That’s it from me, thanks for reading. You can catch up with all the day’s goals here and all the league tables here. Bye!
Follow Manchester United v Liverpool here:
And here are some match reports from the afternoon’s action in the Premier League:
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Final insight from Alan Smith at The Hawthorns:
Full-time: #WBA 0-0 #saintsfc. Shocking.
— Alan Smith (@alansmith90) September 12, 2015
You can read more on Bayern Munich’s dramatic win against Augsburg here:
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo has spent an afternoon scoring five goals in a 6-0 win over Espanyol to become the highest goalscorer for Real Madrid in La Liga history (230 goals). Karim Benzema got the other.
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That’s 15 points from five games for Manchester City, thanks to their 18-year-old striker Kelechi Iheanacho on his second appearance for the club (he had played one minute before today).
Yeeeeessss @67Kelechi!!!!!!!👏👏👏
— Pablo Zabaleta (@pablo_zabaleta) September 12, 2015
First of many @67Kelechi 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼!! Cmooooon!
— David Silva (@21LVA) September 12, 2015
Premier League full-time scores
Arsenal 2-0 Stoke
Crystal Palace 0-1 Manchester City
Norwich 3-1 Bournemouth
Watford 1-0 Swansea
West Brom 0-0 Southampton
Full-time whistles are blowing across the grounds, including in League Two where Mansfield have thumped four by Crawley.
In League One, Peterborough have put five past Oldham (1-5) while Barnsley have hammered four by Swindon (4-1).
You can read about that late heartbreak for Crystal Palace here:
GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Manchester City (Iheanacho, 90)
Kelechi Iheanacho, or “Whatever his name is, that fella, No72” as Chris Kamara puts it, has grabbed a late, dramatic winner for City!
In the Scottish Premiership, Steven MacLean’s hat-trick has given St Johnstone the points against Hamilton where it’s 4-1.
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West Brom 0-0 Southampton: It sounds like this game is ripe for that late slot on Match of the Day. Baggies’ Jonny Evans has gone off injured, another disappointment for the former Manchester United defender.
Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester City: Still goalless and Palace are the side looking the more likely to nab a late one.
Cristiano Ronaldo has just scored his fifth goal against Espanyol (that’s not ever, that’s today). It’s 6-0, and Ronaldo has now scored 230 La Liga goals, more than any other Real Madrid player.
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GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Stoke (Giroud, 85)
Olivier Giroud settles the nerves for Arsenal and Stoke’s pointless streak at the Emirates goes on.
Updated
Birmingham appear to have sealed their win against Bristol City with their fourth through Jonathan Grounds, to make it 4-2.
“That’s quite the score between Frankfurt and Cologne!”, sarcies Jeremy Wellard.
GOAL! Norwich 3-1 Bournemouth (Cook, 82)
Steve Cook sends Ruddy the wrong way with his header from a corner, but it is surely too late for Eddie Howe’s side.
Arsenal 1-0 Stoke: The Gunners have been on top throughout but still haven’t managed to finish off Mark Hughes’s side.
@LawrenceOstlere Arsenal have dominated this game with a ridiculous number of chances. Butland the hero. Put your money on a 1-1 draw.
— James Lane (@heyhojimjo) September 12, 2015
Around 15 minutes remain in the day’s 3pm BST Premier League matches:
Arsenal 1-0 Stoke
Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester City
Norwich 3-0 Bournemouth
Watford 1-0 Swansea
West Brom 0-0 Southampton
Updated
Manchester United v Liverpool (5:30pm BST) team news is that Wayne Rooney does not feature, while David de Gea starts in goal and Danny Ings makes his first league start for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Confirmation that Bayern Munich did indeed close out that late comeback against Augsburg:
Your full-time scores from a pulsating afternoon of #Bundesliga fixtures. With one more game to come! pic.twitter.com/mGt59RB0Jy
— Bundesliga (@Bundesliga_EN) September 12, 2015
The eye-catching score in League One is Peterborough’s 4-1 lead against Oldham, Souleymane Coulibaly’s double doing some of the damage. Meanwhile, Blackpool have pegged back league-leaders Gillingham, 1-1.
@LawrenceOstlere a dull game a priestfields, Gillingham and Blackpool are 1_1 has been enlivened by the ref booking the linesman
— ptother (@ptother3) September 12, 2015
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GOAL! Norwich 3-0 Bournemouth (Jarvis, 67)
A fine day for Norwich is done and dusted against their former Championship rivals as Matt Jarvis cuts inside on that dangerous right peg of his and bends a finish into the top corner of the goal on his debut.
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In the Bundesliga Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has added a late goal for Dortmund to win 4-2 at Hannover, while a Thomas Müller penalty has turned Bayern Munich’s match on its head, and they are on the verge of beating poor old Augsburg 2-1. Wolfsburg however have been held by Ingolstadt, 0-0.
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RED CARD! (Behrami, Watford, 65)
Valon Behrami dishes out a nasty stamp and he’s straight off, offering Swansea a way back into the match. Still 1-0 at Vicarage Road.
My colleague Alan Smith is at The Hawthorns where it’s still West Brom 0-0 Southampton:
Saido Berahino on for the anonymous Lambert. Lots of boos, lots chanting Berahino's name. About 60-40 in his favour.
— Alan Smith (@alansmith90) September 12, 2015
Swansea react by bringing on Jefferson Montero.
GOAL! Watford 1-0 Swansea (Ighalo, 59)
Are Watford about to get their first win of the season on the board? Odion Ighalo gets on the end of a Troy Deeney header to put them ahead.
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@LawrenceOstlere Re: Messi in the future, given ongoing Hughes project, maybe we will find out if Messi can do it at Stoke on a rainy etc.
— James Seo (@lossless) September 12, 2015
Though Ryan Shawcross seemed to answer the eternal question during his Twitter Q&A, when asked which player he thought was better:
Messi, but I would prefer Ronaldo playing for us. He can handle it in the Premier League. https://t.co/NZItjj6EKM
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) September 2, 2015
Tom Harp emails to alert us to the Bundesliga, where Robert Lewandowski appears to have denied Augsburg an unlikely win in Munich with a late equaliser. It’s 1-1 with a few minutes to go. Dortmund still lead 3-2 at Hannover.
GOAL! Norwich 2-0 Bournemouth (Hoolahan, 52)
Wes Hoolahan is back at it, drifting through midfield before hammering one past Boruc in the Bournemouth goal.
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The man who set up Cameron Jerome’s goal at Carrow Road with a lovely bit of skill is getting some praise from his team-mate:
Wes Hoolahan is a magician! ⚽️👏
— Elliott Bennett (@Ebenno88) September 12, 2015
Peeeep! Play is back under way in the Premier League’s 3pm BST kick-offs.
Arsenal 1-0 Stoke
Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester City
Norwich 1-0 Bournemouth
Watford 0-0 Swansea
West Brom 0-0 Southampton
Here’s something: In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich are losing to Alexander Esswein’s goal. Augsburg have around 15 minutes to cling on to their 1-0 lead. Dortmund are beating Hannover 3-2.
@LawrenceOstlere if not mistaken, those goals make Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid's joint top league goalscorer of all time.
— Sober Analysis (@SoberAnalysis) September 12, 2015
Ronaldo has indeed equalled Raul’s La Liga record of 228. I am not sure which will be more upsetting: the day when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have both retired, or before that when we realise both are on the slide and can no longer do the things with a football that they used to.
Championship
There are nine games in the second tier and the pick of the bunch is an entertaining half at St Andrew’s, where Clayton Donaldson completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot for Birmingham to lead Bristol City 3-1 (our Steven Gerrard lookalike was in fact Aden Flint). Brighton have continued their impressive start to the season, leading 1-0 against Hull, while Derby are 2-0 up at Preston and Brentford lead Leeds at Elland Road 1-0.
Half-time Premier League scores
Arsenal 1-0 Stoke
Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester City
Norwich 1-0 Bournemouth
Watford 0-0 Swansea
West Brom 0-0 Southampton
You can see all the day’s scorelines in the Football League and across Europe here.
“Is it me,” emails Peter Crosby, “or has Stevie Gerrard signed for Bristol City on the hush-hush? He appears to be desperately trying to keep Clayton Donaldson’s shot in that picture.” A great spot. I’ll give you shirt colour, number and haircut, but the tattooed arm is the giveaway.
Watford 0-0 Swansea: Bafetimbi Gomis almost scores whilst spread-eagled on the Vicarage Road turf but can’t beat Gomes with a swing of his boot.
Karim Benzema has joined in the fun with Cristiano Ronaldo, and Real Madrid lead 4-0 in the first-half against Espanyol.
Jeremy Dresner emails: “Enjoying the Near TMS like background hum of a slow premier league day so far not much fare.” We haven’t had to pad things out with idle chat about food and books and Yorkshire in 80s, but we’re not far off.
GOAL! Norwich 1-0 Bournemouth (Jerome, 35)
Cameron Jerome positions himself in the box to get on the end of a Wes Hoolahan pull-back, and slots home.
Updated
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had both gone two games without scoring for the first time since the Portuguese moved to Madrid, but in 20 minutes Ronaldo has scored a hat-trick to climb the top of the La Liga goalscoring charts. He’s good. Real lead Espanyol 3-0.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Stoke (Walcott, 31)
That is why he’s in the team! Theo races on to a ball over the Stoke defence in a way Giroud never could and finishes well past Jack Butlund.
Updated
In the Championship, Clayton Donaldson is already on a hat-trick at St Andrew’s having put Birmingham into a 2-0 lead against Bristol City.
Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester City: This is not good news for City: Sergio Agüero signals to the bench and he’s coming off. Kevin de Bruyne comes on for his debut, but City now have Sterling, Silva and Agüero injured with Juventus to come in the Champions League.
Arsenal may not have actually scored, but they have still made some very pretty pass maps:
.@19SCazorla and @MesutOzil1088 have looked dangerous so far. Distribution maps here, with key passes in yellow pic.twitter.com/2bbZ1ALnCT
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) September 12, 2015
Still no goals in the Premier League so far in the 3pm BST kick-offs. Earlier, however, Everton and Steven Naismith hammered three past Chelsea to win at Goodison Park. Paul Wilson’s match report begins: “Chelsea have made an unexpectedly terrible start to the season but credit to their supporters for keeping a sense of humour. ‘We are staying up,’ they chanted as their side slumped to a third defeat in five games.”
You can read the full report here:
In the rest of the Football League Fleetwood 1-0 Bradford, Gillingham 1-0 Blackpool and Oldham 0-1 Peterborough are the only League One goals, while in League Two it is Carlisle 0-1 Dag & Red, and Jason Banton has scored against his former club to equalise for Wycombe against Plymouth, where it’s 1-1.
In the Championship, Burnley have struck against Sheffield Wednesday direct from a David Jones 25-yard free-kick.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored his first La Liga goal of the season! And it’s a very Cristiano Ronaldo sort of goal, collecting the ball on the left of the box behind the defence and opening his body to pass into the bottom-right corner. Real Madrid lead Espanyol 1-0.
Arsenal 0-0 Stoke: Stoke are on the ropes in the early part of this match at the Emirates, Walcott’s latest miss a point blank header which he fires over. Presumably on the bench Giroud has his palm on his forehead.
Brighton have scored the first goal of the nine Championship fixtures underway, Tommer Hemed firing into the corner from 12 yards against Hull at the Amex to make it 1-0.
In the Bundesliga, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has equalised for Dortmund at Hannover to make it 1-1 as they seek to keep the pressure on Bayern Munich at the top of the table. Bayern are still goalless in their match against Augsburg.
Like a boss:
Here's Naisy with his match ball. Header, left foot, right foot... a perfect hat-trick! Which was your favourite? pic.twitter.com/uq2KAviUIf
— Everton (@Everton) September 12, 2015
Arsenal 0-0 Stoke: Jack Butland has made a stunning save at the Emirates to keep out Alexis Sanchez’s header, and star winger-striker Theo Walcott buries the rebound wide.
Peeeeep! The Premier League’s 3pm BST kick-offs have, well, kicked off.
My colleague Alan Smith is at the The Hawthorns this afternoon, and he has reported that some West Brom supporters have made their feelings towards Saido Berahino known before kick-off: “Quite a few home fans airing dissatisfaction when Berahino’s name was called out.”
Mark Hughes has been forced into a couple of changes for Stoke’s trip to the Emirates by suspensions picked up in their 1-0 defeat to West Brom. Glen Johnson, Marko Arnautovic and Joselu all come into the side.
Arsène Wenger continues to give Olivier Giroud that loving arm round the shoulder by leaving the striker out and putting a winger in his place; Theo Walcott leads the line and behind him Mesut Özil returns to the starting line-up, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain dropping out of the side to face Stoke.
Updated
Manchester City have made a couple of changes to the team that won their last three league games, with Wilfried Bony coming in to partner Sergio Agüero in attack, and Samir Nasri playing on the left. Raheem Sterling and David Silva are both injured, while Kevin De Bruyne is on the bench.
You can follow Crystal Palace v Manchester City live on the site with Bryan Armen Graham, here:
That result means Chelsea could end the day in the relegation zone, though that scenario would involve Stoke winning at Arsenal.
“Michael Owen said he ‘expected Radamel Falcao to do better’ with his header earlier,” emails Jarrell Anthony. “I guess BT can’t have had many Man Utd games last season.”
Full-time: Everton 3-1 Chelsea. Oh wow, a Steven Naismith hat-trick of all things has made Chelsea’s iffy start to the season a whole lot worse. You can get the skinny on this one from Scott Murray, here:
I think Aberdeen are chuffed with that result:
A stirring rendition of Northern Lights as The Dons players leave the field after a superb result despite being down to 10 men! #DonsLIVE
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) September 12, 2015
Full-time: QPR 1-2 Nottingham Forest. In the day’s early kick-off in the Championship, Nottingham Forest have completed a late comeback against QPR, an Henri Lansbury penalty topped off by Nelson Oliveira’s 85th-minute winner to seal the victory and deny QPR the chance to go top of the table.
And here is that stunning chip by Ralph Milne at Dens Park:
Simon McMahon has been in touch with more on the Scottish Premiership, and a significant day for Dundee United:
“Afternoon Lawrence. An emotional day in store at Tannadice, where a minute’s silence will be observed in memory of Dundee United legend Ralph Milne, scorer of one of the goals (and what a goal it was) on the day United won their first and, to date, only league title at Dens Park in May 1983. A local lad who played over 300 times for United and remains the clubs top scorer in Europe in the days when we were competing with (and beating) some of Europe’s best sides, it would be a shame if the majority of English football fans remembered Ralphie for his spell at Man United, as by then he was already finished and on the road that would lead to his death last week at just 54 after a long battle with alcoholism.
“Ferguson, as Aberdeen manager, had seen Milne’s pace and lethal finishing up close when he was in his pomp as part of United’s league winning side (who only narrowly missed out on reaching the European Cup final the following season), and took a punt. Remember him instead for his goals against Monaco, Moenchengladbach, Standard Liege, and particularly that one at Dens in May 1983. On more mundane matters, Kilmarnock are the visitors to Tannadice today, the pick of the Scottish Championship is St. Mirren v. Falkirk, and in Scottish League One there’s a Tayside derby between Brechin and Forfar.”
Full-time: Aberdeen 2-1 Celtic. Despite Jonny Hayes’ red card the Dons have beaten Celtic with ten men and are top of The Unpredictable Scottish Premiership. It sounds like a wonderful atmosphere, too, all smiling and singing in the drizzle.
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Aberdeen will climb above Celtic to the top of the Scottish Premiership if they can hold on... which looks unlikely when Leigh Griffiths rounds the goalkeeper, but his shot is cleared off the line! Dramatic stuff in injury time at Pittodrie.
Aberdeen’s analysis of the strike on Twitter:
GOAL!!!!!!!!! Aberdeen!!!!!!!!!!!!! #DonsLIVE pic.twitter.com/MhTFAT1lGI
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) September 12, 2015
In Aberdeen, the Dons have taken the lead against Celtic with five minutes to play, Paul Quinn nudging home from close range for a 2-1 lead.
Crystal Palace v Manchester City line-ups
Crystal Palace: McCarthy; Kelly, Dann (c), Hangeland, Souare; McArthur, Cabaye; Zaha, Puncheon, Sako; Bolasie. Subs: Hennessey, Mariappa, Jedinak, Mutch, Lee, Campbell, Gayle.
Manchester City: Hart, Sagna, Kompany (c), Mangala, Kolarov, Fernandinho, Toure, Nasri, Navas, Bony, Aguero. Subs: Caballero, Demichelis, Otamanedi, Garcia, Roberts, Iheanacho, De Bruyne.
Norwich v Bournemouth line-ups
Norwich: Ruddy; Wisdom, Martin (c), Bassong, Brady; Redmond, Howson, Tettey, Jarvis; Hoolahan; Jerome. Subs: Mbokani, Dorrans, Lafferty, Olsson, R Bennett, O’Neil.
Bournemouth: Boruc, Francis, Elphick (c), Cook, Smith, Ritchie, O’Kane, Surman, Stanislas, King, Wilson. Subs: Federici, Distin, Bennett, Gosling, Pugh, Murray, Kermorgant.
Arsenal v Stoke line-ups
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Cazorla; Ramsey, Ozil, Alexis; Walcott. Subs: Ospina, Debuchy, Gibbs, Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Campbell, Giroud.
Stoke: Butland; Bardsley, Cameron, Muniesa, Pieters; Whelan (c), van Ginkel; Diouf, Shaqiri, Arnautovic; Joselu. Subs: Given, Wollscheid, Wilson, Ireland, Sidwell, Bojan, Crouch.
Watford v Swansea line-ups
Watford: Gomes; Nyom, Prödl, Cathcart, Anya; Behrami, Capoue; Jurado, Ighalo, Abdi; Deeney (c). Subs: Arlauskis, Holebas, Watson, Berghuis, Diamanti, Dyer, Ibarbo.
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Williams (c), Taylor, Cork, Shelvey, Sigurdsson, Routledge, Ayew, Gomis. Subs: Nordfeldt, Bartley, Rangel, Ki, Emnes, Montero, Eder.
West Brom v Southampton line-ups
West Brom: Myhill, Dawson, McAuley, Evans, Brunt, Gardner, Fletcher (c), Yacob, McManaman, Lambert, Rondon. Subs: Lindegaard, Olsson, Chester, Morrison, McClean, Gnabry, Berahino
Southampton: Stekelenburg, Cédric, Fonte (c), van Dijk, Targett, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, S. Davis, Rodriguez, Tadić, Pellè. Subs: K. Davis, Yoshida, Long, Mané, Romeu, Juanmi, Caulker.
Updated
Team news from The Hawthorns is that Saido Berahino is on the bench today for West Brom. Rickie Lambert starts up front against his former club, Southampton, alongside Salomón Rondón. Line-ups to come.
Preamble
Hello there. Club football is back! We have lots of games to keep you up to date with in Britain and across Europe, and top of the bill are five Premier League 3pm BST kick-offs. Stoke go to the Emirates, a venue where they have never mustered even a single Premier League point (1981 was the last time a Stoke side didn’t lose away to Arsenal in the league), but they do have new shiny players like Thighs Monthly poster boy Xherdan Shaqiri so maybe, just maybe...
High-flying Crystal Palace take on Earth-orbiting Manchester City at Selhurst Park, where Kevin De Bruyne is expected to make his City debut. The three promoted clubs are all in action and Bournemouth’s visit to Carrow Road will provide an interesting measure of the two club’s potential this season. It is hard to tell if it is a relegation six-pointer or a just a mid-table joust, but either way the sight of two young British managers in Alex Neil and Eddie Howe going head to head in the Premier League can only be heartwarming.
The other side up from the Championship, Watford, take on in-form Swansea at home as they continue to search for their first win in the top flight this term under Quique Sánchez Flores. Meanwhile, post-Berahino-gate West Brom, with fresh artillery in the form of Rickie Lambert, entertain his old side Southampton at The Hawthorns.
In La Liga, Espanyol meet Real Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo still searching for his first goal of the campaign, while Bayern Munich host Augsburg and Dortmund head to Hannover in five Bundesliga games (2:30pm BST), and in France Lyon play Lille (4pm BST). And as if all that’s not enough, there is a packed football league schedule and Scottish Premiership, too.
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