And that’s all from me. It’s been an absolute joy. Bye!
Stuart James eventually saw a stonking goal at the King Power Stadium:
It was one of those moments that take your breath away and for Cardiff City and their supporters provided the perfect end to 2018. Víctor Camarasa picked the ball up around 25 yards from goal, looked up and curled a wonderful right-footed shot that arced over the head of Kasper Schmeichel and into the top corner. Cue pandemonium in the away end and wild celebrations among the Cardiff players.
Much more here:
It’s all over at Carrow Road! Derby have beaten Norwich 4-3, with Norwich hitting the bar in the final second!
Jacob Steinberg witnessed Wolves’ win at Wembley:
This was the kind of dramatic collapse that will leave Tottenham Hotspur wondering if they have the depth and killer mentality to last the distance in the title race. After their recent goal glut Mauricio Pochettino’s side came crashing down to earth after running out of steam against Wolverhampton Wanderers, who did Liverpool a potentially significant favour with a stunning late comeback at Wembley.
Much more here:
Paul Doyle was at Vicarage Road:
For a long time it looked like Salomón Rondón’s powerful headed goal would earn another precious away win for Newcastle, but then Abdoulaye Doucouré came off the bench to deny the visitors with a header of similar quality. It was a fair result, even if the visitors were the more tidy side for long periods.
Much more here:
Paul MacInnes was our man at Craven Cottage:
Fulham grabbed a vital three points at the death to keep alive their hopes of Premier League survival. By the looks of the Huddersfield players, who dropped as one to their haunches at the final whistle, the result was an equal blow to their own chances of staying up. In a poor-quality game of few chances, a defining moment had looked unlikely to arrive, but it did, and how important it may yet prove to be.
Much more here:
There have been 29 goals in Norwich’s last five home games, apparently. That’s ridiculous goalmanship.
Harry Kane is sad:
We just didn’t keep the ball well enough. Wolves kept the pressure on and whenever we got it we gave it straight back again. Disappointing. These are games that we should be winning, so it’s a shame we finished the year the way we have.
Second half we just didn’t keep the ball enough. We didn’t have the same energy as the first and we’ve only got ourselves to blame.
Games like this at home are games we should be winning, especially when you’re 1-0 up. Disappointing, but we’ve got a game in three days and we need to dust ourselves down and get back to winning ways.
We’ve been through a stage in the season already when we lost a couple and we bounced back. Now it’s important that we do that again.
Derby have only gone and won it! Whoever’s doing their Twitter feed has lost control of his fingers! It’s 4-3 now at Norwich!
GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALF;SFRJKFLSRNJKSFKNJFRKVJKVFFJKNLSVKSVFAJ;VSVVF;OIAVIO;VFSVJIVF
— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) December 29, 2018
[3-4] #NCFCvDCFC pic.twitter.com/Tgebj7utFJ
Nuno Espirito Santo talks about Wolves’ win:
We are happy. We are very, very happy.
I think we did a very good game in the second half. First half also. Organised. Tottenham have a lot of qualities, they have talent, mobility. We had to stay in shape, stay balanced, knowing the game can change. And it changed in the second half in our favour. The boys did very well, very well.
I think we had more ball. And when we have the ball we manage better the situation. You have to defend because your defensive process is what keeps you in the game, but when we had the ball the lines of the boys was good.
Derby have only gone and equalised! Florian Jozefzoon has got an 87th-minute third goal against Norwich!
“Would love to hear a bit of discussion of how the 4th best GK in the world (according to the Guardian top 100) allowed that Jimenez goal,” says Peter McMurry. I think he got a World Cup-related voting boos there – I certainly wouldn’t put him above (in no particular order) Oblak, Ederson, Alisson, De Gea or Ter Stegen.
That floodlight, and the Norwich game, has restarted, with the home side 3-2 up and with Leeds losing they would top the table if they can hold Derby at bay.
Here’s Nick Ames’ report from Brighton:
A mere six weeks ago, Jürgen Locadia suggested he would use the winter months of a bleak first year in England “to think if this is still good for me”. It certainly looks pretty satisfying from Brighton’s point of view now. The suggestion Locadia, a £14m signing who had not scored in the Premier League before the Boxing Day draw with Arsenal, would earn Brighton a four-point haul from two fiendish home assignments might have drawn blank looks earlier in the month but his Premier League career now has lift-off. His close-range winner, awarded at length after Robert Madley had originally ruled it out for offside, punished a sloppy start to the second half from Everton and ensured Brighton put a four-game winless run well behind them.
Much more here:
So Huddersfield are two points clear at the bottom of the table after their defeat today, while Liverpool will end the day with a nine-point lead at the top if they beat Arsenal.
Updated
Ouch.
7 - Huddersfield Town are the first team to lose seven Premier League games in a single calendar month since Leicester City in April 2001 (also seven). Despair. pic.twitter.com/nrUUAM7N9d
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 29, 2018
In the Premier League, the only game no one won was the one that ended one-one. Wonderful!
The line-ups for the late game at Anfield:
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, van Dijk, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Shaqiri, Firmino, Mane, Salah. Subs: Clyne, Keita, Henderson, Sturridge, Lallana, Mignolet, Origi.
Arsenal: Leno, Lichtsteiner, Papastathopoulos, Mustafi, Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Xhaka, Kolasinac, Ramsey, Iwobi, Aubameyang. Subs: Cech, Elneny, Koscielny, Lacazette, Guendouzi, Willock, Saka.
Referee: Michael Oliver.
And here’s Ben Fisher’s liveblog:
With all these Premier League goals I am yet to inform you that a floodlight failure at Norwich has forced the players from the field with eight minutes to play and the Canaries leading Derby 3-2! Three of the four floodlights are working just fine, but it seems that’s not enough.
Final score: Fulham 1-0 Huddersfield
Aleksandar Mitrovic saves Aboubakar Kamara’s penalty-related blushes with a late winner against Huddersfield. It was Mitrovic who made the strongest efforts to physically grab the ball out of Kamara’s sweaty grasp before the penalty, and he went on to show his team-mate how the goalscoring business is supposed to be done with a smart finish!
Final score: Watford 1-1 Newcastle
Honours very much even at Vicarage Road, where Abdoulaye Doucouré came off the bench to rescue a point for Watford.
Final score: Leicester 0-1 Cardiff
Cardiff had two shots on target but there was only one that mattered, from the right foot of Víctor Camarasa. He and Hoilett can scrap it out among themselves for their goal of the season trophy.
Final score: Tottenham 1-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves take an improbable but glorious victory from Wembley as Tottenham’s seven-match unbeaten run comes to an unexpected end!
Full time: Brighton 1-0 Everton
It’s all over at the AmEx, and Brighton have snaffled all the points!
Terrible day if you played for Leicester, Everton and Spurs. It’s all gone quiet over here. 🤐
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) December 29, 2018
What a goal it was! An absolute top-class beauty of a goal! The ball was played into the penalty area, tapped back to Camarasa 30 yards out, and he takes one touch to set himself before curling a gorgeous curling, dipping shot over Schmeichel and into the top corner!
Updated
GOAL! Leicester 0-1 Cardiff (Camarasa, 90+2 mins)
They can beat Chelsea, they can beat Manchester City, but Leicester have gone and lost at home to Cardiff!
Updated
GOAL! Fulham 1-0 Huddersfield (Mitrovic, 90+1 mins)
Huddersfield attack, but their low cross from the right is cleared and Fulham counter, Sessegnon runs from his own half, cuts inside, passes to Mitrovic inside the penalty area and the striker hits a smart, hard, low, first-time shot past Lossl to steal the points!
Updated
GOAL! Tottenham 1-3 Wolves (Costa, 87 mins)
And Wolves are going to win this! Costa is played in on the right of the area, opens his body and rolls it across the goal and in with the inside of his left foot!
Updated
Teemu Pukki has put Norwich back into the lead at home to Derby, where the Canaries lead a see-sawing game 3-2!
GOAL! Tottenham 1-2 Wolves (Jimenez, 83 mins)
Wolves take the lead at Wembley! Raul Jimenez gets the ball just outside the area, carries it into the box, and then shoots between Alderweireld’s legs and, though there’s not a lot of pace on the shot, it goes between the post and Lloris’s flailing arm!
Updated
GOAL! Watford 1-1 Newcastle (Doucouré 82 mins)
Watford have equalised! It’s all going on! A cross from the right, and Doucouré rises at the far post to head it in!
Updated
And Lossl saves the penalty! Incredible penalty-saving scenes! It was a well-directed shot, heading just inside the right-hand post as Kamara looked at the goal, but it was a good height for the goalkeeper, and he pushed it wide and away!
Updated
Chambers in particular tried to dissuade him. Cairney came over for a word. But Kamara put it on the spot anyway …
Updated
Kamara is going to take it, but only after arguing with several team-mates over whether he should be allowed to do so.
Penalty to Fulham! The referee has spotted a handball in the box!
The question the referee might have asked was, however well he did to get to the loose ball before Maddison, where was Bamba when the penalty was taken? The answer is that he was one of at least four Cardiff defenders who were already inside the penalty area, and the penalty should probably have been retaken.
Maddison’s penalty is saved! He hits it low to his left, Etheridge goes the right way and pushes it back out! It looked like Maddison was going to tap it into the now-empty net, but Souleymane Bamba arrived from nowhere to slide in and get it clear!
Maddison seemed to go down extremely easily there, but MOrrison definitely put a hand on his shoulder. I’m not sure it qualifies as a foul, but it’s definitely contact.
Leicester have a penalty! Maddison goes down in the box, and the referee points to the spot!
GOAL! Tottenham 1-1 Wolves (Boly, 72 mins)
Davies heads the ball out for a corner. Moutinho takes it from the right, and Boly thumps in a header that Lloris gets his right hand to but can’t keep out!
Updated
“The ball must have been ‘deliberately’ played for the exception to the offside to apply according to Law 11,” writes Daniel Roy. “Gomes did not play the ball deliberately and the goal should not have stood.” Perhaps, but given that no Brighton player touched the ball between the corner being taken and it falling to Locadia, surely he couldn’t possibly have been offside?
As it stands, Middlesbrough are the only team in the top half of the Championship who are winning. Third-placed West Brom are a goal down at home to Sheffield Wednesday and have had Jay Rodriguez sent off.
And Portsmouth lead 3-2, just five minutes after Dean Marney was sent off with Fleetwood leading 2-1. Anton Walkes has grabbed the leaders’ third.
League One latest: Fleetwood have had a man sent off and conceded an equaliser against Portsmouth – Brett Pitman has scored from the spot to make it 2-2.
Nearly an instant equaliser for Everton! Down the other end, Richarlison has a shot from the right of goal and it hits Button in the Brighton goal and rebounds against the post before being cleared!
GOAL! Brighton 1-0 Everton (Locadia, 59 mins)
Great work from the officials here! Brighton win a corner on the right, the ball is headed down to Locadia and he smashes it in. The referee’s whistle goes for offside – and Locadia was very much in an offside position – but the ball had come to him off Gomes, so after a quick chat the officials give the goal!
Updated
Jarrod Bowen has scored again, and Hull are now 2-0 up at Leeds!
I’ve mainly been keeping an eye on the action at Wembley and Vicarage Road, which handily are the only top-flight grounds to have seen a goal. But Brighton seem happy about the way their game has been going:
56: Both Mina and Bernard have been shown yellow cards in the last few minutes - we've started the second half on top!
— Brighton & Hove Albion ⚽️ (@OfficialBHAFC) December 29, 2018
Keep it up lads! 💪
Listen live ➡️ https://t.co/4yowJLDRqG
🔵#BHAFC 0-0 #EFC ⚫️ pic.twitter.com/COAjOcAyca
Jack Clarke, who did brilliantly when coming on as a half-time substitute for Leeds against Aston Villa recently, has come on as a half-time substitute for Leeds again. This time his side trail by just the one goal, rather than the two by which they trailed at Villa, and they won that one so this shouldn’t be a problem.
Sheffield United are down to 10 men against Blackburn, Chris Basham getting himself a second booking.
Brighton refuse to put the ball out of play when an Everton player goes down injured, run down the other end and win themselves a corner, sparking much furious booing from the visiting fans.
Tottenham’s Kieron Trippier is receiving treatment to a head-bang. He seems OK, but is still holding the side of his head as he leaves the field.
At Vicarage Road, one side obviously needed to make changes at the interval. It’s the other side that has actually made a change, though, Newcastle bringing Schar on for Fernandez.
Players are back out and football is once again ongoing. Brace for drama!
Not exactly the most thrilling hour in the history of the English top flight, but there are plenty of goals and other interesting stuff happening elsewhere (not in League Two, where six of the 12 games are goalless, a couple more are tied at 1-1 and no team has scored more than once).
Updated
The half-time whistle goes at Vicarage Road, where Newcastle are a goal up. Fulham’s game with Huddersfield remains goalless at the interval, and today’s Premier League action is at a temporary halt.
Norwich, 2-0 up against Derby not so long ago, will go into the break at 2-2 after Mason Mount’s equaliser.
Updated
It’s goalless at half-time between Brighton and Everton, and between Leicester and Cardiff. Tottenham lead 1-0 at the break.
League Two leaders Portsmouth, 1-0 up the last we heard, are now 2-1 down to Fleetwood, for whom Ched Evans has just scored.
In further booking news, Watford’s Adam Masina has one, for fouling Newcastle’s Yedlin. Newcastle have been in control since their goal.
At Wembley Christian Eriksen goes into the referee’s book, for tripping Adama Traoré.
Rondon has the ball in the Vicarage Road net again, but this time he’s offside as the ball comes in from the right.
Updated
Newcastle have only had one shot, and 33% of possession. Watford have had four shots, but only one on target.
It’s a similar story in League Two, though disappointingly Alex Gilbey’s goal for MK Dons at Northampton came eight minutes before Jabo Ibehre gave Cambridge the lead against table-topping Lincoln.
As in the Championship, the teams at the top of League One experience different fortunes in the same minute (the 26th, in this case): Luton go a goal down to a Morgan Ferrier goal at Walsall, and Portsmouth go one up at Fleetwood, Ben Thompson with it.
GOAL! Watford 0-1 Newcastle (Rondon, 29 mins)
Newcastle, having achieved more or less nothing in the attacking third for 28 minutes, score in the 29th! It’s a lovely cross from the left, and Rondon jumps between two defenders at the far post to head in!
Updated
Norwich might not win many first halves but they’re winning this one, now 1-0 up against Derby. In the very same minute (the 25th, since you ask) Leeds fall behind, Jarrod Bowen giving Hull the lead.
GOAL! Tottenham 1-0 Wolves (Kane, 22 mins)
We have ourselves a goal! And it’s a good ’un! Wolves give the ball away in midfield, Kane runs down the right, then he cuts inside and from 25 yards unleashes a left-foot wonderstrike that screams inside the far post!
Updated
Watford are outplaying Newcastle, having a lot of attacking opportunities but not making the most of them, which is a familiar story for anyone who witnessed the teams’ meeting in November. Deulofeu was played in a few minutes ago, scampered clear on goal, but shot low into the goalkeeper’s legs.
At Wembley, Dele Alli scoops a shot over the bar from the edge of the area when well placed. “Sissoko is a tank so my sympathies are with with Leander Dendoncker and his sore right knee,” says Justin Kavanagh. “His name is bit too close to Leaden Donckee though, and so the omens are not good.”
We’ve had 18 minutes of play, which means that the five Premier League matches have collectively played a full 90, and no goals have been scored.
Here’s a report on Juventus’s VAR-assisted victory over Sampdoria earlier today:
I hadn’t realised how poor Norwich are in the first half of matches: they’re 20th in the Championship first-half table, scoring nine and conceding 12, but second in the second-half standings, scoring 35 and conceding 17. Leeds are 12th in first halves and top in the second-half table, winning 16 of their 24 second periods.
Leander Dendoncker, making his first Premier League start of the season, has spent half of his first five minutes on the ground and receiving treatment, having run into Sissoko and taken a blow to his right knee.
Updated
At Wembley Traoré has just curled a beautiful crossfield pass around the referee, who was pretty effectively pressing him there. It didn’t lead to anything, but looked lovely.
Here’s a report on the Old Firm derby, in which a Rangers victory took them level on points with Celtic at the top of the table (having played a game more, and with worse goal difference):
BONG! It’s 3pm, and we’ve got football!
And they’re out! Play yourself some rousing tunnel-exit music of your choosing.
Five minutes until kick-off, and teams are gathering in tunnels nationwide.
We’re in that stage of the festive season when a bit of squad rotation is pretty much enforced. I’m intrigued by the match at Watford, who played their first team against Chelsea on Boxing Day, lost anyway and make six changes today, while Newcastle rested players for the trip to Liverpool, were heavily beaten but now bring them back, fresh and eager for this one.
Rondon and Perez in particular, both unused substitutes at Anfield, could be decisively unfatigued. Between now and 2 February Newcastle play Cardiff at home, but also Manchester United (h), Chelsea (a), Manchester City (h) and Tottenham (a), so a defeat here might be particularly painful.
Good stat, this. That is an exceptional record:
39 - Spurs are unbeaten in their last 39 Premier League matches versus newly promoted teams (W36 D3), since losing 0-1 versus QPR in April 2012. Hierarchy.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 29, 2018
Watford: Foster, Janmaat, Mariappa, Cathcart, Masina, Quina, Capoue, Hughes, Pereyra, Deulofeu, Success. Subs: Gomes, Britos, Cleverley, Deeney, Sema, Doucoure, Holebas.
Newcastle: Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Fernandez, Dummett, Ritchie, Hayden, Diame, Atsu, Perez, Rondon. Subs: Schar, Murphy, Shelvey, Muto, Manquillo, Joselu, Woodman.
Referee: Roger East.
Leicester: Schmeichel, Ricardo Pereira, Soyuncu, Maguire, Chilwell, Mendy, Ndidi, Albrighton, Maddison, Gray, Vardy. Subs: Simpson, Iheanacho, Ward, Okazaki, Iborra, Fuchs, Ghezzal.
Cardiff: Etheridge, Ecuele Manga, Morrison, Bamba, Cunningham, Gunnarsson, Hoilett, Victor Camarasa, Arter, Josh Murphy, Paterson. Subs: Peltier, Bennett, Ralls, Smithies, Reid, Mendez-Laing, Harris.
Referee: Simon Hooper.
Brighton: Button, Montoya, Duffy, Dunk, Bernardo, March, Propper, Stephens, Gross, Andone, Locadia. Subs: Bong, Kayal, Bissouma, Balogun, Murray, Steele, Gyokeres.
Everton: Pickford, Mina, Keane, Zouma, Coleman, Andre Gomes, Gueye, Digne, Walcott, Bernard, Richarlison. Subs: Baines, Jagielka, Sigurdsson, Niasse, Stekelenburg, Davies, Calvert-Lewin.
Referee: Andrew Madley.
Fulham: Sergio Rico, Odoi, Mawson, Ream, Christie, Chambers, Seri, Bryan, Cairney, Mitrovic, Vietto. Subs: Bettinelli, Ryan Sessegnon, Ayite, Schurrle, Le Marchand, Cisse, Kamara.
Huddersfield: Lossl, Jorgensen, Schindler, Kongolo, Durm, Hadergjonaj, Hogg, Billing, Lowe, Pritchard, Mounie. Subs: Bacuna, Kachunga, Diakhaby, Hamer, Mbenza, Depoitre, Stankovic.
Referee: Kevin Friend.
Updated
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Trippier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Davies, Winks, Sissoko, Alli, Eriksen, Son, Kane. Subs: Rose, Nkoudou, Walker-Peters, Foyth, Gazzaniga, Lucas Moura, Skipp.
Wolverhampton: Rui Patricio, Bennett, Coady, Boly, Doherty, Dendoncker, Neves, Jonny, Ivan Cavaleiro, Traore, Jimenez. Subs: Helder Costa, Gibbs-White, John Ruddy, Saiss, Joao Moutinho, Ruben Vinagre, Leo Bonatini.
Referee: Stuart Attwell.
Premier League team news is filtering through. Hold on to your hats …
Hello world!
The last Saturday of 2018 is upon us, with six top-flight fixtures scheduled of which five fall under our mid-afternoonly umbrella, with Tottenham the only top-six side with a 3pm kick-off. Here’s the big list:
Premier League
Brighton v Everton
Fulham v Huddersfield
Leicester v Cardiff
Liverpool v Arsenal (5.30pm)
Tottenham Hotspur v Wolverhampton
Watford v Newcastle
Championship
A few tasty fixtures here, a list topped by Hull – who have won four of their last five – heading to Leeds, top of the table after stoppage-time Kemar Roofe winners in their last two games. Norwich, in second place but three points behind Leeds, host Frank Lampard’s Derby, who are without a win in three games and lost at Sheffield United on Boxing Day. QPR, having won their last three games, will hope to extend that run to four at home to Reading, whose last win was on the first weekend of November.
Birmingham v Brentford
Bolton v Stoke
Bristol City v Rotherham
Leeds v Hull
Middlesbrough v Ipswich
Millwall v Nottm Forest
Norwich v Derby
Preston North End v Aston Villa
QPR v Reading
Sheff Utd v Blackburn
Swansea v Wigan
West Brom v Sheff Wed
League One
If any team in the land needs some festive cheer it’s Scunthorpe, who have lost 12 of their last 15 in all competitions and all of their last seven, and host mid-table Wycombe. Luton have had precisely the opposite recent run, winning their last seven games to move within a point of leaders Portsmouth, and Walsall will be out to stop them today. Pompey visit Fleetwood, a Jekyll and Hyde side who have lost their last six away games but won five of their last six at home, drawing the other. Sunderland and Barnsley are both unbeaten at home this season (the only other league side that can say that is Liverpool), with Shrewsbury and Charlton set to test those records.
AFC Wimbledon v Blackpool
Accrington Stanley v Peterborough
Barnsley v Charlton
Burton Albion v Plymouth
Coventry v Southend
Fleetwood Town v Portsmouth
Gillingham v Doncaster
Oxford Utd v Bristol Rovers (1pm)
Rochdale v Bradford
Scunthorpe v Wycombe
Sunderland v Shrewsbury
Walsall v Luton
League Two
It’s first against 22nd in the day’s top (alphabetically) League Two fixture, with table-topping Lincoln at struggling Cambridge. Second-placed MK Dons, four points behind, are at Northampton while Mansfield, the division’s form side having not lost in 15 games, are up to third and host Swindon. Tranmere have won six and drawn one of their last seven home games and today host Yeovil while two of the five sides on three-match winning runs (nobody has won their last four) meet at St James Park, where Exeter host Grimsby. In the doldrums derby Newport, who have lost their last three, host Crawley, who have lost their last four (and their last seven away games).
Cambridge Utd v Lincoln City
Carlisle v Macclesfield
Cheltenham v Forest Green
Colchester v Morecambe
Crewe v Stevenage
Exeter v Grimsby
Mansfield v Swindon
Newport County v Crawley Town
Northampton v Milton Keynes Dons
Notts County v Bury
Port Vale v Oldham
Tranmere v Yeovil
Scottish Premiership
The Old Firm derby is almost over, but there are some other matches too. Here, look:
Dundee v St Johnstone
Hamilton v Motherwell
Hibernian v Hearts (5.30pm)
Kilmarnock v St Mirren
Livingston v Aberdeen
Rangers v Celtic (12.30pm).
Updated
