Charlton Athletic (0) 1 v Chelsea (1) 5 Hato 45+5 Tosin Adarabioyo 50 Leaburn 57 Guiu 62 Neto 90+1 Fernández (pen) 90+4 By Kaz Mochlinski at The Valley FA Cup Third Round Liam Rosenior’s reign at Chelsea got off to a spectacular start with a 5-1 thrashing of Charlton Athletic as the visitors were victorious at The Valley and eventually ended up enjoying themselves on their new head coach’s debut. Jorrel Hato’s first goal for Chelsea opened the scoring before the break, and Ma

Macclesfield (1) 2 v Crystal Palace (0) 1 Dawson 43 Buckley-Ricketts 60 Pino 90 By Kaz Mochlinski at Moss Rose FA Cup Third Round Crystal Palace succumbed to the greatest shock in the history of the FA Cup, with the holders being knocked out of this season’s competition by non-league part-timers as Macclesfield secured a famous 2-1 win at Moss Rose. It was the first ever victory for a sixth tier team over a Premier League opponent, and the 117-place gap in the English footbal

Bournemouth (1) 2 v Arsenal (1) 3 Premier League Matchweek 20 Talking Points By Kaz Mochlinski at the Vitality Stadium No one with any affection for Arsenal will want to remotely tempt fate in the first week of January, but 2026 could very well be an immense year for the club. And right at the outset it already feels as if every game is going to be like a cup final. Just in January, out of a total of nine fixtures, there are five huge Premier League matches, which will be cru

Brentford 0 v Tottenham Hotspur 0 Premier League Matchweek 19 Talking Points By Kaz Mochlinski at the Brentford Community Stadium There may not have been much to watch in Brentford’s goalless draw with Tottenham Hotspur, but there was plenty nevertheless for the two head coaches, Keith Andrews and Thomas Frank, to talk about over a beer after the match. Friendly from their work together for the Bees before Frank’s move to Spurs in the summer, they still live close to each oth

Crystal Palace (0) 0 v Tottenham Hotspur (1) 1 Premier League Matchweek 18 Talking Points By Kaz Mochlinski at Selhurst Park “S**t happened again.” The articulate and eloquent Crystal Palace manager, Oliver Glasner, could not have expressed in any better phrasing the frustration felt by his team after yet another narrow and probably undeserved defeat against Tottenham Hotspur. It was an inauspicious result to end the best ever year for the club, with a first major prize in Pa

West Ham United (0) 0 v Fulham (0) 1 Raúl Jiménez 85 By Kaz Mochlinski at the London Stadium Premier League Matchweek 18 This was the one that brought them to tears. Ollie Scarles could not stop himself crying very visibly on the pitch at the final whistle, after his mistake led to the winning goal in the closing stages, but most of West Ham United’s faithful must have felt very similarly. The Hammers’ growing gloom got ever greater on a grey winter afternoon as they were con

Cardiff City (0) 1 v Chelsea (0) 3 Garnacho 57 Turnbull 75 Neto 82 Garnacho 93 By Kaz Mochlinski at the Cardiff City Stadium Football League Cup Quarter-Final Chelsea were taken to within eight minutes of a penalty shoot-out by a spirited Cardiff City side before being rescued from an immensely embarrassing result against League One opposition through fine finishes from second half substitutes. A double from Alejandro Garnacho and an equally crucial goal from Pedro Neto justi

Brentford (0) 1 v Leeds United (0) 1 Henderson 70 Calvert-Lewin 82 By Kaz Mochlinski at the Brentford Community Stadium Premier League Matchweek 16 Jordan Henderson’s first goal for Brentford proved precious in picking up a point against Leeds United to take the Bees a little further from the threat of relegation in the lower reaches of the Premier League table. In a close encounter between two excellently-coached, well-organised and evenly-matched sides, Brentford took the l

Tottenham Hotspur (1) 3 v Slavia Praha (0) 0 Zima (og) 26 Kudus (pen) 50 Xavi Simons (pen) 79 By Kaz Mochlinski at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Champions League MD6 Tottenham Hotspur edged encouragingly closer to the Champions League knock-out stages, extending their excellent European run with another home victory as they battled to beat Slavia Praha 3-0. However, it took an own goal and two penalties to maintain their 100% winning start in the competition this season in N1

Tottenham Hotspur (0) 1 v Fulham (2 Talking Points By Kaz Mochlinski at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Thomas Frank finally fought back against the fans turning the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium toxic for the team, after the deteriorating atmosphere again appeared to affect the players in a disappointing defeat by Fulham. “They can’t be true Tottenham fans” was the Spurs head coach’s most forthright comment about the recurrent booing that marked the Saturday night London derby, as