Hugely truncated weekend of action…19/12/2021

 

Wednesday
Matt Doherty was included in the Tottenham Hotspur side for their two one EFL Cup quarter-final victory over visitors West Ham United for whom Darren Randolph was an unused substitute. Caoimhin Kelleher was included in the Liverpool side which recovered from the concession of two very early goals to secure a three all draw with Leicester City and take the tie to a penalty shoot-out. Kelleher saved twice in the shoot-out to help his side to a 5-4 success and progression to the semi-finals. The other two quarter-finals were won by Arsenal and Chelsea. The draw for the semi-finals, which will be played over two legs, paired Arsenal with Liverpool and Chelsea with Tottenham Hotspur.

There was Scottish Premiership on Wednesday evening with Jim Goodwin‘s St Mirren holding Glasgow Celtic to a scoreless draw at Love Street. The hosts included Joe Shaughnessy and Charles Dunne in their side  but were without Jamie McGrath and Connor Ronan while their visitors included Liam Scales in their starting eleven while James McCarthy was an unused substitute. 

Monday
The Championship meeting of leaders Fulham and Sheffield United took place at Craven Cottage on Monday evening and saw the visiting ‘Blades’ score the only goal after just three minutes for victory. John Egan, Enda Stevens and Aston Villa loanee Conor Hourihane  were all in the starting eleven and made a positive contribution. 

Sunday
Their was Premier League action on Sunday afternoon with Newcastle United playing host to Manchester City. Ciaran Clark started for the ‘Magpies’ with Jeff Hendrick an 80th minute substitute as they went down to a four nil defeat. Later at 4.30pm Tottenham Hotspur played out a dramatic two all draw with visitors Liverpool at their New London Stadium. Matt Doherty for the hosts and Caoimhin Kelleher for the visitors were unused on the respective substitute benches.

The Scottish League Cup Final between Glasgow Celtic and Hibernian took place in  Hampden Park this afternoon. The Glasgow side named James McCarthy and Liam Scales on their substitute bench while Jake Doyle-Hayes started for the Edinburgh side. Hibernian took the lead early in the second half but it lasted barely a minute as Celtic equalised and went on to score the winner some twenty minutes later. Scales was introduced to the contest on 83 minutes.

Fourth place RSC Anderlecht, with Josh Cullen in their starting eleven, played out a two all Belgian First Division draw at second place Club Bruges early this afternoon.

Saturday
In the Championship AFC Bournemouth have hit something of a blip in form and that continued in this afternoon’s early encounter at Middlesbrough where they lost to the only goal. The ‘Cherries’ included Mark Travers and Gavin Kilkenny in their starting eleven with Robbie Brady a 77th minute substitute. Goalkeeper Travers had a fine game while Kilkenny and Brady, during his short stint, performed reasonably well.  Blackburn Rovers and Darragh Lenihan crushed Birmingham City by four goals to nil at Ewood Park where Scott Hogan was an unused  substitute for the visitors. There was a three one success for Blackpool  over visitors Peterborough United for whom Jack Taylor started while Sam Szmodics was an unused substitute. 

In League One, Rotherham United named Chiedoze Ogbene in their starting eleven and he provided  the assist for the only goal to secure victory at Cambridge United. Joshua Kayode was an unused substitute for the ‘Millers’. There was a three two away success for Wigan Athletic at Oxford United where Will Keane opened the scoring and James McClean scored  the late winner. The hosts included Mark Sykes in their starting eleven.