And with that I bid you adieu. It’s been dramatic. Except at West Ham. Bye!
And a couple more match reports to round off this Clocko:
When Oumar Niasse was controversially sent off with well over an hour still to play, Marco Silva’s impeccable home record seemed in severe jeopardy. Reminding everyone that appearances can be desperately deceptive things, his Hull City side responded by defying all available odds to register yet another win in their fight against relegation.
Read this, and more, here:
Read about this game now so you don’t have to stay up until the very end of Match of the Day:
And meanwhile Scott Murray is all over today’s first FA Cup semi-final here:
Our match reports are starting to roll in:
Meanwhile, AFC Fylde tonk Boston United 3-0 and are champions of the National League north.
🏆 WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS 🏆 pic.twitter.com/8zmGo4AXWG
— AFC Fylde (@AFCFYLDE) April 22, 2017
As a result of today’s results, Newcastle will be promoted from the Championship if they don’t lose at home to Preston on Monday night, while Wigan will be relegated if Birmingham City don’t lose at Aston Villa tomorrow afternoon.
In other news, Bradford beat Wimbledon 3-0 and will be in the League One play-offs, while Luton beat Notts County 2-1, and will be in the League Two play-offs.
Burton Albion have beaten Leeds 2-1 and are safe from relegation. Elsewhere in the Championship relegation scrap, Wigan and Blackburn are both held to goalless draws, and Nottingham Forest cling on to beat Reading 3-2.
Swindon Town are relegated from League One
A 2-1 home defeat to Scunthorpe is enough to seal Swindon’s fate.
Leyton Orient are relegated from the Football League
The final whistle blows at the end of a 3-0 defeat at Crewe, and Orient are down.
Final score: West Ham 0-0 Everton
A game in which, so far as I can tell, very little happened.
Awful effort that. Worst game in a long time for any of our players in an attacking sense. #EFC
— David Downie (@daviddownie17) April 22, 2017
Final scores: Hull 2-0 Watford; Swansea 2-0 Stoke
And with Bournemouth winning in style it looks like Swansea and Hull are battling it out for the final relegation spot. The Swans, sadly, have the grimmest run-in.
Final score: Bournemouth 4-0 Middlesbrough
A game that started badly for Boro, and got worse from there.
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Into stoppage time. There will be four minutes at both Hull and Swansea, but both are banking three points today.
Chance for Stoke! They win a corner on the left, take it short, and in the end Allen lays it across the area and Martins Indi, well placed and in space 15 yards out, spears wide.
… and now Bartley has pulled one back – Burton 2-1 Leeds, all three goals coming inside five minutes.
In the Championship, Burton have scored twice in a few minutes to take a 2-0 lead over Leeds. With Fulham winning that could be a massive result at both ends of the table.
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Ki Sung-yueng misses a great chance to put Swansea three up against Stoke, blazing wide on the half-volley from 10 yards or so.
Port Vale v Bolton has been suspended because of fighting in the crowd, which has spilled onto the pitch.
A quarter of an hour ago Hull had had two shots, and Watford eight. Now it’s 7-9. This will be a remarkable result.
GOAL! Bournemouth 4-0 Middlesbrough!
This is getting ugly. A free-kick is tapped to Daniels, who goes past one flimsy challenge with ease before shooting low and hard inside the near post!
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GOAL! Hull City 2-0 Watford!
How Watford are two goals down here I do not know, but that is an absolute beauty from Clucas, who chests down and volleys into the far corner from 25 yards after a corner was cleared to him.
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GOAL! Swansea 2-0 Stoke!
And moments later Tom Carroll’s slightly deflected shot from miles out loops into the net and Swansea go two up!
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Arnautovic misses the penalty!
The penalty came when Shaqiri was clipped from behind, but Arnautovic blasts high!
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Penalty to Stoke!
Five minutes ago Swansea were winning, Hull were down to 10 men and under the cosh, and the Swans were out of the bottom three. How swiftly things change.
GOAL! Bournemouth 3-0 Middlesbrough
Boro make a mess of passing the ball out of defence again. This time they get halfway to the halfway line before Bournemouth win it back, play it immediately to Pugh on the left, and he cuts onto his right foot and curls the ball into the far corner from the edge of the area!
Turns out the header didn’t cross the line, so it’s just as well Markovic wasn’t too busy appealing to the referee to bash in the rebound.
GOAL! Hull City 1-0 Watford!
Watford got so caught up in their incessant dominance they were entirely unprepared for it briefly ceasing. Watford win a free kick, from which Holebas’s shot from the edge of the area hits a Hull defender, and suddenly the home side scamper down the right, the cross picks out Markovic and his header hits the bar, comes down over the line, bounces clear and is bashed in by Markovic, just to make sure.
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Another impossible miss for Watford! This time a long throw from the left bounces through to Capoue, who spins and from the edge of the six-yard box hits the ball along the ground into Jakupovic’s foot. Anywhere else (other than wide, or into the other foot, obviously) and the away side would have led.
They are on the bench, along with Cesc Fabregas.
Today’s subs are Begovic, Zouma, Terry, Chalobah, Fabregas, Hazard and Diego Costa. #CHETOT
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 22, 2017
Now it’s Forest 3-0 Reading, and Chelsea’s starting XI has been confirmed, with no Hazard or Costa.
Our starting team today is Courtois; Azpilicueta (c), David Luiz, Ake; Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Willian, Batshuayi, Pedro. #CHETOT
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 22, 2017
Meanwhile at West Ham, the home side have had six shots, the away side have not, officially, had any.
Middlesbrough have made 32 passes in the attacking third today against Bournemouth. The Cherries have made 121. A comeback does not look likely.
Britt Assombalonga grabs a second goal, Nottingham Forest lead Reading 2-0 and this is all terrible news for Blackburn, who are drawing 0-0 at Wolves.
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Tony Rutt in Oregon tweets to support the referee at Hull – “looked like a good red card, intent,” he says. Also notable about that incident was the fact that only a diving defensive interception had stopped Hull creating a wonderful goalscoring chance about a third of a second earlier. Small margins, etc.
Players are on their way back out. Forty-five further minutes of madcap fun to follow.
Meanwhile there are 12 games in League One and just two stalemates. In League Two – and this is I’ve-started-so-I’ll-finish territory – it’s four of 12.
Conte was asked about Costa’s goalscoring form at his press conference yesterday. “I think he is keeping the goals for the finale of the season,” he said. “It is the right moment for him to score.”
@Simon_Burnton Costa has been resting for weeks.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) April 22, 2017
In the Championship, five of the nine games are goalless at the break and three of the other four are 1-0. Fulham are the outliers here.
Today in the Premier League so far: four games, three goals.
Excellent screen-grabbage.
When you expect yellow and get red pic.twitter.com/4B0X0bX1Oy
— 101 Great Goals (@101greatgoals) April 22, 2017
Crewe score a third in stoppage time, and Leyton Orient are 3-0 down, and out.
Huddersfield 1-4 Fulham. Remarkable.
In the 44th minute of their game, Bournemouth put a picture of Ugo Ehiogu on the big screens and the fans rise to applaud the big man.
There’s not been much to tell you about at West Ham, but there was just an almighty messy scramble inside the penalty area in which pretty much anything could have happened, but ended with a goal kick.
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It’s now Huddersfield 1-3 Fulham. Meanwhile in League Two, Crewe lead surely relegation-bound Leyton Orient 2-0.
Impossible miss! Britos is found unmarked at the back post from Watford’s corner, but he inexplicably heads wide!
It’s now one-way traffic at Hull, with Amrabat’s 20-yarder deflecting wide for aother Watford corner.
@Simon_Burnton The Niasse red looks correct to me. Reckless, knee-high and late. No damage being done to the other player is irrelevant.
— Greg Palin (@DrGreggles) April 22, 2017
Niasse did approach the challenge studs first, which is asking for trouble, but was so far from the meat of Niang’s leg that I thought he should get away with it.
In the Championship, Nottingham Forest have gone a goal up against Reading, Britt Assombalonga with it. A goal with potentially massive ramifications on the relegation squabble.
A let-off for Hull: from the second corner the ball bounces to Janmaat, whose shot was heading into the corner of the goal, with Jakupovic this time helpless, until it hit Deeney and bounced out for a goal kick instead.
Super save! Watford win a corner on the right, Holebas curls it in and Prödl’s header was heading high into the net until Jakupovic flings up a hand and touches it over the bar!
Gary Lineker is at Wembley for today’s FA Cup semi-final with his ear to the ground, and this is what he’s been picking up:
Rumour has it that Chelsea are resting Hazard and Costa. 😳
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) April 22, 2017
“I’m watching both the game at Swansea and the one at Bournemouth,” boasts JR in Illinois. “Boro and Stoke are putting in the kind of performances where you wouldn’t be surprised to see teammates square up to one another, a la Bowyer v Dyer. It’s rather exciting. And now Ramirez is off!! Oh man, the Cherries already looked like they could score any number they wanted. This is crazy.” Well, indeed.
@Simon_Burnton what an absolutely absurd red card at Hull. Not even a yellow. Going for ball and barely makes contact. Useless referee.
— steep the tea bun (@steamyteabuns) April 22, 2017
Terrible decision, particularly given it came so early in a match of such importance to Hull. Niang made a three-course dinner of what contact there was, which didn’t help, but that doesn’t excuse Bobby Madley’s rush for red.
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Red card! Hull go down to 10 men too!
Niasse’s challenge on Niang is poor – studs up, shin high – but I didn’t see a lot of contact or violent intent. Perhaps a slight glancing blow.
In other news today, Bayern Munich are 2-1 down at home to Mainz and have conceded a penalty for the first time in the league this season. This means that the only team in Europe’s top five leagues not to concede a penalty this season is Barcelona.
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Championship goal! And Fulham have turned the game around at Huddersfield, leading as they now do 2-1, Tom Cairney netting from the spot.
Middlesbrough go down to 10 men!
Ramirez gets a second yellow card, closing down defenders deep in the right corner of the pitch an eventually flying in late on one of them, and with 20 minutes played Boro are surely beaten.
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Now Bournemouth have a great chance for a third! King is released by Pugh’s backheel, and from a really very promising position he blazes wide of the near post!
GOAL! Bournemouth 2-0 Middlesbrough!
Another low cross from Pugh on the left, and this one is kind-of-cleared to the edge of the area, which is when it really goes wrong. Boro try to ping a few passes around their backline, Clayton is robbed and the ball rebounds straight to Afobe, 15 yards from goal, in the middle of the penalty area and quite unmarked, and he passes into the net. 18 minutes played, and they’ve been bad, bad minutes for Boro.
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Swansea win another set piece – a free-kick this time – and Butland runs out to catch, fumbles, and is grateful to hear the referee’s whistle, Leroy Fer having jumped into him at the crucial moment.
Middlesbrough ask for a penalty as Ramirez goes down in the penalty area, and stays down for a good while in apparent pain. Perhaps this is because when he looks up he can see the referee, poised with yellow card in hand. It was, to be fair, a pretty ludicrous dive.
Full marks for honesty here from Stoke’s own Twitter feed.
Poor goal to concede from a set-piece, Stoke just haven't got out the blocks. Swansea are winning every ball #Swans 1-0 #SCFC
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) April 22, 2017
GOAL! Swansea 1-0 Stoke City
Fernando Llorente gives Swansea the lead they so desperately needed, heading a corner from the right into the turf and thence and into the far corner!
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In today’s toppermost Championship match, Huddersfield have won, and indeed scored, a penalty to put themselves 1-0 up against Fulham.
GOAL! Bournemouth 1-0 Middlesbrough!
A grim start for Boro, already a goal down with two minutes on the clock. The ball is worked about the left flank, Pugh brings it into the area, crosses low and Josh King meets it at the near post and sidefoots it in!
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Dong! It’s three o’clock!
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The players are coming out of their tunnels. Action but a couple of minutes away.
Unexpectedly bad head-to-head alert: it is exactly 10 years and a day since West Ham last beat Everton at home. Since then they have won once at Goodison Park, lost 11 times and drawn seven.
This is good and bad. It’s an impressive conversion rate, for sure, but clearly Deeney isn’t having enough shots. For a start – as Hull will remember (video below) – he used to score regularly from outside the penalty area. Now he doesn’t shoot from further than 12 yards.
7 - Troy Deeney has scored with seven of his last 11 shots on target in the Premier League for @WatfordFC. Sting. pic.twitter.com/jKO76l3DgF
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 22, 2017
Here’s our story about Lincoln’s promotion:
Lincoln are promoted to the Football League
It’s all over, Lincoln win 2-1 and there’s a delirious pitch invasion in progress and Sincil Bank.
Elsewhere among the relegation-threatened sides, Hull and Middlesbrough make two changes each. Hull bring in Evandro and Elmohamady and leave out Huddlestone and Dawson, who are both on the bench. Boro bring in Chambers and Friend, with Fabio dropped to the bench and Leadbitter out with hamstring twang.
Interesting team news: Leon Britton, whose last minute of first-team football came on New Year’s Eve, three days before Paul Clement’s appointment, starts for Swansea.
Premier League teams
Get yer top-flight teams here!
Bournemouth v Middlesbrough
Bournemouth: Boruc, Adam Smith, Francis, Steve Cook, Daniels, Fraser, Arter, Gosling, Pugh, King, Afobe. Subs: Gradel, Lewis Cook, Stanislas, Allsop, Mings, Mousset, Cargill.
Middlesbrough: Guzan, Barragan, Ayala, Chambers, Gibson, Friend, Ramirez, de Roon, Clayton, Downing, Negredo. Subs: Konstantopoulos, Da Silva, Bernardo, Stuani, Gestede, Forshaw, Traore.
Referee: Graham Scott.
Hull v Watford
Hull: Jakupovic, Elmohamady, Ranocchia, Maguire, Robertson, Markovic, Clucas, N’Diaye, Grosicki, Evandro, Niasse. Subs: Huddlestone, Hernandez, Maloney, Mbokani, Dawson, Henriksen, Marshall.
Watford: Gomes, Janmaat, Prodl, Britos, Holebas, Cleverley, Doucoure, Amrabat, Capoue, Niang, Deeney. Subs: Mariappa, Success, Behrami, Zuniga, Kabasele, Pantilimon, Okaka.
Referee: Robert Madley.
Swansea v Stoke
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Kingsley, Mawson, Fernandez, Fer, Britton, Carroll, Ayew, Llorente, Sigurdsson. Subs: Ki, Van der Hoorn, Borja Baston, Nordfeldt, Montero, Narsingh, Roberts.
Stoke: Butland, Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Pieters, Shaqiri, Allen, Cameron, Arnautovic, Berahino, Crouch. Subs: Bardsley, Muniesa, Whelan, Adam, Diouf, Sobhi, Grant.
Referee: Michael Oliver.
West Ham v Everton
West Ham: Adrian, Fonte, Reid, Collins, Kouyate, Nordtveit, Fernandes, Masuaku, Ayew, Calleri, Lanzini. Subs: Randolph, Cresswell, Sakho, Fletcher, Rice, Holland, Makasi.
Everton: Stekelenburg, Holgate, Jagielka, Ashley Williams, Baines, Schneiderlin, Gana, Davies, Mirallas, Lukaku, Barkley. Subs: Robles, Kone, Barry, Calvert-Lewin, Lookman, Pennington, Kenny.
Referee: Roger East.
It’s now Lincoln 2-1 Macclesfield, and promotion is but 11 minutes away.
Hello world!
So another fabulous afternoon of league-based footballing action awaits, an afternoon in which the following could happen:
- Huddersfield will guarantee their place in the play-offs if they beat Fulham at home, and Reading will join them if they do better than either Fulham or Leeds.
- Wigan are going down if they lose to Cardiff and Blackburn beat Wolves at Molineux or Nottingham Forest beat Reading.
- Bradford would seal a League One play-off berth if they get at least a point against Wimbledon.
- Swindon will go down unless they match Bury’s result, or better those of Shrewsbury or Gillingham.
- Luton would be secure in the League Two play-offs if they beat Notts County, or if either Carlisle or Blackpool lose.
- Leyton Orient will be relegated to the National League unless they do at least as well as Newport and better than Hartlepool.
- Lincoln’s return to the Football League will be guaranteed unless they fail to beat Macclesfield in the early kick-off and Tranmere then beat Southport. It is currently Lincoln 1-1 Macclesfield.
And that’s just the headline stuff. A variety of other clubs – in full: Bristol City, Burton, QPR, Charlton, Northampton, Oldham, Gillingham, Barnet, Morecambe, Yeovil, Crewe and Crawley – could guarantee their safety from relegation today, while others will see their play-off dreams disappear into the unreachable distance.
And that’s before we get to the Premier League, where it’s all eyes on the basement where Middlesbrough’s hope of salvation will shift from its current status – unlikely – to a new and considerably more gloomy one – downright ludicrous, perhaps – unless they get three points at Bournemouth, while Swansea really need something to celebrate from the visit of Stoke and Hull will start to feel a bit comfortable if they turn a home record of six wins (and a draw) in seven to seven in eight against Watford. And as an added bonus West Ham host Everton, who would go fifth again should they win.
So, that’s what we’ve got to look forward to. Looks a good one. Are you ready?
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