Right, that is it from me. Thanks for joining me this afternoon, plenty more action to follow along with via the Guardian’s sports desk this evening though.
Updated
John Brewin was at St Mary’s to see Saints salvage a point:
Here is Peter Lansley’s take on the drama at Molineux:
The match reports are dropping in. First up, here is how Ed Aarons saw Brentford’s draw with Leicester:
League Two table
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leyton Orient | 36 | 24 | 73 |
| 2 | Stevenage | 36 | 19 | 67 |
| 3 | Northampton | 37 | 17 | 66 |
| 4 | Carlisle | 36 | 23 | 65 |
| 5 | Stockport County | 37 | 18 | 60 |
| 6 | Bradford | 36 | 13 | 60 |
| 7 | Salford City | 37 | 15 | 59 |
| 8 | Mansfield | 35 | 10 | 56 |
| 9 | Sutton Utd | 37 | 0 | 55 |
| 10 | Barrow | 37 | -4 | 52 |
| 11 | Swindon | 36 | 7 | 51 |
| 12 | Doncaster | 36 | -10 | 50 |
| 13 | Walsall | 36 | 6 | 48 |
| 14 | Tranmere | 37 | -2 | 48 |
| 15 | Grimsby | 34 | -4 | 45 |
| 16 | Newport County | 37 | -5 | 43 |
| 17 | AFC Wimbledon | 37 | -5 | 43 |
| 18 | Crewe | 36 | -12 | 42 |
| 19 | Harrogate Town | 37 | -12 | 38 |
| 20 | Gillingham | 36 | -16 | 38 |
| 21 | Colchester | 37 | -12 | 36 |
| 22 | Crawley Town | 35 | -20 | 32 |
| 23 | Hartlepool | 37 | -26 | 31 |
| 24 | Rochdale | 37 | -24 | 26 |
League One table
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheff Wed | 35 | 39 | 78 |
| 2 | Plymouth | 37 | 24 | 77 |
| 3 | Ipswich | 37 | 41 | 75 |
| 4 | Barnsley | 35 | 27 | 69 |
| 5 | Derby | 37 | 22 | 64 |
| 6 | Bolton | 38 | 21 | 64 |
| 7 | Peterborough | 37 | 16 | 60 |
| 8 | Wycombe | 37 | 15 | 60 |
| 9 | Portsmouth | 37 | 9 | 57 |
| 10 | Shrewsbury | 37 | 6 | 55 |
| 11 | Charlton | 37 | 3 | 48 |
| 12 | Fleetwood Town | 37 | 1 | 46 |
| 13 | Exeter | 36 | 0 | 46 |
| 14 | Lincoln City | 36 | -5 | 45 |
| 15 | Bristol Rovers | 37 | -10 | 45 |
| 16 | Port Vale | 37 | -15 | 44 |
| 17 | Cheltenham | 37 | -15 | 43 |
| 18 | Burton Albion | 36 | -23 | 41 |
| 19 | Oxford Utd | 37 | -10 | 37 |
| 20 | Milton Keynes Dons | 37 | -21 | 36 |
| 21 | Accrington Stanley | 36 | -26 | 35 |
| 22 | Morecambe | 38 | -25 | 34 |
| 23 | Cambridge Utd | 37 | -31 | 30 |
| 24 | Forest Green | 37 | -43 | 23 |
Championship table
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burnley | 37 | 45 | 83 |
| 2 | Sheff Utd | 37 | 25 | 70 |
| 3 | Middlesbrough | 38 | 27 | 67 |
| 4 | Luton | 38 | 11 | 64 |
| 5 | Blackburn | 37 | 1 | 61 |
| 6 | Millwall | 38 | 8 | 60 |
| 7 | Norwich | 38 | 11 | 57 |
| 8 | Coventry | 38 | 10 | 57 |
| 9 | West Brom | 37 | 8 | 55 |
| 10 | Watford | 38 | 5 | 55 |
| 11 | Sunderland | 38 | 7 | 53 |
| 12 | Preston North End | 38 | -9 | 53 |
| 13 | Stoke | 38 | 3 | 48 |
| 14 | Bristol City | 37 | 1 | 48 |
| 15 | Hull | 38 | -10 | 47 |
| 16 | Birmingham | 38 | -8 | 45 |
| 17 | Reading | 38 | -18 | 45 |
| 18 | Swansea | 37 | -8 | 43 |
| 19 | Cardiff | 38 | -12 | 42 |
| 20 | QPR | 38 | -21 | 42 |
| 21 | Rotherham | 38 | -11 | 40 |
| 22 | Huddersfield | 38 | -21 | 36 |
| 23 | Blackpool | 38 | -18 | 35 |
| 24 | Wigan | 38 | -26 | 34 |
A couple more MBMs to get stuck into…
FA Cup quarter-final: Manchester City v Bradford with Scott Murray:
Daniel Gallan has Chelsea v Everton:
Premier League table
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 27 | 37 | 66 |
| 2 | Man City | 27 | 42 | 61 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 26 | 6 | 50 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 28 | 12 | 49 |
| 5 | Newcastle | 26 | 20 | 47 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 26 | 18 | 42 |
| 7 | Brighton | 25 | 15 | 42 |
| 8 | Brentford | 27 | 9 | 42 |
| 9 | Fulham | 27 | 1 | 39 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | 27 | -4 | 38 |
| 11 | Chelsea | 26 | 1 | 37 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 27 | -13 | 27 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | 28 | -19 | 27 |
| 14 | Leeds | 27 | -9 | 26 |
| 15 | Nottm Forest | 27 | -27 | 26 |
| 16 | Leicester | 27 | -9 | 25 |
| 17 | Everton | 27 | -18 | 25 |
| 18 | West Ham | 26 | -10 | 24 |
| 19 | AFC Bournemouth | 27 | -29 | 24 |
| 20 | Southampton | 28 | -23 | 23 |
Fitba update
Our new Scottish correspondent Simon emails in the full-time update:
Dundee United threw everything at it during ten minutes of added time against St Mirren, and should really have won it, but it finished 1-1 at Tannadice. Celtic came from 1-0 down to win 3-1 against Hibernian. Elie Youan’s red card proved to be decisive as the Hoops rallied in the second half.
More Scottish Premiership full-times:
Livingston 2-1 Ross County
Kilmarnock 1-1 St Johnstone
Aberdeen 3-0 Hearts
League Two: Full-time scores
Wimbledon 0-1 Crawley
Carlisle 0-0 Stevenage
Harrogate 1-0 Barrow
Leyton Orient 2-2 Colchester
Northampton 1-0 Crewe
Rochdale 4-4 Swindon
Salford 3-0 Doncaster
Stockport 1-1 Mansfield
Tranmere 1-3 Newport
Walsall 2-0 Gillingham
League One: Full-time scores
Lincoln City 0-3 Peterborough
Accrington 0-1 MK Dons
Bristol Rovers 0-2 Portsmouth
Cambridge 1-2 Charlton
Cheltenham 3-1 Exeter
Derby 0-2 Fleetwood
Ipswich 2-0 Shrewsbury
Morecambe 1-0 Oxford
Plymouth 2-0 Forest Green
Port Vale 2-3 Burton
Wycombe 0-1 Barnsley
This is why the game at New York Stadium was curtailed:
MATCH | A pitch inspection will take place at AESSEAL New York Stadium at 16:45.
— Rotherham United (@OfficialRUFC) March 18, 2023
(0-1)#rufc | #ForeverTogetherForeverProud pic.twitter.com/oDydZ09prA
Rotherham were trailing 0-1 against Cardiff at the time.
Championship: Full-time scores
Blackpool 1-4 Coventry
Middlesbrough 4-2 Preston
Millwall 0-1 Huddersfield
QPR 0-1 Birmingham
Reading 1-1 Hull
Rotherham P-P (Match abandoned)
Stoke 0-0 Norwich
Sunderland 1-1 Luton
Watford 1-1 Wigan
Updated
Full-time: Southampton 3-3 Tottenham
Saints battled hard for that point and nearly lose it at the end as Perisic heads just wide with the last action of the game. For Spurs, this was a big opportunity missed.
Full-time: Wolves 2-4 Leeds
This one will be worth watching back later. Leeds are out of the drop zone and Wolves’ progress under Julen Lopetegui stalls.
Full-time: Brentford 1-1 Leicester
A point that suits neither side.
Full time: Aston Villa 3-0 Bournemouth
Easy win for Unai Emery’s side.
Goal! Wolves 2-4 Leeds (Rodrigo 90+7)
And now it is settled.
Updated
Goal! Southampton 3-3 Tottenham (Ward-Prowse 90+3)
Forster goes the right way but he cannot get a hand on the penalty which goes high into the net.
Updated
Penalty! Southampton 2-3 Tottenham
Very soft, but Pape Sarr takes a wild swing to clear and Maitland-Niles steals in on the blindside and hits the deck. No hesitation from the referee, he points to the spot.
Goal! Aston Villa 3-0 Bournemouth (Emi Buendia 89)
If this wasn’t done before, it is now. VAR check for offside, but eventually it stands.
Updated
League Two
Some game at Spotland, Charlie Austin has scored four goals for Swindon, but Rochdale are not out of it. Tthe hosts trail 3-4.
Updated
Red card! Wolves 2-3 Leeds
Leeds can now breathe a sigh of relief. Jonny goes over the ball and into Ayling’s ankle. That is a bad, bad foul. Not sure why VAR needed to look at that for so long, he’s off.
Goal! Aston Villa 2-0 Bournemouth (Jacob Ramsey 80)
Jaconb Ramsey has buried the Cherries. Hard to see a way back here, but then I said that about Wolves…
Updated
Goal! Southampton 2-3 Tottenham (Walcott 77)
Big save from Fraser Forster to deny Maitland-Niles but earns a corner for Saints. The first ball is cleared but Ward-Prowse hangs a second attempt up to the back post for Sekou Mara to nod back across goal where Walcott is on the spot to side-foot home.
Updated
Goal! Southampton 1-3 Tottenham (Perisic 74)
Saints fail to clear from a corner and when Kulesevski hoists a cross back in Cristian Romero does enough to get the ball back to Perisic just inside the box to fire a volley home.
Updated
Goal! Wolves 2-3 Leeds (Matheus Cunha 73)
My call when Leeds 3-0 up is looking on very shaky ground. Cunha has his first goal since joining Wolves on loan from Atletico Madrid.
Updated
League One
Both Ipswich and Portsmouth added second goals since the break against Shrewsbury and Bristol Rovers respectively.
Updated
Goal! Southampton 1-2 Tottenham (Kane 65)
Kulusevski stands up his man and whips in a cross, Kane gets above Walker-Peters and powers his header in. That is the England captain’s 12th goal in his last 14 games against Saints.
Updated
Goal! Wolves 0-3 Leeds (Rasmus Kristensen 62)
This is all over. Kristensen outmuscles his man and fires past Jose Sar.
Updated
Goal! Wolves 1-3 (Jonny 65)
All to play for! What a goal that is from Jonny, who takes advantage of Illan Meslier being well off his line to clear to loop a first-time volley in from more than 35 yards out.
Championship
Middlesbrough are now 2-0 up against Preston, Reading have equalised against Hull, Luton lead 1-0 at Sunderland and Wigan have levelled to make it 1-1 at Watford.
54 mins: VAR check for a penalty at St Mary’s. Peresic’s shot from the edge of the box its Maitland-Niles, the defenders hands were in that awkward body block position but he knew nothing about it. No penalty is the call, probably correct.
Goal! Brentford 1-1 Leicester (Harvey Barnes 52)
James Maddison’s clever pass gets Barnes in and the winger clips a smart finish past Raya in the Brentford goal.
Updated
Goal! Wolves 0-2 Leeds (Luke Ayling 49)
This is becoming a big afternoon for Leeds. They stretch their lead with Ayling stooping to nod home at the far post as he inexplicably finds himself unmarked at a corner. Softer than soft that.
Updated
Goal! Southampton 1-1 (Adams 46)
The second half has barely restarted and we are level. Walcott is played in down the right hand side, the winger gallops into the box and slides a ball across the six yard box for Adams to divert home off the far post. Great ball from Walcott and brave forward play from Adams.
Updated
Peeep! We are back underway for the second half across the 3pm kick-offs, apart from at St Mary’s where they are running slightly behind after playing seven minutes of added to deal with all of those injuries.
League One
Plymouth have doubled their lead over Forest Green, Bali Mumba has made it 2-0.
Simon writes in to do my job for me with an update from Scotland:
No mid table mediocrity in Scotland, where Dundee United are leading St. Mirren 1-0 in their battle to escape the drop. Three points today will see them move level on points with Ross County who are trailing 2-0 at Livingston. Hibs lead Celtic 1-0 at half-time in Glasgow, though they are down to ten men.
More updates from Simon as the afternoon progresses (I hope).
League Two: Half-time scores
Wimbledon 0-1 Crawley
Carlisle 0-0 Stevenage
Harrogate 0-0 Barrow
Leyton Orient 1-0 Colchester
Northampton 1-0 Crewe
Rochdale 2-2 Swindon
Salford 2-1 Doncaster
Stockport 1-0 Mansfield
Tranmere 0-2 Newport
Walsall 0-0 Gillingham
Updated
League One: Half-time scores
Accrington 0-1 MK Dons
Bristol Rovers 0-1 Portsmouth
Cambridge 0-2 Charlton
Cheltenham 1-0 Exeter
Derby 0-1 Fleetwood
Ipswich 1-0 Shrewsbury
Morecambe 0-1 Oxford
Plymouth 1-0 Forest Green
Port Vale 1-0 Burton
Wycombe 0-0 Barnsley
Updated
Championship: Half-time scores
Blackpool 1-1 Coventry
Middlesbrough 1-0 Preston
Millwall 0-0 Huddersfield
QPR 0-1 Birmingham
Reading 0-1 Hull
Rotherham 0-1 Cardiff
Stoke 0-0 Norwich
Sunderland 0-0 Luton
Watford 0-0 Wigan
Premier League: Half-time scores
Aston Villa 1-0 Bournemouth
Brentford 1-0 Leicester
Southampton 0-1 Tottenham
Wolves 1-0 Leeds
Updated
Half-time: Wolves 0-1 Leeds
Harrison’s strike has the visitors ahead at the break.
Goal! Southampton 0-1 Tottenham (Porro 45+1)
Where did that come from? The board shows seven minutes of added time then Spurs, who have been – to be frank - dull as dishwater, grab the lead. Son receives the ball 35 yards from goal and turns under little pressure and slides it right to Porro who smashes it home off the underside of the crossbar. Romain Perraud was AWOL.
Updated
League Two
The tectonic plates are moving in the playoff spots. As it stands Salford up to seventh as they lead 2-1 against Doncaster. Mansfield are the team dropping a place to eight, they currently trail Stockport 0-1.
Key event
Aston Villa 1-0 Bournemouth
There was a penalty check for a handball against Jack Stephens, but replays showed it came off the Bournemouth defender’s thigh.
37 mins: Who has cursed St Mary’s? Both sides have had to make another change. Jan Bednarek has gone off to be replaced by Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Ben Davies went off, with Ivan Peresic coming on.
Goal! Brentford 1-0 Leicester (Jensen 32)
We had to wait for clearance from VAR on this one, but it is given. Jensen turns home via a deflection after Leicester failed to clear a corner routine.
Updated
Middlesbrough 1-0 Preston (Chuba Akpom 22 min)
A 24th goal for the season for Akpom gives Boro the lead. The Boro forward’s hot form infront of goal could well fire Michael Carrick’s side into the reckoning for the automatic promotion spots – they will be just three points behind Sheffield United with a win.
Updated
25 min: Couple of chances for Spurs. Firstly Harry Kane gtes free down their right and carries the ball into the box, but rather squaring to Son Heung-min the striker fires a shot into the defender. Then, as Saints fail to clear their lines, the ball falls to Pedro Porro but he can only volley high over the bar.
League Two
Big goal for Ashley Nadesan has Crawley ahead at Wimbledon. Crypto FC can jump ahead of Hartlepool if they win this one.
Updated
League One
Plymouth lead bottom side Forest Green thanks to James Bolton. The Pilgrims can close Sheffield Wednesday’s lead to a single point with a win. Ipswich are ahead at Shrewsbury, George Hirst with that one. In the relegation scrap between Accrington and MK Dons, Sullay Kaikai has put Mark Jackson’s side 1-0 up.
Championship
Just two goals so far. Birmingham lead at struggling QPR, while Cardiff have struck first at Rotherham.
At St Mary’s both sides have now been forced into making early changes. Armel Bella-Kotchap was forced off with what looked like a shoulder injury to be replaced by Mohammed Salisu.
Goal! Aston Villa 1-0 Bournemouth (Douglas Luiz)
Leon Bailey squares the ball to Douglas Luiz who taps in the opener. The picture at the bottom of the table is going to be in constant flux this afternoon. As it stands Leeds are up to 14th.
Updated
Goal! Wolves 0-1 Leeds (Harrison 6mins)
Wilfried Gnonto gets to the byline on the right-hand side and cuts back into a dangerous area. Jack Harrison is alive to the chance whips the ball home from the penalty box and gets a clattering for his troubles. He will not care. Great finish, big goal.
Updated
4min: Big blow for Spurs as Richarlison goes off in tears with an injury. Dejan Kulusevski is coming on for the Brazilian, who picked something up in the warmup.
Updated
Peep peep! It’s Saturday. It’s 3pm. It’s time for football.
EFL updates.
There were no early games in the top two tiers, but in League One Peterborough have moved up to seventh with a 3-0 win at Lincoln. Joe Ward, Jack Taylor and Jonson Clarke-Harris all finding the net.
At Valley Parade, Hartlepool missed a chance to move further clear of the League Two relegation. Goals Callum Cooke and Daniel Kemp had the Pools ahead twice but Andy Cook was twice able to level for Bradford
Crystal Palace play tomorrow with Paddy McCarthy temporarily at the helm, but former manager Roy Hodgson has been approached by the club about making a surprise return to Selhurst Park until the end of the season, Ed Aarons reports. The former England manager, who is 75, is understood to be interested in taking over from Vieira.
Others linked with the job include Paulo Fonseca, who is currently managing the French side Lille and came close to being appointed Tottenham manager in 2021. Former Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl, Burnley’s Vincent Kompany and Michael Carrick of Middlesbrough are all said to be on Palace’s shortlist.
Looking across the continent...
…not a lot is happening today unless you are really into the battle for third-place in the Bundesliga (Bochum host RB Leipzig, for the die-hards). It is all quite mid-table otherwise.
Wolves v Leeds team news
#WOLLEE pic.twitter.com/cuqstuAp1p
— Wolves (@Wolves) March 18, 2023
LANDMARK: Illan Meslier becomes the youngest ever goalkeeper to make 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ Premier League appearances (23 years, 16 days) and surpasses Scott Carson to reach the milestone (23 years, 136 days).https://t.co/sbxOfiIPd1 | #LUFC https://t.co/PTkcE8TTRu
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) March 18, 2023
Brentford v Leicester team news
🐝 Your Bees to take on the Foxes#BRELEI | #BrentfordFC | @bluejeansnet
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) March 18, 2023
The Foxes to start at Brentford 📝 🦊#BRELEI pic.twitter.com/0To2ZkD4Th
— Leicester City (@LCFC) March 18, 2023
Updated
Aston Villa v Bournemouth team news
Introducing your Aston Villa team to face Bournemouth! 👊 #AVLBOU pic.twitter.com/NGUJRXxWi7
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 18, 2023
We're unchanged for #AVLBOU 💪
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) March 18, 2023
𝗟𝗘𝗧'𝗦 𝗚𝗢 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/sAibKmMJgA
Updated
Southampton v Tottenham team news
Our team to face Tottenham 😇
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) March 18, 2023
Three changes for #SaintsFC this afternoon 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/DeyxSPvoS1
Your unchanged Spurs starting XI 🔢 pic.twitter.com/U9tNtsab8a
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 18, 2023
Preamble
Alexander Isak’s late penalty last night means there is a bit of mustard on Spurs’ trip to Southampton. With no Champions League to focus on, the fabled ‘fourth place trophy’ is all Antonio Conte can achieve in his last few months at Tottenham the last few months of the season.
In my head Spurs have a really good record at St Mary’s, but the facts say otherwise. The 5-2 thrashing at the start of the 2020/21 season was the only time in their last five meetings on the south coast that Spurs left victorius, with Saints winning two and a pair of 1-1 draws completing the set.
Elsewhere, intrigue comes at the Gtech (is that a thing?), where Brentford can jump back into the European spots if they beat Leicester. Wolves and Leeds are split by five teams but just four points in what is shaping up as the widest relegation battle ever. While Aston Villa, arguably the only truly mid-table team in the Premier League currently, will be looking to place a stiff arm on a Bournemouth side for whom mid-March mediocrity is an aspiration. Longing for a three-bed semi in the suburbs with a driveaway and a nice car to put in it, if you will.
These are all the 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League:
Aston Villa v Bournemouth
Brentford v Leicester
Southampton v Tottenham
Wolves v Leeds
Guiding you gently through Everton’s visit to Chelsea in the 5.30pm kick-off will be Daniel Gallan, while Scott Murray is on hand for minute-by-minute updates from the first FA Cup quarter-final of the weekend, which sees Manchester City welcome back Vincent Kompany and his Burnley side. That one gets unerway at 5.45pm.
Updated
