Man City 3-1 Watford “Ah well,” says Matt Dony. “I suppose the one saving grace is (with respect to Naylor, Waltz, Burtz et al), Liverpool get to play this Everton team tomorrow.”
You just wait till Allan roofs one from 40 yards in the 98th minute.
In League Two, Davis Keillor-Dunn’s penalty has brought Oldham level at home to Salford. As things stand they won’t drop out of the Football League today, though really they need to win if they are to have any chance of actually staying up.
The latest scores in our featured games
Premier League
Championship
- Bournemouth 0-0 Fulham
- Peterborough 0-0 Nottingham Forest
League One
- Wigan Athletic 0-0 Plymouth Argyle
League Two
- Bristol Rovers 0-0 Forest Green Rovers
GOAL! Norwich 0-1 Newcastle (Joelinton 35)
Newcastle’s stunning form looks set to continue. Joelinton has put them ahead at Carrow Road; a win today would be their 10th in 14 league games.
GOAL! Man City 3-1 Watford (Rodri 34)
Rodri has restored City’s two-goal lead with a spectacular goal! He took Jesus’s pass on the chest, 25 yards out, waited for the ball to bounce and then launched it into the top corner. That’s a screamer.
Man City 2-1 Fulham Roy Hodgson’s last great escape, with Fulham in 2008, got going when they came from 2-0 down to win at the Etihad. IS LIGHTNING ABOUT TO STRIKE TWICE? HAS PEP TAKEN CITY AS FAR AS HE CAN?
“Hi Rob, thanks for the liveblog!” says Ike Proud. “Any idea why Watford are playing in their away kit today? I realise that they are in fact the away team, but surely this dark teal (?) number presents more of a colour clash with City’s sky blue than their standard yellow and black? Is this what getting old feels like?”
It is, though you are right to point it out – it’s quite common these days for away teams to change kit even when there isn’t a clash, presumably for commercial reasons.
Man City 2-1 Watford Dennis, on the left wing, flipped a clever angled pass over the City defence. Kamara ran onto it, away from Laporte, and hit a first-time drive across Ederson. Actually Ederson might have done better – he got a touch but could only help it into the net.
GOAL! Man City 2-1 Watford (Kamara 28)
Bear with me while I try to imagine how Hassane Kamara has brought Watford back into the game at the Etihad.
“Cheers to Bala Town,” writes Roger Worton, “who won 11 (eleven) -0 on the last day of the. second phase of the Welsh Premier League. Dave Edwards didn’t score but he got at least one assist.”
GOAL! Man City 2-0 Watford (Jesus 24)
A second goal for Gabriel Jesus. I haven’t seen it because of the blackout but I assume what happened is that Kevin De Bruyne hit a wicked, curving cross from the right that was headed in at the far post by Jesus. Something like that.
“There is a 3pm blackout in the UK and yet still you can visualise the match,” says Yash Gupta. “What does that mean? Another one of those superpowers a man wields as he ages along.”
You say ‘superpower’, I say ‘Orkney’s impressively fast broadband’.
In League Two, Oldham are 1-0 down at home to Salford. They will only go down today if they lose and both Barrow and Stevenage win; both are drawing 0-0 the noo.
Man City 1-0 Watford City have had 81 per cent possession so far.
Leicester 0-0 Aston Villa Leon Bailey has missed an excellent chance for Villa, it says here.
“Thanks, Watford,” says Jed Murr. “As a Liverpool supporter, it would have been nerve-racking had it stayed 0-0 for 30, 40, 50 minutes. Now I can get on with my Saturday.”
Watching your rivals in the hope they’ll drop points is one of football’s more miserable experiences. When your own team are playing you feel like you have some kind of control over events, even though you clearly don’t, but when it’s a different team it feels even more out of your hands. Plus there’s the whole Clockwise thing.
Man City 1-0 Watford A great chance … for Watford. Emmanuel Dennis was played through one-on-one with Ederson, but he took an age and was tackled by Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The latest scores in our featured games
It will get livelier.
Premier League
Championship
- Bournemouth 0-0 Fulham
- Peterborough 0-0 Nottingham Forest
League One
- Wigan Athletic 0-0 Plymouth Argyle
League Two
- Bristol Rovers 0-0 Forest Green Rovers
Man City 1-0 Watford We’re not able to watch the 3pm games in this country, as that would be illegal, but in my head here’s what happened: Zinchenko, on the left, cracked a low cross that was turned in from six yards by Gabriel Jesus.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Watford (Jesus 4)
And it’s goodnight from Watford.
“Rob,” says Mac Millings. “While it is lovely to see Matt Dony as an honorary Hornet today, he shouldn’t hold his breath; Liverpool’s +6 goal difference advantage is about to take a pounding. According to the Guardian’s match preview, you can get odds of 33-1 for a Watford win today – by coincidence, that’s exactly the same as my prediction for the final score.”
Peep peep! The 3pm games are under way.
Arsenal 3-1 Manchester United
David Hytner was at the Emirates to watch Arsenal win the Ian Ure derby. Here’s his report.
Meanwhile, in Scotland
“Hi Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “In the first round of SPL fixtures after the league split, Rangers beat Motherwell 3-1 in the early kick-off to close to within three points of Celtic (who visit Ross County tomorrow), while todays other games feature the bottom six sides.
“Rock bottom Dundee really need to beat St. Johnstone at Dens to have any hope of avoiding relegation, while Aberdeen and St. Mirren can both leapfrog their visitors, Livingston and Hibs respectively, with a win. Incidentally, Scottish clubs voted this week to introduce VAR from next season. Don’t they read the MBM?”
MBM. VAR. xG. PPG. I wish Cloughie was still around to tell us where to shove our acronyms and abbreviations.
“It may seem unlikely,” says Matt Dony, “but Roy Hodgson has the opportunity to get his best ever result for Liverpool. Come on, Watford. You can do it. Je suis Millings.”
Poor old Roy. I remember thinking that was a really good appointment, a safe pair of hands to get them back on track while Hicks and Gillett buggered off. Didn’t quite pan out like that.
Motherwell 1-3 Rangers
Here’s more on Rangers’ victory at Fir Park, which keeps their slim title hopes alive.
On this day in 1997, Zinedine Zidane invited Edwin van der Sar and Richard Witschge to have a little sit-down.
Championship In the early game, Luton have been held to a 1-1 draw by Blackpool. A win today would have secured a playoff place for Luton, but Gary Madine denied them with a second-half penalty.
It’s all over at the Emirates, where Arsenal have beaten Manchester United 3-1 to move into the top four. United were a bit unfortunate – they missed a penalty, hit the woodwork three times and were on the wrong end of some dubious VAR decisions. They also defended desperately at times and should have had Bruno Fernandes sent off.
It’s a huge win for Arsenal, who are now in a two-horse race with Spurs for the last Champions League spot.
Forest Green have arrived for their big game in an electric coach. Apparently they are the first team in the world to travel to a sports fixture in an electric vehicle, which is pretty tremendous.
Wigan Athletic v Plymouth Argyle team news
📋 Here is your team news for today’s game, in partnership with @WigToday…
🔹 Latics make two changes from midweek draw at Ipswich Town
🔹 Tom Pearce and Jordan Cousins come into the starting line-up#wafc 🔵⚪️ #BELIEVE— Wigan Athletic (@LaticsOfficial) April 23, 2022
Peterborough v Nottingham Forest team news
Bristol Rovers v Forest Green Rovers team news
Bournemouth v Fulham team news
📝 📝
🔺 One change to the side
🔺 Billing comes in for LoweHere’s how we line up for this afternoon’s huge game at home to Fulham.
‘ 🔥🔥
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) April 23, 2022
Norwich City v Newcastle United team news
Manchester City v Watford team news
🔵 TEAM NEWS 🔵
XI | Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko, Rodrigo, Fernandinho (C), De Bruyne, Jesus, Grealish, Sterling
SUBS | Steffen, Ake, Gundogan, Bernardo, Mahrez, Foden, Egan-Riley, Mbete, Palmer#ManCity | @HaysTechnology pic.twitter.com/MhNruAOS6v
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 23, 2022
Leicester City v Aston Villa team news
There’s been a fourth goal at the Emirates, and it’s been scored by a much-maligned footballer. That doesn’t narrow it down, does it.
“Blimey Rob,” says Everton fan Paul Jones, “I know we’ve got virtually no chance of getting anything from tomorrow’s derby, but you could at least pretend we’ve not lost yet!”
I was only jesting. Well, sort of. I’m doing the game tomorrow and have been trying to remember the last time a Merseyside derby felt like such a foregone conclusion. Probably not in my lifetime, and I’m 147 next week. But every downside has an upside: imagine how good it’ll feel it you draw, never mind win.
Scottish Premiership Rangers have moved to within three points of Celtic after winning 3-1 at Motherwell. They had 10 men for most of the game, with Leon Balogun sent off in the 28th minute, but second half goals from Scott Wright and James Tavernier got the job done. Celtic are away to Ross County tomorrow.
It’s still Arsenal 2-1 Man Utd at the Emirates, but there’s been a missed penalty. See, we can do clickbait too!
Some pre-match reading
There’s just over 40 minutes remaining in an eventful game at the Emirates. Arsenal lead Manchester United 2-1, and you can follow it with Scott Murray.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to another bumper, bonza clockwatch. This is the business end, beautiful friend, and there is likely to be promotion and relegation in the EFL today. There’s also the popular behemoth known as the Premier League to consider, with important games at the top and the bottom.
These are the matches we’ll be trying to keep an eye on.
Premier League
Championship
- Bournemouth v Fulham
- Peterborough v Nottingham Forest
League One
- Wigan Athletic v Plymouth Argyle
League Two
- Bristol Rovers v Forest Green Rovers
A list of featured games is not enough. You want context, don’t you. Permutations. Information.
Premier League
Manchester City need to beat Watford to stay above Liverpool, who beat Everton in tomorrow’s Merseyside derby.
Watford and Norwich are slowly slipping towards the Championship, though a win for either today would give them a soupcon of hope, maybe even a snifter.
Championship
Bournemouth are at home to promoted Fulham, and will move closer to joining them in next season’s Premier League with victory. Nothing will be confirmed today, though.
Peterborough will be officially relegated if they lose at home to playoff-chasing Nottingham Forest, or if Reading win at Hull, or if Reading draw and Peterborough fail to win. Confused? Splendid, now all I need are the three digits on the back of the card.
League One
Wigan’s feelgood season will be complete if they beat Plymouth or if MK Dons and Sheffield Wednesday fail to win.
Doncaster and AFC Wimbledon could also be relegated today.
League Two
The Guardian’s favourite veganistas, Forest Green Rovers, will be promoted to the third tier for the first time in their history if they draw away to Bristol Rovers.
Exeter could also be promoted. And Oldham, the team we all adored in the early 1990s, could be relegated to the National League.
Legal disclaimer: Guardian Media Group bears no responsibility for erroneous permutations, premature assumptions or any other mistakes caused by the kind of frazzled brain you only get at the business end of the season.
