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England v New Zealand: third women’s cricket one-day international – live | Women’s cricket
Key events
24th over: New Zealand 135-4 (Halliday 36, Gaze 22) Sophie Ecclestone comes back. New Zealand need precisely 49, and have 54 balls to get them in (if they keep playing that long). New Zealand’s balcony is full now, of people in bobble hats or sheltering under towels – obviously nobody thought to bring a blanket.
23rd over: New Zealand 132-4 (Halliday 34, Gaze 21) Jacqueline Williams, one of the umpires, runs off before the over starts and Rose Dovey replaces her. Perhaps she needs a better waterproof. Dean continues. There seems little reason to keep saving Lauren Bell for later, with New Zealand well ahead of DLS par, apparently en route to victory, England needing a cluster of wickets and Bell by a margin the most threatening bowler. Perhaps, given that it is now apparently raining reasonably strongly, England would prefer not to risk potential slips, skids and injuries.
22nd over: New Zealand 125-4 (Halliday 33, Gaze 15) Gibson’s over starts with a wide, contains another wide, and another might have been heading the same way before Halliday just nudged it past Amy Jones with the toe of her bat and sent it running away for four. The rain is increasing and so is New Zealand’s total. The DLS par score is currently 112, so they’re well ahead.
21st over: New Zealand 117-4 (Halliday 28, Gaze 14) Filer continues, four singles are scored, and it’s umbrellas up in the stands now. The main camera from the Cathedral Road End is very misty – it looks like either a fog’s rolled in, or it’s been smeared with a dirty dishcloth. As there’s no evidence of fog from any other camera it’s presumably option one.
20th over: New Zealand 113-4 (Halliday 26, Gaze 12) Gaze nicely diverts to third for four, and having come in with the game nervously balanced is keeping her side comfortably on the right side of the equation. With the completion of this over we now officially have a game of cricket on our hands!
19th over: New Zealand 108-4 (Halliday 25, Gaze 8) Lauren Filer is back, a fourth over for England’s most expensive bowler. She sends one wide and short to Gaze, who crashes a cut past point for four. Next ball is drive to mid-off, where Bell misjudges its path, letting it come off her hand and run away for a couple. Eight off the over.
18th over: New Zealand 100-4 (Halliday 24, Gaze 1) New Zealand tick into triple figures, and are now just ahead of where they need to be on DLS. Two more overs are required for this to constitute a game.
WICKET! Green b Gibson 37 off 43 (New Zealand 97-4)
Maddy Green is bowled through the gate, and that is a big wicket in the context of this game, which is balanced on a DLS knife-edge!
17th over: New Zealand 94-3 (Green 37, Halliday 21) A strangled lbw shout off the second ball, which I thought was very decent but the players didn’t really engage with and the commentators instantly dismissed. Turns out I was right, though, and had England reviewed Halliday would have been on her way. England could do with a couple of quick wickets to shake the feeling that New Zealand are in pretty good control of this run chase.
Meanwhile, with rain potentially imminent, the game will pause while the players take drinks.
16th over: New Zealand 90-3 (Green 35, Halliday 19) Dani Gibson comes into the attack. There is, I’m told, a bit of rain about and according to my rain radar there’s more to come, and they’re unlikely to be playing cricket in 45 minutes. Four more overs are required for this to constitute a game.
15th over: New Zealand 84-3 (Green 32, Halliday 17) Charlie Dean is by a margin the team’s most economical bowler, and England will be grateful that she’s still keeping a lid on it – just four off this over, and 12 off the three she’s bowled so far.
14th over: New Zealand 82-3 (Green 32, Halliday 15) Hello! Well then. Halliday sweeps Ecclestone for four and reverse-sweeps also for four. Add a misfield and a bit of smart running and New Zealand are ramping it up nicely. Thirteen off the over.
13th over: New Zealand 69-3 (Green 29, Halliday 5) Shot! Maddy Green is keeping New Zealand on the tracks singlehandedly at the moment. She drives a full ball from Dean through the covers for four.
I’m going to have a short break, Simon Burnton is here to oversee a clump of wickets/flurry of boundaries/delete as appropriate.
12th over: New Zealand 62-3 (Green 24, Halliday 4) A clever shot from Maddy Green who loosens the shackles a little with a paddle for four off Ecclestone. Four more! Green steps out and lofts Ecclestone over the top of mid on for another boundary. A single down the ground brings Halliday on strike. Ecclestone dots out the rest of the over.
11th over: New Zealand 53-3 (Green 15, Halliday 4) Dean starts with three dots, landing it on a pocket square. Green gets a single down to long on but that’s the only run off the over. The pressure cooker begins to hiss…
10th over: New Zealand 52-3 (Green 14, Halliday 4) New Zealand are behind where they need to be on the DLS by about ten runs. Sophie Ecclestone puts the squeeze on and Charlie Dean is going to join her from the opposite end. This is not going to be easy for New Zealand.
9th over: New Zealand 49-3 (Green 12, Halliday 3) Ouch! Lauren Bell is hit on the hand as Green rifles a drive back at her. She looks in some pain as it hit her where she already had some strapping. The physio is called for and she’s up and smiling again. Phew. Shot! Maddy Green times a pull shot and it cracks off the bat and away for four.
8th over: New Zealand 43-3 (Green 7, Halliday 3) Halliday clips for a couple but it’s a miserly first over from Ecclestone and that’s all New Zealand can muster off it.
7th over: New Zealand 41-3 (Green 7, Halliday 1) Brooke Halliday joins Green with plenty of work to do, she’s off the mark with a clip off the toes. Lauren Bell has her dander up and is hunting for wickets. That’s the powerplay done, we’re going to see some Sophie Ecclestone for the first time this series.
WICKET! Georgia Plimmer lbw b Bell 7 (New Zealand 40-3)
Another one! Lauren Bell has three LBWs and New Zealand are in all sorts in the Cardiff mizzle.
6th over: New Zealand 40-2 (Plimmer 7, Green 7) There’s drizzle falling again in Cardiff and the wind is gusting. It seems to be putting Lauren Filer off as she sends down a very scruffy over… Green pulls a short ball for four, a leg side wide evades Amy Jones and runs away for four. Another wide and a couple more to Green and it’s an expensive 12 runs off the over.
5th over: New Zealand 28-2 (Plimmer 7, Green 1) Maddy Green is the new batter, she looked in good touch up in Durham and her side need runs from her again now. She gets off the mark with an airy poke that flies past gully. Edgy stuff from the visitors in Cardiff.
WICKET! Melie Kerr lbw b Bell 1 (New Zealand 27-2)
Stone dead! Lauren Bell has Melie Kerr bang in front and Kerr chooses not to review! That’s the big wicket for England, Bell has two and New Zealand are under pressure now.
4th over: New Zealand 27-1 (Plimmer 7, A Kerr 1) Filer drifts too straight and is clipped off the pads fine for four by Plimmer.
3rd over: New Zealand 21-1 (Plimmer 2, A Kerr 0) Amelia Kerr arrives in the middle, replacing her mentor and childhood hero.
WICKET! Suzie Bates lbw b Bell 12 (New Zealand 21-1)
Drop! Bell draws Suzie Bates into the drive with a lovely outswinger, it goes to Heather Knight at first slip and she spills the chance! Oh no, Bell can’t hid her disappointment.
That’s out though! The very next ball Bell pins Bates lbw and Bates walks off! A lovely moment as the crowd rise, England and New Zealand’s players pause to applaud her all the way off the field as she brings a two decade long international career to an end.
2nd over: New Zealand 12-0 (Bates 10, Plimmer 1) New Zealand need to win to tie the series, Suzie Bates would love to finish with a win and she looks to have the bit between her teeth. She stands tall and pulls Lauren Filer through wide mid on for an imperious four!
1st over: New Zealand 6-0 (Bates 6, Plimmer 0) Bates edges a full ball and picks up four to get the White Ferns under way. Close! Bell gets her outswinger going, draws the drive and nearly takes the edge. Top bowling. Bates gets a couple with a dab down past third.
Here come the New Zealand batters, Suzie Bates walks out in her 184th and last ODI. Can she take a chunk out of this total for her side? Georgie Plimmer is at the other end. Lauren Bell will start with the ball for England. Play!
England make 181-7 (New Zealand set 184 to win on DLS)
Sophie Ecclestone arrives with free reign to have a swing. She clips through midwicket for a couple and takes one down the ground. Dean gets a single, Ecclestone bunts the final ball of the innings through cover for four!
Decent finish by England, the re-adjusted target is just three runs more though. New Zealand will be out for the chase shortly.
WICKET! Amy Jones c Sharp b J Kerr 27 (England 172-7)
Amy Jones falls in the last over, attempted slog sweep but falls foul of the long square boundaries at Cardiff. Izzy Sharp with a safe pair of hands in the deep.
32nd over: England 172-6 (Jones 27, Dean 15) Mair returns and Jones greets her with another sublime drive through the covers for four. Charlie Dean then gets a full toss from Mair and she paddles it fine for four more! Twelve off the over for England.
31st over: England 160-6 (Jones 21, Dean 9) Three singles and a couple from England as they rotate strike well off Amelia Kerr. Shot! Amy Jones drives in-to-out over extra cover. Lovely timing and placement. That’s the area Charlotte Edwards wants her players to be able to access more of. Amy Jones showing how to do it in style.
30th over: England 149-6 (Jones 12, Dean 7) Amy Jones misses a sweep off Bates but the ball beats Gaze behind the stumps and runs away for four. Four more singles make it eight off the over. Three overs to go, England need some boundaries.
29th over: England 141-6 (Jones 10, Dean 5) More like it from Amy Jones, she powers a drive through the off side off Patel. England need all the runs they can muster, that cluster of wickets really knocked them off their stride.
28th over: England 134-6 (Jones 4, Dean 4) Missed run out! Suzie Bates fluffs the throw from the deep, had she taken it cleanly then Amy Jones was well short of her ground. Bates is fuming with herself, last ODI or not.
27th over: England 127-6 (Jones 2, Dean 0) Skipper Charlie Dean arrives in the middle to join Amy Jones. Patel rattles through a wicket maiden.
WICKET! Dani Gibson b Patel 2 (England 127-6)
Gibson goes cheaply! Backs away to leg and misses the carve through the off, Patel rattling the stumps. England losing all their momentum in Cardiff.
26th over: England 127-5 (Jones 2, Gibson 1) England now have two new batters at the crease and seven overs to get as many as possible.
WICKET! Alice Capsey c Sharp b Mair 45 (England 125-6)
Two quick wickets! The partnership is broken and then demolished. Capsey tries to slap Sharp through the off side but gets it too high on the bat. That feels like a big wicket for England’s hopes of a challenging target, Capsey was well set.
25th over: England 123-4 (Capsey 44, Gibson 0) Dani Gibson joins Capsey. She defends her fist ball from Amelia Kerr watchfully.
WICKET! Freya Kemp c Mair b AC Kerr 20 (England 123-4)
Caught at long on! Kemp tries to take Kerr down the ground for a big one but doesn’t get the connection.
24th over: England 117-3 (Capsey 39, Kemp 20) Capsey in particular has been busy since the resumption. She uses her crease well to create room to carve Patel away for a couple. A glide past point brings up the 50 partnership between this pair. Seven runs in all off the over.
23rd over: England 110-3 (Capsey 33, Kemp 19) Amelia Kerr tightens things up for her side, just a couple of runs off her latest. There are ten overs left in the innings now, England have seven wickets left and probably need to look at opening their shoulders.
22nd over: England 108-3 (Capsey 32, Kemp 18) Capsey punches for four off the back foot. Four singles make it eight off the over and the hundred is up for England too – the home side have been the more dynamic of the two since the resumption.
21st over: England 99-3 (Capsey 25, Kemp 16) Another productive over for England, seven runs pocketed off Amelia Kerr’s third over. We’re going to have more spin with Nensi Patel thrown the ball for the next over.
20th over: England 92-3 (Capsey 23, Kemp 12) Rosemary Mair replace Illing. Freya Kemp gets on the front foot and drives down the ground for a couple before taking a single to mid on. Capsey take a single to point and Kemp gets two more into the deep. England are busy and hustling between the wickets.
19th over: England 86-3 (Capsey 22, Kemp 7) England’s total will be recalculated by DLS, it’ll be interesting to see how they approach the next 15 or so overs they have left in their innings. Kemp and Capsey rotate the strike nicely off Amelia Kerr’s looping leggies, five singles off the over.
18th over: England 81-3 (Capsey 20, Kemp 4) It’s Bree Illing with the ball in hand for the White Ferns, she struggles with her line initially, firing two wides down the leg side. Capsey and Kemp both take singles into the off side. Cricket has broken out in Cardiff!
Right then, take two. The players take to the field, its going to be a 33 over game. Freya Kemp and Alice Capsey are in the middle for England. Play!
Play to restart at 3.45pm
Good news, we’ll have a reduced overs game of 32 overs per side starting at 3.55pm. All eyes to the skies now to hope it remains clear in Cardiff.
Still raining in Cardiff, apparently they can still get a game on if they are out there by 5.30pm. So the wait goes on.
May as well get stuck into some FA Cup Final action with Rob Smyth while we wait for the rain to relent:
It looks to be brightening up a little in Cardiff so there is hope they could get back out there this afternoon. I’ll post any updates as we get them.
For any club cricketers out there creaking into another Saturday fixture… let Nigel Martyn* be your inspiration.
*Yep, that one.
Unfortunately we will now lose overs to the rain having had an hour delay to the start of play. Cardiff isn’t alone in languishing under leaden skies, there’s plenty of rain around the shires but Tanya also has some play to supply updates on. Not jealous at all.
Rain stops play
They’ve gone off, covers on. Now we wait.
17th over: England 77-3 (Capsey 19, Kemp 3) Amelia Kerr brings herself on for a twirl in the gloom. Her second ball is a drag down and Capsey doesn’t miss out, pulling away behind square for four. Capsey then cuts for three, Freya Kemp looks to be hobbling a bit, running in damp conditions is never nice. Time for drinks… I’m not sure we’ll be back for much longer after them mind.
Labour is consumed by drama, but the PM still faces big decisions – and what could be his final choice.
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The Edinburgh club loses out in a winner-takes-all match for the Scottish Premiership title at Celtic Park.
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Key events
90 min On 11 November 2018, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City beat Man Utd 3-1 through goals from David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Ilkay Gundogan. The day before that, Antoine Semenyo made his FA Cup debut for Newport County in a 2-0 win away to Met Police.
Eight years on, Semenyo is a few minutes of injury time away from scoring the winning goal in an FA Cup final.
88 min Excellent game management from City, who are keeping the ball and frustrating Chelsea.
86 min: Chelsea substitution Alejandro Garnacho replaces the weary Joao Pedro.
85 min Cherki addresses a bouncing ball of the edge of the area with a ferocious shot that is beaten away by Sanchez. It was straight enough but that’s still a fine save.
84 min: Nunes hits the post
Doku plays a superb pass to release O’Reilly on the left. His low ball across the area towards Haaland is crucically cut out by Caicedo.
Seconds later, Nunes screws a low cross on the run that deflects onto the near post!
83 min “That was a wonderful goal, I actually burst out laughing,” writes Kári Tulinius. “This was like something the Harlem Globetrotters would pull, if they played football.”
Please don’t make Florentino Perez angry again.
82 min: Chelsea substitution Former Manchester City forward Liam Delap comes on for Reece James.
80 min And now it’s over to our resident Quasimodo. “My pre-season prediction of a team in blue or red winning top honours in England and Europe looks like coming true again, Rob,” writes Simon McMahon. “I amend it slightly to include green and white in Scotland. Hoping it holds for the World Cup this year too. Scotland v Spain final. Norway for Eurovision. Democrats or Republicans. Labour or Tories Reform. It’s foolproof, I tell you. Bet the farm on it.”
79 min Darren Cann, assistant referee in the 2010 World Cup final, again thinks it was the correct decision to not award the penalty. I’ll bow to his superior knowledge, but Khusanov took a big risk by leaning quite strongly into Hato.
77 min A big chance for City to clinch it. Doku frees the underlapping O’Reilly on the left side of the area – but he cuts the ball back to nobody instead of trying to score another Wembley goal.
Chelsea break and there’s another penalty appeal for a challenge by Khusanov, this time on Hato (I think). It looked clumsy – he was the wrong side – but it’s been cleared by both the referee and VAR.
76 min “Semenyo did a Zola?” says Giovanni Cafagna.
75 min: Chelsea substiution Pedro Neto replaces Marc Cucurella, which presumably means a switch to 4-2-3-1.
74 min: Chance for Enzo!
Chelsea almost reply straight away. A long throw from the left is headed on by Colwill and volleyed onto the roof of the net by Enzo. He was only six yards out but had to flick the volley towards goal while wrestling with Guehi, so it wasn’t an easy chance.
Erling Haaland opened the game up with a sharp turn away from Fofana 30 yards from goal. He gave the ball to Bernardo, who played it back to Haaland on the right side of the area. Haaland drove a first-time cross towards the near post, where Semenyo dragged the ball behind his standing leg and into the far corner. That’s an outstanding finish!
GOAL! Chelsea 0-1 Man City (Semenyo 71)
Antoine Semenyo puts City ahead with a fabulous goal!
70 min The corner is headed away.
69 min Semenyo runs at Cucurella, who concedes a corner with a well-timed challenge. Semenyo has been a greater than threat than Doku so far.
67 min On that occasion, Khusanov barely touched Joao Pedro. I’m still not sure about the one before half-time though.
66 min Gusto clips an early cross into the box, where Joao Pedro goes down off the ball after some sort of touch from Khusanov. The referee isn’t interested, nor Stockley Park’s finest.
65 min: City substitution Mateo Kovacic replaces Rodri, who isn’t fit enough to go the distance. Phil Foden seemed to be getting ready too but he hasn’t come on yet.
63 min “Cynical Urges (50 min),” says Joe Pearson, “is my next band name.”
Who knew a band with a name like that would drop the first great yacht rock album?
61 min This is Chelsea’s best spell of the match, and Pep Guardiola is about to respond with a double substitution.
59 min James takes a corner on the right, gets the ball back from a near-post clearance and flips a delicious cross that is just too high for Fofana at the far post.
58 min Chelsea have two penalty appeals turned down in the space of 10 seconds. The first was for a challenge by Doku on Caicedo, the second when Enzo’s cross hits the elbow of O’Reilly. His arm was folded into his body so there’s nothing for VAR to see here.
56 min Khusanov is booked for barging Cucurella over. There were, before you mention it, some differences between that and the penalty appeal before half-time. No time for that because it’s all happening…
55 min: Rodri heads off the line!
James’ corner is headed up in the air, with Trafford in no man’s land as he tries to make up for that error. Caicedo heads it back towards the open goal and Rodri nods it away just in front of the goalline. Trafford probably would have made the save as he ran back desperately, but I wouldn’t put the farm on it.
54 min Trafford lets a backpass run under his foot and behind for a Chelsea corner. Could have been worse, a whole lot worse, because he wasn’t far from the goalline.
52 min City are playing with greater urgency at the start of the second half. This is what happened at Stamford Bridge last month, when it was goalless at half-time and 3-0 to City after 67 minutes.
50 min “Khusanov was beaten all ends up,” says Justin Madson of the Chelsea penalty appeal just before half-time. “He took the angle to get the ball, realised he couldn’t, then angled to take out Joao Pedro. No attempt to play the ball whatsoever, not even looking at it.
“I am tired of shoulder charges by defenders being called ‘a coming together’ when the defender is beaten. It’s a cop-out of an excuse for swallowing the whistle for something that would ordinarily be a foul because it happens in the box.
“Thank you for your time.”
My instinct is that it was a foul. But the speed with which VAR cleared it, and the certainly with which Darren Cann on the BBC said it wasn’t a penalty, has given me pause. I certainly agree with the broader point. Footballers, not just defenders, have become so good at disguising their cynical urges.
47 min: Big chance for Semenyo!
Cherki gets on the ball straight away. He plays an excellent angled pass out to O’Reilly, who stands up an even better cross to the far post. Semenyo gets up early, six yards from goal, but heads over the bar. Either he jumped too early or the cross was slightly too high.
47 min “I’m on call and missed the MBM,” boasts Alan Terlep, “so I went back to the beginning… and the Millenium Bug.
“I was a technician in 1999 and ran patches for the Millennium Bug on hundreds of computers. First business day of 2000, I got a frantic call from a factory that was completely shut down. I went out and found that I’d missed a step in the patch, so the bug shut down the factory.
“What happened to the Millennium Bug? We saw it coming and fixed it before it caused big problems. It was a shining example of society successfully fixing a problem and it should be celebrated by anyone who thinks we can collectively make life better.”
Amen to that. Now, any idea how society can come together to fix everything? (Also, that must have been a pretty scary phone call to receive, especially if you’d been living life to the max the night before.)
46 min City begin the second half. Cherki has indeed replaced Marmoush, so these are the revised line-ups.
Chelsea (3-4-2-1) Sanchez; Fofana, Colwill, Hato; Gusto, Caicedo, James, Cucurella; Palmer, Enzo; Joao Pedro.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Tosin, Chalobah, Essugo, Andrey Santos, Neto, Garnacho, Delap.
Man City (4-2-3-1) Trafford; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Rodri, Bernardo; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland.
Substitutes: Donnarumma, Dias, Reijnders, Stones, Ake, Kovacic, Savinho, Foden.
Rayan Cherki is coming on at half-time, presumably for Omar Marmoush.
“When was the last time a team was utterly crushed, 1980s-style, by losing the FA Cup final? Pardew’s Palace, West Ham in 2006?”
You must have missed me weeping like a bairn in the bogs in 2018, mate. (But seriously folks, I’d probably say Palace in 2016 or Hull in 2014.)
Jonathan Wilson
Half-time reading
Another final-day showdown, another final-day heartbreak. The pain may have been spread over 61 years, but that won’t make it any easier to bear for Hearts who, having been top for 250 days of the Scottish Premiership season, missed out on the title again.
There was, of course, a Celtic penalty for handball and a critical video assistant referee decision that went their way but, on this occasion, neither provided the controversy. That came instead from the confusion as the game was ended by a pitch invasion with 23 seconds plus whatever else the referee felt needed to be added to injury still to play.
Some incursions are largely joyous, forgivable as spontaneous eruptions of emotion but while that may have been true for the majority who spilled out of the stands, there were also many who confronted Hearts players. But even if the invasion had been purely celebratory, fans cannot be allowed to dictate when games finish.
Half time: Chelsea 0-0 Manchester City
Peep peep! That’s the end of a first half that was intriguing rather than downright entertaining. The stats say City have been the better team – 60 per cent possession, both shots on target – but Chelsea grew into the game after a slow start and got into some promising positions. Joao Pedro, all alone up front, has been excellent.
45+1 min: Chelsea penalty appeal! After Bernardo lost the ball in a dangerous position, Joao Pedro surged into the penalty area and was sent flying by Khusanov. It was a body check rather than a trip but I think decision could have gone either way.
Nope, no penalty. The consensus is that it’s one to file under ‘a coming together’. That’s fair enough, but equally Khusanov knew what he was doing.
45 min Three minutes of added minutes.
44 min: Sanchez denies Haaland
Haaland rumbles into the Chelsea area, left of centre, and batters a shot from a tight angle that is blocked by Sanchez. His positioning was good, Petr Cech-good, and that made it very difficult for even Haaland to score.
42 min Andy Gordon has this to say on the skull cap being worn by Chelsea’s keeper Robert Sanchez.
My mind is wandering a bit, but could Chelsea have downloaded an AI of Petr Cech to feed to Sanchez through electrodes in that skull cap?
I love this idea; the potential is endless.
41 min The corner is headed away by Haaland, who then uses his abundant noggin to clear the danger a second time.
40 min After another crisp Chelsea move, Palmer’s cross is headed behind by the stooping Bernardo Silva. Chelsea are on top as we approach half-time.
38 min A deep cross is cushioned back across the face by Gusto and cleared by City. Chelsea are having less of the ball but look more dangerous when they have it.
33 min Semenyo beats Cucurella with ease on the right side of the area, only to slash a left-foot shot out for a throw-in on the far side.
32 min Cucurella is booked for a foul on Semenyo, who has caused him problems all day.
32 min Joao Pedro looks okay to continue.
31 min Now Joao Pedro is down with an injury to his left thigh. That’s a worry – for Chelsea, for Brazil and for all lovers of economical, intelligent, underrated centre-forward play.
29 min Enzo Fernandez is booked for wiping out Bernardo Silva. Both feet were off the ground, with his studs showing slightly, so although he took the ball he can have no complaints.
Okay, he should have no complaints. He is currently complaining.
28 min “We’ve gone from numbingly dull to mildly exciting incompetence,” says Adam Roberts. “Is this progress?”
Any chance we could talk about the game rather than my writing?
27 min: Disallowed goal for City! Semenyo plays in the underlapping Nunes, who gives Haaland an open goal at the far post. But Nunes started his run far too early and was clearly offside.
26 min Chelsea are growing into the game. Enzo Fernandez almost releases Joao Pedro with a short through pass that is crucially intercepted by Khusanov.
25 min Caicedo is limping with what looks like a knee problem. He’s going to continue for now.
23 min At the other end, James is sacked just outside the area by Doku. Haaland collects and smashes a cross-shot across the face of goal from a very tight angle.
22 min A fine tackle by Palmer on Doku leads to a dangerous Chelsea break. Joao Pedro is held up at first by Khusanov; then, when support arrives, he ignores Enzo on the edge of the area and goes for goal himself. Alas, Joao Pedro slips in the act of shooting and the ball dribbles through to Trafford.
21 min A slick attack from Chelsea, their first move of quality, ends with a cross on the run from Gusto that is headed behind by the diving Nunes.
The corner is taken short and eventually worked all the way back to the keeper Sanchez. No, I haven’t made that up.
19 min Possession watch: Chelsea 28-72 Man City.
16 min Not a classic so far. Both teams are playing the long game – City with the ball, Chelsea without.
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