Sunday football clockwatch! | Rob Smyth:
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3.03pm The second half has begun in both Premier League games.
3.01pm Anthony Stokes' cool one-on-one finish has made it Dundee United 0-3 Celtic with a few minutes to go at Tannadice. Celtic are three matches away from the domestic treble.
3pm This is the Premier League table as things stand, with City ahead on goal difference. They lead by 10 goals in fact, which is down to that 6-1 win at Old Trafford.
2.59pm "In regards to David Wall's comments, it's definitely a national thing," says Russ Slater. "The US press do the same with music groups, i.e. Coldplay is an English rock group. I have to agree, it is slightly unsettling!"
2.56pm That was such an interesting and courageous change from Roberto Mancini, because he will be the recipient of pelters if it backfires. City are still playing 4-2-3-1, but the focus is different, with Yaya Toure deeper and an attacking quartet of Balotelli, Silva, Nasri and Aguero.
2.52pm "Camera shot of Danny Welbeck chatting happily to Olsson who had just blocked his effort," says Adam Hirst. "I think he's going to be around the United squad for a long time and I hope so. He seems like such a well-adjusted lad, probably a pleasure to manage and to referee."
He does indeed. Doesn't he know he's a 21st-century footballer?
2.50pm "Re: 2.22pm," says Nabeel Younas. "So what would you say warrants Man City being one of the world's best teams?" The fact they're top of one of the strongest leagues in the world?
2.49pm "Amazing assist as that at 2.38pm was, unfortunately in the 'EPL' the goal couldn't be given," says Ethan Dean-Richards. "You'll note that the goalkeeper runs back into his goal and throws the ball out of his net in disgust: on the QPR precedent of yesterday, that counts as a save."
2.47pm It's half time in both Premier League games: Swansea 0-0 Manchester City and Man Utd 1-0 West Brom.
2.46pm Celtic are going through to the Scottish Cup semi-final. They are a man up on Dundee United and now 2-0 up after a header from Giorgios Samaras.
2.41pm City are having a good spell at the Liberty Stadium. Yaya Toure's shot is deflected over the bar, and then David Silva shapes a good effort not far wide of the far post from 20 yards.
2.42pm It's all Manchester United now. A fine move involving Carrick and Young ends with Welbeck's shot being blocked superbly by Olsson.
2.41pm Roberto Mancini has had enough of Manchester City's performance: he's replaced Gareth Barry with Sergio Aguero. That's an interesting gamble, because he has weakened the midfield at a time when they are being outpassed.
2.40pm Phil Jones headed Ashley Young's deep cross wide of the near post and then takes a dramatic tumble over the advertising hoardings. Young is having an excellent game.
2.38pm My colleague James Dart has just discovered this gem, a banker for assist of the weekend.
2.36pm: Manchester United 1-0 West Brom (Rooney 36) Wayne Rooney gives United the lead with a poacher's goal, flicking in Javier Hernandez's cross-shot from only five yards. That was a splendid, deft finish from a move started with a typically excellent crossfield pass from Paul Scholes.
2.34pm City have their first extended spell of possession. After 32 minutes. That's a reflection of how well Swansea have played. At Old Trafford, Wayne Rooney cushions a volley straight at Ben Foster from Ashley Young's cross. He was only four yards out, but it was a difficult ball to control as he had to lift his right leg to almost neck height to reach the ball.
2.33pm Joe Ledley has given Celtic the lead against ten-man Dundee United at Tannadice.
2.32pm Noel Gallagher's new best friend tries to score from the halfway line. He doesn't succeed.
2.31pm "With respect to Georgina Turner's article, something I always find a bit odd when reading SI pieces is talking of teams in the singular (e.g. Swansea is in the Premier League) rather than the plural (e.g. Swansea are in the Premier League)," says David Wall. "The latter seems much more natural. Is this a national thing, the singular standard in American journalism, or is talking of teams as though they were groups (perhaps representatives of a community rather than a commercial body) just the British being antiquated and nostalgic?" I assume it's just a national thing.
2.30pm Danny Graham's shot on the turn drifts just wide of the far post with Joe Hart beaten.
2.28pm A splendid backheel puts Ashley Young through on the left of the box. He passes the ball beyond Foster, across the six-yard line, and it's booted clear by a defender.
2.25pm Danny Welbeck misses a decent chance from United, heading Ashley Young's corner over the bar from eight yards. He's a fine prospect, Welbeck, but his finishing isn't the best at this stage of his development.
2.22pm Swansea are completely outpassing City. Joe Hart hasn't had much to do since the penalty, but this is still so impressive from Swansea. They have had 69 per cent of the possession so far, against one of the world's best teams. Brendan Rodgers for England!
2.20pm It's finished Middlesbrough 0-2 Leeds.
2.16pm Swansea are still on top, although it's largely sterile domination at the moment. West Brom are playing excellently at Old Trafford, even though United have had 61 per cent of the possession, and David de Gea has just made a decent save from Keith Andrews' deflected free-kick.
2.14pm Middlesbrough's Barry Robson has been sent off, apparently for waving his boot in the direction of Adam Clayton. Leeds still lead 2-0 going into injury time.
2.13pm This is a lovely piece from my erstwhile colleague Georgina Turner on the rise of Swansea. The club actually treats the fans as equals. I know.
2.11pm The Serie A leaders Milan have taken the lead at home to Lecce, with Antonio Nocerino scoring after seven minutes. You can get all the latest scores from Serie A here.
2.09pm Both West Brom and Swansea have started extremely well, although Ben Foster has just had to beat away Ashley Young's shot from a narrow angle to the left of the box.
2.07pm: HART SAVES THE PENALTY! So much for being a penalty expert: that was a lame effort from Sinclair, and Hart plunged to his right to make a good save. Sinclair may have been put off by some sledging from Hart before he took the kick.
2.06pm: PENALTY TO SWANSEA Wayne Routledge is brought down by Joe Hart – there's a suggestion that Routledge moved his foot into Hart's body – and Swansea have a penalty. Scott Sinclair has scored his last 13 penalties...
2.05pm Keith Andrews has missed a wonderful chance for West Brom. He slid onto a brilliant near-post cross from Liam Ridgewell and, with his outstretched right foot, put it just wide from six yards.
2.04pm In most of their away games this season, Manchester City have had over 60 per cent of the possession. That's unlikely today, however; at the moment Swansea are passing the ball around pleasantly, if all in front of the City defence.
2.02pm "It was a funny old game at OT last season," says
Jimmy Greaves
Chris B. "United absolutely whupped our rears in the first half, and we were lucky to go in only 2-0 down. Then after one enormous cock-up, and a vaguely lucky second goal, 2-2. The weirdest thing for me was that after that equaliser, United seemed to panic, and we could have actually won in the end. I don't expect much from today, but they are often entertaining games between the two sides. Have a good one, and OOO Laurie Cunningham - my all-time favourite Albion player." Of course West Brom were the only team to avoid defeat at Old Trafford in the league last season. I'd have told you that earlier were I vaguely competent.
2.01pm Peep peep! The matches have kicked off at the Liberty Stadium and Old Trafford.
1.56pm "Hi Rob," says Alex Netherton. "Any chance you can ask your knowledgeable readers, and the thick ones if you'd like, of any decent books in English or French on French football?" Good question. Is there a Tor/Futebol equivalent for French football?
1.50pm Twenty minutes to go at the Riverside, where Leeds are hanging on their 2-0 lead very comfortably.
1.45pm Dundee United are down to 10 men for the last 62 minutes of their Scottish Cup quarter-final at home to Celtic, with Robbie Neilson sent off for elbowing Georgios Samaras in the face. I think it was overzealous rather than deliberate, although I haven't seen a replay. Either way, Neilson had already been booked, so a challenge of that nature wasn't exactly an application to Mensa.
With Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott injured, City have to play both their erratic central defenders, Kolo Toure and Stefan Savic. Sergio Aguero is only on the bench. Swansea make one change, with Wayne Routledge replacing the suspended Nathan Dyer.
Swansea (4-2-3-1): Vorm; Rangel, Williams, Caulker, Taylor; Allen, Britton; Sinclair, Sigurdsson, Routledge; Graham.
Subs: Tremmel, Tate, Monk, McEachran, Lita, Moore, Gower.
Man City (4-2-3-1): Hart; Richards, Savic, K Toure, Clichy; De Jong, Barry; Silva, Y Toure, Nasri; Balotelli.
Subs: Pantilimon, Milner, Pizarro, Dzeko, Johnson, Kolarov, Aguero.
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
1.25pm Leeds are 2-0 up at Middlesbrough, with the second half about to begin. You can follow the game with our Match Centre, should you be so inclined. Or you could just turn on BBC1, if you're from round these parts.
The last time West Brom won at Old Trafford was 1978, when their three black players – who were regularly booed – ran riot in a stunning 5-3 victory.
Nani is apparently injured, so Danny Welbeck will probably play wide left for United. Dimitar Berbatov does still exist and has been included on the bench alongside Paul Pogba. West Brom's excellent Chris Brunt starts for the first time since New Year's Day.
Man Utd (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Jones, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Carrick, Scholes; Welbeck, Rooney, Young; Hernandez.
Subs: Amos, Berbatov, Giggs, Park, Rafael Da Silva, Cleverley, Pogba.
West Brom (4-1-4-1): Foster, Tamas, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Mulumbu; Brunt, Morrison, Andrews, Odemwingie; Fortune.
Subs: Daniels, Tchoyi, Long, Dorrans, Shorey, Cox, Scharner.
Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)
Dundee Utd: Pernis, Neilson, Dillon, Gunning, Dixon, Flood,
Robertson, Rankin, Mackay-Steven, Daly, Russell.
Subs: Banks, Kenneth, Ryan, Armstrong, Lacny.
Celtic: Forster, Matthews, Rogne, Mulgrew, Ledley, Forrest,
Wanyama, Brown, Hooper, Stokes, Samaras.
Subs: Zaluska, Kelvin Wilson, Cha, Commons, McCourt.
Referee: Iain Brines (Scotland)
The two Premier League games kick off at 2pm, with Norwich at home to Wigan two hours later. We'll also have updates on the Championship, the Scottish Cup, Serie A and what food they're serving in the Guardian canteen.
Preamble Hello and welcome to the first English title race to take place on Sunday and Monday. The Manchester clubs have 22 league games remaining, and only three are scheduled for a Saturday. All three are City matches. Unless some fixtures are rearranged after Bilbao hand United their derriere again on Thursday, Sir Alex Ferguson's side will have played their last Saturday match of the season on February 11, and only five or their 38 league games will have been 3pm Saturday kick-offs. It's simply not good enough, but everyone is too busy counting their money to care.
Today, at least in theory, we begin a new phase of the title race. For the last few weeks United have had all the difficult fixtures, with the hate game against Liverpool and trips to Arsenal, Chelsea, Norwich and Spurs. Now they start a run of eight consecutive games against teams in the bottom 13 of the Premier League. (The phrase 'the bottom 13' isn't as daft as it sounds, as the league does split into four divisions: the top two, third to seventh, eighth to 15th and the rest.) City – who have had a comfortable five weeks since losing at Everton on 31 January – have a tricky quintet of matches ahead: Swansea away today, then Chelsea (H), Stoke (A), Sunderland (H) and Arsenal (A).
United are at home to West Brom this afternoon, which is a deceptively tough fixture. Roy Hodgson's side are bang in form, superbly organised and have the best away record in the league outside the top two. A draw today, for West Brom or Swansea, would be extremely damaging to their opponents. In modern title races, as Sid Lowe has noted, draws are the new defeats.
Both sides have been so consistent all season, with 130 points from 54 league games. At their current points-per-game average they will both finish with a points total in the 90s, which would be a first for the English top flight. Now we are entering the final lap of the season. City have the better team and squad; United are more experienced and have the better manager. Let squeaky-bum time commence.
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
• Hit F5 or auto-refresh for the latest news
• Email your thoughts to rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk
• Get the latest scores from around Europe
3.03pm The second half has begun in both Premier League games.
3.01pm Anthony Stokes' cool one-on-one finish has made it Dundee United 0-3 Celtic with a few minutes to go at Tannadice. Celtic are three matches away from the domestic treble.
3pm This is the Premier League table as things stand, with City ahead on goal difference. They lead by 10 goals in fact, which is down to that 6-1 win at Old Trafford.
2.59pm "In regards to David Wall's comments, it's definitely a national thing," says Russ Slater. "The US press do the same with music groups, i.e. Coldplay is an English rock group. I have to agree, it is slightly unsettling!"
2.56pm That was such an interesting and courageous change from Roberto Mancini, because he will be the recipient of pelters if it backfires. City are still playing 4-2-3-1, but the focus is different, with Yaya Toure deeper and an attacking quartet of Balotelli, Silva, Nasri and Aguero.
2.52pm "Camera shot of Danny Welbeck chatting happily to Olsson who had just blocked his effort," says Adam Hirst. "I think he's going to be around the United squad for a long time and I hope so. He seems like such a well-adjusted lad, probably a pleasure to manage and to referee."
He does indeed. Doesn't he know he's a 21st-century footballer?
2.50pm "Re: 2.22pm," says Nabeel Younas. "So what would you say warrants Man City being one of the world's best teams?" The fact they're top of one of the strongest leagues in the world?
2.49pm "Amazing assist as that at 2.38pm was, unfortunately in the 'EPL' the goal couldn't be given," says Ethan Dean-Richards. "You'll note that the goalkeeper runs back into his goal and throws the ball out of his net in disgust: on the QPR precedent of yesterday, that counts as a save."
2.47pm It's half time in both Premier League games: Swansea 0-0 Manchester City and Man Utd 1-0 West Brom.
2.46pm Celtic are going through to the Scottish Cup semi-final. They are a man up on Dundee United and now 2-0 up after a header from Giorgios Samaras.
2.41pm City are having a good spell at the Liberty Stadium. Yaya Toure's shot is deflected over the bar, and then David Silva shapes a good effort not far wide of the far post from 20 yards.
2.42pm It's all Manchester United now. A fine move involving Carrick and Young ends with Welbeck's shot being blocked superbly by Olsson.
2.41pm Roberto Mancini has had enough of Manchester City's performance: he's replaced Gareth Barry with Sergio Aguero. That's an interesting gamble, because he has weakened the midfield at a time when they are being outpassed.
2.40pm Phil Jones headed Ashley Young's deep cross wide of the near post and then takes a dramatic tumble over the advertising hoardings. Young is having an excellent game.
2.38pm My colleague James Dart has just discovered this gem, a banker for assist of the weekend.
2.36pm: Manchester United 1-0 West Brom (Rooney 36) Wayne Rooney gives United the lead with a poacher's goal, flicking in Javier Hernandez's cross-shot from only five yards. That was a splendid, deft finish from a move started with a typically excellent crossfield pass from Paul Scholes.
2.34pm City have their first extended spell of possession. After 32 minutes. That's a reflection of how well Swansea have played. At Old Trafford, Wayne Rooney cushions a volley straight at Ben Foster from Ashley Young's cross. He was only four yards out, but it was a difficult ball to control as he had to lift his right leg to almost neck height to reach the ball.
2.33pm Joe Ledley has given Celtic the lead against ten-man Dundee United at Tannadice.
2.32pm Noel Gallagher's new best friend tries to score from the halfway line. He doesn't succeed.
2.31pm "With respect to Georgina Turner's article, something I always find a bit odd when reading SI pieces is talking of teams in the singular (e.g. Swansea is in the Premier League) rather than the plural (e.g. Swansea are in the Premier League)," says David Wall. "The latter seems much more natural. Is this a national thing, the singular standard in American journalism, or is talking of teams as though they were groups (perhaps representatives of a community rather than a commercial body) just the British being antiquated and nostalgic?" I assume it's just a national thing.
2.30pm Danny Graham's shot on the turn drifts just wide of the far post with Joe Hart beaten.
2.28pm A splendid backheel puts Ashley Young through on the left of the box. He passes the ball beyond Foster, across the six-yard line, and it's booted clear by a defender.
2.25pm Danny Welbeck misses a decent chance from United, heading Ashley Young's corner over the bar from eight yards. He's a fine prospect, Welbeck, but his finishing isn't the best at this stage of his development.
2.22pm Swansea are completely outpassing City. Joe Hart hasn't had much to do since the penalty, but this is still so impressive from Swansea. They have had 69 per cent of the possession so far, against one of the world's best teams. Brendan Rodgers for England!
2.20pm It's finished Middlesbrough 0-2 Leeds.
2.16pm Swansea are still on top, although it's largely sterile domination at the moment. West Brom are playing excellently at Old Trafford, even though United have had 61 per cent of the possession, and David de Gea has just made a decent save from Keith Andrews' deflected free-kick.
2.14pm Middlesbrough's Barry Robson has been sent off, apparently for waving his boot in the direction of Adam Clayton. Leeds still lead 2-0 going into injury time.
2.13pm This is a lovely piece from my erstwhile colleague Georgina Turner on the rise of Swansea. The club actually treats the fans as equals. I know.
2.11pm The Serie A leaders Milan have taken the lead at home to Lecce, with Antonio Nocerino scoring after seven minutes. You can get all the latest scores from Serie A here.
2.09pm Both West Brom and Swansea have started extremely well, although Ben Foster has just had to beat away Ashley Young's shot from a narrow angle to the left of the box.
2.07pm: HART SAVES THE PENALTY! So much for being a penalty expert: that was a lame effort from Sinclair, and Hart plunged to his right to make a good save. Sinclair may have been put off by some sledging from Hart before he took the kick.
2.06pm: PENALTY TO SWANSEA Wayne Routledge is brought down by Joe Hart – there's a suggestion that Routledge moved his foot into Hart's body – and Swansea have a penalty. Scott Sinclair has scored his last 13 penalties...
2.05pm Keith Andrews has missed a wonderful chance for West Brom. He slid onto a brilliant near-post cross from Liam Ridgewell and, with his outstretched right foot, put it just wide from six yards.
2.04pm In most of their away games this season, Manchester City have had over 60 per cent of the possession. That's unlikely today, however; at the moment Swansea are passing the ball around pleasantly, if all in front of the City defence.
2.02pm "It was a funny old game at OT last season," says
Jimmy Greaves
Chris B. "United absolutely whupped our rears in the first half, and we were lucky to go in only 2-0 down. Then after one enormous cock-up, and a vaguely lucky second goal, 2-2. The weirdest thing for me was that after that equaliser, United seemed to panic, and we could have actually won in the end. I don't expect much from today, but they are often entertaining games between the two sides. Have a good one, and OOO Laurie Cunningham - my all-time favourite Albion player." Of course West Brom were the only team to avoid defeat at Old Trafford in the league last season. I'd have told you that earlier were I vaguely competent.
2.01pm Peep peep! The matches have kicked off at the Liberty Stadium and Old Trafford.
1.56pm "Hi Rob," says Alex Netherton. "Any chance you can ask your knowledgeable readers, and the thick ones if you'd like, of any decent books in English or French on French football?" Good question. Is there a Tor/Futebol equivalent for French football?
1.50pm Twenty minutes to go at the Riverside, where Leeds are hanging on their 2-0 lead very comfortably.
1.45pm Dundee United are down to 10 men for the last 62 minutes of their Scottish Cup quarter-final at home to Celtic, with Robbie Neilson sent off for elbowing Georgios Samaras in the face. I think it was overzealous rather than deliberate, although I haven't seen a replay. Either way, Neilson had already been booked, so a challenge of that nature wasn't exactly an application to Mensa.
Swansea City v Manchester City team news
With Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott injured, City have to play both their erratic central defenders, Kolo Toure and Stefan Savic. Sergio Aguero is only on the bench. Swansea make one change, with Wayne Routledge replacing the suspended Nathan Dyer.
Swansea (4-2-3-1): Vorm; Rangel, Williams, Caulker, Taylor; Allen, Britton; Sinclair, Sigurdsson, Routledge; Graham.
Subs: Tremmel, Tate, Monk, McEachran, Lita, Moore, Gower.
Man City (4-2-3-1): Hart; Richards, Savic, K Toure, Clichy; De Jong, Barry; Silva, Y Toure, Nasri; Balotelli.
Subs: Pantilimon, Milner, Pizarro, Dzeko, Johnson, Kolarov, Aguero.
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
1.25pm Leeds are 2-0 up at Middlesbrough, with the second half about to begin. You can follow the game with our Match Centre, should you be so inclined. Or you could just turn on BBC1, if you're from round these parts.
The last time West Brom won at Old Trafford was 1978, when their three black players – who were regularly booed – ran riot in a stunning 5-3 victory.
Manchester United v West Bromwich Albion team news
Nani is apparently injured, so Danny Welbeck will probably play wide left for United. Dimitar Berbatov does still exist and has been included on the bench alongside Paul Pogba. West Brom's excellent Chris Brunt starts for the first time since New Year's Day.
Man Utd (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Jones, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Carrick, Scholes; Welbeck, Rooney, Young; Hernandez.
Subs: Amos, Berbatov, Giggs, Park, Rafael Da Silva, Cleverley, Pogba.
West Brom (4-1-4-1): Foster, Tamas, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Mulumbu; Brunt, Morrison, Andrews, Odemwingie; Fortune.
Subs: Daniels, Tchoyi, Long, Dorrans, Shorey, Cox, Scharner.
Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)
Dundee Utd v Celtic team news
Dundee Utd: Pernis, Neilson, Dillon, Gunning, Dixon, Flood,
Robertson, Rankin, Mackay-Steven, Daly, Russell.
Subs: Banks, Kenneth, Ryan, Armstrong, Lacny.
Celtic: Forster, Matthews, Rogne, Mulgrew, Ledley, Forrest,
Wanyama, Brown, Hooper, Stokes, Samaras.
Subs: Zaluska, Kelvin Wilson, Cha, Commons, McCourt.
Referee: Iain Brines (Scotland)
The two Premier League games kick off at 2pm, with Norwich at home to Wigan two hours later. We'll also have updates on the Championship, the Scottish Cup, Serie A and what food they're serving in the Guardian canteen.
Preamble Hello and welcome to the first English title race to take place on Sunday and Monday. The Manchester clubs have 22 league games remaining, and only three are scheduled for a Saturday. All three are City matches. Unless some fixtures are rearranged after Bilbao hand United their derriere again on Thursday, Sir Alex Ferguson's side will have played their last Saturday match of the season on February 11, and only five or their 38 league games will have been 3pm Saturday kick-offs. It's simply not good enough, but everyone is too busy counting their money to care.
Today, at least in theory, we begin a new phase of the title race. For the last few weeks United have had all the difficult fixtures, with the hate game against Liverpool and trips to Arsenal, Chelsea, Norwich and Spurs. Now they start a run of eight consecutive games against teams in the bottom 13 of the Premier League. (The phrase 'the bottom 13' isn't as daft as it sounds, as the league does split into four divisions: the top two, third to seventh, eighth to 15th and the rest.) City – who have had a comfortable five weeks since losing at Everton on 31 January – have a tricky quintet of matches ahead: Swansea away today, then Chelsea (H), Stoke (A), Sunderland (H) and Arsenal (A).
United are at home to West Brom this afternoon, which is a deceptively tough fixture. Roy Hodgson's side are bang in form, superbly organised and have the best away record in the league outside the top two. A draw today, for West Brom or Swansea, would be extremely damaging to their opponents. In modern title races, as Sid Lowe has noted, draws are the new defeats.
Both sides have been so consistent all season, with 130 points from 54 league games. At their current points-per-game average they will both finish with a points total in the 90s, which would be a first for the English top flight. Now we are entering the final lap of the season. City have the better team and squad; United are more experienced and have the better manager. Let squeaky-bum time commence.
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