Facts

H ow about this for a test of Arsenal’s “cojones”? Stepping into the furnace of one of Europe’s most intimidating venues, with a collection of kids and first-team misfits, they emerged with three of the most satisfying points to provide the strongest answer to the criticism that has poured down on them since their pitiful defeat at Watford. In many ways, winning in this manner will taste sweeter than if they had cruised to a three-goal victory. Arsenal had something to prove tonight: they had to dig deep, to show their mettle. They duly did just that, eventually claiming all three points through a stunning overhead kick from Olivier Giroud. Jack Wilshere said Watford captain Troy Deeney was wrong to question Arsenal’s character in the aftermath of their meltdown at Vicarage Road. Deeney was not the first to do so, and will not be the last, but here was a statement of intent from Wenger’s side that will surely restore some much-needed faith across the club. And what a v...

Scotland took a huge step towards the World Cup qualifying play-offs with a 1-0 win over Slovakia at Hampden. Slovakia were reduced to ten men after 23 minutes when Robert Mak was shown a second yellow card but despite dominating possession Scotland struggled to make the breakthrough. However, with just one minute left on the clock, Martin Skrtel turned the ball into his own net to give Scotland three valuable points. A win against Slovenia on Sunday will see Gordon Strachan's side all but secure a place in the play-offs. England's 1-0 win over Slovenia at Wembley sees them take the automatic qualification spot but the eight best runners-up from nine groups go into a two-legged play-off to reach Russia 2018. Scotland's victory sees them climb up into second with just the away qualifier in Slovenia remaining.

The banner, which depicts a red-eyed pig greedily clutching Legia's balls, was unveiled ahead of Warsaw's Europa League play-off game against Sheriff Tiraspol. A separate banner underneath the Euro-covered pig read: "And the 35,000 fine goes to..." The first-leg match finished 1-1, with Legia travelling to Sheriff next week, in a bid to reach the Europa League group stage.  Legia were originally fined due to fans displaying a banner, which was the width of an entire stand, during a Champions League qualifier against Kazakh team Astana. The banner marked the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, when Polish resistance fighters captured large parts of the capital city but were eventually crushed by occupying German forces. It's expected that Legia will see some sort of retrospective action taken by UEFA following this second, but none has been taken as yet.  Perhaps we will see a third if they do face another punishment.