Key events
Manchester City: Tony Pulis said he feels cheated over his Stoke team’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City in the 2011 FA Cup final. Yaya Touré’s winner delivered the first trophy since Man City’s 2008 takeover by Abu Dhabi royalty.
In a column on the BBC Sport website, Pulis responded to the news on Friday that Man City have been found guilty on virtually all of the 115 charges brought by the Premier League, which the club have always denied. The alleged financial rule breaches span the 2009-10 to 2022-23 seasons. The 2011 final was Stoke’s only FA Cup final in their history.
Pulis wrote that Stoke fans had been asking him: “When do we get our FA Cup?”
I thought exactly the same. While the process is far from over because Manchester City are expected to appeal, I have to say this verdict and the whole situation has left a very sour taste in my mouth.
I don’t expect Manchester City to phone me or the club up and offer back the 2011 FA Cup and the winners’ medals their players received.
I don’t seriously believe any other trophies and titles will be handed back over either. A points deduction and a massive fine feels far more likely. But I still feel cheated.
Republic of Ireland: Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson yesterday admitted he regretted his choice of words in comments made earlier this week about Ireland “playing against genocide” in reference to their fixtures against Israel. After the Israel football federation accused Hallgrimsson of “stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy”, the Irish prime minister, Micheál Martin, responded from the UN general assembly in New York: “Israel can’t keep denying what the world knows, and what the world understands.”
Yesterday Hallgrimsson said he had used a “strong” word and now regretted it. “It was a wrong word for me to use,” he said, arguing that he had meant to say that “by playing we are not accepting what is happening”. If a player chooses to play in the fixture “he is not supporting or agreeing with anything in Gaza” Hallgrimsson said. “We are not playing with that word, we are playing against it.”
Israel’s head coach, Ran Ben-Shimon, said he will shake hands with Hallgrimsson before kick-off in Debrecen. Ireland’s players will not partake in “elements of the pre-match ceremony”, namely the handshake and exchange of pennants, said the FAI chief David Courell. Ireland’s players will also wear black armbands “in recognition of all the lives lost in the conflict” in Gaza.
Republic of Ireland: Today’s Nations League fixture against Israel will go ahead after a “significant majority” of Ireland’s players voted to play. The game – an away fixture for Ireland – is taking place in Debrecen, Hungary without the attendance of Irish fans. The Ireland team have come under increasing domestic pressure to boycott both tonight’s game and the reverse fixture, to be played next weekend behind closed doors in Dublin, due to Israel’s military action in Gaza.
Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu will not play this evening in protest against “the killing of innocent people”. He wrote on Instagram yesterday:
Representing my country means everything to me. I have the utmost respect for every single one of my teammates, the manager, his staff, and the Irish people.
However, I have reached a decision that I have not taken lightly. I am a man of strong faith, and try my best to be a person of character and principle, therefore I feel it would be wrong to participate in the upcoming fixtures against Israel.
My decision is based purely on my personal belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong. It is important to note that my stance is not in opposition of the Israeli people or the Jewish community, but against the atrocities in the region.
There are a few times where you get a chance in life to stand up for something bigger, and I strongly believe that this is one of them.
Centre-back Jimmy Dunne has been named as a reserve goalkeeper in Bazunu’s place. Caoimhin Kelleher is expected to start in goal as usual.
England: Barney Ronay takes us through the evening that was at Wembley as Tuchel’s side fell away against superior technicians again.
The most unfavourable interpretation of this is a pattern being established. England lost another game where they just seem to get close, to lose control, to fail to hold the midfield. Both of Spain’s decisive goals were either made or scored by Luis de la Fuente’s two attacking substitutes, neither of whom looked much like Dan Burn.
But it wasn’t quite like that. For a start, England were much better here than in Atlanta, and against a better team. Wembley was its usual chilly self at kick-off, a place where even on a Saturday night the general vibe is echoey, corporate space, like a visit to the Ideal Home exhibition or a peculiarly low-throttle ABBA tribute event.
England: Two defensive errors and a penalty miss from Harry Kane cost Thomas Tuchel’s side at Wembley last night. After Marc Guéhi’s mistake allowed Lamine Yamal to score early, two quickfire goals saw England lead at the break. But another error from Nico O’Reilly gave Spain a route back into the game and Euro 2024 hero Mikel Oyarzabal scored another winner against England.
Thomas Tuchel said …
If we learn from it there are some positives to take from it. We will try to do a review tomorrow. We will highlight the positives. There is stuff we can do better.
There is no sense in showing individual mistakes or saying please don’t do mistakes. There are things we can do better. We wanted to be the team to beat them. We think we had them. We think we had them at half-time. It is something to build on.
When it was pointed out to him that England’s defensive errors were made by two perhaps distracted Manchester City players, Tuchel played down the impact of Friday’s news about the club’s guilty verdict …
I won’t comment on it as it’s an ongoing case. I didn’t make it a topic. It was not a topic for me. I’m just thinking about Spain, and the team and meetings. Not for me. The players have more time than me so for sure I can imagine that they talk about it. It’s good that they do. I don’t think it was a distraction for them.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to matchday live. We’ll be bringing you all the reaction to England’s 3-2 defeat to Spain at Wembley, including the now common detractions about the defence and Thomas Tuchel’s in-game management. How much should we be reading into a pretty fun Nations League opener?
Scotland were also in action in a fairly predictable goalless draw at Slovenia in Sebastien Pocognoli’s first game in charge. Today’s match between Israel and the Republic of Ireland in Hungary will go ahead after the Ireland team stopped short of a boycott. Their goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu has refused to play in protest at Israel’s military action in Gaza. Wales are also back in action in Denmark after their opening defeat to Portugal.
In the Women’s Super League, there’s a Merseyside derby at Anfield and a heavyweight clash at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea take on Arsenal, with both sides looking to keep pace with the champions Manchester City, who kept up their 100% record yesterday. London City Lionesses continued their impressive start yesterday thanks to a first goal from Alexia Putellas.
We’ll also bring you any developments and comments on the Manchester City case after the club were found guilty on virtually all counts of breaching Premier League financial rules on Friday.
And you can mail us at matchday.live@theguardian.com if you want to get in touch.
