That’s all folks ...
We’re going to wind things down now, but before we go here’s a quick recap of the day’s main news ...
- Dominic Solanke has moved from Liverpool to Bournemouth for £19m.
- No really, £19m.
- Liverpool full-back Nathaniel Clyne is also on the verge of signing a six-month loan deal with the Cherries.
- Jermain Defoe has yet to finalise a loan deal with Rangers, which will take him to the end of his contract with Bournemouth.
- Football Weekly Extra ... Extra, in which we pick over the bones of last night’s match between Liverpool and Manchester City is here
- Huddersfield Town are on the verge of signing Jason Puncheon from Crystal Palace.
- Stoke have spent a combined £20m to make the loan signings of Ryan Woods and Benik Afobe permanent.
-
Gianfranco Zola thinks Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Ndoi should reject Bayern Munich’s advances
- The FA Cup third round kicks off tonight
From the Guardian Sport Network: The FA Cup has scrapped another set of replays this season. Thirty years ago, clubs kept on playing until they found a winner. Words: Steven Pye.
.@DomSolanke has sealed a permanent transfer to @afcbournemouth.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 4, 2019
Everybody at #LFC thanks Dom for his contribution to the Reds and wishes him the best of luck for the future. 🙌 https://t.co/kCo6wqpzWX
Done deal klaxon!!! Bournemouth pay Liverpool £19m for Dominic Solanke. Crikey.
Mousa Dembélé to China? Sky Sports News are reporting that Chinese Super League club Beijing Sinobo Guoan have enquired about the possibility of taking Belgian midfielder Mousa Dembélé off Tottenham’s hands. The 31-year-old has made just seven Premier League starts for Tottenham this season and is expected to leave the club in January. Thierry Henry is also believed to be interested in bringing him to Monaco.
Dominic Solanke to Bournemouth? Eddie Howe is ready to offer Dominic Solanke a chance to kick-start his stalled career at Bournemouth, in a deal that could be worth up to £20m to Liverpool. The 21-year-old striker had been on the verge of a move to Crystal Palace, only for the deal to collapse yesterday, but now looks to be heading to Bournemouth, possibly on a permanent deal.
Behind Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Mo Salah and Daniel Sturridge in the Liverpool pecking order, the centre-forward was always likely to struggle for game-time at Liverpool and will presumably begin life at Bournemouth as back-up for Callum Wilson, should his move materialise. Solanke moved to Liverpool from Chelsea on a free transfer in July 2017 and made 27 appearances in all competitions under Jurgen Klopp last season. He has yet to play for Liverpool in the current campaign.
Christian Benteke latest: Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke has returned to training following his knee injury, but is not yet fit enough to start. “Benteke trained, he’s been back in training for a while, said Roy Hodgson on the Palace website. “[Today] was the first real occasion that he joined the squad and trained from start to finish. A couple of times, he’s joined in with the early parts of training and dropped out when things became more physical but [today] he joined in.
Of his team’s FA Cup match against Gr4imsby at Selhurst Park tomorrow, Hodgson had this to say. “You’ll see a changed side but it’s not just a case of bringing through younger players. We can’t keep top, international players forever on the sidelines because we’ve been lucky enough to have a very stable and consistent first XI.
“There are a lot of players who are more than good enough to play in the Crystal Palace first team but they haven’t had a chance. I’m not using it [the Grimsby fixture] as an experimental occasion. I want to put a team out on the field that I think will win the game. We know that will never be easy because Grimsby will come here looking to upset the apple cart.”
Puncheon to Huddersfield Town latest: David Wagner expects Huddersfield to complete the loan signing of Jason Puncheon from Crystal Palace within the next 24 to 48 hours. The winger, 32, who has not started in the Premier League for Palace this season and is 0out of contract in June, will become Huddersfield’s second transfer window signing following the arrival of defender Jadon Brown from Tottenham.
“We are close and I’m pretty confident this will be done in the next 24 to 48 hours,” said Wagner, who refused to discuss any further targets. “All of them are contracted to other clubs and this is why I’ve no idea if we are able to bring some further players in or not and once we’ve done our business, or as close as we are with Jason, I will let you know.”
Updated
Just Say No dept: The Football Association has encouraged anyone with information about a potential anti-doping violation to come forward following a report an unnamed England player had been seen taking taken cocaine at a nightclub.
On Friday, The Sun claimed that a Premier League player had taken the drug during a pre-Christmas get-together following an away game. According to the report, which quoted a club insider, the player, who was believed to be drunk by the team’s “irate” manager, was later put into a taxi and taken home.
Any player found to have breached the FA’s social drugs policy regulations would be subject to sanctions, which begin from zero-to-three months suspension for a first offence but increases to potentially a lifetime ban for multiple breaches.
“The FA operates one of the most comprehensive national anti-doping programmes in the world,” said a statement. “In partnership with UK Anti-Doping, we have a targeted research and intelligence-led programme in place to identify potential doping risks in the game. Although incidents of doping in English football are very rare, it remains a priority for the FA to find and sanction anyone found taking performance-enhancing or recreational drugs.
“We encourage anyone with information about any anti-doping violation in football to report it to the FA, via anti-dopingthefa.com, or to UK Anti-Doping by visiting www.reportdoping.com
Nathaniel Clyne to Bournemouth: Unconfirmed reports are filtering through that Bournemouth have signed Liverpool full-back Nathaniel Clyne on loan from Liverpool until the end of the season.
The 27-year-old from Stockwell in south-west London has made just two starts in five appearances so far this season and was also being chased by Cardiff City. With both Adam Smith and Simon Francis sidelined for the foreseeable future, Bournemouth were in need of a right-back and look to have landed their man.
Updated
Andy Carroll unlikely to be sold in January: Manuel Pellegrini does not expect West Ham to sell Andy Carroll this January. Carroll’s future remains uncertain as he turns 30 on Sunday and only has a contract until the end of the season.
The injury-hit striker has figured sparingly this term and made his first start in a year against Brighton on Wednesday, only to be taken off at half-time. Nevertheless, when asked if he expected to lose Carroll this month, Hammers boss Pellegrini said it was unlikely.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I think Andy will stay here with us, he is an important player for our team. He is just coming back from a long, long injury, and the way he is taking advantage of his minutes he will return to the player that we all know.”
Carroll is expected to start in Saturday’s FA Cup third-round meeting with Birmingham. Samir Nasri is also set to make his debut, having been an unused substitute in midweek. The 31-year-old former Manchester City and Arsenal midfielder joined the Hammers as a free agent on New Year’s Eve once his 18-month doping ban was complete. Having played three games in seven days and with a lengthy injury list, Pellegrini will make further changes against the Championship play-off hopefuls.
Cardiff City news: Neil Warnock will make wholesale changes for the FA Cup third-round tie at Gillingham. Fringe players such as goalkeeper Alex Smithies, defender Lee Peltier and wingers Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Kadeem Harris are all in line to start, with Warnock expected to rest several Premier League regulars. Defenders Matt Connolly and Jazz Richards are both out with viruses, but the young trio of Cameron Coxe, James Waite and Lloyd Humphries will travel after impressing for the under-23 side.
Provisional squad: Smithies, Murphy, Peltier, Bennett, Morrison, Manga, Cunningham, Ralls, Gunnarsson, Damour, Harris, Hoilett, Paterson, Reid, Murphy, Mendez-Laing, Coxe, Waite, Humphries.
Updated
Danny Cowley speaks: The Lincoln boss believes an FA Cup tie against Everton will be a valuable learning curve that could help his side’s League Two promotion challenge.
Cowley’s Imps created history two years ago when they became the first non-league club since 1914 to reach the quarter-finals of the competition. At the end of that 2016-17 season, Lincoln were promoted back to the Football League as National League champions.
Saturday’s trip to Goodison Park has a similar feel in that ahead of another big game for the club, the Imps are again challenging for promotion as the current leaders of League Two.
“The cup run two years ago helped the team win promotion,” said Cowley. “It fast-tracked us and we improved as a team and a squad as a consequence of that run and that experience. It’s going to be a great experience again on Saturday and we’ll learn loads about the group, which I hope will stand us in good stead.
“When you play against the best, they test you technically and tactically and always find weaknesses that perhaps you didn’t know about. We like the feedback these sorts of games create for us. So we want to try to have a good run in the cup again because we’ve shown it can be done side by side with a good run in the league.
“[In 2017] everyone in the National League was telling us it would get in the way and eventually catch up with us, but what people don’t realise is it helped us win the league because when it got to the business end of the season in the league we had already lived big games in the FA Cup and been in those pressure situations. Hopefully the experience can have the same affect this season.”
Updated
Bad news for Sunderland fans: The club’s leading scorer, Josh Maja, appears to have indicated he will not be signing the new contract offered to him by the club ... having previously indicated he would be inking the deal. The 20-year-old, whose breakthrough to the first team last season is chronicled in the Netflix docuseries Sunderland Til I Die, has bagged 14 goals for the League One side this season, seven more than the club’s next most prolific scorer, Aiden McGeady. This, from Stewart Donald, the head of the consortium that bought the club last May. Maja is rumoured to have been offered seven times his current salary to stay at the club.
@SunderlandAFC Josh Maja update. Yesterday Josh asked to see Jack to say he will sign. Today I got a call from Sky TV saying he won't sign. Josh advised his agent has said don't sign but no courtesy to tell the club - Also we offered what the agent indicated!!! Busy January ahead
— stewart donald (@stewartdonald3) January 4, 2019
@SunderlandAFC I would have kept Josh news in-house but once his agent informed Sky &they report it that he doesn't want to sign we have to repsond.He wants to sign it this agent that has said don't!!! Stay behind him and don't get up his back - we will try & change his mind.
— stewart donald (@stewartdonald3) January 4, 2019
Updated
Football Weekly Extra ... Extra is here!
Lend us your ears: Because last night’s match between Manchester City and Liverpool was the biggest, most important game in the history of the Premier League, Max Rushden, Lars Sivertson, Philippe Auclair and yours truly convened in the studio this morning to pick over the bones of the contest. Here’s what we thought ...
Football Weekly Extra, Extra – with @maxrushden, @bglendenning, @larssivertsen + @PhilippeAuclair https://t.co/cCDqX4pdP2
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) January 4, 2019
Sean Dyche speaks: And Burnley’s manager has been warning his players against complacency on the back of their recent two-match winning ... em, streak, as they prepare to face Barnsley in the FA Cup tomorrow afternoon.
“I like the idea of the momentum, of course, but we’ve been in these competitions, we have been up and down and obviously this year more so with the Europa [League] as well, so I think we have adapted to the challenge.
“It’s been tough, but you can’t guarantee that momentum remains purely because it’s literally game after game. There’s no guarantee on that. We want to re-focus on this game. It’s important. We want to keep that mentality and that winning mentality is a really important thing.”
Burnley had won only once in 12 games when they beat West Ham 2-0 last Sunday, and coming from behind to win at Huddersfield on Wednesday evening only increased the level of confidence within the dressing room.
“It’s been difficult,” said Dyche. “It’s been tricky over the last few months, but I think the feel has remained the same and there’s been a good feel and a solid feel to the group in the mentality. But nothing reinforces it more than wins, of course, because that’s what footballers live for. They live to win games - that’s part of their lives - as do I as a manager, as do my staff and of course the fans as well. Without any doubt, when you are winning, it does add that edge of confidence to what you are trying to do.”
Burnley will be without the suspended Robbie Brady following his red card in midweek, but could welcome back goalkeeper Nick Pope, defender Stephen Ward and midfielder Steven Defour from injury, with Dyche indicating he is likely to use the depth of his squad. “We have got a more competitive group now and the team that we put out, I think, can win games and particularly this game,” he said. “But they have got to deliver a performance.”
Updated
A Chelsea legend tweets ...
“Seriously think it’s time football clubs and players all came together to say enough is enough with all hate crime. Stop the abuse altogether!
— Paul Canoville (@Kingcanners) January 4, 2019
#OneLoveFootball pic.twitter.com/l1OsnsLHZh
David Moyes to Stoke City? Speculation continues to mount that David Moyes is on the verge of being appointed manager of Stoke City, with the Potters’ current boss, Gary Rowett, expected to be sacked following a poor run of form in which his side have won just one of their past five games.
Jonny Williams signs for Charlton: The Crystal Palace and Wales midfielder has signed on a six-month loan deal permanently. One of the stars of the utterly compelling Sunderland Til I Die Netflix series, Williams came across as an absolutely lovely bloke ... unlike others I could mention. Yes you, Martin Bain. And you, Jack Rodwell. And you, Lewis Grabban. If you haven’t seen Sunderland Til I Die yet, make it your business to do so. Here’s a piece I wrote on it ...
✍️ DONE DEAL
— Charlton Athletic FC (@CAFCofficial) January 4, 2019
Welcome to Charlton, Jonny Williams!
👉 https://t.co/7Eg4SouW6Z #cafc pic.twitter.com/YtMdt48bWH
Updated
More post-match reaction: Our video team have been slaving over this clip of selected highlights from Pep and Jürgen’s post-match press conferences, in which the Liverpool manager, unlike his Manchester City counterpart demonstrates that he has never learned that if you wear your coat, hat and scarf indoors, then you won’t feel the benefit of them when you go outside.
Video – Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola react to Manchester City's win over Liverpool pic.twitter.com/WqhyJzVyxm
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) January 4, 2019
Andy Robertson has been talking: Considered a pre-match doubt last night as his girlfriend was due to give birth to the couple’s second child, Liverpool defender Andy Robertson eventually lined up and played very well in defeat against Manchester City. Here’s what he had to say after the game.
On defeat: “It doesn’t change anything. It is just the same if we had won,” said the Scotland captain. “It would have been nice to be 10 points clear of them and nine points above Tottenham but we wouldn’t have won [the title by winning the game]. We have not lost it. They’re obviously delighted, seeing their reaction at the end but they’ve not won it either. We will fight right to the death. They’ve closed the gap but it is all about how we react.
On how he thinks Liverpool will react: “It is a new experience for all of us. We can use that to our advantage and we’ll look forward to the games ahead now.”
On that potentially season-defining 11.7mm: “I saw the picture of the one were Sadio hit the post and then the deflection - it was millimetres, but they’re the fine margins,” said Robertson. “If that goes in it might have been a completely different game. But they then scored before half-time and we needed to bounce back, which we did. I thought we were controlling the game at that point but we just left ourselves that wee bit too open and a team like City punish you. Credit goes to them but we are still four points clear at that is what we have got to remember.”
There’s no word yet on whether or not how Rachel, Andy’s better half, is getting on but we wish them both all the very best.
FA Cup third round
Looking at the weekend fixtures, you’ve got to say it’s an interesting draw. We have ...
- Seven Premier League sides playing away against lower league opposition.
- Chelsea play Nottingham Forest, who have eliminated the FA Cup holders on five of the six previous occasions they have faced them.
- We have just 10 games kicking off at 3pm on Saturday.
- There are also quite a few Premier League teams in action who I suspect won’t be in the least bit fussed about advancing to the next round, as they’ve more pressing concerns.
- And here they are: Gillingham v Cardiff, Burnley v Barnsley, Liverpool v Wolves, Derby v Southampton, Bristol City v Huddersfield, Fulham v Oldham.
Updated
Good morning all (other time zones are available). Barry Glendenning here, fresh from recording a bonus episode of Football Weekly ... Extra ... Extra following last night’s humdinger between Manchester City and Liverpool. Philippe Auclair, Lars Sivertson and myself picked over the bones of a terrific encounter with Max Rushden asking the probing questions and Producer Jonathan will have that up for your listening pleasure in a few hours, once he’s whipped it into something resembling coherence.
In the meantime, you can feast your ears on yesterday’s Football Weekly podcast. And if you’re not already a subscriber, please sign up in all the usual pod places.
Southampton visit Frank Lampard’s Derby in the apparently endangered 3pm GMT time slot tomorrow. The Press Association have team news from the Premier League side …
Southampton should have full-back Matt Targett available again after a thigh problem for the FA Cup tie against Championship side Derby.
Saints will be hoping the hamstring issue which forced striker Danny Ings to be replaced at half-time against Chelsea in midweek is nothing serious, but defender Maya Yoshida is definitely missing as he is on international duty with Japan.
Defender Ryan Bertrand (back) and striker Michael Obafemi (hamstring) are doubts while midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg continues his suspension.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mr Barry Glendenning is currently removing his coat – he’ll be taking over from here. Email him on barry.glendenning@theguardian.com or tweet @bglendenning. Bye!
Updated
Jonathan Wilson has weighed in on last night’s game, and looks very closely at the early incident which shows how fine that old chestnut – the fine margin – can be where results are concerned …
The world moves on. Technology develops and evolves. The aesthetics of the spectacle, perhaps, to our wearily nostalgic culture, have less to recommend them than they did, but accuracy at least is guaranteed. Where once epoch-defining line decisions were taken by Azerbaijani men with silver hair and splendid moustaches, now we watch a digital representation of a yellow circle landing on a white line across a green background. What Tofiq Bakhramov’s decisive nod was to the 1966 World Cup, so Goal Decision System may be to the 2018-19 Premier League.
Where the former remains contested (with good reason), there is no disputing what happened at the Etihad on Thursday. Or at least not beyond crazed conspiracists who within hours of the final whistle were already talking about shadows and angles and the grand anti-Liverpudlian plot that is geometry. Perhaps the technology isn’t perfect. Perhaps the reading that said the ball was 11.7 millimetres from completely crossing the line is affecting an impossible level of accuracy, but it is still much more likely to be right than a 41-year-old former footballer from Baku.
11.7 millimetres. It’s the length of a bluebottle, the thickness of a pocket diary, the width of the nail of a little finger. It is nothing on which to lose a football match, still less perhaps a championship. And there is a danger now that the measurement comes to haunt Liverpool as surely as Steven Gerrard’s “This does not slip” speech after another game against Manchester City, that when the history of this long title drought is written, the measurement 11.7 millimetres looms so large that every time Liverpool fans see a fly, check an appointment or catch a glimpse of their own hands they are reminded of defeat and failure.
Done deal! Jonny Williams to Charlton from Crystal Palace
More transfer news from this morning – from one of the breakout stars of Netflix’s Sunderland ‘Til I Die … Jonny Williams has joined Charlton from Crystal Palace.
From Charlton’s statement announcing the move:
“Charlton Athletic are delighted to confirm the arrival of Wales international Jonny Williams on a permanent deal from Crystal Palace.
“The 25-year-old midfielder has put pen to paper on a six-month contract at The Valley and becomes Lee Bowyer’s first signing of the January transfer window.”
✍️ DONE DEAL
— Charlton Athletic FC (@CAFCofficial) January 4, 2019
Welcome to Charlton, Jonny Williams!
👉 https://t.co/7Eg4SouW6Z #cafc pic.twitter.com/YtMdt48bWH
Updated
Meanwhile, through the transfer window … Eddie Howe has been talking before another of the septet of lunchtime games tomorrow, when his side host south-coast rivals Brighton. He straight-batted all talk of Jermain Defoe’s expected move to Rangers.
No deal has been finalised, so until that moment happens, it would be foolish of me to comment, so let’s wait and see what happens in the next few days. Any deal which does get agreed will be in the player’s best interest and what the player wants to pursue.
“From our side, I have said from day one, I love working with Jermain. The relationship we have had, how professional he has been and for the group of players. As I say, no deal has been finalised, so let’s see what happens.”
Updated
After being relegated from the Football League in 2015, Tranmere have battled back and Micky Mellon’s side are currently within three points of the play-off places in League Two.
Mellon spoke to Andy Hunter about what a cup game against Spurs means to the club …
Friday night is party night in Birkenhead and now it has got a football game to add to the spice. It’s about the whole of the football club showing the whole football world that Tranmere is still here. We disappeared off the Football League radar for a while and when you have three years out of the league you can lose generations of fans. You can stop being a big football club. But we have seen in the last few years with trips to Wembley, occasions like this and the promotion battles that Tranmere is still here. It still has a fan base that, when called upon, can sell out in three hours.
“It has unbelievable potential and it is up to us as a football business to make sure that we keep the momentum going forward. Friday night will help that.”
FA Cup third-round fixtures
(All times GMT)
Friday
7.45pm
Tranmere v Tottenham
Saturday
12.30pm
Bournemouth v Brighton
Burnley v Barnsley
Manchester United v Reading
Sheffield Wednesday v Luton
Shrewsbury v Stoke City
West Brom v Wigan
West Ham v Birmingham
3pm
Accrington v Ipswich
Aston Villa v Swansea
Bolton v Walsall
Brentford v Oxford United
Chelsea v Nottingham Forest
Derby v Southampton
Everton v Lincoln
Fleetwood v Wimbledon
Gillingham v Cardiff
Middlesbrough v Peterborough
5.30pm
Blackpool v Arsenal
Bristol City v Huddersfield
Crystal Palace v Grimsby
Newcastle v Blackburn Rovers
Norwich v Portsmouth
Sunday
2pm
Fulham v Oldham Athletic
Manchester City v Rotherham
Millwall v Hull City
Preston v Doncaster Rovers
QPR v Leeds United
Sheffield United v Barnet
Woking v Watford
4.30pm
Newport v Leicester City
Monday
7.45pm
Wolves v Liverpool
Updated
Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjær caretakes his side at home to Reading in one of a depressing SEVEN 12.30pm GMT Cup kick-offs tomorrow. At this morning’s press conference he appeared to indicate that his involvement in the transfer window will be, erm, well, y’know …
The club’s probably had a plan - you don’t just plan the next day and next month but this transfer window has probably been planned since the summer and year before. The structure [here] is phenomenal. I’m sure they’ve got their targets,” said the 45-year-old. “I’m here to voice my opinion on that and I’m sure we’ll sit down, me and Ed [Woodward, executive vice-chairman] if we’ve got anything in the pipeline.
“I’m here to work with the ones I’ve got, they’ve all performed and as long as they perform they should get a chance but that’s my job to improve players and individuals.”
Solskjær said Alexis Sánchez and Romelu Lukaku will both start. Paul Pogba is a doubt with a knock sustained against Newcastle, while Marcus Rojo and Chris Smalling are both out of contention.
Speaking of Spurs, they can be found at No 2 of today’s 10 things to look out for this weekend …
Spurs kick off the weekend’s FA Cup third-round action tonight at Prenton Park. Micky Mellon’s side may be heartened by Mauricio Pochettino’s assessment of where the Cup sits in terms of silverware hierarchy in this day and age …
To win the Carabao Cup and be in the middle of the Premier League table … I think I would be sacked a few years ago – with two or three Carabao Cups or FA Cups. If you don’t finish how we have finished [in the league] in the last three seasons but win the FA Cup, I don’t know if Daniel [Levy, the Spurs chairman] would have too much patience with me or is nice to say: ‘OK, you’re 10th in the Premier League, I’ll give you a new contract.’
Bit of early Spurs news today. This story from last week, on Toby Alderweireld’s expected contract extension …
… this is now an actual, official, tweeted-out-by-club thing …
The Club can confirm that we have activated the option to extend @AlderweireldTob’s contract until 2020.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 4, 2019
Daniel Taylor was on reporting duties last night …
As the song goes, City fight to the end and it was not just their competitive courage to conjure up a decisive goal, courtesy of Leroy Sané, that delivered a message. It was the spirit of togetherness displayed by Guardiola’s players in that nerve-shredding finale when Liverpool started pumping balls into the penalty area.
On one hand City have not kept a clean sheet during their past 11 fixtures. On the other it was a show of collective defiance during those fraught moments when Liverpool had Virgil van Dijk operating as an extra centre-forward. City gave everything to defend their lead, in the way that true champions do. They dug in, they formed an impenetrable blue line and, when it needed the ugly stuff, they were happy to oblige. In the process they made it clear to their opponents it is going to be one hell of a battle between now and the end of the season.”
Jamie Jackson ran the rule over both sets of players. Lowest scorer: Dejan Lovren “Was near-awful throughout” (2/10). Sané (“scoring the finest goal of his City career) and Agüero (“Willing to dribble and take game to opponents”) both attracted 9s …
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 21 | 39 | 54 |
| 2 | Man City | 21 | 39 | 50 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 21 | 25 | 48 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 21 | 22 | 44 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 21 | 15 | 41 |
Updated
And so, to last night’s freewheeling frenzy at the Etihad. An enthralling press-tastic game went City’s way after Leroy Sané slotted superbly 18 minutes from time. But should Vincent Kompany have been early in with the rubber ducks after going in two-footed to curtail Mo Salah’s charge towards Ederson’s goal?
Jürgen Klopp certainly thought so …
I really like Vincent Kompany but how on earth is that not a red card? He is last man and he goes in. If he hits Mo [Salah] more, he is out for the season. It is not easy for the ref and he may not see it how I see it.
“He took the risk, Mo is on his feet and, if he is not in the moment where he jumps over him, then we all talk differently. Still a nice guy but a really bad decision [from referee Anthony Taylor]. Do we need to open something [a limb]?”
As Barney Ronay said …
The images of victory will be rooted elsewhere. Vincent Kompany was at times a cartoon of chest-heaving full-body defence, although he might also have been sent off for an excessively forceful lunge through Mohamed Salah. At the end, as City’s players left the pitch, a teenage fan came haring through the lines to plead for a selfie with the captain and one half expected Kompany to take him out with a headlock- slamming two-footed Bruce Lee neck-lunge.
Updated
Morning all
Welcome to the first weekend countdown of 2019. A few hours’ kip after a breathless top-of-the-Premier-League encounter, and suddenly The March Of The Second-Choice Keepers, aka the FA Cup third round, is upon us – starting at 7.45pm GMT tonight with Tranmere v Spurs. There’s the small matter of a transfer window pootling along in the background too.
Plenty of reaction and lead-up on the way. Email, tweet or leave a comment below and before you know it the weekend will be here.
To start you off – here’s today’s Rumour Mill, heavy on the Chelsea, but with all-important Adam Lallana-to-Fenerbahce and Mario Balotelli-to-Newcastle contributions.
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