The 29th round of the Premier League ended late on Monday, in which many interesting results were recorded. First of all, it is worth mentioning the return of the leader, Liverpool, to the winning path after the biting slap in the face received from Watford. For the second time in a row in the championship, the Reds did not stumble, beating Bournemouth at home. This allowed the Scousers to regain their former lead over Manchester City, who lost to their sworn neighbors United in the derby. The "townspeople" spent far best match in the season and lost absolutely on the matter. In another derby, the London one, Arsenal prevailed over West Ham - now the Gunners are very close to the European Cup top six. The composition of the sextet has been changing lately - adjustments to it occur after each tour. Some lose points out of the blue, like Wolverhampton, while others gain them where you don’t really expect them, like Sheffield. In short, the championship only becomes more interesting closer to the finish line. And it’s especially gratifying that even at this stage there are real incendiary shows, which Chelsea and Leicester presented to the public in the 29th round. It should be noted that the last round was the home round. In 7 games out of 10, the host side celebrated victory, and only in one game was success for the guests. First things first: let’s sum up the results of the next ten Premier League matches.
GRAY VICTORY OF LIVERPOOL AND BRIGHT TRIUMPH OF LEICESTER.
In the last round, the Premier League leader suffered its first defeat of the season, and was subsequently knocked out of the FA Cup. Things seemed to be going downhill for Liverpool. However, the Merseysiders have no right to completely plunge into the crisis, and in the match of the 29th round with Bournemouth, Jurgen Klopp’s wards got their three points. True, it all started badly for the Scousers: already in the 9th minute, the Cherries caught them on a counterattack, at the end of which Callum Wilson literally brought the ball into the net. But the Reds' reaction to the blow was correct. They immediately increased pressure on the opponent’s defense and by the 33rd minute they were already leading. On the 25th score, Salah equalized with a billiard-accurate shot from 14 meters. And soon the Liverpudlians punished the opponent for a mistake in the center of the field. Van Dijk intercepted the ball on the line and sent Mane with a long penetrating pass to rendezvous with Ramsdale. Sadio dealt with the goalkeeper, placing the ball in the right corner, and set the final score of the match - 2:1. In the second half, he could well have changed, but after Fraser threw Alisson, Milner managed to clear the ball from the "ribbon". Liverpool already have 82 points, and the Scousers have only three victories left to win the championship.
It turned out much more interesting final match tour in which Leicester hosted Aston Villa. The Foxes left no stone unturned against the Birmingham defense, sending them four unanswered goals. However, in the first 40 minutes everything went well for the guests. They held on, allowing not many dangerous moments near their goal. But then, for some reason, Reyna suddenly decided to run out of the frame, and Barnes beat him and hit an unprotected target. After this, perhaps, you can live, but at the equator of the second half the referee finished off the guests by awarding a penalty for Mings’ shoulder play! Vardy converted the spot-kick, and Aston Villa finally floated. The “Foxes” had only to take it when it was lukewarm, which is what the owners did. Vardy and Barnes scored another goal each and set final result – 4:0.
MU AND ARSENAL WINN THE DERBY.
The centerpiece of the tour was undoubtedly the Manchester derby at Old Trafford. At the time of the meeting, the score for the current season was 2:1 in favor of Manchester United, which won against the Citizens away in the first round of the Premier League and in the League Cup. The Sky Blues won at Old Trafford and subsequently reached the KL final and won the trophy. However, Guardiola’s squad was unable to repeat the success and declasse their sworn neighbors on their field for the second time. City seemed to go into the game without motivation, as if it was not a derby at all. During the entire first half, the guests made only one shot on target at De Gea's goal, and the score at the break was 1:0 in favor of the hosts. In the 30th minute, Martial scored, whose not the most swipe became unstoppable for Ederson. In the locker room, Guardiola managed to bring his players to their senses, and the second half of the meeting passed with a noticeable territorial advantage for the “citizens”. However, there weren’t many chances near De Gea’s goal, the Spaniard saved his team several times, and a couple more times the guests managed to miss the ball or the target, being in a lethal position. And at the very end, in the last seconds of the time compensated by the referee, there was a real embarrassment. Ederson, putting the ball into play, gave it to McTominay, and Scott hit the Brazilian's empty net from about 30 meters away. 2:0 – Manchester United wins the third derby of the season.
Arsenal also had a successful last round, also winning the derby. Not in the most important way - with West Ham. The game turned out to be painful for both teams, because neither the Gunners nor the Hammers managed to convert their chances. Moreover, before the break, David Moyes' team had more chances to score. In the second half of the meeting, Arsenal was more active, and in the 78th minute the hosts managed to score the only goal in this match. Aubameyang fired a long-range shot, the ball bounced off the defender to Ozil, and Mesut redirected it to Lacazette. The Frenchman touched Fabianski's goal, but the referees called Ozil offside and the goal was not counted. However, a minute later, when there was a pause in the game, the chief referee turned to VAR, after which he changed his decision. The goal was counted and Arsenal took the lead. West Ham had a chance to restore the balance a few minutes later, but Leno, who played superbly that evening, did not allow the visitors to hit their possession.
HUMILIATION OF EVERTON AT STAMFORD BRIDGE AND ANOTHER MISSIFICATION OF MOURINHO.
The most productive match of the gaming weekend (we do not include the Leicester game here, since it was already on Monday) also took place in London, where Chelsea hosted Everton. In the first round, the Toffees beat the Blues with a score of 3:1, and Frank Lampard apparently remembered the offense caused. On home arena his youth tore the Liverpudlians to smithereens. By the middle of the first half, the ball had hit Jordan Pickford's goal twice, and the Merseyside goalkeeper had to take it out of the net the same number of times after the break. In a word, Jordan had no envious people that day. The goalkeeper performed well, but Chelsea created chances in such quantities that Pickford did not have time to keep track of everything and save everything. Already in the 14th minute, Mount upset him with a shot from the penalty area; in the 21st, Pedro converted a one-on-one opportunity. Immediately after the break, Willian completed the game with a wonderful long-range strike, and a couple of minutes later the Brazilian delivered a cross into the penalty area, after which Giroud scored. 4:0 – this is probably the worst match for Carlo Ancelotti at the helm of Everton.
Jose Mourinho also had nothing to brag about this weekend, whose Tottenham away team played a draw with Burnley - 1:1. This, of course, is not 0:4, but the “burgundy” teams are not “Chelsea” at all. However, the game turned out to be very difficult for Spurs. Already in the 13th minute they conceded from Chris Wood, and by the break they could have received another goal or two if not for Lloris and the mistakes of the Burnley players. In attack, in the first 45 minutes, Mourinho’s team showed absolutely nothing. For the second half, the Portuguese brought on Moura, and the creativity in the attack increased. But the Londoners scored the only goal not as a result of a well-planned attack, but from the penalty spot. Lamela was brought down in the home penalty area, and Dele Alli was flawless from the spot. Later, both teams had chances to score, but the score on the scoreboard was final whistle hasn't changed. A useless draw for both.
DROUGHT IN THE WOLF'S LAIR AND THE SCARY VICTORY OF THE BLADES.
Tottenham, after a draw in Burnley, dropped to eighth place in the table of ranks, changing places with Sheffield. The Blades, unlike the Spurs, won their match of the 29th round. Outsider Norwich, who came to visit them, reminded everyone that Chris Wilder’s team, despite their high position in the table, is also an untested newcomer to the Premier League. The game did not even turn out to be equal, but went with the advantage of the “canaries”. But what's the point of it if the only goal in the match was scored by the hosts. In the 36th minute, Lundstrom crossed into the penalty area from the right flank, and Billy Sharp hit the ball under the crossbar as he fell. This goal, in fact, should not have remained the only one, because in the second half Norwich had not even one hundred, but two hundred percent scoring chances. Vrancic, falling from half a meter, tried to push the ball into the net, but Henderson prevented him. There followed a finishing move from Drmic from three meters, but even then the home goalkeeper, lying on the lawn, saved his team. Isn't it a miracle? Now Sheffield has 43 points, and the fight for the European Cup continues for the Blades.
One of the main competitors of Wilder's team, Wolverhampton, failed to get three points this weekend. The Wolves had to be content with one point and no goals scored against the opponent, which was Brighton. We must pay tribute to the Seagulls, who were able to give the battle to the more skilled Santu team on their field. Both teams created a sufficient number of scoring chances, but most of the shots on both goals were above the target. Such zeros cannot be called boring, but that doesn’t make them stop being zeros. Wolverhampton confirms its status as the most peaceful team of the season.
MINIMUM SUCCESSES OF "EAGLES" AND "FORGIES".
The Premier League has a fairly large group of teams fighting for European competition, and there are also many who are fighting for survival. But there are also middle peasants who are unlikely to face either the first or the second. This chapter is about them, and let's start with Crystal Palace. The Eagles beat Watford at home on Saturday, who are in trouble but still able to stop Liverpool. The fate of this match, like several others, was decided by the only goal scored. Its author was Jordan Ayew, who completed the Londoners' combination with a cannonball from the penalty line. In the second half, the Hornets had several opportunities to restore parity, but Troy Deeney's attempts to upset Vicente Guaita were unsuccessful. The Spaniard won the duel against the Englishman.
Newcastle also won with a minimal score in the 29th round, managing to get the better of Southampton. The Saints were already in the minority in the 28th minute. Dzhenepo stepped on the shin of Hayden, who was spreading out in a tackle, for which he received a yellow card. But the referee decided to use a video monitor to check the correctness of his verdict, after which he changed the “mustard plaster” to expulsion. At the end of the half, the guests suffered another punishment: Bufal played with his hand in his own penalty area, and the referee awarded a penalty. True, Southampton carried through here too: McCarthy parried Matt Ritchie's shot from the spot. But the main football misfortune, a missed goal, could not escape the “saints” throughout the match. In the 79th minute, Valery hesitated near his penalty area and lost the ball, which Saint-Maximin immediately sent into the net. 0:1 – Newcastle broke the four-match goalless streak and celebrated the victory.