Meanwhile in Spain: Celta Vigo have beaten Leganes 1-0 in the day’s early kick-off in La Liga. It’s half-time at Camp Nou, where Barcelona lead Eibar 3-0 after your friend and mine, Mr Lionel Messi, scored a first-half hat-trick in 26 minutes.
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GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-0 Newcastle (Van Aanholt 44)
Premier League: Patrick van Aanholt scores with a free-kick to put Crystal Palace ahead at Selhurst Park, but Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka will feel he should have done more to keep it out.
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Championship: Hull City open the scoring against Preston at Deepdale, with Mallik Wilks scoring his third in four games since joining on loan from Barnsley during the January transfer window.
Championship: Fernando Forestrieri makes it Birmingham City 2-2 Sheffield in a ridiculously entertaining encounter at St Andrew’s. Elsewhere, Charlton lead Luton Town by the only goal of the game, only to concede an equaliser from the kick-off. At the Bet365 Stadium, Stoke City lead Cardiff thanks to Nick Powell’s goal. At Ashton Gate, West Brom have doubled their lead against Bristol City and are coasting to victory.
Championship latest
- Brentford 2-2 Blackburn Rovers (result)
- Barnsley 0-0 Middlesbrough
- Birmingham City 2-2 Sheffield Wednesday
- Bristol City 0-2 West Brom
- Charlton Athletic 1-1 Luton Town
- Leeds United 0-0 Reading
- Nottingham Forest 0-0 QPR
- Preston 0-0 Hull City
- Stoke City 1-0 Cardiff City
- Swansea City 1-0 Huddersfield Town
- Wigan Athletic 0-0 Millwall
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Championship: There’s no shortage of excitement at the matches involving both Sheffield sides – Wednesday are behind again after Lukas Jutkiewicz shoots low into the corner for Birmingham City.
Meanwhile at Ashton Gate, league leaders West Brom are one up against Bristol City, thanks to a scrappy goal from Callum Robinson.
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GOAL! Sheffield United 1-1 Brighton (Maupay 30)
Premier League: Sheffield United’s lead doesn’t last long, as Neal Maupay heads Brighton level within three minutes of his side going behind.
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Championship: Sheffield Wednesday equalise against Birmingham City, with Barry Bannan restoring parity. Meanwhile at the Liberty Stadium, Andre Ayew scores his second in 10 from close range to put Swansea ahead against Huddersfield.
GOAL! Sheffield United 1-0 Brighton (Stevens 26)
Premier League: Sheffield United go ahead against Brighton after Enda Stevens scores his second goal of the season from a ridiculously tight angle.
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Premier League: Josh King had the ball in the net for Bournemouth against Burnley, but his effort has been ruled out by VAR. The ball hit Philip Billing’s shoulder in the build-up and King’s “goal” was ruled out as a result. It seems a questionable decision, to say the least.
League Two latest: Crawley Town have taken the lead against Stevenage again and this time the goal stands. Beryly Lubala fires the hosts ahead in the 21st minute.
League Two latest
It seems I jumped the gun reporting Crawley Town goal against Stevenage as Ashley Nasedan’s effort was subsequently ruled out for offside. Apologies.
- Carlisle United 0-1 Morecambe
- Cheltenham Town 0-0 Mansfield Town
- Crawley Town 0-0 Stevenage
- Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Macclesfield Town
- Leyton Orient 1-2 Oldham Athletic
- Newport County 0-0 Bradford City
- Northampton Town 1-0 Exeter City
- Plymouth Argyle 0-0 Cambridge United
- Salford City 0-0 Colchester United
- Scunthorpe United 0-0 Forest Green
- Swindon Town 0-0 Grimsby Town
- Walsall 1-1 Port Vale
Championship: Nottingham Forest have had a goal controversially chalked off in their game against QPR, after the ball was judged to have blown off the quadrant before Joe Lolley delivered it on to the head of Joe Worrall.
League One: Michael Rose heads past Robert Sanchez following a short corner to give Coventry the lead against Rochdale. As things stand, Coventry top the table.
Championship: It’s head-in-hands time for Jacob Murphy, whose own goal gives Birmingham City the lead against Sheffield Wednesday.
GOAL! Southampton 1-0 Aston Villa (Long 8)
Premier League: Shane Long puts Southampton in front against Villa, the ball going in off Shane Long’s thigh as he converted a cross from Moussa Djenepo.
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League Two: Crawley Town have gone ahead against Stevenage, who they lead 1-0.
League One: Burton Albion have taken an early lead at Southend, with Lucas Akins scoring on the five minute mark.
League Two: Vadane Oliver has scored the first goal in today’s three o’clock games, firing Northampton into a 1-0 lead against Exeter City.
Sheffield United 0-0 Brighton: The Blades have started on the front foot at Bramall Lane, where Billy Sharp has just sent a low diagonal effort fizzing narrowly wide.
Match report: Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League: David Hytner was at Stamford Bridge, where Jose Mourinho’s overly defensive set-up played into the hands of Frank Lampard.
More on Stockley Park-gate: BT Sport analyst and former referee Peter Walton has now changed his mind and decided that Giovani Lo Celso should have been sent off for his stamp on Cesar Azpilicueta. This could have been cleared up very easily if match referee Michael Oliver had simply checked the pitch-side monitor, which was located about five feet away from where the foul took place.
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More on that contentious non-red at Stamford Bridge: John Cross is as bemused as everyone else …
Full time: Brentford 2-2 Blackburn Rovers
Championship: Brentford make it three draws on the spin, coming from two goals down to rescue a point against Blackburn Rovers. They are in fourth place, three points off an automatic promotion place. Blackburn remain in eighth place, two points off the play-offs.
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Full time: Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League: Despite conceding a late goal, Chelsea have run out fairly comfortable winners at Stamford Bridge. Frank Lampard rang the changes and each of those brought in to the team – Mason Mount, Olivier Giroud, Marcos Alonso and Ross Barkley – justified their inclusion with fine performances. Still in fourth place, Chelsea extend their lead over Tottenham to four points.
Controversy at Stockley Park
Have taken some time to decide that Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso should not have been sent off for an alleged stamp on Cesar Azpilicueto earlier in the second half, the VAR officials at Stockley Park are now reported to have said they made a mistake. “It’s not a VAR error, but a human error,” they say. Expect to hear more on what appears to be another VAR shambles. A VARce, if you will.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham (Rudiger 90og)
Premier League: Erik Lamela has pulled one back for Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge, his shot from a tight angle creeping in after a deflection off the heel of Antonio Rudiger completely wrong-footed Willy Caballero.
Southampton v Aston Villa line-ups
Southampton: McCarthy, Djenepo, Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand, Smallbone, Ward-Prowse, Hojbjerg, Ings, Long, Armstrong.
Subs: Vestergaard, Adams, Romeu, Boufal, Obafemi, Gunn, Valery.
Aston Villa: Reina, Hause, Mings, Konsa, Guilbert, Nakamba, Douglas Luiz, Targett, El Ghazi, Samatta, Grealish.
Subs: Borja Baston, Drinkwater, Hourihane, Trezeguet, Engels, Nyland, Elmohamady.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Burnley v Bournemouth line-ups
Burnley: Pope, Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Hendrick, Westwood, Cork, McNeil, Rodriguez, Vydra.
Subs: Gudmundsson, Brownhill, Brady, Hart, Pieters, Lennon, Long.
Bournemouth: Ramsdale, Stacey, Francis, Steve Cook, Smith, Surman, Billing, Gosling, Harry Wilson, Callum Wilson, King.
Subs: Boruc, Solanke, Lewis Cook, Stanislas, Rico, Fraser, Simpson.
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Championship: It’s all square at Griffin Park, where the home side have restored parity. Said Benrahma has stroked home a penalty to make it Brentford 2-2 Blackburn Rovers.
Crystal Palace v Newcastle line-ups
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Ward, Dann, Cahill, van Aanholt, Kouyate, McArthur, McCarthy, Ayew, Benteke, Zaha.
Subs: Meyer, Townsend, Hennessey, Tosun, Kelly, Pierrick, Riedewald.
Newcastle: Dubravka, Lazaro, Fernandez, Lascelles, Schar, Rose, Almiron, Sean Longstaff, Bentaleb, Saint-Maximin, Joelinton.
Subs: Ritchie, Gayle, Hayden, Lejeune, Yedlin, Darlow, Matthew Longstaff.
Referee: Peter Bankes (Merseyside)
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Sheffield United v Brighton line-ups
Sheff Utd: Henderson, Basham, Egan, O’Connell, Baldock, Berge, Norwood, Fleck, Stevens, McBurnie, Sharp.
Subs: Lundstram, Jagielka, McGoldrick, Verrips, Mousset, Osborn, Retsos.
Brighton: Ryan, Duffy, Dunk, Webster, Schelotto, Bissouma, Propper, Burn, Maupay, Murray, Mooy.
Subs: Trossard, Gross, Jahanbakhsh, March, Button, Bernardo, Connolly.
Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)
Championship: Brentford have pulled a goal back against Blackburn with 28 minutes left on the clock. Ollie Watkins has volleyed home his 21st goal of the season to make it Brentford 1-2 Blackburn at Griffin Park.
Championship: Adam Armstrong has scored his second of the game – this one from the penalty spot – to double Blackburn’s lead at Griffin Park, where they lead Brentford 2-0.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Alonso 49)
Premier League: Chelsea have doubled their lead early in the second half, with Marcos Alonso spanking one in to round off a fine counter-attack early in the second half. Scott Murray has the latest …
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Football Weekly … Extra
Max Rushden was on a well-earned European mini-break, which meant Faye Carruthers sat in to maintain order during the most recent edition of our football podcast. You can listen here and if you’re not already a subscriber, download it in all the usual podcast places.
League Two
Joint top of the table with Exeter City but ahead on goal difference, Swindon Town host a Grimsby side that has lost just two out of 10 matches since the appointment of Ian Holloway. Exeter travel to Northampton, who could do with a result to maintain their push for the play-offs.
League One
Ahead of Coventry at the top of the table with the two sides separated by nothing more than goal difference, Rotherham travelling to Accrington Stanley, who are in 14th place. Coventry travel to take on a Rochdale side who are 10 points clear of the drop zone, but not so comfortable that they don’t need to keep looking over their shoulder.
With Bolton and Southend already looking dead and buried, Tranmere are in desperate need of points to close the seven-point gap between themselves and AFC Wimbledon. They travel to Wycombe, while Wimbledon entertain Blackpool.
Championship
Wayne Rooney and Aleksandar Mitrovic got on the scoresheet as Derby County and Fulham played out a 1-1 draw at Pride Park last night. Making his 500th English league appearance, Rooney opened the scoring with an audacious Panenka penalty, only for Mitrovic to volley home an equaliser in the 71st minute.
In today’s early game, unlikely promotion-chasers Brentford host Blackburn Rovers at Griffin Park, where the visitors lead 1-0 and will go sixth, within two points of their rivals if they can hold on to their lead.
Premier League
The weekend’s top flight action kicked off at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea are entertaining Tottenham. With both teams missing key players, it’s one you could have expected to go either way and with the second half just under way, Chelsea lead by the most slender of margins courtesy of Olivier Giroud’s 15th minute strike.
Greetings one and all …
The winter break is behind us, which means that after two weeks worth of Premier League pickings that can only be described as slim, we have several top flight three o’clock kick-offs to keep tabs on this Saturday.
We’ll also be monitoring the rest of the Football League and bringing news from the biggest fixtures down the divisions, so stay tuned for team news and build-up before we start dutifully flagging up any goals and major talking points once play gets under way. The Guardian, here to keep an eye on the football so that you don’t have to.
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