Diego Costa and Hazard give Chelsea victory
West Ham increase Palaces pain
Swansea hang on for second win
And click here for all the days latest scores
5.11pm BST
Thanks for your company and emails, on an afternoon of few surprises, though Chelsea were made to work harder for their victory than might have been expected. Palaces gloom continued with a bad home defeat in a winnable game against West Ham and Swansea made it two wins out of two. In the Championship, its looking good for Derby and Forest, and rather alarming for Fulham and Blackpool. But its ridiculously early days yet.
Now you can join Scott Murray for hot Everton v Arsenal MBM action. Bye.
5.06pm BST
And more:
League One: Barnsley 4-1 Gillingham, Bradford 0-1 Peterborough, Colchester 0-1 Doncaster, Fleetwood 0-0 Chesterfield, Leyton Orient 0-0 Walsall, MK Dons 0-0 Coventry, POrt Vale 0-2 Notts County, Preston 1-0 Oldham, Rochdale 1-1 Bristol City, Sheffield Utd 1-0 Crawley, Swindon 2-0 Crawley, Yeovil 1-1 Scunthorpe
4.58pm BST
Premier League: Chelsea 2-0 Leicester, Crystal Palace 1-3 West Ham, Southampton 0-0 West Brom, Swansea 1-0 Burnley
Championship: Blackburn 3-2 Bournemouth, Brentford 1-1 Birmingham; Brighton 2-1 Bolton, Derby 5-1 Fulham, Huddersfield 1-1 Charlton, Millwall 0-1 Rotherham, Middlesbrough 2-3 Sheffield Wednesday Nottingham Forest 4-0 Reading, Watford 4-1 Leeds, Wigan 1-0 Blackpool, Wolves 1-0 Cardiff
4.55pm BST
Another grim afternoon for pointless and managerless Palace concludes
4.54pm BST
Blackburn 3-2 Bournemouth, Brentford 1-1 Birmingham; Derby 5-1 Fulham, Dagenham, 2-0 Mansfield, Fleetwood 0-0 Chesterfield, Leyton Orient 0-0 Walsall, Bury 2-1 Plymouth, Colchester 0-1 Doncaster
Another goal at Watford, who now lead Leeds 4-1
4.52pm BST
Goal! Wolves 1-0 Cardiff. Wolves pressure pays off at last
4.51pm BST
Lacklustre stuff at St Marys
4.51pm BST
The expected home win wrapped up in the end
4.50pm BST
Swansea hang on then
4.48pm BST
Goals! Its now Derby 5-1 Fulham, Chris Martins 87th-minute goal and Simon Dawkins a minute later applying the gloss to another home win for Steve McClarens team. And Bournemouth have scored another at Blackburn - theyre only 2-3 down now. Hearts are 4-0 up at Raith.
4.45pm BST
More from Scotland: Chris Erskines second goal has put Dundee United 2-1 up against Ross County, and Dumbarton have pulled one back at Rangers. Only 1-4 down now, the scoreline I have in the office sweep, happily.
4.40pm BST
Didier Drogba is on, at Chelsea, replacing Diego Costa and earning the expected rapturous greeting. In the Championship, Moses Odubajo has scored his first goal for Brentford to make it 1-1 against Birmingham, and Bournemouth have pulled a goal back through Brett Pitman at Blackburn. They trail 1-3.
4.38pm BST
A goal in Scotland. Its St Mirren 0-1 Dundee, Peter McDonald scoring after 80 minutes. Rangers now lead Dumbarton 4-0 in League One.
4.37pm BST
Everton: Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, McCarthy, Barry, Mirallas, Naismith, Pienaar, Lukaku. Subs: Robles, McGeady, Besic, Atsu, Osman, Stones, Alcaraz.
Arsenal: Szczesny, Debuchy, Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere, Ozil, Sanchez. Subs: Koscielny, Rosicky, Giroud, Cazorla, Martinez, Campbell, Bellerin.
Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)
4.34pm BST
Eden Hazard cuts back on to his right foot, shoots low across Schmeichel, and it takes a deflection and goes in. Game over.
Middlesbrough have pulled a goal back against Sheffield Wednesday through Grant Leadbitters 72nd-minute penalty. Its now 1-3.
4.32pm BST
In other repelling-pressure news, Ben Foster has come to West Broms rescue a couple of times at Southampton but its still goalless. And theres a similar story at Wolves, who still havent managed to break down Cardiff.
4.28pm BST
Burnley are knocking on the door, and then rapping forcefully on the window, at Swansea, but are denied by a fine Fabianski save and still trail. And its Watford 3-1 Leeds in the Championship, Forestieri scoring on 67 minutes.
4.27pm BST
Goal! Britt Assombalonga, Nottingham Forests summer signing from Peterborough, has proved his worth again to make it Nottingham Forest 4-0 Reading. The new season continues to be a struggle for Nigel Adkins side.
4.22pm BST
Poor defending from Palace ends their second-half revival, Carlton Cole capitalising to drill in a third for the Hammers.
League Two leaders Morecambe are ahead again at Cambridge.
4.21pm BST
Another goal at Derby! Its 3-1 now, Chris Martin extending the Rams lead, so it looks like being played four lost four for Fulham.
4.20pm BST
Diego Costa has made it two goals in two games, with Chelseas 18th shot on target finally giving them the lead.
Derby are back in front against Fulham through Craig Bryson
4.18pm BST
Sending off and goal! Giuseppe Bellusci has been sent off and conceded a penalty for Leeds, and Troy Deeney scored from the spot to make it Watford 2-1 Leeds.
4.17pm BST
Some more lower division goals: Rochdale have equalised against Bristol City, making it 1-1. In League Two its Cambridge 1-1 Morecambe, Tom Elliott bringing the home side level, while in Scotland Rangers and Hearts are both now 3-0 up
4.15pm BST
Fulham equalise at Derby! Having been comprehensively second-best in the first half, Fulham fielding seven players under 21 today have drawn level through one of their olduns, Scott Parker after 54 minutes. And across the East Midlands, its Nottingham Forest 3-0 Reading
4.13pm BST
Leicester nearly score! The visitors have a two-on-one break, and David Nugent is foiled by Thibaut Courtois. Its end-to-end at the Bridge at the moment.
At the foot of League Two, its now Newport 1-1 Burton.
In the 1933 FA Cup Final, Everton became the first club to employ kit numbers (111) on the back of the players shirts. (as I recall the opposition were numbered 12-22).Everton playing WM formation would have given a back three of; 2 (right back) 3 (left back) and 5 (centre half), 4 and 6 being left half and right half. an average shirt number for the the defence being 3.33333333r
4.10pm BST
Against the run of play, Chamakh drives in a fine goal from 25 yards to put Palace back in it.
In the second tier Nottingham Forest are now 2-0 up on Reading, through Michael Antonio again. And a slight shock at the Den, Ben Pringle putting Rotherham ahead at Millwall. While 10-man Huddersfield are ahead against Charlton.
4.06pm BST
And Schmeichel has already had to save well from Ivanovic to keep Leicester level at Chelsea. Burnley have begun well after the break at Swansea too, but are still behind.
4.04pm BST
More on squad numbers:
Ed Keane writes in, pointing out: I do believe that in Euro 2012 Ireland had 1 to 11 on the pitch, using the phrase on the pitch in its loosest possible terms, certainly for the first game. Guess you could say Trapattoni had his favourites. Do I get a prize by the way?
3.58pm BST
And more half-times:
League One: Barnsley 2-0 Gillingham, Bradford 0-0 Peterborough, Colchester 0-0 Doncaster, Fleetwood 0-0 Chesterfield, Leyton Orient 0-0 Walsall, MK Dons 0-0 Coventry, Port Vale 0-1 Notts County, Preston 1-0 Oldham, Rochdale 0-1 Bristol City, Swindon 1-0 Crewe, Sheffield Utd 0-0 Crawley, Yeovil 0-0 Scunthorpe
3.53pm BST
Championship: Blackburn 3-0 Bournemouth, Brentford 0-1 Birmingham, Brighton 1-1 Bolton, Derby 1-0 Fulham, Huddersfield 0-0 Charlton, Middlesbrough 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall 0-0 Rotherham, Nottingham Forest 1-0 Reading, Watford 1-1 Leeds, Wigan 1-0 Blackpool, Wolves 0-0 Cardiff
Huddersfield have had Murray Wallace sent off for serious foul play against Charlton
3.50pm BST
Chelsea 0-0 Leicester; Southampton 0-0 West Brom; Crystal Palace 0-2 West Ham; Swansea 1-0 Burnley
3.46pm BST
Leicester have the measure of Chelsea thus far, and it remains 0-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Sheffield Wednesday have doubled their lead at Middlesbrough, through a header from Stevie May. A signing to watch? Elsewhere in the Championship, Wolves are on top and impressing, but not scoring, against Cardiff. Its goalless at Molineux, and its Brighton 1-1 Bolton.
Er, my maths not good, but lowest combo for positions 1,2,3,4 is,er.1,2,3,4?
3.37pm BST
And another! And another cracker, by the sounds, from the perhaps unlikely figure of Stewart Downing after a fine solo run. Things arent getting any less stressful for Palace. At the other end of the league,pointless League Two strugglers Accrington and Newport are both winning, 2-1 and 1-0 respectively, against Luton and Burton respectively.
3.36pm BST
More misery for Palace, as Mauro Zarate puts the Hammers ahead with a fine 25-yard volley into the corner, making amends for an earlier bad miss.
In the Championship Leeds are level against Watford through Gabriel Tamass own goal, and Wigan are leading Blackpool 1-0.
3.34pm BST
Its a squad game nowadays musings
Another email about Chelsea, this time from Rudi Edsall:
Ive noticed that Chelseas defence has a 28, 24 and 26 in it. Ivanovics 2 brings it down a bit, but at 20, that would surely have to be the highest average number across a back four ever?
3.29pm BST
To Stamford Bridge, and a fair amount of Chelsea pressure, as might be expected, against Leicester but Nigel Pearsons side are holding their own. While West Ham are coming back at Palace now, according to Paul Merson, but both games remain goalless.
3.27pm BST
The first Premier League goal of the day arrives at last, through Nathan Dyer at the Liberty.
More in the Championship, and Felix Magaths magic touch continues to be absent. Jamie Ward has put Derby 1-0 ahead against Fulham. And Blackburn are now 3-0 up against Bournemouth, Rudy Gestede scoring on 24 minutes.
3.24pm BST
Blackburn are now 2-0 up against Bournemouth, Grant Hanley scoring in the 17th minute. Might Rovers be worth a cheeky punt for a promotion spot, having been superceded as the main Crisis Club in the division? Its also Watford 1-0 Leeds, through Fernando Forestieri.
3.21pm BST
More Football League goals: Brentford are now behind against Birmingham, Paul Caddis scoring from the spot after Craigs foul, while a slick team goal has given Nottingham Forest the lead against Reading , Michail Antonio providing the finishing touch. In League One the well-fancied Bristol City are 1-0 up at Rochdale through Luke Freemans 16th-minute goal.
3.18pm BST
Red card! Brentfords Tony Craig has been sent off for serious foul play against Birmingham. Its 0-0 there but Marc Warburtons side have a job on their hands. Lee McCulloch has put Rangers ahead against Dumbarton.
3.16pm BST
Goal! Its Blackburn 1-o Bournemouth in the Championship, and the prolific Jordan Rhodes - a striker who now surely has And its that man again status at Ewood has put Rovers ahead against Bournemouth. And League Two leaders Morecambe are ahead again, 1-0 at Cambridge, through Paul Mullin.
3.13pm BST
A goal in Scotland, Kilmarnock leading Motherwell 1-0 through Robbie Muirheads goal. Palace coming more into it against West Ham too, were told. But its still 0-0 at Selhurst.
3.10pm BST
In the Championship Sheffield Wednesday are looking in better shape than they have for a while so far this season, and are 1-0 up at Middlesbrough, through Atdhe Nuhius sixth-minute goal.
3.05pm BST
Early skirmishes:
Early chances for Chelsea, West Brom and Swansea respectively, while in League One Preston have gone 1-0 up against Oldham through Jack King. Theyre already living up to their perennial billing as play-0ff fallers at the last.
3.00pm BST
And the games kick off. While were waiting for a goal, why not read a report on a game that didnt have any? Heres @StuartJamesGNM on Aston Villas goalless draw with Newcastle.
2.53pm BST
Chelsea transfer angst
Salman Majid writes with a measure a very very small measure, mind of concern for Fernando Torres:
Torres not even in the squad, does this confirm what most of us Chelsea fans have been waiting for? Talking of his replacement, how about an £8 million Romy for the £50 million flop?
2.48pm BST
Match report:
Read all about Ipswich 0-1 Norwich here.
2.43pm BST
An early verdict on the Villa-Newcastle game:
2.39pm BST
Lancashire team news:
2.37pm BST
FT at Villa Park: Its finished Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle. So the new Newcastle, for all the encouraging signs and noises, still havent scored this season.
2.33pm BST
Red card! Newcastles Mike Williamson has been sent off at Villa for a second yellow card. Its 0-0 in injury-time now.
And more teams:
2.30pm BST
More team news:
2.28pm BST
Early emails:
Afternoon Tom, begins Simon McMahon. On my way to Tannadice to see Dundee United take on Ross County in the SPFL game of the day. Inverness shocked Celtic in the early kick-off, winning 1-0. Other matches include Kilmarnock - Motherwell, St. Johnstone - Aberdeen and Partick Thistle - Hamilton. Looking forward to some classic clockwatch banter this afternoon. No harm in that, eh?
I predict a ludicrous penalty to Leicester followed by an even more ridiculous red card. Every Leicester player that falls over will be granted a free kick whilst he will wave play on if a Chelsea player has the temerity to fall over, having been fouled.
2.24pm BST
Surprise in Scotland: Inverness have beaten Celtic 1-0 in the Scottish Premiership
2.14pm BST
Final score:
Norwich have beaten Ipswich 1-0, thereby earning themselves bragging rights in East Anglia but remember, with rights come responsibilities. Thats Norwichs third straight win since their opening-day defeat by Wolves.
2.03pm BST
A flurry of team news:
2.00pm BST
Its still Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle at Villa Park, which is being described by Scott Murray here. Norwich are still leading Ipswich 1-0 in the East Anglian derby at Portman Road, and stirrings of competitiveness in Scotland, as Inverness have gone ahead against Celtic, whose Eoghan OConnell has gifted the home side the lead with an own goal.
1.55pm BST
Oh football, football, football. A week in and the best OK, most glamorous, OK most combustible league in the world is again bogged down in unsavoury talking points and unusual talking points waiting to happen. And while you cant say that the Malky Mackay text affair has in any way whetted the appetite for actual football, the possibility of a return to the Premier League for Mario Balotelli can, in all manner of ways. The Italian wont be in action today of course, or on Monday when Liverpool visit Manchester City, but extra attention will inevitably be focused on Selhurst Park, where still-managerless Crystal Palace, thwarted in their quest for Mackay, face West Ham with both sides looking for their first points of the season. And while hindsight can now tell us that their reputation is best off without the former Cardiff manager, its only added to the sense of chaos that has enveloped Selhurst since Tony Puliss departure. Elsewhere among todays 3pm kick-offs, an already swaggering Chelsea will be expected to see off another newly-promoted side, Leicester; Ronald Koemans new-look Southampton will be fancied to beat West Brom after a promising showing in defeat at Liverpool; and Burnley, also reasonably impressive last week in defeat against Chelsea, travel to Swansea, mightily impressive in victory against Manchester United.
The pick of the Championship games looks to be Wolves v Cardiff, and not just because of the unpleasantness involving the latters former manager and current owner that has thrust them back into the spotlight, but because Ole Gunnar Solskjaers team have started brightly and Wolves, maintaining the momentum gained in their League One title-winning campaign, should offer them a stern test. Early leaders Nottingham Forest host Reading, who were stunned by managerless Huddersfield in midweek, while we wonder where ailing Blackpool will get a win, or a point, or a single reason to be cheeful, from. They visit well-fancied Wigan, though the Latics have also started poorly. In League One, unlikely pace-setters Fleetwood face Chesterfield and Coventry fans, buoyant at finally securing a return to the Ricoh Arena, travel to MK Dons in good spirits. Equally unlikely League Two early leaders Morecambe visit Football League returnees Cambridge.
1.55pm BST
Tom will be here shortly.
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