Rob Smyth's Blog, page 169
September 9, 2016
Golden Goals: Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips for Sunderland v Chelsea (1999) | Rob Smyth
Niall Quinn recalls his brilliant strike partnership with Kevin Phillips – and the day they left one of the world’s great defenders begging for mercy
You had a great time at Sunderland. Was that period from around 1998-2001, when you were promoted to the Premier League and finished seventh in consecutive seasons, the best of your career? Yeah, it was a pleasure to be playing football at that time. Each game was a joy. It was far more valuable because I was in my thirties and knew time was running out. We were in the top half of the table, there was no pressure of relegation and we had a fella who was liable to score 30 goals in Kevin Phillips. That’s the holy grail for every team. I had my career extended because I was playing alongside him and he was gobbling up any opportunities whether they came via me, Nicky Summerbee, Allan Johnston or whoever.
Related: Golden Goal: Roberto Baggio for Juventus against Internazionale (1992) | Rob Smyth
We weren’t heading to the big places in London; we were happy in Seaham playing shove ha’penny at three in the morning
Related: Golden Goal: David Beckham for Manchester United against Wimbledon (1996)
Continue reading...
August 31, 2016
The Fiver | Looking at a clock, his face a picture of wonder
In today’s Fiver: Transfer deadline day bantz, Iceland foods, Notting Hill Carnival excuses, David Luiz and and a penalty-shootout penalty rebound
No matter how mature and averse to hyperbole you are, it can be difficult not to get carried away on Transfer Deadline Day. After all, if you can’t despair for the future of mankind on a day like today, then when can you? The wackiness, the banter, the media that assumes an audience of four-year-olds; the realisation that your heart really did just skip a beat because your team has just signed a teenage Uzbekistani left-back who will probably play four games for the reserves before joining Padova on a 10-year loan … none of it is exactly conducive to the smooth flow of serotonin.
Continue reading...Rumours: PSG’s David Luiz set for Chelsea return on transfer deadline day?
On the list of Things The Mill Really Really Really Didn’t Think Would Happen On Deadline Day, Antonio Conte attempting to re-sign David Luiz is there with the apocalypse and Jim White pulling a brazen sickie so that he can stay home and watch Bake Off on loop.
Related: Transfer deadline day news: Jack Wilshere, Shkodran Mustafi and more – live!
Continue reading...August 28, 2016
Pakistan’s Ol’ Man Misbah secures his legend by just saying nuthin’ | Rob Smyth
The internet has shattered the comforting notion of individuality. That cult film you’ve been telling your best mates to watch? It’s got 14,000 followers on Twitter. That organic, gluten-free, Fairtrade, vegan pale ale you love? Father John Misty’s just posted a selfie of him supping it. We are, as Dan Ashcroft put it in Nathan Barley, oblivious to the paradox of our uniform individuality.
In the manic, try-hard modern world, it is the man who stands still who finds himself in space. Misbah-ul-Haq never wanted to stand out, yet by staying true to himself he has become the accidental hero of Pakistan and world cricket. The word ‘unique’ feels inadequate to describe him. And his mystique is such that, even if you wanted to copy him, you couldn’t.
Related: Misbah-ul-Haq says Pakistan deserve No1 status after life on the road
Related: Lord’s debut to remember for the ageless Misbah-ul-Haq | Vic Marks
Continue reading...August 27, 2016
Hull City 0-1 Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened!
Marcus Rashford completed a majestic cameo by breaking Hull’s heroic resistance with an injury-time winner
7.48pm BST
Related: Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford taps in last-gasp winner at Hull
7.26pm BST
What a fascinating game that turned out to be. Hull defended with their brains for an hour and with their hearts for the last 30 minutes, but one mistake from Elmohamady was ruthlessly punished. This could be a very important day for Manchester United because Mkhitaryan and Rashford should be regulars after this. They are both fast and intricate, a rare combination, and United look a different team with them on the pitch. I’ve just knocked out this quick blog about Rashford if you’d like a read. Thanks for your company, night.
7.23pm BST
It’s all over. That is so cruel on Hull, who were heroic. But Marcus Rashford came from the bench and completely changed the game before scoring an injury-time winner. If you’re a Manchester United or England fan and that kid doesn’t give you goosebumps, you need to seek urgent medical advice.
7.21pm BST
90+4 min Smalling replaces Rooney. Rashford is booked for celebrating with the fans.
7.21pm BST
Rooney did brilliantly to make the goal. He sucked Elmohamady in on the left and then slipped past him. There was still plenty to do to but Rooney played a superb sidefooted pass along the face of the goal, and there was Rashford to stab it in. He deserves that after a wonderfully classy cameo as sub.
7.20pm BST
We are watching a future genius here.
7.19pm BST
90+2 min Meyler almost nicks it for Hull! Diomande bulldozed through Fellaini and Bailly on the edge of the area and squared it to Meyler, who scrunched a shot over the bar.
7.19pm BST
90+1 min Pogba shoots on the turn for 25 yards. It goes miles over the bar. The BT Man of the Match is rightly Curtis Davies, who has been simply immense. I really hope he is in the England squad tomorrow; he deserves to be.
7.17pm BST
90 min There will be four minutes of added time.
7.17pm BST
89 min Mkhitaryan’s low shot from distance is well held by the sprawling Jakupovic.
7.16pm BST
88 min Rashford and Shaw combine before Shaw plays it square to Pogba, who dummies his man and curls fractionally wide from 20 yards.
7.14pm BST
86 min Rashford floats out to the right and whacks a marvellous cross into the corridor of uncertainty between keeper and defender, but nobody can get on with it. With every performance, this kid looks more and more like a potential genius. He is so accomplished.
7.11pm BST
83 min Mike Phelan declares at 0-0: the defender Harry Maguire replaces the centre-forward Abel Hernandez. Hull have been absolutely marvellous today.
7.10pm BST
82 min It’s a siege now. The heroic Davies blocks Mkhitaryan’s shot after great play from Rashford, and then Jakupovic claws away Valencia’s deflected cross.
7.08pm BST
80 min Rashford and especially Mkhitaryan have made a huge difference to this United team, both with their pace and their intricacy. Mourinho can’t avoid the Rooney issue much longer, surely.
7.07pm BST
79 min Jakupovic makes a superb save from Rashford, who slipped Clucas and guided a shot through the legs of Livermore towards the far corner. Jakupovic was unsighted but got down to palm it round, a really good save.
7.05pm BST
78 min Meyler is booked for a foul on the excellent Mkhitaryan, just outside the box. Pogba curls it over the wall and well wide.
7.04pm BST
77 min That should have been a penalty for United. The replays show that Meyler stuck his elbow out to divert the ball. It was a clear penalty.
7.03pm BST
76 min “Rooney needs his game time because he obviously won’t be picked by Allardyce tomorrow,” says Ian Copestake. “That’s when the revolution begins.”
7.02pm BST
75 min Hull almost take the lead! Huddlestone’s fierce left-footed shot from 25 yards takes a big deflection off Bailly, wrongfoots De Gea and goes just wide of the far post.
7.01pm BST
74 min A headed clearance comes to Rooney, who hits a sweet volley not far wide of the near post.
7.01pm BST
72 min It looks like United have gone to a 4-4-2, with Rooney on the left and Mkhitaryan on the right. Valencia’s cross hits the upper arm of Meyler, prompting loud appeals for a penalty. That might have been given.
6.59pm BST
71 min Huddlestone is booked for a foul on Mkhitaryan, though it looked like it might have been a dive, and now Rashford replaces Mata. Wayne Rooney is still on the pitch, somehow.
6.58pm BST
70 min “Offside decisions should be overruled on artistic merit if the goal is beautiful enough,” says Ian Copestake.
Likewise red cards if the foul is funny enough. Here’s exhibit A.
6.56pm BST
69 min The other problem for Hull is that they have few options from the bench, which is populated with under-21 players. The starting XI must be mentally and physically exhausted from their brilliant defensive performance.
6.55pm BST
68 min Jose Mourinho has suddenly remembered the existence of Marcus Rashford, who is getting ready to come on.
6.54pm BST
66 min It’s daft that Mkhitaryan is playing out of position on the left to accommodate Rooney. He has already made a difference. It’s sad for Rooney but he is a shadow of the player he was.
6.53pm BST
65 min Mkhitaryan’s crafty pass finds Ibrahimovic, who moves infield and is about to shoot from 20 yards when he is dispossessed by Mata. He moves into the area but overruns it and the chance is gone. Moments later, Pogba whooshes a shot not too far over the bar from 35 yards. This is much better from United.
6.51pm BST
62 min Ibrahimovic’s glorious backheeled volley puts Mata through on goal, but he is just offside.
6.49pm BST
61 min United are starting to warm up. Pogba’s pass towards Mata is blocked on the edge of the area, but Ibrahimovic reacts superbly with a snapshot that is deflected just wide for a corner.
6.48pm BST
60 min Martial’s low drive from 25 yards skims a few yards wide of the near post. That’s his final touch, with Mkhitaryan replacing him. He’s playing from the left, although that’s not his best position.
6.47pm BST
56 min “Hull kicking from left to right,” says Tom Inglis. “Might be a useful comment for a television commentator to make but doesn’t have much value in a text commentary. It depends on where you are watching from in the ground.”
So when you listen to radio or read a text commentary of a football match and you picture the action in your head, where are you? Maybe you have the exact view from seat X24? Or you’ve found a portal into Mike Phelan’s brain and you see it from his point of view? How about you have the view from the Eiffel Tower?
6.43pm BST
55 min Mkhitaryan is getting ready to come. Juan Mata’s heart sinks. But it doesn’t need to, because the subdued Martial is going off.
6.41pm BST
53 min “Do your boys understand the difference between half - and full - time?” says David Davies. “Quality Journalism?”
Have you any idea how exhilarating it is to have you as a digital friend?
6.40pm BST
52 min Rashford and Mkhitaryan are warming up for United. A couple of tea ladies are warming up for Hull.
6.37pm BST
49 min It’s John Cusack weather in Hull, with the rain really thumping down. Shaw’s chipped cross loops up off a defender and into the box. Rooney reacts smartly to get there first but there is no pace on the ball and his header is straight at Jakupovic.
6.35pm BST
48 min Shaun Maloney, who scored a famous and significant winning goal against United in 2011-12, replaces Snodgrass.
6.34pm BST
47 min Snodgrass is down again. There was nobody near him when he went down, so presumably it’s the same leg injury he suffered when he slid into the near post. That’s such a shame as he is a really lovely player to watch, and of course it’s the last thing Hull need.
6.33pm BST
46 min Peep peep! Hull begin the second half, kicking from left to right.
6.32pm BST
“The combination of Rooney, Fellaini, Mata, Ibrahimovic through the middle is much too slow,” says Chad Noyes. “He needs to give someone else a chance.”
If only he had one of the most talented teenagers in the world on the bench.
6.31pm BST
“Rob,” says Francis Mead. “I think you’re being a tad negative about Utd. I think they played with quite a lot of freedom on the first half - were clearly the better team and are slightly unfortunate to not be ahead. It doesn’t feel like a Van Gaal performance to me - but you could say I’m seeing through Jose-tinted eyes.”
That’s the difference: the great managers don’t tint spectacles, they tint eyes. I agree, they were the better team - but of the front four, Martial is out of form and Rooney and Mata are not at the standard United will need to win the Premier League this season, so it puts a lot on Ibrahimovic.
6.19pm BST
A fine defensive performance from Hull, who have also had a couple of chances on the break. United have been too slow in possession. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
6.18pm BST
45+2 min Clucas plays a really nice pass towards the edge of the area, where Hernandez’s low, first-time drive is too close to De Gea and comfortably saved.
6.17pm BST
45 min Ibrahimovic stretches out a telescopic leg to bring down Rooney’s free-kick and take it around Jakupovic in one movement, but it goes a fraction too far and his second touch is an improvised backheel into the side netting. I think he had been given offside anyway.
6.16pm BST
44 min “I don’t think I’ve seen a more miserable looking bunch than the Manchester United bench just then,” says John Tumbridge.
6.13pm BST
43 min Valencia’s flat cross finds the head of Mata, who flicks a clever header across goal from 15 yards. It was a comfortable save for Jakupovic but a decent effort.
6.13pm BST
42 min This might be a day for the subtler skills of Herrera and Rashford. Hull have kept United out with few alarms.
6.11pm BST
40 min If you’re just joining us the big news is that Ugly House to Lovely House is on Channel 4, and you’d be better off watching that.
6.09pm BST
39 min Ibrahimovic, dropping deep, plays a cracking through pass to find Rooney on the right of the box. He cuts back a fine first-time cross towards Martial, who isn’t as alert as he might be and doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity.
6.08pm BST
37 min A great chance for United. Mata beats Robertson beautifully without touching the ball and crosses into the six-yard box. The diving Jakupovic palms it out to Rooney, who shoots first time from six yards. Huddlestone’s tackle takes a little bit of pace of the ball, and then Davies chests it off the line. Rooney appeals for a penalty but it looked like it was chest rather than hand.
6.07pm BST
36 min Hernandez’s flicked header from the edge of the area is comfortably held by the plunging De Gea. It was a decent effort though, and Hull are playing admirably.
6.06pm BST
35 min Curtis Davies should be in the England squad, shouldn’t he? He has been terrific so far, as usual
6.04pm BST
34 min Mata is shoved over just outside the D by Diomande, a silly foul to give away. It looks like Mata is going to take it. He does, and it’s a meek effort that is held down by his feet by Jakupovic.
6.02pm BST
33 min “What is this dark power Fellaini has over managers?” says Hubert O’Hearn. “How does the great gallumphing foul-o-matic still start for supposed title challengers? It surely isn’t his sunny personality that charms them.”
Yeah, I thought Schneiderlin might be Mourinho’s sort but I’m not sure what’s going on there.
6.02pm BST
32 min Pogba, bored of this increasingly tedious nonsense, hits a bouncing shot from 25 yards that kicks up and is comfortably held by Jakupovic.
6.01pm BST
30 min “Rooney has scored 1 and assisted 1 in the first 2 games for United this season,” says Dan McGarry. “It’s time people gave the lad some respect. Fans always complaining about loyalty, there aren’t many players to have delivered so consistently year in year out for one team. Loyalty goes two ways. He’s a Utd legend.”
I agree: he has scored one and assisted one in the first two games.
5.59pm BST
29 min Snodgrass is back on, though he is running a little gingerly and may have to go off.
5.58pm BST
28 min “Can we assume Henrik Mkhitaryan has joined Juan Mata and Bastien Schweinsteiger in the massed ranks of people whose lives Jose wants to make unhappy?” asks Daniel Brooke. I just assumed it was a Pires/Sunderland type of thing.
5.57pm BST
26 min A magnificent pass from Huddlestone to Diomande sets Hull on the counter-attack. He plays it back to the left-back Robertson, who curls a wonderful cross towards Snodgrass at the far post, and Shaw defends superbly to save a probable goal. Snodgrass’s momentum takes him through into the post and he’s receiving treatment. Hull could win this you know. Their gameplan has bee immaculate so far.
5.55pm BST
24 min The free-kick is 28 yards from goal, almost perfectly central, and Snodgrass will take it. It’s a lovely curling effort, over the wall and just wide of the right-hand post with De Gea motionless. He has a gorgeous left foot, does Snodgrass.
5.53pm BST
23 min A good ball from Huddlestone finds Diomande, who is fouled 25 yards from goal by Fellaini. He is booked and can have no complaints. Correction: he should have no complaints, but he’s a footballer so complain is precisely what he does.
5.50pm BST
21 min It’s a surprise to see that Hull have had 41 per cent of the possession because it feels like they have been camped in their own half.
5.50pm BST
19 min Ibrahimovic’s shot from the edge of the area is blocked. This has, so far, been like watching Van Gaal’s United. The difference is that now they have more players who can produce a goal out of nothing, but it’s a reminder that they are still in transition. I would guess that, of this XI, only two or three will be in the first XI in two years’ time.
5.47pm BST
17 min “You have to answer us Rob,” says Archith Mohan. “Why is Rooney in this team!!!”
I haven’t a clue. The only sensible explanation I can come up with is that Mourinho didn’t want the political hassle of dropping him early on, so will bide his time and phase him out. But you risk losing important points by doing that.
5.45pm BST
15 min This United attack still looks a little slow, with only Martial of the front six having real pace. That is allowing Hull to defend relatively comfortably for the time being.
5.42pm BST
13 min The full-backs are very important for United in this system, and so far they haven’t really been in the game going forward.
5.41pm BST
12 min Hull will be pleased with this start. They look compact defensively and have hinted at doing something on the break.
5.41pm BST
10 min The first half chance for United. Martial’s clipped cross from a narrow position is headed just over the bar by Ibrahimovic, 12 yards from goal. Some of the United fans thought it was in. It was a terrific effort because he was facing away from goal and the cross wasn’t the greatest.
5.37pm BST
7 min “Contrary to the popular view of Mike Phelan’s job, I reckon it’s so easy, I could do it,” says Gary Naylor. “You take the register on Friday and make sure the kit man has the corresponding shirts washed and you send them out on Saturday with a hearty handshake and hope for the best. Yep - I could do that.”
Now I think about it, you and Mike Phelan have never been seen in the same room. At least not one without a mirror.
5.36pm BST
6 min Snodgrass curls the free-kick into the wall, and Huddlestone rakes the rebound into orbit.
5.35pm BST
5 min Fellaini drags Diomande over 22 yards from goal, a needless free-kick. It’s a fair way to the right of centre, but Snodgrass won’t mind that.
5.34pm BST
3 min A good move from United involving Pogba, Ibrahimovic, Rooney, Mata and then Valencia, whose deep cross is pulled out of the air by Ibrahimovic with a remarkable scorpion kick. It goes back across the face of goal before being cleared.
5.31pm BST
2 min A nice pass from Pogba allows Martial to open his legs, but it’s Elmohamady who shows his class with a strong interception.
5.30pm BST
1 min There’s a fine atmosphere at the Whateveritscalledthesedays Stadium. United kick off from left to right.
5.28pm BST
The players emerge into the open. “Your Saturday night starts here!” says the BT Sport commentator Darren Fletcher, callously failing to acknowledge those who have been quaffing pints of Fleeting Happiness Facilitator since midday.
5.23pm BST
So, both teams are unchanged from their Premier League matches last weekend. “We’ve got real strength in depth,” smiles Mike Phelan, who now has 14 senior players after the return of Harry Maguire.
4.32pm BST
Hull (4-3-3) Jakupovic; Elmohamady, Livermore, Davies, Robertson; Huddlestone, Clucas, Meyler; Snodgrass, Hernandez, Diomande.
Substitutes: Kuciak, Maguire, Maloney, Olley, Clackstone, Hinchcliffe, Bowen.
Man Utd (4-2-3-1) De Gea; Valencia, Bailly, Blind, Shaw; Pogba, Fellaini; Mata, Rooney, Martial; Ibrahimovic.
Substitutes: Romero, Smalling, Herrera, Mkhitaryan, Schneiderlin, Young, Rashford.
10.25am BST
Hello, good evening and put that bloody smartphone down for just two minutes will you. In a post-Leicester Premier League, we are desensitised to surprise. But Hull forming a temporary Big Four with Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs was on the WTF side of unexpected. Those four teams are the only ones with 100 per cent record in this season’s Premier League, and two of them - Hull and Manchester United - meet in the evening game at the elegantly named KCOM Stadium.
Hull know this won’t last, and that life begins at 40 – the points total that usually guarantees safety. United don’t know their exact target, but they do know it’s a big one. In the two seasons that Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola did battle in La Liga, they finished second with 92 and 91 points respectively.
Related: The Hull City 14: the players tasked with performing a miracle
Continue reading...Tottenham 1-1 Liverpool: Premier League – as it happened
The two left-backs, James Milner and Danny Rose, scored the goals as Spurs battled back to draw against an excellent Liverpool side
2.45pm BST
Have a read of Amy Lawrence’s match report here:
Related: Tottenham and Danny Rose punish wasteful Liverpool to claim draw
2.23pm BST
Liverpool will rightly feel they should have won, though a couple of big refereeing decisions went their way and Spurs came back strongly in the last third of the game. The two left-backs scored the goals, James Milner and Danny Rose, and it was an enjoyably open game. Liverpool’s front three of Coutinho, Firmino and Mane were brilliant for an hour. Thanks for your company, bye!
2.22pm BST
That’s it!
2.22pm BST
90+4 min Matip is booked for holding onto the ball to delay a Spurs throw-in.
2.21pm BST
90+3 min Eriksen is replaced by Harry Winks for the last four seconds of the game. And Adam Lallana is replaced by Kevin Stewart for the last -10 seconds.
2.20pm BST
90+2 min Liverpool break brilliantly down the right. It’s fed in to Firmino, who helps it on to Lallana in the box. His weary stab at goal is blocked by the stretching Alderweireld, a brilliant interception.
2.19pm BST
90+1 min There will be three added minutes.
2.19pm BST
90 min Firmino plays the ball back to Wijnaldum, whose sidefooted shot hits the arm of Alderweireld and deflects towards goal, where Vorm changes direction smartly to save. His arm was close to his body so I think that’s fair enough.
2.16pm BST
88 min Daniel Sturridge comes on to replace Sadio Mane.
2.14pm BST
85 min Henderson is booked for excessive moaning.
2.13pm BST
84 min Onomah runs at Milner and wins a corner, which is headed over from eight yards by Alderweireld. It was slightly behind him, which made it a trickier chance.
2.11pm BST
83 min Harry Kane is replaced by Josh Onomah.
2.08pm BST
81 min Poor Kane has had a stinker, though it’s worth nothing that he is still showing for the ball all the time. He’ll be fine, he’s far too good for this to be anything more than a blip.
2.08pm BST
80 min After a precise right-to-left passing move from Liverpool, Firmino tries to place a shot back across goal and into the far corner. Dier stands tall and makes a good block.
2.06pm BST
79 min Liverpool still look the likelier winners, but then so did England against Romania in 1998.
2.05pm BST
78 min “How many does Henderson get Rob, before he gets booked?” asks Ruth Purdue. He’s the new Makelele.
2.05pm BST
77 min Alli is booked for kicking the ball away.
2.04pm BST
76 min Wanyama curves a beautiful pass to Rose ... who loses concentration and clodhops it into touch. It was great modern full-back play by Rose for the goal though.
2.03pm BST
75 min Liverpool won the game once; now they have to win it again.
2.02pm BST
74 min Jurgen Klopp growls with frustration, punches the air in anger - and then, a split-second later, motions for his team to calm down!
2.01pm BST
Dier broke down the right and curled over an excellent left-footed cross towards the six-yard line. It skimmed off the head of Lamela at the near post and came to Rose, in a lot of space beyond the far post. His first touch was a bit heavy but as the ball bounced up he sliced a left-footed shot past Mignolet and into the net.
1.59pm BST
I told you Dier was wasted at right-back: he’s just created the equaliser!
1.59pm BST
72 min Spurs really miss Dier in the centre of midfield. He is fine at right back, and created their best chance, but he is a brilliant holding player.
1.58pm BST
70 min Mane goes down under challenge from Wanyama. It wasn’t a foul but not was it the dive that the Spurs fans were claiming in the hope he would get a second yellow card.
1.57pm BST
69 min A Liverpool substitution: Coutinho, superb as ever, is replaced by Origi. Daniel Sturridge does not look impressed.
1.56pm BST
68 min There’s a bit of needle between Firmino and Alli. Firmino fouled Alli, who then eased his knee into the back of Firmino’s leg as he got to his feet. File under Modern Football.
1.54pm BST
66 min Alli’s good pass to Janssen opens up the Liverpool defence. It comes to Kane, who has a simple angled pass to put Dier through on the right of the box - but he underhits it and Milner slides in to make a vital tackle. Kane looks very short on confidence.
1.53pm BST
65 min It’s not saying a huge amount but this is easily Spurs’ best spell of the game. Lamela and Eriksen look livelier, though we’ve still seen little from Alli, Janssen and Kane.
1.52pm BST
64 min Lamela’s left-footed free-kick from outside the box on the right is palmed over by the leaping Mignolet, a spectacular but essentially routine save.. But he makes a wonderful save from the resulting corner, diving to his right to palm Alderweireld’s header round the near post!
1.51pm BST
63 min Lovren is booked for kicking the ball away.
1.50pm BST
62 min A good chance for Eriksen, who is picked out by Dier’s excellent cross and sidefoots a rising shot wide from 16 yards. Dier is playing at right-back now, if you’re into the whole tactics thing.
1.49pm BST
61 min Matip, since you asked, has played well on his full league debut. He hasn’t had that much to do but he looks calm and in control. He’s very graceful too, if you’re into the whole aesthetics thing.
1.47pm BST
59 min It’s open to interpretation, obviously, but I think this game has been a story of Liverpool excellence rather than Tottenham uselessness.
1.46pm BST
57 min Turns out the goal was rightly disallowed - Lallana, who played it across to Mane, was fractionally ahead of the last man. There was confusion because the scorer Mane was well behind the ball so could not have been offside. But it was an excellent piece of assistant refereeing from the assistant referee.
1.44pm BST
56 min Mane has a goal disallowed for offside after another great Liverpool counter-attack. We haven’t seen a replay but that looked an iffy decision.
1.44pm BST
55 min There are loud, sarcastic cheers when Henderson is penalised for fouling Alli. The Spurs fans do have a bit to complain about - the penalty was the wrong decision and Mane should be off - but in many ways they are red herrings because Liverpool have battered them.
1.42pm BST
54 min Another smooth move from Liverpool. Coutinho clips an insouciant pass across to Clyne, whose shot deflects wide of the near post.
1.41pm BST
53 min: Matip hits the bar! Milner hit an excellent dipping corner from the left towards the six-yard line, where Matip lost Vertonghen and headed the ball onto the top of the bar.
1.40pm BST
52 min Vertonghen is booked for putting his arm round Mane. It was a foul though Mane made a meal of it by going down holding his face. The mood has become very spiky since that Mane tackle on Rose just after half-time.
1.38pm BST
51 min Eriksen picks up a loose ball in a promising position, only to drag a miserable shot well wide from 25 yards.
1.36pm BST
48 min Mane, already booked, is lucky to get away with another late tackle from Rose. The referee didn’t give a free-kick; had he done so - and he should have done - it would probably have been a second yellow card.
1.35pm BST
47 min After more good play from Firmino, Wijnaldum leans back and hits a lovely curling shot just over the bar from 22 yards.
1.34pm BST
46 min Peep peep! Liverpool begin the second half, kicking from right to left. They won’t be sitting on their 1-0 lead.
1.30pm BST
“Outside or not, the penalty was the least Liverpool deserved from that first half, and I say that as a Spurs fan,” says Guy Hornsby. “We just weren’t at the races at all, so it’ll be a fascinating next 45, as Poch has shown himself pretty good at half time inspiration. There’s so much attacking talent on the pitch that I do worry about us with effectively 3 at the back.”
1.25pm BST
It wasn’t clear at the time but that shouldn’t have been a penalty for Liverpool - the contact was just outside the box, though it was very hard for the referee to see that because most of Firmino’s body was inside the area.
1.19pm BST
It seems Good Liverpool have turned up today. First their dominance forced Spurs into a tactical change to 3-5-2; then they took the lead through James Milner’s penalty. Their front three have been extremely good. See you in 10 minutes for more of the same. Meantime, here’s some half-time reading.
1.18pm BST
45+3 min “I’m not suggesting that this is a boring encounter,” says Paul Devlin, “but I’ve had plenty of time to notice that Matip is the only Liverpool player without an N in his surname. With Klavan waiting in the wings, he had better perform!”
Torben Piechnik has plenty of Ns to give as well.
1.16pm BST
45+2 min A splendid curving pass from Mane almost puts Firmino through on goal, with Alderweireld making a crucial interception.
1.16pm BST
45+1 min Coutinho blocks Lamela taking a quick free-kick, so Lamela takes it straight at Coutinho and gets him booked.
1.15pm BST
45 min Firmino has been really good. Actually the front three have all been really lively. They certainly aren’t missing Daniel today.
1.14pm BST
With the penalty, Firmino sucked Lamela in on the left wing and then went past him into the box. Lamela was on his tail and unwittingly knocked Firmino’s right leg onto his left, forcing him to fall over.
1.13pm BST
Milner tucks it away confidently, low to the left. Liverpool thoroughly deserve the lead.
1.13pm BST
Lamela concedes a daft penalty, right on the touchline. It was fine play by Firmino and though the collision was accidental, Bobby Madley pointed straight to the spot.
1.11pm BST
Two interpretations of that Vertonghen wrestling move
Rolf Wilhelm: “A warning? What good is a warning? Clearest penalty you’ll see and back to school for the ref.”
1.08pm BST
37 min You know how I said it was hard to conceive a dull game between these two? Well…
1.07pm BST
34 min Firmino’s fine square pass finds Lallana on the right of the box. He runs down one blind alley, and then another, and then a third! Eventually the ball comes back infield and Mane fouls Rose inside the Spurs area. The Spurs fans ask for a second yellow card, as does Rose I think. At least I would have thought that if I didn’t instinctively know that no British player in the history of the game has ever dived or asked a referee to send a player off.
1.03pm BST
32 min Now Mane is booked for a late tackle on Alli.
1.01pm BST
30 min Mane tries to put Wijnaldum through with angled pass but makes a mess of it. He should have done better there. At the other end, Alli’s low shot from 15 yards is well blocked by Lovren.
12.59pm BST
29 min It looks like Spurs have switched to a back three, with Dier dropping into the defence. Rose, meanwhile, is booked for a foul on Firmino
12.58pm BST
28 min Oh, maybe it’s not tactical - Kyle Walker is limping off, so there will be a reshuffle.
12.58pm BST
27 min It looks like Pochettino is going to make an early tactical change, with Vincent Janssen ready to come on.
12.57pm BST
26 min Mane’s excellent chipped pass finds Coutinho on the left of the box. He takes it down on the shoulder and, then, as it bounces up, sidefoots towards goals from a tightish angle. Vorm, perfectly positioned, blocks it at te near post.
12.55pm BST
23 min Coutinho’s low 20-yard shot hits Alderweireld and deflects over the bar for a corner. This is a fine spell for Liverpool. Before the corner is taken, the referee Robert Madley gives Vertonghen a warning for performing a popular wrestling manoeuvre on Matip. When the corner is taken, there is no wrestling an the ball is cleared. Klopp is complaining to the fourth official, presumably that Liverpool should have had a penalty.
12.52pm BST
22 min Lovren is penalised for an entirely pointless foul on Alli, which he follows by accidentally studding the back of Alli’s head. Eriksen’s inswinging free-kick is cleared and Liverpool break swiftly through Mane. Vorm flies from his line again, this time 30 yards from goal, and makes another excellent slide tackle. That was almost identical to the first one.
12.49pm BST
19 min Vorm charges out to the right edge of the area to successfully slide tackle Mane. A split-second later and he would have conceded a penalty.
12.45pm BST
16 min “Why did they move the early Saturday kickoff 15 minutes earlier than last season?” says JR in Illinois “Don’t they know it’s 6:30 am here? I could really use that extra 15 minutes of sleep. It’s so early I’m not even at the hangover stage yet.” Won’t somebody think of the drinkers?
12.44pm BST
13 min Mane breaks dangerously into the box and crosses low towards Coutinho, who is offside inside the six-yard box.
12.44pm BST
12 min Lovren bounces off Kane, who scoots towards the area and squares it to Alli. He is in the process of lining up a shot from 20 yards when the ball is nicked away by the covering Lallana. It comes to Rose, whose cross is headed to the edge of the area by Matip. Alli, still waiting on the edge of the area, shanks a left-footed half-volley well wide.
12.38pm BST
8 min It’s been a lively start to the game, as we expected, with both sides pressing the ball at every opportunity.
12.36pm BST
6 min A free-kick to Spurs, just outside the box on the left wing. Eriksen goes for goal and Mignolet leaps to his left to beat it away. It was a fairly comfortable save.
12.36pm BST
5 min Vorm makes a great save to deny Coutinho. Liverpool won the ball high up the pitch, with Mane finding Firmino. He showed great composure to beat Alderweireld and play the ball square across the box for Coutinho. He sidefooted it first-time towards the near post, where Vorm stretched out his right foot to make an excellent save. That said, Coutinho should have scored.
12.34pm BST
2 min Rose’s cross hits Clyne, prompting an unconvincing penalty appeal. No dice.
12.30pm BST
1 min Peep peep! Spurs, in white, kick off from right to left. Liverpool are in red.
12.28pm BST
Prediction: Spurs 2-2 Liverpool.
12.27pm BST
“I like the look of that LIverpool side,” says Kev. “Matip should give the back four stability, but I won’t be satisfied till we sign a left back without the attention span of a gnat.”
Marcos Rojo might be available??????
12.27pm BST
The players are in the tunnel. The captains, Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson, have done a fine job on their hair. Football has changed a lot since the days when Kenny Dalglish queried Graeme Souness’s use of cologne: “He thought I was a poof”.
12.20pm BST
“What do you expect from this match?” says Ruth Purdue.
Two hours of my life I won’t g
“Will it be end to end? Both team trying to counter each other. I personally hope there will some comedy defending again.”
This will be a fine game; a dull match between these two is hard to imagine. I know that’s exactly what happened last season when they drew 0-0 in Klopp’s first game, but I really don’t think that will happen tday.
12.11pm BST
Some pre-match reading
Related: The Question: How long will Liverpool keep faith with Jürgen Klopp?
Related: Jürgen Klopp backs Jordan Henderson as Liverpool rebuilding continues
Related: Victor Wanyama: ‘Failing is just when you’re not ready to fight. I am ready to fight’
12.10pm BST
“Decent,” says Gary Naylor of this legendary goal. It’s as good an excuse as any to link to another old Joy of Six.
12.02pm BST
If you don’t know your history...
Why not take a crash course in Spurs v Liverpool with this from the golden age of the Joy of Six.
Related: The Joy of Six: classic Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool games | Scott Murray
11.55am BST
An email! “Notwithstanding last season, a decent early indicator of title-winning credentials is the strength of the bench which, for both these squads have good options up front, but get weaker through midfield and on to defence and goalkeeper,” says Gary Naylor “Okay, there are injuries and perhaps a signing or two to come, but I can’t see these two in the shake-up come May.”
I suppose that’s less of an issue for Liverpool, with no European football. I’d love Spurs to be champions as there is so much to like about them - but I agree, I can’t see either of these finishing about Manchester City. That said, it would take more than a feather to knock me over if they did win it; both teams have a lot going for them.
11.46am BST
Great forgotten goals from Spurs v Liverpool, part one in a series whose length depends on whether I can be bothered to keep posting YouTube videos in the hour before kick-off
11.34am BST
Daniel Sturridge doesn’t want to play on the wing, and he gets his wish: he’s dropped.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1) Vorm; Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Wanyama; Lamela, Alli, Eriksen; Kane.
Substitutes: McGee, Carter-Vickers, Davies, Onomah, Winks, Janssen, Son.
10.03am BST
Hello. Anyone here remember Tottenham Hotspur? Decent side, almost won the league last season, played the best football by a Spurs team since the 1980s. They were a breath of the fresh stuff. Yet nobody is talking about them this season, such is the slightly childish focus on all things new in the Premier League.
Continue reading...August 21, 2016
Real Sociedad 0-3 Real Madrid: La Liga – as it happened
Gareth Bale scored twice, the first after 72 seconds, as Real Madrid started their La Liga season with a comfortable victory
9.07pm BST
Peep peep! An easy win for Real Madrid to start the season. It was topped and tailed by Gareth Bale, and the youngster Asensio scored a classy second just before half-time. Thanks for your company; night.
9.06pm BST
Gareth Bale finishes what he started, bursting beyond a static defence to go round Rulli and score with the last kick of the game.
9.04pm BST
90+3 min Rulli makes another good save down to his left, this time from James’s low drive.
9.03pm BST
90 min There will be four minutes of added futility.
9.01pm BST
87 min It’s all kicked off here, and in a surprising development Sergio Ramos is involved. He and Yuri are booked, though I still don’t know why. Yuri’s noggin has gone completely; he looks like he would happily do a stretch just to land a right-hander on Ramos’s satisfied coupon.
It was much ado about little. Ramos and Marcelo shoved the teenager Oyarzabal for no particular reason, which set Yuri off, and after that there was a bit of pushing and shoving from both sides. File under ‘modern football.
8.58pm BST
86 min Sociedad want a penalty after a tangle of legs between William Jose and Casemiro, who falls on the ball with his hand. The referee gives a foul to Madrid.
8.56pm BST
84 min A great chance for Sociedad. Oyarzabal makes an excellent, Ian Rush-style bent run onto a through pass and lumbers into the box, but Marcelo does superbly to get back and block his close-range shot.
8.53pm BST
80 min Sergio Ramos is given good reason to go down when Oyarzabal, lining up a left-footed shot, gets a slight touch on the ball with his standing foot and thus belabours first fresh air and then Ramos’s leg.
8.50pm BST
79 min Sociedad bring on a striker for a defender, Carlos Vela for Martinez.
8.48pm BST
77 min Real make their final substitution, with Whatever Happened To James Rodriguez replacing Morata.
8.47pm BST
73 min There was an off-the-ball incident a couple of minutes ago in which Yuri seemed to headbutt Morata, who went down in the contemporary style. On reflection it wasn’t a headbutt, more a coming together of heads. File under ‘modern football.
8.43pm BST
72 min Another Sociedad substitution, with Xabi Prieto replacing Juanmi. Madrid also make a change; Kroos off, Isco on.
8.41pm BST
69 min In fact it’s Ramos, who curls it into the wall. It comes to Kovacic, who hits a brutish half-volley from distance that is beautifully palmed round by the diving Rulli.
8.40pm BST
68 min Bale is bundled over just outside the area by Zaldua, who is booked. Bale will take the free-kick...
8.39pm BST
68 min Both teams know this game is over. They kind of knew about 72 seconds, when Bale scored, and probably after one second, when the match kicked off.
8.38pm BST
67 min “That Sociedad keeper is on loan from Man City,” writes Dan ucas. “Something something pass completion stats.”
Pass-completion stats make me want to do what MTV made Beck want to do.
8.36pm BST
66 min A real substitution: Lucas Vazquez replaces the impressive youngster Asensio.
8.33pm BST
62 min Asensio slips Bale clear on the right of the area with a nice pass. The keeper Rulli comes a long way to meet him, and ends up outside his box when Bale’s attempted cross hits him and deflects to safety.
8.29pm BST
56 min A Sociedad substitution, with David Concha replaced by William Jose.
8.27pm BST
55 min Morata draws another save from Rulli after another superb, swerving run. The rebound comes to Kroos, who creams a volley against the bar!
8.26pm BST
54 min Morata is booked for diving. It looked a penalty at first, although replays suggest the referee might have got it right.
8.25pm BST
53 min This is a good spell for Sociedad, probably their best of the match. They are harassing Madrid a lot more than in the first half.
8.22pm BST
50 min Casemiro is booked for a zesty tackle on David Concha.
8.21pm BST
48 min Kovacic breaks into the area on the left, draws Rulli from his line and plays it across the box, but Martinez slides to put it behind for a corner.
8.20pm BST
47 min An early opportunity for Sociedad. Zurutuza picks a loose ball and charges into the box before drilling a low cross towards Bergara, who goes over and appeals for a penalty after a touch from behind by Carvajal. There were some contact, but probably not a sufficiently strong shove for it to be a penalty.
8.18pm BST
46 min Peep peep! Sociedad begin another 45 minutes of futility.
8.02pm BST
Madrid are in total control thanks to a good goal from Gareth Bale and a fine one from Asensio. There aren’t many galacticos in the line-up but they are playing beautifully. See you in 10 minutes.
8.00pm BST
44 min Casemiro heads over Marcelo’s cross from six yards. He should have scored. Real could match Barcelona’s six goals here.
7.58pm BST
This is a lovely finish from the highly promising Marco Asensio. Varane drills a 50-yard pass from right to left to put Asensio behind a dithering defence. His first touch is immaculate, controlling it into the space in front, and with his second he dinks it teasingly over Rulli and into the net. That was beautiful.
7.55pm BST
37 min Morata goes on another fantastic run, leaving two defenders on the floor behind him after they run into each other. Eventually he whips a right-footed shot from the left of the six-yard box that is beaten away by Rulli. As the Sky commentator, he is keen to score on his second Real debut. Morata wants that goal Lebowski.
7.49pm BST
33 min “Kyle Snyder has become the youngest ever American to win wrestling gold at the Olympics,” writes Tom Lutz. “Snyder is just 20 but took out the experienced Khetag Goziumov from Azerbaijan, who is 13 years his senior. Goziumov had won bronze at the last two Olympics. The signs were there early for Snyder - he won all 179 of his matches at high school, and is the current world champion at 97kg.”
But what are his pass-completion stats like? Can he play in goal?
7.48pm BST
32 min At the other end, Kroos’s flighted kick evades Rulli’s attempted punch and is headed over the vacant net by the backpedalling Ramos. It wasn’t easy for him to control the header.
7.48pm BST
30 min What a chance for Sociedad! Marcelo’s sloppy pass goes to David Concha, who plays a gorgeous angled through ball for Illarramendi. He was clear with only Casilla to beat from 10 yards, but inexplicably decided to square it towards nobody in particular. He knew instantly it was a mistake, and kicked the post in frustration.
7.45pm BST
29 min So anyway, about that Night Manager ending.
7.43pm BST
27 min Sociedad have no choice but to play like the away team, counter-attacking whenever they can. It’s a very one-sided game, although Rulli has only had that one save to make.
7.38pm BST
22 min Real Madrid are cruising through the game, and their biggest threat is probably complacency. It shouldn’t be this easy in an elite league. It’s like watching the Premier League in the late 2000s.
7.36pm BST
20 min A fine save from Rulli, who plunges to his right to turn Kroos’s precise 20-yard shot round the post.
7.32pm BST
18 min “Regarding your intro statement ‘Real have scored over 100 league goals in seven of those eight seasons, which shows you just how hard it is to win this thing of theirs,’” begins Shaun Wilkinson. “A less favourable interpretation, supported by yesterday’s result and the beginning of this game, would be that it shows how easy it is for Barca and Real to score goals.”
Well yes, there is that.
7.31pm BST
16 min A fine run from Morata almost leads to a second, but his left-footed shot nicks off the stretching Martinez and loops over the bar.
7.30pm BST
15 min Ramos miscontrols a pass on the halfway line, allowing Oyarzabal to break clear of the defence. Casilla comes a long way out of his area to clear the danger.
7.27pm BST
12 min This game has the slight feel of a pre-season friendly, with lots of slow, uninterrupted passing moves from both sides.
7.25pm BST
10 min As play goes on, there is extended applause for Dalian Atkinson, who played here with John Aldridge and Kevin Richardson in that excellent early 1990s side.
7.24pm BST
9 min Madrid look slick and confident, a state of mind probably helped by the early goal. Sociedad look good in possession but vulnerable without.
7.22pm BST
6 min Sociedad win their first corner, down the left. Illarramendi’s inswinger is headed away superbly at the near post by Varane (I think).
7.17pm BST
Well that didn’t take long. Gareth Bale gives Real the lead after 71 seconds with a cracking header from Carvajal’s right-wing cross. He got between defenders by the penalty spot and bulleted his header into the corner. That’s a fine goal.
7.15pm BST
1 min Peep peep! Real Madrid kick off from left to right. For those reading on the internet, they are in black Sociedad are in blue and white stripes.
6.57pm BST
Real Sociedad (4-2-3-1) Rulli; Zaldua, Mikel, I Martinez, Yuri; Illarramendi, Bergara; David Concha, Zurutuza, Oyarzabal; Juanmi.
Real Madrid (4-3-3) Casilla; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marceloa; Kovacic, Casemiro, Kroos; Bale, Morata, Asensio.
6.33pm BST
Hello. Not for the first time, Real Madrid are in the strange position of being the best team in Europe and the second-best in Spain. They won the Champions League last season for the second time in three years, but they have won only one La Liga in the eight years since Pep Guardiola took over at Barcelona and changed the world, and Spanish football.
Real have scored over 100 league goals in seven of those eight seasons, which shows you just how hard it is to win this thing of theirs. The champions Barcelona got off to a slow start yesterday, edging past Real Betis 6-2. Real, who start with a tricky trip to Real Sociedad, will be keen to match their result, if not necessarily the six goals. Their season hasn’t even started, and already they can’t afford to drop points.
5.51pm BST
Rob will be here soon. In the meantime: here’s Sid’s season preview
Spain’s football stadiums will be full this season – and that’s an order. Well, they’ll look full, anyway. The Spanish league will fine clubs whose grounds aren’t at 75% capacity, double for those who don’t reach 50%. The part of their grounds that are visible on TV screens, that is.
There will be someone there whose job it is to count and sanctions will apply to the stand and the corners opposite the master camera – the televisual U, it’s called. The bit that can be seen. As for the bit that can’t be seen, well, that bit can’t be seen.
Continue reading...Sunderland 1-2 Middlesbrough: Premier League – as it happened
Two wonderful goals from Cristhian Stuani gave Middlesbrough their first Premier League victory since 2009 in a hard-fought Tees-Wear derby
3.21pm BST
Peep peep! That is a fine win for Middlesbrough, the result of two seriously good goals from Cristhian Stuani. Sunderland had much more of the ball, with Duncan Watmore superb, but apart from one electric 15-minute spell in the second half they struggled to create clear chances. Thanks for your company, bye.
Related: West Ham v Bournemouth: Premier League – live!
3.18pm BST
90 min Boro are frustrating Sunderland by keeping possession. There will be three added minutes, in the first of which David Nugent replaces Negredo.
3.15pm BST
87 min Love’s cross is kicked behind for a corner by Gibson. Januzaj swings it in and Friend bravely heads clear.
3.12pm BST
85 min After a long spell of Boro possession, Clayton slices a shot well wide from long-range.
3.10pm BST
83 min And now a Boro substitution: Daniel Ayala replaces Nsue, so Barragan will go to right-back.
3.09pm BST
81 min Sunderland’s final substitution: Joel Asoro, a Swedish forward who was born in April 1999, replaces the superb Duncan Watmore.
3.07pm BST
77 min Middlesbrough have restored a bit of order in the last few minutes after a torrid spell. They still can’t really keep the ball though.
3.02pm BST
73 min A great angled pass from Pienaar puts Van Aanholt clear on the left of the box, and his low cross somehow beats everyone in front of goal. Then Guzan spills Januzaj’s shot before blocking the follow-up at the expense of a corner. This is electric stuff from Sunderland.
2.59pm BST
This goal wasn’t just in the post; it was sent by recorded delivery. Watmore’s stinging low shot from 25 yards is not held by Guzan, who can only push it out in front of goal, and the left-back van Aanholt gets to the loose ball first to score fro close range.
2.58pm BST
69 min Boro almost finish it on the counter-attack. Stuani’s pass puts Negredo clear, aided by an awful attempt to play offside by Rodwell, but his first touch is heavy and that allows Mannone to charge out and block.
2.56pm BST
68 min Boro can’t get out of their third, never mind their half. Watmore has been exceptional in the last 10 minutes.
2.53pm BST
65 min Sunderland are battering Boro now. The excellent Watmore finds the overlapping van Aanholt, whose careful low cross picks out Defoe 10 yards from goal. His goalbound first-time shot is crucially if unwittingly blocked by Gibson.
2.52pm BST
64 min Watmore’s cross goes all the way across the face of goal, and then Januzaj slices a shot out for a throw-in.
2.51pm BST
62 min Januzaj’s good through pass finds Lens, whose shot is deflected wide by the sliding friend. That was a superb piece of defending.
2.49pm BST
61 min “I have never understood the meaningless expression `kick off from right to left’, favoured by those of your sort,” says a justly outraged David Davies. “That may well be the case from YOUR perspective, but what if you happened to be behind either of the goals?”
If you were, you’d have better things to do than read a live blog of the match from my perspective.
2.48pm BST
60 min A double chance for Sunderland. Januzaj can’t control his shot from Lens’ cross, and moments later Guzan makes a brilliant save low to his left from Van Aanholt’s fierce drive.
2.47pm BST
59 min A Boro substitution, with Albert Adomah replacing Ramirez.
2.46pm BST
57 min “I saw Boro play at Huddersfield last year,” says Michael Morris. “Town had a frankly ridiculous 75% of possession but Boro still won 2-0 and restricted us to a few half-chances at most. Boro are good at this sort of thing.” Their defensive organisation looks extremely good to my inexpert eye.
2.43pm BST
55 min Lynden Gooch gets the crowd going with a strong tackle on Clayton and fine, scurrying run from the halfway line that takes him into the area before his shot is blocked.
2.38pm BST
51 min Defoe receives Januzaj’s pass in the area, tries to spin round Barragan and falls over. It wasn’t a dive, but nor was it a penalty.
2.37pm BST
50 min “Could be a long season in Sunderland,” says Daniel Friedman. They’ll be fine; Moyes is far too good a manager for them to struggle. They played pretty well in that half, and also have a grotesque injury list at the moment.
2.34pm BST
47 min Paddy McNair was replaced by Jeremain Lens at half-time.
2.33pm BST
46 min Peep peep! Sunderland begin the second half.
2.21pm BST
Half-time reading
Related: Pep Guardiola shows ruthlessness over Joe Hart but he is not a bad judge | Daniel Taylor
2.21pm BST
Half-time chit-chat “About Allardyce picking Watmore for the England squad, at any other time in the last 15 years, I would have said ‘No chance, he plays for Sunderland,’” says Shaun Wilkinson. “In your opinion, will Allardyce be the first England manager in a long time to make England a genuine meritocracy, with no automatic selection for players from the big clubs? I think he might be. I think he should pick Watmore (and I am a Newcastle fan).”
Well, Allardyce’s greatest quality is probably the almost absolute courage of his convictions. I hope he’ll play Drinkwater and especially Carroll, if he thinks that’s the right thing, but the England job can do funny things to people - even more so in the current climate, where hot air is inescapable and voluble ignorance is encouraged.
2.18pm BST
Two glorious goals from Cristhian Stuani have put Middlesbrough in control of this Tees-Wear derby. See you in 10 minutes.
2.17pm BST
Another brilliant goal from Cristhian Stuani! This time, it’s all about the team rather than the scorer. Forshaw plays a good one-two with Ramirez and slides a fine angled pass to put Negredo through on goal. He dummies Rodwell, who slides off to the wrong fire, and then instead of shooting decides to pass it across the six-yard box for Stuani to sidefoot his second. That was a quite wonderful team goal.
2.15pm BST
45 min Lovely play for the left-back George ‘Put’ Friend, who nutmegs Love and then cuts the ball back to Negredo, whose shot is blocked.
2.10pm BST
41 min Sunderland will be aggrieved at the scoreline, legitimately so given all their possession, though they haven’t threatened to trouble the scorers as much as they would like. Watmore and Januzaj have been good, Gooch and Defoe fairly quiet.
2.09pm BST
40 min Apart from his early Goal of the Season contender that separates the sides in arguably their most important match of the season, Stuani has done nothing.
2.08pm BST
38 min The stretching Djilobodji heads a deep corner wide of the far post, under pressure from Friend. In fact Rodwell has gone into the defence, with Pienaar and McNair in midfield.
2.07pm BST
36 min John O’Shea is leaving the field through injury, with the debutant Steven Pienaar replacing him. McNair will go into defence presumably.
2.03pm BST
33 min Clayton’s tackle on Watmore diverts the ball to Defoe, who moves into the box on the left. Watmore makes an excellent run, pointing where he wants the pass, but Defoe overhits it through to Guzan. Watmore might be an outside bet for Sam Allardyce’s first England squad; he is a smart, talented and extremely busy player.
2.00pm BST
31 min For all Sunderland’s possession, Guzan has had little to do and Boro do look very well organised defensively.
1.59pm BST
30 min “If there was ever a goalkeeper made for a Sopranos eleven a side,” says Ian Copestake, “it would be Mannone.”
What about that young Grimsby keeper, Vesuvio Oogatz?
1.59pm BST
29 min Defoe has a goal disallowed for offside, the correct decision. He was a couple of yards offside. Sunderland haven’t really been able to get him in the game.
1.56pm BST
28 min “Would you mind avoiding announcing the result of the Old Farm derby?” writes JR in Illinois. “The channel that carries the game here for some reason has motorcycle racing on live and is only showing the game after it has already happened.”
1-1.
1.56pm BST
27 min Rodwell scrunches a long-range drive high over the bar.
1.55pm BST
26 min Januzaj beats Clayton, who bundles him over and is booked.
1.55pm BST
24 min Januzaj teases Friend and then scoots past him, another beautiful piece of skill. He gets into the box, right by the touchline, but his cutback goes straight to a Boro defender. The good and bad of Januzaj, right there. The way he beats players through close control and deception rather than speed is lovely.
1.53pm BST
23 min “There’s also a more cultural pursuit called Get Naylor in which quotes from a certain 1971 Geordie gangster film starring Michael Caine are matched to the eponymous internet presence that is GN,” says Ian Copestake. “Such as: ‘You’re a big man, but you’re in bad shape. With me it’s a full time job. Now behave yourself.’”
Don’t forget There’s Something About Gary, in which Ben Stiller and Matt Dillon vie for his physical love.
1.52pm BST
22 min The lively Watmore wins a corner on the left for Sunderland. Nothing comes of it.
1.50pm BST
20 min Sunderland seem a bit stunned by that goal, and Boro are having much more of the game. Ramirez’s long-range shot deflects off Djilobodji and straight at Mannone.
1.48pm BST
17 min Januzaj again demonstrates the lovely close control that would make him a good choice for Phonebox 5-a-side football. Sunderland
must
should isolate him and the left-back Friend at every opportunity.
1.45pm BST
14 min “’Where’s Naylor?’” says Ian Copestake. “This is like PokemonGo, yeah? Where kids and hipsters get directions to sporting events at which Gary may or may not be?”
It gives me great pleasure to formally announce that I still don’t know what PokemonGo is. Yep, I’m now an old fart. I don’t even know how to pronounce Tinie Tempah.
1.44pm BST
Boro take the lead with their first attack, and it’s a stonking goal from Stuani. He was 25 yards out, a fair way to the right of centre, when he suddenly launched a monstrous curling screamer across Mannone and into the far top corner. I believe the appropriate phrase in these circumstances is pick that effer out.
1.40pm BST
10 min Januzaj’s cross finds Defoe, who tries to wriggle away from Gibson in the box, and Barragan lumps it behind for a corner.
1.39pm BST
9 min Gooch’s inswinging cross from the left just evades Januzaj, who made a good run inside the left-back Friend, and bounces wide of the far post. Januzaj is actually playing on the right, with Watmore behind Defoe. Sunderland’s attacking-midfield trio all look sharp.
1.36pm BST
5 min Anyone out there? WHERE’S NAYLOR.
1.35pm BST
4 min This has been an excellent start from Sunderland and Januzaj in particular. He receives a free-kick just inside the box on the left and skips daintily past Clayton and Forshaw before hitting a shot that is blocked by Barragan.
1.33pm BST
3 min A lovely early run from Januzaj, who ghosts past Friend on the right before hitting a cross too close to Guzan. If he gets his head right he will be a revelation this season, because he is obscenely talented.
1.32pm BST
2 min There’s a break in play after a clash of heads between Djilobodji and Negredo, with Negredo coming off much worse.
1.30pm BST
1 min Middlesbrough, in their very very very very very dark blue kit, kick off from right to left. Sunderland are in red-and-white stripes.
1.28pm BST
The players emerge to cheers and boos. Ready? Let’s do football.
12.50pm BST
A bit of pre-match reading
Related: Aitor Karanka laments David Moyes’ fall in Spain as north-east derby looms
12.40pm BST
Sunderland (4-2-3-1) Mannone; Love, O’Shea, Djiliobodji, van Aanholt; Rodwell, McNair; Watmore, Januzaj, Gooch; Defoe.
Substitutes: Pickford, Khazri, Lens, Pienaar, Asoro, T Robson, J Robson.
Middlesbrough (4-2-3-1) Guzan; Nsue, Barragan, Gibson, Friend; Clayton, Forshaw; Stuani, Ramirez, Downing; Negredo.
Substitutes: Dimi, Ayala, Baptiste, De Sart, Adomah, Fischer, Nugent.
11.23am BST
You know what they say: 2780 days is a long time in football. That’s how long it is since Sunderland and Middlesbrough last met in the Premier League, when they drew 1-1 in January 2009. The managers were Ricky Sbragia and Gareth Southgate, the goalscorers were Kenwyne Jones and Afonso Alves and players had names rather than hashtags and at signs.
Boro were relegated that season and have only just returned under Aitor Karanka, and Sunderland are hoping to avoid the usual relegation battle under David Moyes. Both sides had decent starts to this season last weekend. Middlesbrough played well in drawing at home to Stoke, while Sunderland were a little unfortunate to lose 2-1 at Manchester City, a performance that looks even better after subsequent City results.
Related: Sunderland v Middlesbrough: match preview
Continue reading...August 20, 2016
Leicester City 0-0 Arsenal: Premier League – as it happened
Last season’s top two shared the points in a game that only came to life in the last few minutes
7.23pm BST
A draw is probably the right result overall, though Leicester should certainly have had a penalty in the 88th minute. Koscielny and Drinkwater were superb, and Mahrez produced four or five moments of genius. Thanks for your company, goodnight.
Related: Leicester and Arsenal show few title-winning qualities in goalless draw
7.20pm BST
90+3 min Drinkwater’s free-kick hits his own man King, and that’s the end of the match!
7.19pm BST
90+2 min Mahrez almost wins it for Leicester with a brilliant run and shot that is saved by Cech! The rebound comes to Musa, who can’t decide whether to shoot or pass and ends up doing neither. Leicester keep the ball alive and Holding is booked for clattering Ulloa in the D. The free-kick might be the last kick of the game.
7.17pm BST
90 min There will be three added minutes. The game is suddenly wide open.
7.16pm BST
89 min Yep, that should have been a penalty; there was a tangle of legs and Bellerin clearly fouled Musa.
7.15pm BST
88 min The substitute Musa dupes Bellerin superbly on the left and breaks into the box before going over as Bellerin challenges him from behind. That looked a penalty, but Mark Clattenburg disagreed.
7.13pm BST
86 min Leicester bring on Ahmed Musa for the excellent Albrighton.
7.10pm BST
83 min The outrushing Schmeichel makes a fine save to deny Ozil, who tried to slide it past him from a narrow angle after an excellent pass from Sanchez. Arsenal are well on top now thanks to the probing of Ozil and especially Wilshere.
7.07pm BST
80 min WIlshere’s dangerous low cross is hooked clear by Simpson, an important intervention at the far post, and moments later Morgan makes a superb sliding block from Walcott’s low shot. I think that was going in.
7.04pm BST
78 min An old man is carefully applying some kind of cream to Olivier Giroud’s nipples, which can mean only one thing: he’s about to replace Oxlade-Chamberlain.
7.03pm BST
76 min “Dodginess of provision has denied me Leicester-Arsenal moving images for a while, Rob,” says Charles Antaki. “But your comments suggest that the game has had a bit less incident than Barcelona 6-2 Betis. Perhaps Giroud ought to come on and change all that?”
7.01pm BST
75 min Ozil introduces himself to Fuchs with a delicious Cruyff turn on the right. That starts a move that ends with Walcott shooting fairly tamely at Schmeichel with his left foot.
7.00pm BST
73 min A double change for Arsenal, with Wilshere and Ozil replacing Xhaka and Cazorla. Xhaka played well on his full debut.
6.57pm BST
70 min Vardy misses an excellent chance! Albrighton robbed Xhaka and put Vardy through in the inside-right channel. He scooted into the area but sliced his shot wide of the near post from eight yards. He was under pressure from Koscielny, who got back superbly, but he should at least have worked Cech.
6.56pm BST
69 min Sanchez runs onto a long pass down the right, and Schmeichel hares out of his box to clear the danger with a diving header that goes out for a throw-in.
6.55pm BST
68 min Arsenal earn a corner on the left. It’s cleared and Leicester break through Mahrez, who tries a killer pass to Vardy that is intercepted by the last man.
6.54pm BST
67 min A Leicester substitution: Okazaki off, Ulloa on, with instructions to enliven this muck.
6.53pm BST
66 min “It’s a game that needs a goal,” says the BT Sport commentator Darren Fletcher. He is not wrong.
6.49pm BST
63 min Leicester have had much more possession since half-time, and look the likelier scorers. Mahrez is starting to do good things with the ball.
6.45pm BST
58 min Oxlade-Chamberlain lofts an inviting pass back to Bellerin, whose rising half-volley from 25 yards is comfortably patted down by Schmeichel. It was a lovely strike but too straight.
6.43pm BST
57 min Drinkwater wins a corner for Leicester, who are having an excellent spell. Albrighton’s outswinging corner is headed away by Walcott, who thus reminds us that he’s on the pitch.
6.42pm BST
55 min The sublime Mahrez beats Coquelin with a stepover and is taken down just outside the area. Coquelin, already booked, is pretty lucky not to be given a second yellow. Mahrez curls the resulting free-kick just over the top, though Cech had it covered.
6.39pm BST
52 min Mendy comes back on and goes straight down. His game is over, and he could be out for a while as that looks like a ligament injury. That’s a sad way to end his league debut. Andy King comes on to replace him.
6.38pm BST
51 min Mendy is being helped towards the touchline. He wants to continue so the physios are testing out his leg while play goes on.
6.37pm BST
49 min Mendy gets his foot stuck as he intercepts a pass and goes down in considerable pain. That could be ligament damage; it looked pretty nasty and Andy King is being readied.
6.35pm BST
48 min Vardy hunts down a backpass to Cech, who calmly beats his man with a dragback. People are just openly ridiculing Joe Hart now.
6.34pm BST
47 min A reminder that both teams have some lively options from the bench, including Musa, Ozil, Giroud and Gray. We can only hope one of them might do something.
6.33pm BST
46 min Peep peep! The second half is under way. As it stands, both teams are five points behind the Manchester clubs. Has Claudio Ranieri taken Leicester as far as he can?
6.31pm BST
“Wenger is more like the Beatles,” says Tom Murdock. “Ten years of glorious, unprecedented success, followed by tragedy, mediocrity and thoughts of what might have been.”
So which player is the Frog Chorus?
6.19pm BST
“Arsene Wenger is the Rolling Stones of football management in England,” says Justin Kavanagh. “A revolutionary start bringing a whole new style from abroad, followed by a glorious peak of success, then the long, slow decline into predictable if respectable economic success. Claudio Ranieri on the other hand, is Leonard Cohen, currently enjoying a miraculous second coming.”
So which one’s Wilson Phillips?
6.17pm BST
Some half-time reading
Related: Burnley and Sam Vokes catch Liverpool cold as Klopp’s men fire blanks
6.16pm BST
Both sides worked very hard and did many good things. But in terms of old-fashioned entertainment, that was a dreadful half. See you in 10 minutes.
6.14pm BST
44 min Howard Webb on Snapchat thinks Koscielny got the ball when he tackled Drinkwater. It’s not entirely clear on the replays, so you can at least understand why Clattenburg didn’t give it. I thought it was a penalty. More importantly for lovers of all things beautiful, the pass from Mahrez was glorious.
6.13pm BST
42 min Leicester might have had a penalty then. Mahrez put Vardy through on goal with the most ingenious angled pass from the right touchline. Cech came from his line to dive at Vardy’s feet, a superb interception; then Drinkwater followed up and seemed to be clearly tripped by Koscielny. Mark Clattenburg disagreed.
6.10pm BST
40 min A couple of important defensive headers from Koscielny, who has been excellent thus far.
6.08pm BST
38 min Oxlade-Chamberlain combines well with Alexis and roars past Simpson on the halfway line. Arsenal eventually recycle possession five or six times before Xhaka welts a long-range shot well wide.
6.05pm BST
35 min This game is, in the parlance of our time, boring.
6.04pm BST
33 min “I’d like to name things that WILL affect Wenger’s reputation when we’re all done here: years 11-20 of his tenure at Arsenal,” says Robert Wilbanks. “You’re welcome.” All those top-four finishes; it’s a wonder he can sleep at night.
6.02pm BST
31 min Cazorla almost scores with a booming free-kick from the left wing. It beat everyone and bounced up towards the far corner, but Schmeichel was alert enough to dive to his left and push it behind for a corner.
5.57pm BST
28 min Vardy shows outrageous pace to make good Drinkwater’s overhit pass. He plays it back to Albrighton, whose cross is cleared.
5.56pm BST
27 min I wonder how much BT paid for this match. Unless it was less than 50 pence, they probably aren’t getting value for money.
5.55pm BST
26 min A lovely effort from Oxlade-Chamberlain, who moves infield from the left, away from Mahrez, before curling just wide of the far post from 20 yards.
5.54pm BST
25 min “Last season’s champions being held at home without much penetration by either side,” says Charles Antaki. “Yes, it’s Barcelona 1, Betis 1. But desultory switching between games suggests that the football in one is a little more entertaining than in the other.” I hate football.
5.53pm BST
24 min Coquelin is booked for a foul on Vardy.
5.53pm BST
23 min Here’s Mike Gibbons. “Other things that won’t affect Arsene Wenger’s reputation when we’re all done here - collections of the oxymoronic ‘best tweets’ that succinctly banter his team selection and tactics during games, and the ‘is the camera on me yet?’ faux outrage on Arsenal TV.”
I don’t understand why coverage of football, as compared to other sports, is so bloody infantile.
5.52pm BST
22 min Don’t worry, I’ll wake you up when something happens.
5.51pm BST
20 min Arsenal are pinning Leicester in their half, though their domination is of the sterile variety.
5.47pm BST
17 min Morgan makes a crucial interception from Bellerin’s low cross; Walcott was waiting behind him with an open goal. That said, it wasn’t the best cross from Bellerin, who had an angle to take Morgan out of the game and still find Walcott.
5.43pm BST
14 min It’s all bit a frantic at the moment. Hey, men, slow down.
5.42pm BST
12 min Albrighton volleys a good long pass to Mahrez, who beats Monreal with ease but then overhits the cross.
5.40pm BST
Sounds like Leicester fans are singing: "Jamie Vardy is a blue, he hates Arsenal." Hey ho...
5.39pm BST
9 min A long spell of possession from Arsenal yields the square root of bugger all.
5.37pm BST
7 min The pattern of the game is as expected, with Arsenal dominating possession and Leicester playing on the counter.
5.35pm BST
5 min “95,000 summer rooms £35 or less,” writes Travelodge. “Why not visit the UK’s friendliest places.”
5.33pm BST
3 min Drinkwater passes the ball straight into touch. He’ll never make a goalkeeper.
5.32pm BST
2 min A lively start, this. Sanchez’s shot is blocked, and Cazorla’s 25-yard follow-up deflects wide for a corner.
5.31pm BST
1 min Arsenal, in yellow, kick off from right to left. Football! Vardy wins a corner after 16 seconds with an aggressive run at Koscielny.
5.27pm BST
There’s a great atmosphere in the stadium, with a striking, pop-art ‘CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND’ banner behind one of the goals. Leicester, champions? Yes, it really, really, really did happen.
4.59pm BST
Pre-match reading
Related: Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal story heading for a final, unhappy paragraph | Richard Williams
4.35pm BST
Leicester (4-4-2) Schmeichel; Simpson, Huth, Morgan, Fuchs; Mahrez, Drinkwater, Mendy, Albrighton; Okazaki, Vardy.
Substitutes: Hernandez, Musa, King, Amartey, Zieler, Gray, Ulloa
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Cech; Bellerin, Holding, Koscielny, Monreal; Xhaka, Coquelin; Walcott, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Alexis.
Substitutes: Ospina, Gibbs, Wilshere, Giroud, Ozil, Chambers, Elneny.
12.05pm BST
Hello. Here’s where we’re at: Leicester and Arsenal, the top two last season, meet in the second game of the new season knowing that, if they lose, they will probably be deemed to be in crisis. It’s an insane, offensive state of affairs, indicative of a game that has not only lost touch with reality but deliberately ostracised it. If that wasn’t bad enough, it’s now put the dullards in charge of the debating society!
Arsenal, in particular, need a result or they and Arsene Wenger are in serious danger of being overwhelmed by the brattish entitlement of their more extreme and narcissistic fans. Things aren’t so serious for Leicester but you don’t an A-level in England Studies to know that the people of this country like to play Jenga with their sportsmen.
Related: Arsenal prepare to face Jamie Vardy, the striker who turned them down
Continue reading...Stoke City 1-4 Manchester City: Premier League – as it happened
Sergio Aguero and the substitute Nolito scored two apiece as City made it 11 goals in their first week under Pep Guardiola’s management
2.58pm BST
And here is Sachin Nakrani’s match report for your enjoyment.
Related: Manchester City brush aside Stoke with Sergio Agüero and Nolito doubles
2.24pm BST
A really good win for Manchester City, who have scored 11 goals in their first week under “Pep” Guardiola. They were not at their best – Willy Caballero gave the ball away at least twice - but they had too much for a muted Stoke. Raheem Sterling caught the eye, as did Mike Dean. Thanks for your company; you can now follow the 3pm games with Niall McVeigh via the link below. Bye!
Related: Burnley v Liverpool, Watford v Chelsea and more: football clockwatch – live!
2.23pm BST
Iheanacho’s brilliant dummy allows Sterling to run through on goal, and he unselfishly gives the goal to Nolito. That’s Nolito’s second, and it puts City ahead of Manchester United in the early Premier League table.
2.20pm BST
90+3 min Stones ever so slightly tarnishes an excellent performance with a yellow card for a foul on Diouf.
2.19pm BST
90 min Of added time there will be five minutes.
2.16pm BST
88 min A substitution for both sides: Delph replace De Bruyne and Ramadan comes on for Arnautovic.
2.14pm BST
Game over, unless you’re Leonard Sandae. The impressive Iheanacho plays a one-two with Silva and goes round Given. The angle is too tight to shoot so he looks up and squares it for Nolito to pass it into the open net from six yards.
2.13pm BST
85 min Iheanacho’s classy la-y-off allows Silva to burst into the box on the left, from where he drills high and wide of the near post.
2.12pm BST
84 min Walters breaks promisingly into the City half and then plays a terrible pass straight into touch. He’ll never make a goalkeeper.
2.10pm BST
83 min A City substitution, with Iheanacho replacing Aguero.
2.09pm BST
81 min Stoke are going down with a whimper at the moment, though of course it’s not easy to have sustained pressure against a Guardiola team.
2.08pm BST
80 min Walters goes down in the box after a challenge from Sterling. Mike Dean gives the universal sign for ‘get up’. It wasn’t a penalty.
2.07pm BST
77 min “I hope you eat humble pie for writing Stoke off after only 39 minutes of play,” writes Leonard Sandae. Coincidentally, I’ve just lost another bar on my will-to-live battery.
2.04pm BST
76 min There has been no flow to the game in the last 10 minutes or so. Stoke can’t get any momentum and even City’s passing has lacked rhythm and urgency.
2.03pm BST
74 min “It seems to me that the more assertive Mike Dean, the worse his decision making,” says Roy Allen. “The surer he is, the more wrong he is.”
Maybe, but the world is a better place when Mike Dean is giving penalties for no apparent reason.
2.00pm BST
73 min “I hope this makes a lie of the pundits’ favourite ‘if he gives that, they’ll have to give 10 penalties a week,’” writes Norrie Hernon. “Well, no. We’ve already seen in the same game that players have stopped holding in the area. Who’d have thought it?!”
Quite. Same with diving. Give retrospective life bans and it will soon get rid of the problem.
2.00pm BST
72 min The match has become a bit stop-start, and that continues with Jonathan Walters replacing the underwhelming Imbula.
1.59pm BST
71 min Allen is booked for a foul on Zabaleta.
1.58pm BST
70 min Diouf plants his studs down the back of Silva’s leg. I suspect it was clumsy rather than malicious, but he still fortunate not to be booked.
1.56pm BST
69 min A Manchester City substitution: Nolito on, Navas off.
1.56pm BST
68 min Fernandinho’s straight pass almost puts Sterling through on goal, but Bardsley is just able to usher it back to Given.
1.56pm BST
67 min After an iffy 10-minute spell, City are starting to control the game again. Stones brings the ball out of defence confidently; Diouf hares after him determinedly, only to stub his foot, lose a boot and fall over in the comedy style.
1.54pm BST
66 min De Bruyne is booked for a late tackle on Wollscheid.
1.53pm BST
64 min “Give Mike Dean a medal,” says David Goldstone. “Grappling is a plague which has got much worse in the last few years and makes it almost impossible to score from corners. Referees completely ignore it as though the rules of the game don’t apply in the penalty box. If a few more referees do the same as Mike Dean then corners might actually become valuable and interesting again.”
And England might finally win the World Cup.
1.51pm BST
63 min “Hi Rob,” says Luke Stevenson, “given Caballero’s questionable distribution in this match. Is the ostracising of Joe Hart really about that? I have given it at least 7 seconds of thought, and remembered the episode of Friends where Monica hires Joey just so she can fire him to show she’s in control. Could this be Pep’s way of telling a squad which has blown hot and cold throughout the last few years that none of them are safe, while secure in the knowledge he has the funds to replace the keeper if he wants to?”
I think the distribution is important to him - he’ll get a better keeper this week - but yes, definitely. He’s done it in the past as well.
1.48pm BST
61 min Thanks to my colleague Dan Lucas for pointing out this delightful Freudian tweet.
Benteke’s Twitter accidentally reads that he went to Burnley, not Crystal Palace https://t.co/pKld3Si2ZQ pic.twitter.com/KSaYOGuggT
1.47pm BST
60 min There’s a strong wind in Stoke this afternoon, and Allen’s hanging, inswinging corner is flapped behind unconvincingly by Caballero. But he does superbly to claim the next corner under significant pressure from Shawcross.
1.45pm BST
59 min Caballero passes the ball straight into touch again. CAN SOMEBODY GET ME HIS EFFING PASS-COMPLETION STATS PLEASE? Stoke are back in this game, and it takes some diligent defending from Navas to deny Arnautovic a shooting chance at the far post.
1.45pm BST
58 min “I may have missed something by coming to the game slightly late,” says Shaun Wilkinson, “but is there any word on why Shaqiri isn’t in the Stoke squad?”
An ankle injury.
1.44pm BST
56 min Both sides will complain about the penalty given against them - and, in fairness to Mark Hughes, he looked equally bemused by the one Stoke were given - but they were legitimate decisions according to the laws of the game. It’s like moaning if you get caught diddling your tax return.
1.42pm BST
55 min Oh, Sterling was booked for his part in the penalty as well.
1.41pm BST
54 min A corner to City, which is a big opportunity in a match refereed by Mike Dean. Nothing comes of this one, not even a penalty.
1.40pm BST
52 min Navas skins Pieters and hits a dangerous ball right across the face of goal.
1.38pm BST
50 min Just before the penalty, Zabaleta was booked for taking a shortcut through the back of Arnautovic.
1.37pm BST
Bojan sends Caballero the wrong way and curls it high into the net.
1.36pm BST
It’s another fair decision. Raheem Sterling was marking Shawcross (!) and put hands on him. There wasn’t much contact but he wasn’t looking at the ball and he impede Shawcross, or least he attempted to do so.
1.36pm BST
Mike Dean has given another penalty for holding at a corner.
1.33pm BST
47 min “Mike Dean is famously from the Wirral, a peninsula parts of which are leafy and nice and another part of which is Birkenhead,” says Ian Copestake. “The leafy parts attract the homesteads of some of Merseyside’s footballers and I like to think Mike Dean trains in those areas, stopping his jog before winding driveways to practice hand out yellow cards or waving away imaginary players appealing to him with their hands respectfully behind their backs.”
1.33pm BST
46 min Stoke kick off from right to left.
1.30pm BST
“Hey Rob,” says JR. “I was wondering if you are aware of the reputation of Philadelphia sports fans. I can’t believe it took me this long to piece together but Stoke fans are essentially the English version of Philadelphia fans. Makes them quite hard to root for. Maybe Stoke fans are extra angry right now because they have to wait until the second to last day of the season, May 13th, to celebrate ‘Boo Aaron Ramsey for Getting his Leg Broken Day’.”
I wasn’t, but I am now. It was worth coming to work today after all.
1.20pm BST
A precis of the first half
1.17pm BST
Half-time reading
Related: Arsenal prepare to face Jamie Vardy, the striker who turned them down
1.17pm BST
So much for a difficult trip to Stoke. That was a stroll for City, who lead through two goals from Sergio Aguero and could easily win by four or five. See you in 10 minutes.
1.15pm BST
44 min Bojan is booked for kicking the ball away. Mike Dean exhales like a disappointed teacher as he shows the yellow card.
1.13pm BST
42 min The scariest thing about City’s start to the season - nine goals already - is that you know they will get significantly better once Guardiola has had more time to work with them in training.
1.12pm BST
40 min That appeal for a Stoke penalty ... I’m not sure. Davie Provan on Sky says it was a penalty, and it was a bumbling tackle. I can see why Mike Dean didn’t give it, though on balance it probably was a foul.
1.11pm BST
39 min Last year, Leicester could have won the title with 72 points. With the way the two Manchester clubs have started, I think it’s reasonable to opine that it will take more than 72 points to win it this season.
1.09pm BST
38 min Three opportunities for Stoke in one attack. Bardsley’s superb volley is well saved by Caballero; then Allen is shoved over by Kolarov, which might have been a penalty; and finally Diouf makes a mess of an excellent headed chance.
1.07pm BST
37 min So that’s six goals in a week for Sergio Aguero. He could - could - reach Ronaldo/Messi levels this season.
1.06pm BST
That should be three points for City. It’s a superb goal. De Bruyne curled in a beautiful free-kick from the right, and Aguero got between Whelan and Wollscheid to flick a superb downward header across Given and into the net.
1.05pm BST
35 min It’s tempting to say Stoke have been poor but I think it’s more a case of City making them play poorly. Pieters sends Navas flying, a clear foul that prompts the Stoke fans to chant cheat at either Navas or Mike Dean, possibly both.
1.02pm BST
32 min Navas slides in late on Wollschied, who jumps out of the way of his tackle. Mike Dean gives a foul; the Stoke fans wanted a yellow card.
1.01pm BST
30 min Arnautovic is a bit lucky to get away with a studs-up challenge on Zabaleta. The Stoke players and crowd are in a bit of a funk over the penalty.
12.58pm BST
28 min Almost a second goal for City. Aguero plays a neat one-two with Navas and drills a low first-time shot that is kicked behind for a corner by Given. The corner is curled to the weirdly unmarked Navas, whose flying header hits Whelan on the six-yard line.
12.57pm BST
Sergio Aguero scores, sidefooting high to the left as Given goes the other way. That’s five goals in a week for Aguero as well as two missed penalties. The decision has annoyed Stoke fans. You can understand why, in that they aren’t always given, but he did have his hands all over Otamendi. It was a penalty in accordance with the laws of the game, and Mike Dean enforced those laws immaculately.
12.56pm BST
Mike Dean rarely misses the chance to give a penalty and he has acted decisively here. Shawcross was tugging Otamendi’s arm at a corner, so it’s hard to argue.
12.55pm BST
26 min Sterling is starting to look very dangerous now. He has started the season well after his, erm, Pep talk.
12.55pm BST
25 min Caballero kicks the ball straight into touch #justiceforJoe.
12.54pm BST
23 min Sterling receives the ball just outside the six-yard box to the left and tries a clever effort, deliberately placed through the legs of Bardsley. But he doesn’t get enough on it and Given saves comfortably to his left.
12.52pm BST
22 min Stoke have a free-kick 25 yards from goal, a fair way to the left of centre. Arnautovic wallops it into the wall.
12.51pm BST
21 min Stoke’s best move of the game. Bojan waits for Allen’s late run and plays a fine angled pass into the box. Caballero comes to meet Allen, whose square pass across the six-yard line is put behind for a corner by Otamendi.
12.50pm BST
19 min City win their first corner after Bardsley’s challenge on Sterling. Silva’s outswinger is headed clear. It’s been a decent start to the game, albeit without many clear chances.
12.48pm BST
17 min Arnautovic’s dangerous cross is diverted to Imbula, who sidefoots feebly towards goal from just inside the box. It’s blocked by a defender and rebounds to Allen, who drives over from 25 yards. That was a great chance for Imbula. We’ve just seen a replay of the Allen/Sterling challenge, and although it’s not entirely clear-cut, it looked fair at second glance.
12.46pm BST
16 min Navas plays a good pass down the right to De Bruyne, whose low cross towards Aguero is excellently defened by Shawcross. Sterling follows up and falls over after a challenge from Allen just inside the box. There was no appea for a penalty though I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.
12.45pm BST
14 min Stoke win the first corner of the match down the left. It’s curled in and headed clear by the big centre-back David Silva.
12.42pm BST
12 min The diligent, still bearded Joe Allen makes a vital interception to stop Silva running int the area onto De Bruyne’s angled pass.
12.41pm BST
11 min Sterling, still being booed, runs across the line of the area past two defenders and curls a fine effort just over the bar. Given was beaten.
12.40pm BST
10 min “Your point about why Sterling is being booed,” begins Shaun Wilkinson. “Remember, this is the set of fans that booed Demba Ba for not passing a medical.”
Quite right too. He needed to man up.
12.39pm BST
9 min Silva jumps out of the way of a dangerous, vaguely two-footed tackle by Bardsley. He was low to the ground but some referees would have sent him off for that; Mike Dean did nothing. Silva probably did Bardsley a favour by avoiding the tackle.
12.38pm BST
8 min “Joey Barton should know a thing or two about disgusting, but I think he has not gone far enough,” says Ian Copestake. “The treatment handed out to England’s own Hart is not just disgusting, it’s absolutely disgusting. Hart on the bench? Sitting? Watching someone else in goal? Absolutely and utterly disgusting.”
A visitor hasn’t shown such an appalling lack of respect since Paulie Walnuts got hold of Valery’s universal remote.
12.36pm BST
7 min Aguero goes on a fine, muscular run down the right, but then overhits his cross towards Sterling, who would have had an open goal from about four yards out.
12.36pm BST
6 min Stoke have started with an extreme caution that suggests a damaging excess of respect for City. Fernandinho almost puts De Bruyne clear with a superb drilled 50-yard pass. It had just too much on it.
12.34pm BST
4 min Raheem Sterling is being booed by the home fans, presumably for the crime of being talented and thus wealthy. Stoke have barely had a kick so far.
12.32pm BST
2 min A lot of early possession for City, as you would expect. Allen shoves Silva over 30 yards from goal but Mike Dean plays the advantage.
12.30pm BST
1 min City kick off from right to left.
12.30pm BST
An email! “Are you starting to feel like one of those lonely Japanese soldiers who used to emerge tired and hungry from a Pacific island jungle in the 1970s, having stuck to their task despite the Second World War having ended decades earlier?” asks Hubert O’Hearn, rhetorically. “It seems that you’re the last man standing for MBM reports while the rest of the crew is covering dancing horses, Jamaican runners, dubious petrol station antics, or indeed covering themselves in sunscreen while *ahem* working on Copacabana Beach. They’d never manage a rainy Saturday in Stoke, by George! Bash on, you!”
It’s the readers I feel for.
12.17pm BST
Pre-match reading
Related: The Question: can De Bruyne and Silva prosper in their ‘free No8’ roles?
11.58am BST
“Remember when is the lowest form of conversation” - Tony Soprano
Related: Golden Goal: David Beckham for Manchester United against Wimbledon (1996)
11.54am BST
There was some bad news for Pep Guardiola this morning, with confirmation that Christian Benteke is now off the market.
Related: Crystal Palace sign Christian Benteke on four-year deal from Liverpool
11.33am BST
Stoke City (4-3-3) Given; Bardsley, Shawcross, Wollscheid, Pieters; Imbula, Allen, Whelan; Bojan, Diouf, Arnautovic.
Substitutes: Haugaard, Muniesa, Adam, Walters, Cameron, Crouch, Ramadan.
Manchester City (4-1-2-3) Caballero; Zabaleta, Stones, Otamendi, Kolarov; Fernandinho; De Bruyne, Silva; Navas, Aguero, Sterling.
Substitutes: Hart, Fernando, Maffeo, Nolito, Delph, Clichy, Iheanacho.
9.55am BST
Computers are like Germans: everyone thinks they have no sense of humour. But the Premier League fixture computer had a rare old laugh when it decreed that Pep Guardiola’s first away game in England should be at Stoke. It’s not a wet, windy night, to be sure, and Stoke don’t play like Stoke anymore, but there is a certain culture shock in the story of Pep’s Big Day Out at the Rule Britannia Stadium. And, frankly, I’ll take anything that interrupts yet another discussion of Joe Hart’s pass-completion stats.
Stoke have a number of players who have worked under Guardiola at Barcelona or Bayern: Bojan Krcic, Marc Muniesa, Xherdan Shaqiri, Ibrahim Afellay and Jonathan Walters. Both sides started their season with reasonable results but relatively disappointing performances – City beat Sunderland 2-1, while Stoke drew 1-1 at Middlesbrough. Then, on Tuesday, City splattered Steaua Bucharest 5-0 in the Champions League. Stoke have already finished this season in ninth place, but today should give us a big clue as to how Pep’s City are going to fare.
Related: Stoke City v Manchester City: match preview
Continue reading...Rob Smyth's Blog
- Rob Smyth's profile
- 4 followers
