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

By Alessandro Schiavone in Paris Ligue 1, Matchday 10 Paris FC 3-3 Olympique Lyonnais Goals: Tolisso, Sulc 2x (L), Camara, Kebbal, Marchetti Arsenal flop Ainsley Maitland-Niles had a face like thunder at the end of the game. The reason? His Lyon side cocked up a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Paris FC under the watchful eye of club minority shareholder and Red Bull global head of sport Jürgen Klopp in the stands. With French football high society in the shape of Emmanuel Petit and

Cup favourites : Chelsea have a great chance of another League Cup semi-final There is only one club outside the Premier League left in this year's Carabao Cup and Chelsea have drawn them. The Blues will head to the Cardiff City Stadium in December to take on the Welshmen, who defeated Wrexham in this week's Fourth Round, while Enzo Maresca's men were edging a nervy tie at Wolves 4-3. There are five sides from the capital among the last eight, but only one of them has been dr

Retro-perspective. The shirt in the club shop that was all the rage when the League Cup was last won by Arsenal 32 years ago : Picture by @YTJourno Carabao Cup Fourth Round Arsenal (0) 2 Nwaneri 57, Saka 77 Brighton (0) 0 Arsenal's pursuit of the gold standard trophies meant this League Cup tie was never going to feature highly in the list of priorities, but the Gunners' classic blend of fringe players, reserves and teenagers got the job done to clinch a quarter-final place.

It was far from grim up north tonight for the Bees : Picture by Will Powell Carabao Cup 4th Round Grimsby Town (0) 0 Brentford (3) 5 Jensen 22, Lewis-Potter 26, Nelson 43, Fabio Carvalho (pen) 54, Collins 75 Brentford cruised into the next round of the Carabao Cup by the banks of River Humber at Cleethorpes thanks to a 5-0 with goals by Mathias Jensen, Keane Lewis-Potter, Reiss Nelson, Fabio Carvalho (penalty), and Nathan Collins as Keith Andrews' side made it four wins in t

Frank at the post-match conference at the Hill Dickinson Stadium : Picture by @YTJourno Spurs fans will know all too well about the folly of getting carried away. Remember those first heady weeks of the Ange Postecoglou regime? Tottenham were carrying all before them and threatening to be counted among the serious title contenders. Well we all know what happened to that pipe dream. Undefeated in their first 11 matches of the 2023/24 campaign they then crashed 4-1 to Chelsea a

Arsenal (1) 1 v Crystal Palace (0) 0 Eze 39 By Kaz Mochlinski at the Arsenal Stadium Premier League Matchweek 9 Arsenal tantalisingly increased their lead at the top of the Premier League as Eberechi Eze conjured a super strike to score the only goal of the game and overcome his former club Crystal Palace. It produced another “one-nil to the Arsenal”, with another goal resulting from a set-piece, combined with another clean sheet. This time with the addition of the notorious

Spurs break new ground : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Everton (0) 0 Tottenham Hotspur (2) 3 van de Ven 19 , 45+6 Sarr 89 So it's not just Gabriel dominating the air waves in North London. Tottenham's modern day Jan Vertonghen - Micky van de Ven - struck twice from corners in the first half as Spurs became the first away side to triumph at the shiny new Hill Dickinson Stadium at Bramley Moore Dock. It was a thoroughly convincing win for Spurs, who never looked under

Badges of honour outside the Gtech : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Brentford (2) 3 Ouatarra 5, Schade 45, Thiago pen 60 Liverpool (1) 2 Kerkez 45+5, Salah 89 Who is Thomas Frank again? It seems unlikely that the Great Dane's magnificent contribution to Brentford's recent history will ever be forgotten and he was always going to be a tough act to follow. But boy is the previously unheralded Keith Andrews making a decent fist of it. When Brentford lost 3-1 at Fulham a mon

But what was in store on the pitch?... : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Chelsea (1) 1 Garnacho 4 Sunderland (1) 2 Isidor 22, Talbi 90+3 No District Line in operation and no guile from their side either for Chelsea fans. Here was an afternoon for them to forget - with a defeat to pour a heavy dollop of cold water over their expectations. Chelsea's bid to keep recent momentum going after four straight wins was given the perfect fillip after just four minutes when Alejandro

AFC Wimbledon (0) 0 Burton Albion (0) 1  Hartridge 51’ AFC Wimbledon have achieved a great deal since battling their way to the Football League in 2011 but regularly beating Burton Albion is something they are yet to master. The Dons are enjoying their best-ever start to a season in the EFL - a feat that is particularly impressive given this is their first season back in League One following three years in the fourth tier - and even though they started the day with the chance

By Alessandro Schiavone at CEGEKA Arena, Genk KRC Genk 0-0 Betis Sevilla Balompié Oh Hyeon-gyu hit the foot of the post in the second-half as Genk and Real Betis Balompie could not be separated in a goalless draw in matchday 3 in the Europa League tonight. That's as good as it got in this dull game as the fifth-placed La Liga side, who were taken to the cleaners by Chelsea in the Europa Conference final in May, failed to turn up completely. Unlike their fans. Numerous and voc