England - A lackluster Manchester derby, Arsenal's controversial penalty, Southampton's earliest relegation in history... are among the highlights of the Premier League last weekend.
The Manchester derby was dull. At Old Trafford, Man Utd and Man City had a total of 21 shots, but did not create any clear-cut chances and did not score. On Sky Sports, former players Gary Neville and Roy Keane both described the Manchester derby as a friendly.
This is only the third time in all competitions, since the 2016-2017 season, that the two Manchester teams have drawn 0-0. The previous two times were in April 2017 and December 2020, both in the Premier League. For Man Utd alone, this is the eighth time they have failed to score in the Premier League under Ruben Amorim. Only Leicester (12) have gone more games without scoring than the Old Trafford team, in the same period of the tournament.
Arsenal awarded controversial penalty. Arsenal was awarded a penalty after Myles Lewis-Skelly challenged Jack Harrison. The visiting defender tried to shield the ball before falling, appearing to hit his opponent's leg as they entered the box.
Iliman Ndiaye then fired a low shot into the right corner to make it 1-1 for Everton.
After the match, manager Mikel Arteta claimed he had watched the footage 15 times and did not understand why Arsenal were awarded a penalty. Former Tottenham defender Michael Dawson and former Premier League referee Mike Dean also said Lewis-Skelly's impact on Harrison was unclear.
Liverpool dropped points due to three mistakes. Liverpool took the lead thanks to a beautiful long-range shot from Alexis Mac Allister. But then all four of their defenders, Ibrahima Konate, Curtis Jones, Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk, made mistakes, causing Liverpool to concede three goals in the first half. In the second half, the visitors only added one more goal through Luis Diaz and fell 2-3.
This was Liverpool's first defeat in the Premier League since September 2024. However, this does not affect the possibility of winning the title too much. Arne Slot's team is still 11 points ahead of Arsenal, and will face West Ham, Leicester, Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton and Crystal Palace in the last 7 rounds.
Chelsea draw lacklustre. Coach Enzo Maresca controversially benched Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson. The pair recovered from injury and returned in the win over Tottenham a few days earlier but were kept on for the Conference League quarter-final against Legia Warsaw. This led to Chelsea's lacklustre performance and a 0-0 draw at Brentford.
Chelsea remains fourth in the Premier League with 53 points, one point ahead of Man City. Their rivals in the race for a Champions League spot include Aston Villa (51 points), Newcastle (50), Fulham (48) and Brighton (47).
Aston Villa fly high. Aston Villa continued their fine form by beating Nottingham Forest 2-1 thanks to goals from Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen. Unai Emery's side extended their winning streak to seven games in all competitions and are well on their way to a Champions League quarter-final first leg against PSG on 9 April.
Aston Villa are also in the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 2015, against Crystal Palace. They have won England's oldest competition seven times, in 1887, 1895, 1897, 1905, 1913, 1920 and 1957.
The first club to be relegated. Southampton lost 1-3 to Tottenham, becoming the first team to be relegated in the Premier League in the 2024-2025 season. Southampton have only 10 points, 22 points away from safety, with only 7 rounds left in the season.
Southampton became the earliest club to be officially relegated in Premier League history, surpassing the records of Derby County and Ipswich Town - teams that were relegated with 6 rounds left.
Southampton need to gain at least two more points to avoid breaking the record for the club with the fewest points in Premier League history. This sad milestone currently belongs to Derby County with 11 points in the 2007-2008 season.
"The trigger" Evanilson. Evanilson's form will be key to Bournemouth's bid for a European Cup spot next season. With Justin Kluivert injured, Evanilson has had to shoulder the responsibility of spearheading the attack. He immediately showed his influence with a double to help Bournemouth draw 2-2 at West Ham.
Manager Andoni Iraola expects his student to continue his good form to help Bournemouth climb the table in the final stages. "Evanilson is in great form. He was out for a long time due to injury, but he can finish the season strongly. It's good to have Evanilson back at a crucial stage," he said.
3 red cards in 15 minutes. The end of the match between Crystal Palace and Brighton was tense. First was the red card of substitute Eddie Nketiah in the 78th minute after receiving two yellow cards, including a tackle with the sole of his boot. In the extra minute, Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace) and Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton) were sent off.
The match also witnessed a heart-stopping moment when Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace) was lying on the ground after a very strong head collision with Joao Pedro. The medical team had to intervene, before Lacroix was replaced by Joel Ward.
Ipswich's hopes of staying in the Premier League are over? Losing 1-2 at home to Wolves, Ipswich Town continued to stand in 18th place with 20 points. They were widened to 12 points by Wolves, who are currently in 17th place, with 7 rounds left in the season.
If nothing extraordinary happens in the final stage, Ipswich, Leicester (17 points) and Southampton (10) will only play one season in the Premier League before being relegated to the Championship. A similar scenario happened last season, when all three promoted clubs, Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield, quickly returned to the Championship.
0 Comments