A rainy Wembley going through the motions : Picture by @YTJourno Key Facts : World Cup Qualifier England (1) 2 Saka 28, Eze 90 Serbia (0) 0 How the game panned out:  With England already qualified, the lack of any real devil in their play was understandable. Serbia had only an outside chance of qualification if they finished second in the group but they lacked the tools to do any harm. England were sloppy in attack but won with ease, even if they only carved out a modicum

Tottenham Hotspur (0) 2 v Manchester United (1) 2 Premier League Matchweek 11 Talking Points By Kaz Mochlinski at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium It was very, very nearly an unforgettable match. Equally, it was almost a game of great concern for Tottenham Hotspur. Ultimately, they did not do enough to deserve to end their three-month home run without a win in the Premier League. Manchester United scored two goals from their only two attempts on target. Spurs struck twice from t

Brentford (0) 3 v Newcastle United (1) 1 Barnes 27 Schade 56 Igor Thiago (pen) 78 Igor Thiago 95 By Kaz Mochlinski at the Brentford Community Stadium Premier League Matchweek 11 Brentford staged a scintillating second half comeback to recover from an undeserved deficit at half-time and defeat Newcastle United 3-1 with goals from Kevin Schade and another double for Igor Thiago. It took time for them to overcome Newcastle’s negative approach and they could have had more than on

By Alessandro Schiavone in Metz Metz 2-1 Nice Goals: Ali-Cho 35' (N), Hein 53' & Diallo 84' (M) Having had their Sundays off after featuring in respective 2-2 draws a day beforehand, Tottenham Hotspur's Pape Matar Sarr and Arsenal's William Saliba may have taken in a Ligue 1 cracker on television. And it was Pape Sarr's former team Metz who continued their fine resurgence after coming from behind to see off Nice 2-1 to make it three impressive wins on the spin. Nice, where Sa

Remembrance Day rendezvous : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Crystal Palace 0 Brighton 0 It started as if we might be heading for goal fest and ended with the feeling we might never see a goal again for the rest of our lives. Draws between these two have become common currency in recent years and after the initial thrill of full-on attacks from both sides had subsided, a familiar cautionary holding pattern took hold. The second half had very little going for it. With five

Chelsea (0) 3 v Wolverhampton Wanderers (0) 0 Gusto 51 João Pedro 65 Neto 73 By Kaz Mochlinski at Stamford Bridge Premier League Matchweek 11 Malo Gusto scored the first goal of his career and Estêvão Willian increased his growing star status still further as Chelsea moved into second place in the Premier League with a 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. Three goals in the second half eventually broke the stubborn resistance of the league’s bottom team, who came to Stamford

Back to back home wins : Picture by William Powell Wes t Ham recorded back to back wins at home in the Premier League for the first time since October 2024 as they came from behind against Burnley to win 3-2 at the London Stadium.  The London Stadium is normal quiet and subdued of late but after the unexpected win over Newcastle United last week the Hammers fans were back at their noisy best with the side seeking two home wins on the bounce.  The last time the Hammers had won

By Alessandro Schiavone in Arnhem Eerste Divisie Vitesse Arnhem 0-4 Cambuur Not sure a midfield trio of Nemanja Matic, Martin Odegaard and Mason Mount added to the other eight players would turn the tide at Vitesse Arnhem right now. Bottom of Eerste Division, Vitesse had to be really on it to cause a shock against promotion favourites and second-in-the-table Cambuur. Yet despite producing a couple of goal chances early on in the game and keeping the door shut for 21 minutes,

Bunting for glory : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Tottenham Hotspur (0) 2 Tel 84, Richarlison 90+1 Manchester United (1) 2 Mbeumo 32, de Ligt 90+6 Spurs threw away a win in stoppage time against a depleted United to ruin what would have been the most dramatic of comeback wins. Trailing 1-0 with six minutes to play, and looking hopelessly out of sorts, Spurs suddenly came alive to nearly snatch it. Mathys Tel's goal five minutes after coming on as a late sub and an inju

Writing on the wall : Picture by @YTJourno Championship Watford (1) 1 Bola 6 Bristol City (1) 1 Twine 29 Watford's impressive second half pressure failed to bring them a fifth home win in a row but the signs looked mostly promising ahead of the final international break of the year. It has been a stop-start campaign so far but they created enough against Bristol City to have claimed victory. It needed several fine stops from City's keeper - Man United loanee Radek Vitek - to

By Alessandro Schiavone at Stadion Galgenwaard, Utrecht There's a famous saying that goes: 'Never go back to a place where you have been happy'. And maybe, just maybe there's a truth to that for Sebastien Haller who has gone from Utrecht juggernaut [51 goals in two-and-a-half seasons between January 2015 and summer 2017 for the club] to ghost. Less than three months after sealing a return home on a permanent basis, it's highly likely that Sebastien Haller already regrets that

Best feet forward : Picture by @YTJourno UEFA Conference League MD 3 Crystal Palace (2) 3 Lacroix 22, Sarr 45+4, 57 AZ Alkmaar (0) 1 Mijnans 54 Palace reasserted their grip on proceedings in the Conference League with a dominant win over Dutch side AZ to make it two wins from three games in the competition - leaving them in a good position to go on and claim a top eight place which would see them fast-track into the knockouts. They could afford to miss a first-half penalty a

By Alessandro Schiavone in Prague Christian Norgaard has sung the praises of false attacker Mikel Merino who took his tally for 2025 to a staggering 18 goals for club and country with his double against Slavia Prague. Those numbers would be nothing out of the ordinary or mind-blowing if the Spaniard was a classic centre-forward. But it's easy to forget that the ex-Real Sociedad star is a midfielder by trade. Norgaard, who made his first start for Arsenal in the Czech Republic

Notes from the boss :Picture by @YTJourno Julien Stephan believes QPR turned in their best performance of the season despite slipping to a third successive defeat in Wednesday night's thrilling clash with Southampton. The metrics were all good for the R's in the Bonfire night contest at Loftus Road, except the one that mattered most - the final scoreline. But the boss took heart from a display in which his side had 60 per cent of the ball, fired 18 shots at goal to double the

Light up the sky with Rangers fireworks : Picture by @YTJourno Championship QPR (0) 1 Burrell 73 Southampton (0) 2 Robinson 55, Scienza 69 QPR's bid to light up Bonfire Night for their fans with a home win fell short despite a thrilling finale in which they threw the kitchen sink at the visitors after halving a 2-0 deficit. The introduction off the bench of Kader Dembele so very nearly did the trick as Julien Stephan's men battered the Saints - even if for once they had to do

Exclusive by Alessandro Schiavone in Prague Capital Football had the honour to speak exclusively to Slavia Prague defender David Zima after the Czech giants' 3-0 reversal at home to Arsenal. Here is what he said. David, it was always going to be difficult for Slavia Prague against Arsenal. But did you expect the puzzle to be that difficult to solve? Apart from the first 10 minutes and maybe the last five the Gunners didn't give you a sniff.. "In my opinion Arsenal are one of

Tottenham Hotspur (1) 4 v København (0) 0 Johnson 19 Odobert 51 van de Ven 64 João Palhinha 67 By Kaz Mochlinski at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Champions League MD4 Tottenham Hotspur gained their highest win under Thomas Frank, and a much-needed first success at home for six weeks, as they swept aside København 4-0 with the help of a wonder goal from Micky van de Ven. Spurs’ superiority was not even impeded by having to play for most of the second half with 10 men after Bre

By Alessandro Schiavone at Fortuna Arena, Prague Champions League Matchday 4 Slavia Praha 0-3 Arsenal Goals: Saka 32' (penalty), Merino 46', Merino 68' There are 18 bridges in the city of Prague. But Slavia always knew they would be in for one hell of a ride to bridge the gap with Premier League big hitters Arsenal. Because, whether it's on the pitch or in the bank, the chasm between the two sides is evident. And how it showed. Mikel Arteta, who handed Max Dowman his Champio

Setting the scene : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League West Ham United (2) 3 Paqueta 35, Botman og 45+5, Soucek 98 Newcastle United (1) 1 Murphy 4 The leaflets doing the rounds ahead of kick-off spoke of the gloom surrounding the London Stadium these days. Hammers fans had organised a 'sit-in' protest at full-time against the Sullivan-Brady regime running the club. The near funereal silence for many of the opening passages, along with thousands of empty seats also told the

Tottenham Hotspur (0) 0 v Chelsea (1) 1 João Pedro 34 By Kaz Mochlinski at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Premier League Matchweek 10 Tottenham Hotspur’s home ground may no longer be called White Hart Lane, but for Chelsea supporters it remains ‘Three Point Lane’ as the Blues continued their overwhelming domination over Spurs of recent years with yet another victory. João Pedro scored the only goal of the game to bring Chelsea level on points with Tottenham and trailing them j

Happy day at the Cottage for Fulham fans : Picture @CapitalFootball Fulham fans will be breathing massive sighs of relief after seeing their side secure a crucial 3-0 win to end a run of defeats that was dragging them down into the Premier League danger zone. They badly needed a change of narrative after successive losses to Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Arsenal and Newcastle in the Premier League and nothing but three points against a winless Wolves would have done at Craven Co

Exclusive by Alessandro Schiavone The dice appears to be well and truly loaded in Arsenal's favour this season according to a West Ham legend. A 2-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor saw Mikel Arteta's men extend their victorious streak to nine games and open up a seven-point gap at the top of the Premier League. Remarkably the Gunners haven't conceded a goal since their 2-1 away win at Newcastle in late September. There's been a surge of optimism and wind in their sails since th

Brentford (2) 3 v Liverpool (1) 2 Premier League Matchweek 9 Talking Points By Kaz Mochlinski at the Brentford Community Stadium It is two wins in a Premier League season of 38 matches, but the six points secured in the space of six days by Brentford, at West Ham United and against Liverpool, could prove more meaningful than most. A first away victory under Keith Andrews, followed in less than a week by beating the league title-holders, lifted the Bees from 16th place and thr

Wycombe Wanderers (1) 1 v Fulham (0) 1 Woodrow 4 King 48 Fulham win 5-4 on penalties By Kaz Mochlinski at Adams Park Football League Cup Fourth Round Fulham needed a piece of magic from Josh King and a penalty shoot-out to reach the League Cup quarter-finals as they eventually got past a spirited challenge from Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park. King memorably scored the first goal of his career, conjuring up the equaliser in Fulham’s second half comeback to take the tie to pen