That'll be that
On a day that saw Newcastle and Sunderland plumb further depths, Villa come close to joining them, Bournemouth and Watford continue the promoted sides’ respectable form, Leicester come back again and Swansea and Everton maintain the status quo, it’s time to go. Thanks for your company; you should now grace Nick Miller with your presence at his Man City v West Ham MBM. There will be match reports from around the grounds coming your way on this site very, very soon, too.
Championship leaders Brighton have drawn 0-0 at Wolves, who had 10 men too.
Rotherham have sneaked it at the death against 10-man Cardiff – a Matthew Connolly own goal!
Full-time: Swansea 0-0 Everton
That was the very last action in a game Everton should have won.
Red card! Kevin Mirallas (Everton)
He’d only just come on, but he goes through the back of Modou Barrow and he’s off! Then Ki lashes over form the hosts after a free kick is headed across goal!
Full-time: Bournemouth 2-0 Sunderland
But there’s always a local rival in an equally farcical situation.
Full-time: Newcastle 1-2 Watford
Boos ring out from the Gallowgate!
Full-time: Aston Villa 0-1 West Brom
Berahino makes everything okay, unless you’re Tim Sherwood.
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Full-time: Stoke 2-2 Leicester
Mahrez + Vardy = another fine comeback, and Leicester still unbeaten!
Late effort flashes across goal at Newcastle by Rolando Aarons ... and Jamie Vardy almost produces Leicester’s second successive 3-2 turnaround with an effort that goes even closer at Stoke!
Real Madrid, by the way, are just 1-0 up on Granada and Ronaldo has not scored. No records today.
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Allan Nyom has just blasted over a presentable chance for Watford on the counter ... while Villa have at last carved out a chance against West Brom, headed over by Gestede.
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Torquay are now just the 3-7 down to Bromley, by the way.
Bournemouth hit the bar against Sunderland .. it was a shot that bobbled up from Marc Pugh from a right-sided cross. A division lower, Joel Lynch has scored Huddersfield’s fourth against Bolton.
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Tom Lawrence has made it Blackburn 3-0 Charlton, so that’ll be their first win of the season.
Watford sitting very deep now at Newcastle, who had a half-shout for a penalty when Perez went down under a Prodl challenge. In the Conference, by the way, it’s now Torquay 2-7 (SEVEN) Bromley.
West Brom are looking pretty comfortable against Villa, with time running out...
Those MK Dons have just had Samir Carruthers sent off.
De Jong might have equalised for Newcastle there, Gomes smothering from close range down to his right. In the Chanmpionship, Emyr Huws has made is Huddersfield 3-1 Bolton.
Manchester City's starting 11 today cost £309M. Full debuts for the £86M pair of De Bruyne & Otamendi.
— Richard Jolly (@RichJolly) September 19, 2015
Go, FIFPro.
Goal for MK Dons – now 2-1 down to Leeds thanks to Simon Church. Jordan Rhodes has scored again to make it Blackburn 2-0 Charlton. York, who have 10 men, have scored twice to square things against entertainers Carlisle.
Red card – Younes Kaboul (Sunderland)
Two yellow, this one for a poor challenge on Wilson. One of those long, miserable afternoons for him and his team.
Another Everton cross flashes in front of everyone ... they’ve been very good today but can’t find a cutting edge. At times Ashley Williams has kept them out single handedly. Still 0-0.
Tom Cairney has pulled one back for Fulham at Hillsborough, and it’s 3-2 to the hosts.
@NickAmes82 - re: The MK Dons. Affectionate and incorrect. annoying too like The Arctic Monkeys or The Doves or The Editors. Ugh.
— Dean Best (@dean_best) September 19, 2015
True that. People don’t tend to make the same mistake with Foals, I always find. Just an oddity there.
Disallowed goal at Villa Park now! Micah Richards scores ... but the referee has already given them a free kick on the edge of the box!
Brentford now have a statistical advantage over Preston – Marco Djuricin has made it 2-1.
Goal! Stoke 2-2 Leicester (Vardy)
They’ve turned it right around! A flick on from Ulloa, good pace and strength from Vardy to hold off Marc Wilson, and a decisive finish! Leicester have been very good in this half and deserve it.
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Janmaat almost equalises! The right-back seems to be his team’s biggest goal threat and he unleashes a left-footer from 20 yards that Gomes parries wide.
Lasse Vibe has given Brentford some good feelings with an equaliser against Preston.
Goal! Newcastle 1-2 Watford (Janmaat)
They’re back in it! Moussa Sissoko stretches to get the ball across from the right byline and there’s Daryl Janmaat to sweep the ball in from six yards out. Will that lift players and crowd?
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How are Everton not leading at Swansea by now? Now a Barkley shot is deflected across goal and, after two bites of the cherry, Lukaku has a scuffed effort cleared off the line by Williams. So many chances for the visitors there.
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3 - Ross Wallace has become the first player to get a hat-trick of assists in the Championship this season. Crafty.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 19, 2015
Do “MK Dons” really need a definite article in front of them? I don’t like this “The MK Dons” business. It’s a bit affectionate.
Another fine chance for Lukaku at Swansea from Barry’s through ball, but he shoots over when one-on-one with Lukasz Fabianski!
Adam Armstrong has scored his sixth of the season for Coventry, who now lead Chesterfield. He is on loan from Newcastle. See what I might be getting at?
Huddersfield have completed their turnaround against Bolton – a slide rule finish from Mustapha Carayol makes it 2-1.
Now Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 Fulham, thanks to Michael Turner’s header and a third Ross Wallace assist.
Goal disallowed for Sunderland at Bournemouth – although Jeremain Lens might have been hard done by with that offside decision.
I meant Stoke 2-1 Leicester, there. Hopefully the spiel beneath gave that away.
Wolves have had Conor Coady sent off against Brighton. Still 0-0. Southend lead 2-0 at Millwall, it’s Adam Barrett.
Chance for Everton at Swansea! How did Kone not get a foot on that? Barkley tricked down the left, flashed a low ball across goal ... and the ball appeared to go right through the Ivorian, with the goal gaping!
Northampton lead 3-0 at Morecambe in League Two.
Goal! Stoke 2-1 Leicester (Mahrez pen)
Leicester, who have brought on Albrighton for Inler, are back in it. Five goals for Mahrez now.
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Penalty to Leicester at Stoke....
Arnautovic on Drinkwater ... wait right here.
Villa have brought on Rudy Gestede at half-time as they look to find parity with West Brom; Newcastle have brought on De Jong as they look to belong on the same pitch as Watford.
Back underway!
Well they certainly are at Newcastle, so I assume the others will follow shortly.
Mats Anderson writes: “I need some help. Have been scouring the planet for evidence that getting rid of Warburton was a good move by Brentford. Can’t find any. Please help me find some. Disclaimer: Early days yet.”
It was always going to be a “process”, so yes, hard to judge. But I’d say the decision was a complete nonsense – and that doesn’t mean I can’t see the potential benefits of analytics, statistics, and so forth.
@NickAmes82 It's #TalkLikeAPirateDay hopefully Ighalo will shiver Krul's timbers a few more times in the 2nd half. #watfordfc
— Jared Brown (@BrownSthlm) September 19, 2015
It isn’t, is it? Do people still do that?
Newcastle then, eh? Seems McClaren was right that things would have to get worse first. But isn’t it just the feel of the place at the moment? Whoever is in charge, and whoever is playing, it just seems pretty joyless and hard to like. Am I wrong?
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Mark Judd on Carlisle: “Please give a mention to Carlisle, strugglers last season but now up to 6th in Div 4 (in old money). They are currently the highest scorers in Div 4 with 17, but also have the worst defence having conceded 15. Entertainment all the way.”
He’s not wrong. They are currently 2-0 up at York.
Our man At The Game
HT at Dean Court. Goal of the season so far from Ritchie, Wilson impressive. But Sunderland have been dreadful. 2-0 #bousun
— Alan Smith (@alansmith90) September 19, 2015
@NickAmes82 How long until @Official_Darlo are the biggest team in the north east?
— phil withall (@phil_withall) September 19, 2015
Hmmmmm.
You watching a game? Tell us about the game.
Cardiff’s 10 men have equalised at Rotherham with a penalty of their own, converted by Peter Whittingham.
Premier League half-times
Bournemouth 2-0 Sunderland; Newcastle 0-2 Watford; Stoke 2-0 Leicester; Villa 0-1 West Brom; Swansea 0-0 Everton.
Jordan Rhodes has scored for Blackburn against Charlton, it’s 1-0; Emyr Huws has equalised for Huddersfield against Bolton.
Could have been 3-0 to Watford, and three for Ighalo, at Newcastle ... but Tim Krul just snuffed him out.
Charlie Taylor has lashed in a second goal for Leeds at MK Dons, and it’s 0-2.
Rotherham scored that penalty – Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe makes it 1-0.
And Jermain Defoe has missed two fine chances at Bournemouth, where Sunderland trail 2-0. One was a one-on-one thwarted by Boruc, the next a free header with the ‘keeper in no man’s land, bulleted wide.
David Marshall, Cardiff’s goalkeeper, has been sent off at Rotherham, penalty there...
Tom Lees has put Sheffield Wednesday back in front against Fulham.
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Goal! Aston Villa 0-1 West Brom (Berahino)
Yes, it’s Twitter Sensation Saido Berahino ... stealing onto a low, relatively harmless Morrison shot and toeing it past a wrongfooted Brad Guzan!
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Michael Dawson has put Hull back on terms against QPR: 1-1.
And that was even closer from Lukaku, who manufactured some space on the right of the area and saw his shot deflected narrowly – crucially – wide by Ashley Williams.
Arouna Kone has lashed wildly over for Everton, but they’re having slightly the better of things at the Liberty Stadium just now.
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And Dean Windass’s son, Josh, has scored twice in as many minutes for Accrington Stanley against Exeter. Two-nil!
Jamie O’Hara – remember him? – has equalised for Fulham at Hillsborough from 20 yards.
A Chris Wood penalty has put Leeds ahead at MK Dons.
It’s Colchester 2-1 Gillingham in League One, while Burton lead at Swindon thanks to Stuart Beavon.
Romelu Lukaku just had a half-chance for Everton at Swansea, wafting a leg at a low Naismith shot but seeing it land in Lukasz Fabianski’s hands.
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Goal! Newcastle 0-2 Watford (Ighalo)
Ighalo again! Fed by Troy Deeney, the striker rounds Krul and rolls in his fourth of the season! St James’ Park is apoplectic...
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QPR lead at Hull and it is, of course, Charlie Austin snaffling one up.
Sunderland’s green away kit needs some explaining.
Championship leaders Brighton have missed a penalty at Wolves! Damian Martinez, on loan from Arsenal, has saved from Tomer Hemed. Still nil apiece.
How long, incidentally, until Callum Wilson gets into the full England squad? Email me and tell me exactly how long.
More on that Walters goal – elementary mistake from Wes Morgan, chased down by Walters, who sold Kasper Schmeichel short with a backpass and bore the consequences...
Goal! Stoke 2-0 Leicester (Walters)
It’s the returning, possibly want-away forward, helping turn the form book right on its head!
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Make sure you see that Matt Ritchie goal tonight – such a brilliant, clean hit.
Sunderland trying to battle back on the south coast – a Jordi Gomez free kick from the right nearly snuck past Artur Boruc. At Swansea, Bafetimi Gomis has shot wide from a decent position.
Now it’s Bristol City 0-2 Reading – Garath McCleary from long range there.
Another goal in the Championship – Sheffield Wednesday lead Fulham 1-0 with a Fernando Forestieri header.
Goal! Stoke 1-0 Leicester (Bojan)
Well! A lovely finish by Bojan after a fantastic run from Arnautovic – his first Premier League goal since January, on his first start of the campaign!
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Reading lead at Bristol City in the Championship – Nick Blackman.
Sunderland are in trouble, aren’t they? They really are. Yes, they’ve brought a few players in recently – but are Toivonen, M’Vila and Borini really as good as the options their competitors have?
Goal! Newcastle 0-1 Watford (Ighalo)
Oh dear, Newcastle ... a third goal form Ighalo, scored from close range, has made things very interesting there after an end-to-end start.
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Goal! Bournemouth 2-0 Sunderland (Ritchie)
Oh, what a goal from Matt Ritchie! A corner is half-cleared and he thuds an absolutely wondrous volley past a rooted Costel Pantilimon! That is superb.
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A clash of heads is holding matters up at Swansea – Jagielka and Ayew colliding. Both should be alright.
Bolton lead at Huddersfield through Liam Feeney, a tier below.
Goal! Bournemouth 1-0 Sunderland (Wilson)
An early blow for Sunderland, finished clinically by Callum Wilson – now five in his last four – after Dan Gosling had been allowed to travel forward with the ball in midfield.
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Salomon Rondon has missed an early chance for West Brom at Villa, heading at Brad Guzan.
The first goal of the day has been scored Preston’s Daniel Johnson at Brentford after 33 seconds ... followed quickly by Crewe’s Adam King at Shrewsbury in League One. 0-1 in both.
Peeeeeeep! They're off
More or less, anyway, given that the clock’s just struck three. Buckle up....
Here’s Danny Taylor’s match report from a tempestuous lunchtime at Stamford Bridge.
Ian Copestake writes: “Steven Gerrard wishes he was 25 again and captaining Liverpool just as the current 25 year old captain gets two months out with foot knack? Coincidence? I think we all know the answer to that.”
Heh. Nothing would surprise you...
Back to the 3pms then. Some big games down the bottom already – Bournemouth v Sunderland and perhaps Newcastle v Watford already have a little bit of pressure attached to them. If you support any of those, what are your feelings?
Full time: Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal. Thankfully that one went off without a single controversy or flashpoint.
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Chelsea have wrapped things up against Arsenal in the 90th minute – that’ll probably be a Calum Chambers own goal, the defender giving a heavy deflection to Eden Hazard’s shot. 2-0.
Another thing to keep an eye on abroad – if/when Cristiano Ronaldo scores a hat-trick against Granada this afternoon, he will beat the club’s all-time goalscoring record of 323. He helped himself to just the five in their 9-1 win against the same opponents in April.
In the Championship, Middlesbrough have just won 2-1 at Nottingham Forest, who missed a penalty in the second half – big result for them.
Actually, that might not have helped if you’re a Gooner. Your lads are now down to nine men at Chelsea – Cazorla the latest to go. 80th minute there.
You’re still angry about Diego Costa, aren’t you? Let this cheer you:
This is how to deal with Diego Costa. https://t.co/k9A8Ejc41l (thanks .@KHeneage)
— John Brewin (@JohnBrewinESPN) September 19, 2015
Have a digest of all that, for a few minutes. Convinced by your team’s lineup for this afternoon?
Premier League teams
Bournemouth v Sunderland
Bournemouth: Boruc, Francis, Cook, Distin, Daniels, Ritchie, Surman, Gosling, Pugh, Tomlin, Wilson. Subs: Smith, Kermorgant, Stanislas, Federici, Murray, O’Kane, Bennett.
Sunderland: Pantilimon, Jones, Coates, Kaboul, Van Aanholt, Toivonen, M’Vila, Gomez, Lens, Defoe, Borini. Subs: Cattermole, Larsson, Rodwell, Johnson, Yedlin, Mannone, Fletcher.
Stoke v Leicester
Stoke: Butland, Johnson, Cameron, Wilson, Pieters, Whelan, van Ginkel, Arnautovic, Krkic, Shaqiri, Walters. Subs: Muniesa, Ireland, Odemwingie, Joselu, Given, Crouch, Wollscheid.
Leicester: Schmeichel, De Laet, Huth, Morgan, Schlupp, Inler, Drinkwater, Kante, Mahrez, Vardy, Okazaki. Subs: King, Simpson, Kramaric, Ulloa, Benalouane, Schwarzer, Albrighton.
Aston Villa v West Brom
Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Richards, Lescott, Amavi, Westwood, Sanchez, Grealish, Gil, Agbonlahor, Sinclair. Subs: Clark, Bacuna, Cole, Veretout, Ayew, Bunn, Gestede.
West Brom: Myhill, Dawson, McAuley, Evans, Brunt, Morrison, Fletcher, Yacob, McClean, Berahino, Rondon. Subs: Olsson, Chester, Gardner, Lambert, McManaman, Lindegaard, Gnabry.
Newcastle v Watford
Newcastle: Krul, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Haidara, Wijnaldum, Colback, Sissoko, Perez, Thauvin, Cisse. Subs: Williamson, Anita, De Jong, Obertan, Lascelles, Aarons, Elliot.
Watford: Gomes, Nyom, Prodl, Cathcart, Anya, Watson, Capoue, Abdi, Deeney, Jurado, Ighalo. Subs: Ake, Guedioura, Ibarbo, Berghuis, Hoban, Diamanti, Arlauskis.
Swansea v Everton
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor, Cork, Shelvey, Ayew, Sigurdsson, Montero, Gomis. Subs: Nordfeldt, Rangel, Bartley, Ki Sung-Yueng, Routledge, Barrow, Eder.
Everton: Howard, Galloway, Stones, Jagielka, Browning, Barry, McCarthy, Naismith, Barkley, Kone, Lukaku. Subs: Robles, Gibson, Mirallas, Lennon, Deulofeu, Osman, Funes Mori.
Hello, Clockwatchers!
“Clockwatchers”. Sounds a bit pejorative, doesn’t it – and there won’t be too much reason to sit around waiting our lives away this afternoon. Why? Take it away, Premier League 3pms...
Aston Villa v West Brom – Villa warm up for the League Cup derby against Birmingham with ... a derby against the Baggies. This is known, these days, as the Joleon Lescott Derby and you can read more about that from Barry below.
Bournemouth v Sunderland – Big game for both here. Bournemouth could do with winning a home game soon in what has been a relatively kind early run. Sunderland could do with winning a game.
Newcastle v Watford – Newcastle could use a win too in what has been a torrid start to the season in the north-east. Steve McClaren says things might get worse before they get better, but they could do with perking up rather against promoted Watford, who look reasonably solid and had an impressive win over Swansea last week.
Stoke v Leicester – Second-placed Leicester (yes – second-placed Leicester) have been excellent so far and have the chance to further their good mood at Stoke, the last of our winless teams and one that, for all the flair they’ve added, looks rather porous at the moment.
Swansea v Everton – Should be quite easy on the eye, this, and with eight points apiece they’ve had similarly solid starts to the season. Can one of them use this game to push into the top four or five?
Man City v West Ham ... is at 5.30pm and not in our remit.
Diego Costa v Every Right-Thinking Human Being ... is right here with Nick Miller.
There is more, because this is football and there is always more. The usual full-on schedule of Football League games kicks in and highlights in the Championship include Hull v QPR and Wolves v Brighton. We’ll keep up with what’s on in Scotland too, and as much as possible with anything that’s happening on the continent – with Bayern Munich visiting Darmstadt in the Bundesliga.
So there we are, Clockwatchers. None of us will want any of this to end. Drop us an email or two with your hopes, fears and dreams for the afternoon ahead – and if you’re at a game, any game, let us know all about it.
Hello. Nick will be here shortly to guide you through today’s 3pm kick-offs, including Aston Villa v West Brom. Here’s what Barry Glendenning has to say on an important game for Villa boss Tim Sherwood:
“We’ve got the two biggest matches this club is ever going to have ahead of us,” Tim Sherwood has said, but while Villa fans could be forgiven for hoping slightly grander, more prestigious occasions lie in their club’s mid- to long-term future, the importance of these games in relation to how their manager is perceived by fans in the short-term cannot be overstated. Back to back defeats could leave a dent on his reputation that even the most accomplished local panel-beaters might struggle to repair.
After the almighty dog’s breakfast Villa made of their attempt to close out the win against Leicester City when two goals up last weekend, back to back wins against local rivals West Brom and City would buy Sherwood some much needed breathing space after an inauspicious start to the season in which his team has kept just one clean sheet and leaked two or more goals in each of their past four matches. It will be interesting to see whether or not he attempts to rectify this porousness by adopting a safety-first approach that one suspects goes against everything he stands for as a manager.
We’ve got another nine things for you to look out for this weekend, and you can look in on all the fixtures, latest scores and results right here.
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