Premier League Round-Up: Matchweek 21
Matchweek 21:
Everton 0-1 Leicester
Arsenal 4-1 Fulham
Cardiff 0-3 Tottenham
Chelsea 0-0 Southampton
Huddersfield 1-2 Burnley
West Ham 2-2 Brighton
Wolves 0-2 Crystal Palace
Bournemouth 3-3 Watford
Newcastle 0-2 Man United
Man City 2-1 Liverpool
Manchester City to the Rescue
How could I not start off this blog without the biggest match of the season that took place today, and what a result a result it was?! Honestly this is the result that everybody outside of Liverpool fans were hoping for. Look, if I had to choose between Manchester City and Liverpool for who wins the league this year, as a Chelsea fan I’m probably picking Liverpool. But, I was pulling for Man City today in hopes of the Premier League being interesting down the stretch. Had Liverpool won this game they would have been 9 pts ahead of 2nd place. While that’s not a shoe-in with 16 matches remaining, it’s pretty damn close. Instead we were treated to a 2-1 Manchester City victory and a title race that is now separated by just 4 points. Liverpool sit in 1st with 54 pts, Man City in 2nd with 50 pts and Tottenham in 3rd with 48 pts. The top 3 separated by just 6 pts.
The game itself wasn’t the best in terms of attacking football as Man City dominated play in the midfield but from a pure entertainment standpoint it was great. In the first half we had a Liverpool chance which almost turned into an own goal for City but John Stones was able to make a last ditch clearance with the ball just centimeters from going over the line. Old, trusty Sergio Aguero started off the scoring and gave City the lead just before half time. In the 2nd half a stunning piece of play from Liverpool lead to a Roberto Firmino diving header, which would be followed up just 8 mins later with a goal from Leroy Sane in the 72nd minute. The Sane goal would be all that City would need to top Liverpool and hand them their first loss on the season and what is also their first game in giving up 2 goals this season. The race is back on.
Highlights from the game courtesy of NBC Sports Soccer Twitter.
Other Notes:
At what point do Manchester United make Ole Gunnar Solksjaer(coolest name of all time) their permanent head coach?? United have played 4 games under Solksjaer and have only conceded 3 goals in that time frame while also scoring what I’m sure is a league’s best of 14 goals. Impressive start from United under their temporary replacement to say the least.
Chelsea also slip up again and drop points at home to one of the weaker defensive sides in the league and current relegation team, Southampton. Striker or not, Sarri has to change his tactics to adjust for the players on the team. Can’t keep playing the same style of football of pass, pass, pass when you’ve got no threat up top to finish.
Arsenal and Tottenham both bounce back after their dreadful defeats over the weekend to continue to keep the top of the table tight.
Transfer News: Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal is apparently trying to work out a move to Juventus this Janaury. Also important to note that he not only played for Arsenal yesterday but also scored.
Transfer News: Both Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas are both likely to leave Chelsea this window with multiple premier league clubs chasing the 33 yr old defender Cahill and the 31 yr old midfielder Fabregas is being linked to a move to Monaco where his former teammate Thierry Henry is now the head coach.
FA Cup matches this weekend and to be honest not really many interesting matchups.
Thanny