Sunday, 9 March 2014

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Adrian Tempany: 'I feel that football has been taken away from me'

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 04:05 PM PST

The author of And the Sun Shines Now explains how football has lost touch with its supporters since Hillsborough

Read an extract from Adrian Tempany's new book

The first chapter of your book is about the Hillsborough disaster and includes a devastating account of how you nearly lost your life on the day. How has that experience affected you?

It's like a shadow… it's there every day. I was 19… I had people dying within feet of me, and yet I literally couldn't lift a finger to help them, because I was paralysed from the neck down by the crush of people. I then had to accept that I was about to die. Finally, the gates opened in the perimeter fence, and I remember thinking, "If you can hang on for another two minutes, you'll live."

The early months following the tragedy were crucial: those who are traumatised need support, but we were blamed for killing our own fans. There's no manual for surviving that, because there was no precedent for it in British history. 

I can deal with it today, because I've been living with it for 25 years. The report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, in September 2012, was a huge comfort. Professor Phil Scraton, in particular, deserves enormous praise for his work on that. The new inquests begin on 31 March – it's high time British justice proved itself worthy of the name.

Given your experience at Hillsborough, some might find it strange that you support the return of standing areas.

The point is, terraces per se are not unsafe, but the Leppings Lane terrace was unsafe.

Why did you write the book? 

Because, like millions of football fans in Britain, I feel that the game has been taken away from me. As a fan who survived Hillsborough, I could see as clearly as anyone that English football needed to change, but I don't accept that all the changes that have come about during the Premier League era have been necessary, or even good for the game.

The response to Hillsborough was flawed – the lies that took root in the aftermath of the disaster provided a false prospectus for reform. Because, you know what… the vast majority of supporters were not animals; Liverpool fans were not to blame for Hillsborough; the clubs did not have to dispense with the working people who had built them up over a century; and the move to all-seater stadiums, delivered by the Taylor Report in 1990, has had a number of negative consequences.

So modern British British football is in a sorry state?

I recognise that the quality of football, the TV coverage and the stadiums are superb. And that the Premier League is one of our greatest exports – it is the world's most lucrative sporting brand, after all. But the likes of Liverpool and Man Utd have been saddled with colossal debts from foreign takeovers, and without a governing body prepared to protect them from predatory owners, more clubs will follow.

Look also at how the price of tickets has excluded ordinary people from the game: as long ago as 2007, the average income of a season-ticket holder in the Premier League was £40,000. Surprise, surprise, the atmosphere became more "refined" – and supporters have grown disaffected. And kids can no longer afford to attend in such numbers.

What part does football play in your life now? Do you play? Go to matches?

I'm too old to play now. I was quite handy when I was a kid: one of my coaches said I was like George Best – when I had the ball I was brilliant, when I didn't I was useless! I occasionally watch Liverpool still, but the atmosphere on the Kop is in decline, mostly because the locals are being priced out.

What, if anything, makes you feel optimistic about the future for British football?

I admire the likes of Supporters Direct, who campaign for greater fan involvement in the ownership of British clubs, and the Football Supporters' Federation – there are some genuinely brilliant people at both, who are gradually winning all the key arguments in football. And Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, is probably the most football-savvy person in politics. He gave me his ideas for the reform of football, and they are very encouraging, so I'll leave the last word to him.

"Fifa's self-serving idea that governments shouldn't pay any attention to football has bred a sport that is rapidly becoming morally bankrupt," he said. "If we leave things as they are, the dysfunctionality of football will increase." 

Ursula Kenny

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Chelsea 4-0 Tottenham

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 11:35 AM PST

Chelsea's title pursuit has taken on a relentless feel, their lead at the top now seven points from a pack distracted by domestic cup competition and increasingly, perhaps perilously, pinning their hopes on games in hand. Tottenham's wounds may have been self-inflicted here but their wretched record in these parts gave the result an air of inevitability. The hosts would not be denied.

In the end almost an hour's worth of endeavour and toil, aimed at blunting the home side's threat, was undone by a series of inexplicable second-half errors that turned this into a thrashing. Jan Vertonghen's mistake had set the tone but the slips by Sandro and Kyle Walker in the last two minutes were laughable. In between the visitors lost Younès Kaboul to a red card that will leave them badly shorn of centre-halves for next weekend's derby against Arsenal. Chelsea would ideally like Tottenham to wound Arsène Wenger's team on that occasion but, at present, they can consider their own form reason enough for optimism.

This had been thunderously competitive if rather lacking in finesse, a derby fuelled by adrenaline and initially drained of quality. José Mourinho had bemoaned a disrupted preparation for the contest born of midweek international fixtures though, once he had selected his lineup, he endured more upheaval immediately before kick-off. Fernando Torres had been due to start up front, only to limp away from the warm-up apparently after tweaking his groin, thrusting Samuel Eto'o into the starting XI. The Cameroonian was duly clattered by Hugo Lloris after 25 seconds, having been flagged for offside, with his focus rather blurred early on.

Certainly, Spurs' spikiness in the tackle left its mark on their hosts. They had doubled up down the right with Kyle Naughton and Walker, a defensive plan forged in Sheffield, in anticipation of nullifying Eden Hazard, though the Belgian swiftly escaped to the opposite side to scuttle at his compatriot Vertonghen instead. Chelsea's leading scorer had his team's best sight of goal in those initial duels, a break at speed involving Frank Lampard's header, André Schürrle's touch and Eto'o's lay-off sending Hazard into the area to glide around Lloris, only for the forward to spear his finish awkwardly into the side-netting. The fluidity of the build-up deserved better.

Tottenham still competed feverishly, Nabil Bentaleb and Sandro snapping into uncompromising challenges to hold the centre and the Brazilian drawing a smart save from Petr Cech with a volleyed snapshot from Gary Cahill's clearance.

Had the Algerian been as forceful with his finish after edging through the clutter from an Emmanuel Adebayor knockdown then the visitors might actually have led, but the youngster's effort was tentative and dribbled wide. His progress under Tim Sherwood has been impressive, a positive to be taken from the campaign, and he is very much his manager's man.

It was interesting to note that none of the team's seven summer signings, secured for about £100m, started here. Injuries had ruled out some but, in a derby like this, that still felt like a statement. Christian Eriksen might have illuminated an occasion like this though.

While Kaboul did plant a header at Cech, the better half-chances were the home side's, Schürrle rousing himself to deliver marginally too high for Eto'o in the centre, then latching on to Nemanja Matic's gloriously arced pass beyond a retreating back-line only to scuff his shot straight at Lloris. At that stage the frustration was welling in the stands, though it would be Spurs who imploded.

Vertonghen, never entirely content at left-back, had ambled on to possession just before the hour mark only to slip as Schürrle closed him down. That was slack but the Belgian's worse error was to hook the ball back while grounded towards the centre with his right foot, his attempt to retain possession transformed into a perfect through-ball for Eto'o. The striker eased his finish beyond Lloris as Michael Dawson slid in, then celebrated by staggering towards the corner flag holding his back, bent double at his ripe old age. Whether 32 or 35, as Mourinho had pondered out loud while unknowingly being filmed by Canal Plus last month, the African is still a timely finisher.

It is actually the veteran's birthday on Monday and he will celebrate that with a hefty lead at the top of this division. Spurs' composure had drained with the concession, the referee Michael Oliver deeming Kaboul's grab at Eto'o, as the striker attempted to reach Hazard's delivery, worthy of a penalty and a dismissal. The Frenchman, with a suspension to serve against Arsenal next Sunday, was apoplectic at the decision, his manager dumbfounded on the touchline with Dawson also hobbling off before the end. Hazard's finish from the spot was merely emphatic.

It was not until the final two minutes that gloss was added to the scoreline, with Sandro exposed as a makeshift centre-half. His indecisive prod in the six-yard box merely set up the substitute Demba Ba to convert from close-range. Within seconds. Walker was bafflingly heading back Lloris' clearance for Ba to steal possession from the goalkeeper and convert into an empty net. The visitors' challenge had disintegrated. Chelsea felt unstoppable.

Dominic Fifield

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World Cup 2014: Roy Hodgson's England squad for Brazil: who will go? | Paul Wilson

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 11:30 AM PST

The certainties, the toss-ups and the tricky ones for the manager such as telling Ashley Cole he has had his day

GOALKEEPERS

Joe Hart is the obvious, practically the only choice. He seems to be back in form after his well-publicised rest from Manchester City duties earlier in the season, which is just as well since he is not really being pushed very hard for his place in the starting line-up. Ben Foster is a reliable deputy and, barring calamity, the third goalkeeper is unlikely to be called on anyway. But Fraser Forster is the youngest of the goalkeepers at England's disposal so should probably get the nod over John Ruddy.

Verdict Hart, Foster, Forster.

FULL-BACKS

Easy this, apart from the difficulty of breaking it to Ashley Cole that his time might be up. There are two for the right position – Glen Johnson and Kyle Walker – and two for the left in Leighton Baines and Luke Shaw. Given that the likelihood is that only one of each will be required, it makes no sense to take Cole ahead of Shaw. Roy Hodgson seems to have made up his mind that Baines is first choice, which is fair enough since Cole has lost his place at Chelsea, though the worry for the Everton player must be that Shaw is arriving so quickly he is going to have only a relatively short period as a regular. Shaw looks so bright it has been suggested he could displace Baines before or during the World Cup. That might be rushing things slightly, but he definitely needs to be in Brazil rather than watching on television. When you have an 18-year-old showing such promise you have to give him his opportunity.

Verdict Walker, Johnson, Shaw, Baines.

CENTRE-BACKS

Not easy. England are reasonably well off in the position, even with Rio Ferdinand and John Terry taken out of the equation, though it is debatable whether Joleon Lescott, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling really meet the international standard required. Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill earn selection merely by virtue of playing regularly for their clubs and being the first two names that spring to mind. Jones and Smalling do offer versatility, in that they can play in other positions, though there is no real need for full-back cover if England are going to take four specialists nor is there a widespread demand to see Jones in an England midfield. So one of the two would suffice, say Jones, who has been injured and has not been as shaky as Smalling in his recent club games, and Steven Caulker could be the fourth choice. He is the right age at 22, shows promise and made a bold decision to leave Spurs in search of first-team football at Cardiff.

Terry is still the outstanding centre‑half based on club form, though José Mourinho has Chelsea playing in a way that suits him, keeping him deep so as to minimise the chance of being bypassed near half way. Would be a controversial choice anyway because of his suspension for racial abuse, and England and Hodgson should not be tempted.

Verdict Cahill, Jagielka, Jones, Caulker.

MIDFIELDERS

Steven Gerrard goes, obviously. Other no-brainers include Jack Wilshere (assuming he recovers in time), Raheem Sterling, Adam Lallana and Ross Barkley. Michael Carrick might not have made a cast-iron case for himself in a difficult season at Manchester United but some sort of defensive anchor is going to be necessary and England are not that well off for players who can keep the ball and use it wisely. Cover in the event of injury to Gerrard is also a requirement. Gareth Barry is worthy of consideration but Carrick has been called up more recently.

If England are going to take four forwards, and not many more suggest themselves, that leaves two names to be added to the midfield list. Jordan Henderson has been playing well for Liverpool and played against Denmark last week because Hodgson wanted to keep the club partnership with Gerrard going. That seems reasonable. More reasonable than the four minutes Hodgson gave Andros Townsend against the Danes, which may reflect the winger's lack of impact with Spurs this season but could also be interpreted as a signal that the player has nothing to prove and, as far as the coach is concerned, is as good as on the aeroplane already. Townsend played his part in getting England to the finals, though based on the whole season Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain seems a more reliable choice even if it seems odd, and slightly foolish, to propose a World Cup squad that leaves Frank Lampard at home.

Verdict Gerrard, Henderson, Wilshere, Barkley, Sterling, Lallana, Carrick, Oxlade-Chamberlain.

FORWARDS

Daniel Sturridge is the only no-brainer here. Wayne Rooney would surely have been dropped by now were there anyone else to turn to but he keeps getting the shirt even though it is now 10 years since he truly terrorised defences in a tournament. As with Lampard, though, he brings experience and knowhow to an attack that otherwise would look callow and leaderless. England do not have anyone better and that is all there is to it. Danny Welbeck has done enough for Hodgson to make the squad, even if he is not having the season he would have liked at Manchester United, and, if England need a big man as well – they do not, really, but it is traditional and allows a few more options than Jermain Defoe – the choice is between Andy Carroll and Ricky Lambert. Hodgson will probably prefer the former but for a squad choice the Southampton player makes a good wild card.

Verdict Rooney, Sturridge, Welbeck, Lambert.

Paul Wilson

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Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur – as it happened | Scott Murray

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 11:25 AM PST

Minute-by-minute report: Will Chelsea pull away at the top of the league or will Tim Sherwood's side get a rare victory at Stamford Bridge? Find out with Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Scottish round-up: Adam Rooney's goal edges Aberdeen past Dumbarton

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 11:23 AM PST

• Kris Boyd double helps Kilmarnock to vital league win
• St Johnstone beat Raith with two second-half goals

Adam Rooney took his Aberdeen goal count to six goals in eight matches to help Derek McInnes's side closer to a second cup final of the season, as the Dons beat Dumbarton 1-0 in their Scottish Cup quarter-final.

The home side scored what proved the deciding goal after 53 minutes at Pittodrie when Barry Robson swung a corner to the near post and Adam Rooney got in front of his marker to head past Stephen Grindlay. Last week's goalscorer Ryan Jack hit the post with a shot from the edge of the area shortly after Aberdeen took the lead but the home side held on for a place in the semi-finals.

The St Johnstone manager, Tommy Wright, wants his side to banish the semi-final ghosts of Tynecastle after reaching the last four of the Scottish Cup with a 3-1 victory over Raith Rovers at Stark's Park. The Perth side were knocked out of Scottish League Cup 4-0 by Aberdeen in Edinburgh at the start of February but gave themselves another chance of cup glory with victory in Kirkcaldy.

Windy conditions made life very difficult for both sides at times but the Saints midfielder Gary McDonald opened the scoring in the third minute only for the Rovers midfielder Joe Cardle to level in the 21st minute with a fierce 30-yard drive.

The Saints forward Nigel Hasselbaink restored the Scottish Premiership side's advantage in the 49th minute with a prodded shot before the defender Steven Anderson made sure of their place in 's draw in the 78th minute with a third goal.

In the Scottish Premiership Kilmarnock gave their hopes of avoiding the relegation play-off spot a welcome boost with a 4-2 win over the bottom placed side, Hearts, at Rugby Park.

A bizarre own-goal by the Hearts captain, Danny Wilson, set Killie on their way and two goals by Kris Boyd after Dale Carrick had levelled for the struggling visitors seemed to put the home side out of sight.

A goal by Sam Nicholson briefly revived the contest for Hearts before Michael Gardyne sealed three valuable points for Kilmarnock.

Nial Briggs

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Hibernian 3-3 Motherwell | Scottish Premier League match report

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 11:08 AM PST

John Sutton's dramatic injury-time equaliser earned Motherwell a draw in a thrilling match at Easter Road. The striker headed in his second goal in the dying stages following a goalmouth scramble.

Paul Heffernan thought he had scored the winner for Hibs in the 79th minute as the home side responded to going two down after 29 minutes. Sutton opened the scoring before Lionel Ainsworth notched a brilliant individual effort.

Jordan Forster gave the hosts hope moments before the break with a headed effort and Michael Nelson levelled in the second half with a contentious effort that the referee, Steven McLean ruled to have crossed the line.

Hibs started this thrilling contest brightly but fell behind in the 12th minute against the run of play. James McFadden played in Ainsworth down the left flank and the forward's low pass across goal was placed into the net by the unmarked Sutton at the back post.

Hibs had a chance to test Lee Hollis after 20 minutes when the Motherwell goalkeeper could only partially clear a backpass. Paul Cairney picked up the ball on the edge of the box and found Danny Haynes after Stephen McManus failed to cut out the delivery but Haynes shot over on the half-volley 15 yards from goal.

Motherwell doubled their advantage in the 29th minute with a brilliant individual effort from Ainsworth, who was so impressive in the 4-1 win over Hearts last Saturday. The on-loan Rotherham forward accepted a pass from Keith Lasley, effortlessly nutmegged Nelson and darted goalwards before curling a sublime effort into the top corner of the net from 18 yards.

The visitors had looked comfortable up to that point and the Hibs manager, Terry Butcher, arms folded, watched on looking frustrated as his side gave little by way of the reply.

However, Hibernian managed to grab a lifeline and reduce their arrears two minutes before the break through Forster. Cairney's corner eventually came back out to him and he lifted a delivery into the six-yard box that was headed in by the defender.

Hibernian could have been level seconds later but Hollis brilliantly turned a James Collins effort from 12 yards around the post.

The hosts started the second half brightly and created two good chances. Collins curled a first-time effort off the post with the outside off his boot from a Ryan McGivern pass and could only bounce the rebound into the arms of the grounded Hollis.

Haynes then blasted over from an angle inside the area in the 49th minute after being set up inside the box by Cairney.

McFadden created a chance for himself after 72nd minutes, shooting wide from inside the area after driving past Sam Stanton and Paul Hanlon in a forceful run from midfield.

The home side then equalised in the 76th minute in controversial circumstances. Cairney's corner was met at a congested back post by Nelson and the defender's downward header bounced off the underside of the bar. Motherwell thought they had successfully cleared the danger but the referee awarded the goal.

Hibs gained momentum and stormed ahead in the 79th minute through Heffernan, four minutes after he came on. He began the counter-attack charge with a pass to Stanton inside his own half, Cairney drove at the defence after being found by Stanton and teed up the substitute who lifted a shot over Hollis.

The drama was not over though, with Sutton earning the visitors a point with his second goal following a scramble inside the six-yard box.

The draw leaves Motherwell trailing Aberdeen, who were on Scottish Cup duty, by three points in second place in the table but seven points ahead of their nearest rivals, Dundee United, in their quest for Europa League football next season.


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How football lost touch with its young fans

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 11:05 AM PST

Back in the 1970s, when fathers stood on the terraces with their sons, football was rooted in the local community. In this extract from his acclaimed book, And the Sun Shines Now, a Hillsborough survivor charts how clubs lost touch with their fans

Read a Q&A about English football, post-Hillsborough, with author Adrian Tempany

Bobby Stokes. There you go. Not one of the greats, not one of my heroes, not even one of my team. But he was the first player I saw score a goal live on television. The magic of that goal was that it ever crept in at all: a diagonal shank from 20 yards that ambled past Alex Stepney in the Man Utd goal and gave Second Division Southampton victory in the 1976 FA Cup final. It was a revelatory moment for a six-year-old, for now I realised anyone could do that; anyone could win the FA Cup, if Southampton, and Bobby Stokes, and that goal could. So, at around 5.15pm on a May day in 1976, doors in our street were thrown open, and my best mate and I, and our two big brothers, and the big lad from a few doors down ran out on to the green in front of our houses and started winning FA Cups for our own teams, for our mums and dads, and for the glory.

I might be making this up, actually… because I can't really remember what I was doing at around 5.15pm on 1 May 1976, after Peter Rodrigues, with his salt-and-pepper hair, had led Mick Channon, Bobby Stokes, David Peach and the rest up the famous old steps at Wembley. If I like to think I ran out of the front door and recreated Stokes's moment, this is because for me – for millions of men in Britain – the best of our childhood is refracted through football. Football is more than a means for boys to grow into an adult world, and to earn the respect of our dads or grudging older brothers; it is a way of writing our identities as we grow.

And I'm not making this up: 1976 was the year the green outside our house baked and cracked open. It was the year the water stopped running from the kitchen taps. And it was the year I started playing football for real – every day, every hour when the light shone, in the year it shone longer than in any other. An abiding memory of my mum in the 1970s is of a woman with a Purdey haircut standing at the door of a pebble-dashed house, jabbing her watch while I blipped around in the dusk like a firefly behind a ball.

John would be there. One of my best mates at primary school, he was an orthodox right-midfielder, long-running and honest in the English style, though susceptible to a nutmeg. We weren't half bad; we could trap and flick and volley, and pull off stunning saves, and we wore genuine Sondico goalie gloves.

A football doesn't have contours, but to a six-year-old boy it was a means of mapping the world. It was a football that first took me off the green in front of our house and to the neighbourhood beyond. I could blame the fact that I had strayed from the safety of our road on a football innocently rolling away, bouncing off a kerb and over a road, or blown half a street in the breeze. And following that ball I'd find streets I'd never seen before, and an adventure playground in the woods. I learned to read traffic, stop that ball rolling, and ask strangers politely for my ball back, please.

By 1977, sloppy ball control was life's first lesson that pleasure might come at a cost. At 75p from the corner shop, a football was equivalent to five weeks' pocket money. Fights would break out – genuine fist fights – if bigger lads tried to walk off with our Bay City Rollers football. And we learned that power wasn't everything, that sometimes it was better to pass the ball into the goal, rather than blast it between two jumpers and into a hedge. Because burst balls would sit in a hedge for weeks – like traitors' heads, they served as a grisly reminder of the cost of screwing up. And by 1977, the Bay City Rollers had screwed up – impaled on Mr Seymour's hedge.

By June 1978, Mr Callaghan and Mr Healey had come to the rescue, and with my inflation-linked pocket money I'd got my hands on a real beauty, a plastic World Cup ball, panelled in black and silver hexagons bearing the names of Peru, Iran, Holland, Scotland, Argentina, Brazil, Italy… Each thorny scratch on that ball became an insult to the brilliance of Cubillas, Antognoni or Johnny Rep. I would nurse that ball down sloping streets, bounce it up kerbs to set up headers, chip it across roads between the traffic (always a Datsun or Capri, in those days, or a Kawasaki 125). Running with a football, aged seven or eight, made team-mates of passing strangers: grown men, on their way home from work, were cut down to my size – unable to resist the temptation to say: "Go on, son, give us a kick." To millions of boys growing up in the 1970s there was no such thing as a paedophile, only an old geezer who couldn't pass for toffee.

And yet I'm painting a rose-tinted spectacle. I must be, for it is now a truth rarely questioned in Britain that the 1970s were a disaster. It is one of the axioms of our age. The decade is rolled out like a stick to beat into people that while the banks, the press, the economy and the politicians may be rotten in 2014, we must never forget that where we came from was so much worse – and where we came from was the 70s. It was the decade when everything changed, and it had to, because ours was a country paralysed by the unions, powered by candles and drowning in rubbish. While strikes left the dead unburied in the streets, we were stuffing our mouths with Black Forest gateau and Hemeling. Documentaries now will paint us as a people too gauche even to realise that we were growing fat and stupid on cliches, forgetting of course that we were actually laughing at this stuff as we ate it. No, the historians insist: by the mid-70s, things were so dire that was it any wonder the likes of General Sir Walter Walker and other old soldiers were ready to step in and shore up a country unable to fuel its schools, homes and factories for more than three days a week?

So how is it that in 2004 the New Economics Foundation reported that 1976 was the happiest year in Britain since the second world war? Part of the reason for my contented generation is that we had something approaching full employment in Britain until the early 70s, which meant there was relatively little need for people to uproot and look for work elsewhere. Which meant that communities remained intact, and neighbours had names and became part of the team.

And part of the reason is that the sunniest year in living memory was also the point at which inequality in Britain reached its lowest since the second world war. If the likes of me and John are part of a happy generation, perhaps it's because we grew up in a decade when most of us were happy to be normal – to be equal and unremarkable. And in the year Peter Rodrigues became the most exotic-sounding footballer in Britain, nothing was more normal than a boy trundling along the street with a plastic football at his feet, lost in his own world and finding his way in it at the same time.

Where are those boys now? I look out of the window of my flat in north London and I don't see kids playing in the street, or walking home with steam on their shoulders and scabs on their knees, hotly contesting a goal that never was. I see them ferried instead between "play dates" in 4x4s, faces so blurred behind the windows they could be faces drawn on balloons. And when I do see children playing out on the streets, occasionally, I don't see a childhood I recognise.

I don't have children, but many of my friends who do have kids admit to feeling uneasy that their sons don't look at football, or play the game, with the same passion or expression as we once did. Is this the yearning of a middle-aged generation for a mythical golden age? The evidence suggests not: children today watch top-flight football and play the game in environments unrecognisable from those in which their parents grew up. Experts believe that children's access to top-flight football has changed so profoundly over the past 30 years that what is sold by the Premier League as a form of family entertainment may well be eroding family bonds.

A survey by Populus in 2008/9 found that, from a sample of 13,000 adults, 90% who attended Premier League football with children felt comfortable in doing so, and 97% felt safe inside and outside the ground. However, while 13% of season tickets sold in the Premier League in 2009/10 went to children, a Premier League fan survey in 2007 found that 43% of adults with kids never took them to the game. When one eliminates concerns over safety and considers, too, the quality of the football, then this must surely be an issue of price. And the price to be paid for all-seater stadiums in the Premier League is that children and young adults are disappearing from the match.

Whereas in Germany standing areas enable tickets for adults at clubs such as Hamburg and Schalke to sell for €15 and upwards, in England, once children reach 16 their parents are often unable to stretch to the price of a second or third adult-priced seat. And this appears to be the point at which supporters drift away from the game in their droves.

In August 2011, in the Guardian, David Conn reported that the average age of a season-ticket holder in the Premier League was 41. While inflation in the UK between 1990 and 2011 stood at 77%, Conn reported, tickets to watch category A matches at Arsenal had risen by 920% over the same period, while the price of the cheapest season tickets at Anfield and Old Trafford had increased by 1,108% and 454% respectively. This has impacted on one match-going demographic above all others. "Premier League surveys for years show a consistent reduction in the proportion of young people, who pay full price from 16," Conn wrote.

More eye-catching research came from England's biggest club: in 1968, the average age of supporters on the Stretford End at Old Trafford was 17; by 2008, it was over 40. Similarly, the average age of Newcastle supporters at St James' Park in 2002 was 35; by 2012, that had risen to 45. These are the same Geordies, simply a decade older.

So where do the teenagers go? There is a widely held suspicion within the game that kids are welcome in their school years not because they are worth cultivating as the next generation of supporters, but because they deliver family groups – Mum and Dad, with their higher spending patterns. As one spokesperson for a leading football supporters' organisation told me: "Anecdotally, we're hearing that even teenagers who do have season tickets are feeling disillusioned, because they pay all that money and turn up to see all these initiatives for families. They feel so unwanted."

What kind of business model is this? According to John Williams, a sports sociologist at Leicester University, it is an American one. "I think the Premier League imagines that some teenage fans may dip in their attendance but return later, when they're affluent and at work," he says. "It is a kind of NFL model of fandom."

It's certainly a gamble, as Peter Daykin, a member of the Football Supporters' Federation board, has seen at first hand. Daykin is a Sunderland fan, and in 2013, he tells me: "Kids are going to Sunderland with their parents until they are 15 or 16, then they outgrow that and simply stop going."

And here the continuity between childhood, adolescence and adulthood is at risk of being broken, and with it club loyalties passed on through families for generations.

In 2013, research conducted by ICM for Capital One, sponsors of the League Cup, found that 48% of fans watched their first live game with their father, but only one in five went on to support the same team as their dads. The survey also found that 39% of supporters chose their local side, and 61% did not. Partly, these shifting loyalties can be attributed to the changing nature of communities: the internet and satellite TV offer children a choice between traditional communities of domicile and communities of interest, which extend on a global scale. And as ticket price inflation of up to 1,000% prevents many people watching their local clubs live, by form of recompense they can watch the game on satellite TV. This is causing a rupture between clubs and their traditional communities.

In 2013, people in Sunderland had the third-lowest average income in the country, placing even the concessionary prices of £17–20 at the Stadium of Light beyond the reach of many teenagers. So, as Peter Daykin explains: "You go around Sunderland on a match day, whether we're home or away, and you can walk up to pretty much any pub and there'll be a foreign satellite feed showing the Sunderland game. You can watch it for the price of a few pints, you can stand and have a sing-song, and you can go home. But these kids in the pub won't just watch Sunderland," Daykin says, "they'll watch Villarreal, or Real Sociedad too, because the choice is there and they want to be trendy."

Sunderland is just down the road, then, but the kids are in the pub watching Spanish football. And as Daykin says, "When kids drift away from the stadium at 17 or 18, their match-day experience becomes imbued with the pub atmosphere. And when they come back to the game in their late 20s, they don't like it any more."

The contrast with Germany is stark. In the Bundesliga, young supporters are flowing off the conveyor belt. This is not due reward simply for keeping ticket prices low; there is a positive age-discrimination policy at work too. When I visited Hamburg SV in November 2012, I was alarmed to discover that within the official HSV supporters' club (which has more than 65,000 members), fans over 35 are required to join the seniors' department. At 44, I am an old man in Germany, and that's official. Similarly, the supporters' club, which has representation at board level, forbids HSV to sell more than 50% of its tickets as season tickets, because "too many season tickets will cause an older fan scene in the future". It's a strategy that seems to be working: the most accurate, recent nationwide research (conducted by the German equivalent of the Home Office in 2002) found that the average age of a member of a German supporters' club was 20.2. More recent research, in 2011, put the average age at 21–30, which means it's feasible that German fans were half the age of their English counterparts. At the very least, they were over a decade younger on average.

The Germans have a name for the younger generation: they call them Fan-Nachwuchs ("fan offspring"), and they trust them to stand on terraces and in safe-standing areas. Much of this reflects the value the Germans place on integrating young people and adults at football matches. In 1993, a year after the Premier League appeared, the German FA considered the introduction of all-seater stadiums, in light of their long-standing problems with crowd disorder and violence. They rejected the idea on the grounds of cost, declaring: "Football, being a people's sport, should not banish the socially disadvantaged from its stadiums, and it should not place its social function in doubt."

The idea of football providing a social function is now in considerable doubt in England. One such function it used to provide was what sociologists call "socialisation": the modification by children of their behaviour as they mature, and their assimilation into an adult world through an introduction to customs, rituals and mores. It is not difficult to see how football used to serve such a purpose in England: the learning of songs, of standards, fashions and rituals was a key ingredient of going to the game. Today, football still enables children's socialisation, because socialisation never ceases – children will always learn from the behaviour of adults, and they will adapt to a changing environment. However, the range of adult behaviours to which children are exposed at football has narrowed significantly in the Premier League era. Sharply rising ticket prices, and the planning required to obtain a seat next to friends and family, have transformed English football from a social process, driven by men in crowds, to a form of entertainment – one in which people are repeatedly warned not to stand up, but to sit down where they are directed. This increasingly passive environment has impacted on the bond between fathers and their children.

Peter Daykin is the co-ordinator of the campaign for safe standing at the Football Supporters' Federation. He is also a parent. "I've got a three-year-old and a five-year-old," he says, "and at some stage I want to take them to football. But although football is much safer today, it's a far less attractive thing for kids to do now." According to Daykin, this is because children are now deprived of the chance to socialise with adults in a spontaneous environment. "I fell in love with football because it was about going to Roker Park and seeing for the first time adults behaving in a completely different way to how they normally did," he says. "Particularly here in the north-east of England, where men didn't really share their emotions and were quite cold… you could go to the match and all of a sudden you've got guys shouting and screaming and hugging one another. You could understand things about humanity at football that you didn't see anywhere else."

In England, as we have lost terraces, and younger crowds have lost the chance to mix freely with older men, so we have lost a means to navigate our way from boyhood to manhood. "It's the good and bad," says Daykin. "It wasn't all good, and we're not trying to airbrush society; but those experiences we had as kids on the terraces were real."

Daykin happily admits that the quality of football is much better now but, he says, "it was never about the football; it was a social process. When I went to Sunderland from 1987, I started standing at the front of the Fulwell End; then as I got a bit bigger, I'd move to the back, where there was an area known as the Cage, where all the bad lads went. When you were 16, 17 and you thought you were somebody, you'd stand in the Cage, and you thought, This is great! By the time you were 19, 20 you were too cool for the Cage, so you'd go to the Paddock, or stand a little bit away from the away fans, and be cynical and ironic. There was a natural progression."

As a teenager in the 1980s, it was football that gave me an identity. I grew up in Stevenage, a new town born in 1946 and still devoid of history or culture. When my parents arrived in the town in the 1960s, they did so with identities fully formed: they were Londoners. I was a new-town boy, beaten up on more than one occasion as a teenager not for who I was, but for who my assailants were not: they grew up in a London satellite town but were not Londoners, and they spent their teens beating the shit out of strangers in order to prove they were harder than the people their families had left behind. I sought my identity not in fighting, but in football. And I had grasped its potential aged six, in 1976, when Match of the Day brought the Kop, a pulsating mass of Liverpudlian culture, into my life. I sat on the living-room floor, looked through my bowl haircut, and thought: I want to be part of that when I grow up.

Daykin found something similar. "My parents weren't from the north-east," he says, "so I spoke with a different accent to everyone else in Sunderland – so everybody thought I was posh, or foreign! In the playground, I never felt part of things, but when I stood on the Fulwell End at Roker Park, I was exactly the same as everybody else. And when a goal went in, strangers would jump around and hug you. It was really important for me in terms of feeling comfortable, geographically, and in terms of my own cultural identity: football was vital to that. I kind of fell in love with the region, and after I moved away to university, I moved back here. I've set up businesses here. Football grounded me in the region, and in who I was and how I feel about who I am. And I want my kids to have that."

And why can't they have that?

"Because the difference between seats and terraces is the difference between a form of entertainment and a form of culture… We've lost the culture."

In 2013, at the time of writing, the demand for standing areas appears to be rising among young English supporters. And the business case is compelling: with rail standing – the safe standing model common in Germany – clubs can accommodate 1.8 fans standing for every one sitting, so they have an opportunity to lower ticket prices but increase revenues through extra incidental spend. And as Peter Daykin explains: "Because the prices come down, and those rail standing areas are inherently attractive to children, you're going to get far more younger people through the door."

Opponents of safe standing do not cite a potential risk to children standing on terraces; they claim that there is simply no demand for it among young fans. And yet data the Football Supporters' Federation has obtained from the Championship suggests otherwise: when Cardiff City began to get rid of standing at Ninian Park in 2007, they discovered that 45% of the standing area was taken up by women and 35% by under-16s. Similarly, research across the top four divisions in England consistently shows that 80–90% of fans want standing areas, even if they might not want to stand themselves. The FSF has yet to see any rigorous research into the idea of restoring standing areas that has elicited a negative response.

Tim Gill is a former adviser to the British government and the London mayor on children's play. He is the man behind the Rethinking Childhood website and blog, and his advice on increasing the fun in children's play and leisure time is in considerable demand in Britain and Australia. Essentially, all of Gill's work goes towards making the case for expanding children's horizons. When I put it to him that football has ceased to fully function as an environment in which children and young adults can socialise – or rather, experience socialisation – he cites the work of an American writer called Jane Jacobs.

"In her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, there's a chapter called The Uses of Sidewalks: Assimilating Children," Gill says. "She asks the question: how can people hope to grow up to be responsible adults in big cities, where you can't possibly know everybody you're going to meet, but you have to care about them a bit because you have to get along? Jacobs's argument is you learn that as a child by growing up in a place where there are adults who care about you, and look out for you, even if they're not your parents or your teachers."

As a New Yorker, Jane Jacobs considered the sidewalks of Manhattan to be that environment. In the Death and Life of Great American Cities, written in 1961, she described how her children knew the shopkeepers, the business people, the deliverymen… As Tim Gill says: "For Jacobs, that was the paradigm of where you get inducted into being a socially responsible citizen." He ponders for a moment. "Where does that happen today, in our society?"

It used to happen in football. Not always successfully, of course, and not without difficulties. But for millions of men, football was a place to initiate their sons and daughters into an adult environment, to pass on norms and rituals and standards, and to reveal a side of themselves they would seldom share elsewhere. For boys, especially, it was a rite of passage, with risk and reward, with kudos and boundaries – a social progression.

Today, football is an entertainment industry. And this, as much as anything, appears to unnerve the dads I know, because they realise they can't bequeath much of themselves through entertainment: their kids can order and buy their own, as they choose. And as the research for Capital One indicates, they are doing just that, and choosing other clubs to support. Culture, on the other hand… this is something we can pass on, something precious, something of us, our pride and our prejudice, the fallible and the hopelessly romantic, the irrational and occasionally hysterical, the real – if only a glimpse.

Today, English football has never been safer, better televised or more entertaining. And arguably, it has never been less about the culture of the people who shaped our football clubs.

And the Sun Shines Now is published on  20 March by Faber & Faber. To order a copy for £11.99 with free UK p&p go to guardianbookshop.co.uk or call 0330 333 6846

Adrian Tempany

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Arsène Wenger: FA Cup win can inspire Arsenal against Bayern Munich

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 11:03 AM PST

• Wenger says Arsenal are 'in a good mind' for Munich
• Arsenal manager says Mesut Özil looks 'regenerated'

Arsène Wenger believes his Arsenal players can use the confidence of reaching the FA Cup semi-finals to be "inspired" against Bayern Munich when they face the immense task of trying to overturn a 2-0 deficit against the Champions League holders.

"Psychologically, it puts us in a good mind for Munich," said Wenger ahead of Tuesday's game at the Allianz Arena. "We can be inspired by our focus and our desire. It was a high-quality performance from the first minute to the last minute and we can go to Bayern in the same spirit. The statistics are against us, but let's make sure that the performance goes for us, and then we have a chance."

Wenger was speaking after two late goals from substitute Olivier Giroud had helped Arsenal beat Everton 4-1. Mesut Özil opened the scoring against Roberton Martínez's team and Mikel Arteta restored their lead with a retaken penalty after Romelu Lukaku's equaliser.

"Mathematically, I can't deny that's two games from a trophy but practically it's a bit more difficult than that," Wenger said. "Let's see who we play in the semi-final. It's true that we've had a good draw in that we've played all our games at home. It's the first time that's happened since I've been in the FA Cup, but we have played difficult opponents – Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton. That shows you we have taken this competition seriously."

Martínez felt the score was not an accurate reflection of a day when his team made it "very uncomfortable" for Arsenal. "The key moment was the second goal. After that, we just gambled and lost our defensive intensity. But the score doesn't truly reflect what happened."

Wenger disagreed. "The first half was all us and we were unlucky to be 1-1 at half-time. In the second half Everton started well and had a chance with [Ross] Barkley but we scored the second goal and after that we controlled the game well. It always looked like we could score more."

He praised Özil after a week in which the club's record signing was booed by Germany fans in their midweek friendly against Chile. "It's important for Özil, the way he took his chance. I hope that will encourage him. It was pleasing because, physically, he looked regenerated. He had more power and what I liked was that he did a lot of dirty work for a player like him. He tracked back, especially in the first half, and when he behaves like that you have a better chance to win."

Daniel Taylor

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Cardiff 3-1 Fulham

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 10:15 AM PST

The worst teams in the Premier League clashed on an afternoon of thud and blunder that left Cardiff still in the bottom three but nurturing hope of avoiding relegation and Fulham rock bottom and all but out.

Cardiff had gone 400 minutes without scoring but their captain, Steven Caulker, put an end to that barren sequence with goals in each half. Fulham were still in it after a close-range strike by Lewis Holtby, but an own goal from Sascha Riether killed them off.

The Welsh club's controversial owner, Vincent Tan, was in attendance but had no need to offer illegal inducements this week. The opposition were so poor that they could be on their fourth manager of the season if Felix Magath is judged on this palsied performance – his third game without a win. Tan, whose skin must be thicker than elephant hide, ventured on to the pitch to celebrate at the final whistle and was received like a pariah. The booing could have been heard back in Malaysia.

It was generally accepted that the losers here could kiss the Premier League goodbye and that a draw was no good to either, but for a long time they were both stultified by nerves, anxious to eliminate risks, and 0-0 seemed the likeliest result.

The opening half was tediously poor until Cardiff took the lead in the first minute of added time. Fulham, who had contributed next to nothing in constructive terms, lost their defensive discipline and failed to clear a corner. Collecting the loose ball on the left, Craig Noone crossed low and the ball evaded everybody in the middle, Maarten Stekelenburg included, to reach Caulker, who fired it in from close range.

Fulham deployed a new partnership up front, giving Konstantinos Mitroglou, their £12m Greek striker, his first start, alongside the 19-year-old Cauley Woodrow, who was making his debut. Mitroglou, recruited from Olympiakos in January, was a blunt instrument and young Woodrow utterly anonymous. Magath said: "Mitroglou is a player who is not used to a relegation fight. He comes from the best club in his league and he is only used to scoring and winning. Now he is in the Premier League and he has to get used to it. He had some opportunities today but unfortunately he is not in the best shape to score."

Cardiff had used the wing-back formation at Tottenham the previous week but had lost again and now reverted to orthodox 4-4-2, restoring Kenwyne Jones as the focal point of their attack, with Fraizer Campbell, and leaving Craig Bellamy and Wilfried Zaha on the bench. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team selection was vindicated by the result but yet again his strikers failed to score. Jones now has one goal in six appearances and again spurned good chances to improve his ratio.

Campbell was industry personified but has managed a modest five goals in 28 league appearances. The first half was littered with unforced errors and notable only for Caulker's strike.

Fulham drew level after 59 minutes, when a corner from the substitute Giorgos Karagounis was flicked on by Johnny Heitinga for Holtby to sidefoot in from three yards at the far post.

Cardiff, always the better team, hit back hard and were in front again midway through the second half when, from Mutch's corner, Caulker headed home his second at the far post. Solskjaer said of his centre-half, who was recalled by England in midweek: "If he plays like this defensively and chips in with the odd goal he's got to be in with a shout of going to the World Cup."

It was 3-1 and over as a contest when Craig Noone's cross enabled Campbell to get in a header which Stekelenburg blocked with his body, only for the ball to rebound against Riether, who was laying on the ground and inadvertently nudged the ball in.

Solskjaer said: "Its a big result for us and one that means a lot to everybody at the club. I'm very pleased with what we've done today and we'll sleep well tonight, then go again. This is not about one result but a two-month examination of our character. I think 37 points will be enough to stay up, that's the aim, although we might not need that many." Bluebirds followers will hope not. Cardiff have 25 now with nine games left and their next two are away to Everton and home to Liverpool. Their last match, if it goes to the wire, is at home to Chelsea.

Joe Lovejoy

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Leeds United 1-5 Bolton Wanderers | Championship match report

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 10:01 AM PST

Brian McDermott witnessed the heaviest home defeat of his Leeds reign and then brushed aside questioning about his future. Bolton's 5-1 victory left Leeds' play-off hopes hanging by the thinnest of threads and McDermott was asked if he felt his job was secure.

It was Leeds' first home game since McDermott thought he had been sacked by the potential owner Massimo Cellino on 1 February, only to be rapidly reinstated. "It is pointless thinking about my own position," he said. "All I can do is get everyone together, train on Sunday and Monday and put a team out [against Reading] on Tuesday. That is what I want to do."

Bolton's win was their third in succession, while Leeds have won only two of their past 14 matches. "Obviously I am bitterly disappointed. During the first half there was nothing in the game," McDermott added.

"They scored just before half-time, which was a blow. We got done quickly by two set plays, lost our shape and that was it. This is a big badge to play for and you could tell the players were nervous in the first half. It is a bad day for us. We've had a couple like that, it's not acceptable and we have to analyse the reasons."

Bolton have now scored nine goals in their past two games. Three in a 12-minute spell either side of the interval by Joe Mason, Lukas Jutkiewicz and Zat Knight provided the platform, Mark Davies added the fourth with 18 minutes left and the substitute André Moritz completed the rout on 89 minutes.

The Leeds substitute Matt Smith nodded one in reply in stoppage time but it did nothing to paper over cracks that need repairing if Leeds are to salvage anything from this season. The central defender Jason Pearce lost his ever-present record as his wife had given birth to a boy and Leeds badly missed his calm assurance as they were torn apart in an embarrassingly one-sided second half.

After successive wins over Watford, Blackburn and now Leeds, Bolton are on a roll and the relegation fears that haunted them have surely been consigned to history. Their manager, Dougie Freedman, hailed a thoroughly professional performance but refused to get carried away. "In difficult moments this season we have tried to stay calm so we are trying to remain calm again despite a fantastic result against Leeds.

" We were terrific in both boxes and it was a fantastic professional performance from everybody involved.

"We controlled the midfield with our passing, with Neil Danns and Jay Spearing the key. Results are now starting to go with our performances."

Asked about McDermott, he added: "Brian doesn't need my sympathy. He is big enough to deal with this."


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Wolfsburg 1-6 Bayern Munich | Bundesliga match report

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 09:59 AM PST

Bayern Munich continued on their unstoppable march towards another Bundesliga title with Thomas Müller and Mario Mandzukic each scoring twice as the reigning champions demolished the hosts VfL Wolfsburg 6-1 for a league record 16th consecutive victory.

Bayern extended their lead at the top of the table to a staggering 23 points from second-placed Borussia Dortmund, as they stormed past Wolfsburg with a dazzling second-half display.

The Brazilian defender Naldo slid in to connect with a Kevin De Bruyne cross at the far post to give Wolfsburg a deserved lead in the 17th minute before Xherdan Shaqiri levelled after a goalmouth scramble in the 26th with the goal initially awarded to Müller.

The champions needed an hour to peak with Müller and Mandzukic scoring two goals apiece with Franck Ribéry also on target in an explosive five-goal spell in 17 minutes.


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Derby County 0-1 Millwall | Championship match report

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 09:58 AM PST

Millwall boosted their survival hopes and dealt a blow to Derby's automatic promotion chances when they pulled off a shock win at Pride Park.

A second-half header from Steve Morison was enough to give Millwall only their second away win of the season and condemn Derby to their second defeat in eight days – but first at home in the league since New Year's Day and only second since 21 September.

It had started well for the home side with Craig Bryson, who scored a hat-trick against Millwall in September, delivering a free-kick that Patrick Bamford headed narrowly wide in the fifth minute.

Even without their suspended top scorer Chris Martin, Derby looked a threat every time they went forward and the Millwall goalkeeper, David Forde, had to spread himself to block a Conor Sammon shot from close range in the eighth minute.

It was all Derby but Millwall showed they should not be underestimated in the 19th minute when Morison chested the ball down and Ed Upson created space to hook a shot wide from 15 yards.

The visitors were starting to get into the game and Morison set up another chance in the 27th minute when he pulled the ball back from the left but Scott Malone fired well over.

Bamford curled a shot wide after cutting in from the right and Derby had a good chance at the start of the second half when Bamford won the ball just inside the Millwall half and played in Simon Dawkins, whose low shot was saved by Forde. Dawkins cut Millwall open in the 53rd minute when he jinked past two defenders but Forde was out quickly to beat away his drive and the visitors lost skipper Danny Shittu two minutes later.

But the visitors stunned Derby in the 61st minute when Lee Martin crossed from the left and Morison stole in to head into an empty net from two yards.

It brought an immediate response from the Derby head coach, Steve McClaren, who brought on two attackers in Jamie Ward and Johnny Russell but it was Millwall who had another chance to score again.

Morison was again involved, playing in substitute Martyn Woolford on the Derby left but his low shot was struck straight at Lee Grant who saved easily.

The Derby fans were becoming increasingly frustrated at what they saw as time-wasting but Millwall had a wonderful chance to add a second in the 82nd minute when Jake Buxton lost the ball and Morison raced clear, only for Grant to deny him with a brilliant one-handed save to his right.

A roar went round the stadium when the board went up showing seven minutes of added time and Richard Keogh headed wide from a good position as Millwall defended desperately. Derby had a chance to salvage a point in the final minute of added time when Ward floated in a free-kick from the left but Keogh's diving header flashed wide and seconds later Millwall were celebrating in front of their fans.


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Brighton 1-1 Reading | Championship match report

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 09:53 AM PST

Suspicions were voiced at the Amex Stadium that Reading's players had tried to get an opponent sent off, but such is their recent record of playing against reduced-strength teams that they might be better advised in future to try to persuade referees to let opponents stay on.

A week after failing to beat a Yeovil team that finished a 1-1 draw at the Madejski Stadium with eight players, Reading had to settle for a point again against a Brighton side down to ten men for most of the second half following the dismissal of their captain and central defender Gordon Greer for a second yellow card. "Sometimes it is challenging against teams who pull everyone into the six-yard box," Reading manager Nigel Adkins sighed. "But it is frustrating not to capitalise."

Frustration, though, must be the natural state for fans of both these teams. The point still took Reading above Wigan into sixth place on goal difference, but this was an opportunity missed by Adkins's inconsistent side against another team with play-off ambitions.

Brighton, though, are also unpredictable except in their inability to find the net. They have not scored more than once in a league game since Boxing Day and although they have another chance to improve on that dismal record at home to QPR on Tuesday, they may not be able to count on an opponent doing the job for them as Reading's right-back Chris Gunter did after 16 minutes on Saturday. There seemed little danger as David López chipped the ball in from the right, but Gunter lost his bearings and nodded the ball gently over his advancing goalkeeper Alex McCarthy and into the empty net.

Reading's task now looked tricky against the meanest rearguard outside the top four, but Brighton conspired in their own downfall. First Matthew Upson's error gave Adam Le Fondre what looked like a clear run on goal and Greer brought him down. That offence took place a little too far out for the referee, Frederick Graham, to consider a red card rather than a yellow one, but Greer was heading back to the dressing rooms anyway seven minutes into the second half when he obstructed Le Fondre.

The forward's tumble was ludicrously theatrical and Reading's players surrounded the referee but the Brighton head coach, Oscar García, would not be drawn on suggestions that they had influenced the decision. "It's a question for the referee," he said. "I have my opinion, of course, but the sending-off completely changed the game. They are mostly Premier League players andit's difficult to play against them 11 against 11."

Brighton retreated even further into their natural defensive shell and invited Reading to come at them again, which they did, going close several times before Royston Drenthe cut in from the right after 64 minutes and beat Tomasz Kuszczak at his near post. But Reading lacked the composure to finish off a team that was on the ropes, their most glaring failure coming when the substitute Jobi McAnuff stole the ball from Bruno Saltor and ran clear only for Kuszczak to block his shot.

Relentlessly positive as ever, Adkins put on the brave face that is his default post-match expression. "We gave a poor goal away, which has been the story so often but we came back strongly," he said. "This is a very difficult place against a team that play good football so coming away with a point is pleasing after an international week. We're in the mix. A lot of teams have dropped points today and that is going to be the way every week."

Nick Szczepanik

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Crystal Palace 0-1 Southampton

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 09:31 AM PST

Premier League: Jay Rodriguez scored the only goal of the game as Southampton took all three points

Crystal Palace 0-1 Southampton

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 09:28 AM PST

Mauricio Pochettino believes Jay Rodriguez's match-winning display against Crystal Palace shows he is worthy of a World Cup spot, at the end of a good week for Southampton.

The Saints had 18 players away on international duty in midweek, including four with Roy Hodgson's England squad for the 1-0 friendly victory against Denmark. Luke Shaw make an impressive international debut, while Adam Lallana further boosted his chances of going to Brazil with a fine display off the bench, capped by the cross from which Daniel Sturridge scored.

Rickie Lambert and Rodriguez, the other Southampton players involved, were reduced to a watching brief at Wembley, returning to action at Selhurst Park. The latter netted the decisive goal in what was for large parts a frustrating match, latching on to a weak header by the former Saints winger Jason Puncheon and then beating Julián Speroni in a 50-50 challenge to finish into an open goal.

"I thought the goal showed exactly what Jay Rodriguez is made of," Pochettino said of the 37th-minute strike. "It showed his quality, showed his speed, showed how brave he is, showed his technique. It also shows the fact that he fully deserved the England call-up as well."

Asked if Rodriguez had the talent to play at the World Cup, the former Argentina international said: "I think he has the talent, I think he has the skill to go with the English national side and play for the English national side.

"I think the call-up to the English national side by Roy Hodgson of Jay Rodriguez was deserved, and to actually win your place you need to deserve you place to be going to the tournament. To be scoring goals as he did here, he is definitely increasing his chances."

The 1-0 triumph ended a run of three successive losses in all competitions for Southampton, and Pochettino believes highlighted the club's exciting future.

"I am well pleased with that win," said the 42-year-old, for whom the only negative was an ankle injury to Jack Cork, which is expected to rule the midfielder out for six weeks.

"We're well balanced, doing well, building a project and we want to continue in this way. I think we are showing the potential we have for the future at Southampton Football Club and we are very well pleased with the victory."

Palace managed only one shot on target, leaving Tony Pulis frustrated by his side's toothless display. "I don't think it was an off-day – I thought we did all right," the manager said. "I thought we competed very well.

"The disappointing thing was that we never created more chances and more opportunities. That was disappointing. But they are a good side, they've got some good players and we've watched them the last three games they've played.

"They played exceptionally at West Ham and got beat 3-1 so they've got some real quality. It was always going to be a tough game and those tough, tight games we need a break and we didn't get one."

One of those breaks looked like it may come when Dejan Lovren brought down Yannick Bolasie when he was through on goal early in the second half. The Palace fans called for the Croatia international to be sent off, but referee Howard Webb did not deem him the last man so only produced a yellow card.

"I will leave you to decide that," Pulis said when asked for his thoughts. "We've just watched the video and the disappointing thing was the first two offsides as both Glenn Murray and Joe Ledley are onside. The linesman has given two offsides and both of them were on, through and past the back four on to goal. That was very disappointing and they were in the first quarter of an hour."


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Norwich City 1-1 Stoke City | Premier League match report

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 09:28 AM PST

Chris Hughton seems to prioritise results over entertainment but when both are lacking, all that is left is tension. This dreary draw means Carrow Road remains an uncomfortable place to be right now, not least for Hughton, who again finds himself confronted with searching questions about his team's bluntness. Norwich are four points off the relegation zone and his ability to keep them up is in doubt.

Only Crystal Palace have scored fewer goals than Norwich in the Premier League and Hughton's side seldom looked like penetrating against a Stoke team who are without a league win on the road since August. Gallingly for the hosts, soon after they did manage a breakthrough, with a header by Bradley Johnson in the 56th minute, they frittered their lead away, as Sébastien Bassong clunked into John Guidetti to concede a penalty that Jon Walters converted.

Walters was sent off five minutes later but Norwich did not look like exploiting their numerical advantage in the remaining 12 minutes and had to make do with a draw that leaves them in a precarious position with a daunting series of fixtures ahead. If a nerve-shredding finale to the campaign can atone for the dearth of thrills, then Norwich fans have something to look forward to.

"It feels like two points lost as opposed to a point gained," groaned Hughton. "We could have done ourselves a big favour and made life more comfortable for us."

The only change Hughton made after the heavy defeat at Aston Villa last week was to replace Gary Hooper, a striker who had not scored in 10 appearances, with Ricky van Wolfswinkel, a striker who had not scored since the first day of the season. Unsurprisingly, that did not transform them into a potent attacking force. Although Norwich had a good deal of early possession it was Stoke, without being any more inspired, who forged three clear chances in the first quarter of an hour. The best of them fell to Peter Crouch in the eighth minute but he fired weakly at John Ruddy from 18 yards. Marko Arnautovic then shot over after good work down the left by Erik Pieters, who, in the 15th minute, teed up Walters for a 20-yard shot that forced another save from Ruddy.

Nathan Redmond and Wes Hoolahan flickered, their mischievous conniving occasionally elevating the game above a test of endurance. Rations of action were meagre in a gruelling first period.

Perhaps the sheer tedium of proceedings caused Asmir Begovic to nod off in the 53rd minute, when he allowed a long-range shot from Hoolahan to slip through his hands but he recovered in time to claw the ball away before it crossed the line. Norwich sensed vulnerability and perked up. Three minutes later Norwich were in front. Snodgrass curled a free-kick and Johnson outjumped Ryan Shawcross to nod in from close range.

Norwich were looking safe until the 73rd minute, when Bassong brought down Guidetti in the box. Walters slammed the penalty into the top corner.

Walters was dismissed five minutes later for kicking Alex Tetty in the knee with a challenge that looked more oafish than malicious. "Jon has accepted that he did catch him but the ball was bouncing between two players and both had their feet high, so I think the punishment was a bit harsh," said Mark Hughes.

Norwich never threatened to score again. "We didn't really make any inroads," admitted Hughton. "In a game that wasn't a classic it was there for us to win and that's the frustration."

Paul Doyle

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Cheers for Arsenal's Mesut Özil as he puts night of jeers behind him | Barney Ronay

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 09:26 AM PST

Arsenal's record signing looked a player rejuvenated in the FA Cup victory over Everton after enduring a miserable spell

The wheels may have seemed at times to be rattling on their rims, the axle jangling, the spokes pinging out, but Arsenal's season-on-three-fronts continues to roll along regardless. There was even a whiff of late-season rejuvenation, springtime for Özil and Arsenal, towards the end of this 4-1 FA Cup quarter final defeat of a well-drilled and competitive Everton. By the time Olivier Giroud scored Arsenal's rollicking fourth goal with five minutes left – Tomas Rosicky and Mesut Özil, who had his best match since the start of December, creating it at the end of a sinuous move – the wider struggles of the last few weeks of winter had seemed to fade a little.

If this was a potentially season-reviving result for Arsenal, it was a bracing occasion all round for Özil, who had not scored since the last time these two teams met on 8 December and had created only one assist in his past 12 matches. Arsenal's record signing was bought to make the difference on days like these, and so he did, creating more chances than any other player, scoring one and making one, and possibly even providing a decisive full-stop on a traumatic few weeks during which being wheeled out to play football twice a week has seemed a peculiar kind public trauma.

"He looked physically regenerated," Arsène Wenger said of the German afterwards and Arsenal's manager also looked encouragingly perky here. For all their early-season progress Arsenal have been in a state of mild disintegration these last few weeks, not waving but very slowly drowning ever since the traumatic 5-1 defeat at Liverpool. This time last month they were two points clear in the Premier League and still in the FA Cup with a nothing-to-lose last-16 Champions League tie to look forward to. Had they lost here the season would have effectively dwindled away to the familiar playing-for-fourth endgame within the space of eight matches.

In the end the FA Cup was always likely to be Arsenal's most viable option when it comes to tangible signs of progress this season. They are a few players short of a genuine title-challenging squad: probably they need another Mathieu Flamini, another, slightly better Giroud, a season's worth of fit Theo Walcott and another teeth-bearing, finger-pointing Per Mertesacker-flavoured leader in that starting XI.

For now a place in the Premier League top four looks safe, a 3-0 victory in Munich this week the stuff of the surrealist imagination. This, then, was basically Arsenal's season. In spite of which Wenger rested Giroud and started with Yaya Sanogo, who last scored a club goal on 24 May 2013 for Auxerre in Ligue 2 and who was again energetic and eager, without ever suggesting he has the qualities of a top-class striker, but acting quite effectively as an attacking distraction, a Trojan horse of a centre-forward around which Özil buzzed in the opening half-hour.

Özil began in the centre of a tripod of attacking midfielders, with a yen for drifting to the left, from where he scored the opening goal. There was a fast-breaking incision about the move leading up to it, Santi Cazorla's pass putting the German through in the inside-left channel. His finish, a touch to the side then a low early shot, was classily decisive, the celebration muted. Özil had been booed by a section of the Germany crowd in the defeat of Chile in midweek, despite having made the only goal of the game. Some would like Mario Götze to start ahead of him. Who knows, perhaps a little distant pressure might even do him some good. Here he flitted about purposefully, even at times rather surprisingly. Five minutes after the goal Everton broke quickly down the right. But wait. Who was that mysterious last-ditch tackling back-tracker hustling Kevin Mirallas into touch and drawing an ovation from the home crowd? He seemed to be wearing No11. It couldn't be, could it?

It has been a mark of Özil's drooping confidence that too often of late his shark-like bursts of acceleration have come only when he finds himself in possession, a player trying to invent the game around him from a standing start. Here, though, he moved ceaselessly without the ball in the first half, not simply wandering into space and waiting but using the full range of his gymnast's agility to find room for a pass. When Özil plays like this, on a high-rev even without the ball, Arsenal's attack is transformed.

For all that Everton scored an excellent equaliser. Ross Barkley, who was bold and inventive throughout, sprinted 50 metres through an unpatrolled midfield, Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku combining to convert his cross. For a while after that Özil retreated into himself . The doomed, decelerating sprint down the left wing has been a feature of his recent struggles and he looked for a while like a man on the verge of one of his familiar battery-fades, before the appearance of Giroud for the last 25 minutes turned the match. Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was also excellent, won the decisive penalty, drawing just enough contact from Gareth Barry as he bundled past him. Mikel Arteta scored from the spot and that was pretty much that. Everton played well and were hard done by the scoreline. Arsenal, two matches away from avoiding that lurking 10-year mark without a trophy, will hope this is the start of another spring bloom.

Barney Ronay

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Valladolid 1-0 Barcelona

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 09:19 AM PST

Barcelona's bid for a fifth La Liga title in six years suffered a surprise setback when the champions crashed to a 1-0 defeat at lowly Real Valladolid on Saturday.

It was one of Barcelona's worst performances of the season, particularly during a woeful first half when Fausto Rossi scored for the home side, which resulted in them squandering a chance to pull two points clear of Real Madrid at the top.

Barcelona's players, most of whom were in international action midweek, looked jaded and short on inspiration and Lionel Messi and Neymar wasted a host of opportunities in a generally lethargic display.

Real, who host Barcelona for the Clásico in two weeks, can stretch their lead over their arch rivals to four points with a win at home to Levante on Sunday.

Atletico Madrid will climb above Barcelona and draw level on 64 points with Real if they beat Celta Vigo later on Saturday.


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Valladolid 1-0 Barcelona

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 09:09 AM PST

La Liga: Fausto Rossi scored the only goal of the game as Valladolid pulled off a shock victory

Football clockwatch – as it happened | Gregg Bakowski

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 09:05 AM PST

Minute-by-minute report: Fulham were let rooted at the bottom of the Premier League table as Cardiff won 3-1 while Norwich shared the points with 10-man Stoke

Gregg Bakowski

Cardiff 3-1 Fulham

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 08:58 AM PST

Premier League: Two goals from Steven Caulker helped Cardiff to an important victory over Fulham

Premier League: Saturday's matches – in pictures

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 08:02 AM PST

All the best images from around the grounds where Manchester United overcame Pepe Mel's Baggies, Cardiff take on Fulham, Southampton visit Crystal Palace, Norwich face Stoke City and Tottenham take a trip across London to Chelsea

Steven Bloor

West Brom 0-3 Man Utd

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 07:00 AM PST

The good news for Manchester United is that not every game has to be an occasion for soul-searching, recrimination and open letters of apology from manager to shareholders. The only bad news is that not every game can be against West Bromwich Albion either.

The Baggies have yet to record a win under Pepe Mel's management and on this evidence it is not hard to see why. They are utterly short of confidence, lightweight in most areas of the pitch and toothless in front of goal. Whether they can avoid relegation playing like this must be a concern to the Albion board, not to mention the supporters who have forked out £25 a head (curry and a pint included) for an evening with Mel as far into the future as 26 March, but United hardly needed to be at their best to take all three points.

Which is just as well, because they were not to begin with, even if by the end there were encouraging signs that Juan Mata is beginning to bed in with his new teammates and that Danny Welbeck has not lost any of his sharpness by being kept on the bench. "I felt we had goals in us today," David Moyes said. "I was pleased with the attack and I could see in the players' attitude that they were keen to make up for the last performance."

Robin van Persie's free-kick set up the first goal, allowing Phil Jones to exploit some casual Albion marking to use the pace on the ball in guiding it past Ben Foster with his head. That was after 34 minutes, and the goal seemed such a straightforward one it was hard to work out why United had not managed more. Rafael da Silva had seen Foster push a header against the bar a few minutes earlier, and the home goalkeeper was distinctly lucky to get away with the misjudgment of a high ball from Mata that involved him handling when he might have been fractionally outside his area, but Albion in the first half had just as much reason to rue missed chances.

Claudio Yakob could have equalised but headed over from close range, Victor Anichebe shot narrowly wide, then Zoltan Gera made a complete hash of connecting with a Morgan Amalfitano free-kick that picked him out in front of goal. The pattern continued in the second half with Gera wasting a good opportunity with a tame shot straight at David de Gea and Mata, of all people, turning up on his own line to block from Chris Brunt, before United wrapped up the points with another cheaply conceded goal. Wayne Rooney and Mata were both involved in the buildup before Rafael swung over a cross from the right to find Rooney unmarked at the far post and able to score with a simple header.

Welbeck was playing up front for United by that stage, Van Persie having been withdrawn for his own good after somehow managing to avoid a second yellow card for a foul on Steven Reid. Already in the book for a clumsy challenge on Amalfitano, his lunge at Reid's ankles looked even uglier, yet Jonathan Moss let it go with just the award of a free-kick. Van Persie did not look best pleased to see his number go up, but left the field without any outward display of dissent.

Mel thought the United player should have been dismissed. "The referee should have given a second yellow because my player was injured," the Albion manager said, reasonably enough since Reid could not continue.

Unsurprisingly, Moyes saw it differently. "It was a foul, but he got the ball first and not every foul has to be a booking," the United manager argued. "I was always going to bring him off before the end because he played 90 minutes in midweek. The crowd was up against him and it would only have taken one more slip."

United arguably played better without Van Persie anyway, scoring almost immediately and adding the best of the lot eight minutes from time when Rooney rounded off an extended passing move by sliding a precise ball forward for Welbeck to reach ahead of Jonas Olsson and supply a neat finish to beat Foster. When Nemanja Vidic came on for the closing minutes it was almost a surprise to realise that United had not missed him. That is not to say the hard-working Anichebe did not let Jones and Chris Smalling know he was around, just that West Brom are not the sort of side to monster opposing defences. How they managed to win at Old Trafford earlier in the season must be a mystery to anyone who has seen them only since Christmas.

Someone such as Mel, in fact. The next four games, beginning with Swansea away, are going to be crucial for Albion and a manager who is not fluent in English yet but understands the question about his future at the club perfectly. "My job is to work hard with the players and concentrate on doing well in the next game," he said. "The rest does not depend on me."

Paul Wilson

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FA Cup: Arsenal v Everton - in pictures

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 06:56 AM PST

All the best images from the Emirates where Arsenal beat Everton 4-1 to reach the semi-finals at Wembley

Tom Jenkins
Steven Bloor

Arsenal 4-1 Everton

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 06:55 AM PST

It might not be the trophy, if Arsène Wenger were being absolutely truthful, that he really craves. Yet Arsenal, looking for their first silverware since 2005, are not in a position to be too fussy and there was great jubilation after the late goals from Olivier Giroud had washed away any lingering nerves.

They had to see off a driven and capable Everton team and Roberto Martínez was not being disingenuous when he said the final score felt like a deception. Yet Wenger's players produced some of their best, stress-free football at times and Martínez will have to reflect that his players contributed to their own downfall, particularly when he analyses the chance Ross Barkley passed up at 1-1 and the soft way his team allowed Arsenal to re-establish themselves in a position of command.

Gareth Barry has been outstanding this season but it was a needless penalty he conceded midway through the second half, flicking out his leg to bring down Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, as they tussled for the ball close to the byline. A player of Barry's experience should never have been sucked into that kind of lapse and Everton know enough about Mikel Arteta to appreciate he would not be fazed by what happened next.

Arteta's first effort was ruled out because the referee, Mark Clattenburg, had seen Giroud encroaching and demanded a retake. It was a test of Arteta's nerve and he passed with distinction, picking his spot in the top left-hand corner of Joel Robles's net. "Honestly," Wenger said, "I was very worried and very relieved." Arteta was coolness personified and Arsenal never looked back, playing the kind of slick, incisive football that can trouble any opponent. "It was a high-quality performance, and we could have won by even more goals," Wenger added.

Giroud, a 61st-minute substitute for the raw Yaya Sanogo, made it 3-1 at the end of a quick passing move that ended with him turning in Bacary Sagna's low cut-back, but it was the fourth goal that really summed up the Arsenal ethos in its full splendour. Once again, they moved the ball swiftly across the pitch, exploiting the spaces presented by increasingly demoralised opponents. For Everton, it was a blur of speed and movement. Tomas Rosicky turned the ball into Mesut Özil's path and Giroud was waiting for the next pass, sliding a shot beyond Robles for the second time in two minutes.

It was a cruel finale for Everton, ending their hopes of silverware on a day when they had plenty of the ball in encouraging areas of the pitch without doing enough with it. Arsenal had pinned them back during the early exchanges, taking a seventh-minute lead through Özil's expertly placed shot. Yet Everton had already shown with their league performance here that they are not short of collective will.

They had to withstand some concerted pressure, not always helped by the erratic goalkeeping of Robles, but once they started playing with more control they matched Arsenal until that moment when Oxlade-Chamberlain tried to elude Barry and the older man stuck out an obliging leg. Until then, Martínez felt it had become a "very uncomfortable afternoon" for Arsenal. "The score doesn't reflect what happened," he added.

Santi Cazorla, such an elusive and intelligent footballer, still led Arsenal on any number of promising attacks, setting up Özil's goal after a costly slip in midfield from James McCarthy. Özil played well, commended by Wenger for his "dirty work", and Oxlade-Chamberlain was also full of energy. Özil ran 60 yards to chase back the ball at one point, whereas there was another snapshot of how Arsenal played when Oxlade-Chamberlain lost the ball to Barkley and immediately set about retrieving it.

Alternatively, there were times when Everton posed their own questions and Arsenal's defence, in particular Thomas Vermaelen, gave the impression they might be vulnerable to a frontline led by the powerful Romelu Lukaku. Barkley had one of his better games for a while, despite missing the target with Everton's best chance to take a 2-1 lead.

"Nine times out 10 he would hit the target," Martínez lamented. Steven Pienaar and Kevin Mirallas were full of running in the wide positions and Lukaku's equaliser was a wonderful piece of counterattacking football, starting from the edge of their own penalty area.

Barkley led the advance, after Barry had charged down Arteta's shot, and the teenager's cross from the right was measured beautifully for Mirallas, charging in at the far post. Mirallas could not get a clean contact but his touch inadvertently turned the ball into Lukaku's path, virtually on the goalline and faced by a completely exposed net.

At that stage, the game was finely poised but Everton were always likely to leave gaps their opponents could exploit once Arteta's retaken penalty had gone in. Arsenal, once they took the lead, never looked like surrendering it. They finished with a flourish and their spirits should be lifted before their next assignment in the Champions League against Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

Daniel Taylor

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