General Football thread

BBC Sport

Nine match rounds of the Premier League season have taken place and scoring from set-pieces has so far been the name of the game.

Free-kicks, long throws and corners are in vogue to such an extent that Arsenal currently top the table by four points despite having scored only five times from open play.

With a surge of goals coming from set-plays, including an unprecedented number via corners, BBC Sport examines whether the set-piece trend is here to stay.

Cornering the market
There was a time not so long ago in Premier League football when scoring from a free-kick or corner was seen as the province of the poorly equipped, a failsafe tactic of so-called weaker teams who could bully more established opponents by firing crosses into a packed penalty area - particularly on a rainy night in Stoke.

Not any more.

Tactics once celebrated in the sodden conditions of certain Premier League grounds are now the height of fashion for the competition's leading sides.

A record 19% of all Premier League goals this season have been scored from corners (45 of 241), the highest share in the competition's history.
 
Great player is Djed Spence, but there’s no denying that the bloke is a bit of a nob head. Fortunately cooper’s man management meant we got the best of him.
 
Wow, according to Blackgold, who was officiating at the Allotment Social, Elsie did the same to Horace to get through to the annual dominoes semi final. Cracking chap!
Its 1,000,001% fact, chap.

Elsie topped it off by calling Horace's tapioca pud **** ing disgusting, as she made her way off the field of battle.

Had to brandish the red card, and send her packing for an early cod liver supplement, and a dose of The Archers.

AS YOU WELL KNOW, its the only thing that settles her nerves.
 
French police take on Bayern fans. Put huge amount of restrictions in place. French police function by different rules.