Anyway, I’m not going to keep you hanging around for that Bournemouth score (still 0-0) for another 20 minutes. You can keep in touch with that, and check out the rest of the scores/results, here. That’s it from me for today – thanks for your company and contributions, as ever, and keep your eye open for the live match reports that will start popping up on the homepage any moment. Cheers, and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Dramatic late penalty save by Wycombe’s Matt Ingram with the final action of that game between Wycombe and Stevenage! 2-2 it ends.
Apparently some crowd trouble at Rotherham v Millwall:
2-1 Rotherham and now fighting in the stadium pic.twitter.com/2nYKYokKXu
— Charles Ducksbury (@cducksbury) February 28, 2015
The full-times are rattling in merrily, but the one at Bournemouth won’t for some time. It was delayed by 30 minutes, remember, and currently stands Bournemouth 0-0 Blackburn.
Full-time: West Brom 1-0 Southampton
Saints’ halo has slipped; Pulis is doing his thing again.
Late chance for Elia at the Hawthorns.....but he blasts over, and surely that’s it for the visitors.
Full-time: Stoke 1-0 Hull
Crouchy does it. Stoke look snug, Hull don’t.
Full-time: Newcastle 1-0 Aston Villa
Villa really are right in the mire now. Newcastle are Newcastle.
Updated
Late half-chance for Villa as N’Zogbia gets a sight of goal on the edge of the area against his old club but shoots over, and then...
Championship leaders Derby have lost 2-0 at Fulham.
Newcastle keeping the ball by the corner flag – five of the six added minutes to go.
Full-time: Manchester United 2-0 Sunderland
The post-match chat will not be about the football.
Full-time: Burnley 0-1 Swansea
Burnley still deep in trouble.
Updated
Ander Herrera thinks he has his second in two games for Manchester United, but it’s disallowed.
And Swansea might make it two at Burnley, but substitute Oliveira can’t put it away. Not long left now...
Bury are two up at Plymouth in that tussle between League Two play-off contenders. Danny Rose has wrapped that one up.
Hearts stopped at 10. That’s how many they scored against Cowdenbeath, who scored nil.
Six added minutes at Newcastle. Does Tim Sherwood have anything up his sleeve?
Rotherham may have won it against Millwall. Kari Arnason, 2-1.
Didn’t mention earlier that Zak Clough, who seems a very promising young player, has scored to put Bolton ahead against Brighton. And Gary Madine has got a goal back for Blackpool against Wigan but, well...
Stat attack from a hard-to-please Gordon Inglis:
“10 goals for Hearts is commendable but they will need to try harder if they want to break the record for the highest scoring match in British football. That accolade goes to Stirling Albion who put 20 past Selkirk in 1980 (and kept a clean sheet).”
GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Sunderland (Rooney)
Maybe Van Gaal has his striker? This one was easy. Januzaj, decent since coming on, tricked his way outside and in down the right, shot at Pantilimon – who might have done better than parry the ball straight out – and Rooney doesn’t miss those. Nor does anybody, really.
Updated
Coloccini makes another fine block for Newcastle, this time from Andreas Weimann.
And in the Championship, Watford have turned it right round at Leeds. Metej Vydra’s second makes it 3-2 to the Hornets!
West Brom nearly see Southampton off – Darren Fletcher fizzing an effort inches wide. What do the Saints have left in them? Their season looks on the verge of going off the rails.
Gary Gardner makes it Reading 0-3 Forest. James McClean makes it Blackpool 0-3 Wigan.
That Swansea goal, which we’ll one day get to the bottom of, has actually been attributed to Tom Heaton in some quarters. I don’t know who I am anymore.
Joshua Reynolds celebrates Charlie Adam:
“As a Stoke fan watching a dull game nothing makes me happier than to see Charlie Adam take the field as a sub. He is the ultimate footballing wild card. You will either see the worst fouling and flubs on the ball of all time or you will see some sublime skill and he will seem to be the best player on the pitch. This is about an 80/20 split, sadly, BUT when he’s on the field the game never remains boring.”
He’s right – Adam has really perked things up there today.
Updated
Fraser Thomas on referees: “Tough job, yes. But sometimes they dig themselves an even bigger hole. O’Shea & Brown clearly tried to tell ref several times that he had the wrong man. Where’s the commonsense?”
I get the “give what you see” argument, but Fraser has a point here.
Wycombe have equalised against Stevenage. Fred Onyedinma, 2-2.
And nearly another Newcastle goal! Ayoze Perez has just hit the base of the post, and that would have been goodnight Villa...
Little sign of a comeback by Sunderland’s 10 men at OLd Trafford, by the way.
Interesting news from France. Take it away, Kevin Porter: “After Olympique Marseille blew a two goal lead to lose 2-3 at home to Caen last night, French Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Lyonnais are now 2-1 down at Lille after scoring first. All good news for PSG and Monaco who meet tomorrow evening.”
That PR campaign clearly worked at Charlton. Far more penetrative, yada yada, today and Tony Watt has scored again. 3-0 over Huddersfield.
Hearts have made it 10 (ten). Osman Sow. There are still 16 minutes left.
I should explain that Cowdenbeath have been down to 10 (men!) for most of it.
3-1 to Barcelona, explains Charles Antaki: “Much dancing about in the Granada box and eventually Suárez passes it to Messi who has a simple tap in. Luis Enrique may actually be OK now.”
GOAL! Stoke 1-0 Hull (Crouch)
Adam makes something happen! He stands a fine ball up for Crouch, who heads back across and into the far corner! Apparently it’s his 46th headed goal in the Premier League.
Updated
Konstantin Sauer has a precis of that dramatic game in Dortmund for us:
“Absolutely deserved victory for Dortmund. After Aubameyang broke the deadlock, Mikhytarian (or however you spell him) and Reus added one each. Di Matteo’s tactics of parking the bus (30 shots by Dortmund compared to 3 by Schalke) didn’t work in the end. A typical game which Dortmund would have lost by a late goal in the first half of the season. Now they seem to be back to their old form.”
Big miss by Pelle at West Brom! He can’t make proper contact with a ball across from right in front of goal! Will it be 10 without a goal for the big man now?
It is now Hearts 9-0 Cowdenbeath. 20 to go.
And Forest lead 2-0 at Reading, Matty Fryatt scoring. Interesting....
Wigan lead 2-0 at Blackpool. Jermaine Pennant – remember him – has set up both, this one for Harry Maguire. Surely that’s curtains for Blackpool, today and for the season.
Disappointment for Christian Benteke twice in Newcastle, firstly denied by a great Coloccini block and then seeing a tap-in disallowed for offside.
And those three Dortmund scorers, all in the last 12 minutes, were Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan and Reus. Wow. Surely they can’t make a late play for the Champions League spots?
That Swansea goal at Burnley, which almost got lost in all that, has been confirmed as a Kieran Trippier own goal...
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Sunderland (Rooney pen)
Anyway, Rooney converts low to Pantilimon’s right.
But my word, we’ll be hearing more about this. It was clearly – clearly – O’Shea who fouled Falcao after the striker took the ball down superbly and made for a clear shot at goal. But Brown was red-carded and nobody quite knows why. It’s the last thing referees need after the events of last weekend.
Updated
But what on earth is happening at Old Trafford? Roger East has sent Wes Brown off when it was John O’Shea who committed the foul! Everyone looks incredulous. East even listened to his linesman before confirming the decision.
Updated
GOAL! Burnley 0-1 Swansea
Looks like Jack Cork or an own goal after Gomis flicked on a corner...we’ll clear that up....
Penalty to Manchester United! And a John O'Shea red card!
Well...
Updated
Dramatic stuff in Germany! It’s Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Schalke, three late goals continuing the home side’s resurgence! More later...
Updated
It’s now Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Middlesbrough, Will Keane with the goal, and the Championship is clearly the place to be this afternoon.
Unless you’re at Tynecastle, where Hearts now lead 7-0 against Cowdenbeath with half an hour left.
Watford equalise at Leeds! They’ve come back from two down, it’s Matej Vydra!
MK Dons are back in it at Coventry. Daniel Powell, 2-1 to the hosts.
The teams at the top of the division are helping their cause – now Middlesbrough are losing at Sheffield Wednesday, an Atdhe Nuhiu penalty putting the Owls ahead!
Nottingham Forest, who are on a fine run under Dougie Freedman, lead 1-0 at Reading through Ben Osborn. They couldn’t yet have a say in the play-offs.....could they?
Goal for Granada now though – a penalty I believe. 2-1 to Barcelona.
Charlie Adam has come on for Stoke at the Britannia...that game really needs something at the moment.
Updated
Preston look like making it five consecutive wins in League One. They’re 3-0 up at Oldham, and Joe Garner has scored the latest one.
It’s 2-0 to Barcelona at Granada. It’s you-know who. Charles Antaki:
“Clever, subtle prod by Suárez eases the Barcelona situation to 2-0. Luis Enrique might have looked happy for a moment, but the cameras may have missed it.”
Updated
The whistles are ringing out at Old Trafford! Young breaks quickly and looks for a Rojo overlap....which isn’t there, and the ball goes out for a goal kick. The natives – and everyone else inside United’s stadium – are not happy.
Updated
And Charlton looking potent at The Valley, Tony Watt putting them 2-0 up over Huddersfield.
Equaliser for Rotherham against Millwall – Danny Ward from a Matt Derbyshire cutback, and it’s one apiece.
Still Dortmund 0-0 Schalke in Germany by the way. Not too long to go. If anything happens, etc etc.
Updated
Phil Dowd has, as suggested in the tweet shown earlier, been replaced at The Hawthorns. Fourth official Graham Scott gets the reffing gig!
In League Two, another promotion contender is slipping up. Joel Byrom has put Northampton 2-0 up at Shrewsbury.
Anyway, second halves are now underway....
More action please.
Maybe Scott Stricker had a point! Adnan Januzaj is on for Di Maria at Old Trafford!
Weightier Arsenal chat courtesy of Gene Salorio:
“A link for all the Arsenal supporters out there regarding the wonderful Stan Kroenke and his machinations to get some group of USA taxpayers to pay for his gridiron football stadium.”
Great United-Arsenal banter from Jake Childs:
“Interesting to see Manchester United fans booing their own team, they’re usually the first to vocalise their disgust at Arsenal fans doing the same.”
Updated
Milan Baros news from Kevin Porter:
“Down-hearted Villa fans will be no doubt be comforted by the news that Milan Baros scored the equaliser for Banik Ostrava in today’s one-all home draw with Sparta Prague in the Czech Liga. Could he be the answer to Liverpool’s striking problems?”
Milan Baros is still just 33. I know.
Robert Lowery, it turns out, has a clearer window into Scott Parker’s modishness, or otherwise, than he had first let on:
“I should add that I know Parker is not stuck in the 80’s/ 90’s as ( in the spirit of the recent “Fiver” meme) I once demonstrated the Facetime function on my , at the time, just released iPhone to him in an airport lounge and he seemed quite taken (my wife on the other end of call, less so). Though, on second thoughts, I cannot confirm if he had a circa 1985 Del-Boy style lunchbox mobile in his carry-on or not....”
Scott Stricker says an Angel has a blotted copybook:
“Is Di Maria’s adaptation to English football over or are mutd fans going to use that as an excuse for choosing the wrong option again? This time he left Young hanging in miles of space in order to lay off a ball Falcao would never get to...”
@NickAmes82 Dowd hobbling around with a calf strain is a heartbreaking sight. It's like watching a lame, slightly overweight gazelle.
— Mark Hearn (@TCFMark) February 28, 2015
An injury to the official at The Hawthorns?
Big goal at the bottom of the Championship right on the whistle – Kim Bo-kyung has scored for Wigan at Blackpool.
And Stevenage now lead at Wycombe in League Two! Ex-Spurs man Dean Parrett with the strike.
Premier League half-times
Manchester United 0-0 Sunderland; Newcastle 1-0 Aston Villa; Burnley 0-0 Swansea; West Brom 1-0 Southampton; Stoke 0-0 Hull
Derby in real trouble at Fulham now! 2-0 to the home side, Cauley Woodrow with the goal.
@NickAmes82 "Ashley Barnes has just shot at Lukasz Fabianski" (15.26). Well he's upped his game since last week. What will Jose say now?
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) February 28, 2015
Don’t encourage him. Please.
Another promotion contender not going so well in the Championship: Brentford are 1-0 down at Birmingham thanks to a James Tarkowski own goal.
Riviere has just missed with a free header for Newcastle, should have been two.
Meanwhile, it’s 5-0 to Hearts over Cowdenbeath now. Genero Zeefuik has scored a hat-trick in – get this – three minutes, 36 seconds.
Bafetimbi Gomis, perhaps buoyed by his fluke goal against Manchester United last weekend, has seen a shot saved by Tom Heaton and then missed a more presentable chance with the Burnley ‘keeper miles out of his gol.
Charles Antaki gets in touch with a welcome analysis of Granada v Barcelona:
“In spite of scoring Rakitic hasn’t done much for Barcelona, and Mascherano is proving a poor substitute for Busquets in the centre; it’s all very jerky and untidy. Lots of Granada presence around the visitors’ penalty box. Conceding is not unlikely. All in all, Barça haven’t shaken off last week’s loss, and when the camera catches Luis Enrique he looks a picture of misery. Mind you, he usually does.”
Watford are back in it at Leeds – it’s Troy Deeney. They score lots, they concede lots.
It was Janmaat’s cross and Okore’s negligent defending there, the replay shows. Should have got it away. How will Villa, who had been on top, respond?
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Aston Villa (Cisse)
The hosts lead! A right-sided cross finds it way to Cisse, who controls and fires home from eight yards. Not great defending, and very bad news for Villa, but a clinical finish.
Updated
Charlton lead Huddersfield at the Valley, Johann Gudmundsson. Fair play to the home club’s PR department, I can never look at that stadium in the same way now.
Wow, Hearts are now 4-0 up over Cowdenbeath.
I was wondering where JR from Illinois was, but fear not:
“Manchester United look like a heaping pile of garbage. Van Gaal has no idea what he is doing. He has inexplicably left out his best corner-taker, Phil Jones.”
I’m stepping away....
Updated
Aston Villa piling on the pressure at Newcastle, Benteke among several to see shots blocked in an intense attacking flurry.
Another surprise in the Championship? Fulham lead Derby 1-0, Nikolay Bodurov with a lovely goal for the home team. Norwich and Ipswich licking their lips ahead of tomorrow’s derby if things keep going like this.
Stoke v Hull hasn’t been a corker yet but a goalmouth scramble has seen Marc Wilson come close twice for the home team.
In League Two, promotion-chasing Wycombe are being held 1-1 at home by Stevenage, Tom Pett equalising.
Dave Hill on Leeds and Mr Spock: “Leeds is a strange team. They’ve had great results against top of the table teams - Derby, Middlesbrough, Brighton. Then they turn around midweek and lose to a 20th place team, go figure.
“Too bad Leonard Nimoy is gone, Leeds could use the Vulcan mind meld to convince them that all teams they play are top of the table.”
Updated
Hibs, at Alloa, and Hearts, at home to Cowdenbeath, have both taken the lead in Scotland.
In Spain, Ivan Rakitic has put Barcelona ahead at Granada.
At St James’ Park, what an effort by Christian Benteke there! While the home defence watched the ball come down around the penalty spot, the Belgian wound up for an overhead kick and Tim Krul dived to his right and saved!
Updated
Wolves are on fire in the Championship at the moment and Bakary Sako has cracked them 1-0 ahead at Cardiff.
John O’Shea saves Sunderland though! Young chests down at the back stick, shoots low and a sliding O’Shea clears the ball onto his own crossbar!
Meanwhile, at Turf Moor, Burnley have made most of the running so far and Ashley Barnes has just shot at Lukasz Fabianski. Wayne Routledge has lobbed Swansea’s best chance over.
Updated
No real flow to the game at Old Trafford just now, with Sunderland more than holding their own. Lots of debate on Twitter about United’s formation. I’m only keeping half an eye on it, so happy to hear your thoughts.
Updated
Goalless at half-time between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke. Perhaps the visitors can count themselves a little lucky – they’ve largely been under the cosh and Marco Reus has thwacked the crossbar.
Two more goals in the Championship. It’s now Leeds 2-0 Watford! Rodolph Austin there. And down towards the bottom, perhaps a significant goal at Rotherham, where Martyn Woolford has put Millwall 1-0 up.
Jonas Gutierrez warms up down by the corner flag at St James’ Park and gets a rapturous reception from the home crowd. Great stuff. Less inspiring is the awful Ashley Westwood free-kick for Villa that follows it.
Updated
Bristol City, perhaps enthused by MK Dons’ appalling start at Coventry, lead Rochdale 1-0 thanks to Aaron Wilbraham.
Another chance for Sunderland, Wes Brown finding Defoe, who is one-on-one with Evans and attemptd a curler but finds the arms of De Gea.
Apropos that Scott Parker music tweet from earlier, Robert Lowery believes the Fulham midfielder has something of the 1990s about him:
“Love that Scott Parker music choice...Not for musical reaons but rather how it evokes Parker as a character caught out of time. I can imagine him posing in shoot magazine with his sponsored Vauxhall Vectra telling wide-eyed readers of how he gets free boots, likes steak & Marbella and how he just got a new Pansaonic 32” big screen for the living room of his semi-D”
Agree?
Coventry now lead MK Dons 2-0. Well, well. It’s Dominic Samuel.
Nearly a clear chance for Manchester United, an Angel Di Maria ball looking set for Marcos Rojo, who is denied before Ashley Young shoots over.
Another turn-up in League One. Struggling Coventry are beating second-placed MK Dons 1-0. Chris Stokes on his debut.
You know I mentioned that Cheltenham v Tranmere game earlier? The home side lead 1-0! If it stays that way, Rovers will be forced right back into the midst of that relegation scrap.
Updated
Should have mentioned earlier that Bournemouth v Blackburn has been delayed by 30 minutes due to a road accident. We hope it wasn’t too serious, and meantime it does mean you probably get a bit more Clockwatch today.
The day’s first Championship goal is an interesting one. Billy Sharp has put Leeds 1-0 up against promotion-chasing Watford.
De Gea denies Connor Wickham at Old Trafford! The striker surges forward from the halfway line, isn’t opposed, could maybe pass to Jermain Defoe but instead sees the goalkeeper react well to turn his low 20-yarder wide! A good chance on the break.
Good start by Aston Villa at Newcastle, Daryl Janmaat forced to usher the ball behind from a teasing Benteke cross.
Updated
GOAL! West Brom 1-0 Southampton (Berahino)
The first goal of the day and it’s a cracker from Saido Berahino, cracking home from the edge of the box and making Southampton’s task a very tough one from the beginning. That’s the start to the afternoon we wanted!
Updated
Peep!! (to the power of N)
Underway around the country. Strap in...
Teams coming out everywhere you look. Any predictions/expectations/toys out of prams before we get underway?
Updated
Not long until we get going in earnest here, but there’s enough time to feast your eyes on Jacob Steinberg’s on-the-whistle report from Upton Park.
Frenetic start at Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund. Home side applying some pressure but few clear sights of goal yet.
As ever on Clockwatch, your emails can – potentially – add to the fun and games. Where are you this afternoon? Are you At A Game? Tell us. Send in your thoughts. How do the kit colours seem to you?
In the Conference, Eastleigh have beaten Macclesfield 4-0, which is a huge result for them in their play-off push.
All over at Upton Park! 3-1 to Crystal Palace. And well deserved it was.
Updated
Fulham have come a long way since Michael Jackson
Fulham v Derby today. Scott Parker's turn to pick pre-match music. His first choice: Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Really
— Alan Smith (@alansmith90) February 28, 2015
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke is about to get underway, kids. We won’t be forgetting that one. Meanwhile, it’s West Ham 1-3 Palace – the visitors now down to 10 – in the dying minutes.
Simon McMahon emails with a look ahead to today’s Scottish games:
“Game of the day in Scotland is at Tannadice where Dundee United face Partick Thistle, with United looking to build on a strong midweek showing against Inverness which gained a point, despite playing most of the match with 10 men. A win today would set us up nicely for our trio of March meetings with Celtic, who play Aberdeen tomorrow. Today’s other games include St. Mirren v. Hamilton, Motherwell v. Inverness and Ross County v. Dundee.”
Fifa will be keeping a (wonky) eye on these 3pms as well...
George Best-style at hotel being used for FIFA meeting in Northern Ireland pic.twitter.com/kivM6xWdzN
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) February 28, 2015
So let’s round up a few quick points from those team selections.
Radamel Falcao starts for Manchester United, while Luke Shaw misses out altogether, Phil Jones doesn’t make it either, Robin van Persie is injured and Paddy McNair must make do with a place on the bench. In come Ashley Young, Chris Smalling and Antonio Valencia.
Southampton make five changes in response to last weekend’s defeat to Liverpool. Ryan Bertrand returns from suspension and in also come Florin Gardos, Sadio Mane, Dusan Tadic and Morgan Schneiderlin.
John Carver has understandable reacted to Newcastle’s lame display at Man City by ringing the changes, one enforced due to Vurnon Anita’s suspension. Gabriel Obertan, Mehdi Abeid, Sammy Ameobi and Javier Riviere all come in against Villa. In the day’s good news story, though, Jonas Gutierrez is on the bench for the first time since recovering from cancer. Lovely to see his name on the teamsheet.
A minor surprise from Hull is that Dame N’Doye, their transfer window sensation and matchwinner against QPR last weekend, reverts to the bench. In comes Gaston Ramirez, adding to the midfield numbers for this tough away fixture.
Little of huge note at Burnley, where Ashley Barnes is of course not suspended and will start alongside Danny Ings against Swansea. The visitors, though, miss the presumably injured Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tommy Carroll starts.
West Brom v Southampton – teams
West Brom: Foster, Gardner, Dawson, McAuley, Lescott, Morrison,
Yacob, Fletcher, Brunt, Ideye, Berahino. Subs: Olsson, Baird,
Myhill, McManaman, Mulumbu, Sessegnon, Wisdom.
Southampton: Forster, Clyne, Gardos, Fonte, Yoshida, Wanyama,
Schneiderlin, Tadic, Mane, Bertrand, Pelle. Subs: Kelvin Davis,
Long, Steven Davis, Djuricic, Ward-Prowse, Elia, Targett.
Referee: Phil Dowd
Newcastle v Aston Villa – teams
Newcastle: Krul, Janmaat, Williamson, Coloccini, Haidara,
Obertan, Abeid, Sissoko, Ameobi, Cisse, Riviere. Subs:
Ryan Taylor, Anita, Gouffran, Perez, Gutierrez, Armstrong,
Woodman.
Aston Villa: Guzan, Lowton, Clark, Okore, Hutton, Westwood,
Cleverley, Delph, Sinclair, Benteke, Agbonlahor. Subs: Bacuna,
Sanchez, N’Zogbia, Given, Grealish, Gil, Weimann.
Referee: Lee Mason
Stoke v Hull – teams
Stoke: Begovic, Bardsley, Wollscheid, Wilson, Pieters, Whelan,
Nzonzi, Diouf, Ireland, Moses, Walters. Subs: Arnautovic, Adam,
Cameron, Sidwell, Butland, Dionatan, Crouch.
Hull: McGregor, Dawson, Bruce, McShane, Elmohamady, Livermore, Huddlestone, Meyler, Figueroa, Ramirez, Aluko. Subs: Davies,
Hernandez, Sagbo, Harper, Robertson, N’Doye, Quinn.
Referee: Chris Foy
Updated
Burnley v Swansea – teams
Burnley: Heaton, Trippier, Keane, Shackell, Mee, Boyd, Jones,
Arfield, Kightly, Barnes, Ings. Subs: Wallace, Vokes, Reid,
Jutkiewicz, Gilks, Ward, Duff.
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Williams, Fernandez, Taylor, Shelvey, Cork, Carroll, Ki, Routledge, Gomis. Subs: Amat, Britton, Emnes, Nelson Oliveira, Montero, Tremmel, Rangel.
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Manchester United v Sunderland – teams
Manchester Utd: De Gea, Evans, Smalling, Rojo, Blind, Valencia,
Ander Herrera, Di Maria, Young, Falcao, Rooney. Subs: Mata,
Januzaj, Lindegaard, Carrick, Fellaini, McNair, Wilson.
Sunderland: Pantilimon, Reveillere, Brown, O’Shea, Van Aanholt, Cattermole, Johnson, Larsson, Gomez, Wickham, Defoe. Subs: Bridcutt, Fletcher, Graham, Coates, Mannone, Vergini, Watmore.
Referee: Roger East
One manager is refusing to do United down though – and that manager is Sunderland’s. Tell us more, Louise Taylor.
“If Manchester United get into the top four with all the changes that have happened after Ferguson, it would be a big achievement,” said the Uruguayan, who feels that, for the moment at least, United’s ambitions should probably be on a par with those of Arsenal rather than Chelsea or Manchester City.
“Look at Arsenal,” he said. “They’re delighted when they’re in the top four, so why are United not delighted after what’s happened in the last two years. I think it’s going to be a decent season for them. There’s been a lot of negativity and it’s true they’ve spent money but they’re doing better than some people thought they would.”
Updated
Oh, but – Crystal Palace are now 2-0 up at West Ham and really doing a number on them. So stay close to Scott for the final 35 minutes.
Some pre-3pm reading for you. First up, courtesy of Jamie Jackson: Louis van Gaal is upset that Manchester United don’t have a 20-goal striker.
United sit fourth, 13 points behind the leaders, Chelsea, and eight adrift of Manchester City. Asked if the difference between United and the two title favourites is that they boast superior strikers, the manager said: “It is true because I cannot deny it – Robin van Persie cannot deny it, Falcao cannot deny it and Rooney is not playing there much any more. We cannot deny that, at this moment, we don’t have a striker who scores 20 goals in the season.
“This does not tell [us] anything about next year. They could be having an unlucky year and I have to decide, with my staff, if it is [this] or other aspects.”
Blue and black? White and gold?
Fifty shades of what-the-hell-are-you-on-about? The colour of your world view makes no difference to us here, reader: welcome to Clockwatch, the live blog to which nuances in wiring between brain and retina are all the same!
And we’ve all hues of the rainbow for you this afternoon. Some of them, anyway. Once you’ve finished enjoying Scott Murray’s MBM of West Ham v Crystal Palace, there’s plenty else to lift your day above monochrome.
Is the Premier League your bag? It’s statistically likely. So there are five 3pm kick-offs for you, and the one of greatest import is probably Manchester United v Sunderland. Can LvG’s mob lift themselves into third, for 23 hours or so at least, and do so with a modicum of style in the process? Or will Sunderland avert the need for any more public mea culpas from Gus Poyet by repeating last season’s 1-0 victory, which went a long way towards ensuring their survival? Burnley v Swansea is also a big one for both: the hosts will see it as a way of getting out of the bottom three; Garry Monk’s team might view a win as a chance to keep in with a very vague shout of the Europa League. Villa will be in yet deeper trouble if they lose at Newcastle, who surely can’t play as supinely as they did at Manchester City last weekend, while you feel Southampton may need all three points at West Brom if their stalling bid for the Champions League places is to keep any momentum. As for Stoke v Hull? I’m sure something nice will come of that one too.
Perhaps you prefer the Championship. And who could blame you? Before tomorrow’s 4th v 3rd ding-dong of an East Anglian derby between Norwich and Ipswich there are a host of matters to be make clearer – or more likely obfuscated beyond all interpretation – at top and bottom. Will leaders Derby do the business at Fulham, in what promises to be an intensely emotional affair for Darren Bent as current loan club faces former. Will second-placed Middlesbrough fare well at Sheffield Wednesday? Can Bournemouth arrest their mini-slump, which has brought four winless games, at home to Blackburn? Do Watford and Brentford have the cojones to win at Leeds and Birmingham? What on earth will happen when Blackpool, bottom on 22 points, host Wigan, second-bottom on 25?
It is not quite as tight at the top in League One, but fear not. There should still be some rich picking to be had, with Coventry – in the relegation places – hosting second-placed MK Dons in what’s probably the match of the afternoon. Form horses Preston, with four wins on the trot, could go third if they win at Oldham and Swindon slip up at Crewe. Leaders Bristol City should not be detained overly at home by Rochdale, but stranger things – such as last weekend’s 3-2 defeat at Colchester – have happened.
League Two? League Two. The top three – Burton, Shrewsbury and Wycombe – host Newport, Northampton and Stevenage respectively. Plymouth, in sixth, host seventh-placed Bury and that looks like the most appetising match-up here. Cheltenham, 23rd and with 31 points, versus Tranmere – 20th and with 34 – runs it very close though.
And it’s all happening in Europe too. It really is – this is quite a remarkable weekend of fixtures on the continent, actually. For now, sate yourselves with Borussia Dortmund v Schalke, which kicks off at 2.30pm, in the Bundesliga. Victory for Jurgen Klopp’s side would put them seven points behind their bitter rivals, who occupy the final Champions League spot. They couldn’t....could they? Also, Barcelona travel to Granada in La Liga.
Phew. I’ll give you a few minutes to let all that sink in and then, together, we’ll ride this afternoon in glorious technicolour. Blue and black, by the way.
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