Luka Milivojevic’s penalty seals victory at St James’ Park.
And now Aston Villa have a third, courtesy of Tammy Abraham! They have all but wrapped up a sixth straight win. A real late, late show for Villa at Sheffield Wednesday.
Job done for Sean Dyche’s side.
Huge goal at Hillsborough! Albert Adomah pokes home for Aston Villa at the death. They lead 2-1 at Sheffield Wednesday with merely seconds left on the clock. Are Dean Smith’s side heading for a sixth straight win? An agonising finish for Steve Bruce.
Jamie Vardy scores twice in another win for Brendan Rodgers.
Sunderland take the lead with a minute to play at Rochdale! George Honeyman, the captain, has got what he hopes is a crucial winner in front of a sea of 4,000 travelling fans at Spotland. Can any other sides fashion some late drama?
Jamie Vardy is felled and he steps up to make it four.
Yedlin makes a rash challenge on Zaha, and Palace lead courtesy of their skipper’s 11th goal of the season.
Hogg fouls Vardy and James Maddison does the rest from 25 yards.
Karim Benzema strikes to level things up in Madrid! He heads in Asensio’s cross. There is half an hour to play at the Bernabéu. Meanwhile, join Rob Smyth for team news from Wembley:
Kasper Schmeichel saves well from Steve Mounie to deny Huddersfield an equaliser. Meanwhile there has been big turnaround at Ashton Gate, where Bristol City now lead Wigan 2-1! And Hull have taken the lead at home to Reading through Marc Pugh, the Bournemouth loanee.
Plenty of concern over Florian Lejeune at Newcastle. After attempting to tackle Townsend, his left leg is heavily strapped up and he’s been offered oxygen. His teammates around him are offering words of comfort but his game is over. He departs on a stretcher and is replaced by Paul Dummett.
West Brom spurn a golden chance to draw level at Millwall – with Jay Rodriguez dragging a penalty wide. Down in League One, Portsmouth are 3-1 up at Wycombe, while Ched Evans has equalised for Fleetwood against struggling Southend.
Ashley Barnes strikes at the right end, 50-odd minutes after handing Bournemouth an early lead. Sean Dyche’s have been brilliant since going behind. Asmir Begovic has certainly had an afternoon to forget. In the Championship, Aston Villa’s Jed Steer saves Steven Fletcher’s penalty at Hillsborough. Elsewhere, Sunderland have pulled level at Rochdale, while Hull have levelled against Reading through Kamil Grosicki.
A gentle reminder that Real Madrid came unstuck against Eibar in the reverse fixture earlier this season. Eibar won 3-0 in November to claim their first ever win over Real, as Zidane’s predecessor Santiago Solari slipped to defeat in his first game in charge as permanent manager. And this afternoon Real trail 1-0 at the Bernabéu, where it’s half-time in La Liga.
Aaron Mooy calmly slots home from 12 yards.
Leicester thought they were cruising to victory, but Huddersfield win a penalty! Caglar Soyuncu is adjudged to have fouled Karlan Grand in the box. David Coote points to the spot …
Jamie Vardy doubles Leicester’s lead, passing in at the back post after a brilliant cross from the right by Ricardo Pereira.
Real Madrid are behind at the Bernabéu! Marc Cardona, the Barcelona loanee, has given Eibar an unlikely but deserved half-time lead, carving opening the hosts’ defence. Real, who lost at Valencia in midweek, have again been flat. Food for thought for Zinedine Zidane, no doubt questioning his decision to return.
Premier League
Bournemouth 1-2 Burnley
Huddersfield 0-1 Leicester
Newcastle 0-0 Crystal Palace
Championship
Birmingham 1-0 Leeds
Blackburn 0-1 Stoke
Bolton 0-2 Ipswich
Brentford 2-2 Derby
Bristol C 0-1 Wigan
Hull 0-1 Reading
Millwall 1-0 West Brom
Preston 0-1 Sheff Utd
Rotherham 1-1 Nottm Forest
Sheff Weds 1-1 Aston Villa
Swansea 2-0 Middlesbrough
Scottish Premiership
Celtic 0-0 Livingston
Dundee 0-0 Aberdeen
Kilmarnock 2-0 St Johnstone
Hamilton 0-0 St Mirren
From bad to worse for Tony Pulis and Middlesbrough. Swansea are two goals to the good at the Liberty Stadium. They lead through a penalty and now 2005’s Wayne Routledge has doubled their lead with seven first-half minutes still to play. And along the M4, there has been a goal at Ashton Gate, with Chelsea loanee Reece James giving Wigan a shock lead at in-form Bristol City.
If Leeds fans are thinking this afternoon couldn’t get any worse, then at least their game kicked off on time. Kick-off between Fort William and Nairn was delayed by half an hour until 3.30pm. Why? Because the pitch at Claggan Park was waterlogged and covered by a blanket of deer faeces. Oh, and the referee was late to the party. Eventually, the pitch was cleared and the Highland League match is under way. Anyway, back to St Andrew’s. “I’m not sure why but after dispensing his record 100th red card midweek (to the ever deserving Ashley Young) Mike Dean has been unceremoniously relegated to the Championship this weekend,” points out JR on email. “He’s in charge of the Birmingham-Leeds game that I’m watching. So far he’s had a dominating performance, as you might expect. No red card yet though.”
It’s all happening in the Championship! Middlesbrough are staring a sixth consecutive defeat in the face, with Matt Grimes giving Swansea the lead from the penalty spot after Ryan Shotton fouled the speedy Dan James. Up at Deepdale, David McGoldrick has poked Sheffield United’s noses in front, further souring the mood of those Leeds supporters. Elsewhere, Ipswich have taken a rare lead, with Collin Quaner scoring at Bolton.
Leeds are behind at Birmingham! Che Adams strikes his 22nd goal of the season at St Andrew’s to leave Leeds with work to do. Marcelo Bielsa’s side do enjoy a comeback or two, though. Also in the Championship, Nottingham Forest have an equaliser at Rotherham, with Lewis Grabban poking home. And Millwall lead at home to West Brom, who are yet to taste defeat under caretaker manager James Shan.
Sunderland trail at Rochdale! Ian Henderson’s at it again at Spotland; that’s his 19th goal of the season – though he does take penalties. Elsewhere, Notts County are in front at home to Northampton and Derby have re-taken the lead at Griffin Park, minutes after Julian Jeanvier pulled the Bees level.
Youri Tielemans is some player, isn’t he? The Belgian catches Ben Hamer a bit cold from distance and Leicester lead in Yorkshire.
Two goals in two minutes for Burnley – and they could prove huge in their fight for survival. Dwight McNeil raids down the left and, when the ball drops on the edge of the box, Westwood steps up to bend one into the top corner. Elsewhere, Portsmouth are in front at Wycombe through man of the moment Jamal Lowe.
Asmir Begovic makes a mess of a corner, allowing Chris Wood to head in his 11th of the season. Eddie Howe had dropped Begovic, giving Artur Boruc an extended run in the team, before recalling the former Chelsea goalkeeper at the end of last month.
A couple more goals in the Championship: Derby lead at Brentford, through Harry Wilson, the Liverpool loanee. That’s his 13th goal of the season. At the bottom, Rotherham are in front against play-off chasing Nottingham Forest, while Stoke have finally found the net for the first time in five games. They are 1-0 up v Blackburn.
A big goal in the Championship – and a sweet goal for Steve Bruce! Gary Hooper sweeps home to give Sheffield Wednesday a seventh-minute lead against Aston Villa, who sacked him in October. Meanwhile in League One, Barnsley trail at Burton Albion, meaning this article has outdated very quickly:
Ashley Barnes plants a header into the corner at the wrong end. A flying start for Eddie Howe’s side nevertheless. Ryan Fraser whips a ball into the box and Jefferson Lerma gets a crucial touch on it. His flick tees up Nathan Aké to attack and Barnes ends up heading it beyond his own goalkeeper, Tom Heaton.
And the 3pm action is under way around the grounds.
Some pre-match Premier League soundbites. “Crystal Palace are good away because they are compact and have pace and ability up front,” says Rafael Benítez. “The main thing for us is not to waste too much energy on points, just concentrate on our game. Forty could be enough but we will concentrate on our game. My message to the players is to be on the front-foot but Palace are very dangerous.” Roy Hodgson exchanges compliments. “Newcastle are a good team and are very strong at home which we’re aware of,” he says. “I have no doubt they’ll be safe at the end of the season.”
A gentle reminder that Manchester City are in FA Cup action later at Wembley, where they will be buoyed on by hundreds of students from the Ark Elvin academy, formerly Copland community school, following a marvellous gesture by Raheem Sterling:
Teemu Pukki has scored his 25th and 26th of the goals of the season. Norwich will go – momentarily at least – eight points clear at the top of the Championship:
Team news news: Fabian Schär returns to the heart of the Newcastle back line after suspension, while it also the Swiss defender’s first appearance since suffering concussion on international duty. He and Ki Sung-yeung are both in for Rafael Benítez’s side. “I support Palace but now living in Atlanta I’m quite interested in the progress of Almirón at the Toon,” emails Gavin Drummond. Almirón, the Paraguay international who arrived from Atlanta United in January, starts alongside Salomón Rondón to make his 48th appearance since March. Elsewhere, Andros Townsend is in for Crystal Palace, while Burnley recall Matthew Lowton at right-back in place of Bardsley. Brendan Rodgers is without Jonny Evans through injury, while Harry Maguire is absent following the birth of his daughter, Lillie, in midweek.
Bournemouth v Burnley
Bournemouth: Begovic; Clyne, Mepham, Ake, Smith; Brooks, Lerma, Gosling; Fraser; Wilson, King
Subs: Boruc, Mousset, Ibe, Stanislas, Rico, Simpson, Solanke
Burnley: Heaton; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Cork, Westwood, Hendrick, McNeil; Wood, Barnes
Subs: Hart, Long, Brady, Gibson, Vydra, Berg Gudmundsson, Ward
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Huddersfield v Leicester
Huddersfield: Hamer; Smith, Schindler, Kongolo, Durm; Hogg, Stankovic; Pritchard, Mooy, Löwe; Grant
Subs: Coleman, Hadergjonaj, Kachunga, Bacuna, Mounie, Mbenza, Williams
Leicester: Schmeichel; Ricardo Pereira, Morgan, Söyüncü, Chilwell; Ndidi; Gray, Tielemans, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy
Subs: Ward, Mendy, Choudhury, Fuchs, Iheanacho, Ghezzal, Okazaki
Referee: Jon Moss
Newcastle v Crystal Palace
Newcastle: Dubravka, Yedlin, Schär, Lascelles, Lejeune; Ritchie, Pérez, Ki, Hayden; Almirón, Rondón
Subs: Darlow, Muto, Atsu, Fernandez, Dummett, Shelvey, Manquillo
Crystal Palace: Guaita; Wan-Bissaka, Kelly, Tomkins, van Aanholt; McArthur, Milivojevic; Schlupp, Townsend, Zaha; Batshuayi
Subs: Hennessey, Woods, Ward, Kouyaté, Dann, Benteke, Ayew
Referee: Craig Pawson
We have had flares, smoke bombs, cabbages … and now a coconut. Half an hour into the Edinburgh derby between Hearts and Hibernian, the tropical fruit was thrown on to the pitch at Tynecastle. The referee, Willie Collum, stopped the game on several occasions to clear pyrotechnics from the playing surface. It is 1-1, with the second half just under way.
OK, you’ve got me. This is not the bumper Saturday of dreams, nor is it the most appetising fixture list. But there will still be plenty of fun and games, not least below a lukewarm set of Premier League matches: Bournemouth host Burnley, Huddersfield take on Leicester and Crystal Palace travel to Newcastle. There is all sorts to look forward to in the Championship, with Aston Villa, Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United all in action. Bolton’s fixture against Ipswich does go ahead, despite another hoo-ha behind the scenes, this time because of an IT meltdown. Celtic are in action and, on the continent there is plenty to get stuck into, too, with Real Madrid entertaining Eibar in La Liga.
Premier League
Bournemouth v Burnley
Huddersfield v Leicester
Newcastle v Crystal Palace
Championship
Birmingham v Leeds
Blackburn v Stoke
Bolton v Ipswich
Brentford v Derby
Bristol C v Wigan
Hull v Reading
Millwall v West Brom
Norwich v QPR, 12.30pm
Preston v Sheff Utd
Rotherham v Nottm Forest
Sheff Weds v Aston Villa
Swansea v Middlesbrough
Scottish Premiership
Celtic v Livingston
Dundee v Aberdeen
Kilmarnock v St Johnstone
Hamilton v St Mirren
Hearts v Hibernian, 12.30pm
La Liga
Real Madrid v Eibar, 3.15pm
*all 3pm (BST) kick-off unless stated otherwise