More on Spurs' new stadium
And that’s your lot. It’s been a good night for Manchester City, a bad one for Manchester United as two of their rivals for a top-four spot won, and an historic evening for Spurs, who opened their new stadium and marked the start of a new era with a victory. Thanks for reading; nighty night!
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David Hytner was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to see Son Heung-min score the first-ever goal there. Here’s his verdict.
Dominic Fifield was at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea eased the pressure on Maurizio Sarri with an easy win over Brighton. Here’s his take.
Jamie Jackson was at the Etihad to witness Manchester City glide back to the top of the Premier League. Here’s his report.
So here are the Scottish Premiership full-times. Rangers’ victory means Celtic can’t win the title at the weekend now.
Aberdeen 3-1 Motherwell
Hibernian 0-0 Kilmarnock
Livingston 2-0 Hamilton Academical
Rangers 3-0 Hearts
St Johnstone 2-0 Dundee
St Mirren 0-2 Celtic
GOAL! Aberdeen 3-1 Motherwell (McGinn 90+7). A second for Niall McGinn, deep into injury time, confirms the win for the Dons.
FULL TIME: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Crystal Palace. Spurs are back in third, having won their first-ever match at their new stadium. They’re a point ahead of Arsenal on 64 points, though they’ve played a game more. It’s going to be a wild end to the season.
FULL TIME: Chelsea 3-0 Brighton & Hove Albion. The pressure on Maurizio Sarri eases as his team leapfrog Manchester United into fifth. On 63 points, they’re two clear of United, and level with fourth-placed Arsenal, but with an inferior goal difference.
FULL TIME: Manchester City 2-0 Cardiff City. Pep Guardiola’s side go back to the top of the Premier League, a point ahead of Liverpool with 80.
GOAL! St Mirren 0-2 Celtic (Christie 85). Deflected and in. Ryan Christie. Eight in a row gets ever closer.
Cardiff finally get out of their half ... and Oumar Niasse is sent clear, one on one, taking advantage of a slip by Kyle Walker! But Ederson makes himself big and denies the relegation-haunted Bluebirds a late consolation. “Looking at the sweep of that stand in the new stadium, it’s almost enough to put you in mind of another London ground,” opines Matt Dony. “Maybe it could be called the Em-ersatz Stadium.”
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Crystal Palace (Eriksen 80). Christian Eriksen slams home from close range, and Spurs should make a winning start at their new pile. “I suspect Neil Warnock will be overjoyed to discover that Loftus-Cheek’s goal from Sunday has been chalked off,” writes Jamie Dury of the 9.07pm entry. Ahem. Yes. Thanks for the spot! I’ve changed that now.
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GOAL! Livingston 2-0 Hamilton Academical (Halkett 79). Craig Halkett secures the points for the artists formerly known as Meadowbank Thistle.
Phil Foden gets ever closer to that first league goal for Manchester City. He hits the post, then is denied again by Neil Etheridge. Still just 2-0 to the hosts. And as ever when typing Foden’s name, I now can’t shake this earworm. The link’s long been established in my simple head, and I can’t break it.
GOAL! Aberdeen 2-1 Motherwell (McGinn 71). Open play, but the ball sits perfectly on the penalty spot, teed up, begging to be hit. Niall McGinn is there first to slam home.
The official attendance at High Road tonight: 59,315. So not quite a full house. “Given that pub quiz history-making is at stake, has Harry Kane attempted to claim the Heung-min Son goal?” wonders Peter Oh, because somebody had to say it.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Brighton & Hove Albion (Loftus-Cheek 64). Ruben Loftus-Cheek scores his first goal since
December
the weekend (sorry), finding the top corner from distance, a peach every bit as sweet as the goal scored by Hazard a few minutes ago.
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GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion (Hazard 60). Eden Hazard is on the edge of the box, to the left of the D, surrounded by defenders. No matter! Hazard shuffles to make himself a little space and whips the ball into the far corner.
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GOAL! St Johnstone 2-0 Dundee (Kennedy 60). Matty Kennedy doubles the Saints’ lead on the hour. Dundee’s losing streak looks set to reach six.
THE FIRST GOAL AT THE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM! Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Crystal Palace (Son 55). Heung-Min Son will be the answer to that particular pub-quiz question. It’s his first goal in seven matches; well, he timed that perfectly, didn’t he?
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Manchester City are looking for the third goal that’d put a win against Cardiff beyond all doubt. If there is any doubt. Phil Foden was very close to a debut goal, having been put through by Fernandinho, but he couldn’t slip the ball past Neil Etheridge. It’s still 2-0, but that’s more than enough to put City back at the top, a point ahead of Liverpool.
GOAL! Rangers 3-0 Hearts (Arfield 46). It’s all happening early doors in Scotland, as Scott Arfield slams home the rebound from a Jermaine Defoe header. “Livingston’s Almondvale Stadium is also known for sponsorship purposes as the Tony Macaroni Arena, and colloquially as the Spaghettihad,” reports Simon McMahon. “There’s no truth in the rumour that the team runs out to Life is a Minestrone by 10cc.”
GOAL! Livingston 1-0 Hamilton Academical (Hardie 46). Ryan Hardie opens the second-half scoring pretty much straight from the kick-off.
Half-time entertainment, courtesy of Duncan Edwards. “Great to hear Mike Sammes mentioned. His Music For Biscuits album is full of old jingles ripe for conversion to sludgy terrace chants. I’m obviously thinking Dulux Super 3 and for European nights Chocolate Vienna. Failing that, I’d venture we can update the ubiquitous When The Saints Go Marching In by dipping into Sammes’s fabulous hymns album Hymns a’ Swinging (with the Ted Taylor Organ Sound). Not least the flute and sitar-heavy Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken and the funky He Who Would Valiant Be.”
I like your judicious deployment of the word “obviously”. That’s a must-have album, not least because the cover appears to be a pastiche of the old Sainsbury’s Snax box. I’m off to do some Amazon shopping, back in a bit. If I miss any goals, I’m very sorry, but that’s just the way it’s got to be.
The Scottish Premiership half-times.
Aberdeen 1-1 Motherwell
Hibernian 0-0 Kilmarnock
Livingston 0-0 Hamilton Accies
Rangers 2-0 Hearts
St Johnstone 1-0 Dundee
St Mirren 0-1 Celtic
The Premier League half-times.
Chelsea 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Manchester City 2-0 Cardiff City
Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Crystal Palace
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Cardiff City (Sane 44). The champions have been piling forward without getting much reward ... until now. A cross from the right is chested down by Jesus, teeing up Leroy Sane, near the left-hand corner of the box. Sane lashes a shot through a crowded box and into the bottom right. If Cardiff were beginning to dream of keeping it tight and causing a shock, they’ve just been rudely woken up. “Surely Peters and Lee singing Welcome Home would have been the icing on the cake,” insists Lloyd Mills, building on the earlier late-70s light-entertainment theme.
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GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Brighton (Giroud 38). So having said Chelsea were doing bugger all, they go ahead and score a couple of minutes later. Olivier Giroud has broken the deadlock, with a little help from debutant Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was involved in the build-up.
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GOAL! Aberdeen 1-1 Motherwell (Hastie 36). Motherwell don’t much like Pittodrie, having lost on six of their last eight visits. But Jake Hastie springs the Aberdeen offside trap to level things up.
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Chelsea aren’t doing very much against Brighton. Eden Hazard blooters a good chance over the bar when he surely had to hit the target at the very least.
Celtic are awarded a penalty at Paisley Park. Handball. Olivier Ntcham takes a stuttering run-up, in the style of his compatriot Paul Pogba ... and misses. “Spurs could keep the tradition and still name it after three famous Spurs players,” suggests Chucky. “White Vaart Kane.”
Harry Kane comes very close to scoring the first-ever goal at High Road. A free kick from 22 yards fizzes just past the post. So close to the fairytale the majority of Spurs fans would love to see written. There’s been a first yellow card, though, and it goes to Dele Alli for a poor challenge on Luka Milivojević.
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GOAL! St Johnstone 1-0 Dundee (Hendry 16). Callum Hendry opens the scoring for Perth’s finest at McDiarmid Park. The division’s bottom club don’t look like snapping their five-game losing streak right now.
GOAL! Rangers 2-0 Hearts (Goldson 21). Connor Goldson quickly doubles Rangers’ lead with a header. “Great bit of reporting by Tom Bryant,” opines Peter Oh. “Barkley should be safe from any repercussions unless the splash of water put out Sarri’s pre-match cigarette in an unfortunate sizzle.”
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GOAL! St Mirren 0-1 Celtic (Weah 15). The league leaders go ahead at St Mirren Park, Timothy Weah just about nudging the ball home. It’s a controversial one, though, the Buddies sure the whole of the ball didn’t cross the line. On the subject of dull stadium names, St Mirren Park doesn’t really cut it either, does it. Given their home town, they really missed a trick there.
GOAL! Rangers 1-0 Hearts (Defoe 16). Jermaine Defoe has already had one goal chalked off. This one counts, though, a rebound volleyed home.
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It’s all City at the Etihad. They’ve just come very close to a second, after a series of corners. Discombobulated, Manga sliced a clearance straight to Jesus, who hoicked over the bar in sheer surprise, when it was surely easier to score. “Go on then, let’s get moving on the new name for the Spurs stadium,” begins Adam Hirst’s case study in causing trouble. “Bearing in mind the appearance of it, I’ll go for White PorceLane. Maybe they can get Armitage Shanks to sponsor the naming rights.” He’s here all week, folks.
Try the cheese
.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Cardiff City (De Bruyne 6). Kevin De Bruyne scores his second league goal of the season, finding the net from a tight angle. It should really be City’s second goal, because Gabriel Jesus failed to toe-poke into an empty net after 20 seconds. City will be top of the Premier League table tonight, I’ll be bound.
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GOAL! Aberdeen 1-0 Motherwell (Lowe 4). Anyway, some football. The first goal of the evening goes to Max Lowe, who swings in a cross that ends up foxing the keeper and nestling in the net.
The official opening ceremony at High Road looked superb. A lot of fireworks fizzing around, and a bank of electronic signs flashing WELCOME HOME. It didn’t sound so good, though, as an ersatz version of Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur was belted out with some force by Wynne Evans, the guy from the Go Compare ads. They’d have been better off riffing on the signage and booking the Mike Sammes Singers. ♫ Welcome, welcome, welcome home to White Hart Lane ... ♫
Slapstick comedy corner. Our very own Tom Bryant is at Stamford Bridge this evening, and here’s his pre-match report. “Ross Barkley has been practising shots with Willian. He hit the ‘JT Captain, Leader, Legend’ banner and the post, before the sprinklers came on and soaked half the team. Could be a long night.” And there’s some who insist that Sarriball is boring.
Scottish Premiership teams
Aberdeen: Lewis, Ball, Considine, McKenna, Lowe, Campbell, Ferguson, Shinnie, McLennan, Cosgrove, McGinn.
Subs: Wilson, Halford, Stewart, Gleeson, May, Devlin, Cerny.
Motherwell: Gillespie, Grimshaw, Aldred, Dunne, Tait, Campbell, McHugh, Turnbull, Hastie, Main, Ariyibi.
Subs: Hartley, Cadden, Frear, Ferguson, Sammon, Rodriguez, Johnson.
Hibernian: Marciano, Gray, Milligan, Hanlon, Stevenson, Slivka, Horgan, Mallan, Omeonga, Kamberi, McNulty.
Subs: Bartley, McGregor, Bogdan, Shaw, Fraser Murray, Mackie, Allan.
Kilmarnock: Bachmann, O’Donnell, Broadfoot, Findlay, Taylor, McKenzie, Dicker, Mulumbu, Jones, McAleny, Tshibola.
Subs: Millar, Bruce, MacDonald, Power, Waters, Burke, Kris Boyd.
Livingston: Kelly, Gallagher, Halkett, Lithgow, Lawson, Pitman, Hardie, Sibbald, Lamie, Robinson, Jacobs.
Subs: Menga, Erskine, Byrne, Lawless, Stewart, De Vita, Odofin.
Hamilton: Woods, Gordon, Tshiembe, Oakley, McGowan, Martin, Mimnaugh, Andreu, McMann, McMillan, MacKinnon.
Subs: Kilgallon, Davies, Miller, Gogic, Fulton, Smith, Sowah.
Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Worrall, Flanagan, Davis, Jack, Arfield, Kamara, Kent, Defoe.
Subs: Lafferty, Foderingham, McCrorie, Katic, Candeias, Coulibaly, Grezda.
Hearts: Zlamal, Souttar, Berra, Shaughnessy, Brandon, Haring, Djoum, Bozanic, Godinho, Wighton, Clare.
Subs: Dikamona, Doyle, MacLean, Mulraney, Keena, Burns, Lee.
St Johnstone: Clark, Foster, Shaughnessy, Kerr, Tanser, Craig, Callachan, O’Halloran, Hendry, Kennedy, Kane.
Subs: Bell, Swanson, Goss, Davidson, Comrie, Gordon, Northcott.
Dundee: Dieng, Horsfield, Ryan McGowan, O’Dea, Ralph, O’Sullivan, Robson, Woods, Jesse Curran, Paul McGowan, Miller.
Subs: Craig Curran, Wright, Dales, Kusunga, Parish, Nelson,
Moore.
St Mirren: Hladky, Baird, Ferdinand, Popescu, Corbu, Stephen McGinn, MacPherson, Muzek, Kellermann, Cooke, Nazon.
Subs: Lyons, McAllister, Holmes, Dreyer, Paul McGinn, Jackson, Mullen.
Celtic: Bain, Lustig, Simunovic, Ajer, Izaguirre, Brown, Ntcham, Forrest, McGregor, Weah, Burke.
Subs: Toljan, Sinclair, Christie, Rogic, Edouard, De Vries, Benkovic.
You buy a bag of peanuts in this town, you get a song written about you. “I have always been OUTRAGED that Spurs fans have not yet adapted this ditty (to the tune of A Poco No) from a quite well-known 1941 film to pay tribute to one of their own,” thunders Ian Copestake, clearing his throat before belting out the following:
♫ There is a man - a certain man
And for the poor you may be sure
That he’ll do all he can!
Who is this one?
This fav’rite son?
Just by his action
Has a foot like a traction engine on the run?
Who loves to punt?
Enjoys a joke?
Who wouldn’t get a bit upset if he were really broke?
With wealth and fame
He’s still the same
I’ll bet you five you’re not alive if you don’t know his name!
What is his name? It’s Harry Kane! (Chorus: It’s Mister Kane!)
He doesn’t like that Mister, he likes good old Harry Kane! ♫
Marvellous. Pepe Guizar himself would be proud of that. Hope to hear the denizens of High Road belting it out tonight. Altogether now ...
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium looks the business, doesn’t it? Picture that stand full of folk bouncing up and down after a last-minute Harry Kane winner! Shame about the name. I wonder why they didn’t go for New White Hart Lane? OK, so it’s not on White Hart Lane ... but then neither was White Hart Lane. Anyway, we digress.
Kane is part of a very attack-minded team, with Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min, called up from the bench, all starting tonight. Crystal Palace have made three changes to the side that sent Huddersfield down at the weekend, Andros Townsend, Scott Dann and Max Meyer dropping out.
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Manchester City v Cardiff: Something’s in the air tonight, because here’s another youngster starting in the Premier League for the first time: Phil Foden. The 18-year-old midfielder is one of seven changes made by Pep Guardiola, with Danilo, John Stones, Fernandinho, Riyad Mahrez, Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus also in the starting XI. Cardiff boss Neil Warnock had threatened to play the under-23s tonight, but in fact makes just one change from the Chelsea game, Joe Ralls replacing Harry Arter.
Chelsea v Brighton: Callum Hudson-Odoi finally starts a Premier League game for Chelsea! He’s one of seven changes from Saturday’s spawny 2-1 win at Cardiff, with Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante returning. Brighton meanwhile make four changes from their 1-0 loss at home to Southampton, welcoming back striker Florin Andone.
Premier League teams
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Emerson Palmieri, Kante, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Giroud, Hazard.
Subs: Rudiger, Barkley, Higuain, Caballero, Kovacic, Zappacosta, Willian.
Brighton & Hove Albion: Ryan, Saltor, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, Propper, Stephens, Bissouma, March, Andone, Jahanbakhsh. Subs: Kayal, Knockaert, Murray, Izquierdo, Button, Bernardo, Burn.
Manchester City: Ederson, Danilo, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Foden, Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, Sane.
Subs: Walker, Kompany, Sterling, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Silva, Muric.
Cardiff City: Etheridge, Peltier, Morrison, Ecuele Manga, Bennett, Gunnarsson, Hoilett, Victor Camarasa, Ralls, Josh Murphy, Niasse.
Subs: Zohore, Reid, Bacuna, Cunningham, Mendez-Laing, Harris, Brian Murphy.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies, Sissoko, Alli, Son, Eriksen, Rose, Kane. Subs: Sanchez, Winks, Wanyama, Walker-Peters, Foyth, Gazzaniga, Lucas Moura.
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Wan Bissaka, Tomkins, Kelly, Van Aanholt, Kouyate, Milivojevic, McArthur, Zaha, Batshuayi, Schlupp.
Subs: Ward, Dann, Meyer, Townsend, Hennessey, Ayew, Benteke.
While we wait for the teamsheets to drop ... why not click on this time-lapse video showing the long road to completion for Tottenham’s new home?
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Preamble
It’s another big evening in the Premier League. Manchester City can reclaim top spot, Tottenham Hotspur are opening their brand-new stadium, Cardiff, Brighton and Crystal Palace continue their battle against the drop, and Chelsea fans continue their campaign against Sarriball. Here’s the card:
Chelsea v Brighton & Hove Albion
Manchester City v Cardiff City
Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace
All three matches are scheduled to kick off at 7.45pm. However the match at the shiny Spurs stadium could quite easily be delayed if they haven’t worked out how to use their fancy new ticket barriers yet. It could be a long night.
There’s also a full card in the Scottish Premiership. Here’s that:
Aberdeen v Motherwell
Hibernian v Kilmarnock
Livingston v Hamilton Academical
Rangers v Heart of Midlothian
St Johnstone v Dundee
St Mirren v Celtic
All of those games kick off at 7.45pm too. Yes, it’s a big evening north and south of the border all right. Team news when we have it. It’s on!
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