Right, that’s it for now. Thank you for joining us.
And join Scott Murray for the early evening session of live action.
Ahead of tomorrow’s game between Watford and Tottenham, José Holebas spoke to David Hytner.
Paul Wilson was at Goodison Park.
Report from the Amex.
Dominic Fifield was at Stamford Bridge.
Paul MacInnes was at Selhurst Park.
The big story of the day in the Championship was Sheffield United’s destruction of Aston Villa.
Ok, so what did we learn today in the Premier League?
Chelsea are durable and useful. If they had a better striker than Alvaro Morata, they might be dangerous. Marco Silva’s Everton are inconsistent. They might be unbeaten but they are still struggling for coherency. Great win from Southampton at Crystal Palace, but the story there is the continuing public breakdown that Christian Benteke suffers in front of goal. Fulham will concede goals and make mistakes; unforgivable from Mitrovic to hand Brighton their penalty equaliser. And as for West Ham: doom, doom, doom. How long can Manuel Pellegrini last?
That Exeter v Lincoln result is confirmed, a 3-o win for Danny Cowley’s table toppers.
Here’s the first of our reports. Jacob Steinberg was at the London Stadium.
Lower down in the Championship, West Brom conceded a late goal to Stoke, but they still won 2-1. Frank Lampard’s Derby won 2-1 at Hull. Peterborough’s 100% record in League One has gone after drawing 1-1 with Doncaster. Lincoln are 3-0 up at Exeter and will stay top of League Two.
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Final scores in the Premier League
Brighton 2-2 Fulham
Chelsea 2-0 Bournemouth
Crystal Palace 0-2 Southampton
Everton 1-1 Huddersfield
West Ham 0-1 Wolves
Goal! Crystal Palace 0-2 Southampton (Hjoberg, 90)
It came against the run of play, as Palace pushed on for an equaliser.
Goal! West Ham 0-1 Wolves (Traore, 90)
Heartbreak for West Ham, who will stay on zero points.
Benteke latest: Three yards out! He must score! Heads it straight at McCarthy! The cruelty continues.
Notts County will indeed finish the day at the bottom of the league after Forest Green make it 3-1 through Dayle Grubb.
Shock horror! Steve Evans has received a second yellow. So has his Peterborough assistant Paul Raynor. Just because you’re losing (drawing)?
Goal! Chelsea 2-0 Bournemouth (Hazard, 85)
The Belgian genius slaloms through the Bournemouth defence to score. Game over.
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Goal! Brighton 2-2 Fulham (Murray, 84 pen)
Mitrovic, in his own penalty box, handled the ball. The linesman caught him in the act. Up steps Glenn Murray to slot home and he does for his second goal of the game.
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Peterborough’s push for perfection is causing the pressure to rise: manager Steve Evans has been yellow-carded for his touchline antics against Doncaster.
Talking of bad misses, Wolves’ Raúl Jiménez has trumped Bentekkers by falling over in the West Ham penalty box when the goal positively gaped.
Benteke latest: Another sitter missed. This is getting cruel on him.
Calvert-Lewin is denied his second goal of the day for Everton, after lovely work from Ademola Lookman. They are still drawing 1-1 with Huddersfield.
Jon Stead - remember him? - has just scored for Notts County, who are 2-1 down to Forest Green. They could climb above similarly winless Macclesfield if they grab a point. Macc are 3-0 down to Crewe. Dark days at the bottom already for both clubs.
Goal! Chelsea 1-0 Bournemouth (Pedro, 72)
Pedro came on as a sub, and Giroud, also on as a sub, also played his part. Bournemouth could not hold out. Eddie Howe’s Sarri studies not paying off.
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Nottingham Forest have equalised at Brentford through a Matty Cash strike that owed much to horrible goalkeeping by Daniel Bentley. 1-1.
Look at the enthusiasm for that Aston Villa consolation, the blind optimism.
GOAL!
— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) September 1, 2018
We've pulled one back and it's a first goal for Anwar El Ghazi as he fires into the bottom corner. 4-1 here. Billy Sharp had added to the Blades advantage shortly after the second half began.#PartOfThePride pic.twitter.com/BuxuvohFTT
Goal! Brighton 1-2 Fulham (Murray, 67)
A way back in for Brighton, who felt aggrieved to be behind. Murray scores from close range.
Championship latest: Dwight Gayle has his second goal for West Brom against Stoke. Anwar El Ghazi has scored for Aston Villa but they are 4-1 down. Reading have scored against Sheffield Wednesday. It’s 2-1 to Wednesday.
Southampton have a penalty saved!
The decision for the penalty was handball, and up stepped Charlie Austin. Wayne Hennessey, having quite the revival this season, saved it. It was a poor penalty, though.
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Goal! Brighton 0-2 Fulham (Mitrovic, 62)
A mistake by Lewis Dunk set up the chance for Mitrovic to score his third goal of the season.
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Peterborough have equalised through Ryan Tafazolli against Doncaster and may yet preserve their winning run.
Charlie Wyke has equalised for Sunderland against Oxford. The ten men are back in it after Max Power’s early red card.
Nathan Ake has missed a sitter against Chelsea, his former club. Bournemouth should have had an unlikely lead.
Great save from Rui Patrício for Wolves: Michail Antonio’s header clawed away, a stop almost as good as that classic against Manchester City last week.
Chelsea are piling it on against Bournemouth but cannot find a goal. Asmir Begovic has been kept very busy indeed. Alvaro Morata is having one, though, and his replacement by Olivier Giroud is imminent.
Dan Jones of Notts County sent off; the basement boys are still 1-0 down to Forest Green.
More on Curaçao from a EredivisieVAR: “Patrick van Aanholt is also Curacaoan. Curacaoan ahtletes are more famous though for playing baseball, winning the Senior League World Series last month for example.”
Ah, the often pitiful existence of the official club Twitter account.
We're off for the second half here at Bramall Lane
— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) September 1, 2018
Big response needed 🦁#PartOfThePride #AVFC pic.twitter.com/tkaHRRzzXT
Sheffield United are 4-0 up on Aston Villa. Billy Sharp for the rampant Blades. Not good for Villa. The curse of Christian Purslow descends?
Meanwhile, Sheffield Wednesday have scored their second at Reading. It’s 2-0 after Lucas João scored almost straight from the kick-off.
Goal! Crystal Palace 0-1 Southampton (Ings, 47)
A series of deflections puts Ings through on goal and he pokes home. His second for Saints and his 50th league goal.
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Tottenham congratulate their gold medallist.
🇰🇷 Congratulations, Sonny - #AsianGames WINNER! 🥇 pic.twitter.com/NT63QmbtbT
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 1, 2018
Plenty of responses to my Curaçao query.
Oliver Robinson: “He (Gevaro Nepomuceno) is not even the only Curacaoan at Oxford – Zeus de la Paz keeps goal there.”
Kári Tulinius: “Reading’s Leandro Bacuna is Caribbean Cup champion with Curaçao.”
Brooklyn Bell: “Speaking of Curacaoan players, Huddersfield’s Juninho Bacuna (who scored a incredible own goal this week) is Leadro’s brother...I’m guessing that makes him Curacaoan too?”
On that subject of Son, Andre Zlotkowski emails in: “The exemption is a bit silly. Asian Games football competition is for u23 teams with couple senior players thrown in (so just like the Olympics). It’s silly to reward Son for playing against a bunch of kids, who do not have the same incentive. Some countries didn’t even bother sending a team. This is in fact a bit embarrassing . Now if he were to repeat this at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in January - that is at the proper continental championship, against seasoned pros all going for the glory - that would be a different matter. South Korea also have not won the proper Asian title since 1960, so that would be quite interesting, actually.”
Here’s the story on South Korea’s win in the Asian Games.
Top of League Two Lincoln are 2-0 up at Exeter, while Peterborough, top of League One, have 45 minutes to save their perfect record, as they are losing 1-0 to Doncaster Rovers.
Half-time in the Premier League
Brighton 0-1 Fulham
Chelsea 0-0 Bournemouth
Crystal Palace 0-0 Southampton
Everton 1-1 Huddersfield
West Ham 0-0 Wolves
Marcos Alonso, in rich form, has rattled the woodwork for Chelsea.
Bad boys Fleetwood Town are a man down, with Wes Burns sent off. They have been pegged back to 1-1 by Bradford after Ched Evans’ opener.
Goal! Brighton 0-1 Fulham (Schürrle 43)
Against the run of play, Jean-Michael Seri sets up Schürrle to score.
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Sheffield United are thrashing Aston Villa, with Oliver Norwood getting the third for 3-0. And meanwhile, Bolton, 2-0 down, have hit back to make it 2-2 against PNE.
Adam Kline-Schoder emails in from the London Stadium: “The things whose sounds you hear are just about right. West Ham started the brighter, drawing a smart stop from Patrício, but since that have looked ponderous and void of ideas beyond hitting it long and hoping that Antonio/Arnautovic gets on the end of it. Wolves have been quite content to let West Ham pass aimlessly around, wait for a mistake, recycle possession (very well, it must be said), get it forward, and then hit a poor final ball negating all the positive work done thus far.”
Goal! Everton 1-1 Huddersfield (Calvert-Lewin, 36)
That didn’t take long. Calvert-Lewin scores with a header after a Lucas Digne cross, but Jonas Lösslwill be very disappointed with his goalkeeping.
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Goal! Everton 0-1 Huddersfield (Billing, 34)
Billing scores from close range, heading in after awful set-piece defending from Everton left Jordan Pickford exposed. That’s Billing’s first in the Premier League.
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Benteke watch: He’s been clearly fouled by Ryan Bertrand, but no penalty given. When your luck is in, it’s in.
Rock-bottom Notts County, where Harry Kewell will take over next week, have just conceded a goal to Forest Green.
The word on Berahino, meanwhile, is that he is not playing very well against West Brom for Stoke. Not going well for Gary Rowett in the Potteries. He’s beginning to look like one of those managers who talks a good game.
Benteke latest: he’s missed another chance against Southampton. Now that Saido Berahino has scored, the tag of leading non-goalscorer is resting with the Crystal Palace record signing.
Brighton are putting the pressure on against Fulham but that’s a fine save from Bettinelli, who is having to fight for his place with two goalkeepers brought in to compete with him.
Brighton have a penalty saved!
Glenn Murray is brought down for the spot kick, and Pascal Gross steps up to take. Marcus Bettinelli makes a fine save.
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Sheffield United are now 2-0 up on Aston Villa after a goal from Mark Duffy.
Oh dear, Sunderland. Max Power, the petrolheads’ periodical, has been sent off against Oxford. Marcus Browne was tripped for a straight red and in the aftermath, Oxford coach Shaun Derry was sent to the dressing room.
By the sounds of things, West Ham v Wolves is no classic. The away team is playing better without much in the way of an attacking threat.
West Brom are leading Stoke City 1-0, after a strike from Dwight Gayle. And what was that I said about Sunderland enjoying life in League One? Ricky Holmes has just scored for Oxford at the Stadium of Light. Preston lead Bolton 2-0 already, with Alan Browne scoring the second.
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Turns out I was absolutely wrong about Curaçaoan players. I give you Cuco Martina of Stoke, and Leandro Bacuna of Reading. A hotbed. (Thanks to Kevin Wilson).
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Good start for the Sheffield clubs; Wednesday are 1-0 up at Reading after a goal from Adam Reach.
Down in the depths of League Two, Crawley, without a manager after Harry Kewell shipped off to Notts County, are losing 1-0 to Oldham, after a goal from Gevaro Nepomuceno, surely the only Curaçaoan footballer in the Football League.
Asmir Begovic in the wars against former club Chelsea but has made a double save from Willian, the second inadvertently as he lay stricken on the ground.
Sheffield United off to a great start and are 1-0 up on Aston Villa, with Jack O’Connell heading in an Oliver Norwood free-kick.
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South Korea beat Japan to win the Asian Games gold
And Son Heung-min will not be going to the army ball. (We think).
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You may not be surprised to learn that Christian Benteke has made a weak attempt to score for Crystal Palace against Southampton.
Chelsea have already gone close through Alvaro Morata, who had to be stopped by a last-ditch tackle from Simon Francis. And meanwhile, Bournemouth, pressing hard after that Eddie Howe tactical switch, have also had a half-chance through Callum Wilson.
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And we are are underway in the 3pm kickoffs....
The suggestion on Wilfried Zaha is that he suffered a groin injury in training on Friday but confirmation is still required.
Japan have scored through Ayase Ueda. Son’s South Korean army uniform has not been binned just yet. (Sorry, Glenn Mutant).
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Here’s Eddie Howe talking of his admiration for Mauricio Sarri. Expect handshakes all round.
A Glenn Mutant tweets in. “’...Son is within minutes of exemption from national service...’ It’s no foregone conclusion - if S. Korea win there’s the *possibility* that he may get exemption from national service. There is no ‘rule’ and the military are not 100% consistent on this front.”
Relief for Spurs and Son as South Korea score again; it’s 2-0 against Japan. Son set up the second with a typically excellent corner for Red Bull Salzburg’s Hwang Hee-chan to head home. Hwang is on loan at Hamburg this season, it says here.
Down in League One, Sunderland, including Lee Cattermole, last week’s two-goal hero, take on Oxford. A big crowd expected at the Stadium of Light and it has to be said that Sunderland seem to be rather enjoying life in the third tier. The same was true of Manchester City 20 years ago, and Sheffield Wednesday, 15 years ago or so. Whatever happened to those two? Leeds United struggled a little bit more.
To climb above Liverpool to the top of the table, Chelsea must win by three clear goals.
Liverpool have won their first four matches of a Premier League season for the first time ever, and Paul Doyle was there to see it.
A goal from Lee Seung-woo! South Korea are beating Japan 1-0 in the Asian Games final. Son is within minutes of exemption from national service.
Ryan Sessegnon has been dropped to the Fulham bench at Brighton. He hasn’t quite done it so far this season, so perhaps a protective measure/kick up the rear from Slavisa Jokanovic.
Liverpool have won 2-1 at Leicester, Allison’s blushes have been spared and Jürgen Klopp’s red machine have won four from four. Join Scott Murray for the after party here.
Other Hammers news, Marko Arnautovic is captain, as celebrated with this.
— West Ham United (@WestHamUtd) September 1, 2018
Proud Irishman/potential Englishman Declan Rice is on the bench for West Ham, which is better than being dropped altogether as Manuel Pellegrini chose to treat him after being subbed at half-time against Liverpool on the opening day.
Son Heung-min’s hopes of avoiding potato peeling duties in the officers’ mess* are in the balance. It’s South Korea v Japan in the final at the Asian Games, and it’s 0-0 as full-time approaches. The word is that Japan are having all the play.
*Explanation here
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Chelsea made one change with Willian stepping in for Pedro. Bournemouth hand debuts to Diego Rico and Jefferson Lerma; Eddie Howe has even shuffled his formation to try and counter Sarri’s stratagems. The two know each other well; Eddie headed out to Empoli to learn at the feet at Sarri, who in turns says Howe had nothing to learn from him.
The big news from all that team news is that Wilfried Zaha is not in the Crystal Palace team, and not in the matchday 18. That leaves no excuses for Southampton and Mark Hughes...yeah, right.
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West Ham v Wolverhampton
West Ham: Fabianski, Fredericks, Balbuena, Diop, Cresswell, Sanchez, Wilshere, Antonio, Felipe Anderson, Snodgrass, Arnautovic.
Subs: Zabaleta, Adrian, Obiang, Noble, Hernandez, Yarmolenko, Rice.
Wolverhampton: Rui Patricio, Bennett, Coady, Boly, Doherty,
Neves, Joao Moutinho, Jonny, Helder Costa, Jota, Jimenez.
Subs: Gibbs-White, John Ruddy, Saiss, Ruben Vinagre, Hause, Leo Bonatini, Traore.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire)
Brighton v Fulham
Brighton: Ryan, Montoya, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, Knockaert, Propper, Stephens, March, Gross, Murray.
Subs: Kayal, Bissouma, Locadia, Balogun, Jahanbakhsh, Button, Bernardo.
Fulham: Bettinelli, Fosu-Mensah, Odoi, Mawson, Le Marchand, Zambo, McDonald, Seri, Schurrle, Mitrovic, Vietto.
Subs: Ryan Sessegnon, Chambers, Johansen, Christie, Bryan, Ramirez,
Kamara.
Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)
Everton v Huddersfield
Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Holgate, Zouma, Digne, Davies, Schneiderlin, Walcott, Sigurdsson, Calvert-Lewin, Tosun.
Subs: Baines, Niasse, Stekelenburg, Dowell, Lookman, Kenny, Browning.
Huddersfield: Lossl, Hadergjonaj, Jorgensen, Schindler, Kongolo, Lowe, van La Parra, Billing, Mooy, Diakhaby, Mounie.
Subs: Kachunga, Mbenza, Williams, Depoitre, Pritchard, Schofield, Durm.
Referee: Stuart Atwell (Nuneaton)
The teams are in
Chelsea v AFC Bournemouth
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso, Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Willian, Morata, Hazard.
Subs: Barkley, Pedro, Loftus-Cheek, Caballero, Giroud, Zappacosta, Christensen.
AFC Bournemouth: Begovic, Francis, Steve Cook, Ake, Rico, Smith, Gosling, Lerma, Fraser, King, Wilson.
Subs: Boruc, Surman, Mousset, Ibe, Lewis Cook, Brooks, Mings.
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
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Before the teams are announced, time to flag up a couple of pieces marking today being the tenth anniversary of Manchester City winning the lottery.
Daniel Taylor considers a club changed completely in the last decade:
And transfer guru Niall McVeigh weighs up each and every player signed up with those lashings and lashings of petrodollars.
In the earlier match today, Liverpool have a handsome 2-0 lead at Leicester....oh, make that 2-1. Comedy keeping from Allison lets Leicester back into the game.
Preamble
Just when the football season is beginning to get into the swing, along comes the international break. But before a series of dull press conferences from the Grove Hotel or St Georges Park can commence, there is a round of the Premier League to stage, and five games to be played at the traditional 3pm slot.
Chelsea’s season has been a rush job, with Maurizio Sarri given under a month to work with his players before the league season kicked. They didn’t even find a tracksuit to fit him, and had to scrape the initials “AC” off before giving it to him...Nevertheless, with three wins from three, and plenty of goals, it has been an exciting start, not that Roman Abramovich is currently able to watch them play. Bournemouth, who have seven points and came back to draw 2-2 with Everton last week have had almost as exciting a start. Last season, Bournemouth won this fixture 3-0.
West Ham finally got a win on the board this week but it was in the Carabao Cup at Wimbledon. Of all 92 clubs, they are the sole team to have not gained a point. Wolves, so impressive in holding Manchester City last week, visit the London Stadium where insurrection is always bubbling.
Everton have enjoyed an unbeaten start to the season, but have also rued a couple of draws. Huddersfield travel to Goodison today, and will Juninho Bacuna, scorer of the greatest own-goal of all time in the week at Stoke, get a run out? David Wagner’s team already look to be in trouble, having gained just a single point and allowed Saido Berahino to end his goal drought.
Brighton have a great record against Fulham, who travel down to the Amex Stadium, having won the last five meetings. Glenn Murray scored the winner in a 2-1 Championship match back in November 2016 when they last met.
Crystal Palace welcome Southampton and the expectation has to be for a home win, and Mark Hughes to find something and someone to blame.
Elsewhere, in the Championship, Sheffield United v Aston Villa takes the eye, as does West Brom v Stoke, a top division fixture for so long. In League One, Peterborough, the only team with a 100% record, play Doncaster, while League Two leaders Lincoln play at Exeter.
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