The three points were essential but the ugly win over the league’s doormat also came at a cost when Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons needed to exit the contest with injuries, further depleting an increasingly thin roster for the stretch drive. De Zerbi’s side were agonizingly close to escaping the bottom three until late drama unfolded back in London. West Ham seemed poised to fall into the relegation zone when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored for Everton in the 88th minute to knot the match between the Toffees and Hammers at a goal apiece.
The Hammers proved resilient, however, when a Jarrod Bowen pass found Callum Wilson in the box just two minutes into stoppage time. The 34-year-old Wilson then cooly deposited the winner in the Toffee net to keep his side safe for another week. Bowen, West Ham’s captain, also assisted Tomas Soucek’s earlier goal for the Hammers. Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, sent a message again that it wants nothing to do with this relegation scrap.
The Tricky Trees destroyed Sunderland on Friday, scoring five times and keeping a clean sheet at Sunderland. Forest is still vulnerable at just five points above the drop line but are now undefeated in six matches and have won their last two contests by an aggregate 9-1 scoreline. While the relegation picture remained unchanged with the three primary drop contenders all winning, Arsenal snuck into the top spot of the table over an idle Manchester City.
The 1-0 victory followed back-to-back losses which had knocked the Gunners from their top of the table perch. Saturday’s victory shifts the pressure back to Manchester City which was busy with non-Premier League business on the weekend, the Citizens advancing to the FA Cup final with a 1-0 victory over Southampton. Eberechi Eze scored the winner for Arsenal in the ninth minute off a corner kick from Kai Havertz, the 17th time Arsenal has scored from a corner kick this season.
Eze and Havertz would both be later withdrawn for injuries which are hoped not to be compromising of their run-in participation. Gunner supporters, while celebrating the end of the recent losing run, still cannot feel good about the lack of attacking opportunities against a Newcastle side which suffered its ninth defeat in the Magpies’ last 12 Premier League matches. Former Newcastle star Alexander Isak finally scored his first home Premier League goal at Anfield in a 3-1 Liverpool victory over Crystal Palace.
A third consecutive league victory seems likely to have assured Isak and the Reds of Champions League football next season, but supporters still hold Manager Arne Slot and the club’s ownership accountable for a disappointing season. This time last year, the Reds were clinching the Premier League title. There will be no trophy this season despite a major summer outlay on Isak and others. An announced rise in ticket prices was met with a creative fan protest on Saturday when supporters held up yellow cards en masse in the 13th minute of play.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah may well have played his final match in front of those supporters as he was lifted with an injury in the second half. Next up for Liverpool will be a match with historic rival Manchester United next week. The Red Devils edged Brentford 2-1 at Old Trafford on Monday as interim Manager Michael Carrick won for the ninth time in his 13 matches in charge. Only two more points are necessary for Carrick to qualify his team for Champions League football next season, deemed improbable by most when he took over a seventh-place squad from Ruben Amorim.
And yet there remains no commitment to Carrick beyond this season. The interim gaffer inherited what remains a flawed roster, but he has gotten outstanding runs from a select core of veterans and a new presence between the sticks. Bruno Fernandes notched his 19th assist of the season on Monday, setting up Benjamin Sesko for what proved the winner. That goal involvement moved Fernandes to within one assist of the Premier League season record.
Casemiro, playing his final season in Manchester, scored for a third consecutive Old Trafford contest. Harry Maguire has rejuvenated his flagging career to play a key role in the heart of Carrick’s reimagined back four after “three at the back” proved a failed experiment for the doomed Amorim. Another factor in the club’s success has been the work of goalkeeper Senne Lammens who frustrated Brentford with several fine saves on Monday, a not uncommon occurrence for the Belgian keeper who became the established starter in February.
Manchester United is now alone in third place after Aston Villa’s 1-0 loss to Fulham on Saturday. While Villa may well have been looking past the Cottagers to Thursday’s Europa League semifinal versus Nottingham Forest, Fulham kept their European hopes alive for next season as the race for Europa and Conference League places remains chaotic. The tenth place Cottagers are just two points removed from sixth place Brighton in the Premier League table.
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