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Key figure in Mandelson vetting row will not appear to give evidence to MPs
The Foreign Affairs Committee says Ian Collard will only be giving evidence in writing.
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Mary Lou McDonald calls on her party to ensure Michelle O’Neill is returned as first minister next year.
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Key events
90 min +7: Scienza goes over under some light scrutiny from Nunes. The romantic says the referee should award a free kick, and with it one last chance to deliver into the box; the realist says it’s never a free kick, and the ref correctly agrees.
90 min +6: Saints pump a couple of long balls towards the City box. City deal with them both. Is there to be one last chance?
90 min +5: City win a corner. Doku and Cherki take turns to keep the ball near the left-hand corner flag. The clock, which looked against them when Azaz did his thing, is suddenly their friend.
90 min +3: Harwood-Bellis is booked for a tug on Haaland. He looks aggrieved, but should have been booked earlier for a block on Marmoush, so can count himself lucky in the round.
90 min +1: … but in the first of seven additional minutes, Doku doesn’t back himself to launch the ball from halfway into the unguarded net! He walks the ball up to the edge of the Saints penalty box, then under pressure from the returning keeper, slips a ball across to Savinho, whose attempted thread into the bottom right is hacked off the line! Outrageous!
90 min: The corner from the right leads to a corner on the left. Scienza sticks that under the bar. City clear, and suddenly Doku races away! He beats the walkabout Peretz on the halfway line, and surely City are about to seal the deal …
89 min: What a response from Manchester City. What a blow for poor Saints, though. One last roll of the dice for the underdogs, as Edozie and Archer come on for Fellows and Bree. And Archer’s first act is to win a corner with a bustle down the right.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-1 Southampton (Gonzalez 87)
Doku rolls a pass in from the left. Gonzalez, 25 yards out, has time to line up a shot … and sends a rising heat-seeker into the top-left corner! The equaliser was a bit fortunate, but that was out of the top drawer! Absolutely skelped into the top bin!
86 min: Cherki curls in from the right. Wood half clears with his head; Bree, unsure of his surroundings, concedes a corner with his. And from the set piece, which is half cleared again …
85 min: City have been forced to deploy all of their big guns, and now Silva comes on for Reijnders. Safe to say Pep neither wants nor fancies extra time!
83 min: That was an unlucky break for Saints, but they don’t let their heads drop. Larin meets a cutback on the edge of the City D, and sends a rising shot goalwards. It’s tipped over the bar by Trafford. Nothing comes of the resulting corner, but dear me, this FA Cup semi-final, which has been entertaining from the off, has really exploded into life!
GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 Southampton (Doku 82)
Saints only half-clear the corner. Doku picks up possession on the left-hand edge of the Saints box. He dribbles across the face of goal and shoots. His low drive takes a deflection off the unfortunate Bree, and into the bottom right, past the wrong-footed keeper. The treble dream still alive!
82 min: Savinho and Nunes combine down the right, the former eventually forcing a save from Peretz, who kicks clear for a corner. And from that …
81 min: That is an incredible finish! And the move began on the halfway line, with Jander stripping Cherki of possession on the halfway line before advancing down the left and feeding Matsuki infield. Matsuki then shuttled the ball on to Azaz, and the rest is elegant history!
GOAL! Manchester City 0-1 Southampton (Azaz 79)
Out of nothing, Saints take the lead! And it’s an absolute pearler! The ball worked in from the left. Azaz, with his back to goal, 25 yards out in a central position, turns and whips an unstoppable curler into the top right! Trafford, fully extended, has no chance!
78 min: Ake takes a whack from Jander as the pair compete for a loose ball, but after a quick check to his thigh, he’s fine to continue.
77 min: Nothing comes of the City corner. Bree launches long, and Scienza nearly beats last-man Nunes to a header, but the City defender flicks clear just in time.
76 min: Welington can’t continue, out of every last drop of energy. He’s been run ragged since the get-go, against Reijnders, Foden and Savinho, but never found wanting. Matsuki comes on in his place.
75 min: Doku cuts in from the left and aims for the bottom right corner. His shot is deflected out to the left of goal for a corner. Before it can be taken, Welington goes down.
74 min: … so yes, Saints are clinging on a bit here.
73 min: Gonzalez barges his way into the Saints box from the right and lashes goalwards. Peretz parries well. Cherki has another go. The ball pings off the arm of Charles, but though City claim for a penalty, that arm was tucked away and that’s not going to happen. And in any case City should then score, the ball breaking to Reijnders, clear on the penalty spot … but the resulting shot sails wide of the bottom-right corner with Peretz beaten all ends up.
72 min: Another double substitution by Manchester City. Ait-Nouri and Marmoush are replaced by O’Reilly, who scored both goals here last month as City beat Arsenal in the League Cup final, and Haaland, who, well, y’know.
70 min: Savinho drives at Welington down the right channel. Welington just about stops him getting past, but at the expense of a corner. Savinho takes it himself, launching towards the back stick, but Wood rises highest to belt a header clear.
68 min: City have been much improved in this second half. Southampton clinging on a bit. But they’re holding on.
66 min: The BBC have shown quite a few shots of punters in the stands fast asleep. Both City and Saints fans. The match is great fun, non-stop action, so you have to conclude that the ABV% of the Wembley beer is at turps-level. Sláinte, everyone!
64 min: Savinho slips Nunes into the Saints box down the right. Nunes takes one touch too many, with team-mates lined up in the middle, and has to make to with a corner rather than an assist. Then from the set play, Savinho attempts a low curler towards the bottom right. Peretz gets down to parry with a strong arm, then Saints counter, Larin haring after a long ball down the middle! He looks to have the pace to beat Stones, but Trafford has read the danger and comes out of his box to blooter clear. Oh my.
63 min: Cherki jinks his way into the Saints box from the right and whistles another promising ball through the six-yard box. Marmoush, telescoping a leg, isn’t able to connect. City are getting closer and closer and closer.
62 min: Saints make their own double change, replacing Stewart and Bragg with Larin and the quarter-final hero Charles.
60 min: Savinho bursts down the right and wins a corner. The set piece is worked long to Doku on the other flank. Doku advances down the wing, then cuts back, before slipping Ait-Nouri in on the overlap. Ait-Nouri rolls across to Marmoush, who leans back and skies a shot over the bar. That would have been an outrageously good team goal. Shame for everyone, apart from Saints of course.
59 min: A bit of space for Reijnders, 25 yards out on the left. He takes a touch infield before whipping a violent curler towards the top right. The ball flies just wide of the post, which is just as well for Peretz, because the keeper wasn’t getting to that. Reijnders close to a fine goal.
58 min: City make the first swaps of the afternoon. Foden and Kovacic are replaced by Doku and Savinho.
57 min: Wood makes two big blocks in the space of a couple of seconds, from Nunes and Cherki. City are cranking up the pressure.
56 min: Stewart tries a curler towards the top right. He doesn’t get any oomph behind the shot, and it’s easy pickings for Trafford. Southampton haven’t shown any of their first-half sparkle in this second period yet.
55 min: Kovavic takes a cute touch to turn into space in the middle, then releases Marmoush down the left. Marmoush turns Harwood-Bellis inside out, and is brought down clumsily. The Saints defender should go into the book, but somehow escapes. Then the free kick is worked back to Foden, who opens his body to curl a shot into the top left, but gets it all wrong. High and wide. Goal kick.
53 min: City have looked sharper and quicker since the restart. Pep appears to have issued some beneficial advice during the break.
52 min: A couple of passes down the City left nearly open Southampton up. Foden and Aki take turns to dilly-dally over their cross, and the ball’s cleared easily on both occasions. Then Cherki bursts down the right and fizzes a delightful low ball through the six-yard box. Everyone in sky blue is on the back foot, and a glorious chance to tap City into the lead is spurned.
50 min: Marmoush gets on the end of a long pass down the inside-left channel and enters the Saints box. He shoots. Harwood-Bellis blocks, deflecting over the bar. Saints deal with the resulting corner easily enough.
48 min: City get back into their usual groove of stroking the ball around. Saints sit back and challenge them to break through.
46 min: Azaz nicks the ball off Ake and sends Fellows scampering clear down the inside right. Fellows enters the area, but doesn’t get his shot away quickly enough, allowing the recovering Ake to block and cushion the ball into the arms of Trafford. Big chance.
Southampton get the second half underway. No changes. Nunes is fine to continue, which is good to see. No serious harm done. “I’ll give Kari Tulinius (14 min) When the Saints,” begins Richard Hirst, “but the dirge-like Blue Moon? Never. Which opposition team has not been cowed when coming to Craven Cottage to be greeted by London Calling, bellowed by the massed ranks of, oh, at least 200 fans?”
THE HALF-TIME SHOW starring Jim McCalliog. “Jim McCalliog!” yelps Simon McMahon, having skimmed the pre-match bumf. “Come on, Scott, get the Wembley ‘67 highlights up, you know you want to.”
Well, if I must. McCalliog’s goal, which proved to be the winner, comes just after the six-minute mark of the video below. He was making his Scotland debut as a 21-year-old that day, though he’d already scored at Wembley, as part of the Sheffield Wednesday team that lost the FA Cup final from two goals up a year earlier. His opener, scored four minutes into that match, comes just after the three-minute mark of this.
(In the interests of balance and full disclosure, what happened to Scotland after McCalliog’s goal in 1967 is covered by the first two harrowing paragraphs of this. Oh Scotland!)
HALF TIME: Manchester City 0-0 Southampton
It’s been good fun. City have been slightly undercooked but won’t be fretting yet, though it’s Southampton who’ll be the happier. The Championship side have acquitted themselves very well against the hot favourites.
45 min +1: Cherki nearly jinks his way past Welington down the right, but the Saints full-back sticks to his shoulder before nicking the ball off him. That’s magnificent defending from the Brazilian.
45 min: There will be a minimum of two additional first-half minutes.
44 min: Nunes still doesn’t look comfortable, but he’s OK to see things through to the break at least. That’s a relief.
42 min: Khusanov prepares to come on, but there’s a hold up as Nunes gets back up onto his feet. That’s good to see: for a moment, thoughts turned to poor Hugo Ekitike against PSG the other week, who went down in similar fashion, with nobody near him. Thankfully this doesn’t look anywhere near as serious.
41 min: Nunes goes down with nobody around him. He’s in some distress. On come the physios.
40 min: City with the probing again. Saints holding their shape as ever. Kovacic loses patience and tries to force things with a wedge down the right. Too high, over everyone’s head, and out for a goal kick.
38 min: Now it’s Southampton’s turn to calm things down a bit with a little patient possession at the back.
36 min: … and suddenly City spring into life, Kovacic fizzing a pass down the inside left for Marmoush, who enters the area and whistles a low drive towards the bottom left. Peretz kicks clear for a corner. And from the resulting set play, which is worked from left to right, Cherki crosses long for Reijnders who attempts a bicycle kick and … let’s just award full marks for ambition. To be fair to Reijnders, as the Saints fans chortle, he has the good grace to have a laugh at himself upon getting back up.
34 min: On the touchline, Pep dictates some technical orders in the no-nonsense fashion. He’s not gone full fidgety yet, but he’s stirring, beginning to prowl.
Key events
Full time: Wolves 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League: Palhinha got the goal as Tottenham Hotspur secured their first league victory of the year against already relegated Wolves and their players are celebrating like they’ve just won the Champions League. They remain in the drop zone, two points behind West Ham.
Full time: West Ham 2-1 Everton
Premier League: Callum Wilson came off the bench to score the decisive goal for West Ham in the second minute of added time at the London Stadium. The gap between West Ham and Tottenham remains at two points
Full time: Liverpool 3-1 Crystal Palace
Premier League: Mo Salah limped out of what could be his last appearance in a Liverpool shirt with a hamstring injury, while Alexander Isak, Andy Robertson and Florian Wirtz scored the goals that did for Palace.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-1 Crystal Palace (Wirtz 90+6)
Liverpool extend their lead: Liverpool goalkeeper Freddie Woodman didn’t have to make way despite suffering what looked a serious knee injury and is on the field to see Florian Wirtz put this match beyond Palace in the knockings with a half-volley that went in off the woodwork.
West Ham 2-1 Everton: That goal: El Hadji Malick Diouf sent a cross into the Everton penalty area and Jarrod Bowen headed the ball back across the face of goal to tee up WIlson, who made no mistake from close range.
GOAL! West Ham 2-1 Everton (Wilson 90+2)
West Ham restore their lead! On as a substitute, Callum Wilson plunges Spurs back into the relegation zone with a goal in the third minute of added time.
Championship: Jaydon Banel scores in the 88th minute to send Derby County 3-2 ahead against QPR in a ding-dong battle at Lofts Road. At Carrow Road, Kenny McLean has equalised for Norwich against Swansea City.
GOAL! West Ham 1-1 Everton (Dewsbury-Hall 88)
Everton equalise! Not long after Everton had an excellent penalty shout turned down, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall restores parity for them at the London Stadium. As things stand, Tottenham Hotspur are out of the relegation zone, above West Ham on goal difference.
GOAL! Wolves 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Palhinha 82)
Spurs take the lead! Pedro Porro takes another corner, Richarlison sends a shot goalwards and Palhinha sticks out a toe to steer the ball past Jose Sa. The goal stands despite a long VAR check for offside.
Championship: Portsmouth go 3-1 ahead against Stoke as Adrian Segecic completes his hat-trick on 82 minutes. Patrick Bamford makes it Sheffield 2-3 Preston at Bramall Lane and Tomi Horvat scores a penalty to halve Bristol City’s deficit against Birmingham at St Andrew’s, where it’s 2-1.
Championship: Lewis Dobbin sends Preston 3-1 up against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, while Sondre Langas equalises for Derby against QPR at Loftus Road, where it’s 2-2.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Crystal Palace (Munoz 71)
Premier League: Freddie Woodman saves from Ismaila Sarr and injures his knee in the process. He tries to return to his feet but can’t, allowing Daniel Munoz to score into the unguarded net from 20 yards. Liverpool’s third choice goalkeeper looks to have suffered a bad knee injury but hasn’t come off yet.
Championship: Oxford United are leading Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 at the Kassam Stadium. Wednesday pulled a goal back through Will Grainger, only for Myles Peart-Harris to score at the other end for Oxford a minute later.
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs win a corner and Jose Sa gets down to save Rodrigo Bentancur’s strong header after the Uruguayan had got on the end of Pedro Porro’s inswinger.
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: A mistake by Kevin Danso goes unpunished and he owes Antonin Kinski a couple of pints for sparing his blushes. The Tottenham goalkeeper rushed off his line to bravely deny Adam Armstrong after Danso made a dog’s breakfast of his effort to deal with a long ball from deep.
Xavi Simons forced off with a knee injury
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Simons can’t continue and looks very upset as he makes way for Lucas Bergvall. I suspect that may be the last we see of Simons this season and he may be a non-starter as far as the Netherlands’ World Cup campaign is concerned. This afternoon is turning into the stuff of Tottenham’s worst nightmares.
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Already a Dominic Solanke down after their centre-forward was forced off in the first half with a hammy, the Spurs bench look on in despair as Xavi Simons goes down with a knee injury. He’s soldiering on for now but it doesn’t look great for the Dutchman. If it wasn’t for bad luck, Spurs wouldn’t have any luck at all.
Mo Salah pulls his hamstring
Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace: Mo Salah pulls up lame and limps out of what looks like being his final appearance in a Liverpool shirt. It’s a sad way for his time at the club to end, presuming it is his last hurrah.
Championship: Richard Kone has given QPR a 2-1 lead over Derby County at Loftus Road.
Championship: It’s all square between Stoke and Portsmouth in the Potteries, where unbeknownst to me until a few moments ago, Lamine Cisse equalised for the hosts shortly after half-time.
Championship: Zan Vipotnik scores from the spot to give Swansea City a one-goal lead over Norwich.
GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Everton (Soucek 52)
Premier League: West Ham take the lead through Tomas Soucek, who steers a header past Jordan Pickford at a corner moments after his side had a penalty shout turned down.
West Ham 0-0 Everton: West Ham appeal for a penalty as Taty Castellanos is brought down by Jordan Pickford, whose momentum led to him catching the West Ham striker as he came out to dive at his feet. It’s no penalty but there’s a goal at the London Stadium and if you’re a Spurs fan, look away now …
Tottenham Hotspur: Those who celebrate expected goals might be interested to hear that Roberto de Zerbi’s side had an xG of 0.12 in the first half of their match against Wolves. Mathys Tel is on for Randal Kolo Muani at half-time in a bid to take the bare look off that dismal stat.
Premier League half-times
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Fulham 1-0 Aston Villa (R)
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West Ham 0-0 Everton
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Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
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Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace
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Arsenal v Newcastle (5.30pm)
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View the Premier League table
Championship half-times
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Charlton Athletic 2-1 Hull City (R)
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Middlesbrough 5-1 Watford (R)
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West Brom 0-0 Ipswich Town (R)
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Birmingham City 2-0 Bristol City
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Norwich City 0-0 Swansea City
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Oxford United 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
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QPR 1-1 Derby County
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Sheffield United 0-2 Preston
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Stoke City 0-1 Portsmouth
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View the Championship table
Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace: Palace have a mountain to climb if they are to beat Liverpool for the fourth time this season. Alexander Isak and Andy Robertson got the goals, as Liverpool secured a 2-0 first-half lead.
West Ham 0-0 Everton: The deadlock remains resolutely unbroken between West Ham and Everton at the London Stadium in a state of affairs that will suit West Ham more than the hal stalemate at Molineux …
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Wolves midfielder Andre has been booked for a crunching tackle on Yves Bissouma that perhaps deserved a red card. Tottenham’s players certainly thought so and even Rob Edwards feared the worst as Anthony Taylor pondered his decision. It’s half-time at Molineux.
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: We’re still waiting for a shot on target from either team at Molineux. Tottenham have just lost Dominic Solanke to injury and are offering little or nothing in attack.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace (Robertson 40)
Premier League: Freddie Woodman pulls off a superb save from JP Mateta at one end, before Liverpool break forward and score through Andy Robertson at the other. The Scot was played in behind by Curtis Jones before firing a low shot past Dean Henderson.
Wolves 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs striker Dominic Solanke has gone down with a hamstring injury and it looks like his afternoon, if not his season is over. Richarlison is ready to take his place.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Crystal Palace (Isak 35)
Premier League: Alexander Isak puts Liverpool ahead against their 2025-26 bogey team, intercepting an Alexis Mac Allister shot that was going wide and sending the ball past Dean Henderosn. It’s the Swede’s first goal since breaking his leg in December.
Championship: Adrien Segecic has given Portsmouth a one-goal lead at Stoke City in a match between two sides separated by just one point and playing for little more than pride.
Fulham 1-0 Aston Villa
Premier League match report: Ryan Sessegnon scored the only goal of the game as Ollie Watkins and Tammy Abraham missed chances for the visitors in front of the watching England head coach Thomas Tuchel. Ben Bloom reports from Craven Cottage …
Championship: Jhon Solis doubles Birmingham’s lead over Bristol City at St Andrew’s, as the hosts capitalise on a horrific error from Sam Morsy.
Championship: Relegated before they’d even got to kick a ball this afternoon because of early results elsewhere, Oxford United are 2-0 ahead against Sheffield Wednesday courtesy of Will Lankshear’s second goal of the game. Both sides will be playing League One football next season.
Championship: Oscar Fraulo has restored parity for Derby County against QPR at Loftus Road, where it’s all square at one goal apiece after 28 minutes.
No penalty for Liverpool
Premier League: As expected, the decision is overturned. There was no foul but it almost certainly wasn’t a dive either. Salah simply lost his balance and fell over as Johnson chased him down.
Penalty for Liverpool!
Premier League: Crystal Palace’s Brennan Johnson is penalised for a trip on Mo Salah, who goes to ground on the edge of the penalty area and gets straight back up without appealing for a spot-kick. There didn’t look to be any contact and this decision will probably be overturned on the advice of VAR.
Championship: Liam Lindsey scores his second goal of the afternoon, sending a glancing header at a corner past Adam Davies to put Preston two goals up.
League Two: Take a bow Callum Stead. The Barnet striker has scored a hat-trickinside 17 minutes against Gillingham to keep his side’s playoff hopes alive and kicking.
Premier League: We’re still waiting for a goal, or even a chance of note in any of the three top flight matches being played at the moment. West Ham are looking nervous against Everton, while Tottenham are dominating Wolves early doors but have yet to trouble Jose Sa.
Championship: Harvey Vale gives QPR a 1-0 lead over Derby County at Loftus Road, sending a low drive past Jacob Zetterström into the bottom corner after 13 minutes.
Championship: Birmingham City are one up against Bristol City at St Andrew’s, where Phil Neumann has put the home side’s noses in front.
Championship: In the relegation wake between Oxford United and Sheffield Wednesday at the Kassam Stadium, Will Lankshear has given the home side the lead, firing through the legs of Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles. At Bramall Lane, Liam Lindsay has put Preston a goal up against Sheffield United.
Scottish Premiership: Aremu Afeez has given Aberdeen an early lead against Kilmarnock. Celtic host Falkirk at 5.30pm and will leapfrog Hearts and Rangers to take an overnight lead at the top of the table if they win.
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