With the Pigs looking to underline their own title aspirations against last year’s champions, it was their longest-serving star who made the difference here. In what was otherwise a fairly cagey match, a moment of magic from Modric lit up the ground as he swivelled on the edge of the area and launched a balletic curved shot well past anyone’s reach. The rest of the game passed without much incident but sometimes further incidents are unnecessary in the face of such a delightful goal.

By Bruce Gruntbastard