Manchester City is on a heater as the Citizens swept by Arsenal 2-1 to turn the Premier League title race on its head. The stars were out for the Citizens as French magician Ryan Cherki opened the scoring and Premier League Golden Boot leader Erling Haaland drilled the winner. Bernardo Silva, leaving the club after this season, was again in fine form as he navigates the final leg of his Manchester City career. Their heroics overcame an error by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma which allowed Arsenal to equalize the match early on.
Sunday’s result leaves City just three points removed from the top of the table with a match at Burnley looming on Wednesday. Arsenal played well but its attacking limitations were again on full display. Havertz was able to score off a fumbled ball from Donnarumma, but the German also missed other opportunities which could have changed the match’s outcome. Most excruciating for Gunner supporters was his miss versus a gaping Manchester City net in the dying seconds of stoppage time.
In fairness, Arsenal recognized Havertz’s limitations as a striker and invested in a presumed upgrade in Victor Gyokeres during last summer’s transfer window. While Gyokeres has shown flashes, he has not proven the difference that Arsenal needed and was benched for Havertz on Sunday in Arsenal’s biggest game of the season. Haaland, meanwhile, proved his mettle by winning his match-long battle with Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes and finding the winner in the 65th minute for his 23rd Premier League goal of the season.
The battle between the two players included customary shoves, head butts and grabbing which required the Norwegian wonder to replace a ripped jersey. In a testament to old school football, Haaland refused to go to the ground when receiving a Magalhaes head butt in the 84th minute. That decision not to draw the type of attention which likely would have meant an early exit for the Arsenal defender served to extend the match’s drama between two balanced sides. Haaland 🆚 Gabriel ‼️ pic.twitter.com/Z8bw7kOzm0
With Sunday’s victory, Manchester City showed championship grit. Alternatively, a good performance by Arsenal is no longer enough for a side that has already failed to measure up in the past. A torrid start to this Premier League season now assures nothing for the Gunners because, as Haaland stated post-match “the last weeks are when things get decided.” A season of disappointment for Liverpool provided a satisfying highlight on Sunday when the Red emerged with a 2-1 victory in the first Merseyside derby played at Everton’ new Dickinson Hill Stadium.
Fittingly, it was Liverpool legends Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk who scored the goals for the Reds, van Dijk’s dramatic 100th minute winner claiming all three points for the visitors. This was Salah’s final Merseyside derby while van Dijk’s future is clouded by the steep decline in his play this season. The victory extended Liverpool’s lead over Chelsea in the race for the final Champions League slot to seven points.
Chelsea lost a fourth consecutive Premier League match, a 1-0 home loss to Manchester United as the wheels appear to be coming off at Stamford Bridge. The club has not scored a goal in any of those four losses as the attacking play under Manager Liam Rosenior appears lethargic and disjointed. The goal drought is the longest experienced by the Blues since 1912. A third consecutive home loss makes it six losses at Stamford Bridge this season, the most in over 30 years.
The young manager has presided over a spiral which has both players and supporters questioning the club’s strategic direction. More than 500 Chelsea supporters marched in protest against club ownership before Saturday’s match. Matheus Cunha scored the first half winner which virtually assured Manchester United of Champions League play next season. The question remains, however, as to who their manager will be next year.
The club has not yet extended its commitment to interim manager Michael Carrick despite the former Red Devil player leading his club to more Premier League points than any other side since his January appointment. Bruno Fernandes, who will be entering the final year of his current contract, assisted on Cunha’s goal to move his league leading assist total to 18 as he chases the league record of 20 assists held jointly by legendary players Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.
Aston Villa, level on points with the Red Devils, also helped solidify their Champions League participation for next season with a 4-3 win in a thriller over Sunderland. The Black Cats scored twice in the final five minutes of regulation to knot the match before Tammy Abraham halted their comeback with his winner in the third minute of stoppage time. While the Champion’s League places increasingly seem certain, the races for the other European places remain muddled.
Sixth place Chelsea is now level on points with both Brentford and Bournemouth. Brighton and Everton are just one point further behind and even 12th place Fulham is only three points behind Chelsea. The Cottagers kept themselves in the hunt by handing Brentford a fifth consecutive league draw in a goalless affair at Gtech Stadium. A surprisingly strong season by the Bees is threatening to go for naught as the club continues to search for its first league win since February.
Bournemouth experienced a similar spell of five inconclusive results before the Cherries rose up and defeated Arsenal last weekend to introduce turmoil to the Premier League title chase. The Cherries further improved their own European chances with a 2-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday. Adrien Truffert scored in the 85th minute to provide a second consecutive victory and keep the Cherries unbeaten for a club record 13th consecutive Premier League match.
Brighton added to the misery which is Tottenham Hotspur when the Seagulls’ Georginio Rutter scored an equalizer in the 95th minute to knot the score at two goals apiece and extend Tottenham Hotspur’s winless Premier League run to 15 matches. The Seagulls had earlier tied the match at one goal a piece with a first half stoppage time goal by Kaoru Mitoma as Tottenham Hotspur continues to demonstrate an unwillingness to embrace success.
The last Premier League victory for Spurs was last December. The north London side remains in the relegation zone, one point below West Ham which drew 0-0 at Crystal Palace on Monday. It may well be now a two-team battle between Spurs and the Hammers for the final position of safety in the Premier League table. Both Leeds and Nottingham Forest were victorious this weekend over inferior foes to pull themselves further away from the relegation rumble.
Leeds moved eight points clear of the drop line with a 3-0 whitewashing of bottom of the table Wolverhampton. Nottingham Forest moved five points in front of Spurs with a 4-1 thumping of next to bottom Burnley. The Tricky Trees are undefeated in their last five league matches, winning twice during a run which has created some much needed separation from the league’s bottom feeders. Forest, rejuvenated by new manager Vitor Pereira, has also advanced to the semifinals of the Europa League where the Trees will face Aston Villa.
