Ready for the off at the Tallaght Stadium : Picture by David Rake Europa Conference League Shelbourne 0, Crystal Palace 3 The last thing Crystal Palace needed with a fixture pile-up such as theirs was two extra playoff games in the Europa Conference league but that grim possibility receded somewhat in Dublin last night. It was with a comprehensive victory over Shelbourne in the Tallaght Stadium that Palace moved tantalisingly to within a point of the top eight, which they sho

By Alessandro Schiavone at Santiago Bernabeu Champions League Matchday 6 Real Madrid 1-2 Man City Goals: Rodrygo 28' (RM), O'Reilly 35' (MC), Haaland 43' penalty (MC) MADRID- Manchester City impressively played themselves into bigger confidence ahead of their tricky trip at Crystal Palace on Sunday. Dreaming of beating Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu is one thing, going on and doing it is yet another. And Pep Guardiola’s men ended a four-game winless run in the Spanish

By Alessandro Schiavone at Stade Louis II, Montecarlo Champions League, Matchday 6 Monaco 1-0 Galatasaray Goal : Balogun 68' Mikel Arteta must have tapped himself on the shoulder in self-congratulatory mode and shouted "Muy bien, Mikel' to himself if he happened to watch Folarin Balogun's avalanche of missed chances against Galatasaray from his Brugge hotel yesterday night. And watching the scoreboard should not deceive anyone here! Balogun may have displayed his more opportu

Heading in the right direction. Bees boss Dean Brennan : Picture by @YTJourno Barnet's crushing 4-0 win against an ailing Bristol Rovers was a result that had been coming, according to boss Dean Brennan - who believes his side are playing as well as anyone in League Two. The Bees' bid to get involved in the promotion picture in their first season back in the Football League appeared to have stalled with a run of five draws and a defeat in the last six games, but Brennan beli

Night time Hive of activity : Picture by @YTJourno League Two Barnet (2) 4 Senior 15, Ofoborh 30, Shelton pen 78, Stead 89 Bristol Rovers (0) 0 A win against a team who had lost their last eight league games in a row could never really be described as a sliding doors moment in a season but this one still feels significant. After a run of five successive draws, the need to find a bit of momentum was obvious and Barnet achieved that with room to spare. The ambition must be to b

Exclusive Interview by Alessandro Schiavone MARSEILLE- Glenn Hoddle claimed that Tottenham Hotspur only have one world-class footballer in their ranks in Micky van de Ven. Yet Hoddle, who spent 17 years at White Hart Lane before leaving for Monaco, doubts the Dutchman will commit his long-term future to the club given how coveted he is. Former fan favourite Hoddle, 68, exclusively told Capital Football: "Van de Ven is under still a long contract. "They are looking to sign hi

Cottagers v Eagles programme by @JTaylorSport Fulham 1 Crystal Palace 2 “We are watching the best manager and the best team in Crystal Palace's history”. An eye-catching quote from Jamie Carragher on the rise of the south London club under Oliver Glasner. And this was prior to three points conjured up in disciplined, industrious fashion at Craven Cottage against luckless Fulham. It was a London derby with quality goals, firstly from Eddie Nketiah who fired Palace into a 20 th

Lighting up time : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Fulham (1) 1 Wilson 38 Crystal Palace (1) 2 Nketiah 20, Guehi 87 The fixture that refuses to end in home wins once again saw the away side make off with the spoils. For the 10th head-to-head running, it was visitors who enjoyed the better of it when games have not ended in draws. The Eagles scored a cracking opener through Eddie Nketiah and were pegged back by an even more outstanding goal from Harry Wilson. But Marc Gueh

Bournemouth 0 v Chelsea 0 By Kaz Mochlinski at the Vitality Stadium Premier League Matchweek 15 Chelsea’s sudden stumble continued as they suffered a scoreless Saturday afternoon stalemate on the South Coast in a forgettable draw with Bournemouth which made it three consecutive winless matches in a week. The Blues’ high point so far this season when they beat Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League 11 days ago has been followed by a failure to repeat such fireworks in any of th

Picture by @YTJourno Tottenham Hotspur ended a run of six home games in the Premier League without a win when they defeated Brentford 2-0 in N17 this afternoon. It comes on the back of a gutsy 2-2 draw at Newcastle United in midweek - when skipper Christian Romero scored twice and saved the day with a last minute overhead kick. This time, the plaudits went to Richarlison and Xavi Simons, who both scored in the first half. It was Simons' first goal for the club and brought b

Lunchtime booking : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Aston Villa (1) 2 Cash 36, Buendia 90+5 Arsenal (0) 1 Trossard 52 Arsenal were stunned by a 95th minute strike which brought their 18-game unbeaten run to a juddering end. The goal from Villa sub Emi Buendia came after an almighty goalmouth scramble and came so late on in injury time that there was no time to restart. It was a bitter blow for the Gunners, who had shrugged off a disappointing first half to get themselves

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

Hey Noni, Noni : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Arsenal (1) 2 Merino 11, Saka 91 Brentford (0) 0 It was gritty rather than spectacular - but will do just fine as far as Arsenal are concerned. Successful seasons are built around games like these. Brentford made it tough work but in the end, it was a case of another day, another Mikel Merino header - plus a Bukayo Saka coup de grace to complete the job. Merino just loves this false nine role and his licence to drift in on

Under the lights: Picture by @capitalfootball Premier League Fulham (1) 4 Smith Rowe 45, Iwobi 57, Chukwueze 72, 78 Manchester City (3) 5 Haaland 17, Reijnders 38, Foden 44, 48, Berge og 54 In the end, the craziness stopped just in time for Man City to claim the points - but this near-miss for Fulham will linger in the memory as much as a win. The Whites found themselves 5-1 down early in the second half to an imperious Man City and were staring down the barrel. But in the ev

Exclusive Interview by Alessandro Schiavone in Prague Photo by Alessandro Schiavone A Czech legend revealed that he's a big fan of polarizing West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek. Soucek regularly chips in with goals and makes life hard for the opposition off the ball as he gives them no inch. But all the same Pavel Horvath, who played for both Slavia and Sparta Prague before retiring in 2015, feels it's a big shout to tell whether the Hammers midfield cog would have had his plac

Brentford (0) 3 v Burnley (0) 1 Igor Thiago (pen) 81 Flemming (pen) 85 Igor Thiago 86 Ouattara 92 By Kaz Mochlinski at the Brentford Community Stadium Premier League Matchweek 13 Brentford added another home victory, with another Igor Thiago double, including another penalty, plus another stoppage time goal, as a very late, late show in the end ensured that Burnley were beaten 3-1. The Bees have now won five of the seven Premier League matches which they have played on their

When West meets North : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Chelsea (0) 1 Chalobah 48 Caicedo s/o 38 Arsenal (0) 1 Merino 59 Chelsea's bid to close a six-point gap on league leaders Arsenal fell just short but they pushed the Gunners all the way, even with 10 men. They had to cope without Moises Caicedo after his 38th minute dismissal but still had enough about them to grab a lead and then showed defensive nous to make sure they denied the Gunners a win the visitors had threa

West Ham United 0-2 Liverpool 'A wonderful man and one of the greatest competitors English football has ever seen'. It was a succinct, yet warm summary of West Ham United legend Billy Bonds at the London Stadium ahead of a minute's applause in his memory. The east Londoners welcomed ‘crisis club’ Liverpool to the capital, but this was one of those occasions holding the weight of the passing of a Hammers’ icon. A 2-0 defeat here leaves the Hammers perilously above the drop zon

Matchday programme : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Crystal Palace (1) 1 Mateta pen 32 Manchester United (0) 2 Zirkzee 54, Mount 65 The Eagles missed a chance to move up to fourth in the Premier League as they squandered a half-time lead before going on to record a first home defeat in the competition. Despite a bright start, energy levels dropped just enough to allow United a way back into the contest - and the obvious theory is that the extra game they had to play thre

Exclusive by Alessandro Schiavone Jefferson Lerma was in no mood to brand Crystal Palace as favourites against Manchester United. The Eagles go into Sunday's game sitting two points ahead of the Red Devils in the Premier League. But the Colombian midfielder told Capital Football: "In the Premier League there are no favourites. "We need to knuckle down,  work hard in training, recuperate and go into the game with a positive mindset." He then shed light on why Palace ended up l

By Alessandro Schiavone at BayArena, Leverkusen Bundesliga Matchday 12 Bayer Leverkusen 1-2 Borussia Dortmund Goals : Anselmino 41', Adeyemi 65', Kofane 83' From the highest of heights to the lowest of lows in the space of four days. From pulling off the unlikeliest of victories away at Man City on Tuesday night to crashing to a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund. And with it, any hopes of staying hot on runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich's heels with the

On tonight's menu : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Tottenham Hotspur (0) 1 Kudus 59 Fulham (2) Tete 4 , Wilson 6 So much for the 'feelgood factor' from that 5-3 defeat in Paris, then. Thomas Frank was at pains to talk up the improved display against the Euro champions in midweek that followed last weekend's dismal surrender to Arsenal in the North London derby - even if it was still brutal in terms of the goals against column. But the understandable attempt to spin som

By Alessandro Schiavone in Strasbourg Ben Chilwell admitted that he's still not where he'd like to be as he eyes a place in Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad with England. Chilwell, who sealed a permanent move to Ligue 1 in the summer, helped Strasbourg overcome ex-club Crystal Palace in the Conference League last night. He told Capital Football: "For me what's nice and what's good here is that I am getting consistent performances where I can keep on building the level. "The m

Scene before kick-off in Strasbourg: Picture by Pennie Turrell UEFA Conference League Strasbourg 2-1 Crystal Palace Crystal Palace suffered the frustration of relinquishing a first-half lead and hitting the woodwork twice to no avail as their hopes of automatic qualification for the knockout stages of the Conference League took a blow last night in France. And yet, the one time the hosts hit the woodwork, they scored from the rebound. It was that kind of night for Palace who