Key events
No penalty! It’s Micky van de Ven who won the penalty for Spurs, but replays suggest he ran into James Hill in search of the spot kick. Yep, the referee has changed his mind after a trip to the monitor – and Van de Ven is booked for his complaints.
GOAL! Brentford 3-0 Sunderland (Yarmolyuk 73′)
Brentford make it three, Yegor Yarmolyuk tapping home from close range to compound a rare off-day for Sunderland.
Spurs hit the post! Richarlison’s header is this close to getting Tottenham back on terms – and now they might have a penalty …
Where to now? How about St James’ Park, where half-time is rapidly approaching.
“A bit of a house derby in the Paraskevas home: my little brother is a Leeds fan and we’re both up for this one. Although I’m the one paying for our streaming subscription, so should he even be allowed to watch? No idea how Leeds aren’t ahead, Newcastle have been very ordinary.”
GOAL! Everton 1-1 Wolves (Mané 70′)
Oh, hello. Wolves’ rising star, Mateus Mané, runs on to a through ball and fires past Pickford in front of the away fans, who serenade him to the tune of the Cranberries.
GOAL! Brentford 2-0 Sunderland (Thiago 65′)
He simply cannot stop scoring. Moments after Le Fee’s penalty aberration, Igor Thiago climbs to head home and put Brentford in charge. The hosts are fifth, Sunderland down to 11th as it stands.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-1 Leeds (Barnes 36′)
Leeds’ lead lasts just four minutes as Harvey Barnes fires Newcastle level! That game kicked off at 8.15pm, so we’re still in the first half.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 Brighton (Mitoma 60′)
City are pegged back! It’s Kaoru Mitoma who levels in style, sending his shot beyond Donnarumma and into the far corner. The City keeper is then booked for tussling with De Cuyper over the loose ball.
GOAL! Newcastle 0-1 Leeds (Aaronson 32′)
Leeds deservedly go ahead at St James’ Park, Brenden Aaronson slotting home from Calvert-Lewin’s pass.
GOAL! Fulham 1-0 Chelsea (Jiménez 55′)
Please forget whatever it was I said about Chelsea just then. Fulham lead, a fine header from Raúl Jiménez beating Sánchez at the near post.
Penalty calamity for Sunderland!
This alone makes Match of the Day essential viewing tonight. Sunderland win a penalty and Enzo Le Fee steps up … but his attempted Panenka is read by Kelleher, who catches the ball and offers him a thumbs up. Painful to watch, tbh.
Fulham are dominating the ball as they try to break down a blue wall in front of them. This state of play might suit Chelsea in a weird way: they seem to thrive on adversity at times. With that, they break and Neto wins a corner which Hato heads over the bar.
“With several games going on at once I’ve been hopping between them, and managed to see several blatant cynical fouls,” writes Mark Uribe. “These days, with teams having so many top players for all positions and five substitutions per game, taking a yellow card for the team really doesn’t cost much. Can we please introduce sin bins?”
I would personally like to see it, if only for the added drama and histrionics. Stick ‘em in the sin bin for pointlessly moaning about refereeing calls, while we’re at it.
In Serie A, Inter lead 1-0 at Parma at the break, and are on track to extend their lead at the top.
We are back in the 7.30pm kick-offs – no further goals anywhere so far.
It’s no longer goalless at Burnley – Manchester United are behind.
It’s also goalless at Burnley, where Daniel Harris is watching the Fletchera begin.
Leeds have started brightly at Newcastle, in what I reckon might be the biggest game in England between one-club cities. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong, of course.
Premier League half-times
Bournemouth 2-1 Tottenham
Brentford 1-0 Sunderland
Crystal Palace 0-0 Aston Villa
Everton 1-0 Wolves
Fulham 0-0 Chelsea 🟥
Manchester City 1-0 Brighton
No goal! Harry Wilson slots home from 12 yards out – but Jimenez was just offside as he ran back to hold the ball up. Lucky for Chelsea’s ragged back line, who almost played Fulham onside twice in that move.
8.15pm games under way
Two more games, sure, why not? Burnley v Manchester United, and Newcastle v Leeds, are both up and running. You can follow events at Turf Moor with Daniel Harris:
Antoine Semenyo is booked on what looks likely to be his final Bournemouth appearance. At Selhurst Park, Villa are having marginally the better of a scrappy game, but it remains goalless.
Back at Craven Cottage, Cole Palmer stings Leno’s palms with a shot from distance, before Smith Rowe goes close with his own effort from the edge of the area.
Pep Guardiola was booked before the penalty was taken, and our man on the ground, Will Unwin, reports he had a heated exchange of words with Fabian Hurzeler.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Brighton (Haaland pen 40′)
Normal service resumed as Haaland slots the penalty home. There’s a sense of relief around the Etihad, where City had really been struggling for inspiration.
Penalty for Manchester City? VAR are checking Diego Gomez’s challenge on Doku – it looks a pretty clear penalty, and Thomas Bramall points to the spot. A chance for Haaland to end his mini-drought …
GOAL! Bournemouth 2-1 Tottenham (Kroupi 32′)
A quick turnaround at the Vitality, with Senesi cutting back for Eli Junior Kroupi to score, after Semenyo air-kicked his shot.
No joy for Manchester City so far, with Brighton happy to soak up pressure. “Are you going to mention all the empty seats at the Etihad?” demands Alexis Panton. I’d say you’ve done it for me.
GOAL! Brentford 1-0 Sunderland (Thiago 26′)
What’s happening at the Gtech then? Well, the hosts have taken the lead through red-hot striker Igor Thiago, who runs onto a through ball, rounds Robin Roefs and slots home. That’s his 15th league goal of the season – and Brentford are fifth as it stands.
Newcastle v Leeds teams (8.15pm KO)
Newcastle (4-3-3): Pope; Miley, Thiaw, Schar, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Barnes, Woltemade, Gordon.
Subs: Trippier, Ramsdale, Botman, Wissa, Livramento, Jacob Murphy, Willock, Alex Murphy, Ramsey.
Leeds (3-5-1-1): Lucas Perri; Rodon, Bijol, Struijk; Justin, Gruev, Ampadu, Stach, Gudmundsson; Aaronson; Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Darlow, Piroe, Nmecha, Okafor, Harrison, Tanaka, Bornauw, Byram, Gnonto.
Wilson’s free kick, and Jimenez’s shot on the rebound, are both blocked, with Santos taking the latter squarely in the bread basket. Chelsea are set to make a change, bringing on Jorrel Hato for the ailing Santos.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2026/jan/07/fullham-v-chelsea-bournemouth-v-tottenham-and-more-premier-league-live
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