but it’s easily blocked.

12.30pm GMT

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

12.27pm GMT

The teams are out! Everton wear their famous royal blue. Newcastle could be in their equally iconic black and white stripes, but they’re not. It’s highlighter-pen yellow for the Toon. The early-60s jangle of Z Cars fills the air. We’ll be off in a minute or two!

12.15pm GMT

And now Steve Bruce, explaining why he’s not starting with Allan Saint-Maximin. “He’s been idle for the best part of eight weeks, he wasn’t allowed to do anything. For a footballer, that’s obviously difficult. So we’ve got to gently ease him in. The one thing that we don’t want to do is risk him and suddenly he pulls a muscle. It’s good to see him back.”

12.14pm GMT

Carlo’s turn. “We have two full backs that can push. We want to win and attack but it’s also true that we need balance. We have a lot of respect for Newcastle, they played really well against Leeds, they have a good manager. We focus, pay attention, three points!”

12.03pm GMT

Everton assistant manager Duncan Ferguson has a chat with BT Sport. “It’s been a great atmosphere because we’re winning games. Carlo’s made a massive difference. We scored a lot of goals at the start of the season. The manager’s had a wee look and decided to be a bit more defensive maybe. But we still want to go forward and score goals. Stay positive, keep making the runs.”

11.58am GMT

More pre-match reading.

11.57am GMT

Pre-match reading.

11.39am GMT

Everton make four changes from the side that drew against Leicester City during the week. Abdoulaye Doucoure, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Alex Iwobi and Seamus Coleman return, while Mason Holgate, Ben Godfrey, Tom Davies and Andre Gomes drop to the bench.

Newcastle make just one change to the team that went down to Leeds United at home. Javier Manquillo takes the place of Jacob Murphy. There’s no place in the starting line-up for the exciting Allan Saint-Maximin, who looked sharp in the second half against Leeds.

11.33am GMT

Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Mina, Keane, Digne, Sigurdsson, Doucoure, Iwobi, Richarlison, Rodriguez, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Kenny, Holgate, Andre Gomes, Godfrey, Gordon, Davies, Virginia, Olsen.

Newcastle United: Darlow, Hayden, Lascelles, Schar, Lewis, Manquillo, Shelvey, Hendrick, Almiron, Fraser, Wilson.
Subs: Dubravka, Clark, Matthew Longstaff, Carroll, Joelinton, Saint-Maximin, Gayle, Krafth, Anderson.

3.09pm GMT

Welcome to our coverage of the clash between the 1926-27 champions Newcastle United and the team that took their title away from them the following year. Oh, Dixie Dean, 60 goals in a season. Ah, Hughie Gallacher, 60 pints in a week. But sadly now is not the time for nostalgic reverie. There’s a match on in an hour.

Everton have title-race pretentions, and will leapfrog West Ham United into fifth place if they do the business this lunchtime at Goodison. There’s a fair chance of that with James Rodriguez in form; he scored an absolute peach against Leicester on Wednesday. Newcastle on the other hand are on an awful run, with no win since early December, relegation a very real possibility unless they gather themselves soon. Seven losses in the last nine matches, and one goal in the last four, don’t engender too much hope. But they did play some nice stuff in the second half against Leeds the other night, and if Allan Saint-Maximin is in the zone, you never know.

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Published on January 30, 2021 06:50

January 28, 2021

Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Liverpool: Premier League – as it happened

Liverpool rediscovered the art of scoring to complete a third consecutive league double over Tottenham

10.26pm GMT

David Hytner was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to witness Liverpool’s long-awaited return to form. His report has landed. You know the pack drill: clickity click! Thanks for reading this MBM. Keep safe and warm. Nighty night!

10.24pm GMT

A mightily miffed Mourinho speaks. “It’s hard to resist so many individual defensive mistakes. It is impossible. Unless you score four goals against Liverpool, which is not easy. But every time we act, the next mistake was coming. The first ball was the beginning of everything. The first seconds, a mistake, and a big chance for Mane. The team was very confident, playing well. We scored a goal but it was offside, by inches but offside, and we were stable. But the goal was a replica of the first chance they had. So between one minute and 48, the same mistake. At half-time we lost Harry, and in the first minute of the second half, another mistake, another goal. Good reaction for 2-1, the team fighting on the pitch, but one more mistake, and 3-1. Very difficult to fight against so many mistakes. Some of the guys are very disappointed, some of them had very positive performances but we were punished by individual mistakes.” He also reports that Harry Kane is “injured in both ankles. To cope with one pain, he probably could continue, but both are very painful and sore, and getting big. He just couldn’t.”

10.13pm GMT

Klopp’s turn. “I am delighted. It was a great game, super-intense. We scored the goals in the right moments. Wonderful goals. The right people scored the goals. All good apart from Joel Matip having to come off. What I saw today was not about form: it was who we are. That was us. Today, the second half especially, that was us. A massive fight and football on top of that. We defended really well. It was just a good performance, and a lot of things I wanted to see. Offensively we coped really well with their formation. Our counter-press was really good. The last line defended really well. I didn’t see it coming, but I was not negative about the second half!”

10.09pm GMT

Trent Alexander-Arnold - out of sorts recently, but back on top of his game tonight - talks to BT Sport. “It’s what we needed. I thought we deserved it. We dominated most of the game. Obviously they’ve had an early goal disallowed, which could have changed the game, but we came here with a plan and executed it perfectly. It was a little bit tough when they scored, but we deserved the three points. Nothing’s really changed, we’re the same team we always have been. Everyone was at it.”

9.59pm GMT

Mourinho and Klopp share a sporting fist-bump in pouring rain. No rancour today. Spurs had their moments, but were well beaten in the end, Liverpool rediscovering their attacking mojo, to an extent that there wasn’t too much pressure applied to their injury-ravaged, cobbled-together defence. The defending champions move into fourth spot, two points ahead of West Ham United, who they play on Sunday. That should be a cracker. Spurs stay in sixth.

9.56pm GMT

Liverpool’s long wait for goals and a Premier League win comes to an end. They were back to something approaching their best tonight. Rumours of their demise have been greatly exaggerated.

9.54pm GMT

90 min +4: Wijnaldum, the Didi Hamann de nos jours, guards the ball for an age, a masterclass in clock management.

9.53pm GMT

90 min +3: On the touchline, Jose theatrically looks at his watch. It’s not good news.

9.52pm GMT

90 min +2: Spurs knock it around, but Liverpool hold them at arm’s length.

9.51pm GMT

90 min +1: The first of five extra minutes elapses without drama.

9.50pm GMT

90 min: A strange looping backpass by Milner nearly sends Son clear down the middle. Phillips does extremely well to come across and win a last-ditch header to deny Son.

9.49pm GMT

88 min: Origi’s first act is to clumsily trundle the ball out of play for a goal kick. “VAR is the pits,” writes Colum Fordham. “It saved Liverpool’s bacon at the start and then denied them Salah’s wonderful strike. We’d have had a 4-2 classic as opposed to a dastardly dull 3-1 affair. But seriously, it breaks the flow of the game so much.”

9.47pm GMT

87 min: Origi, whose clinical late strike killed off Spurs in the 2019 Champions League final, replaces Firmino.

9.46pm GMT

85 min: A long ball is launched in the hope of finding Bale on the edge of the Liverpool box. Alisson comes out of his area to head powerfully clear. Perhaps they should toss the gloves to Kelleher and play Alisson as emergency at centre-back?

9.45pm GMT

84 min: Jones races down the right. He slips infield to Salah, who makes it to the edge of the box. Jones keeps going on the overlap. Salah tries to release the young midfielder with a cute backheel, but it doesn’t quite come off. Salah cocks his head back in despair. That could have been a fine goal.

9.44pm GMT

83 min: Phillips hasn’t been tested much since coming on. Here he wins an important header, stopping Doherty’s long pass from reaching - and releasing - Son.

9.41pm GMT

81 min: The last roll of the dice for Spurs as Bergwijn makes way for Bale. Liverpool won’t have forgotten about the 2018 Champions League final, you can be sure of that. He couldn’t, could he?

9.41pm GMT

80 min: Liverpool faff around at the back, Alisson, Firmino and Mane over-elaborating. Hojbjerg nicks possession and clips in from the right. Liverpool are extremely fortunate that the cross sails way over Son’s head.

9.39pm GMT

79 min: Ndombele flicks long, hoping to release Son, but there’s too much juice on the pass and it’s an easy claim for Alisson.

9.38pm GMT

78 min: Before the corner, Thiago is replaced by Jones. Alexander-Arnold takes. Hojbjerg clears.

9.37pm GMT

77 min: Alexander-Arnold creams another fine long pass down the right, nearly releasing Salah. Doherty is forced to concede a corner.

9.36pm GMT

76 min: Salah turns on the jets and nearly gets the better of Doherty down the right. The Spurs defender does extremely well to keep up and close down the avenue of attack.

9.35pm GMT

75 min: Liverpool re-establish their control and stroke it around. The clock ticks on. “It appears to me that PGMOL have told their officials not to call anything close and leave it all up to VAR,” suggests Graeme Thorn. “It doesn’t make for a great spectacle, even if the decisions are (eventually) correct. As an aside, the time to call that Firmino handball is before he sweeps it out to the left, and not 20 seconds later when the ball’s in the net.”

9.33pm GMT

73 min: A rare period of extended Spurs possession. Liverpool hold their shape, and eventually Winks is forced to attempt an over-elaborate pass that sails out for a goal kick.

9.31pm GMT

71 min: Firmino dribbles in from the left and tees up Thiago, who attempts to recreate Hojbjerg’s screamer but gets it all wrong, the ball sailing yards wide and high. Maybe his bandage momentarily slipped over his eyes.

9.30pm GMT

69 min: It is tipping down in north London. “Clearly London has got some Trent control issues.” Peter Oh, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the cheese.

9.28pm GMT

67 min: That’s taken a bit of puff out of the Spurs sail. Liverpool stroke it around, not minded to let slip their two-goal lead so quickly again. “Had the ball broken for Tottenham in that wrestle and they scored, I think VAR would have penalised Dier and not Firmino,” argues Gary Naylor. “Seems a bit strange.” Yep, you’re almost certainly correct. VAR’s not very good, is it?

9.26pm GMT

Yep, they’ve rediscovered it all right. Alexander-Arnold, deep on the right, fizzes a long diagonal pass towards Mane, just inside the Spurs box. Rodon should intercept, but lets it go. Mane meets it first time, and roofs an unstoppable shot into the top left. Liverpool re-establish their two-goal advantage!

9.25pm GMT

64 min: Salah fights his way down the right, getting the better of Winks and feeding Firmino in the box. Firmino lashes an ambitious effort into the side netting from a tight angle. Whatever happens here, Liverpool have certainly rediscovered their attacking verve.

9.23pm GMT

63 min: A lull at last. Here’s Mary Waltz: “After a series of dull or disappointing big fixtures, we get an absolute cracking, back and forth drama fest. Lovely, skilled football. Plus two very angry managers. What’s not to like, eh?”

9.22pm GMT

61 min: Milner dances down the left and pulls back for Wijnaldum, who pulls a low drive well wide left.

9.20pm GMT

60 min: Fair to say it’s been an exciting start to the second half. The first quarter an hour has flown by.

9.19pm GMT

Martin Atkinson goes over to review the footage, and chalks the goal off. The ball clearly hit Firmino’s arm, though it had pinged off Dier’s first, as both were pushing and tugging each other. A reprieve for the hosts!

9.18pm GMT

57 min: But this is being checked by VAR, because the ball clanked off Firmino’s hand at the start of the move, as the Liverpool man tussled with Dier.

9.17pm GMT

Thiago, his head bound in white tape, is back, and quickly in the thick of it. He rolls a pass down the left for Mane, who plays a diagonal ball across the face of goal. Thiago dummies, Salah comes in from the right, bashing home from the edge of the box.

9.14pm GMT

54 min: Thiago has gone off to get his head stitched. Liverpool are down to ten for now.

9.13pm GMT

52 min: A pause, as Rodon and Thiago clash heads accidentally in midfield. That’s drawn blood, the Liverpool midfielder coming off worst.

9.11pm GMT

51 min: Salah very nearly breaks clear down the inside-right channel. Dier comes across to cover and poke out for a corner. Liverpool don’t get their prize, though, as the flag goes up incorrectly for offside.

9.10pm GMT

50 min: Phillips clumsily clatters into Bergwijn, and Liverpool’s inexperienced centre-back is now teetering on the old disciplinary tightrope.

9.10pm GMT

What a goal this is! Lamela grooves down the left and rolls infield for Hojbjerg, who hits a glorious first-time 25-yarder into the top right! The sweetest of strikes, cut across the ball! Alisson had no chance. Spurs are immediately back in it!

9.08pm GMT

48 min: London buses, huh. You wait eight hours, and look!

9.08pm GMT

Mane robs Doherty down the left, enters the box and whacks towards the bottom right. Lloris parries, but only pushes out to Alexander-Arnold, who romps in from the wing and sends a fierce low diagonal shot into the bottom left.

9.06pm GMT

46 min: Liverpool should be two up after a mere 20 seconds of the half. Salah and Firmino combine, the latter suddenly free in the box. He can’t sort his feet out to shoot and is forced wide right. He cuts back for Salah who blazes over wastefully. No matter, though, because ...

9.05pm GMT

Spurs get the second half underway, having made two changes. Winks and Lamela are on for Aurier and the injured Kane. Liverpool have made a change as well, Phillips coming on for the balsa-boned Matip.

8.53pm GMT

Half-time entertainment. Poor old Newcastle, 94 years without a title and counting. Louise Taylor reports on their current malaise.

8.51pm GMT

A highly entertaining half. Son thought he’d put the hosts ahead early on, only to be caught offside by the VAR slide-rule. Instead, Firmino broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time, ending Liverpool’s wait for a Premier League goal that had stretched to eight hours.

8.49pm GMT

Firmino ends Liverpool’s goal drought! Henderson shovels a pass down the inside-left channel for Mane, who chests down in the box and rolls across for Firmino, who can’t miss from a couple of yards! It had been coming.

8.47pm GMT

45 min +2: Liverpool press Spurs back in their own box. Thaigo, Robertson and Alexander-Arnold try to find the killer pass, but the home defence stays resolute.

8.46pm GMT

45 min +1: The first of four added first-half minutes goes by without incident.

8.45pm GMT

45 min: Thiago sells Doherty an absurd dummy in the centre circle, and the Spurs defender is slightly fortunate not to go into the book for a confused lunge.

8.44pm GMT

44 min: Robertson’s cross from the left is blocked out by Aurier for a corner. Thiago concedes a clumsy foul, and the pressure on Spurs is lifted.

8.43pm GMT

42 min: Thiago strokes a ball down the middle for Firmino, who immediately shuttles it towards Mane on his right. Mane has a dig but it’s straight at Lloris, who parries. Liverpool haven’t scored in the Premier League for nearly eight hours.

8.41pm GMT

41 min: Alexander-Arnold and Salah one-two down the right, the latter entering the box and trying to find Mane in the middle with a low first-time cross. Mane can’t reach it. For a second, Spurs were in a spot of bother there.

8.39pm GMT

39 min: Spurs are in the wars this evening. Now Bergwijn appears to have some sort of problem, carrying himself quite gingerly at the minute.

8.39pm GMT

37 min: Kane winced when he played that pass, but perhaps the pain in his ankle is subsiding, because he opts to have a proper lash at goal from 30 yards, even though he’s already heard the ref blow his whistle for offside. He’s unlikely to be blootering the ball for fun if there’s a problem, one would imagine.

8.37pm GMT

36 min: Kane comes back on and immediately plays a glorious pass down the inside-right channel for Son. Alisson comes right to the edge of his box to claim. Son claims the catch was made outside the area, but neither ref nor VAR shows interest. Liverpool fly up the other end, and Mane appears to be clear down the middle. However Rodon slides in to tackle, another challenge that had to be perfectly timed. Magnificent defending.

8.35pm GMT

35 min: Kane limps off, though ever the fighter, he doesn’t look prepared to throw in the towel quite yet. He’ll keep going for now.

8.34pm GMT

34 min: Dier is up again ... but Kane has taken another whack to his ankle, this time colliding with Henderson. He looks in real pain, and as the physio has a gander, shakes his head sadly.

8.33pm GMT

33 min: Robertson loops in from a deep position on the left. Mane extends a leg but is eased away from the ball by Dier. Fine last-ditch defending, but he looks to have twisted his ankle when falling with the Liverpool striker.

8.31pm GMT

31 min: Hojberg tiptoes along the right-hand touchline at pace, under severe pressure from the backtracking Mane. It’s a fine run, but his pass infield, intended for Kane, is no good. A decent battle, that.

8.30pm GMT

30 min: Bergwijn becomes the second player to go in referee Martin Atkinson’s book by cynically impeding Alexander-Arnold as he drives down the left.

8.29pm GMT

29 min: Bergwijn and Doherty combine down the left to earn Spurs a corner. The hosts load the six-yard box with extreme prejudice, but Alisson claims with ease.

8.28pm GMT

27 min: A period of possession for Spurs convinces Klopp that it’s time to give his team their first loud rollocking of the match. In the other dugout, Mourinho remains inscrutably calm.

8.26pm GMT

25 min: Salah very nearly bursts clear down the middle but can’t quite sort his feet out. It’s a good game, this, with both teams looking extremely lively in attack.

8.25pm GMT

24 min: Thiago doesn’t half like picking up needless yellow cards. He gets one here for sliding in recklessly on Hojberg, who was going nowhere deep in his own half.

8.24pm GMT

23 min: Liverpool nearly score a delightful team goal, Henderson driving down the left, Mane one-twoing with Salah and breaking into the box, meeting a dropping ball with an extended leg. The ball’s heading towards the bottom right. Lloris claims sensationally. Mane may well have been offside earlier in the move, but take nothing away from that stop. What a save!

8.22pm GMT

21 min: A little bit of time and space for Firmino, 25 yards out. His shot flies straight at Lloris. Spurs go long again, and once more Son is sent into acres down the left. He reaches the edge of the box and has a pelt, but that one’s straight at the keeper too. Alisson claims calmly. Not entirely sure how this match remains goalless, but here we all are.

8.20pm GMT

20 min: Spurs launch long down the left. Son gets on the end of it, and very nearly breaks clear into the Liverpool box. He’s eased off the ball elegantly by Matip, who had to get his timing exactly right in the circumstances. Lovely football all round.

8.18pm GMT

18 min: Liverpool are beginning to establish control of the midfield. Spurs seem happy enough to let them have it, to be fair. “I‘m not sure about the Liverpool defence but at least the VAR mouse-clickers have held their lines so far,” quips Peter Oh.

8.16pm GMT

16 min: Liverpool ping it around, stretching the game with probes down both flanks. Spurs hold their shape, hoping to intercept and pounce on the break. A pattern may be setting here.

8.14pm GMT

14 min: Kane takes a while to get up, but does so eventually. He looks good to continue.

8.14pm GMT

13 min: Kane is down, holding his right ankle. He seemed to take a knock while picking the pocket of Thiago, slipping over as he made off with the ball and clanging into the Liverpool man.

8.12pm GMT

12 min: Son finds Doherty down the left. Doherty slips a speculative pass into the Liverpool box, hoping to find Bergwijn, but Alisson is off his line quickly to smother.

8.11pm GMT

10 min: Alexander-Arnold has been out of form recently, but he looks to have rediscovered his range tonight. He rakes a glorious ball down the left for Mane, who crosses deep. Thiago heads it back across the face of goal. Fabinho, launching himself towards the ball at the far post, goes over. Dier’s nearby, and Liverpool claim a penalty, but it’s a cheeky enquiry. The referee is quite rightly not interested.

8.08pm GMT

8 min: It’s dry and balmy in north London tonight, certainly in comparison to recent teeth-chattering nights in the Premier League. It’s a nice open game, too, with both teams taking turns to stroke it around attractively.

8.07pm GMT

6 min: Shame for Spurs, because that was a lovely move, started with a cute pass out of centre-circle bother by Ndombele to Son. That’s when Son’s heel was flagged offside. He finished delightfully, too, entering the box, giving Alisson the eyes, and firing home at the near post.

8.05pm GMT

4 min: Ah hold on. Son is caught offside by the pernickety VAR system. The right decision, but what a business.

8.04pm GMT

Son and Kane one-two down the middle of the park. It’s Son’s turn to romp clear! And unlike Mane, he makes no mistake, entering the box and slotting into the bottom left!

8.03pm GMT

2 min: The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, all lit up, looks magnificent as ever. Gorgeous glitz. Liverpool dazzle as well, Alexander-Arnold finding Mane with a long pass. Mane one-twos with Salah and he’s free in the box ... but blazes over. What a miss. Doubly so, because ...

8.01pm GMT

1 min: Firmino, Mane and Milner immediately combine down the left, but can’t quite work space to get a cross away. A positive start by the visitors. Speaking of positivity, here’s Matt Dony: “Right. We know that Henderson is an excellent, intelligent footballer. And he’s decent in defence. But. But. He’s NOT actually a defender. And Kane and Son definitely, definitely ARE forwards. As dangerous a twosome as I can think of at the moment. Milner is going to have to do some work to cover.”

8.00pm GMT

Liverpool get the ball rolling ... but only after everyone takes a knee of solidarity, fairness, respect and love. Black lives matter. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.

7.57pm GMT

The teams are out! Spurs wear their famous lily white, while Liverpool are in their equally well-known red. Always a treat when both teams can wear their first-choice colours, and do so. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes! Excited? Us too! You can count Ian Copestake out, though. “I am trying to wean myself off watching Liverpool in protest at the too-ready acceptance by boss and owners of a battle for fourth place and failing to defend, attack or even zonal-mark our title. I found it disingenuous of boss Klopp to argue that bringing in a centre-back would not help the team score goals! Allowing Fabinho to return to midfield would do exactly that. Anyway, something broke inside.”

7.47pm GMT

A cheery Jurgen Klopp talks to his old buddy Des Kelly. “It will be another intense game for sure. They have a compact formation that we need to find solutions for, and of course a massive counter-attacking threat, but not only, because they can play football as well. So I am pretty sure it will be intense. We played a really good game [at Anfield] though I know Jose saw it differently! [laughs] How we saw it, we deserved it, but that means nothing for today obviously. Everything is possible again.” He reports that Fabinho’s injury “was nothing, really, he just felt something and we had to take him out ... it was not a challenge or an intense situation.”

7.33pm GMT

An extremely relaxed Jose Mourinho explores philosophical matters with BT Sport. “At Anfield we missed chances, and against Liverpool it’s not like you have seven, eight, nine, ten chances to score a couple, you have three or four and have to score two or three. We missed three big chances in the second half to win the game. At the same time, if you make too many mistakes they punish you, and that is what happened. Our objective is to win the game, which is the same objective Liverpool have. They have potential for that, but we also have potential for that. So let’s go for a big game. Liverpool is an amazing team, great coach, great players. What they did in the last three years is amazing. They have had a few bad results, but everybody has in this league. The leader loses to the bottom of the league, life goes on, and tomorrow is another day. That’s why the Premier League is the best league.”

7.10pm GMT

Spurs make one change to the side named for the 3-1 win at Sheffield United. Sergio Reguilon is unavailable, so in comes Matt Doherty at left-back.

Liverpool’s defensive woes continue. Fabinho is out with a minor muscle issue, so Jordan Henderson takes his place alongside Joel Matip, who has recovered from an injury of his own. Sadio Mane also returns. Rhys Williams and Curtis Jones step down from Sunday’s FA Cup defeat at Manchester United; they’re both on the bench.

7.02pm GMT

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Rodon, Dier, Davies, Aurier, Ndombele, Hojbjerg, Doherty, Bergwijn, Kane, Son.
Subs: Alderweireld, Sanchez, Winks, Bale, Lamela, Hart, Sissoko, Lucas Moura, Vinicius.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Henderson, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Thiago, Milner, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Minamino, Tsimikas, Shaqiri, Origi, Rhys Williams, Phillips, Kelleher.

4.50pm GMT

There are a couple of ways to look at this game. On the one hand, Liverpool have won on their last three visits to N17, and have beaten Tottenham Hotspur six times in a row, a run of dominance that includes victory in the 2019 Champions League final. On the other, in the season before all that, Spurs were the better side in a 2-2 draw at Anfield and thrashed Jurgen Klopp’s team 4-1 at home. On both of those occasions, Liverpool went into the game with notable defensive deficiencies, as they will today. Omens ahoy!

So here we are, both teams likely to be drawing confidence from history. Both can leapfrog West Ham United into fourth spot with a win; Liverpool would manage it with a draw. Given that the teams are only 18 and 19 games respectively into the season, there’s no do-or-die jeopardy tonight, though a win would work wonders while a defeat might seriously puncture confidence. If this is half as much fun as the exciting and intriguing game at Anfield just before Christmas, we’ll be doing all right. Kick off is at 8pm. It’s on!

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Published on January 28, 2021 14:26

The Fiver | It’s almost as though we’re only halfway through a strange season

The Fiver would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Manchester City on winning the Premier League (2021 Late-January) title, deposing Premier League (2021 Mid-January) champions Manchester United after an intense 26-hour period of action. Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side had been anointed as the best team in the country, pretty much, if the mood music was anything to go by, following some deflected goals against Wolves and Burnley. But in the wake of Wednesday night’s shock home defeat to Sheffield United, the mantle has been well and truly wrested from their grasp by their rivals across town after a seven-match winning streak consisting of victories over the likes of Newcastle, West Brom and Frank Lampard’s version of Chelsea.

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Published on January 28, 2021 07:56

January 26, 2021

Southampton 1-3 Arsenal: Premier League – as it happened

Arsenal came from behind to avenge their FA Cup defeat by the Saints three days ago

10.43pm GMT

No word from Ralph Hasenhuttl, so that’s your lot. Thanks for reading this report. Nighty night!

10.32pm GMT

Mikel Arteta talks to BT Sport. “We were really good right from the start. We conceded and reacted straight away. On the ball we improved a lot. We got out of trouble and created chances. Our pressing was excellent. We managed the game when we went to 3-1 and were good on the break. It was a strong performance. Pepe was really good, he deserved his chance and took it. Saka has been very consistent, we have played him in different positions but he has adapted really well. It was a really strong performance from him again today. Southampton are a really good side, and the way we understood what the game required in each moment showed a lot of intelligence. We still have a lot to do. Be humble, train good and prepare for the next game. Five players were not available to play in the cup, I want to make that clear. We expect these players to play with no pre-season, 50 games at that age, I’m sorry but it’s impossible and I’m not going to do that with young players.”

10.20pm GMT

There’s post-match patter from both managers still to come. In the meantime, Ben Fisher’s report from St Mary’s has landed. You know what to do: clickity click!

10.15pm GMT

The Gunners thoroughly deserved to win tonight. Bukayo Saka and Cedric were both magnificent. Here’s Saka, talking to BT Sport: “It was much better. Saturday was disappointing for us to be knocked out of the FA Cup. We took it hard. We knew their weaknesses and I thought we exploited them well, and got the victory we deserved. Everyone put in a shift and we’re so happy to get the three points here. It’s a dream to be playing for Arsenal and I just want to keep improving every game.”

10.12pm GMT

That’s a third away win on the bounce for Arsenal in the Premier League. It’s the first time that’s happened since October 2018. It’s their fifth win in their last six fixtures; they’ve taken 16 of the last 18 points on offer. Saints by contrast are in the middle of a sticky patch; they’ve only won one of their last seven in the league. In the other 8.15pm kick-off, Manchester City beat West Brom 5-0.

10.08pm GMT

Revenge for the Gunners for their FA Cup defeat three days ago. The three points take them up to eighth in the Premier League, leapfrogging Saints, now 11th, in the process.

10.06pm GMT

90 min +4: Watts curls deep from the right. Diallo wins a header, but the ball loops onto the top of the net.

10.05pm GMT

90 min +3: Southampton have fought hard, even after falling two behind, but finally look to have run out of steam.

10.05pm GMT

90 min +2: Pepe is finally substituted, a good 20 minutes after trudging off the first time. He’s replaced by Willock.

10.04pm GMT

90 min +1: The first of five added minutes sees Willian bundled off the pitch by Valery. A garden-variety foul, nothing more.

10.04pm GMT

90 min: Watts is booked for a late clank on an unhappy Elneny. For a second, the throwing of hands looks on the cards, but the ref’s quickly across to calm everything down and present the yellow.

10.02pm GMT

89 min: Pepe teases Bednarek with a blood-twisting dribble down the middle. He tries to float a chip over McCarthy from the edge of the box, but it sails harmlessly over the bar.

10.00pm GMT

88 min: Nlundulu holds the ball up well and sends Valery scampering down the right. Valery curls towards the near post. Holding heads behind for a corner ... then clears the set piece confidently.

9.59pm GMT

86 min: Ward-Prowse curls low and hard towards the bottom left. Leno sticks out a firm palm to block. Decent effort, fine save. Saints really needed that to go in, though. Time is fast running out to get Arsenal nerves jangling.

9.57pm GMT

85 min: Arsenal take an age to line up their wall. Bellerin lies behind it, draped across the turf like Jacob Rees-Mogg.

9.57pm GMT

84 min: Xhaka needlessly bundles Watts over, just to the right of the Arsenal D. A free kick in Ward-Prowse Country.

9.56pm GMT

83 min: Luiz lets a simple ball slip past him, allowing Adams to scamper towards the box. Holding does very well to chase him down and block his shot. The ball squirts out of the challenge, nearly teeing itself up for Adams again, but Leno comes out to smother.

9.54pm GMT

82 min: Arsenal manage the clock by stroking the ball around calmly and carefully.

9.53pm GMT

80 min: Valery shovels a delicate pass in from the right, finding Nlundulu on the penalty spot. Nlundulu can’t quite get his feet sorted out, allowing Luiz to close him down. For a split second, an opportunity presented itself for the hosts to get back into this.

9.50pm GMT

78 min: Partey has cramp, and is replaced by Elneny. Arsenal will be hoping it’s nothing more, with Manchester United coming to the Emirates at the weekend.

9.49pm GMT

76 min: Pepe, who thought his shift was over, glides down the middle of the park in a very elegant fashion. That’s the dribble of a player finally finding some confidence in an Arsenal shirt.

9.47pm GMT

74 min: A quick VAR check for offside, but there’s no reprieve for Saints, who respond to falling two behind by swapping Ings and Walcott for Nlundulu and Watts.

9.47pm GMT

From the restart, Saints are caught napping! Cedric plays a glorious diagonal ball towards Saka on the right. Saka rolls across the face of goal. Lacazette trundles it into the bottom left! A lovely goal from Arsenal’s point of view; pretty shoddy from Southampton’s.

9.45pm GMT

71 min: Farce turns to fiasco. Smith-Rowe goes down injured. He can’t continue, so Arteta changes his mind about the substitution. It’ll be Smith-Rowe for Willian instead!

9.44pm GMT

70 min: Or perhaps it was Pepe’s motor. He’s substituted for Martinelli, and having taken his sweet time to trudge off, is reprimanded by Friend. A slightly farcical yellow card!

9.42pm GMT

69 min: Armstrong diddles down the right and thinks he’s won a corner off Cedric. But the ball clanks back off him before it crosses the line. Goal kick. “Kevin Friend’s inconsistency is so consistent it’s almost a habit,” argues Kevin Littley. “Bellerin’s yellow was harsh at best, so many worse tackles since and not even a shake of the head or a verbal reprimand. Maybe Hector took Kevin’s parking spot.”

9.40pm GMT

67 min: Saints make the first change of the evening. Redmond comes on in place of Vokins.

9.39pm GMT

66 min: Ings attempts to create a facsimile copy of Ricky Villa’s famous slalom in the 1981 FA Cup final. He very nearly manages it. What a dribble! Sadly for lovers of wonder-goals, but not for Arsenal, he runs out of room. Goal kick. What a fine player Ings is.

9.37pm GMT

65 min: Vokins loops in from the left. Armstrong nearly manages to bring the ball down elegantly, but loses control at the last and can’t get a shot away. Valery tries again from the right. Leno punches clear. A decent period of pressure applied by the hosts.

9.35pm GMT

63 min: Cedric drives infield from a deep position on the left and passes diagonally to release Saka down the wing. Saka reaches the corner of the box and whips towards the bottom left. It’s always heading wide. Lacazette, in space in the middle, isn’t wholly pleased.

9.34pm GMT

62 min: Saints push Arsenal back and probe this way and that. Arsenal hold their shape. This game is poised nicely.

9.32pm GMT

60 min: Cedric’s ball in from the left causes all manner of bother in the Saints six-yard box. The hosts eventually clear after a game of super-fast pinball. That could have gone anywhere.

9.32pm GMT

59 min: Manchester City are now 5-0 up at West Brom. Fireman Sam has a drippy hose.

9.31pm GMT

58 min: Ward-Prowse loops the corner in. Luiz powers a header clear. Both teams are going for this again.

9.29pm GMT

57 min: Some space for Vokins down the left. He crosses deeply, and dangerously, forcing Cedric to head out for a corner with Adams lurking at the far post.

9.28pm GMT

56 min: Bellerin crosses from the right. Pepe, at the near post, sticks out a leg and deflects away from Lacazette, who was steaming in behind and planning to trundle home.

9.28pm GMT

55 min: A Southampton corner. It’s a non-event. But there are signs that this second half is coming to life after a slow start.

9.27pm GMT

53 min: Xhaka dinks a pass down the left to release Smith-Rowe, who slips the ball past the outrushing McCarthy but there’s nobody in the centre. Stephens clears.

9.26pm GMT

52 min: Smith-Rowe’s delivery is headed clear by Stephens. Xhaka competes for a loose ball with Adams and stamps on his foot. Again the referee gives a naughty player the benefit of the doubt. Free kick, nothing more. Tom Atkins and his tea-leaves (36 min) weren’t a million miles off. In a parallel universe somewhere, maybe.

9.24pm GMT

51 min: Saka drops a shoulder and accelerates down the right. Vokins clips his heel and it’s a free kick to the right of the Saints box. Strangely no yellow. Kevin Friend has been in a generous mood so far this evening.

9.22pm GMT

50 min: Saints suddenly pick up the pace, Armstrong powering in from the left and slipping a pass down the middle for Walcott, who whistles a rising shot straight at Leno. A hand-warmer, nothing more.

9.21pm GMT

49 min: A series of throw-ins. Both teams easing themselves back nice and slowly.

9.19pm GMT

47 min: Saints stroke it about the back awhile, to little effect. The second half hasn’t started with the bang of the first.

9.17pm GMT

Arsenal get the second half underway. There have been no half-time changes. No change in the weather either. Storm’s still a-raging.

9.10pm GMT

Half-time entertainment. Ben Fisher recently spoke to Southampton’s goalscorer. Here are the fruits of that particular pow-wow.

9.08pm GMT

Meanwhile at the Hawthorns ... Manchester City are 4-0 up at half-time! Another nightmare first half for Big Sam and West Bromwich Albion, who suffered the same fate recently against Leeds. They held Marcelo Bielsa’s team to a single goal in the second half of that one; they’ll be doing extremely well to limit the damage to 5-0 tonight. With Pep Guardiola’s side bang in form, this could turn ugly. It’s probably safe to say City are going top tonight.

9.03pm GMT

Saka takes an absurd amount of time over the corner. Pepe taps a pretend watch in irritation, and then the whistle goes. A good game, this. Don’t go anywhere!

9.01pm GMT

45 min +1: Diallo dribbles a shot through to Leno from distance. Arsenal counter. Cedric and Pepe combine down the left to earn a corner. A late chance to sicken the Saints and take firm control of this game.

9.00pm GMT

45 min: There will be two added minutes.

8.59pm GMT

44 min: Arsenal continue to do their thing with the press. Saints could do with hearing the half-time whistle.

8.58pm GMT

42 min: ... Arsenal claim for a penalty as the ball’s scooped down the inside-right channel by Partey to Lacazette, who spins Vokins but then throws himself to the ground. There’s minimal contact, and neither referee nor VAR is interested.

8.57pm GMT

41 min: Saints continue to have problems playing out from the back. Bednarek is hassled by Smith-Rowe. And from the resulting throw, out on the left ...

8.55pm GMT

It’s a costly error. The resulting goal kick is headed down to Xhaka, who lays off to Lacazette. He slips a simple ball down the middle to release Saka. McCarthy rashly races out of his box and doesn’t get there in time. Saka rounds McCarthy on the right and rolls into an unguarded net. That simple!

8.53pm GMT

38 min: Luiz slaps a daft clearance straight at Walcott. Arsenal are in a world of trouble, with Ings and Adams both screaming to be sent clear on goal. Walcott hoicks a dreadful pass out for a goal kick. Adams fumes quietly.

8.52pm GMT

36 min: Some more space for Armstrong down the left. He looks for Ings at the near post but Holding reads the danger and blooters clear. Meanwhile Tom Atkins has spent the last few minutes staring at the leaves at the bottom of his teacup. “Is it me or does this game have ‘boneheaded sending off in the 57th minute’ written all over it?” Well, Granit Xhaka is playing...

8.50pm GMT

34 min: A long ball down the right releases Lacazette. He’s got options in the middle, with Saints extremely light at the back, but somehow rolls his pass to the one place that won’t release a team-mate on goal, allowing Valery to intercept with a toe-poke, the danger averted.

8.48pm GMT

32 min: Partey shows up the other end, but runs up a blind alley on the left. Good luck guessing who’s going to score next as momentum ebbs and flows.

8.46pm GMT

30 min: Partey is robbed by Armstrong, 30 yards from his own goal. He does extremely well to recover and shepherd Armstrong, and then Ings, away from danger. Saints are back in the game now after a quiet period following the equaliser.

8.44pm GMT

28 min: Armstrong dashes in from the left like a dandy and tries a curler across Leno, towards the bottom right. Wide, but a fine effort nonetheless.

8.43pm GMT

27 min: Adams and Ings combine cutely in midfield and suddenly the Arsenal press is beaten. The ball’s sprayed wide right to Valery, who drifts in from the right and attempts to send a power curler into the top left. It’s high and wide, but not by that much.

8.42pm GMT

26 min: Bednarek, Stephens and McCarthy nearly over-elaborate while playing out from the back, Lacazette and Smith-Rowe causing all sorts of bother. Saints have already been caught out a couple of times; they’ll have to watch this.

8.40pm GMT

24 min: So having said that, Vokins advances down the left and crosses for Adams, who plants a header towards the bottom left. Leno does extremely well to palm away. Armstrong, attempting to latch onto the loose ball, runs it out for a goal kick.

8.37pm GMT

22 min: Arsenal probe down both flanks. Saints hold their shape, but the visitors are well on top at the minute.

8.35pm GMT

20 min: Bellerin crosses deep from the right. Pepe heads down with a hope of finding Lacazette on the edge of the six-yard box. McCarthy reads the danger well and claims.

8.34pm GMT

19 min: Bellerin is booked for an agricultural lunge on Armstrong, who was haring down the left. Ward-Prowse curls the free kick into the box. Ings eyebrows it into the arms of Leno. This is great fun.

8.33pm GMT

17 min: So with Arsenal looking the more likely to score next, Saints go up the other end and remind them of their own potency. Adams plays a glorious first-time diagonal pass towards Walcott, who tears down the inside-right channel but can’t quite sort his feet out and drags a shot wide left. He should have done much better.

8.32pm GMT

16 min: Arsenal look up for this. Saka jinks down the right and curls back for Partey, who can’t find Lacazette or Pepe at the far post. Goal kick.

8.30pm GMT

14 min: Cedric, coming in from the left, tries to curl a spectacular volley into the top right. He’s not that far away from scoring against his old club. McCarthy probably had it covered, but it’d have been a matter of inches either way.

8.29pm GMT

13 min: Pepe, having gone from the ridiculous to the sublime, comes back. He’s got the ball at his feet and acres of grass ahead of him down the left wing. With only Stephens anywhere near, he should knock the ball past and sprint clear, but overruns the ball and allows the Saints defender to intercept.

8.27pm GMT

11 min: Saints deal with the corner easily and attempt to break upfield. Diallo is cynically clipped by Lacazette, who can count himself fortunate not to go into the book.

8.25pm GMT

10 min: That’s a great response by Arsenal, who come at the hosts again. Bellerin curls deep from the right. Valery is under no pressure, but turns the ball out for a corner anyway.

8.24pm GMT

Pepe does better. Much better! A poor Stephens pass is snaffled by Arsenal. Xhaka delivers his second fine through ball of the first eight minutes, again down the inside-left channel. Pepe fights his way clear, strides into the box, and slots past McCarthy to level things up. What a start!

8.23pm GMT

7 min: Some space for Pepe out on the left. His cross is no good, easy meat for McCarthy. Must do better.

8.21pm GMT

5 min: What a start to the game, though. Arsenal should have been ahead; now they trail. Saka bustles down the right and sees his low shot-cum-cross deflected only inches wide of the bottom right. Corner, from which nothing comes.

8.20pm GMT

4 min: Shades of David Beckham and Paul Scholes, back in the day. Did they pull something like that off against Bradford City? A full-volley screamer if memory serves. Though my memory’s not what it was.

8.19pm GMT

From the right, Ward-Prowse pulls the corner back. Armstrong, by the right of the D, meets the ball on the half volley and creams it into the top right! Leno tried his best to get something on it, but that was unstoppable.

8.18pm GMT

3 min: Saints respond with their first thrust of the evening, Valery curling in from the right, Ings attempting to steer a header goalwards. The ball twangs off Holding’s face and out for a corner. From which ...

8.17pm GMT

2 min: The resulting corner comes to nothing, McCarthy claiming a Saka cross from the left.

8.17pm GMT

1 min: It’s a filthy night at St Mary’s. Rain whipping around the place. And it’s nearly a filthy start for Saints, Bednarek gifting the ball to Xhaka, who slips Lacazette clear! He’s one on one with McCarthy, and aims for the bottom right, but the keeper sticks out a knee and deflects out for a corner. Arsenal should be leading after 50 seconds!

8.15pm GMT

Saints get the party started ... but only after the players take a knee of solidarity, equality and love. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.

8.12pm GMT

Here come the teams! Saints wear their red shirts with white sash, while Arsenal are in third-choice blue. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes. “Breathed a sign of relief seeing Arteta’s team sheet this evening,” writes Bill Hargreaves. “Kind of indicates he almost sacrificed the FA Cup (our dear, beloved FA Cup). Does he have his sights on the Europa League? Even top four?”

8.09pm GMT

Now it’s the turn of Ralph Hasenhuttl, who has faith in his young full-backs Jan Valery (21) and Jake Vokins (20). “It is a chance for the young lads to show up. Both are motivated. The team is in good shape at the moment. Hopefully they play a brave game.”

8.05pm GMT

A word with Mikel Arteta: “It’s always strange to play the same team twice in a short period. I think it’s the same feeling for both of us. It’s what the fixtures have given us, so we’ll try to do our best and win.” He also reports that the family issue keeping out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is “not resolved yet” and he will still need “a little time”.

7.25pm GMT

Ralph Hasenhuttl makes three changes to the Southampton team named for the FA Cup tie between these clubs on Saturday. Ryan Bertrand is suspended, Kyle Walker-Peters is injured, and Fraser Forster drops to the bench. Taking their places: Yan Valery, Jake Vokins and Alex McCarthy.

Mikel Arteta makes five changes to the Arsenal starting XI. David Luiz, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith-Rowe, Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette are in. Gabriel, Mohamed Elneny, Gabriel Martinelli, Willian and Eddie Nketiah take a seat in the dugout. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is still missing for “personal family reasons” while Kieran Tierney is yet to recover from a calf injury.

7.16pm GMT

Southampton: McCarthy, Valery, Bednarek, Stephens, Vokins, Armstrong, Diallo, Ward-Prowse, Walcott, Adams, Ings.
Subs: Watts, Long, Redmond, Ramsay, N’Lundulu, Forster, Ferry, Jankewitz, Chauke.

Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Holding, Luiz, Cedric, Partey, Xhaka, Pepe, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Lacazette.
Subs: Gabriel, Willian, Maitland-Niles, Chambers, Elneny, Willock, Nketiah, Ryan, Martinelli.

2.26pm GMT

Three days after Southampton put Arsenal out of the cup, they go again. The deposed FA Cup holders will take heart from their Premier League record against Saints, having won five and drawn four of the last ten meetings. They also have recent form on their side: they’ve won four of their last five league games, while tonight’s hosts have just one win in six. But Saints can take succour from Saturday’s result, and of course this sweet memory ...

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Published on January 26, 2021 14:43

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