Rob Smyth's Blog, page 121

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

The champions were back to their best at Turf Moor, with Gabriel Jesus scoring twice in an emphatic victory

12.18am GMT

12.10am GMT

10.07pm GMT

Jamie Jackson has filed his match report, so I shall leave you with that. Thanks for your company - goodnight.

10.06pm GMT

Peep peep! Manchester City move to within eight points of Liverpool, at least for the next 24 hours, after a swaggering performance at Turf Moor. Gabriel Jesus scored two fine goals, the superb Rodri scorched a third and the substitute Riyad Mahrez added a fourth. It was close to peak City, although they will be annoyed that they again failed to keep a clean sheet.

10.02pm GMT

90 min Three minutes of added Prime.

10.01pm GMT

No clean sheet for City. The ball ricochets around the area and falls kindly for Robbie Brady, who slams it past the outrushing Ederson.

10.00pm GMT

Riyad Mahrez hadn’t settled for 3-0. He beats Mee with a stepover on the edge of the area and drives a low right-footed shot into the bottom corner. That’s another excellent goal. In fact, City have produced quite a portfolio tonight.

9.58pm GMT

86 min Hendrick is booked for a naughty lunge at David Silva.

9.57pm GMT

85 min Fernandinho is replaced by Eric Garcia.

9.57pm GMT

85 min Both teams have settled for this scoreline. Saying which, Angelino whistles a cross shot just wide of the far post.

9.55pm GMT

83 min “Decent win for City,” says Matt Dony. “Looks like they’re really taking control of the battle for third place #bantz”

You should banter responsibly.

9.52pm GMT

80 min Phil Foden comes on for the last 10 minutes. He replaces the majestic Kevin De Bruyne.

9.50pm GMT

77 min Mahrez’s imaginative pass/cross towards David Silva is headed behind by the stretching Tarkowski.

9.48pm GMT

76 min “I wish the person Jesus pretends to phone every time he bags a goal would hurry up and call him,” says Ian Copestake. “Like me, it’s getting seriously old.”

9.47pm GMT

75 min Another Burnley change: Robbie Brady replaces the ever impressive Dwight McNeil.

9.44pm GMT

OH. MY. WORD.

What a screamer from @ManCity's Rodri #PLonPrime pic.twitter.com/B8aPqxZXPQ

9.44pm GMT

72 min Riyad Mahrez replaces Raheem Sterling, who was a booking away from missing Saturday’s Manchester derby.

9.43pm GMT

70 min Rodri has had a fine game, perhaps his best for City.

9.42pm GMT

Rodri makes it 3-0 with a thumping finish. David Silva had a shot blocked by a Burnley defender, with the ball rebounding to Rodri just outside the D. He waited for it to sit up before cutting across a vicious first-time shot that beat Pope and flew into the top of the net.

9.41pm GMT

Pick that out.

9.38pm GMT

65 min Burnley have had a bit more of the game since reverting to 4-4-2. City still look very comfortable, mind.

9.36pm GMT

64 min “The only suspense left in this fixture,” says Mary Waltz, “is whether City can keep a clean sheet.”

It’s been a while – 26 October was their last.

9.34pm GMT

62 min A good header from Rodriguez finds McNeil, who galumphs down the left and hits a fine, deep cross that is headed behind by Angelino.

9.33pm GMT

61 min Rodri goes shoulder to shoulder with Barnes, who dives to win a free-kick. McNeil swings a decent effort on target from 25 yards that is comfortbaly saved by Emerson.

9.32pm GMT

60 min “Palace are 5th with 21 points,” says an anonymous emailer. “Add 12 points and they would only go up to third. Take away 12 and they’d be bottom.”

9.31pm GMT

59 min A double change for Burnley: Jay Rodriguez and Ashley Barnes replace Danny Drinkwater and Chris Wood.

9.31pm GMT

58 min De Bruyne drives high over the bar from 25 yards.

9.30pm GMT

57 min Walker’s shot deflects wide, and then Bernardo Silva’s cutback is cleared desperately. This could get very nasty for Burnley, such are the waves of City attacks.

9.27pm GMT

55 min City have been excellent tonight, especially Gabriel Jesus and the midfield three of Rodri, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne. Burnley have struggled to lay a glove on them.

9.27pm GMT

In other news, Crystal Palace have gone fifth in the table after being Bournemouth 1-0 at Selhurst Park. Roy for England!

9.26pm GMT

53 min Gabriel Jesus comes this close to his hat-trick. He turned Tarkowski deliciously on the left side of the area, moved the ball onto his right foot and placed a curling shot just wide from a tight angle.

9.23pm GMT

Another fine goal from Gabriel Jesus gives City a deserved two-goal lead. They moved the ball around for ages before Bernardo Silva, on the right, whipped an inswinging cross towards the far post. Jesus got in front of Bardsley, six yards from goal, and adjusted his body smartly to slam a volley into the net via the post.

9.21pm GMT

49 min City have picked up where they left off, with the game being played almost exclusively in Burnley’s half.

9.19pm GMT

47 min “Hi again Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “I’ve just bought a 7-in-1 multi grooming kit and some chewing gum. It’s getting delivered yesterday, for free. All this, and football too. Jeff Bezos for President!”

If he wants my vote he needs to start selling time travel.

9.18pm GMT

46 min Peep peep! City begin the second half, kicking from left to right on the old Amazon Prime app.

9.05pm GMT

Half-time chit-chat

“‘The Sprawling Pope’” says Hubert O’Hearn. “How has this pub name not been taken?!?”

9.04pm GMT

Half-time reading

9.02pm GMT

Peep peep! City lead deservedly through Gabriel Jesus’s delicious curler. Burnley’s 4-2-3-1 system has not really worked, and I’m sure we’ll see Ashley Barnes in the second half.

9.01pm GMT

45 min David Silva has been the best player on the field. I thought, earlier in the year, that he was over the hill but he has played beautifully of late. In other news, McNeil’s volley in the 43rd-minute actually hit his team-mate Wood.

9.00pm GMT

44 min Burnley need half-time. At 1-0, they are still in the game. At 2-0, they are likely to suffer.

8.58pm GMT

43 min A chance at both ends! McNeil’s fierce volley was blocked by one of many City bodies in the six-yard box; City raced down the other end, where Bernardo Silva’s low shot was kicked away by Pope.

8.57pm GMT

40 min “Hiya Rob,” says Matthew Rodriguez. “With all the tech talk, any chance we will ever see the interface you guys use to upload your commentary?”

Of course. I’ve taken a quick selfie to give you an idea.

8.53pm GMT

38 min Burnley have their first attack in a while. McNeil’s excellent cross is headed behind by the stretching Walker. Hendrick swings it under the bar, where Drinkwater is penalised for manhandling Ederson.

8.51pm GMT

36 min De Bruyne’s deflected long-range shot is comfortably saved by the sprawling Pope.

8.50pm GMT

35 min Burnley haven’t had a kick since going behind.

8.48pm GMT

32 min: Great save from Pope! City moved the ball around for an age before Bernardo Silva released De Bruyne on the right of the area. He crossed low into the six-yard box, where Sterling and Jesus arrived almost simultaneously. Sterling got to the ball first and stabbed a shot that was crucially blocked by the outstretched leg of Pope.

8.47pm GMT

32 min “Evening Rob,” says Patrick Cullen. “I was going to try and make myself seem clever by pointing out where the Sparkle Motion quote comes from, but I think we’ve all seen Bonanza...”

8.46pm GMT

31 min City have looked more relaxed in possession since the goal. This is a dangerous spell for Burnley, who have struggled to get out of their half in the last few minutes.

8.44pm GMT

29 min “Evening Rob,” says Geoff Wignall. “Is it just me or have referees this season been more alert to Citeh’s penchant for the tactical foul and readier to award cards for it? I’ve no theories about any coincidental decline in performance.”

Let me just ask Cyril what I think.

8.42pm GMT

26 min City are unhappy with Tarkowski’s ball-and-man challenge on David Silva near the halfway line. He followed through into the side of Silva’s leg with a fair bit of force, though the officials saw nothing wrong. It has changed the mood at Turf Moor, though, with an affronted home crowd now making plenty of noise.

8.41pm GMT

25 min De Bruyne was down for a little while after a challenge from Cork during that City break. He seems to be fine now.

8.40pm GMT

Pieters crossed too close to Ederson and City were straight on the counter-attack. Eventually David Silva played a simple ball to Gabriel Jesus on the left wing. He moved into the area, used Bardsley as a screen and bent a glorious rising shot into the far corner. That was a classic finish, and Pope had no chance.

8.39pm GMT

What a beautiful goal!

8.37pm GMT

22 min City have had lots of the ball, with De Bruyne influential as ever, but they are yet to create a chance. I suspect Sean Dyche will be the happier manager just now.

8.33pm GMT

18 min Otamendi is warned by the referee Jon Moss after a foul on Wood. He looks a wee bit rattled by Wood’s fibrous approach.

8.32pm GMT

17 min Bardsley plays a speculative ball over the top for Wood, who is just beaten to it by Ederson. Good goalkeeping.

8.31pm GMT

17 min It’s been a pretty open start to the game. Burnley look like they can cause City problems, which hasn’t always been the case in this fixture.

8.30pm GMT

15 min Bernardo Silva is booked for a tactical foul on McNeil.

8.28pm GMT

12 min De Bruyne surges forward from the halfway line, moves the ball away from Mee and hits a low left-footed shot from 25 yards. It’s too close to Pope, who makes a comfortable save.

8.25pm GMT

11 min “So,” says Cromwell49, “Bournemouth game not worthy of minute-by-minute coverage, eh?”

You haven’t read the preamble, have you? Sometimes I seriously doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.

8.25pm GMT

10 min Bernardo Silva cuts infield and hits a 20-yard shot that is blocked.

8.24pm GMT

9 min A long ball forward gives Wood the chance to manhandle Otamendi, who ends up on all fours in the City penalty area. Nothing comes of it but I doubt Otamendi will be relishing the next hoof forward.

8.23pm GMT

8 min “Where’s Hendrick playing, Rob?” asks Paul Neilan. He’s in the Pereira role, as a kind of defensive No10.

8.22pm GMT

7 min: JESUS HAS A GOAL DISALLOWED! He was offside. It would have been a lovely goal, mind. De Bruyne drove the corner to the edge of the box, where Angelino belted a volley towards goal. It was slightly off target and came to Jesus, who instinctively flicked the ball behind his standing leg and into the net. He was, alas, a long way offside.

8.21pm GMT

6 min Walker’s cross deflects off Pieters and onto the roof o fthe net. Pope had it covered but it’s a corner for City, the first of the match...

8.19pm GMT

4 min Jesus scoots into the area on the left, turns back inside Mee and is tackled by Tarkowski. No matter: he was offside.

8.18pm GMT

2 min City deal slightly uncomfortably with a couple of long punts forward.

8.15pm GMT

1 min Peep peep! Burnley, in claret and blue, kick off from left to right. City are in their black change strip.

8.14pm GMT

The players emerge from the tunnel. It’s a nice December night in Burnley. A little brisk. Burnley’s walk-on music is Wake Up by Arcade Fire, a gesture which makes the world a marginally better place.

8.09pm GMT

Proud moment for Mamadou Sakho as he becomes the first Premier League player sent off live on Amazon Prime.

8.07pm GMT

It’s almost time for the actual football to start. Shame, really, I was enjoying the build-up.

7.59pm GMT

“Hi Rob,” says Gary Naylor. “For Amazon’s first match, top left of the screen says ‘Cry Bou’ - which accurately sums up Mamadou Sakho’s night.”

In case you’re not a subscriber, Sakho has been sent off for an old-fashioned, thigh-high lunge at Adam Smith. You can follow that match, sort of, here.

7.47pm GMT

“Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “I think today, Tuesday 3 December 2019, will be remembered as the day civilisation reached its peak. Streaming live football through an online global website, whilst at the same time buying a voice controlled smart device that enables me to buy more content from said retailer, and having it delivered by a drone at half time while putting up Christmas decorations and emailing the OBO through thought alone. Herbert Chapman and Stan Cullis would have been proud, don’t you think?”

Let me just ask my smart assistant, Cyril, what I should think.

7.20pm GMT

Ashley Barnes is only fit enough for the bench because of a groin problem, so Burnley have switched from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1.

Burnley (4-2-3-1) Pope; Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters; Cork, Drinkwater; Lennon, Hendrick, McNeil; Wood.
Substitutes: Hart, Lowton, Gibson, Brady, Barnes, Rodriguez, Vydra.

7.06pm GMT

The lights in the Manchester City dressing-room are not working, apparently. That all sounds very Beckiavellian.

No lights in the away dressing room?

We've got you covered, @ManCity

Join us for all the build-up: https://t.co/BSPd2aSoTV #PLonPrime pic.twitter.com/noE8SezQpJ

6.01pm GMT

Good evening and welcome to a brand new episode of Black Mirror. This one has a cracking synopsis: an American tech giant gets its paws on England’s most popular sport, and all manner of dystopian larks ensue. Well, possibly. We can only surmise the long-term impact of Amazon’s Premier League landgrab but it does feel like 3 December 2019 will eventually sit alongside 16 August 1992 as a landmark in TV coverage of football.

For now, the only thing we can say with certainty is that Amazon Prime will be showing 10 live Premier League matches across the next three evenings. Their all-streaming, all-dancing coverage begins with two games tonight: Crystal Palace v Bournemouth and Burnley v Manchester City. The Guardian pockets, alas, are not quite as chasmic as Jeff Bezos’s, so you’re stuck with just one MBM for the match at Turf Moor.

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Published on December 03, 2019 14:07

Australia v Pakistan: second Test, day two – as it happened

Pakistan 6-96 trail Australia 3-589 (declared) by 493 runsDavid Warner hits record-beating 335*, Starc skittles Pakistan

11.04am GMT

11.02am GMT

35th over: Pakistan 96-6 (Babar 43, Yasir 4) Yasir plays out the last over from Cummins, and that’s the end of a spectacular day’s play. David Warner laced an awesome 335 not out, the highest Test score on this ground, and then Australia’s ruthless pace attack went to work under the lights. Barring an apocalypse, or even the apocalypse, Australia will win this game at a canter. Thanks for your company and emails - goodnight.

10.56am GMT

34th over: Pakistan 91-6 (Babar 42, Yasir 0) Yasir somehow survives Starc’s over, although he could have been out to at least four of the six deliveries. There will time for one more over before stumps.

10.53am GMT

Yasir is not out! Australia lose their last review. Starc bowled around the wicket to Yasir, who pushed at a short ball as it flew down the leg side. There was a noise, which is why everyone thought it was out, but replays showed the ball hit Yasir on the hip. Excellent umpiring from Michael Gough.

10.52am GMT

Australia review for caught behind against Yasir! I reckon this will be out.

10.50am GMT

33rd over: Pakistan 91-6 (Babar 42, Yasir 0) Babar is beaten by a cracker from Cummins, which pitches just outside off and straightens sharply.

“Trying to get my head round the state of play,” says Pete Salmon. “Any news from the WinViz predictor?”

10.46am GMT

32nd over: Pakistan 89-6 (Babar 40, Yasir 0) A double-wicket maiden for Mitchell Starc, whose figures are 14-4-22-4. It’s probably fair to opine that he is back in form.

10.44am GMT

Starc has his fourth wicket! He has been electric this evening. Mohammad Rizwan, who played so well at Brisbane, chased a wide one and was caught behind for a third-ball duck. Babar Azam is all alone on the burning deck.

10.40am GMT

Brilliant catch from Tim Paine! Iftikhar plays his latest and last loose stroke outside off stump, flashing at a short one from Starc, and Paine dives in front of first slip to take a one-handed blinder.

10.38am GMT

31st over: Pakistan 89-4 (Babar 40, Iftikhar 10) Babar squirts Cummins through backward point for a couple. The commentators aren’t happy with Australia’s passive-aggressive fields, with a deep point and only one slip for Babar. I’ll leave with you: I can see both sides.

10.34am GMT

30th over: Pakistan 87-4 (Babar 38, Iftikhar 10) Australia’s bowlers have been very chirpy towards Iftikhar in particular. Perhaps they’re reminding him that this 10 not out is the highest score of his burgeoning Test career.

10.29am GMT

29th over: Pakistan 84-4 (Babar 36, Iftikhar 9) Cummins replaces Hazlewood (8-2-29-1) and is cuffed through the covers for four by Iftikhar. He doesn’t look convincing, but at least he’s trying to put some pressure on the Australian bowlers.

“Do you think if you keep saying ‘supracaudal gland’ you might get some anatomy-related commissions?” says Eamonn Maloney. “Ever MBMed a surgical procedure?”

10.24am GMT

28th over: Pakistan 80-4 (Babar 36, Iftikhar 5) Pakistan have just under 40 minutes to survive until the close. Iftikhar has the windiest of woofs at Starc and is beaten again; he is struggling.

10.20am GMT

27th over: Pakistan 79-4 (Babar 36, Iftikhar 4) A quiet over from Hazlewood - two from it.

10.16am GMT

26th over: Pakistan 77-4 (Babar 34, Iftikhar 4) Iftikhar tries to uppercut a wide one from Starc and is beaten. He edges a fuller, follow-up delivery on the bounce to second slip. The Pakistan batsmen, Babar and Masood excepted, have been very loose this evening. In their defence, the Australian fast bowling has been relentless.

10.11am GMT

25th over: Pakistan 76-4 (Babar 33, Iftikhar 4) Babar drives Hazlewood down the ground for three. It was in the air but Hazlewood was unable to reach it in his follow through. Iftikhar then gets off the mark with a punchy drive for four.

10.07am GMT

24th over: Pakistan 69-4 (Babar 30, Iftikhar 0) Starc’s figures reflect an excellent performance: 8-3-17-2.

10.04am GMT

Asad Shafiq’s miserable struggle is over. The ball after edging Starc for four, he snicked a good delivery through to the keeper. Australia are into the supracaudal gland.

10.01am GMT

23rd over: Pakistan 65-3 (Babar 30, Shafiq 5) Babar is beaten, playing an unbecoming stroke at Hazlewood. He upbraids himself internally and then flicks imperiously to the midwicket boundary. A lively over concludes when Babar plays a defensive stroke that kicks up to hit him on the chin. He’s fine.

9.54am GMT

22nd over: Pakistan 61-3 (Babar 26, Shafiq 5) Starc replaces Cummins. His second ball beats Asad, who continues to flirt fecklessly outside off stump. There are 19 overs remaining today, and it’s time for drinks.

9.48am GMT

21st over: Pakistan 59-3 (Babar 25, Shafiq 4) Babar times consecutive boundaries off Hazlewood, an elegant cover drive followed by a clip through square leg. He’s playing on a different pitch - or, rather, in a different twilight - to all the other Pakistan batsmen. He bats with such grace and serenity, and to hell with the fact his team are getting stuffed.

“As a fan of proper cricket got to say I’m disappointed by Warner’s lack of runs in the V,” says Pete Salmon. “Should be straight in the nets after play and concentrate on keeping that elbow pointing skywards. Plenty of room for improvement.”

9.44am GMT

20th over: Pakistan 51-3 (Babar 17, Shafiq 4) Babar Azam is Pakistan’s best player, by a distance. His overall Test record (1345 runs at 36.59) doesn’t do him justice, but he averages 52 in the last couple of years. He looks comfortable at the crease. Shafiq does not, at least not yet, and he edges Cummins’ last delivery a fraction short of Wade in the slips.

9.39am GMT

19th over: Pakistan 48-3 (Babar 14, Shafiq 4) Babar drives Hazlewood majestically through mid-off for four. I was going to say he’s a beautiful player, but I was always taught not to state the bleedin’ obvious.

9.36am GMT

18th over: Pakistan 43-3 (Babar 9, Shafiq 4) These two are Pakistan’s best players, so Australia will feel they are one wicket away, if not from the tail then at least the supracaudal gland. They almost get it when Shafiq edges his second ball just wide of the diving Labuschagne at third slip.

9.31am GMT

17th over: Pakistan 38-3 (Babar 8, Shafiq 0) This could get pretty messy for Pakistan.

9.30am GMT

Shan Masood has gone, caught behind off Josh Hazlewood. Having left the ball beautifully throughout his innings, Masood felt for a good delivery outside off stump that straightened just enough to take a thin outside edge on its way through to Tim Paine.

One for Starc, one for Cummins, and now one for Hazlewood!#AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/uMDLkZ1RRX

9.24am GMT

16th over: Pakistan 38-2 (Masood 19, Babar 8) Babar Azam is beaten, fencing at another good delivery from Cummins. This is a nice contest between two of the world’s best cricketers. When Cummins slips one full and wide, Babar clatters it to the cover boundary.

An extraordinary innings from Warner. Hardly played down the ground & scored more than half his runs through point & covers region. Only 3.6% runs came in the 'V' down the wicket. Of all double hundreds in our database since 2006, this is the lowest in the straight 'V'. #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/tQWD4S5EGU

9.20am GMT

15th over: Pakistan 34-2 (Masood 19, Babar 4) Masood plays a defensive stroke off Hazlewood, with the ball getting stuck behind the flap of his pad. Warner grabs the ball and launches into a mock-appeal. The next ball, the last of the over, zips past the edge. The pink ball is starting to talk under the lights.

9.18am GMT

14th over: Pakistan 34-2 (Masood 19, Babar 4) A half-volley from Cummins is flicked sweetly to the square-leg boundary by Masood, who is playing with calm authority. Babar Azam drives classily for four to get off the mark; Cummins responds with a peach that squares Babar up and goes past the edge.

9.11am GMT

13th over: Pakistan 25-2 (Masood 14, Babar 0) Josh Hazlewood replaces Mitchell Starc, who bowled a good opening spell of 6-3-11-1. A quiet over to start.

“Morning Rob,” says Brian Withington. “That Warner scoring sequence could perhaps also be captured algebraically in the expression: 2 x K >> 10 x D (although it should be noted that this does not apply to freaks of nature like Steve Smith for whom 8 x D is greater than England’s entire team).”

9.05am GMT

12th over: Pakistan 22-2 (Masood 11, Babar 0) Babar Azam has been promoted to No4.

9.05am GMT

Steve Smith takes a splendid catch to get rid of the Pakistan captain Azhar Ali. He edged a fullish delivery from Cummins low to second slip, where Smith moved smartly to grab the ball with both hands just below the ground. The umpires went upstairs to confirm it had carried, and replays confirmed it was a clean take. And a darned good one.

8.58am GMT

11th over: Pakistan 21-1 (Masood 10, Azhar 9) Azhar Ali has a fine record against the Aussies, with an average of 55. That includes an unbeaten double hundred at the MCG three years ago. He digs out a yorker from Starc, and that’s all she wrote.

8.54am GMT

10th over: Pakistan 20-1 (Masood 9, Azhar 9) Cummins is too straight to Azhar Ali, who times him crisply through midwicket for the first boundary of the innings. These two, probably Pakistan’s most patient batsmen, are playing nicely.

8.48am GMT

9th over: Pakistan 15-1 (Masood 8, Azhar 5) Masood works a short one from Starc off the breast for a couple and then drives pleasantly for three. There hasn’t been much movement for the quicks, although that may change when we enter the twilight zone.

8.43am GMT

8th over: Pakistan 9-1 (Masood 3, Azhar 4) Shan Masood continues to leave well against Cummins, although he needs to be careful with the angle from around the wicket. He waves a slightly unconvincing drive into the covers for two off the fifth delivery of the over.

8.39am GMT

7th over: Pakistan 7-1 (Masood 1, Azhar 4) Starc resumes after dinner, and concedes his first runs of the innings when Azhar drives through mid-off for a couple. And why not?

“Was that declaration by Tim Paine really necessary?” says Kaushik Sarvadey. “I suppose the urgency was not required because the Aussies had plenty of time.”

8.05am GMT

“Morning/evening, Rob,” says David Horn. “Impressive though your Countdown ability is, Warner’s scores post-reintegration are more reminiscent of Numberwang.”

7.56am GMT

6th over: Pakistan 3-1 (Masood 1, Azhar 0) Masood continues to leave as much as possible, mainly on line. Cummins moves around the wicket as a result and has a huge shout for LBW turned down by Michael Gough. That looked very close, but Australia only have one review remaining and Tim Paine decides not to risk it.

That was the last ball of the session. It’s been an agreeable day for Australia: David Warner made 335 not out, the highest Test score at the Adelaide Oval, before Mitchell Starc ripped out Imam-ul-Haq. See you in 40 minutes for the twilight session.

7.50am GMT

5th over: Pakistan 3-1 (Masood 1, Azhar 0) A wicket maiden from Starc, whose figures are 3-3-0-1.

7.47am GMT

That’ll do. Imam, softened up by a nasty short ball, edges a good one from Starc straight to Warner in the gully. Australia’s bowlers have started ruthlessly, and that wicket comes as no surprise.

7.44am GMT

4th over: Pakistan 3-0 (Masood 1, Imam 2) Masood gets off the mark from his 10th delivery, flicking Cummins for a single. He and Imam are constructing their innings on a need-to-play basis, with a clear plan to leave anything even slightly outside off stump.

7.41am GMT

3rd over: Pakistan 1-0 (Masood 0, Imam 1) Starc is already close to 150kph, and bowls a second maiden - this time to the strokeless Imam-ul-Haq. Pakistan’s openers are ready for their supper.

7.35am GMT

2nd over: Pakistan 1-0 (Masood 0, Imam 1) Imam gets off the mark with a dodgy single off Cummins. Shan Masood, who was slow to respond, would have been out with a direct hit from Head in the covers. Cummins ends an excellent over by ripping one past Masood’s outside edge. This has been a ferocious start from the Australian bowlers.

“I think the equation could be simplified,” says Rowan Sweeney. “Warner - Stuart Broad = 335.”

7.33am GMT

IMAM IS NOT OUT! Australia lose a review. It was a good delivery from Cummins, bowling over the wicket to Imam. It would certainly have hit the stumps - but replays showed it pitched outside leg.

7.32am GMT

AUSTRALIA REVIEW FOR LBW AGAINST IMAM! I think this pitched outside leg.

7.31am GMT

1st over: Pakistan 0-0 (Masood 0, Imam 0) “Evening Rob,” says Phil Withall. “Looking at Warner’s scores since his return to Test cricket made me wish they’d had a numbers round in Extreme Countdown...”

Arf. I think you can get 335 by using all his Ashes scores: 61 x 5 + 11 + 3 + (8x2) + 0 + 0 + 0 = 335.

7.29am GMT

Shan Masood is given out LBW - but the decision is overturned on review. There was a faint inside-edge, although strangely Masood only reviewed after 13 or 14 seconds.

7.24am GMT

Mitchell Starc will open the bowling. There’s just under half an hour before the dinner break.

7.21am GMT

Warner’s innings in full

335* from 418 balls, with 39 fours, one six - and, as Damien McLean pointed out a few overs ago, umpteen quick singles. Warner? Phwoarner more like!

7.16am GMT

We'd say you have plenty of patience @davidwarner31 pic.twitter.com/hRKoFTtRvy

Seeing Warner's celebrations and feeling bad that Imran Tahir never got a 300

7.16am GMT

So, what did you do at the weekend? David Warner made 335 not out.

7.15am GMT

Warner’s scores since his return to Test cricket looks like the kind of maths puzzle even Max Fischer couldn’t solve: 2, 8, 3, 5, 61, 0, 0, 0, 5, 11, 154, 335*.

7.15am GMT

127th over: Australia 589-3 declared (Warner 335, Wade 38) Warner waves Iftikhar for a single to move to 335, the second highest score in Australian Test history, and Tim Paine decides to leave it at that. Warner walks off to a standing ovation from the crowd and a guard of honour from his team-mates. After all he’s been through in the last couple of years, that is a thoroughly lovely moment.

7.10am GMT

126th over: Australia 582-3 (Warner 330, Wade 36) No sign of a declaration, which suggests Australia will bat on after tea. The 400 might actually be on. For now, Warner is five away from the second highest Test score for Australia - Don Bradman and Mark Taylor, famously, both made 334.

“I’ve got to say, it’s been a privilege to watch this whole knock live,” says Damien McLean. “Say what you will about this Pakistani attack, but you still have to make the runs. This hasn’t been the Warner I’ve watched in the past, who used to make a hundred then just try and hit the bowlers out of the park. Great to see what he can do when he puts his mind to playing long. The running between the wickets has been the highlight for me; running as hard now as early yesterday.”

7.06am GMT

125th over: Australia 579-3 (Warner 329, Wade 34) “Good morning,” says Matt. “So I am following the match, still learning about the sport, and my question is how many days long is a match?”

A Test match is usually scheduled to last five days, but sometimes it’s four. And some of them finish in three or even days. There are also one-day matches, but they occasionally go to a second day. Confused? Splendid. Now lie down on the couch and tell me about your schooldays.

7.02am GMT

124th over: Australia 574-3 (Warner 325, Wade 33) Musa Khan returns to the attack, the poor sod. Five from the over.

6.58am GMT

123rd over: Australia 569-3 (Warner 323, Wade 30) Warner cuffs Iftikhar for four more. His Test average in Australia has gone past 67, which is a record for an opener in home Tests (minimum 10 innings). He has had his moments away from home, most notably those storming hundreds in South Africa in 2013-14, but he will be remembered as a devastating player in home conditions.

“Good work,” says Michael Barker. “But when will they declare, Rob?”

6.51am GMT

122nd over: Australia 560-3 (Warner 315, Wade 29) Wade runs down the wicket and launches Abbas miles in the air. The ball teases midwicket and deep square leg before plopping safely. It was in the air so long that the batsmen were able to turn for the third.

Warner then shows Wade how to do it with a blistering pull into the crowd. That’s his first six of the innings. He heaves violently at the next ball, slicing it over the solitary slip for four more. Warner is trying to get as many as possible before the declaration. He is 315 not out.

6.47am GMT

121st over: Australia 543-3 (Warner 301, Wade 26) Thanks Geoff, evening everyone. Wade slaps Iftikhar square on the off side for four to continue this orgy of runs in Adelaide. The most euphoric moment may be yet to come: David Warner is 99 away from you know what.

6.45am GMT

120th over: Australia 537-3 (Warner 300, Wade 21) He’s done it! Warner plays an on-drive, rolling towards the rope. It teases the fielders, teases the crowd, then runs into the rope. Three hundred for Warner! What a return to form. He’s been prolific, but this would have been beyond even his dreams. Batting long, going huge, those have never been big parts of his batting career. But here, he has. The luck has been there, the skill has been there, and the fortitude has been there. David Warner joins the slender ranks of those with Test triples. And as if to prove that he’s not done yet, Warner sets up again to leave and defend the next five balls of the Abbas over.

And with that, what better time to hand over to that famed lover of all things Warner, Rob Smyth.

6.41am GMT

119th over: Australia 533-3 (Warner 296, Wade 21) Warner moves quickly towards his triple, clobbering Iftihkar for four through square leg, then adding two more through cover.

6.37am GMT

118th over: Australia 526-3 (Warner 289, Wade 21) Abbas comes back into the attack. By now it’s less an attack than a gentle request. Wade doesn’t care for the parsimony of Abbas, so he whacks a couple through point and four through the covers.

6.30am GMT

117th over: Australia 519-3 (Warner 288, Wade 15) Yasir’s horror run continues, as Wade decides that he’s going to channel 2012 Warner. Gets into position early, feet apart, weight down, ready to heave, and launches a pull-slog into the stands. High and long, no finesse about that but plenty of contact. Yasir is about to bring up his own double-century.

6.28am GMT

116th over: Australia 510-3 (Warner 286, Wade 8) Warner’s placement through cover has been a real feature of this innings. Again he leans forward and drives, again he finds the finest of gaps to stream to the boundary. Shaheen can do nothing.

6.23am GMT

115th over: Australia 505-3 (Warner 281, Wade 8) Yasir is having a miserable old time at the Adelaide Oval, much as Imran Tahir had at the hands of Warner back in 2012. That was more gung-ho, this is more relentless. Less relentful? You get the idea. Warner sweeps another boundary, ticks another single. Wade slogs a couple of runs. Yasir keeps going at worse than 6 runs per over.

6.22am GMT

114th over: Australia 496-3 (Warner 275, Wade 5) Shaheen is right on the spot to Wade, landing his length really well. The over is quiet until Wade edges along the ground for a boundary.

6.13am GMT

113th over: Australia 492-3 (Warner 275, Wade 1) Suddenly things quiet down, with just a couple of singles from the Yasir over. Wade is immediately sweeping, as is his wont.

6.09am GMT

112th over: Australia 490-3 (Warner 274, Wade 0) Matthew Wade is next in, after some decent runs at Brisbane last week. He’s immediately the subject of a DRS challenge, having pushed at Shaheen outside off, but there’s no contact between bat and ball on the forensics. Shaheen has 3 for 79, and has tried hard.

6.05am GMT

What’s this? Another modest score from Smith! He’s made 40 in the series while his teammates have rattled up about a thousand between them. And this was to another yahoo shot. He doesn’t seem at his best when Australia is right on top and he’s supposed to cash in. He aims a huge swipe at Shaheen, apparently aiming somewhere over wide long-on, and gets a faint inside edge having completely lost his shape. Shaheen does the big Starman celebration pose. Maybe save it for when the oppo isn’t 500 ahead, champ.

6.03am GMT

111th over: Australia 490-2 (Warner 274, Smith 36) That was less conventional from Warner. Gets a ball spinning into his pads from Yasir, and whips across the line at it, all wrists after reaching around his front pad, and somehow middles it for four. That’s a fairly high-risk stroke though. Safer when Yasir drops short and Warner cuts a couple. Two more through cover.

6.00am GMT

110th over: Australia 481-2 (Warner 266, Smith 35) Warner is happy to continue against Shaheen in his safety-conscious style. Nothing extravagant, leaves and defends a few, then seizes on the overpitched delivery to off-drive it for four.

5.55am GMT

109th over: Australia 477-2 (Warner 262, Smith 35) The break has ended, and Yasir has the ball. There’s a big appeal from him and Rizwan in concert, though no one else joins in, when the ball beats Smith’s bat and flicks the flap of his pad. But I fancy it hit him outside off and was turning away. A couple of singles are added.

5.34am GMT

An extraordinary start to the day for Australia. Warner and Labuschagne were flying through the first overs, and with Smith ended up piling on 173 runs in a session extended by half an hour. Pakistan had a moment of happiness when Shaheen castled Marnus with a lovely ball that swung into him, but one wicket did not yield anything further.

Warner this international summer has 702 runs for two dismissals. He’ll continue in a moment, and so will we.

5.31am GMT

108th over: Australia 475-2 (Warner 261, Smith 34) Last over before the short tea break, which comes first in day-night matches, and Warner is happy to see off Shaheen after Smith takes a single first ball.

5.27am GMT

107th over: Australia 474-2 (Warner 261, Smith 33) Warner nearly run out, but he’s fast and he dives just as he does so often in T20 cricket. Two more runs to his total after once more helping Yasir through fine leg. He goes further into one-day mode, playing the reverse-sweep to Yasir’s over-the-wicket line. Knowing there’s a large gap behind point, Warner makes the most of it for four.

5.24am GMT

106th over: Australia 468-2 (Warner 255, Smith 33) Shaheen is bowling decently, again excited as a ball moves back towards Smith’s off stump, but again it’s a ball that looks good but isn’t really threatening. Just a Warner single from the over.

5.21am GMT

105th over: Australia 467-2 (Warner 254, Smith 33) Three for Smith and then three for Warner off Yasir, both of them working the leggie away through fine leg. The TV replay picks up that Warner didn’t actually ground his heel for the third run, but the umpire didn’t notice. In the book, he has now made a new highest Test score, passing his 253 against NZ at the WACA four years ago.

5.17am GMT

104th over: Australia 461-2 (Warner 251, Smith 30) Another edge for Warner, this one seemed more deliberate: soft hands, played down, along the ground into the gap. So softly played that the ball rolls to a stop just inside the rope and only profits Warner by two runs, but that’s enough to raise another milestone. Shaheen is not impressed.

5.14am GMT

103rd over: Australia 459-2 (Warner 249, Smith 30) Smith just does what Smith does. Waits back, steps across, plays anything through midwicket that can be played through midwicket. Twice Yasir lets him work the ball for doubles. Dismissal number eight for Yasir doesn’t appear to be imminent.

5.08am GMT

102nd over: Australia 455-2 (Warner 249, Smith 26) Musa is taken off to go and listen to some Fall Out Boy or whatever teenagers do to deal with angst. I don’t know, I’m ancient. Shaheen has Warner defend one ball, then slash another over the cordon. That was much more about luck than control for Petit Davide. Wide and chased. As is another ball, fuller, that leaves Warner on one knee outside off as he misses. It’s a good over from Shaheen, bowling to his heavily off-side field.

5.04am GMT

101st over: Australia 451-2 (Warner 245, Smith 26) That’s lovely, Steven. Waits for the leg-break that Yasir tosses up. Watches it dip. Shimmies slightly to be in position, then whips the drive off his toes through midwicket for three. You won’t see many right-handers play leg-spin better than that. In two hours they’ve added 148 today.

5.01am GMT

100th over: Australia 446-2 (Warner 243, Smith 23) Musa, the frustration continues. Yet another no-ball, pitching full to Warner from around the wicket. Then an edge from Warner that rolls away for four. The bowler’s pace is still good, mid-140s, but he can’t get the rest of his game together. Warner gets off strike, then Smith pulls a short ball for his 7000th Test run, raised in his 126th innings.

That’s four more runs than Bradman ever got. And so it makes Smith, by my reckoning, the fastest to the milestone in terms of innings faced.

4.55am GMT

99th over: Australia 438-2 (Warner 237, Smith 22) Smith is getting his on-side game working to Yasir, moving across to knock the leg-spinner square. But it’s not without its risk, as he finds when he gets squared up trying the same shot, gets a thick outside edge and sees it bounce into the gully.

4.53am GMT

98th over: Australia 434-2 (Warner 236, Smith 19) Another no-ball from Musa, and nearly got Warner with that one at all. Seam movement, beat the edge by a fraction, and costs Pakistan a penalty run. What is it with Warner and no-balls? It seems that on good batting days, the bowler’s best delivery to him is always an overstep. Did he once visit a shaman with a photo of Mohammad Amir, or what?

4.46am GMT

97th over: Australia 433-2 (Warner 236, Smith 19) Yasir to Smith, but the batsman gets the upper hand in this over. Whips a boundary through midwicket, then gets off strike to cover. Nyah-nyah.

4.42am GMT

96th over: Australia 426-2 (Warner 234, Smith 14) You’ll never guess what happens next... David Warner is caught off a no-ball! It was the young Naseem on debut in Brisbane, here it’s Musa. Fortunately he doesn’t have the ecstasy / agony bit of finding out via a wait and a replay, because the umpire calls the no-ball in live action. So there’s no celebration as Warner drives away from his body and sends a thick edge straight to gully. Instead, Babar throws his head back, and Musa puts his head in his hands. Should have had Warner, but that basic error costs Pakistan again. Warner celebrates in his own style, seeing a bouncer, playing a wristy uppercut from well above his head over first slip for four. Then tucks away a single. Flourish and humility, one after the other. Ten runs from an over that should have brought a wicket instead.

4.37am GMT

95th over: Australia 416-2 (Warner 226, Smith 13) Right, it will be Yasir Shah changing to the Riverbank End. Bowling to Steven Smith with a slip and a short leg. A short cover as well, 15 paces from the bat. Backward point, deep point, regulation cover, mid-off, id-on, midwicket. No one deep on the leg side. Don’t bowl short... Yasir doesn’t, flighting the ball and landing it full, around the off stump. Smith keeps stretching forward to defend. This shapes as a good battle already, there’s a bit of extra fizz in the air. Smith walks across and hits hard on the bounce into the short leg fielder, presumably Masood under the scone-box. Line of fire. He ensures the over is a maiden.

4.34am GMT

94th over: Australia 416-2 (Warner 226, Smith 13) No he wont, because Muhammad Musa Khan has come back on. This is a weird move from Azhar Ali. Unless Yasir wants to switch ends and replace Abbas after a lengthy spell. Smith lashes through point but sees his shot saved, then drives through cover and gets three. Warner ducks a bouncer. Then drives to deep cover, where Shan Masood saves well after being wrong-footed. Two runs.

4.28am GMT

93rd over: Australia 411-2 (Warner 224, Smith 10) Another good over from Abbas, using the seam and trying to cut the ball into Warner, with a fairly close fielder square on the leg side looking for a catch I fancy. Warner gets a couple of leg byes and can’t lay bat on ball throughout. Smith will face Yasir in the next over.

4.26am GMT

92nd over: Australia 409-2 (Warner 224, Smith 10) Ok, so Azhar brings Yasir Shah on try getting an edge over Smith. Except that Yasir bowls the full over to Warner. And Warner pulverises a long-hop for four, punches two more through cover, and survives the one threatening ball as Yasir zips a straight one through that beats the edge when Warner is expecting turn.

4.19am GMT

91st over: Australia 402-2 (Warner 217, Smith 10) Abbas draws an edge from Warner, but the left-hander plays it softly enough that he grounds the ball for three runs rather than edging it in the air. He bowls nicely to Smith as well, seaming the ball a couple of times. Smith gets tangled up while trying to play to the leg side, and in the end the ball beats his outside edge even as he tries to play across the line, and thunks him on the thigh pad. That’s the best over that Abbas has bowled in the Test. He was forthright in the press conference last night, saying that he was upset at missing the Brisbane Test, but that he couldn’t get into rhythm with no Tests for nearly a year. Drinks break.

4.12am GMT

90th over: Australia 399-2 (Warner 214, Smith 10) It’s easier to score off Shaheen than Abbas, with his pace on the ball and his higher likelihood of mistakes. He gives Warner width and Warner gives him the treatment. Cut for four. Shaheen predictably responds with a bouncer, but Warner just ducks, then cuts the next ball into the point gap for one.

4.10am GMT

89th over: Australia 394-2 (Warner 209, Smith 10) Abbas has bowled very economically: 24 overs now, 69 runs. But he hasn’t threatened a great deal with the ball. Smith is watchful against him, guards against seam movement with the new ball, takes another single with his default scoring shot. Warner prefers the off side, scores one to point.

4.05am GMT

88th over: Australia 392-2 (Warner 208, Smith 9) And Smith doubles his score again! The fine leg merchant, walking across to Shaheen this time and diverting the path of the ball away for a boundary. Smith has gone 1, 2, 4, 8. Can he score 16 from his next ball? I wouldn’t rule it out.

Nope, he ruins the sequence with a single. Warner thanks him for the strike by driving perfectly through extra cover for four, splitting a tiny gap in the field. In just over an hour the Australians have added 90 runs.

4.00am GMT

87th over: Australia 383-2 (Warner 204, Smith 4) Smith doing what Smith does. Walking across, making space on the leg side. Abbas bowling a bit too short as well. Glanced for two, deflected off the pad for three. Smith doubles his score again.

3.58am GMT

86th over: Australia 378-2 (Warner 204, Smith 2) A decent start from Shaheen, who gets some seam movement to beat Smith’s edge. Smith was pulling inside the line though, and Shaheen started too short to take the edge. That ball was Joey in Friends: looked good, didn’t achieve much. Smith doubles his score with a single to mid-on.

3.50am GMT

85th over: Australia 377-2 (Warner 204, Smith 1) Smith is practicing all of his shots and leaves and nudges at the non-striker’s end, as Warner plays a for-real cover drive against Abbas, almost on the back foot and then coming forward suddenly through the ball, on the up. You have to be seeing them well to do that. The Pakistanis are excited when Abbas nearly gets pad, but there was plenty of bat involved as well.

3.47am GMT

84th over: Australia 373-2 (Warner 200, Smith 1) A wicket, sure, but David Warner on the cusp of a double, and Steve Smith walking to the middle. Tasty tasty times if you’re a devotee of Australian cricket. Smith knocks away a single first ball to give Warner back the strike with three balls to come. Warner works it through square leg and will get... two, with the aid of a misfield. Thought of the third, couldn’t quite risk it, and he walks away to square leg to clear his head on 199.

Two balls left in the over. Blocked to the off side. No run.

3.41am GMT

Shaheen, the pick of Pakistan’s attack yesterday, shares the new ball and he strikes after just two deliveries, castling Labuschagne with a beautiful in-swinging delivery that did for the middle of off stump. A superb delivery to end a superb innings.

3.39am GMT

83rd over: Australia 369-1 (Warner 197, Labuschagne 162) The new ball IS now taken and Abbas, after that over of looseners, takes it from the river end. It’s a very Abbas over; moderately paced, on a decent line and length, and utterly unthreatening. Warner displays the patience of a man who knows a score of unimaginable magnitude is on offer today, leaving or dead-batting five deliveries then pushing firmly through the covers for two.

More stats

Warner and Labuschagne now own the highest partnership for any wicket for Australia v Pakistan in Tests #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/wTYVeC9hx4

3.35am GMT

82nd over: Australia 367-1 (Warner 195, Labuschagne 162) Turns out we were misled and Pakistan did not take the second new ball after all. Quite why they didn’t, nobody seems able to fathom. The outcome is another pointless over from Yasir that’s too fast, too flat, too short, and too full of runs. “This is rubbish bowling,” says Ricky Ponting on TV, “absolute rubbish”. Labuschagne doesn’t mind, bringing up the 350 partnership with a brace of cut boundaries. This ceased to be a contest many hours ago and Azhar Ali doesn’t seem remotely concerned.

3.30am GMT

81st over: Australia 357-1 (Warner 194, Labuschagne 153) The new ball is taken immediately and the game enters its next phase, hopefully one more competitive than the last few hours of one-sided drubbing. Abbas takes the new pink Kookaburra and settles into his groove on a length around that fourth or fifth stump line but Labuschagne is ready for it, standing tall on his toes and controlling drives into the off-side. A couple hit the field, one pierces the gap for two runs.

The partnership now inside the top 10 of all Australian Test partnerships....

3.26am GMT

80th over: Australia 354-1 (Warner 194, Labuschagne 150) Marnus Labuschagne’s introduction to Test cricket may have arrived in unconventional circumstances but he is to the manor born. The Queenslander brings up his 150 with a nudge off Yasir, a milestone celebrated by Warner by dispatching the Pakistan leggy over cow corner for six of the most contemptuous runs you could find. That’s followed soon afterwards by a rank long-hop being pummelled to the square leg fence for four. If this was a title fight the referee would be giving Pakistan a standing count.

Another record ✅

Warner & Labuschagne pass Cook & Trott for the highest second wicket stand for all tests in Australia #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/xM82V81DnJ

3.21am GMT

79th over: Australia 342-1 (Warner 183, Labuschagne 149) Both teams are rattling through their work this morning, Iftikhar with a nondescript over, Australia tipping and running to keep the circulation flowing. The tourists are nearly into the new ball.

3.20am GMT

78th over: Australia 339-1 (Warner 181, Labuschagne 148) Another one for Marnus! The runs keep flowing. Gallops down and plonks Yasir over mid-on for four. They’re going to have some fun today.

3.18am GMT

77th over: Australia 333-1 (Warner 180, Labuschagne 143) They are not hanging around this morning. Warner creams Iftikhar’s short ball away with a pull shot. The off-spinner replaced the young pace bowler after one over. Curious. Two more runs to fine leg for Marnus. The scoreboard is whirring.

3.12am GMT

76th over: Australia 325-1 (Warner 175, Labuschagne 140) Yasir starts the over well, just conceding a couple of singles, but Labuschagne finishes it well by carting him over midwicket for four. No hanging around for Australia with the sun shining for the moment in Adelaide.

3.12am GMT

75th over: Australia 318-1 (Warner 173, Labuschagne 135) If Warner starts fast, Labuschagne starts faster. A four, a two, and a three, all worked through the off side. The boundary was edgy, but the rest were controlled. 11 runs from Musa’s first over.

3.12am GMT

74th over: Australia 307-1 (Warner 171, Labuschagne 126) Warner started slowly on the second morning in Brisbane. No such approach here, as he gets a gift from Yasir Shah in the form of a short ball, and whacks it to the boundary.

2.30am GMT

Here is the wires report on the action yesterday, if you want the detail.

2.24am GMT

Today is David Warner Day. Sorry if you didn’t get the note. That costume looks great though, Keith. And the Toyota badging is a nice touch. We’re all just playing it by ear, trying to work out something new. Which is what David will be doing, too. See, Davey used to have a particular style. Score big, score fast, put his feet up. For a long time his highest score was that 180 he made in about 15 minutes when he pogoed India all around the WACA. He never batted through a Test day until 2016 at the same ground, when he made 250 against New Zealand. But he got out first thing the next morning. Then last week at the Gabba he went through the day again, and got out without adding much the next morning too. Now in Adelaide he’s had his third bat-through day, and his third chance to go on the next day to a truly huge score. Will it help that the next day is starting in the afternoon, not the morning? Maybe he’s a post-prandial guy. We’ll find out. Because it would be interesting to see what D. Warner can do if he really goes on with an innings. Two days of pain, that sort of thing.

Pakistan are sore, sorry, and have once again bowled through a Test day for only the wicket of Joe Burns. Hopefully they rested well and did justice to the breakfast buffet. Australia: 302 for 1 after the first day.

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Published on November 30, 2019 03:04

Australia v Pakistan: second Test, day two – live!

Updates from the second day at Adelaide OvalAustralia declare on 589-3 with David Warner 335 not outAny thoughts? Email them to Rob

9.24am GMT

16th over: Pakistan 38-2 (Masood 19, Babar 8) Babar Azam is beaten, fencing at another good delivery from Cummins. This is a nice contest between two of the world’s best cricketers. When Cummins slips one full and wide, Babar clatters it to the cover boundary.

An extraordinary innings from Warner. Hardly played down the ground & scored more than half his runs through point & covers region. Only 3.6% runs came in the 'V' down the wicket. Of all double hundreds in our database since 2006, this is the lowest in the straight 'V'. #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/tQWD4S5EGU

9.20am GMT

15th over: Pakistan 34-2 (Masood 19, Babar 4) Masood plays a defensive stroke off Hazlewood, with the ball getting stuck behind the flap of his pad. Warner grabs the ball and launches into a mock-appeal. The next ball, the last of the over, zips past the edge. The pink ball is starting to talk under the lights.

9.18am GMT

14th over: Pakistan 34-2 (Masood 19, Babar 4) A half-volley from Cummins is flicked sweetly to the square-leg boundary by Masood, who is playing with calm authority. Babar Azam drives classily for four to get off the mark; Cummins responds with a peach that squares Babar up and goes past the edge.

9.11am GMT

13th over: Pakistan 25-2 (Masood 14, Babar 0) Josh Hazlewood replaces Mitchell Starc, who bowled a good opening spell of 6-3-11-1. A quiet over to start.

“Morning Rob,” says Brian Withington. “That Warner scoring sequence could perhaps also be captured algebraically in the expression: 2 x K >> 10 x D (although it should be noted that this does not apply to freaks of nature like Steve Smith for whom 8 x D is greater than England’s entire team).”

9.05am GMT

12th over: Pakistan 22-2 (Masood 11, Babar 0) Babar Azam has been promoted to No4.

9.05am GMT

Steve Smith takes a splendid catch to get rid of the Pakistan captain Azhar Ali. He edged a fullish delivery from Cummins low to second slip, where Smith moved smartly to grab the ball with both hands just below the ground. The umpires went upstairs to confirm it had carried, and replays confirmed it was a clean take. And a darned good one.

8.58am GMT

11th over: Pakistan 21-1 (Masood 10, Azhar 9) Azhar Ali has a fine record against the Aussies, with an average of 55. That includes an unbeaten double hundred at the MCG three years ago. He digs out a yorker from Starc, and that’s all she wrote.

8.54am GMT

10th over: Pakistan 20-1 (Masood 9, Azhar 9) Cummins is too straight to Azhar Ali, who times him crisply through midwicket for the first boundary of the innings. These two, probably Pakistan’s most patient batsmen, are playing nicely.

8.48am GMT

9th over: Pakistan 15-1 (Masood 8, Azhar 5) Masood works a short one from Starc off the breast for a couple and then drives pleasantly for three. There hasn’t been much movement for the quicks, although that may change when we enter the twilight zone.

8.43am GMT

8th over: Pakistan 9-1 (Masood 3, Azhar 4) Shan Masood continues to leave well against Cummins, although he needs to be careful with the angle from around the wicket. He waves a slightly unconvincing drive into the covers for two off the fifth delivery of the over.

8.39am GMT

7th over: Pakistan 7-1 (Masood 1, Azhar 4) Starc resumes after dinner, and concedes his first runs of the innings when Azhar drives through mid-off for a couple. And why not?

“Was that declaration by Tim Paine really necessary?” says Kaushik Sarvadey. “I suppose the urgency was not required because the Aussies had plenty of time.”

8.05am GMT

“Morning/evening, Rob,” says David Horn. “Impressive though your Countdown ability is, Warner’s scores post-reintegration are more reminiscent of Numberwang.”

7.56am GMT

6th over: Pakistan 3-1 (Masood 1, Azhar 0) Masood continues to leave as much as possible, mainly on line. Cummins moves around the wicket as a result and has a huge shout for LBW turned down by Michael Gough. That looked very close, but Australia only have one review remaining and Tim Paine decides not to risk it.

That was the last ball of the session. It’s been an agreeable day for Australia: David Warner made 335 not out, the highest Test score at the Adelaide Oval, before Mitchell Starc ripped out Imam-ul-Haq. See you in 40 minutes for the twilight session.

7.50am GMT

5th over: Pakistan 3-1 (Masood 1, Azhar 0) A wicket maiden from Starc, whose figures are 3-3-0-1.

7.47am GMT

That’ll do. Imam, softened up by a nasty short ball, edges a good one from Starc straight to Warner in the gully. Australia’s bowlers have started ruthlessly, and that wicket comes as no surprise.

7.44am GMT

4th over: Pakistan 3-0 (Masood 1, Imam 2) Masood gets off the mark from his 10th delivery, flicking Cummins for a single. He and Imam are constructing their innings on a need-to-play basis, with a clear plan to leave anything even slightly outside off stump.

7.41am GMT

3rd over: Pakistan 1-0 (Masood 0, Imam 1) Starc is already close to 150kph, and bowls a second maiden - this time to the strokeless Imam-ul-Haq. Pakistan’s openers are ready for their supper.

7.35am GMT

2nd over: Pakistan 1-0 (Masood 0, Imam 1) Imam gets off the mark with a dodgy single off Cummins. Shan Masood, who was slow to respond, would have been out with a direct hit from Head in the covers. Cummins ends an excellent over by ripping one past Masood’s outside edge. This has been a ferocious start from the Australian bowlers.

“I think the equation could be simplified,” says Rowan Sweeney. “Warner - Stuart Broad = 335.”

7.33am GMT

IMAM IS NOT OUT! Australia lose a review. It was a good delivery from Cummins, bowling over the wicket to Imam. It would certainly have hit the stumps - but replays showed it pitched outside leg.

7.32am GMT

AUSTRALIA REVIEW FOR LBW AGAINST IMAM! I think this pitched outside leg.

7.31am GMT

1st over: Pakistan 0-0 (Masood 0, Imam 0) “Evening Rob,” says Phil Withall. “Looking at Warner’s scores since his return to Test cricket made me wish they’d had a numbers round in Extreme Countdown...”

Arf. I think you can get 335 by using all his Ashes scores: 61 x 5 + 11 + 3 + (8x2) + 0 + 0 + 0 = 335.

7.29am GMT

Shan Masood is given out LBW - but the decision is overturned on review. There was a faint inside-edge, although strangely Masood only reviewed after 13 or 14 seconds.

7.24am GMT

Mitchell Starc will open the bowling. There’s just under half an hour before the dinner break.

7.21am GMT

Warner’s innings in full

335* from 418 balls, with 39 fours, one six - and, as Damien McLean pointed out a few overs ago, umpteen quick singles. Warner? Phwoarner more like!

7.16am GMT

We'd say you have plenty of patience @davidwarner31 pic.twitter.com/hRKoFTtRvy

Seeing Warner's celebrations and feeling bad that Imran Tahir never got a 300

7.16am GMT

So, what did you do at the weekend? David Warner made 335 not out.

7.15am GMT

Warner’s scores since his return to Test cricket looks like the kind of maths puzzle even Max Fischer couldn’t solve: 2, 8, 3, 5, 61, 0, 0, 0, 5, 11, 154, 335*.

7.15am GMT

127th over: Australia 589-3 declared (Warner 335, Wade 38) Warner waves Iftikhar for a single to move to 335, the second highest score in Australian Test history, and Tim Paine decides to leave it at that. Warner walks off to a standing ovation from the crowd and a guard of honour from his team-mates. After all he’s been through in the last couple of years, that is a thoroughly lovely moment.

7.10am GMT

126th over: Australia 582-3 (Warner 330, Wade 36) No sign of a declaration, which suggests Australia will bat on after tea. The 400 might actually be on. For now, Warner is five away from the second highest Test score for Australia - Don Bradman and Mark Taylor, famously, both made 334.

“I’ve got to say, it’s been a privilege to watch this whole knock live,” says Damien McLean. “Say what you will about this Pakistani attack, but you still have to make the runs. This hasn’t been the Warner I’ve watched in the past, who used to make a hundred then just try and hit the bowlers out of the park. Great to see what he can do when he puts his mind to playing long. The running between the wickets has been the highlight for me; running as hard now as early yesterday.”

7.06am GMT

125th over: Australia 579-3 (Warner 329, Wade 34) “Good morning,” says Matt. “So I am following the match, still learning about the sport, and my question is how many days long is a match?”

A Test match is usually scheduled to last five days, but sometimes it’s four. And some of them finish in three or even days. There are also one-day matches, but they occasionally go to a second day. Confused? Splendid. Now lie down on the couch and tell me about your schooldays.

7.02am GMT

124th over: Australia 574-3 (Warner 325, Wade 33) Musa Khan returns to the attack, the poor sod. Five from the over.

6.58am GMT

123rd over: Australia 569-3 (Warner 323, Wade 30) Warner cuffs Iftikhar for four more. His Test average in Australia has gone past 67, which is a record for an opener in home Tests (minimum 10 innings). He has had his moments away from home, most notably those storming hundreds in South Africa in 2013-14, but he will be remembered as a devastating player in home conditions.

“Good work,” says Michael Barker. “But when will they declare, Rob?”

6.51am GMT

122nd over: Australia 560-3 (Warner 315, Wade 29) Wade runs down the wicket and launches Abbas miles in the air. The ball teases midwicket and deep square leg before plopping safely. It was in the air so long that the batsmen were able to turn for the third.

Warner then shows Wade how to do it with a blistering pull into the crowd. That’s his first six of the innings. He heaves violently at the next ball, slicing it over the solitary slip for four more. Warner is trying to get as many as possible before the declaration. He is 315 not out.

6.47am GMT

121st over: Australia 543-3 (Warner 301, Wade 26) Thanks Geoff, evening everyone. Wade slaps Iftikhar square on the off side for four to continue this orgy of runs in Adelaide. The most euphoric moment may be yet to come: David Warner is 99 away from you know what.

6.45am GMT

120th over: Australia 537-3 (Warner 300, Wade 21) He’s done it! Warner plays an on-drive, rolling towards the rope. It teases the fielders, teases the crowd, then runs into the rope. Three hundred for Warner! What a return to form. He’s been prolific, but this would have been beyond even his dreams. Batting long, going huge, those have never been big parts of his batting career. But here, he has. The luck has been there, the skill has been there, and the fortitude has been there. David Warner joins the slender ranks of those with Test triples. And as if to prove that he’s not done yet, Warner sets up again to leave and defend the next five balls of the Abbas over.

And with that, what better time to hand over to that famed lover of all things Warner, Rob Smyth.

6.41am GMT

119th over: Australia 533-3 (Warner 296, Wade 21) Warner moves quickly towards his triple, clobbering Iftihkar for four through square leg, then adding two more through cover.

6.37am GMT

118th over: Australia 526-3 (Warner 289, Wade 21) Abbas comes back into the attack. By now it’s less an attack than a gentle request. Wade doesn’t care for the parsimony of Abbas, so he whacks a couple through point and four through the covers.

6.30am GMT

117th over: Australia 519-3 (Warner 288, Wade 15) Yasir’s horror run continues, as Wade decides that he’s going to channel 2012 Warner. Gets into position early, feet apart, weight down, ready to heave, and launches a pull-slog into the stands. High and long, no finesse about that but plenty of contact. Yasir is about to bring up his own double-century.

6.28am GMT

116th over: Australia 510-3 (Warner 286, Wade 8) Warner’s placement through cover has been a real feature of this innings. Again he leans forward and drives, again he finds the finest of gaps to stream to the boundary. Shaheen can do nothing.

6.23am GMT

115th over: Australia 505-3 (Warner 281, Wade 8) Yasir is having a miserable old time at the Adelaide Oval, much as Imran Tahir had at the hands of Warner back in 2012. That was more gung-ho, this is more relentless. Less relentful? You get the idea. Warner sweeps another boundary, ticks another single. Wade slogs a couple of runs. Yasir keeps going at worse than 6 runs per over.

6.22am GMT

114th over: Australia 496-3 (Warner 275, Wade 5) Shaheen is right on the spot to Wade, landing his length really well. The over is quiet until Wade edges along the ground for a boundary.

6.13am GMT

113th over: Australia 492-3 (Warner 275, Wade 1) Suddenly things quiet down, with just a couple of singles from the Yasir over. Wade is immediately sweeping, as is his wont.

6.09am GMT

112th over: Australia 490-3 (Warner 274, Wade 0) Matthew Wade is next in, after some decent runs at Brisbane last week. He’s immediately the subject of a DRS challenge, having pushed at Shaheen outside off, but there’s no contact between bat and ball on the forensics. Shaheen has 3 for 79, and has tried hard.

6.05am GMT

What’s this? Another modest score from Smith! He’s made 40 in the series while his teammates have rattled up about a thousand between them. And this was to another yahoo shot. He doesn’t seem at his best when Australia is right on top and he’s supposed to cash in. He aims a huge swipe at Shaheen, apparently aiming somewhere over wide long-on, and gets a faint inside edge having completely lost his shape. Shaheen does the big Starman celebration pose. Maybe save it for when the oppo isn’t 500 ahead, champ.

6.03am GMT

111th over: Australia 490-2 (Warner 274, Smith 36) That was less conventional from Warner. Gets a ball spinning into his pads from Yasir, and whips across the line at it, all wrists after reaching around his front pad, and somehow middles it for four. That’s a fairly high-risk stroke though. Safer when Yasir drops short and Warner cuts a couple. Two more through cover.

6.00am GMT

110th over: Australia 481-2 (Warner 266, Smith 35) Warner is happy to continue against Shaheen in his safety-conscious style. Nothing extravagant, leaves and defends a few, then seizes on the overpitched delivery to off-drive it for four.

5.55am GMT

109th over: Australia 477-2 (Warner 262, Smith 35) The break has ended, and Yasir has the ball. There’s a big appeal from him and Rizwan in concert, though no one else joins in, when the ball beats Smith’s bat and flicks the flap of his pad. But I fancy it hit him outside off and was turning away. A couple of singles are added.

5.34am GMT

An extraordinary start to the day for Australia. Warner and Labuschagne were flying through the first overs, and with Smith ended up piling on 173 runs in a session extended by half an hour. Pakistan had a moment of happiness when Shaheen castled Marnus with a lovely ball that swung into him, but one wicket did not yield anything further.

Warner this international summer has 702 runs for two dismissals. He’ll continue in a moment, and so will we.

5.31am GMT

108th over: Australia 475-2 (Warner 261, Smith 34) Last over before the short tea break, which comes first in day-night matches, and Warner is happy to see off Shaheen after Smith takes a single first ball.

5.27am GMT

107th over: Australia 474-2 (Warner 261, Smith 33) Warner nearly run out, but he’s fast and he dives just as he does so often in T20 cricket. Two more runs to his total after once more helping Yasir through fine leg. He goes further into one-day mode, playing the reverse-sweep to Yasir’s over-the-wicket line. Knowing there’s a large gap behind point, Warner makes the most of it for four.

5.24am GMT

106th over: Australia 468-2 (Warner 255, Smith 33) Shaheen is bowling decently, again excited as a ball moves back towards Smith’s off stump, but again it’s a ball that looks good but isn’t really threatening. Just a Warner single from the over.

5.21am GMT

105th over: Australia 467-2 (Warner 254, Smith 33) Three for Smith and then three for Warner off Yasir, both of them working the leggie away through fine leg. The TV replay picks up that Warner didn’t actually ground his heel for the third run, but the umpire didn’t notice. In the book, he has now made a new highest Test score, passing his 253 against NZ at the WACA four years ago.

5.17am GMT

104th over: Australia 461-2 (Warner 251, Smith 30) Another edge for Warner, this one seemed more deliberate: soft hands, played down, along the ground into the gap. So softly played that the ball rolls to a stop just inside the rope and only profits Warner by two runs, but that’s enough to raise another milestone. Shaheen is not impressed.

5.14am GMT

103rd over: Australia 459-2 (Warner 249, Smith 30) Smith just does what Smith does. Waits back, steps across, plays anything through midwicket that can be played through midwicket. Twice Yasir lets him work the ball for doubles. Dismissal number eight for Yasir doesn’t appear to be imminent.

5.08am GMT

102nd over: Australia 455-2 (Warner 249, Smith 26) Musa is taken off to go and listen to some Fall Out Boy or whatever teenagers do to deal with angst. I don’t know, I’m ancient. Shaheen has Warner defend one ball, then slash another over the cordon. That was much more about luck than control for Petit Davide. Wide and chased. As is another ball, fuller, that leaves Warner on one knee outside off as he misses. It’s a good over from Shaheen, bowling to his heavily off-side field.

5.04am GMT

101st over: Australia 451-2 (Warner 245, Smith 26) That’s lovely, Steven. Waits for the leg-break that Yasir tosses up. Watches it dip. Shimmies slightly to be in position, then whips the drive off his toes through midwicket for three. You won’t see many right-handers play leg-spin better than that. In two hours they’ve added 148 today.

5.01am GMT

100th over: Australia 446-2 (Warner 243, Smith 23) Musa, the frustration continues. Yet another no-ball, pitching full to Warner from around the wicket. Then an edge from Warner that rolls away for four. The bowler’s pace is still good, mid-140s, but he can’t get the rest of his game together. Warner gets off strike, then Smith pulls a short ball for his 7000th Test run, raised in his 126th innings.

That’s four more runs than Bradman ever got. And so it makes Smith, by my reckoning, the fastest to the milestone in terms of innings faced.

4.55am GMT

99th over: Australia 438-2 (Warner 237, Smith 22) Smith is getting his on-side game working to Yasir, moving across to knock the leg-spinner square. But it’s not without its risk, as he finds when he gets squared up trying the same shot, gets a thick outside edge and sees it bounce into the gully.

4.53am GMT

98th over: Australia 434-2 (Warner 236, Smith 19) Another no-ball from Musa, and nearly got Warner with that one at all. Seam movement, beat the edge by a fraction, and costs Pakistan a penalty run. What is it with Warner and no-balls? It seems that on good batting days, the bowler’s best delivery to him is always an overstep. Did he once visit a shaman with a photo of Mohammad Amir, or what?

4.46am GMT

97th over: Australia 433-2 (Warner 236, Smith 19) Yasir to Smith, but the batsman gets the upper hand in this over. Whips a boundary through midwicket, then gets off strike to cover. Nyah-nyah.

4.42am GMT

96th over: Australia 426-2 (Warner 234, Smith 14) You’ll never guess what happens next... David Warner is caught off a no-ball! It was the young Naseem on debut in Brisbane, here it’s Musa. Fortunately he doesn’t have the ecstasy / agony bit of finding out via a wait and a replay, because the umpire calls the no-ball in live action. So there’s no celebration as Warner drives away from his body and sends a thick edge straight to gully. Instead, Babar throws his head back, and Musa puts his head in his hands. Should have had Warner, but that basic error costs Pakistan again. Warner celebrates in his own style, seeing a bouncer, playing a wristy uppercut from well above his head over first slip for four. Then tucks away a single. Flourish and humility, one after the other. Ten runs from an over that should have brought a wicket instead.

4.37am GMT

95th over: Australia 416-2 (Warner 226, Smith 13) Right, it will be Yasir Shah changing to the Riverbank End. Bowling to Steven Smith with a slip and a short leg. A short cover as well, 15 paces from the bat. Backward point, deep point, regulation cover, mid-off, id-on, midwicket. No one deep on the leg side. Don’t bowl short... Yasir doesn’t, flighting the ball and landing it full, around the off stump. Smith keeps stretching forward to defend. This shapes as a good battle already, there’s a bit of extra fizz in the air. Smith walks across and hits hard on the bounce into the short leg fielder, presumably Masood under the scone-box. Line of fire. He ensures the over is a maiden.

4.34am GMT

94th over: Australia 416-2 (Warner 226, Smith 13) No he wont, because Muhammad Musa Khan has come back on. This is a weird move from Azhar Ali. Unless Yasir wants to switch ends and replace Abbas after a lengthy spell. Smith lashes through point but sees his shot saved, then drives through cover and gets three. Warner ducks a bouncer. Then drives to deep cover, where Shan Masood saves well after being wrong-footed. Two runs.

4.28am GMT

93rd over: Australia 411-2 (Warner 224, Smith 10) Another good over from Abbas, using the seam and trying to cut the ball into Warner, with a fairly close fielder square on the leg side looking for a catch I fancy. Warner gets a couple of leg byes and can’t lay bat on ball throughout. Smith will face Yasir in the next over.

4.26am GMT

92nd over: Australia 409-2 (Warner 224, Smith 10) Ok, so Azhar brings Yasir Shah on try getting an edge over Smith. Except that Yasir bowls the full over to Warner. And Warner pulverises a long-hop for four, punches two more through cover, and survives the one threatening ball as Yasir zips a straight one through that beats the edge when Warner is expecting turn.

4.19am GMT

91st over: Australia 402-2 (Warner 217, Smith 10) Abbas draws an edge from Warner, but the left-hander plays it softly enough that he grounds the ball for three runs rather than edging it in the air. He bowls nicely to Smith as well, seaming the ball a couple of times. Smith gets tangled up while trying to play to the leg side, and in the end the ball beats his outside edge even as he tries to play across the line, and thunks him on the thigh pad. That’s the best over that Abbas has bowled in the Test. He was forthright in the press conference last night, saying that he was upset at missing the Brisbane Test, but that he couldn’t get into rhythm with no Tests for nearly a year. Drinks break.

4.12am GMT

90th over: Australia 399-2 (Warner 214, Smith 10) It’s easier to score off Shaheen than Abbas, with his pace on the ball and his higher likelihood of mistakes. He gives Warner width and Warner gives him the treatment. Cut for four. Shaheen predictably responds with a bouncer, but Warner just ducks, then cuts the next ball into the point gap for one.

4.10am GMT

89th over: Australia 394-2 (Warner 209, Smith 10) Abbas has bowled very economically: 24 overs now, 69 runs. But he hasn’t threatened a great deal with the ball. Smith is watchful against him, guards against seam movement with the new ball, takes another single with his default scoring shot. Warner prefers the off side, scores one to point.

4.05am GMT

88th over: Australia 392-2 (Warner 208, Smith 9) And Smith doubles his score again! The fine leg merchant, walking across to Shaheen this time and diverting the path of the ball away for a boundary. Smith has gone 1, 2, 4, 8. Can he score 16 from his next ball? I wouldn’t rule it out.

Nope, he ruins the sequence with a single. Warner thanks him for the strike by driving perfectly through extra cover for four, splitting a tiny gap in the field. In just over an hour the Australians have added 90 runs.

4.00am GMT

87th over: Australia 383-2 (Warner 204, Smith 4) Smith doing what Smith does. Walking across, making space on the leg side. Abbas bowling a bit too short as well. Glanced for two, deflected off the pad for three. Smith doubles his score again.

3.58am GMT

86th over: Australia 378-2 (Warner 204, Smith 2) A decent start from Shaheen, who gets some seam movement to beat Smith’s edge. Smith was pulling inside the line though, and Shaheen started too short to take the edge. That ball was Joey in Friends: looked good, didn’t achieve much. Smith doubles his score with a single to mid-on.

3.50am GMT

85th over: Australia 377-2 (Warner 204, Smith 1) Smith is practicing all of his shots and leaves and nudges at the non-striker’s end, as Warner plays a for-real cover drive against Abbas, almost on the back foot and then coming forward suddenly through the ball, on the up. You have to be seeing them well to do that. The Pakistanis are excited when Abbas nearly gets pad, but there was plenty of bat involved as well.

3.47am GMT

84th over: Australia 373-2 (Warner 200, Smith 1) A wicket, sure, but David Warner on the cusp of a double, and Steve Smith walking to the middle. Tasty tasty times if you’re a devotee of Australian cricket. Smith knocks away a single first ball to give Warner back the strike with three balls to come. Warner works it through square leg and will get... two, with the aid of a misfield. Thought of the third, couldn’t quite risk it, and he walks away to square leg to clear his head on 199.

Two balls left in the over. Blocked to the off side. No run.

3.41am GMT

Shaheen, the pick of Pakistan’s attack yesterday, shares the new ball and he strikes after just two deliveries, castling Labuschagne with a beautiful in-swinging delivery that did for the middle of off stump. A superb delivery to end a superb innings.

3.39am GMT

83rd over: Australia 369-1 (Warner 197, Labuschagne 162) The new ball IS now taken and Abbas, after that over of looseners, takes it from the river end. It’s a very Abbas over; moderately paced, on a decent line and length, and utterly unthreatening. Warner displays the patience of a man who knows a score of unimaginable magnitude is on offer today, leaving or dead-batting five deliveries then pushing firmly through the covers for two.

More stats

Warner and Labuschagne now own the highest partnership for any wicket for Australia v Pakistan in Tests #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/wTYVeC9hx4

3.35am GMT

82nd over: Australia 367-1 (Warner 195, Labuschagne 162) Turns out we were misled and Pakistan did not take the second new ball after all. Quite why they didn’t, nobody seems able to fathom. The outcome is another pointless over from Yasir that’s too fast, too flat, too short, and too full of runs. “This is rubbish bowling,” says Ricky Ponting on TV, “absolute rubbish”. Labuschagne doesn’t mind, bringing up the 350 partnership with a brace of cut boundaries. This ceased to be a contest many hours ago and Azhar Ali doesn’t seem remotely concerned.

3.30am GMT

81st over: Australia 357-1 (Warner 194, Labuschagne 153) The new ball is taken immediately and the game enters its next phase, hopefully one more competitive than the last few hours of one-sided drubbing. Abbas takes the new pink Kookaburra and settles into his groove on a length around that fourth or fifth stump line but Labuschagne is ready for it, standing tall on his toes and controlling drives into the off-side. A couple hit the field, one pierces the gap for two runs.

The partnership now inside the top 10 of all Australian Test partnerships....

3.26am GMT

80th over: Australia 354-1 (Warner 194, Labuschagne 150) Marnus Labuschagne’s introduction to Test cricket may have arrived in unconventional circumstances but he is to the manor born. The Queenslander brings up his 150 with a nudge off Yasir, a milestone celebrated by Warner by dispatching the Pakistan leggy over cow corner for six of the most contemptuous runs you could find. That’s followed soon afterwards by a rank long-hop being pummelled to the square leg fence for four. If this was a title fight the referee would be giving Pakistan a standing count.

Another record ✅

Warner & Labuschagne pass Cook & Trott for the highest second wicket stand for all tests in Australia #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/xM82V81DnJ

3.21am GMT

79th over: Australia 342-1 (Warner 183, Labuschagne 149) Both teams are rattling through their work this morning, Iftikhar with a nondescript over, Australia tipping and running to keep the circulation flowing. The tourists are nearly into the new ball.

3.20am GMT

78th over: Australia 339-1 (Warner 181, Labuschagne 148) Another one for Marnus! The runs keep flowing. Gallops down and plonks Yasir over mid-on for four. They’re going to have some fun today.

3.18am GMT

77th over: Australia 333-1 (Warner 180, Labuschagne 143) They are not hanging around this morning. Warner creams Iftikhar’s short ball away with a pull shot. The off-spinner replaced the young pace bowler after one over. Curious. Two more runs to fine leg for Marnus. The scoreboard is whirring.

3.12am GMT

76th over: Australia 325-1 (Warner 175, Labuschagne 140) Yasir starts the over well, just conceding a couple of singles, but Labuschagne finishes it well by carting him over midwicket for four. No hanging around for Australia with the sun shining for the moment in Adelaide.

3.12am GMT

75th over: Australia 318-1 (Warner 173, Labuschagne 135) If Warner starts fast, Labuschagne starts faster. A four, a two, and a three, all worked through the off side. The boundary was edgy, but the rest were controlled. 11 runs from Musa’s first over.

3.12am GMT

74th over: Australia 307-1 (Warner 171, Labuschagne 126) Warner started slowly on the second morning in Brisbane. No such approach here, as he gets a gift from Yasir Shah in the form of a short ball, and whacks it to the boundary.

2.30am GMT

Here is the wires report on the action yesterday, if you want the detail.

2.24am GMT

Today is David Warner Day. Sorry if you didn’t get the note. That costume looks great though, Keith. And the Toyota badging is a nice touch. We’re all just playing it by ear, trying to work out something new. Which is what David will be doing, too. See, Davey used to have a particular style. Score big, score fast, put his feet up. For a long time his highest score was that 180 he made in about 15 minutes when he pogoed India all around the WACA. He never batted through a Test day until 2016 at the same ground, when he made 250 against New Zealand. But he got out first thing the next morning. Then last week at the Gabba he went through the day again, and got out without adding much the next morning too. Now in Adelaide he’s had his third bat-through day, and his third chance to go on the next day to a truly huge score. Will it help that the next day is starting in the afternoon, not the morning? Maybe he’s a post-prandial guy. We’ll find out. Because it would be interesting to see what D. Warner can do if he really goes on with an innings. Two days of pain, that sort of thing.

Pakistan are sore, sorry, and have once again bowled through a Test day for only the wicket of Joe Burns. Hopefully they rested well and did justice to the breakfast buffet. Australia: 302 for 1 after the first day.

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Published on November 30, 2019 01:24

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Mesut Özil in from the cold, Andy Carroll’s West Ham return and Southampton’s fears for another visit to Manchester City

Manchester United’s recent form has put a new twist on an old cliché. The international break came at a good time for United, but not just for the usual reasons. Marcus Rashford’s performances before he went away with England were abysmal; he looked unhappy, demotivated and in desperate need of a rest. It turned out all he needed was a change. Rashford always seems happy playing for England, and his storming goal to open the scoring in Bulgaria has apparently given him a huge injection of confidence and zeal. He has sparked United’s mini-revival with a number of moments of coruscating brilliance. A tactical change and the return of his on-field kindred spirit Anthony Martial have also helped, with Rashford now playing wide left or as a split striker rather than an isolated No 9. He is still a long way from the finished article, like most 22-year-olds, but he is the most likely of the current squad to become what all emerging teams need: a talisman. RS

Aston Villa v Liverpool, Saturday 3pm

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Published on October 31, 2019 17:00

Chelsea 1-2 Manchester United: Carabao Cup fourth round – as it happened

Marcus Rashford’s booming 35-yard free-kick gave United their third consecutive away win in an enjoyable match at Stamford Bridge

10.04pm GMT

Jacob Steinberg has filed his match report from the Bridge, so I’ll leave you with that. The draw is tomorrow morning, since you asked. Goodnight!

10.01pm GMT

Aston Villa complete the quarter-final line up - they beat Wolves 2-1 at Villa Park.

9.59pm GMT

There were ten goals in the match between Liverpool and Arsenal, and nine more in the penalty shoot-out.

9.57pm GMT

Marcus Rashford scored both goals, the second a booming free-kick from 35 yards that might not be bettered all season. It was a pretty even game, but United picked more of their first-choice players and that was ultimately decisive.

9.55pm GMT

Peep peep! Manchester United win their third away game in a week, and move into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

9.55pm GMT

90+4 min And they don’t take it.

9.55pm GMT

90+4 min James wins a corner for Chelsea. This is their last chance...

9.54pm GMT

90+3 min Jorginho waves a passing elbow into the face of Young. I don’t think the referee saw it and there’s no VAR. It was nothing really.

9.52pm GMT

90+2 min Abraham fouls Rojo, who takes the opportunity to waste 30 seconds.

9.51pm GMT

90 min An imaginative long-range curler from Martial goes just wide. Then Kovacic is booked for clattering Williams. There will be four minutes of added time.

9.51pm GMT

89 min Chelsea were brilliant for the first 20 minutes of the second half before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made an important change from 3-4-2-1 to 4-2-3-1. Since then, United have been relatively comfortable.

9.49pm GMT

88 min Zouma charges forward with intent before shooting from 40 yards. He falls over and it goes about 40 yards wide.

9.47pm GMT

86 min McTominay, who has made umpteen important tackles and interceptions tonight, makes another from Jorginho’s pass.

9.46pm GMT

STUNNER! @MarcusRashford fires @ManUtd ahead at Stamford Bridge

Watch Chelsea v Man Utd live on Sky Sports Main Event pic.twitter.com/949C4eAVRk

9.44pm GMT

84 min Phil Fred is booked for timewasting.

9.44pm GMT

83 min Harry Maguire is moving gingerly. United have used all their subs so they can’t replace him.

9.43pm GMT

82 min Alonso’s shot from a tight angle is shovelled behind by Romero. The corner is headed across goal and wide by Zouma, who was under enough pressure from Maguire that he couldn’t make proper contact with the header.

9.42pm GMT

81 min Ashley Young’s first contribution is to boot Reece James up in the air. We’ll miss him when he retires.

9.41pm GMT

80 min Marcus Rashford limps off to be replaced by Ashley Young. It doesn’t look too serious, although I’m no Doogie Howser MD.

9.39pm GMT

78 min Tammy Abraham replaces Michy Batshuayi, who scored an excellent equaliser for Chelsea.

9.38pm GMT

77 min McTominay, who was booked in the first half, is penalised for pulling down Kovacic. Some referees would have shown him a second yellow card, but Paul Tierney settled for a final warning.

9.37pm GMT

76 min Williams makes a terrific challenge in the area on Reece James. After a difficult start, he has been excellent at times in the second half.

9.36pm GMT

That is a stunning goal. Rashford hammered the free-kick over the wall, and the ball wobbled extravagantly before flying past Caballero. That must have been at least 35 yards out. He hit it with the old Juninho Pernambucano technique, striking through the valve, and it roared into the top corner.

9.34pm GMT

And by heck did he hit it!

9.33pm GMT

73 min Fred is fouled 35 yards from goal by Pedro. Rashford is going to hit this...

9.33pm GMT

72 min It’s worth repeating that this will go straight to penalties if it’s a draw. No extra-time. Nope.

9.32pm GMT

71 min Batshuayi threatens to repeat his goal, surging at the last man Rojo only to slip over just outside the area.

9.32pm GMT

71 min A double change: Pedro and Mason Mount replace Billy Gilbert and Christian Pulisic. Gilbert was tidy, Pulisic was thoroughly Wan-Bissakaed.

9.31pm GMT

70 min Chelsea look the likelier winners, although there isn’t a huge amount in it. Fred leathers a cross shot that flashes past the far post. Caballero had it covered.

9.30pm GMT

69 min Zouma shanks a clearance behind for a corner. That’s a safe option against Manchester United these days, and the corner is another poor one.

9.28pm GMT

68 min “Back to the good old days before VAR,” says Harry Hutton, “when a goal was a goal.”

9.28pm GMT

67 min Another change: Andreas Pereira replaces Jesse Lingard, who again did very little. He has gone to seed since the World Cup.

9.27pm GMT

66 min A Manchester United change: Anthony Martial replaces Victor Lindelof, which suggests a switch from 3-4-2-1 to 4-2-3-1.

9.27pm GMT

65 min Reece James wins a corner for Chelsea. He and Hudson-Odoi are giving Williams a pretty torrid evening, with two-on-one attacks all the time.

9.24pm GMT

What a brilliant goal. Batshuayi picked up a loose ball near the halfway line, after a mix-up between Maguire and Lindelof I think, and set off towards goal. There were five United defenders on his tail, with no team-mates within 40 yards. He kept running to the edge of the D, shifted the ball to the right and smacked a low curling shot that flashed past Romero.

9.22pm GMT

Michy Batshuayi hits a storming equaliser!

9.20pm GMT

60 min United are struggling to get out. Hudson-Odoi tries to run Williams, who makes a fine tackle with his wrong right foot.

9.19pm GMT

59 min “I’m not being hipsterish clever, honest, but this is a far more fascinating game than the other because of the place the two teams have in the Scheme of Things right now,” says Drew Goldie. “No-one doubts that Arsenal can do what they’re doing on occasions, but there’s a cluelessness about the club at the moment. Chelsea and the other mob are quite interesting in what the strategy is, because both need one. I’m speaking as someone who supports Hearts and Millwall, by the way, so I’m just diverting my sorrows by trying to sound informed about the Big Pots like a lot of people who stands in pubs do.”

9.18pm GMT

57 min Another chance for Chelsea. Hudson-Odoi runs onto a long pass from the back, waits for it to drop and leathers a shot just over the bar from 20 yards.

9.17pm GMT

56 min United’s back three, who were cruising in the first half, are now defending on the seat of their pants. It’s been a stirring response from Chelsea.

9.16pm GMT

54 min A superb cross from Reece James flashes right across the six-yard box. If only England had some decent young right-backs, eh.

9.15pm GMT

53 min Pulisic drags a speculative cross-shot wide from 15 yards, but this is so much better from Chelsea. It feels like a cup tie now.

9.14pm GMT

52 min Chelsea appeal unsuccessfully for a penalty when Gilmour’s shot is blocked by Rojo. It may have hit Rojo’s hand as he fell onto the ball, though that isn’t a penalty under the new laws anyway.

9.12pm GMT

52 min Chelsea have upped the tempo since half-time, with and without the ball. They were a little passive in the first half.

9.11pm GMT

50 min Hudson-Odoi misses an excellent chance, screwing Alonso’s low cross wide of the far post after a fine passing move. He mistimed the shot completely, although he might have been unsighted.

9.10pm GMT

49 min Hudson-Odoi is back on the field.

9.09pm GMT

47 min Hudson-Odoi is receiving treatment off the field. He was thrown over the advertising boards by Williams, who might have been booked.

9.07pm GMT

47 min There’s been a ninth goal at Anfield. Nine times!

9.06pm GMT

46 min Peep peep! Chelsea begin the second half. No substitutions yet.

8.52pm GMT

Peep peep! Manchester United lead through Marcus Rashford’s penalty. It was an uneventful half, with just one shot on target apart from the goal, and you’re still reading the wrong live blog.

8.48pm GMT

43 min Chelsea haven’t had a shot on target yet. They have plenty of attacking options on the bench though, including Mason Mount, Pedro, Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud.

8.47pm GMT

41 min Nothing much happening at Stamford Bridge, so here’s some association football porn.

Delicious from Mesut Ozil

Watch Liverpool v Arsenal live on Sky Sports Football pic.twitter.com/CRWL75yHto

8.44pm GMT

39 min I hope you realise you’re reading the wrong MBM. Mesut Ozil has just done something pretty special in that game.

8.43pm GMT

38 min Hudson-Odoi waves a good pass down the line to James, whose dangerous low cross is cleared decisively by Wan-Bissaka.

8.41pm GMT

37 min Lingard curls straight at Caballero from 20 yards.

8.40pm GMT

35 min Chelsea have had better possession in the last few minutes, although it has mainly been in front of the United defence. Most of their good work has been done down the right. On the other side, Wan-Bissaka has given Pulisic nothing thus far.

8.38pm GMT

32 min Phil Fred is penalised for manhandling Gilmour, who looks very comfortable receiving the ball in tight spaces. He hasn’t done anything spectacular, but you can see what the fuss is about.

8.36pm GMT

30 min United have been dominant in the last 10 minutes, with their back three looking increasingly secure.

8.34pm GMT

27 min It wasn’t a stonewall penalty, but I do think it was a foul. Alonso challenged James from the wrong side and made sufficient contact with his knee to knock him off balance. Alonso was trying to make up for his earlier mistake, when his poor pass allowed United to counter-attack.

8.31pm GMT

26 min That’s Rashford’s third goal against Chelsea this season, two of them from the penalty spot.

8.30pm GMT

Marcus Rashford has missed two penalties this season - but he scores this time, crashing the ball low to the left. Caballero went the wrong way.

8.29pm GMT

PENALTY TO MANCHESTER UNITED! It was a brainless challenge by Alonso on James.

8.27pm GMT

22 min Hudson-Odoi runs 40 yards down the right before being fouled by Phil Fred. He looks Chelsea’s biggest threat at the moment, especially as United’s left-back Brandon Williams has been a bit jittery in the first 20 minutes.

8.26pm GMT

21 min I’ll be honest, it’s not a classic.

8.25pm GMT

20 min There’s no extra-time tonight. If this match ends in a draw, it goes straight to penalties.

8.22pm GMT

18 min Batshuayi is booked for a late tackle on McTominay.

8.21pm GMT

16 min United are, in the parlanace of our time, growing into the game. They haven’t been as snappy in possession as Chelsea, but Rashford and James are an obvious threat on the break.

8.20pm GMT

15 min A loose clearance from Zouma falls kindly for James, whose snapshot bobbles miles wide.

8.18pm GMT

13 min McTominay almost gives United the lead. It was a good, training-round corner, with James cutting the ball back for McTominay to run into space and spank a first-time shot just wide of the near post.

8.17pm GMT

13 min Wan-Bissaka finds Lingard in space down the right, and his cross deflects off Guehi for a corner.

8.15pm GMT

11 min McTominay is booked for an inept lunge at Kovacic.

8.14pm GMT

10 min The game is being played at good pace, with Chelsea looking very assured in possession.

8.12pm GMT

7 min Lingard goes down just outside the area after a challenge from Kovacic. I’m not sure whether it was a slip or a foul. The referee Paul Tierney judged that it was the former, and replays show he was right.

8.10pm GMT

5 min After a patient move of at least 20 passes, Pulisic’s snapshot is blocked by Lindelof. Chelsea have started very well.

8.09pm GMT

4 min Chelsea have had most of the ball in the first few minutes. Pulisic looks very lively, as you’d expect of someone who had a day out at the weekend.

8.06pm GMT

2 min Jonathan McKenzie points out that both XIs have the same average age, to be said in a Tony Soprano voice: 24.

8.05pm GMT

1 min Peep peep! Manchester United, in red, kick off from left to right. Chelsea are in blue.

8.03pm GMT

“Cannot wait to see whether Billy Gilmour can cut it against an (albeit mid-table) Premier League team,” says Matt Baxter. “He was incredible vs Grimsby. The future’s bright, the future’s Blue!”

And he’s Scottish. They are in serious danger of having a decent team in the next few years.

7.55pm GMT

This game kicks off at 8.05pm. The match between Liverpool and Arsenal started at 7.30pm; if you don’t want to know the score, don’t click this.

7.54pm GMT

7.25pm GMT

“Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “Gregg has the current Big Cup holders on his MBM, and Guest appearances from both Donald McRae and David Squires. I think you need to make your readers an offer they can’t refuse. Cute cat video, perhaps?”

I’m offering Phil Fred, mate. I think I know who’s winning.

7.24pm GMT

The Sky Sports team graphics suggest an unexpected midfield battle tonight: Marcus Jorginho against Phil Fred. Seriously. Phil Fred!

Phil Fred? pic.twitter.com/OyDLSpnbJJ

7.10pm GMT

So much for giving old age a chance. Both have picked strong, young sides, with United close to full strength.

Chelsea (4-3-3) Caballero; James, Guehi, Zouma, Alonso; Gilmour, Jorginho, Kovacic; Hudson-Odoi, Batshuayi, Pulisic.
Substitutes: Cumming, Lamptey, Azpilicueta, Mount, Pedro, Giroud, Abraham.

6.47pm GMT

Ambassador... department We have two MBMs tonight, such is our commitment to the Carabao Cup. If you’d rather follow Liverpool v Arsenal, Gregg Bakowski is your man.

6.38pm GMT

Pre-match reading

5.50pm GMT

Evening. The Carabao Cup is seen as the competition in which Chelsea and Manchester United give young players a chance. In practice, that hasn’t always been the case. Jose Mourinho, in particular, won the competition with both clubs by picking experienced sides. And while we should see one or two newish faces tonight, it’s likely that the average age of both teams will increase.

That’s because both teams have already picked their best young players in the Premier League. The average age of their starting XIs this season has generally been 24 or 25, among the lowest in the league, so tonight is a chance for older players like Pedro, Olivier Giroud, Willy Caballero, Juan Mata, Sergio Romero and Phil Jones to remind us of their existence. It’s what the Carabao Cup is all about!

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Published on October 30, 2019 15:01

Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Premier League - as it happened

Jordan Henderson and Mo Salah scored as Liverpool recovered thrillingly from the shock of going behind to Harry Kane’s first-minute goal at Anfield

Salah penalty restores six-point gap

7.02pm GMT

Thanks for joining. Here is David Hytner’s report ...

6.58pm GMT

Klopp: “It was a super game, I loved it. It was us at our best.

“The best thing of my team today was you could not see the influence of the (Spurs) goal.”

6.50pm GMT

Kane: “We scored early on ... great start and then we dropped a little deep, soaked pressure and got to half-time.

“It’s a tough place to come and Liverpool are getting all those breaks at the moment.”

6.40pm GMT

Henderson: “First half I thought we played really well, I didn’t think we started well but we reacted to the goal brilliant. We deserved a couple of goals but their goalkeeper made a couple of great saves.”

6.23pm GMT

Peep peep! Liverpool go six points clear with a rousing and thoroughly deserved comeback victory. They were behind after 47 seconds but responded ferociously to win the match through goals from Jordan Henderson and a Mo Salah penalty. For parts of the game, they were as near to unstoppable as dammit.

6.22pm GMT

90+4 min Alderweireld heads straight at Alisson! That was half a chance.

6.22pm GMT

90+4 min A corner to Spurs. Gazzaniga is up.

6.21pm GMT

90+3 min Divock Origi replaces Roberto Firmino, who has had a relatively quiet game.

6.20pm GMT

90+2 min Son draws a smart plunging save from Alisson with a snapshot from the edge of the box.

6.19pm GMT

90 min Four minutes of added time. Milner is booked for a naughty tackle on Lucas Moura. This has been a breathless match.

6.17pm GMT

89 min: Rose misses a good chance to equalise. He beat the sleeping Alexander-Arnold to a long crossfield pass, came inside Gomez confidently ... and then blasted the ball over the bar with his right foot.

6.16pm GMT

88 min It’s now Arsenal 2-2 Crystal Palace, because Sokratis’s second goal has been VARed.

6.16pm GMT

88 min Christian Eriksen, who has had a stinker, is replaced by Giovani Lo Celso.

6.15pm GMT

87 min Liverpool have invited pressure since going ahead, although Virgil van Dijk is still strolling round with a resting heart rate. Spurs, for all their newfound joy of possession, don’t look like creating anything.

6.14pm GMT

86 min Sokratis has scored his second goal to put Arsenal 3-2 up against Crystal Palace.

6.13pm GMT

85 min Mo Salah leaves the field with what looks like an ankle problem. Joe Gomez replaces him.

6.11pm GMT

83 min Spurs bring on Lucas Moura for poor old Serge Aurier.

6.10pm GMT

82 min Rose is fouled by Alexander-Arnold, and a few Spurs players try unsuccessfully to get him sent off. It was a foul but not a second yellow card.

6.09pm GMT

81 min It’s now Norwich 0-3 Manchester United, with Anthony Martial scoring.

6.08pm GMT

80 min Ndombele wins another corner for Spurs, who have had their best attacking spell of the entire match since going behind. Human nature is the strangest thing.

6.07pm GMT

79 min Son’s excellent cross from the left just clears Kane and is put behind for a corner. It’s half cleared, and then Kane has a goal disallowed from Son’s pass. It’s the right decision - Son was offside.

6.06pm GMT

78 min There is little praise too high for this Liverpool performance. They started the game 1-0 down, effectively. It took them 15 or 20 minutes to find their bearings, and since then they have been irresistible.

6.05pm GMT

77 min James Milner comes on to replace Gini Wijnaldum.

6.04pm GMT

77 min “Amazed that you haven’t mentioned how absolutely atrocious Eriksen has been,” says Niall Sheerin. “I was surprised to see him last the first half and can’t believe Winks got hooked before him. He has given the ball away every time he’s had possession and has been invisible defensively. His head’s been turned, he looks like couldn’t care. Get him off and out.”

I haven’t had time! But yes, he has been abysmal. You can understand him getting the runaround from Robertson, but he has been an irrelevance with the ball.

6.03pm GMT

Salah danced around the ball and then blasted it low to his right. It wasn’t a great penalty, in truth, but Gazzaniga stood still and that was that.

6.02pm GMT

Salah scores!

6.02pm GMT

Oh dear. Aurier did quite well to get back and dispossess Mane ... but then kicked the back of Mane’s leg as he tried to clear the ball. It’s a clear penalty.

6.02pm GMT

74 min: PENALTY TO LIVERPOOL! This will be checked, but it looks like a moronic piece of defending from Serge Aurier.

6.01pm GMT

73 min Alexander-Arnold, who has had a sensational game going forward, wins another corner. It’s taken short and moved back to Henderson, who crosses too close to Gazzaniga.

6.00pm GMT

72 min Ndombele is booked for this or that.

5.59pm GMT

72 min After good play from Trent Alexander-Bruyne and then Mo Salah, Firmino rattles a shot that is blocked by Sanchez.

5.59pm GMT

71 min Aurier’s overhit cross is volleyed into the side netting by the stretching Alli. I think the ball was out of play by the time he made contact with it.

5.57pm GMT

70 min Alexander-Arnold drives a left-wing corner to Salah on the edge of the area. He waits for the ball to bounce but then hooks it a few yards wide.

5.57pm GMT

69 min Robertson plays a give-and-go with Mane and crosses into the six-yard area, where Sanchez does brilliantly to divert the ball behind for a corner. Robertson has beaten Eriksen with disdainful ease all day.

5.55pm GMT

67 min Sissoko storms through midfield but then overhits a through pass to Son. That was a good opportunity for Spurs.

5.55pm GMT

67 min But Spurs lead emphatically on clearances: 29-4, in fact.

5.54pm GMT

67 min Liverpool have had 75 per cent of the possession, and 11 shots on target to Spurs’ one.

5.54pm GMT

66 min Salah whips a shot straight at Gazzaniga from the right side of the area.

5.51pm GMT

64 min Alexander-Arnold is booked for a hack at Kane.

5.51pm GMT

63 min Spurs do make a change, with Tanguy Ndombele replacing Harry Winks. That’s odd as Winks has been one of their better players, although he is probably shattered from all the firefighting.

5.50pm GMT

62 min I’ve just remembered that Dele Alli is on the pitch. I’m really surprised they haven’t changed their policy of defending narrowly, because Alexander-Arnold and Robertson are running the game. Another wicked cross from Alexander-Arnold just evades Firmino.

5.49pm GMT

61 min More good news for Liverpool: their beloved Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace have equalised at the Emirates.

5.49pm GMT

60 min Wijnaldum heads straight at Gazzaniga from another beautiful Alexander-Arnold cross. Just before that, he pulled that Alexander-Arnold’s cross at the far post but couldn’t find an angle for a shot.

5.47pm GMT

59 min This has been a stunning response to adversity from Liverpool. Since around the 25th minute, they have attacked with volcanic heat.

5.46pm GMT

57 min Alexander-Arnold’s angled throw from the right somehow bounces through to Firmino, who hammers a shot at the near post from a very tight angle. It’s blocked by the well-positioned Gazzaniga, who for a split-second thought it had slithered between his legs. That’s his seventh or eighth save of the game.

5.45pm GMT

57 min “Can I get this straight,” says John Potter. “You’re not covering the Norwich Man U game? Is this a first? Is this official confirmation Man U are just a bog-standard team now?”

I think the only reason is that it’s not being televised in this country.

5.43pm GMT

55 min Salah’s volley is straight at Gazzaniga. This game is only going one way. Spurs can’t live with Liverpool’s intensity.

5.41pm GMT

Fabinho floated a nothing ball into the area towards Firmino, who went over after a little shove from Rose. While everyone was appealing for a penalty, Henderson guided the bouncing ball into the far corner with his left foot. That’s an excellent finish.

5.40pm GMT

Jordan Henderson equalises for Liverpool!

5.38pm GMT

50 min Lovren is booked for a foul on Kane.

5.37pm GMT

48 min: Son hits the bar! The chance came straight from a brilliant goalkick/pass by Gazzaniga, swished from right to left and in behind Lovren. Son ran clear, went round Alisson and lifted the ball onto the crossbar from a tight angle.

5.36pm GMT

47 min: Fine save from Gazzaniga! Robertson ran at Eriksen and crossed towards the far post, where Firmino got between defenders and connected with a good downward header that was blocked desperately by Gazzaniga.

5.33pm GMT

46 min Peep peep! Liverpool begin the second half. No personnel changes, although it looks like Spurs may have switched from 4-2-3-1 to 4-1-4-1.

5.33pm GMT

“Sigh,” says Matt Dony. “I’m beginning to dislike Sundays.”

Trust me, you’ll love them again in an hour’s time.

5.31pm GMT

Even the nicest man in the world hates it

VAR is junk

5.19pm GMT

Half-time reading

5.19pm GMT

Peep peep! Spurs lead through Harry Kane’s first-minute goal. They started very well, not just with the goal, but were battered in the last 20 minutes with Liverpool at their high-octane best. See you soon for the second half.

5.17pm GMT

45+1 min Liverpool appeal for a penalty when Mane’s cross hits the shoulder of Sanchez. It was an inelegant bit of defending, but it was just about legal.

5.16pm GMT

45 min Three minutes of added time. Martin Tyler reminds us that Spurs haven’t won an away game in the league since January. And Liverpool haven’t lost at home in the league for about two and a half years.

5.15pm GMT

44 min Manchester United have now missed two penalties at Norwich - one from Rashford, one from Martial - though they still lead 2-0. If they ever learn to score penalties they’ll be dangerous.

5.12pm GMT

42 min Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick hits the top of the wall. Spurs desperately need half-time.

5.11pm GMT

41 min Mane is fouled by Winks 25 yards from goal. The free-kick is slightly to the left of centre, perfect for Alexander-Arnold...

5.10pm GMT

40 min There’s some latent niggle in this game, and it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a red card in the second half.

5.09pm GMT

38 min Alexander-Arnold’s long cross is clipped back in the six-yard box by Firmino, where the stretching Sanchez unwittingly stabs the ball back to his keeper Gazzaniga.

5.08pm GMT

37 min Rose is booked for flattening Henderson. Spurs are angry because Sissoko had been fouled a moment earlier, but the referee waved play on.

5.05pm GMT

36 min Sissoko is booked for stopping Robertson from taking a quick free-kick. Spurs have done that a few times in this half.

5.05pm GMT

35 min Another goal at the Emirates: penalty fiend Luka Milivojevic has made it Arsenal 2-1 Crystal Palace.

5.03pm GMT

34 min The game has changed completely. Spurs are struggling to get out of their third, never mind their half.

5.03pm GMT

32 min Marcus Rashford has put Manchester United 2-0 up at Norwich. Arsenal still lead Crystal Palace 2-0.

5.01pm GMT

31 min Now Mane misses a great chance, flicking a header wide from Alexander-Arnold’s stunning pass. It was a brilliant ball, lofted over the defence from a very narrow position. It’s almost an insult to call it a cross. Liverpool have been quite awesome in the last five minutes.

5.01pm GMT

30 min Liverpool are right into their work now. Robertson surges into the box and drags the ball back towards the edge of the area. It rolls further back to Alexander-Arnold, whose thumping strike is palmed away by the diving Gazzaniga. It was a really comfortable save, although it was a superb hit from Alexander-Arnold.

4.59pm GMT

29 min Gazzaniga makes another good save, leaping to tip van Dijk’s close-range header over the bar. It came from a beautiful dipping free-kick by Alexander-Arnolld on the right.

4.57pm GMT

27 min Gazzaniga makes a vital double save. He stretched a long way to his left to flap away Salah’s rising drive from the edge of the area, then got to his feet quickly to block Firmino’s follow-up. He should maybe have pushed Salah’s shot behind for a corner; if it was a mistake, he redeeemed it with the second save.

4.56pm GMT

27 min “Is it too early,” says Jim Lacoss, “to substitute Lovren?”

I think he was taken off after 31 minutes against Spurs a couple of years ago, so it’s nearly time.

4.54pm GMT

26 min “Kane is basically a goal octopus, able to readjust his body in any direction that his predatory instincts tell him to,” says Justin Kavanagh. “With his convivial bonhomie and his WWI RAF Pilot looks, he is a peculiar genius indeed.”

4.54pm GMT

24 min Almost a second goal for Spurs! Kane’s cushioned volley is just too far in front of Alli, who would have had an open goal, and then Eriksen mishits a volley that bobbles just wide. That said, I think it might have been disallowed for offside against Kane had they scored.

4.53pm GMT

23 min More good news for Matt Dony: Scott McTominay has put Manchester United 1-0 up at Carrow Road.

4.52pm GMT

22 min The home fans aren’t impressed with the amount of time Spurs are taking over restarts. It’s a fascinating game, full of intriguing head-to-heads: Kane v Lovren, Alexander-Arnold v Son, Robertson v Eriksen.

4.51pm GMT

21 min Mane heads a long punt down to Salah, who lashes the bouncing ball straight at Gazzaniga from 20 yards. Spurs break through Kane and then Son, whose cross shot is blocked by Alexander-Arnold. That was good defending.

4.49pm GMT

20 min Alexander-Arnold’s outswinging corner is headed over by Mane, who lost Alli at the near post. The ball was moving away from him, so it wasn’t much of a chance.

4.49pm GMT

18 min Salah wins a corner for Liverpool, who are starting to impose themselves on Spurs. Alexander-Arnold’s outswinger is headed clear, but he gets another chance to cross and wins a second corner.

4.46pm GMT

17 min Aurier is down and in a bit of pain after a collision with his team-mate Alderweireld. Both teams could probably use the breather after a frantic start to the game.

4.44pm GMT

14 min Robertson plays a nice give-and-go with Mane, leaves Eriksen in his slipstream and slides a low ball across the face that is claimed by Gazzaniga.

4.42pm GMT

12 min Arsenal are already 2-0 up against Crystal Palace, since you asked. The goals have been scored by their centre-halves, Sokratis and David Luiz.

4.41pm GMT

11 min Fabinho’s long-range stinger is blocked. Liverpool haven’t got going yet.

4.40pm GMT

9 min Jurgen Klopp flagged before the game that Spurs like to play Son on the left against Liverpool, so that he counter-attack into the space left by the marauding Alexander-Arnold. It’s a really interesting battle, that, and Son looks Spurs’ biggest threat at the moment.

4.37pm GMT

7 min Matt Dony isn’t in a ditch after all! But he might be if this continues. “Ahoy hoy. Last Sunday, I had an enormously stressful but ultimately brilliant morning, then got horribly frustrated by watching United relocate their mojo and actually, y’know, play some decent football. This Sunday, I’ve had an enormously stressful but ultimately heartbreaking morning, so I’m hoping for a much better afternoon.

“Spurs looked ominously good against Red Star, with Kane in particular playing some fantastic passes. I know it was ‘only’ Red Star (and they were pretty darn poor), but I’m worried that Spurs may have played themselves back into some kind of form at just the wrong time. Glad to have Salah back. I hope Ox and/or Keita get a chance to come on in the second half.”

4.37pm GMT

6 min It’s been a confident, almost strutting start from Spurs.

4.34pm GMT

4 min “As a Liverpool fan, it’s the midfield that worries me,” says Alex Monro. “Every team now knows to block out A-A and Robertson, which means you need creativity in the middle. With Shaqiri injured and Ox benched, not sure we’ve got much of that out In the middle. Basically, we should have bought Eriksen!”

I think that’s a bit harsh on Fabinho in particular. Much as I love Eriksen, I’m not sure he would get into this Liverpool team.

4.34pm GMT

3 min Spurs have started in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Eriksen on the right and Son on the left. That’s where the game came from. He ran at Alexander-Arnold, cut back infield and hit a speculative shot that ultimately led to the goal. Sissoko also played his part with a surging run through midfield and a pass to Son.

4.33pm GMT

Kane was onside and Spurs are ahead! Son cut inside Henderson, onto his right foot, and whacked a 20-yard shot that took a big deflection off the head of Lovren and flew onto the near post. It rebounded to Kane, who stooped to steer a header wide of Alisson from eight yards. That’s a deceptively good finish. I thought Kane might have been offside when Son had the shot, but he was played on by Virgil van Dijk.

4.31pm GMT

This might be disallowed for offside.

4.31pm GMT

14 seconds Mane is almost put through on goal by Firmino. With a better first touch, he would have been clear.

4.30pm GMT

1 min Peep peep! Spurs, in which, kick off from left to right. Liverpool are in red.

4.29pm GMT

There’s a belting atmosphere at Anfield, with a particularly lusty rendition on You’ll Never Walk Alone preceding the match.

4.26pm GMT

An email! “Afternoon Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “It’s not been a great day so far for teams wearing red. Wales, Aberdeen, Cardiff (well they used to wear red, for a bit), Bristol City. This is the kind of analysis you only find on the MBM. Hashtag just saying. I hope Matt Dony is ok.”

Given his emails before, during and after Wales’ Euro 2016 semi-final, and his silence today, I’m slightly worried about his joie de vivre levels.

4.03pm GMT

Liverpool are three points clear of Manchester City with this game in hand. Their next home match, a fortnight today, is against City. Spurs start the matcn in 10th place and could, depending on results elsewhere, finish the day anywhere between sixth and 14th.

3.59pm GMT

Newcastle 1-1 Wolves was the final score in the early Premier League game, a decent enough result for both sides.

3.44pm GMT

Pre-match reading

3.32pm GMT

Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Substitutes: Adrian, Milner, Keita, Gomez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Origi.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-D-2) Gazzaniga; Aurier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Rose; Winks; Sissoko, Eriksen; Alli; Son, Kane.
Substitutes: Austin, Davies, Vertonghen, Dier, Ndombele, Lo Celso, Lucas Moura.

1.38pm GMT

Hello. We all love a quiet, lazy day at work, and I’ll elaborate on this theme as soon as I’ve finished ordering a new toaster. For us normal folk, some days are much busier than others, and we’d struggle to function if we had a huge deadline every time we walked into the office.

Yet that, pretty much, is what Liverpool have had to deal with in their Premier League day job for the last 14 months. Since the start of last season they have played 47 games, knowing before each one that they could barely afford to draw, never mind lose. It’s not like the old days, when title races didn’t really get going until the new year. Jose Mourinho changed that culture, and Pep Guardiola has made the pace even more demanding. These days, a title race is a marathon and a sprint.

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Published on October 27, 2019 12:02

Burnley 2-4 Chelsea: Premier League – as it happened

Christian Pulisic came of age as a Chelsea player with a perfect hat-trick at Turf Moor, helping his new side to a seventh consecutive victory

7.39pm BST

Richard Jolly’s match report has landed, so I’ll leave you with that. Thanks for your company - goodnight!

7.36pm BST

Havingt seen another replay, I think Pulisic’s second might actually have been an own-goal from Ben Mee. Egil Ostenstadt had a hat-trick for Southampton against Manchester United taken off him by the Dubious Goals Panel in 1996-97; I’ve no idea how it works these days.

7.35pm BST

The thoughts of Christian Pulisic

“It’s unreal. What a day for me, obviously. I’ve even happier with the result, although I wish we’d kept a clean sheet. I honestly didn’t even think about it [getting the match ball from the referee], but thankfully my team-mates reminded me.

7.30pm BST

“I’m not normally one for praising promoting ex-players to managerial roles - rose-tinted selction glasses, etc. - but Lamps seems to be doing a brilliant job,” says Bill Hargreaves. “To bring on youth like that, and move on players with amicable handshakes (a la Luiz) in order to remould the team in your shape, is pretty admirable, I think. And lovely attacking football, too. Lesson in intelligent leadership for other clubs, possibly?”

Indeed. It was obvious from his first punditry shift that he could articulate the game better than most, and it seems his man-management is equally impressive. That transfer ban was the best thing to happen to Chelsea, although I suspect Lampard would have prioritised the younger players anyway. Their success will hopefully have a knock-on effect throughout the Premier League.

7.20pm BST

Peep peep! Another thrilling attacking performance from Chelsea gave a seventh consecutive win. Christian Pulisic scored a perfect hat-trick, the first of his career, to come of age as a Chelsea player, and Willian added a fourth bnefore the hour. A 4-0 scoreline would have been really harsh on Burnley. Two late goals gave a fairer reflection of an eventful match.

7.18pm BST

90+2 min Brady is booked for fouling Giroud. I’m not sure why he bothered, because Giroud was moving at glacial pace.

7.16pm BST

90+1 min Four minutes of added time.

7.16pm BST

90 min Lowton’s cross is headed behind by the stretching James. Vydra heads the corner over the bar. What a strange ending to the game this has been. That said, the scoreline is much fairer on Burnley.

7.15pm BST

It’s a funny old game. McNeil gives the scoreline a sheen of respectability with a 20-yard shot that deflects off Tomori and wrongfoots Arrizabalaga.

7.13pm BST

Pick that out! Jay Rodriguez saunters forward and crashes a dipping shot from 30 yards that flies over Arrizabalaga and into the net. A second look suggests the keeper might have done better, as it was nowhere near the corner, but it was an explosive strike.

7.10pm BST

84 min Robbie Brady replaces Jeff Hendrick. While that happens, we’re watching replays of the Hudson-Odoi booking. He was clearly pushed by Lowton - not enough for a penalty, but enough to affect his balance when he then tried to jump past Tarkowski.

7.06pm BST

80 min Hudson-Odoi fizzes a low cross-shot just wide. He’s looked very sharp since coming on. The competition for places in Chelsea’s attacking midfield positions is exceedingly healthy.

7.05pm BST

78 min An excellent point from Rob Hawthorne, the Sky Sports commentator: a few incidents today, including that non-penalty and the penalty that was given at Brighton, suggest the ‘clear and obvious’ bar has been lowered considerably since last weekend’s games. What this means, in practice, is more subjective decision-making, more perceived injustice and more conversations about VAR. Drink!

7.03pm BST

NO PENALTY! Hudson-Odoi is booked for diving. Frank Lampard has a wry smile on his face. My feeling is that it wasn’t a penalty, because Tarkowski pulled his leg out of the way, but nor was it a dive - Hudson-Odoi went down because he tried to jump between two defenders and lost his balance.

7.02pm BST

76 min: PENALTY TO CHELSEA! Hudson-Odoi plays a nice one-two with Mount and goes down after a challenge from Tarkowski. This might be overturned by VAR.

7.00pm BST

75 min Mount’s free-kick hits the wall.

7.00pm BST

74 min Hudson-Odoi is fouled just outside the area by Tarkowski. He’d lost the ball but Michael Oliver gave the free-kick. It’s a fair way to the left of centre, but I think Mount will go for goal...

6.59pm BST

73 min Hudson-Odoi’s 20-yard curler is comfortably held by Pope as he falls to his left.

6.58pm BST

72 min Willian, who has swapped wings with Pulisic, wins a corner on the break. That’s his last touch of the game; he is replaced by Callum Hudson-Odoi. It’s been another excellent performance from Willian, who has been revitalised under Frank Lampard.

6.56pm BST

71 min For 55 minutes this was extremely hard work for Chelsea, but now they have the full strut on. They could easily score another couple.

6.55pm BST

70 min Tammy Abraham is replaced by Olivier Giroud.

6.54pm BST

68 min Willian’s whipped shot from the edge of the area is blocked by Mee on the six-yard line. Then Pulisic’s delicious chipped cross beats Pope and is headed behind by Lowton.

6.53pm BST

67 min Pieters is booked for a lunge on James.

6.52pm BST

66 min Life moves pretty fast in the Premier League, but at the moment Leicester and Chelsea look comfortably the best of the rest. Chelsea have been a revelation, not least because they’ve been without their best player for much of the season.

6.51pm BST

65 min Rodriguez is booked for a foul on Kovacic.

6.50pm BST

64 min Superb defending from the substitute James, who blocks goalbound shoots from Westwood and McNeil in the space of two seconds.

6.50pm BST

64 min A ‘perfect’ hat-trick from Pulisic no less - left foot, right foot, header,” says Callum Macauley. “Not bad at all.”

6.49pm BST

63 min A Chelsea substitution: Reece James replaces Marcos Alonso. Azpilicueta will move to left-back. And Burnley bring on Matej Vydra for poor Ashley Barnes, who has had a beast.

6.48pm BST

62 min Tomori keeps Chelsea’s sheet clean with an immense recovery tackle on Rodriguez, who was through on goal and in the act of shooting when Tomori appeared from nowhere to block.

6.48pm BST

61 min Chelsea scored 24 away goals in 19 league games last season. This year they have 16 in five.

6.47pm BST

59 min The scoreline is seriously harsh on Burnley. But this is what Chelsea can do when they have space to break into. They have scored 16 away goals in the Premier League this season, more than any other team.

6.45pm BST

William has made it 4-0 on the break. Kovacic played a penetrative pass into Abraham, who turned and eased a simple pass towards Willian in the inside-right channel. He ran at Pieters, moved the ball to the right and drove a crisp low shot into the far corner.

6.44pm BST

What a time to be a Chelsea fan!

6.44pm BST

What a story! Pulisic, recalled to the side tonight, has scored all three. The goal came when Mount’s left-wing corner was headed back out to him. He curled a beautiful, dipping ball towards the near post, where Pulisic got in front of Rodriguez to score with a very clever header. He was moving away from goal so allowed the ball to deflect off the side of his head, from where it drifted into the far corner. There was doubtless a bit of luck involved as well, but I’m pretty sure he intended that. Anyway, who gives a stuff: he’s scored a hat-trick!

6.41pm BST

Christian Pulisic gets his hat-trick!

6.38pm BST

53 min Willian is booked for pulling back McNeil.

6.38pm BST

51 min A smart snapshot from Rodriguez is well held by Arrizabalaga. Burnley have made enough openings in this match for Chelsea to be wary, even at 2-0.

6.36pm BST

49 min Cork flips a nice pass over the defence to Barnes, who mistimes an attempted volley on the turn. It sliced off the outside of his boot.

6.33pm BST

47 min Pieters’ cross from the byline is shanked by Zouma into the face of Arrizabalaga and behind for a corner. I’m not sure whether Zouma’s shank would have gone into the net or wide of the far post; either way, it wasn’t the most Baresian piece of defending.

6.31pm BST

46 min Peep peep! Chelsea begin the second half.

6.20pm BST

Half-time reading

6.18pm BST

Peep peep! Chelsea are well on course for a seventh consecutive win. The scoreline is harsh on Burnley in terms of the run of play, but they made egregious mistakes for both Christian Pulisic’s goals. His selection, ahead of Callum Hudson-Odoi, was another inspired move from Frank Lampard.

6.16pm BST

Another Burnley error, another goal. Tarkowski played a poor pass into midfield - he won’t be doing that again - that was intercepted by Willian. His touch diverted the ball to Pulisic in the centre circle and he went straight for goal. He reached the edge of the area, made an angled run away from a couple of defenders and drove a low shot that took a big deflection off Mee and sneaked in at the near post.

6.14pm BST

Pulisic has done it again!

6.13pm BST

43 min Willian’s ambitious volley, from Pulisic’s crossfield pass, is comfortably saved by Pope. Chelsea are having a fine spell.

6.11pm BST

42 min Chelsea move the ball really nicely to get Mount in behind the defence on the right, but his cross is intercepted by Westwood.

6.09pm BST

39 min Abraham, who has been quiet for much of the half, receives a pass from Pulisic and sweeps a curling shot just wide from inside the D. Pope had it covered.

6.07pm BST

37 min Lowton makes an important headed clearance from Pulisic’s cross, which would otherwise have been headed towards goal by Alonso.

6.06pm BST

36 min A wishy-washy near-post clearance from Tarkowski goes straight to Pulisic 12 yards from goal. His shot is blocked.

6.04pm BST

35 min It’s not news, this, but Dwight McNeil is seriously good for a 19-year-old.

6.04pm BST

34 min The lively McNeil plays a good pass into Barnes, who moves the ball away from Tomori but blasts high and wide from 15 yards.

6.02pm BST

32 min Chelsea are struggling to deal with Burnley’s style, particularly their set pieces.

6.01pm BST

30 min: What a chance for Barnes! That should have been 1-1. Westwood floated a free-kick beyond the far post, where Mee towered above Alonso to loop a header back across goal. It took Kepa out of the game and reached the unmarked Barnes, who somehow headed wide from six yards. He must have been unsighted.

5.58pm BST

28 min: Fine save from Pope! Willian pinged a sweet crossfield pass to Pulisic on the left side of the area. He took the ball down on his chest and hit an early shot towards goal. It took a deflection off Lowton and forced an awkward but very good save from Pope, plunging to his left.

5.55pm BST

25 min Arrizabalaga makes a good save from Pieters’ deflected volley. He was moving to his left but adjusted well to hold the top half of his body and punch the ball away. Burnley have responded superbly to going behind.

5.54pm BST

23 min McNeil’s deep, inswinging corner is headed back into the six-yard box by Tarkowski, but Barnes can’t direct his header on target. He was moving away from goal, which is why the header went sideways rather than towards goal.

5.52pm BST

23 min Barnes beats the offside trap on the right wing, moves into the area ... and then leaves the ball behind.

5.52pm BST

It was a bad mistake from Lowton, who was caught in two minds and lost the ball to Pulisic just past the halfway line. He scurried into the penalty area, and although Tarkowski seemed to have pushed him wide, Pulisic managed to thread a low left-footed shot back across goal and into the corner.

5.50pm BST

Christian Pulisic gets his first goal for Chelsea!

5.49pm BST

19 min A nice run from McNeil, who beats Jorginho and then Azpilicueta before crossing too close to Arrizabalaga.

5.48pm BST

19 min “If the photo is any guide, Chelsea are playing in white shirts and shorts with blue socks,” says Charles Antaki. “I like to see a good reverse kit, since most outfits don’t really allow for it or produce the identical effect (any stripes) or abominations (reverse Arsenal doesn’t bear thinking about). A rarity to be savoured.”

5.46pm BST

17 min A long spell of Chelsea possession ends when Willian clips a cross straight out of play. It hasn’t been a great start to the game.

5.44pm BST

15 min Pulisic leads a good Chelsea break and finds Mount in the area. He gets the ball out of his feet and hits a low shot that is really well blocked by Pieters.

5.43pm BST

14 min The second corner, from Westwood, is a poor one that swings straight out of play.

5.42pm BST

13 min Burnley win their first corner. McNeil swings it under the crossbar, forcing the stretching Zouma to head behind for another corner.

5.40pm BST

10 min Burnley are disrupting Chelsea’s rhythm pretty effectively, and as a result the game hasn’t really settled down.

5.38pm BST

8 min Zouma is receiving treatment after falling into the advertising boards. He looks okay.

5.35pm BST

5 min Willian has the first shot, crashing it high over the bar from 20 yards.

5.34pm BST

4 min Nopthing much to report so far. Chelsea have had plenty of the ball, but all in front of the Burnley defence.

5.30pm BST

1 min Peep peep! Burnley, in claret and blue, kick off from left to right as we watch. Chelsea are in white.

5.28pm BST

The players emerge from the tunnel, all looking thoroughly ready for action. And why not.

5.08pm BST

A Burnley win would lift them to fifth in the table. Chelsea will stay fourth regardless of the result, unless they win 12-0.

4.50pm BST

Some pre-match reading

4.47pm BST

4.40pm BST

Burnley (4-4-2) Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters; Hendrick, Cork, Westwood, McNeil; Rodriguez, Barnes.
Substitutes: Hart, Taylor, Bardsley, Long, Brady, Lennon, Vydra.

Chelsea (4-3-3) Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Tomori, Alonso; Kovacic, Jorginho, Mount; Willian, Abraham, Pulisic.
Substitutes: Caballero, James, Guehi, Pedro, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi, Batshuayi.

4.40pm BST

Hello. This is an intriguing rite of passage for Chelsea’s young side - the unique challenge of playing at Turf Moor. Chelsea’s away form has been exemplary since their unfortunate 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford on the opening weekend: five games, five wins, 15 goals scored.

Burnley’s home form has been equally good, with the exception of a heavy defeat to Liverpool. Burnley away on a bracing evening has become the new Stoke-on-a-wet-and-windy-night, the kind of game where happy young footballers supposed to be found out. If Chelsea win here, it will be another impressive statement.

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Published on October 26, 2019 11:39

Manchester City 3-0 Aston Villa: Premier League – as it happened

Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Silva and Ilkay Gundogan scored second-half goals as Manchester City overcame a game Aston Villa in an eventful match

2.44pm BST

Manchester City 3-0 Aston Villa I’ll leave you with Jamie Jackson’s report from the Etihad. Bye!

2.43pm BST

“The continuing refereeing bias against City,” writes J Hopkin, “may soon become a legal matter.”

I’d like to publish the rest of the email, because it’s a cracking read. But if I do it may become a legal matter for me, and I’m skint.

2.40pm BST

The Premier League say ‘the goalscorer is under review’. My instinct is that it touched Silva’s studs, though it’s very hard to be sure. I suspect the goal will be given to De Bruyne to save face.

It’s so, so boring.

2.26pm BST

I suspect that goal will be awarded to David Silva, even though a Silva goal would probably have been disallowed for offside. VAR: Clearing Things Up Since 2017.

2.24pm BST

Kevin De Bruyne speaks “David said he touched it (for the goal). I have no idea. We had some difficulties in the first half today – maybe lack of intensity, the rhythm was not there. The second half was a much better performance after Raz’s goal. In the end we deserved to win. We’re just doing our job – let’s keep it going.”

2.22pm BST

That was a funny old game, though nobody seems to be laughing. After a frustrating first half, Manchester City flexed their muscles in the second half and deserved their win against a game Aston Villa. VAR played its part again, but I’ve lost the will on that.

2.21pm BST

90+4 min: Now McGinn hits the post! Ederson charged from his lunch to make a good save from Davis before McGinn’s follow-up whistled through him and onto the inside of the post.

2.20pm BST

90+2 min Jesus floats a chip onto the crossbar after a mix-up between Heaton and Mings. It bounced back straight into the hands of Heaton. “Luck of the devil” and all that.

2.18pm BST

90+1 min Three minutes of added time.

2.17pm BST

90 min Foden, who had a shot beaten away by Heaton just before the red card, wins a corner after an elegant run down the inside-left channel.

2.15pm BST

88 min Stones is flattened by a fierce cross from Davis, which hits him just below the neck. He looks pretty groggy.

2.15pm BST

87 min Manchester City’s tactical fouls are starting to catch up with them. Fernandinho is sent off for a second yellow card, having been adjudged to have pulled back Davis. I’m not sure it was a foul, in truth, but City get away with so many sly fouls that they can’t really complain.

2.13pm BST

85 min “Surely Sterling was offside both for the De Bruyne cross and the flick from Silva?” says Francis Lee. “He was right in front of Heaton and obviously interfering with play even if he didn’t touch the ball? Or have the rules changed since I left England 30 years ago?”

I think Sterling was onside for the original cross and then offside if it got a touch off David Silva. Hopefully the Premier League will award the goal to Silva after the game, and the entire VAR technology will explode on the grounds that Sterling was offside and a Silva goal does not compute. Then we can return to football being a bit of fun rather than a particularly po-faced episode of Perry Mason.

2.10pm BST

84 min Anwar El-Ghazi replaces the limping Jack Grealish for Villa.

2.07pm BST

81 min Gundogan is booked for a tactical foul on Trezeguet.

2.07pm BST

80 min Grealish, who is on a yellow card, overruns the ball and fouls Joao Cancelo. Some referees would have said ‘off you pop’ for that; Graham Scott is not one of them. He’s had a very good game.

2.04pm BST

77 min If Silva got a touch, Sterling was arguably interfering with play when the goal was scored. And I’m not entirely convinced that the ball didn’t brush Sterling’s shorts as well. Does it count as a touch if it hits only the fabric of your shots? I haven’t a clue any more. I do know that the last question was never asked of Gary Lineker.

2.02pm BST

76 min The reliably brilliant Kevin De Bruyne - who has been given the second goal - is replaced by Phil Foden, and Sergio Aguero comes on for the inspirational Raheem Sterling.

2.00pm BST

75 min Villa shouldn’t be too disheartened by this, even if it ends 4- or 5-0. They have played very well for large parts of the game.

2.00pm BST

74 min “As a (former) librarian I fully support your coinage,” says David C Hunter. “Nothing we’d like better than 50,000 attendees who are quiet, studious, and enjoying themselves, though we do prefer to ‘do it’ indoors.”

1.59pm BST

73 min A change apiece. Angelino replaces Mendy for City, Keinan Davies replaces Wesley for Villa.

1.59pm BST

It came from a right-wing corner, taken by De Bruyne. Fernandinho touched the ball around the defence at the near post and leathered it across the face of goal. Bernardo Silva couldn’t guide it into an open net, such was the pace on the ball. But Villa could only partially clear it to Gundogan, who waited for the ball to bounce up and lashed a vertical scissor-kick that went through a posse of bodies and into the net. That was a fine bit of improvisation.

1.56pm BST

It’s turning into a rout!

1.54pm BST

GOAL GIVEN! I’ll be honest: I don’t know who scored or whether it was the correct decision to award a goal. I think the answers are ‘David Silva’ and ‘yes’. But apparently the goal has been given to De Bruyne.

1.53pm BST

It came from a wicked inswinging cross from De Bruyne, which may have got a touch from Silva on its way into the net. I don’t think Sterling touched it.

1.53pm BST

VAR check There’s a check for offside against Sterling. If he touched the ball he’s offside, and it may have brushed his shorts as he tried to get out of the way. Who knows.

1.51pm BST

That should be the match for City.

1.48pm BST

62 min Villa are still having plenty of the game. Douglas Luiz’s snappy header, from Guilbert’s cross, is straight at Ederson.

1.47pm BST

61 min “Librarial is a real word if you say it is, Rob,” says Alexander Sharkey. “Just depends whether the rest of us adopt your neologism. I think it’s a winner. Same import but easier to say than Emiratial.”

1.46pm BST

60 min De Bruyne sweeps a left-footed shot well wide from the edge of the area.

1.45pm BST

58 min McGinn’s high free-kick from the left is fumbled by Ederson, but the ball lands safely for City. In Ederson’s defence, he was baulked by a couple of his own team-mates.

1.43pm BST

57 min Fernandinho is booked for a foul on Grealish.

1.43pm BST

55 min: Mings makes a spectacular goalline clearance! Engels’ abysmal ball out of defence went straight to Sterling, who squared it to find Jesus in space in the area. His low shot went through Heaton and bounced up awkwardly on the goalline, where the backpedalling Mings improvised brilliantly to knee it over the bar.

1.41pm BST

54 min “As a Liverpool fan I’d like the club sign one creative and established player and it seems that there is a nice pool of upcoming English midfielders,” says Michal. “If you were the Reds’ director of football, who would target out of Grealish, Sancho and Maddison?”

For Liverpool, Maddison I reckon.

1.40pm BST

53 min A fine run from Mendy, who nutmegs McGinn on the left of the area before hitting a shot that spins just wide off Engels.

1.38pm BST

50 min De Bruyne’s wicked free-kick from the right flashes right across the face of goal.

1.37pm BST

49 min “You just said that 12 teams could conceivably go down,” says Daniel Wighton. “Are you including Man Utd in that gaggle?”

Not yet.

1.35pm BST

47 min Jesus beat Mings in the air to create the goal, which is less than idea from Villa’s perspective. From City’s point of view, it’s yet another goal for the inevitable Raheem Sterling.

1.34pm BST

It was Villa’s kick off as well. The goal came from Ederson’s long ball, which was headed on by Jesus towards Sterling. The last man Engels was wrongfooted by the angle of the header, which allow Sterling to scurry into the area and slide the ball under Heaton.

1.32pm BST

We won’t be seeing Sergio Aguero yet. Raheem Sterling has scored after 20 seconds of the second half!

1.32pm BST

46 min Peep peep! Aston Villa get the second half under way. No substitutions, although it won’t be long before we see Sergio Aguero if it stays 0-0.

1.31pm BST

“Hi Rob,” says James Broughton. “On that Stones blocked shot, that then touched both hands, but was not given by VAR. The question I have is, how does that fit with the now consistent approach being taken of ‘all handballs are fouls’? Think back to the City v Spurs game earlier this season and Jesus’ goal was disallowed because VAR concluded the ball had trimmed a City player’s nails before reaching Jesus. It seemed we were getting to a point of any time the ball touched a hand it was a foul. It touched both of Stones’ hands. In short, please clarify.”

I had a look at the new law at half-time and I was wrong - VAR man was correct not to give a penalty. Essentially (though there is a degree of ambiguity), it’s not a penalty if the ball deflects off another part of your body onto the arm.

1.17pm BST

Half-time reading

1.17pm BST

Peep peep! A frustrating half for City, who with the exception of Raheem Sterling have been nowhere near their best. Half their players are moaning at the referee, though I’m not sure why. It would be worse for City but for Ederson’s excellent save from John McGinn. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.

1.15pm BST

45 min Douglas Luiz crosses from the left towards Trezeguet, who loses the sleeping Stones but makes no contact with an attempted stooping header.

1.14pm BST

43 min David Silva misses City’s best chance of the game. It was made by the superb Sterling, who ran infield, onto Gundogan’s return pass, and eased the ball back towards Silva. He dragged a low, first-time shot just wide of the far post.

1.12pm BST

43 min Sergio Aguero is having a great game.

1.12pm BST

42 min Grealish gets away with a foul on David Silva, having lost the ball in a dangerous area. Had the foul been given, that would almost certainly have been a second yellow card. Then again, the first one was harsh. See, it does all even itself out in the end, every now and then.

1.10pm BST

40 min “Villa fan here,” says David Bertram. “Any chance this side stays up? I feel there’s so much to like about them but the 38-game season will be too short.”

Too short?! I think they’ll stay up reasonably comfortably. It’s not easy to call this year, as there are maybe 12 teams that could conceivably go down, but Villa have a lot going for them – a high-class coaching team, solid defence, arguably England’s best keeper, enough quality in midfield and a home support than will win a few extra points.

1.08pm BST

38 min Sterling misses a decent chance, flicking a header wide from Gundogan’s stabbed, outside-of-the foot cross. The ball was slightly behind him, which made it a tougher chance than it first looked.

1.05pm BST

36 min Grealish is booked for fouling Sterling, though it looked like Sterling just slipped.

1.05pm BST

35 min Villa have three shots blocked in the same attack. The second of those, from Trezeguet, hit Stones’ arm as he fell after originally making a superb block. VAR says ... no penalty. I thought that might be given.

1.04pm BST

34 min Ederson’s superb long pass puts Sterling through on goal, only for Heaton to charge from the area and calmly chest the ball away. Modern goalkeeping, right there

1.03pm BST

34 min Yes, I know librarial isn’t actually a word.

1.03pm BST

33 min The atmosphere at the Etihad is somewhat librarial. Villa will be thrilled with how things are going.

1.02pm BST

32 min “As a Baggies fan,” says Alan Davis, “I’m delighted to see that Villa’s change shirts appear to be inscribed WBA.”

It’s a reach – but I’m going to allow it! Oneupmanship given!

12.59pm BST

30 min David Silva plays the ball straight out of play. City are not, in the parlance of our time, at it.

12.59pm BST

29 min The Villa fans have a special chant for the day: “Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that.”

12.58pm BST

28 min City are not at their slick attacking best. Sterling has looked lively; that’s about it so far. There’s still plenty of time for them to win 5-0, but at the moment it’s a much more even game than most expected.

12.57pm BST

27 min “You have to think,” says Phil Grey, “that Leicester would be three up by now, whichever team they were playing, or possibly even if they were playing Man City and Villa at the same time.”

Have I missed something? I watched Monty Don last night.

12.55pm BST

25 min Stones’ looping header from a corner is palmed over by Heaton. It was probably going onto the roof of the net anyway but he decided to play safe rather than risking a Pickford.

12.54pm BST

24 min Good game, this. Villa’s posiutive attitude has been really impressive.

12.54pm BST

23 min: Now Villa are appealing for a penalty! Ederson made a fine diving save from McGinn’s curler, following an abysmal pass from Stones, and then Douglas Luiz went over under challenge from Cancelo as he tried to get to the rebound. I don’t think it was a foul. The ball also hit Douglas Luiz’s hand, so lord knows what it all means. It was a superb save from Ederson in the first place. VAR says... no penalty.

12.51pm BST

21 min Heaton makes his first save, doing well to hold Joao Cancelo’s long-range shot. The save itself was comfortable; the catch, in these wet conditions, was more impressive.

12.50pm BST

20 min: NO PENALTY I’m not certain Engels’ arm was in an entirely natural position, but VAR has cleared it. It was never a penalty in old money, as he was just trying to block the shot.

12.49pm BST

19 min: VAR check City appeal for a penalty when Sterling’s shot hits a Villa defender and spins wide. It did hit Engels on the arm, and this might be given under the absurd new rules.

12.48pm BST

18 min “That Villa kit is awful,” says Kevin Ryan. “It looks like they just grabbed some green training tops and put ‘em over the black tops. Question: who has the worst change kit in the Premier League?”

Sorry, I assumed that was a rhetorical question.

12.46pm BST

16 min Another good Villa break yields a corner when McGinn’s cross takes a deflection and loops onto the roof of the net. City look more vulnerable to the counter-attack than usual.

12.44pm BST

15 min Although City have dominated the first 15 minutes, Villa haven’t parked the bus. They are getting forward in numbers when possible, and there’s a smooth confidence to their passing.

12.43pm BST

13 min A promising counter-attack from Villa ends when Trezeguet is dispossessed by Gundogan on the edge of the area. City counter-counter-attack, and Sterling’s low shot from the edge of the area is blocked by Mings. He didn’t really get hold of it.

12.40pm BST

10 min Lovely play from Sterling, who twists Guilbert inside out on the left of the area before crossing towards Bernardo Silva at the far post. Targett nips in to clear.

12.39pm BST

9 min “Hi again!” says Ben Woods. “When Gerrard and Lampard were 19 they played 29 and 31 Premier League matches for Liverpool and West Ham respectively. Doesn’t Foden need to play similar numbers if he is to reach their levels?”

Not necessarily. Paul Scholes didn’t become a regular in the Manchester United midfield until just before his 23rd birthday. Every case is different. But I expected Foden to be starting at least 1 in 4 league games by now.

12.36pm BST

6 min City are into their work now. After a lovely through pass from Gundogan, Sterling’s low cross towards Jesus is put behind by the sliding Guilbert.

12.35pm BST

5 min Jesus misses a good chance, shooting just wide on the turn after a ricochet in the box.

12.33pm BST

4 min It’s been a confident start from Villa, who win the first corner of the match - and make a WTFHWT mess of it. Mendy then charges down the left to win City’s first corner.

12.30pm BST

1 min Peep peep! City, in blue, kick off from left right.

12.27pm BST

The players have emerged from the tunnel, into the rain. Villa are sporting their new green and black third kit.

12.11pm BST

“If Phil Foden isn’t going go start this match,” says Ben Woods, “when will he be starting?”

Last Tuesday? I agree with you, though - I am very surprised how few league games he has started, and he must be starting to wonder whether he needs to do the Sancho. You’d expect him to replace David Silva over the next two years, but he can’t be entirely thrilled with three Premier League starts in two-and-a-bit years.

11.58am BST

If you’re into the whole rugby thing, you may well want to read about an entirely immense performance from England, who hammered New Zealand 19-7 in Yokohama to reach the World Cup final. Believe it or not, the scoreline flattered the All Blacks. England were mind-blowingly good.

11.56am BST

It’s a vile day in Manchester, with the rain sheeting down. I can’t decide whether a drenched pitch makes life easier or more difficult for Villa.

11.55am BST

Pre-match reading

11.37am BST

Manchester City (4-3-3) Ederson; Cancelo, Stones, Fernandinho, Mendy; De Bruyne, Gundogan, D Silva; B Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Sterling.
Substitutes: Bravo, Walker, Aguero, Angelino, Mahrez, Otamendi, Foden.

Aston Villa (4-1-4-1) Heaton; Guilbert, Engels, Mings, Targett; Nakamba; Trezeguet, Douglas Luis, McGinn, Grealish; Wesley.
Substitutes: Steer, Taylor, Lansbury, Ngoyo, Hourihane, El Ghazi, Davis.

10.46am BST

Hello. Manchester City won their last home game 5-1; Aston Villa won their last away game by the same scoreline. Something has to give today. And, while the likelihood is that Villa’s defensive dignity will be the first thing to go, they will take plenty of encouragement from Wolves’ smash-and-grab victory at the Etihad earlier this month.

Villa sit in 12th after a quietly impressive start to their Premier League return. City have had a slightly odd couple of months. They equalled their worst start to a season since the Abu Dhabi takeover, whith two shocking defeats to Norwich and Wolves, yet they could end the weekend only three points behind Liverpool.

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Published on October 26, 2019 06:44

'Spurs have not forgot how to play,' says Klopp: weekend football countdown – as it happened

Friday’s football news and previews to a busy weekend including Liverpool v Spurs, Arsenal v Crystal Palace and Man City v Aston Villa

Premier League match previews

5.00pm BST

That’s all from me. I’ll be live on the site from 7pm with hot MBM action of tonight’s big game: Southampton v Leicester. Until then, have a read of Barney Ronay’s column, which is here.

4.54pm BST

This is a good tweet.

They've put Newcastle's away end in the new COD pic.twitter.com/vTZSA5K3ZL

4.50pm BST

Interesting story coming out of France, Monaco look like they are going to turn their season-long loan for Islam Slimani permanent for around €10 million (£8.7m). The Algerian has been in excellent form since his August move, six assists (although the Ligue 1 official website says seven) and five goals in just seven matches. Nobody in Ligue 1 has more assists. L’Equipe claim that personal terms have already been arranged.

11 - Players involved in the most goals in their first seven Ligue 1 games since Opta analyses the competition (2006/07):

Islam Slimani - 11 (5 goals, 6 assists)

Neymar - 11 (6 ⚽️, 5 ️)

Kings .#ASMSRFC pic.twitter.com/p4PIVuTa2t

4.45pm BST

Update: Jack Rodwell has now passed his medical and has undergone training at Roma. The club are now deciding whether to hand him a short-term deal, reportedly it will be either the Englishman or Marcel Buchel, another midfielder that most recently played at Empoli.

4.38pm BST

Prior to Palace’s game against Arsenal, Roy Hodgson has been talking about Wilfried Zaha, and how close he came/didn’t come to joining the Gunners in the summer.

Not very close at all as far as I know. I believe that the money that was offered which was widely reported [£40m] was reasonably accurate, and of course that was way below our valuation. I thought he got over his disappointment very, very quickly and he has been good in both training and matches.

I don’t think the fact it is Arsenal will change his performance enormously - I would hope not, because I’m expecting his performance to be very good against all the teams we play.

4.27pm BST

Featuring 6ft7in Dan Burn at left back, ladies and gentlemen.

4.03pm BST

4.02pm BST

Here’s an update from the retrial of David Duckenfield on a charge of manslaughter. We will have something live on the website soon.

Hillsborough Trial: Judge Sir Peter Openshaw has told the jury to draw "no adverse inference" from ex Ch Supt Duckenfield, charged with manslaughter, showing no emotion. He has PTSD so this may be a "medical explanation." Report on @guardian shortly.

3.52pm BST

This is a bizarre story. Gareth Barry, 38 years old, was released by West Brom in the summer and has since been a free agent. Now West Brom want him back, but because there was some sort of clause related to his loan spell from Everton to the Hawthorns in 2017, West Brom would now have to pay the Premier League club a small amount of money if they want to sign Barry again. This is the first deal of its kind that I’ve heard of.

“It’s frustrating for us and for him,” West Brom head coach Slaven Bilic told BBC West Midlands. “We had a meeting yesterday. The deal is agreed with him but we have that situation with Everton. There is a little clause. I spoke to the board and we are doing everything we can.

3.44pm BST

That’s for a friendly against Argentina, by the way, on Friday 15 November. Neymar hasn’t been called up because of injury. He’ll stay in Paris.

3.39pm BST

There was some chat earlier about Villa’s Douglas Luiz, and how Pep Guardiola thinks Man City still have a buy-back clause for the midfielder. Anyway, he’s just been called up to the Brazil squad, alongside Real Madrid new boy Rodrygo.

Douglas Luiz hasn’t started for Villa in exactly a month. Does this mean John McGinn is good enough to play for Brazil?

3.34pm BST

Some quotes have arrived, via PA, from Craig Bellamy (who is now a coach at Anderlecht under Vincent Kompany) following the conclusion of Cardiff’s investigation into allegations of bullying and abuse against him and others.

“The allegations of bullying and xenophobic behaviour made against me were difficult for me to come to terms with as I deplore bullying and any form of discrimination. I am not the subject of any disciplinary proceedings which, of course, comes as an immense relief to me.

“Whilst I have always categorically denied and disputed the allegations against me, the whole process was still very difficult to deal with and has resulted in a long period of self-reflection.” PA understands no current academy coaches at Cardiff have lost their jobs in the wake of the investigation report’s findings.

3.27pm BST

It’s the Ruhr derby in Germany this weekend, between Schalke and Dortmund. The Bundesliga is probably Europe’s most interesting league at the moment: Borussia Monchengladback lead Wolfsburg at the top of the table on goal difference, with Bayern and Dortmund a point behind in third and fourth. Schalke remain a point behind them, in seventh - there are just two points between the top nine teams.

Dortmund slightly edge Schalke in the all-time Ruhr standings, 34 wins to 32. It is also the 50th anniversary of arguably the most famous derby the two sides have had, in 1969-70, when Schalke’s Friedel Rausch was bitten on the arse by a police dog during a pitch invasion after Hans Pirkner had given Schalke the lead, which wasn’t too popular with most of the 40,000 locals. You can also see Schalke’s Gerd Neuser reeling (on the left) from a bite on the thigh.

Friedel Rausch being bitten by a dog in the 1969 Revierderby pic.twitter.com/fqSa3v3SC0

3.15pm BST

The Dutch are here! Lock up your bicycles!

3.11pm BST

An email, from Michael Gibson.

Personally I might take Son over Bobby Firmino in a combined XI, but he’s the only one, and that’s really only because he’s quicker across the ground so offers something else. Although I like Ndombele, I think a fully match fit Ox has the edge on him. Although whether Ox even gets in the team, despite doing so well on Weds evening, is another thing.

On a related note, I just watched highlights of the 1978 Liverpool - Spurs match after reading the wonderfully evocative BTL piece by Sidfishes. Even though I didn’t watch the whole game (would love to have been there though!), you can see King Kenny Dalglish’s first thought every time is “can I score?”. If he can’t, he passes. It really, really, reminded me of Salah at the moment. I think we should lay off Mo, and let him get on with his game rather than castigate him for greediness. Yours, hoping for another 7-0 a la 1978!

Liverpool v Spurs - now that game evokes memories.

Saturday 2nd September 1978, I was on leave and recovering from a bought of flu (proper 1970s flu, not like the weak millennium sniffles you get these days). My Granddad, who was a lifelong Kopite called around to my mams and asked if I was well enough to accompany him to Anfield for the Spurs game. Everton were playing Manchester United at Old Trafford and back in those dark days this was not a game a half-fit juvenile who couldn't run away or dodge the slings and arrows chucked by outrageous nobheads should attend. So, I went with him to Anfield.

2.56pm BST

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has a plan for dealing with Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling on Saturday:

He’s an extraordinary player. I think he’s proving that with club and country at the moment. We’re looking at trying to tie his laces together. He’s one that has to be stopped because he’s been incredible over the last 12 months. What a challenge for our players to go and stop him and make him have a lesser performance than he he has done recently.

In the Championship last season we were showing clips of Sterling and some runs that he makes to help improve our wide players and forwards. He’s one who is up there as one of the best players in Europe at the moment.

2.48pm BST

Was thinking earlier - one for the neutrals here perhaps - would you actually have any Spurs players at all in the Liverpool-Tottenham combined XI? I would prefer Firmino to Kane, Son would be a nice option off the bench (but probably doesn’t beat any of the Reds’ front three to a starting berth) and Joel Matip is having a better season than either of the Belgians at the back. The only one I might include in Tanguy Ndombele, he’s a phenomenal talent and is just getting started.

Answers - or any thoughts to be honest - to michael.butler@theguardian.com or tweet me @michaelbutler18.

2.35pm BST

Hi everyone, and thanks to Luke. There certainly is some rugby going on. I’ve booked an area in a local pub, and am planning to be on the tea and coffee (I’ve got a 11-a-side game early afternoon) as the early morning Guinness is flying about. But anyway, we’re here for football (mostly). Let’s get on with that.

2.31pm BST

And that’s all from me today. Michael Butler will be along very shortly to edge you ever closer to the weekend’s football, and that Super Massive Sunday meeting between Liverpool and Spurs. I think there is some rugby on too.

2.23pm BST

Here is a story on the new injury problems for Pep Guardiola at Man City - Rodri and Zinchenko:

2.16pm BST

Random, interesting Arsenal v Palace stat courtesy of the Premier League website:

“Luka Milivojevic has scored more Premier League goals against Arsenal than he has against any other side in the competition, netting four goals in five matches for the Eagles against Sunday’s opponents.”

2.13pm BST

Yet more excellent Friday reading for you here.

It’s Ben Fisher on the south Wales derby - Swansea host Cardiff at 12.00 on Sunday in a super-massive Championship clash:

2.12pm BST

Did we do the two Liverpool lads who accidentally got the train to Gent on Wednesday, instead of Genk, and hence missed the 4-1 win?

2.03pm BST

Sky Sports News are building up to Sunday and Liverpool’s encounter with Spurs. They are dubbing it not just a Super Sunday Clash, but a MASSIVE Super Sunday Clash.

Reds boss Klopp has just been asked if he thinks the All Blacks will target England’s line-out with George Kruis on the bench.

1.51pm BST

Man City defender Oleksandr Zinchenko is going to be out for ‘four or five weeks’ after minor knee surgery.

PEP Zinchenko had contact with the knee and felt something in the bone. He has to stop for four or five weeks. He had (surgery) to clean the knee.

After the international break Rodrigo may be ready again.

1.49pm BST

“Sometimes life is like this,” philosophises Pep, with regard to Douglas Luiz, now at Aston Villa:

PEP (On Douglas Luiz) Sometimes life is like this. We wanted him. The rules here in England with the work permit meant it was not possible. He was good in pre-season and last season in the States.

He’s at Aston Villa. I think we have an option to buy back.

1.47pm BST

Oh, a lot of quotes from Norwich boss Daniel Farke are on the Norwich website, which is nice. Here are a few ahead of their meeting with Manchester United :

“We created a magic night against Man City. We can’t take it as a given to repeat that on a weekly basis but we are trying to be outstanding with our performances. The atmosphere has to be like a cup game, a do or die game.

1.43pm BST

Roy Hodgson is asked how close Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha was to signing for Arsenal in the summer: “Not very far at all, as far as I know, the money that was offered was way below our valuation.”

Will Zaha go there with a point to prove? “I hope not,” Hodgson says. “I expect him to want to perform against all the teams we play.”

1.40pm BST

Thanks to Kristof Künssler-McIlwain, who emails from Berlin about the Man City/Hacienda kit story:

“As much as I adore the idea of honouring a city’s culture, I think it actually really does suck that Puma and the club didn’t contact/include the original creators, where they clearly benefit from their work.

1.36pm BST

... in that passive-aggressive way of his.

Asked what has impressed him about promoted Aston Villa so far this season, he says: “Team spirit...quality up front... they are getting good results, and it looks like they have a good environment in the team.”

1.33pm BST

Courtesy of the wires, here’s an update from that Norwich City press conference, ahead of their meeting with Manchester United:

Centre-back Ben Godfrey, who had hernia surgery over the international break, went off early in the second half of the goalless draw at Bournemouth, but is expected to feature.
Winger Onel Hernandez should also be involved despite some knee pain.

1.30pm BST

Meanwhile, the Southampton boss is clearly no Saint. He wants his team to get down and dirty against Leicester tonight.

Ralph Hassenhuttl: “The time has come for, I call it, dirty wins … make this goal, and then defend with every you have, make it as nasty as possible for the opponent to get something here. The players know what it’s about. We have to make it as hard as possible for our opponents. We’re going at this game with all we have.”

1.28pm BST

Leicester head to Southampton tonight.

Here is Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers on the game that people are already calling #SOULEI: “We’ve shown resilience, quality, creativity … for me the nice thing in all this is we can be better and improve. We were happy with three points against Burnley but there are lots of elements that can be better. We play a tough team … but we’ve relished every challenge that we’ve had, we’re looking forward to this game, and hopefully we’ll collect another three points.”

1.22pm BST

No quotes to speak of from Daniel Farke at Norwich yet. Man City and Pep Guardiola at 1.30pm.

1.20pm BST

From the generic Friday afternoon football quotes dept., courtesy Chelsea boss Lampard, who takes his side to Burnley.

“Never an easy game ... we respect our opponents ... we will focus on their threats.”

Frank on Burnley: 'They never give an easy game against opponents and I expect no different tomorrow.' He adds that we respect all our opponents and will focus fully on the threats they can pose.#BURCHE

1.18pm BST

Press conferences coming thick and fast now. Palace boss Roy Hodgson says Vicente Guaita and Martin Kelly both trained today, and that he will make a ‘late call’ on their ability to face the Gunners:

Roy: Vicente Guaita and Martin Kelly trained today, so we will make a late call on them.

https://t.co/TTogt6KZzQ
Official club app#CPFC pic.twitter.com/QQ6qCyQXuF

1.14pm BST

Rudiger, Kante, Christensen, Barkley are all sidelined for Chelsea’s trip to Burnley tomorrow:

Frank starts by reporting that Rudiger, Kante, Christensen and Barkley are all out of tomorrow's game at Turf Moor.#BURCHE

1.12pm BST

I’m now launching a new, almost certainly one-off, feature for the Friday blog - Kit Corner.

Firstly, Liverpool have won a high court battle against New Balance. The honourable Justice Teare said the club are entitled to end the New Balance deal and switch to Nike as of next season, basically because the Nike deal is better and contractually/legally speaking, Liverpool are within their rights to take it:

1.01pm BST

“In the Champions League it was important to get three points, and not only because of three points, but to build our confidence again, start to build confidence. We are happy with that but we know it’s only a small step.”

With regards to the slap-up meal the players’ treated him and the staff to this week, to show support for the management team: “It was very nice, very kind from them to invite all the staff ... we spent a few hours there, it was nice to spend a few hours together, and to spend time in a different environment helps to build a positive dynamic.

12.59pm BST

Arsenal striker Nicolas Pépé banged in a couple of late free-kicks last night to see off the challenge of Vitória Guimarães.

He tells Nick Ames that he’s struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League:

12.54pm BST

Apropos of, well, football, did you see that Dulwich Hamlet are LIVE on telly in a couple of weeks’ time? They’re at home to Carlisle United in the FA Cup 1st Round on Friday 8th November, live on BBC2. That is going to be a cracking night at Champion Hill and will be well worth watching.

12.51pm BST

A touch of team news from Tottenham. Lloris is still out after that dislocated elbow a couple of weeks back, but that is their only injury worry:

TEAM NEWS: Hugo Lloris (elbow) remains our only injury concern ahead of Sunday's trip to Anfield.

Our captain is continuing his rehabilitation. #THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/mExsxGBAtc

12.47pm BST

Here’s a fun little skills compilation with a bass-heavy soundtrack from Premier League Instagram:

You can't defend against these top tricks

12.41pm BST

Good stat from Sky: Liverpool have a 77% win rate since the Champions League final in June. Spurs just 31%. Klopp was asked why Spurs haven’t been able to kick on in the same way.

“I haven’t thought about it, I can’t comment on the situation at Spurs,” he answers, predictably and entirely fairly.

12.32pm BST

Injury update from the Anfield gaffer:

“Andrew Robertson, we just rested him [he came off after 60 minutes on Wednesday] ... Trent [Alexander-Arnold] is fine, he looked fine, if there is no setback. He was ill enough to not travel with us, which is not a good sign, but he had a ‘clearing’ session yesterday, he should be fine. Shaq [Xherdan Shaqiri] needs a bit longer ... big muscles need a bit longer to heal.”

12.30pm BST

“When we got our yellow cards all the crowd started chanting ‘equal pay’.”

Read Suzanne Wrack’s story about how the USA women’s team inspired a school team in Burlington, Vermont, to take up the Equal Pay fight:

12.24pm BST

Who could forget the day, exactly two years ago, when Antonio Rüdiger scored his first goal for Chelsea?

You? Me too. Here it is anyway:

And two years ago today, @ToniRuediger scored his first Blues goal! #Hustle pic.twitter.com/ELJbBHH185

12.21pm BST

A Steve Bruce quote, on those Newcastle injuries:

“Andy Carroll picked up a groin strain last Saturday, and ‘Fab’ Schar has a sore knee which he’s been playing with for the last few weeks...We expect them not to be long-term, which is good news.”

12.18pm BST

Sky Sports News just teed up Crystal Palace’s press conference which will be coming up at 1pm. The Eagles face Arsenal in the ‘Ian Wright derby’ on Sunday afternoon. Stay tuned.

12.15pm BST

Sheffield United and boss Chris Wilder are coming off the back of that memorable 1-0 victory against Arsenal on Monday night.

Looking ahead to the Blades’ visit to fortress London Stadium tomorrow, to face West Ham, Wilder said: “Their team is full of quality in every department ... We need to go again, and stick to the levels we’ve shown so far, away from home especially.”

️ Chris Wilder expects a reaction from United's next opponents at the London Stadium, with Manuel Pellegrini's side having already beaten Manchester United on home soil this season.#SUFC

12.09pm BST

Good afternoon, sports fans. Excitement is mounting with a plethora of Premier League press conferences looming in the next couple of hours. News from Spurs, Norwich, Chelsea, Man City and more coming up.

12.03pm BST

That’s all from me, but Luke McLaughlin is waiting eagerly to be tagged in. Thanks for your company, bye!

11.57am BST

The weekend has landed

It’s hard to convey the joy that any self-

loat
respecting Guardian sports journalist derives from uploading the first squad sheet, the weekly reminderl that good times are only a few hours away.

11.45am BST

Here’s Eddie Howe on Bournemouth’s trip to Watford

We know the start they have had, but I think it in no way reflects on their quality. They have got very good players and an outstanding manager, so we know it is going to be a tough game. If we went there focusing on their league position, it would be totally the wrong way to prepare for this game. For me, it is a key game. The league is so tight.

11.38am BST

Fantasy Football With absolutely nothing happening on the news wires, I’ve set up a Fantasy Football league for those who frequent the Friday blog. It starts this week, so points are backdated, and I’m currently top by virtue of having the only team in the league.

Here’s the link, and the code is nsid5w.

11.13am BST

Thirty one years ago last June, Euro 88 happened.

S3 Ep3: Euro 88 is here, free of ads and early access for patreon subscriber.

We pick over the 1988 tournament plus Underrated Player and Journeyman nominations.https://t.co/o2CMEOYHOs

11.09am BST

Newcastle v Wolves squad news

Andy Carroll and Fabian Schar are out of Newcastle’s Premier League clash with Wolves on Sunday through injury.

11.07am BST

Watford v Bournemouth squad news

Watford will be missing forward Danny Welbeck and full-back Jose Holebas for Saturday’s Premier League home match with Bournemouth.

11.03am BST

Another piece that looks well worth reading. What’s going on at Guardian Towers today?

11.01am BST

Walter Cronkite department

Liverpool have been victorious in their court battle with kit supplier New Balance, paving the way for a new multi-million-pound deal with Nike.

10.57am BST

“Hi Rob,” says Drew Gough. “I’m Canadian, and apologize for that. It’s a thing we do. Another thing we do is have really weird sports leagues, such as the seven-team Canadian Premier League, a story about which you linked to earlier.

“Canada also has an imitation of the NFL called the CFL, or Canadian Football League. It has nine teams. When I was a kid, I think it only had eight teams, and two of those teams - one from Ottawa (a city) and the other from Saskatchewan (a vast, wheat-filled province) - were both called the Roughriders. Okay, to be fair, one was called the Rough Riders and the other the Roughriders, but it always made me deeply ashamed to be from a country with such little creativity.

10.55am BST

This is great

Liverpool v Spurs - now that game evokes memories.

Saturday 2nd September 1978, I was on leave and recovering from a bought of flu (proper 1970s flu, not like the weak millennium sniffles you get these days). My Granddad, who was a lifelong Kopite called around to my mams and asked if I was well enough to accompany him to Anfield for the Spurs game. Everton were playing Manchester United at Old Trafford and back in those dark days this was not a game a half-fit juvenile who couldn't run away or dodge the slings and arrows chucked by outrageous nobheads should attend. So, I went with him to Anfield.

10.50am BST

Harry Kane: 10 or 9? My colleague Tim de Lisle made this point after Spurs’ last trip to Anfield, and it’s becoming increasingly apparent that, for richer and poorer, Harry Kane has evolved as a player. Even though he’s a much more impressive all-round footballer now, I still I think I preferred the netbusting beast of 2016-18.

A thought in Harry Kane. He appears to be almost playing as a false 9 now, he's very good at it indeed. The problem is now he isn't really playing as a target man, it's almost like Spurs need a real 9 as well as a false one. This is something of a dilemma for Poch I think. Clone Harry Kane?

10.40am BST

Watford v Bournemouth

The Watford coach Quique Sanchez Flores is happy with his team’s performances in their last two games, even though they remain winless.

We were very solid, we didn’t concede space, we took the ball with clever ideas and we tried to use our tools and I can see something different. Against Sheffield, I can see something similar to what I want and against Tottenham we confirm this. For the next matches, what we need to do is confirm all these type of things.

10.25am BST

The Miracle of Burnley I haven’t read this yet, as it only landed two minutes ago, but this looks like an excellent piece.

10.16am BST

A bit of Newcastle team news from the wires

Newcastle will be without Andy Carroll and Fabian Schar for Sunday’s Premier League clash with Wolves.

10.07am BST

And here’s Jamie Jackson’s follow-up from United’s victory in Belgrade. It looks like Manchester United will stick with their 3-4-1-2 system for a while. And why not?

10.06am BST

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been talking about Norwich ahead of Manchester United’s trip to Carrow Road.

When I watched the first game against Liverpool, I saw a team with lots of courage. They were brave, they played their own way and they kept going.

And that has given them some great results, when they beat Newcastle, when they beat Manchester City.

10.04am BST

It’s Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, so it’s only fair that we dig out this superb Joy of Six from Scott Murray. And yes, it does include that Terry McDermott goal.

9.37am BST

Serie A Here’s more on Jack Rodwell’s unlikely move to AS Roma.

9.31am BST

This has very little to do with the Premier League but it’s well worth reading.

9.28am BST

Brighton v Everton squad news

Brighton will be without midfielder Aaron Mooy through suspension for the Premier League match against Everton.

9.27am BST

Let’s start with some transfer rumours. If I may speak frankly, most of them are recycled, but we are beholden to other forces. If other websites don’t invent gossip, we can’t possibly report it.

8.28am BST

Hello and welcome to our occasionally singing, sporadically dancing Premier League preview blog. This weekend’s fixture list is not, truth be telt, the most exciting season, and the Rugby World Cup may overshadow it. But these 10 games of football will shape the mood of billions, and you can’t say that about many forms of popular entertainment. Here’s a full list of the weekend’s fixtures.

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Published on October 25, 2019 09:00

The Fiver | A reminder of Lads It's Tottenham Hotspur FC's saddest hour

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The Fiver is the most woke teatime football email in the world, and not only because it’s probably the only teatime football email in the world. We pride ourselves on being acutely aware of the extent to which social injustice can be used to make us look virtuous on social media disgraces. And that’s why we’ve been weeping all morning – literally – for the plight of Lads It’s Tottenham Hotspur FC. Just when Spurs were getting back on their feet after a tragifarcical start to the season, with a rousing 1-1 draw against Watford and a 5-0 defenestration of Red Star, the fixture computer has dealt them the sickening blow of a trip to Anfield. Not only is it a ground where Spurs have won only one league game since 4 Non Blondes and Urban Cookie Collective were in the top 10 of the pop charts, it is also a right-in-your-grille-sahnshine reminder of their saddest hour: the tame Big Cup final defeat in June.

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Published on October 25, 2019 07:47