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It was right to disallow Tottenham’s goal in the north London derby and it was also correct to rule out the goal that would have given Burnley a 4-4 draw against BrentfordAt the start of the season, clubs, fans and the media were told referees would be taking a proactive approach to holding in the penalty area, or grappling as some call it. We have since seen some really good examples of on-field referees making decisions where they have clearly identified holding offences and others where the VAR has recommended a review. But in the past six or eight weeks the issue seems to have intensified, with a change in tack in the Premier League, where clubs are loading the penalty area at every set piece.During the game between Arsenal and Chelsea on Sunday there was one corner where Declan Rice was holding Jorrel Hato, David Raya was being held, Gabriel Magalhães’s shirt was being pulled and Viktor Gyökeres was having a tug at Enzo Fernández. It was very messy. The players have a real responsibility with this because a lot of histrionics go with it. Players are going to ground easily, obscured by a crowd of people in the penalty area, and offences can be difficult to detect. Continue reading...

Back-line may feature one survivor from Ireland defeatBen Spencer, Cadan Murley and Seb Atkinson in frameSteve Borthwick is ready to radically overhaul his misfiring England side for the Six Nations clash against Italy on Saturday, with Fin Smith expected to be handed the No 10 jersey.The Northampton fly-half sat out training on Monday because of illness but England have been quick to allay fears that his participation against Italy is in doubt. Provided he recovers, Smith is expected to start at fly-half in place of George Ford. Continue reading...

It was possible to spin his 2025 arrival as a clean slate but the former businessman soon lost the confidence of key playersThe wait continues for confirmation that Charles Allen’s brief, troubled – and ultimately ineffectual – tenure as chair of the British Horseracing Authority is over. In racing terms, however, he is nine-tenths out of the saddle, his backside inching towards the turf and gravity is about to take over.Even in the thankless and intractable world of racing politics, few stars have waned as rapidly as that of Lord Allen of Kensington, a former businessman and senior broadcasting executive who arrived in September at the BHA promising to restructure the sport’s governance and, in the words of his day-one mission statement, “develop British racing into a modern commercial and cultural powerhouse”. Continue reading...

Fifa regulations vague on issue of replacing any teamsWithdrawal would be first since France and India in 1950Iraq and the United Arab Emirates are viewed as the most likely beneficiaries should Iran withdraw from the World Cup. Fifa’s general secretary, Mattias Grafström, said on Saturday that “our focus is to have a safe World Cup with everybody participating”, but the president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, has raised doubts over his country’s participation by saying: “After this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope.”Fifa has not commented since Grafström spoke and remains determined to ensure the World Cup, which starts on 11 June, goes ahead as planned, but several sources have said that if its hand were forced by Iran’s withdrawal the replacement will probably come from the Asian Football Confederation. Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and Barney Ronay as Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates to maintain their five-point lead over Manchester City. On the podcast today; Arsenal edge past Chelsea at the Emirates. It had lots of things you’d expect. Goals from corners and lots of holding, a Chelsea red card and Robert Sanchez flapping about. Chelsea almost equalised but it’s as you were after Man City’s win at Leeds on Saturday Elsewhere, an agonising VAR check at Burnley as we were forced to look at Ashley Barnes pixellated hand for six minutes, Liverpool hit five at home to West Ham. Jordan Pickford makes an unbelievable save for Everton as one goes in off Barry’s backside. Plus, Igor Tudor says Spurs lacked ‘everything’ which is quite a lot of things - relief for them then that Forest also lost. Manchester United go 3rd with victory over Palace while Wolves win their 2nd game of the season. A lopsided Champions League draw Iran potentially not playing at the World Cup and your questions answered.Subscribe to The Guardian Football Weekly ► https://www.youtube.com/@FootballWeeklyPodcast?sub_confirmation=1Guardian Football Weekly podcast:Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/football-weekly/id188674007Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/6w8qWe0kjgHEHSWDSDGoLW?si=231c666f7f5a4453Follow Guardian Football Weekly:Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/guardian_footballweekly/TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@guardian_footballweekly#footballweekly #arsenal #chelsea #mancity #wolves #premierleague #championsleague #iran #iranwar #worldcup Continue reading...

Three fans found to have made gesture in FrankfurtClub impose indefinite bans on individuals involvedTottenham have had a one-match ban imposed on their away supporters in Europe, suspended for a year, after three of them were found to have directed Nazi salutes at their Eintracht Frankfurt counterparts during the Champions League game between the clubs in January. Spurs have given the trio indefinite bans and described their behaviour as “utterly abhorrent”.Uefa announced the punishment on Monday, saying it had also fined Spurs €30,000. If there is any repeat offence within a year, the club’s fans will serve a one-game away ban. Continue reading...

Spurs’ slide from title hopefuls to relegation candidates is a story of complete mismanagement and widespread injurySign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson hereLast week, after Tottenham had lost 4-1 at home to Arsenal, Igor Tudor was bullish. It was possible leaving his post-match press conference to think he was a man with the energy and personality to drag Spurs away from the relegation zone. This week, after Tottenham had lost 2-1 at Fulham, Tudor was deflated. The previous week he had spoken of defeat in the North London derby as being part of the process, a game that would startle his players into understanding what was required of them. This week, he just mumbled about having to forget the game and move on. A week in the Tottenham job seemed to have broken him.Tudor is a specialist firefighter. He has saved teams from worse positions than being four points clear of the relegation zone with 10 games to go, which is where Spurs stand now. But that is what makes his defeatist tone so shocking. He spoke of “big problems”, dismissing a question about his 4-4-2 formation with the snort of a man asked about the shade of the carpet in his hallway as his roof burns down. He talked of an attack that lacks quality, of a midfield that cannot run and a defence that is not prepared to “suffer” to keep goals out. He made fairly explicit that he thinks his players lack the requisite character and pointed out how Fulham were better at reading the game, accusing his players of lacking “brain”. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!Following Liverpool’s win over Lille to qualify for the knockout stages of Bigger Cup last season, Arne Slot famously revealed that his father had been less than impressed. “There have definitely not been many [Liverpool] games where he has said: ‘Oh I like what I saw!’” sighed Slot of his old man, who presumably views a 4-0 win with the same grim Dutch disdain one might reserve for a lukewarm stroopwafel. This past weekend it became apparent that the apple hasn’t fallen too far from the tree, as the Liverpool head coach told hacks that even he isn’t particularly impressed with the quality of football in the Premier League, although the nature of Arsenal’s attritional Six Nations win over Chelsea may have won him over.Less than two weeks between hoping that ‘courage and confidence can arrest Tottenham’s slide’ and saying: ‘We are lacking when we attack, we lack the quality to score the goal. We are lacking in the middle to run and we are lacking behind to stay there to suffer and not concede the goal. So, an amazing situation. Amazing.’ Spurs are just like if the late Byzantine court had a football club, but with marginally fewer ritual blindings” – Noble Francis.​​​​If the Spurs caretaker manager’s post-game assessment of the loss to Fulham is accurate, his club may have missed a huge opportunity by not hiring a tutor instead of a Tudor” – Peter Oh.On Saturday a group of four old (very old) friends and I attended the Hearts v Aberdeen match at Tynecastle. Many years ago we were all regular Hearts turnstile pushers, but as time passed we all now live in widely separated locales. However, once a year, we still make a point of booking tickets, hospitality and an overnight stay in Edinburgh, just for old time’s sake. (Our journeys do indeed make use of trains, planes and automobiles. Oh, and a coach.) This year we pushed the boat out and booked rooms in the bijou little hotel within the Tynecastle fortress itself. On Sunday morning one friend and I had already checked out and were waiting for the others to appear. Out of nowhere a man in a Hearts jumper came through reception – ‘Can I help you boys?’ [Boys!] We explained we were just waiting on friends. He continued: ‘While you’re hanging on, do you want to come and have a look at the changing rooms?’ So he took us to the changing rooms, showers, medical centre, warm-up room, etc … and then out to the pitch. He took pictures of us in the tunnel and sitting in the dugout! For two old men who have supported Hearts through 50-plus years of disappointment and rare glory, this was almost unbelievable. I had to keep pinching myself. At one point he said: ‘They don’t have a big communal bath like in the old days. There’s showers instead. But there is one single bath still available for whoever wants it and gets it first. We call it “The Cammy Devlin Bath”, on account of the number of red cards he gets!’” – Ken Muir. Continue reading...

Hat-trick against Villarreal, his first at 18 years and 230 days, made him the youngest Barça player to score a league oneMounir Nasraoui and Sheila Ebana watched their little boy make history while everyone else watched too, which takes getting used to but is the way it is now and forever. A moment before the second half began on Saturday, Hansi Flick came to an agreement with Lamine Yamal, or tried to. The teenager had scored twice – both superb, the second absurd – to put them 2-0 up against Villarreal and the coach had an idea. If we score the third, we’ll take you off, Flick said; if I score the third, we will, Lamine Yamal replied. Twenty minutes later both happened together and that, he laughed after, was “perfect”, so up went the board with his number on and up went 44,256 people too, applauding as he went.Back home, following the game on TV and broadcasting to the world, so did his dad. Lamine Yamal slapped hands with Roony Bardghji, delegate Carlos Naval and Flick, but his eyes were turned towards the stands, looking for his mum. He settled into the bench for a while, saw Robert Lewandowski add another to complete a 4-1 victory and then, when the final whistle sounded, headed back out, collected the match ball from Naval and went to find her. “This is yours,” he said, cameras catching another conversation. “I’m going to take it inside and get everyone to sign it, then bring it to you.” Sheila hugged him hard, kissed her “handsome boy”, and waited for him to return so they could go for dinner. Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and Barney Ronay as Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates to maintain their lead over Manchester CityRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on email.On the podcast today: Arsenal edge past Chelsea at the Emirates. There’s lots of things you’d expect: goals from corners and lots of holding, a Chelsea red card and Robert Sánchez flapping about. Chelsea almost equalised but it’s as you were after Manchester City’s win at Leeds on Saturday. Continue reading...