Everton beat Stoke City 5-4 on penalties! Jagielka Sounesses it into the top right corner, and Everton are through. Good old Premier League Asia Trophy.
Follow that, Arsenal and Singapore Select XI!
43m ago
13:00
Stoke City 4-4 Everton: Crouch takes it with his head slots it into the bottom left.
43m ago
12:59
Stoke City 3-4 Everton: Deulofeu blooters his into the bottom right. Everton are very close to the big game now.
44m ago
12:59
Stoke City 3-3 Everton: Bardsley larrups it straight down the middle. Howard dives out of the way.
45m ago
12:58
Stoke City 2-3 Everton: Stones sidefoots calmly into the right, Haugaard going the other way.
45m ago
12:57
Stoke City 2-2 Everton: Walters smoothly rolls his into the bottom right.
46m ago
12:57
Stoke City 1-2 Everton: Cleverley batters his into the right-hand portion of the net.
46m ago
12:56
Stoke City 1-1 Everton: Van Ginkel pelts his to the left, and he’s denied by a strong Howard hand.
47m ago
12:56
Stoke City 1-1 Everton: Lukaku stutters, John Aldridge style, and pops it into the bottom left.
48m ago
12:55
Stoke City 1-0 Everton: Adam tucks it into the bottom left.
48m ago
12:54
So who will face either a Singapore select side or an Arsenal select side in the final of this prestigious championship? We’ll find out after this shoot-out. Stoke will be taking the first penalty. Charlie Adam waits around for ages, and ...
53m ago
12:50
Full time: Everton 0-0 Stoke City. Penalties, then. Let’s get this over with.
54m ago
12:49
90 min +1: And he’s clear again! But Haugaard is quickly off his line and blocks on the edge of the area. Great save. But Everton should have won this. Though to be fair, he had a good goal disallowed for offside in the first half.
55m ago
12:48
90 min: Yes, this is going to penalty kicks. Lukaku latches onto a loose ball in the Stoke half and powers towards the goal. He should score, but squirts a useless effort wide left.
1h ago
12:46
88 min: Everyone jogging around in the ‘Light’ style.
1h ago
12:43
85 min: Lukaku tries to score from 35 yards. His effort flies 35 yards high and 35 yards wide. A geometric curiosity.
1h ago
12:42
83 min: Deulofeu draws a couple of Stoke players towards him to the left of the Stoke D, then flicks a pass between them to send Naismith into the box. He’s one on one with Haugaard, at a tight angle. The keeper wins the duel, after an alarming scramble.
1h ago
12:40
82 min: Kone’s on for McCarthy.
1h ago
12:39
81 min: This was nearly it, though. Crouch takes down a gorgeous right-to-left crossfield Adam pass with telescopic leg. He attempts to lay off to Ireland, bombing in, but gets it all wrong. A lame end to a decent move.
1h ago
12:38
80 min: A bit of head tennis in the Everton box. Crouch is involved. Howard doesn’t need to intervene. All very aimless.
1h ago
12:34
77 min: This is heading for penalty kicks, isn’t it.
1h ago
12:32
74 min: Deulofeu scampers into the Stoke area down the right, Osman having set him free. He hesitates, with Naismith screaming for a pass inside, and Cameron comes in to concede a corner. The set piece comes to naught.
1h ago
12:30
72 min: Walters comes on for Shenton.
1h ago
12:29
70 min: Van Ginkel is sent scampering clear down the inside-left channel, a lovely pass from Adam. He’s got to score, but hesitates, allowing Stones to get in the road and deflect the eventual weak shot into the arms of Howard.
Stoke City’s Charlie Adam makes a pass over Everton’s Leon Osman, left.
1h ago
12:27
69 min: Everton versus Stoke in July, huh.
1h ago
12:26
68 min: Drinks.
1h ago
12:25
67 min: Adam screws a dreadful shot wide right from the edge of the Everton box.
Updated at 1.07pm BST
1h ago
12:25
66 min: And this was nearly it. Wilson, newly arrived for Stoke, has his pocket picked by Lukaku, who bombs goalwards. But he’s penalised for aggressive play.
1h ago
12:23
65 min: Van Ginkel tries to burst through the middle, busy busy. But Jagielka steps across him and ushers the ball back to Howard. A sense that somebody might score a goal soon.
1h ago
12:22
64 min: Here comes Peter Crouch, scorer of Stoke’s sixth goal against Liverpool the other month. Also making his entrance: Van Ginkel.
1h ago
12:19
61 min: What A Miss II: Naismith plays a ball round the corner, down the inside-left channel. Deulofeu, who has been lively since coming on, is free, but his attempted sidefoot into the bottom right is easily snaffled by Haugaard.
1h ago
12:18
60 min: Odemwingie zips down the right and whips a low ball towards the near post. Ireland dinks it goalwards, and should really score, but it’s straight at Howard. What a miss.
1h ago
12:17
58 min: Deulofeu leaps on a loose ball in the middle of the park. He races towards the box, and should either shoot or lay off to Lukaku on his left. But he faffs around, allowing Cameron to steam in from behind and rob him of the ball. Great defending, but Cameron should never have been given the opportunity to make the challenge.
1h ago
12:15
57 min: Deulofeu smacks a free kick, 30 yards out, straight at Haugaard.
2h ago
12:12
55 min: The golf and cricket start tomorrow. And it won’t be a moment too soon.
2h ago
12:11
52 min: Osman, on the edge of the Stoke box, elects to take a shot with Naismith in a better position to his left. He’ll be regretting that decision now.
2h ago
12:09
50 min: Odemwingie presses down the right, but Galloway has his number.
2h ago
12:06
47 min: Lukaku goes up again for a high ball with Haugaard, and comes off worse this time. The second chunk of bad luck for the big striker, because replays of that offside goal just before the break suggest Bardsley was playing him on. The goal should have stood. Ah well. Just as well this doesn’t matter.
2h ago
12:05
The second half is underway. Some new faces. Adam is on for Stoke. Cleverley, Osman, Naismith and Deulofeu are on for Everton. Naismith and Osman are in the thick of it immediately, one-twoing down the inside-right channel. Naismith is clean through, and aims top right, but Haugaard tips over brilliantly. The corner comes to naught.
2h ago
11:48
Half time: Everton 0-0 Stoke City. Don’t go anywhere, there’s going to be another 45 minutes of this. And maybe penalty kicks at the end of it.
2h ago
11:48
45 min +1: Pienaar, down the left, slides a ball towards the middle to release Lukaku into the area. Lukaku rounds Haugaard on the left, and slips the ball into the net, but he was a yard offside.
Everton’s Romelu Lukaku beats goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard and slip the ball into empty net but it’s disallowed for offside.
2h ago
11:45
45 min: Bardsley has a dig from 20-odd yards. He blooters the ball straight into Galloway’s startled coupon. Danger over.
2h ago
11:44
42 min: Hibbert bursts down the right and stands one up into the middle. It’s clanked away by the head of Cameron, just as Lukaku was winding his neck back. A nice move, which nearly piqued the interest.
2h ago
11:41
40 min: Pienaar chases back with the sole intention of clipping Shenton’s ankles. Safe to say he’s recovered from that earlier knock.
2h ago
11:37
37 min: Ireland has a pop from 25 yards. The ball lands in Scotland.
2h ago
11:36
34 min: Pienaar might have taken a bit of a clatter there, though. He’s down getting a bit of treatment, and a drink of water. He’s OK to continue for now.
2h ago
11:34
30 min: Bardsley is booked for clattering into Pienaar. The erstwhile Southern TV commentator Martin Tyler, now on Sky, suggests this shows that the Premier League Asia Trophy really means something. But it doesn’t, does it.
2h ago
11:32
29 min: Hibbert is caught flailing around like the Isle of Man flag, and eventually ends up on his face, allowing Arnautovic to tear off with the ball. I say tear, he lightly jogs towards the box, but before he can slip a shot past Howard, is robbed by a last-ditch tackle by Jagielka, who appears to be in Proper Match Mode. A fine challenge to save the day, though Arnautovic was snoozing.
2h ago
11:29
27 min: A drinks break. It’s the taste.
2h ago
11:26
25 min: The crowd noise, what there is of it, pings off the roof of the stadium. The ambient effect is not dissimilar to a municipal swimming pool. Will patrons kindly refrain from running, bombing, smoking and petting.
2h ago
11:24
22 min: Haugaard rises to catch a high ball. Lukaku gently brushes him and steals possession. But before he can batter home, it’s a free kick. Nat Lofthouse’s day, etc.
2h ago
11:19
19 min: Arnautovic jigs into a bit of space down the left, then burns Hibbert for pace. He lashes a cross along the byline towards the near post. Howard fumbles out for a corner, which is wasted. Everyone’s getting a nice run out.
2h ago
11:18
17 min: A free kick for Everton, 35 yards out, just to the right. McCarthy curls a high one into the box. Jagielka, on the penalty spot, heads high and wide right.
2h ago
11:17
16 min: Arnautovic, in a central position, slides a pass down the inside right for Bardsley, who nearly breaks clear but Galloway gets in the road, and puts him off.
2h ago
11:15
14 min: Nothing much happening right now. But then nothing much was happening at this point of Stoke’s final match of last season, and look how that turned out.
2h ago
11:13
11 min: Stoke finally turn up. Shenton, in a little space down the left, fires a low cross into the area. It’s met by the in-rushing Odemwingie, who sidefoots wide left from eight yards. He should have scored.
3h ago
11:12
10 min: Galloway zips past Bardsley down the left, and has his ankles clipped for his trouble. He tries to stay on his feet, and much good that honesty does him. He eventually loses control, and the referee doesn’t bother to pull the play back.
3h ago
11:08
7 min: Barkley twists and turns very impressively down the inside-right channel to earn Everton a corner. Already he’s having a better season than the last. The set piece comes to naught.
3h ago
11:06
4 min: Jagielka comes romping out of defence like Franz Beckenbauer. He slides a pass down the left for Lukaku, whereupon the move peters out somewhat. A bright start for Everton. But what does this mean for their season? It’s too early to say. Too early to have learned one thing, never mind five.
3h ago
11:02
2 min: Barkley slips the ball wide right for Mirallas, who cuts inside and drags a weak shot straight at Haugaard.
3h ago
11:01
And we’re off! The Stadium is at best one-tenth full. Everton get the glorified training session match underway.
3h ago
10:59
The teams are out. They’re warming up. In a minute, this warm-up will break into an extended warm-up. Maybe even a run out. The new Singapore National Stadium looks very fancy, and apparently the air conditioning is fully functional, with a pleasant breeze cutting through the humidity. Some more breaking news: Stoke City are in their red-and-white stripes, Everton in their blue. The crowd aren’t making much noise, so in that sense the Premier League Asia Trophy is just like the Premier League. Best Asia Trophy in the world!
3h ago
10:22
Guardian