We finish with a reminder of the quarter-final draw of the League Cup. The ties will be played on the week commencing December 17, and there’s an early Christmas present for us all in the shape of that north London derby. It promises to be ... I’m going to have to say it ... a cracker. Thanks for reading tonight’s Clockwatch. Nighty night!
Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur
Leicester City or Southampton v Manchester City or Fulham
Middlesbrough v Burton Albion
Chelsea v Bournemouth
And tonight’s final report is from Louise Taylor at the Riverside. Here’s her verdict on a tight affair.
Paul Doyle was on hand at the Emirates, to check out how Arsenal squeaked their way past Blackpool. Here’s his take.
David Hytner was at the London Stadium for the London derby. Tottenham beat West Ham 3-1, and here’s the match report.
It’s the quarter-final draw!
Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur
Leicester City or Southampton v Manchester City or Fulham
Middlesbrough v Burton Albion
Chelsea v Bournemouth
Back to Tynecastle. It also looked like Hearts goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal took a whack in the face from a fan. What a business. Here’s Neil Lennon upon asked about being hit by the coin. “I’m alright thanks. They must have a few quid up here. Look, it’s no laughing matter, I hope somebody deals with it, and I hope I meet the guy face to face.” He’s then asked about Zlamal incident. “It’s not on, it’s disgraceful. I don’t understand the mentality of the supporter who wants to throw things at people. It’s very unsavoury and needs to be stopped. So if a Hibs fan has done anything to the goalkeeper, he should be punished, he should be banned. We don’t condone that sort of behaviour at all. It’s disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful. But what can a club do about supporters throwing things onto the pitch? God knows what age he is. Hopefully there’ll be punishment for both of these people. And I would like to meet that person in person. They’re giving me plenty, all the time. It’s not humour, some of it’s quite unsavoury. Some people can take it, some can’t, some need to resort to throwing things. A pound coin, like I say, he must have a few quid on him.”
The final full time of the evening, at the Riverside: Middlesbrough 1-0 Crystal Palace. Max Meyer had a late shout for a penalty, his shot hitting Paddy McNair’s arm. McNair’s hand was held high, arguably in an unnatural position, but the lack of distance between the two players probably saved him. The 2004 winners are through to the quarters!
Dominic Fifield was at Stamford Bridge. Here’s his take on a wildly entertaining evening.
More on that Hearts brouhaha. Clévid Dikamona looked to have won it super-late for Hearts, rising highest in a penalty-box melee to loop a header home. But Peter Haring was lurking near the goalline, and there was only one defender ahead of him, the keeper having gone walkabout. Offside. Neil Lennon tells the Hearts fans to pipe down, and he’s brought low by some eejit with a coin. He was soon up and about again, and shook hands warmly with his opposite number Craig Levein, who appeared to be apologising to the Hibs manager. No doubt we’ll hear more of this.
So in the Scottish Premiership, Hearts find their lead cut to four points. They’re on 26 points, while Celtic rise to second ... and they’ve got a game in hand. It’s on! Kilmarnock slip to third, a point behind Celtic on 21 but three ahead of Rangers in fourth. At the bottom, Dundee remain rooted on three points, while St Mirren remain in 11th with four.
The other two full times in Scotland ... and Stevie G’s pep-talk hasn’t done much good, on a great night for the reigning champions Celtic.
Dundee 0-5 Celtic
Rangers 1-1 Kilmarnock
Arsenal have held on against Blackpool. It’s 13 unbeaten for the Gunners, who make it to the quarters. Spurs are also through, gaining revenge on West Ham for that comeback last year.
Arsenal 2-1 Blackpool
West Ham 1-3 Tottenham
Some full times in Scotland:
Aberdeen 3-0 Hamilton Accies
Hearts 0-0 Hibs
Livingston 0-1 St Johnstone
St Mirren 0-2 Motherwell
And one full time in the League Cup:
Chelsea 3-2 Derby
Drama and disgrace at Tynecastle. Hearts bundle the ball into the net in injury time. It’s disallowed. Neil Lennon turns to tell the home support to calm down ... and some bampot pings a coin upside his head. Lennon’s down for a while. He’s up again soon, but dearie me.
Derby have come so close to a late, third equaliser at Stamford Bridge! Mason Mount sends David Nugent scampering into the Chelsea box down the right, then threads a shot across Willy Caballero and onto the base of the left-hand post! The ball bounces back into the keeper’s arms, and Nugent throws his head back, in the Pez dispenser style, in disbelief! Chelsea still lead 3-2.
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RED CARD! Paudie O'Conner (Blackpool)
Paudie O’Conner had hauled Blackpool back into the game at the Emirates against ten-man Arsenal ... but he might just have put it beyond them now. He slides into Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the midfield, using way too much force, and with a scissor movement to boot. It looked clumsy rather than malicious, but the ref had no option.
RED CARD! Ryan Flynn (St Mirren)
It’s going to be six defeats in a row for St Mirren. They’re 0-2 down at home to Motherwell, and now a man light as well, Ryan Flynn sent packing for serious foul play. Celtic are also down to ten men at Dundee: they’ve used all their subs, and Daniel Arzani, the 19-year-old winger on loan from Manchester City making his debut, has been carried off injured.
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GOAL! West Ham United 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur (Llorente 75)
No, it would appear not. Christian Eriksen whips in a corner from the left, and Fernando Llorente smashes a side-footed effort into the top right from ten yards!
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GOAL! West Ham United 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Perez 71)
A corner from Robert Snodgrass on the right. It’s hit deep. Lucas Perez, at the far post, heads down and in! There’s a pause as the ref consults VAR, given there’s been a bit of grappling in the six-yard box, but it’s nothing. The goal stands. Could the Hammers launch another League Cup comeback against Spurs?
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Arsenal are rocking. Petr Cech has done his Karius Bambi-on-ice thing again, his legs in knots as Jay Spearing closes him down. The ball breaks right to Nathan Delfouneso, who rolls the ball into the unguarded net ... but he’s offside. Cech is a very, very, very lucky man.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Blackpool (O'Conner 66)
The Seasiders are indeed back in it against ten-man Arsenal! Petr Cech tips a speculative effort over the bar. Then from the right-wing corner, Paudie O’Conner rises at the far post and plants an unstoppable downward header into the bottom right! What a fine goal!
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RED CARD! Florian Kamberi (Hibernian)
It’s been a bad-tempered affair in the Embra derby at Tynecastle. And the latest stramash has ended in a red card, albeit for a second bookable offence. It’s Florian Kamberi who’s walking, and Hibs are down to ten. Oh, it’s goalless by the way.
GOAL! Aberdeen 3-0 Hamilton Academical (Devlin 60)
Michael Devlin puts the Dons out of sight, scoring against his old club from long range.
RED CARD! Matteo Guendouzi (Arsenal)
Two bookable offences, the second a light tug on an opponent’s shoulder, and the young Arsenal midfielder is heading for an early bath. Blackpool aren’t out of this quite yet!
GOAL! West Ham United 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Son 51)
Dele Alli, quarterbacking from deep, sends Son Heung-Min clear with a fine pass threaded down the middle of the park. Son rounds Adrian on the left and rolls home. Two goals for Son, two assists for Alli.
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Though having said that ... Blackpool’s Paudie O’Conner has just hit the woodwork with a fine header from a corner at the Emirates.
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GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Blackpool (Smith-Rowe 50)
Emile Smith-Rowe bundles one in, and Arsenal’s unbeaten run looks likely to stretch to 13 matches.
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GOAL! Dundee 0-5 Celtic (Christie 48)
It’s 16 goals in just over three-and-a-half league matches for the champions. Ryan Christie with the latest, and the bottom team are in real bother here.
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GOAL! St Mirren 0-2 Motherwell (Cadden 47)
Chris Cadden one-twos with the scorer of Motherwell’s opening goal, David Turnbull, and there’s clear daylight between two struggling sides.
And that’s half-time at the Riverside:
Middlesbrough 1-0 Crystal Palace
Everywhere else, up and down the country, the second halves have started.
GOAL! Middlesbrough 1-0 Crystal Palace (Wing 45 +3)
Apart from the unfortunate MacQueen’s injury, absolutely nothing had happened in the first half at the Riverside. Until the very last knockings, that is, Lewis Wing sending a screamer into the top right from distance!
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Half-time reading: Derby County have it all to do in the second half, in more ways than one.
And the half-times in the League Cup ...
Arsenal 1-0 Blackpool
Chelsea 3-2 Derby
Middlesbrough 0-0 Crystal Palace (L)
West Ham 0-1 Tottenham
James Tavernier smashes a dipper off the bar at Ibrox. So close to putting Rangers ahead again. And so here are the half-times in Scotland:
Aberdeen 2-0 Hamilton Accies
Dundee 0-4 Celtic
Hearts 0-0 Hibernian
Livingston 0-1 St Johnstone
Rangers 1-1 Kilmarnock
St Mirren 0-1 Motherwell
GOAL! Dundee 0-4 Celtic (Edouard 45+2)
James Forrest embarks on a long dribble. Dundee don’t bother to challenge him. Forrest tees up Odsonne Edouard, and it could be a very long second half for Dundee.
Some distressing news at the Riverside, where Middlesbrough’s Sam McQueen has been stretchered off with a knee injury. Fingers crossed that isn’t as serious as it looks. It’s goalless between Boro and Palace.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-2 Derby (Fabregas 41)
Loftus-Cheek and Zappacosta work hard, and not without skill, down the right. The ball’s rolled towards Cesc Fabregas, who smacks a shot into the bottom right. Chelsea have finally scored a goal of their own!
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GOAL! Dundee 0-3 Celtic (Forrest 38)
James Forrest slams home a Kieran Tierney cut-back, and the bottom side are in all sorts of bother against the champions of Scotland. “As a Derby fan I’d like to strongly object to your assertion that they’re ‘turning into the masters of farce’,” blasts David Hopkins. “We’ve been the masters of farce for years. Tonight is just a new and innovative way of staying ahead of the competition.”
GOAL! Dundee 0-2 Celtic (Sinclair 33 pen)
Scott Sinclair doubles Celtic’s lead from the spot, after Mikael Lustig was pointlessly brought down.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Blackpool (Lichtsteiner 33)
Matteo Guendouzi hooks one in from the left. Stephan Lichtsteiner springs the Blackpool trap. He meets the dropping ball, alone, on the penalty spot and guides it into the bottom left. Deft as you like, and Arsenal have the lead in the 1953 Charity Shield rematch. For the record, Arsenal won that 3-1, with goals from Tommy Lawton and Doug Lishman (2). Stan Mortensen scored for Blackpool.
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GOAL! St Mirren 0-1 Motherwell (Turnbull 30)
David Turnbull shoots from distance. Craig Samson doesn’t deal with it at all. The 1991 Scottish Cup winners lead the 1987 Scottish Cup winners in Paisley.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-2 Derby County (Waghorn 27)
Derby have now scored four goals this evening. This is preposterous! Mason Mount rolls a ball across the face of the Chelsea box from the left. With Davide Zappacosta sleeping, Martyn Waghorn taps home, and Billy Smart’s Frank Lampard’s Derby County are level again!
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GOAL! Aberdeen 2-0 Hamilton Academical (Wilson 23)
The Dons have been struggling in the league so far this campaign. But last season’s runners up look to have found their rhythm tonight; James Wilson doubles their lead.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Derby County (Keogh 21 og)
Davide Zappacosta whips down the right and crosses low. This one comes off Richard Keogh’s heel, and whistles into the bottom right. They’ve now scored two own goals tonight, and three in their last 27 minutes of football when you factor in Jayden Bogle’s effort at Middlesbrough last weekend. Derby are turning into specialists in farce!
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GOAL! Dundee 0-1 Celtic (Rogic 20)
The bottom club already up against it versus the champions. Tom Rogic opens the scoring at Dens Park.
GOAL! West Ham United 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Son 16)
Dele Alli flicks Son Heung-Min into the area, straight down the middle. Son aims for the top left, and whistles an unstoppable shot into the net. Wheech! It’s his first in 20, and a belter!
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GOAL! Rangers 1-1 Kilmarnock (Stewart 15)
Well that’s answered that question. Greg Stewart levels things up for Killie, curling one in from the right. Ranges full-back Jon Flanagan, who has been struggling, was all over the shop.
GOAL! Rangers 1-0 Kilmarnock (Morelos 9)
Liverpool loanee Ryan Kent tees up the ever-entertaining Alfredo Morelos, whose shot from the left is deflected past Jamie MacDonald. An early sign that Steven Gerrard’s very public squad bollocking might have done the trick?
GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Derby County (Marriott 9)
Derby are back in it immediately! Jack Marriott, bombing down the inside-left channel, pearls a low diagonal shot into the bottom right! There’s the confidence of winning at Old Trafford for you.
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GOAL! Aberdeen 1-0 Hamilton Academical (Shinnie 8)
Graeme Shinnie meets Niall McGinn’s corner on the edge of the area. After a couple of efforts, he converts to put the League Cup finalists ahead at Pittodrie.
GOAL! Livingston 0-1 St Johnstone (Kennedy 5)
Matty Kennedy converts a right-wing cross from close range to put the Saints ahead.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Derby County (Tomori 5 og)
A horror start on Halloween for Fikayo Tomori. Dealing with a common-or-garden right-wing cross from Ruben Loftus-Cheek, dribbled into the six-yard box, Tomori has a wild hack at the ball, only managing to somehow slice it behind him and into the bottom-left corner. Tomori, on loan at Derby from Chelsea, allows himself a pained smile.
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We’re underway. Before kick-off, tributes were paid at Stamford Bridge to the victims of the weekend’s tragic helicopter crash at Leicester City. Club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was one of five victims; Claudio Ranieri, the man who masterminded Leicester’s title win along with with Srivaddhanaprabha, looks on sadly from the stand. A poignant moment for former Foxes N’Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater, now of Chelsea, too.
The minute’s applause also remembers Chelsea’s former player and manager Ken Shellito, who died today at the age of 78. Shellito managed Chelsea during the 1977-78 season. He also played right-back for the club, making 123 appearances between 1959 and 1965 before a serious knee injury claimed his career. In a parallel universe, Shellito might be one of England’s 1966 World Cup winners. “Every time I see George Cohen [England’s World Cup-winning right-back] he says ‘thank you Kenny’”, Shellito once reminisced. “It hurts but he does appreciate it. He always says he would not have got in and that is your luck in football. But you can’t feel sorry for yourself too much.”
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And in Scotland ...
Aberdeen: Lewis, Logan, Devlin, McKenna, Lowe, Ferguson, Shinnie, Mackay-Steven, Wright, McGinn, Wilson.
Subs: McLennan, Gleeson, Cosgrove, May, Cerny, Ball, Anderson.
Hamilton: Woods, McGowan, Tshiembe, Kilgallon, McMann, Miller, Martin, Gordon, Imrie, Bingham, Brustad.
Subs: Keatings, Marsden, Penny, Want, Kelly, Smith, Sowah.
Dundee: Hamilton, Kerr, Inniss, O’Dea, Kusunga, Deacon, Kamara, Spence, Curran, Kallman, Kenny Miller.
Subs: Nabi, Boyle, Moussa, N’Gwatala, Mendy, Parish, Lambert.
Celtic: Gordon, Lustig, Benkovic, Boyata, Tierney, Forrest, McGregor, Rogic, Sinclair, Christie, Edouard.
Subs: Hendry, Arzani, Hayes, Morgan, Bain, Ajer, Johnston.
Hearts: Zlamal, Smith, Dikamona, Jimmy Dunne, Garuccio, Morrison, Haring, Lee, Bozanic, Djoum, Clare.
Subs: Mitchell, Wighton, Amankwaa, Doyle, Hughes, Cochrane, Godinho.
Hibernian: Bogdan, Whittaker, Ambrose, McGregor, Stevenson, Bartley, Boyle, Slivka, Mallan, Milligan, Kamberi.
Subs: Horgan, Maclaren, Hyndman, Marciano, Shaw, Porteous, Mavrias.
Rangers: Foderingham, Tavernier, Goldson, Worrall, Flanagan, Coulibaly, Candeias, Arfield, Halliday, Kent, Morelos.
Subs: McGregor, Jack, Lafferty, Rossiter, Katic, Grezda, Middleton.
Kilmarnock: MacDonald, O’Donnell, Broadfoot, Findlay, Taylor, Dicker, Power, Burke, Tshibola, Jones, Stewart.
Subs: Enobakhare, Byrne, Bachmann, McKenzie, Kris Boyd, Ndjoli, Scott Boyd.
St Mirren: Samson, Paul McGinn, Ferdinand, Jones, Hodson, Stephen McGinn, Flynn, Edwards, Smith, Hammill, Jackson.
Subs: Baird, McShane, Mullen, Willock, Rogers, MacPherson, Erhahon.
Motherwell: Carson, Hartley, Aldred, McHugh, Cadden, Grimshaw, Bigirimana, Turnbull, Tait, Main, Bowman.
Subs: Campbell, Frear, Sammon, Gillespie, Mbulu, Johnson, Maguire.
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Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, McNair, Ayala, Batth, Friend, McQueen, Leadbitter, Wing, Tavernier, Braithwaite, Hugill.
Subs: Lonergan, Wood, Stubbs, Saville, Chapman, Fletcher, Gestede.
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Wan-Bissaka, Kelly, Riedewald, Square, Townsend, Meyer, Puncheon, Schlupp, Ayew, Sorloth.
Subs: Speroni, Woods, Milivojevic, Kirby, Williams, Kaikai, Wickham.
Boro make eight changes, Daniel Ayala, George Friend and Paddy McNair the only survivors from the weekend. Eight changes for Palace too, with only Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Jordan Ayew and Andros Townsend keeping their spots. Wilfried Zaha isn’t even on the bench.
West Ham United: Adrian, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Masuaku, Obiang, Rice, Felipe Anderson, Diangana, Hernandez, Antonio.
Subs: Fabianski, Balbuena, Arnautovic, Snodgrass, Lucas Perez, Powell, Coventry.
Tottenham Hotspur: Gazzaniga, Walker-Peters, Sanchez, Foyth, Aurier, Winks, Wanyama, Alli, Eriksen, Son, Llorente.
Subs: Vorm, Nkoudou, Sissoko, Lucas Moura, Skipp, Eyoma, Marsh.
West Ham must do without suspended skipper Mark Noble. They make five changes with Adrian, Ryan Fredericks, Angelo Ogbonna, Pedro Obiang and Michail Antonio all stepping up. Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen, subs against Manchester City two nights ago, both start for Spurs. But there’s no Harry Kane in the squad as Mauricio Pochettino makes ten changes.
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Arsenal: Cech, Jenkinson, Mustafi, Pleguezuelo, Lichtsteiner, Guendouzi, Ramsey, Smith-Rowe, Maitland-Niles, Mkhitaryan, Welbeck.
Subs: Martinez, Holding, Torreira, Willock, Iwobi, Aubameyang, Nketiah.
Blackpool: Howard, Nottingham, Heneghan, O’Connor, Bola, Turton, Spearing, Guy, Thompson, Feeney, Delfouneso.
Subs: Mafoumbi, McLaughlin, Pritchard, O’Sullivan, Taylor, Cullen, Dodoo.
Arsenal make nine changes. Carl Jenkinson starts for the Gunners for the first time in 701 days, while Julio Pleguezuelo makes his debut. Ainsley Maitland-Niles also returns after a leg fracture. Petr Cech reclaims his place in goal. Only Shkodran Mustafi and Matteo Guendouzi remain. Blackpool make three changes, welcoming back Michael Nottingham, Paudie O’Connor and Ollie Turton.
Chelsea: Caballero, Zappacosta, Cahill, Christensen, Emerson Palmieri, Kante, Fabregas, Kovacic, Willian, Morata, Loftus-Cheek.
Subs: Drinkwater, Barkley, Pedro, Hudson-Odoi, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Bulka.
Derby County: Carson, Bogle, Keogh, Tomori, Malone, Mount, Huddlestone, Wilson, Waghorn, Marriott, Lawrence.
Subs: Forsyth, Johnson, Bennett, Roos, Holmes, Nugent, Davies.
Chelsea make eight changes, with only Willian, N’Golo Kante and Alvaro Morata keeping their places. Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori feature for unchanged Derby against their parent club.
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Evening all!
It’s a big night in the League Cup - and no, I’m not calling it that - with Frank Lampard returning to his spiritual home, a capital clash at the appropriately named London Stadium, a David-Goliath face-off between the 1953 league champions and 1953 FA Cup winners, and a Pulis-Hodgson showdown at the Riverside. Look!
Arsenal v Blackpool
Chelsea v Frank Lampard’s Derby
Middlesbrough v Crystal Palace
West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur
It’s also quite the night in the Scottish Premiership, with a full card of fixtures that includes the Edinburgh derby. We’ll be keeping an eye on those games too.
Aberdeen v Hamilton Accies
Dundee v Celtic
Hearts v Hibs
Livingston v St Johnstone
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers v Kilmarnock
St Mirren v Motherwell
All the games kick off at 7.45pm BST with the exception of Boro-Palace, which gets going at 8pm. It’s on!
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