Arsenal scored four times in 14 minutes to turn a previously tight game into a rout
2 min: Arsenal start the evening as they presumably intend to go on, stroking the ball around patiently. Koke gets fed up and clips Zubimendi on the shin, and probably should go into the book, but it’s early and you know how referees roll. A couple of statements of intent there, perhaps.
Arsenal get the ball rolling. Noise bounces around the Emirates.
Continue reading...Another goal from a corner, another three points for the Premier League leaders
The teams emerge from the Cottage. Fulham in white, Arsenal in second-choice blue. A heady atmosphere down by the river. It won’t be too long now.
Marco Silva talks to Sky. “[To have Raúl Jiménez back] is crucial … we have two strikers who have been scoring more than 20 goals a season together … we miss Rodrigo [Muniz] … it is crucial to have at least one of them.”
Continue reading...Mohammed Kudus scored the winner and won player of the match as Spurs won their fifth game against Leeds in a row
3 min: A cracking atmosphere at Elland Road, by the way. Like that’s breaking news. One of the great old-school theatres.
2 min: Bogle sends a long pass down the right for Calvert-Lewin, who is skittled to the ground by Van de Ven. You’ve seen free kicks given for much less, but the referee waves play on and the ball sails out for a goal kick. It’s a contact sport, I guess.
Continue reading...Newcastle got off the mark in this year’s league stage with an easy but nevertheless impressive win in Belgium
6 min: USG launch it long down the right. Botman attempts to hook back upfield, but only succeeds in kicking the ball into his own face and out for a corner. The set piece comes in from the right. Leysen, in the centre heads it back to the near post, from where Rodriguez eyebrows over the bar. That was a decent chance, and Newacstle were fortunate the USG striker didn’t get that on target. Had he done so, Pope was most likely picking the ball out of the net.
4 min: Tonali and Elanga combine well down the inside-right channel. The latter works himself a little space to shoot … but not enough so his eventual effort doesn’t get blocked the moment it leaves his boot.
Continue reading...Victor Osimhen’s first-half penalty and a late VAR intervention condemned disjointed Liverpool to defeat
1 min: Liverpool have stationed Szoboszlai at right back, with Frimpong up in Salah’s usual position … and the latter wins a corner after 49 seconds. The former to take.
Liverpool huddle, the Gala fans whistle their displeasure, and then the visitors get the ball rolling. Roar! Growl! Bedlam!
Continue reading...Team USA threatened to complete a record-breaking comeback but Ludvig Åberg, Shane Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton hauled Europe over the line
… and as for the match itself, Donald adds: “Zero complacency … we know how strong these guys are … they’re very dangerous at singles … the crowd will be behind them … we have to take care of our own matches and try to win the session.”
Luke Donald reports on Viktor Hovland’s injury. “He started stiffening up yesterday morning … tried to go out yesterday afternoon … it got worse and worse … went to get an MRI last night … was really stiff this morning … tried to go through his warm-up but just couldn’t play … he’s devastated … gutted … he wants to go out there and represent Team Europe … it’s very unfortunate.”
Continue reading...A precious win for Ruben Amorim on a rainy, rowdy and ramshackle night at Old Trafford
Let’s have a rummage around the pre-match postbag ... and by the looks of the contents, Ruben Amorim has lost the crowd.
“Any sign of a Papal Bull at Old Trafford? After all, there’s been plenty of another kind of bull there over the last 12 months” – Gary Naylor
Continue reading...The Europa League holders marked their return to the Champions League with a scrappy win
Bergvall is sent scampering down the right flank. He looks for Richarlison in the middle with a low cross. Junior dives to claim, but in diving forward to collect, allows the ball to squirt out of his hands, backwards, and into the bottom right. What a huge blunder! What a gift! What a start for Spurs!
2 min: Foyth’s first act on his return to north London is to clatter into Richarlison, knocking him upside the head in an aerial duel. The resulting free kick is launched long, and Van de Ven tees up Simons, who screeches a first-time shot over the bar from distance. A statement of intent from Simons on his home debut.
Continue reading...The spoils were shared after an uneventful match at Elland Road
2 min: A fairly nondescript start to the game, during which Leeds see plenty of the ball. Elland Road in good voice.
Leeds get the ball rolling. The rain tipping down in West Yorkshire.
Continue reading...Ten-man Newcastle fought back from two goals down, only to succumb to a sensational 100th-minute winner from 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha
44 secs: Elanga chases down the right and wins the first corner of the game. From which …
A huge St James’ Park roar as the two teams huddle, then Liverpool get the ball rolling. Plenty of boos as they kick off. Then another roar as Burn heads clear. What an atmosphere!
El Casico wasn’t a classic
2 min: Nothing doing on the pitch yet. In the stands, the Forest fans launch the first aural salvo, informing the home support that Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis “does what he wants”.
Palace get the ball rolling. El Casico is go!
Continue reading...Viktor Gyökeres and Jurriën Timber both score twice as the Gunners rout Leeds, though injuries to Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka remove some of the gloss
Leeds get the ball rolling. Arsenal soon take it off them.
… and now the players ready for tonight emerge. Arsenal in their traditional red and white, Leeds in second-choice blue. A genuine buzz in the stadium, a heady mix of first-home-fixture-of-the-season excitement and new-signing thrill. We’ll be off soon, but just before kick-off, there’s a moment of applause in memory of former Arsenal director and board member Richard Carr, who died recently.
Continue reading...Chelsea thrashed the Hammers to pile the pressure on Graham Potter
A big blow for Chelsea / boost for West Ham before kick-off. Cole Palmer has tweaked something in the warm-up, and is out. Estêvão, Chelsea’s new 18-year-old wing sensation, takes his creative brief.
Chelsea will sport their new third kit this evening. Take a quick glance, and you could be forgiven for thinking they’re cosplaying as Scotland. Closer inspection of the commemorative golden disc will however reveal two words that categorically clear up that particular confusion in double-quick time. Chelsea also become the latest club to go retro with their crest, reviving the mid-80s lion sprawled across the letters CFC, as though elegantly wasted on a chaise longue.
Continue reading...Tijjani Reijnders announced himself to the Premier League with a goal, an assist, and a glorious dinked pass in the build-up to the opener. Not a bad debut, all told
4 min: City have settled quickly. They’re already dominating possession. Bobb slips Reijnders into space on the right but the £34m signing from Milan runs the ball out for a goal kick.
2 min: Doku scampers down the left and crosses deep. Haaland is lurking, so Moller Wolfe is taking no chances, and heads behind for the first corner of the match. Silva swings it in, but it’s cleared easily enough.
Continue reading...A heartfelt tribute to Diogo Jota, a wonderfully exciting topsy-turvy six-goal thriller between two front-foot teams … and some thoroughly depressing racial abuse directed at Antoine Semenyo
More from Iraola, this time on the £57m exit of centre-back Illia Zabarnyi … “It is difficult when someone like PSG, winning the Champions League, comes for one of your players … I knew it was going to happen … I am very happy for him but it will be a big miss.”
… and his replacement Bafode Diakite, a £34m capture from Lille just a couple of days ago … “He is a great defender … it is probably risky to start him away here! … but he has experience in the Champions League … he will know the atmosphere … it will be a big test for him because he doesn’t have connections, the things you need with a team-mate … but we trust the player and hope he performs well.”
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