Key events
12 min: Gannon-Doak, who had a fine game for Scotland over in North Macedonia recently, makes inroads down the right. He crosses but there’s no one at the far post to meet it.
10 min: FC Salzburg are a goal up on NK Celje, if you like that sort of thing.
9 min: “I know it shouldn’t,” emails Alex, “but it still blows my mind that Bournemouth are playing Milan and the latter have more English players on the pitch.”
Fair.
Goal! 8min: Bournemouth 1-0 Milan (Kluivert pen)
An impossibly cool penalty by Kluivert, slid into the corner, waiting for the keeper to dive the other way. Sensational for Bournemouth!
5 min: Evanilson just wide with a header for Bournemouth … but was there a handball? This is going to be a penalty. There is a VAR check. The ref’s gone to the monitor, Jeff. And YES! It’s a penno. Handball by Koni De Winter.
4 min: There was a bit of early intent from Milan but overall, a steady start for both teams. But wait! A chance for Kluivert from close range, who misses his kick, then Gannon-Doak has a shot blocked! That could easily have been 1-0. The fans are in fine voice.
3 min: There were four changes for Bournemouth, by the way, with Ben Gannon-Doak, Bafode Diakite, Justin Kluivert and Michele Di Gregorio (in goal) coming into the side.
First half kick-off!
The football has begun, at a rain-lashed Vitality Stadium on the south coast.
Celtic v Celta Vigo teams
Celtic: Johnstone, Donovan, Murray, Scales, Tierney, McGregor, Baur, Hassan, Nygren, Osmand, Duran. Substitutes: Sinisalo, Lotomba, Hogh, McCowan, Tounekti, Sorensen, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Forrest, Ralston, Kennedy, Haney, McArdle.
Celta Vigo: Radu, Rodriguez, Caceres, Alonso, Rueda, Burcio, Febas, Carreira, Aspas, Jutgla, Alvarez. Substitutes: Bayindir, Faye, Moriba, Duran, Gonzalez, Lago, Swedberg, Galan, Driouech, Antanon, Arcos, Milla.
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria)
Bournemouth’s Marco Rose on TNT Sports a little while ago: “We need to control the load … I have to take care about the lads, and that’s why some changes.”
Besiktas v Crystal Palace teams
It’s Danny “unfeasibly neat hair” Makkelie on the whistle!
Besiktas: Nubel, Bulut, Djalo, Akdag, Ouattara, Ndidi, Trossard, Miretti, Kartal Yilmaz, Fakili, Oh. Substitutes: Alemdar, Salih Ozcan, Agbadou, Olaitan, Poku, Cerny, Vlahovic, Ridvan Yilmaz, Topcu, Yasin Ozcan, Murillo, Kilicsoy.
Crystal Palace: Benitez, Richards, Disasi, Canvot, Khalaili, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell, McNeil, Pino, Mateta. Substitutes: Matthews, Benetton, Sarr, Nketiah, Hughes, Ahanor, Larsen, Osorio, Mingueza, Chilwell, Benamar, King.
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Holland)
Thanks Daniel. The latest furore at perma-crisis club Manchester United begs the question: was Ruben Amorim really that bad?
Entirely unfairly, we can consider Bournemouth v Milan as a referendum on his managerial ability. Here we go!
Bournemouth v Milan teams
Bournemouth: Di Gregorio, Diakite, Hill, Silva, Truffert, Tavernier, Christie, Adams, Doak, Evanilson, Kluivert. Substitutes: Petrovic, Allan, Cook, Soler, Brooks, Smith, Adli, Toth, Rodriguez, Rayan.
Milan: Maignan, Tomori, De Winter, Pavlovic, Hutchinson, Musah, Jashari, Estupinan, Loftus-Cheek, Moreira, Cisse. Substitutes: Bouyer, Torriani, Pulisic, Rabiot, Diawara, Modric, Comotto, Bartesaghi, Gila, Vladimirov, Camarda.
Referee: Vassilis Fotias (Greece)
Righto, my watch is over for now. I’ll be back shortly but, in the meantime, here’s Luke McLaughlin to coax you through the imminent first halves.
Looking ahead to the later round of games, Palace have to find a way of bouncing back following their tousing at Brighton. Pierre Sage doesn’t look to have settled at the club yet, and could really use a result tonight to right things.
Conference League final scores
Europa League final scores
FULL TIME: Trabzonspor 2-0 Heart of Midlothian
Hearts were much better than at Celtic, but they still lose.
RED CARD! Trabzonspor’s Lopes Cabral is sent off for a second yellow card
90+5 min It’s harsh, a pull-back out wide, but what on earth is he doing not just letting Kerjota go. Now he misses a crucial game against Freiburg.
And here it is.
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Hearts haven’t quite finished losing to Trabzonspor. They’ll be naused about the penalty they didn’t get just before half-time, but the better side are in front and Franculino’s second goal was a banger.
FULL TIME: Jablonec 0-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton have four points from two games and actually might well have lost tonight, so can have no complaints.
That Roefs double-save. Just look at it!
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FULL TIME: Lech Poznan 1-1 Sunderland
Sunderland should’ve won, might’ve lost, and with seven points and two home games to come, they’re nicely set.
Then Brighton go up the other end and Rutter shoots … and Hanus saves.
The keeper punches it clear, and might that be Sunderland’s final opportunity? Brighton, meantime, almost lose it in Jablonec, Nebyla bending low and just around the post.
Into the final minute in Poznan, O’Nien’s throw earning a corner which yields another; we’re playing the first of three added minutes.
“Fabian Hürzeler may be a new kind of manager, but his lack of top level experience isn’t unheard of, writes Kári Tulinius. “Compared to Arrigo Sacchi, Hürzeler is James Milner. When criticised for his lack of playing experience, Sacchi famously quipped: ‘I never realised that to become a jockey you needed to be a horse first.’”
Agree, it’s not unheard of, and the riposte is, of course, a classic, but it was unusual then whereas now, I think it’s likely to become a trend.
We’ve played 86 minutes in Poznan. If Sunderland have to make do with a draw, they’ll be disappointed because they’ve had enough chances to win several games but, on the other hand seven points from three games is pretty good and would put them well on the way to the top 24 if not the top eight.
Now Methalie attacks the Poznan box, weaving in from the left, shooting … just wide of the near post.
Le Fee’s been lively in the second half and he again sashays into the box and looks ready to shoot. But when the gap closes, he lays back for Rigg with lovely pace on the ball, used to send a left-footed curler inches over the angle – so close to goal it lands on the netting.
In Turin, Juventus have, my score has belatedly updated to tell me, equalised for 2-2 Rennes thanks to Woltemade’s penalty.
Jablonec are pushing, Verbruggen forces to beat away at his near post after Tchanturishvili carries down the left and shoots hard. Brighton have sent on Andres, David, Ayari and Boskovic for Gross, Boscagli, Hinshelwood and O’Riley.
Sunderland go in search of a winner, Le Fee opting not to shoot when he has an open lane, instead belatedly feeding Fofana, who slices wide of the near post.
Back in Jablonec, the home side have missed two chances, one a good one and the other a shot from distance.
AMAZING DOUBLE-SAVE FROM ROEFS!
Ishak crosses from the left directly into the path of Walemark, who arrives on to it and punches hard from maybe seven yards. Roefs flings himself in the road, then Gurgul leathers the rebound from five yards, and somehow he’s up to dive in the way of that one too. That is so, so, so good, and Sunderland will lose this if they’re not careful.
GOAL! Lech Poznan 1-1 Sunderland (Bengtsson 70)
Ultimately, Sunsderland deserve this as punishment for the chances they’ve missed. A corner goes to the back post where Skrzypczak heads into O’Nien’s face. The ball drops to Bengtsson on the left side of the box, and he drills a competent low volley inside the near post.
Le Fee wriggles space inside the Poznan box, trying a chapeau before fighting to regain possession, dragging a shot straight at the keeper. As time elapses, Sunderland need to keep going forward and resist temptation to sit on their lead, because Poznan look better equipped to score than avoid conceding.
OH WHAT A GOAL! Trabzonspor 2-0 Hearts (Franculino 58)
He takes the ball out on the right and sways away from his marker, then megs Mato with a pass into Salah, who cleverly adjusts feet to guide a return into his path. Even so, there’s plenty to do, the ball under his feet but, from 15 yards, he digs out a curler into the far side-netting. That’s delicious behaviour.
Sunderland remove Mukiele, Angulo and Xhaka, with Rigg, Hume and Sadiki coming on.
Gosh, Sunderland might rue their profligacy. This time, Angulo, who’s had a really strong game, burrows to the by-line, cuts back, and Mukiele is there, inside the box with loads of time and space. He should place his shot, but instead lashes at it, and Lis tips behind for a corner. Xhaka swings it in, Ahoka ducks into a header … and Lis hurls himself right to tip away.
A ball flighted into Ishak … and this time, Danso does really well, craning his neck towards his own goal and around a clearing header. I think Sunderland will score again, as I said earlier, but they need to keep the back door shut. Oh, and here’s Angulo, taking a pass from Fofana that the defenders should cut out but don’t. He works a shooting lane, but doesn’t get hold of the effort, stubbing straight at the keeper.
More from Poznan…
Nice from Sunderland, Mukiele cutting back from the by-line, perhaps just a little behind Diarra, who fetches it from around his arse and drills wide. That ought to have been 2-0.
Nice from Walemark, who twists O’Nien’s legs around each other, dips outside, shoot low … and the effort skips just by the far post.
We go again in Trabzonspor v Hearts.
Yalcouye slots home calmly for Brighton, but was at least 63 yards offside.
From the Poznan away end.
Off we go again in Jablonec and off we go again in Poznan.
I have a slightly different take on this: United have finally broken Bruno, jiggering his career with a series of poor decisions and broken promises. Of course, he’s responsible for his own behaviour, but the man is mad as hell and he’s not going to take this any more. Imagine United in the years since he signed without him.
Half-time reading:
Conference League half-times
Europa League half-times
HALF-TIME: Trabzonspor 1-0 Hearts
Salah’s penalty is the difference but Heart, having been gubbed 7-1 by Celtic at the weekend, are in this game.
HALF-TIME: Lech Poznan 0-1 Sunderland
An entertaining first half, both sides looking to attack and Sunderland doing it better.
In Turkey, Claudio Braga attacks the by-line, Cabral slides in, doesn’t get the ball … and the ref say no penalty. I’d very much like to see his working.
