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Tag: Epl

  • EPL: Jackson goal sends Chelsea into top four

    EPL: Jackson goal sends Chelsea into top four

    Chelsea edged back into the Champions League places with a one-goal victory over Everton at Stamford Bridge.

    The win moves the Blues up to fourth in the Premier League, level on points with Nottingham Forest and a point ahead of Newcastle, who play Ipswich later on Saturday.

    With Forest and Aston Villa in FA Cup semi-final action this weekend, Chelsea will hold on to a top-five spot at least until Thursday, when Forest host Brentford.

    The crucial three points were sealed by striker Nicolas Jackson, who ended a 13-match goalless run stretching back to December.

    He drilled an instinctive 20-yard effort beyond Jordan Pickford and into the bottom corner in the 27th minute.

    Despite being the better side, Chelsea were unable to kill the game off and, given the tight nature of the race for Champions League football and the Blues’ difficult league fixtures before the end of the season, there were uncomfortable moments when Everton improved in the final quarter.

    But the hosts’ keeper Robert Sanchez saved well from both Beto and Dwight McNeil low to his right when needed.

    Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea now play leaders Liverpool at Stamford Bridge next Sunday, then visit fellow Champions League chasers Newcastle, before hosting Manchester United, and travelling to Forest on the final day.

    Everton have only won one of their past nine matches and remain 13th.

    BBC

  • Chelsea pull off late winning fight-back against Fulham

    Chelsea pull off late winning fight-back against Fulham

    Chelsea secured a huge win in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) race as they battled back from behind late on to win 2-1 away to Fulham in the Premier League, ending their eight-match unbeaten away league run in the process.

    Victories against Chelsea have been few and far between down the years for Fulham, but they thought they’d got off to the perfect start against the Blues here when Andreas Pereira poked home from inside the six-yard box.

    Unfortunately for the Brazilian, the offside flag and a brief VAR check ruled that there were a couple of offsides in the build-up.

    That only served as a temporary reprieve for the Blues, who soon found themselves behind.

    They were the masters of their own downfall in that sense, as Reece James had his pocket picked by Ryan Sessegnon, who strode forward, found Alex Iwobi on the edge of the area, and drilled a left-footed effort from the edge of the area into the bottom corner.

    Chelsea responded fairly well to falling behind, pinning Fulham in their own half at times, but creating any clear-cut opportunities was proving problematic for the UCL chasers.

    Chants of “attack, attack, attack” by Chelsea fans for the second week running certainly weren’t helping their cause, but the fans were far from shy in making their feelings known.

    The Blues heeded the plea from their travelling supporters after the break and did create a clear-cut sight of goal.

    HT substitute Malo Gusto was involved, as his cross worked its way to the feet of Pedro Neto, but his wicked drive from 12 yards was blocked by the legs of Bernd Leno.

    Enzo Maresca was looking to his senior players to dig them out of the mire, and when Cole Palmer broke into the box and worked a yard of space, it looked like they’d done just that.

    But when he skewed his effort horribly wide, it appeared it wasn’t going to be Chelsea’s day.

    Parked inside the Fulham half for most of the second 45, Chelsea were giving themselves a great chance of drawing level, and they eventually did so through academy graduate Tyrique George, who pounced on a loose ball and arrowed an effort into the bottom corner.

    Chelsea had all the momentum going into the closing stages, and they translated that dominance into a late winner.

    There was nothing fortunate about it either, as Pedro Neto controlled, swivelled, and thundered an effort into the roof of Leno’s net to send the away end into raptures and move Chelsea into the top five.

    Defeat isn’t catastrophic to Fulham, but they did miss the chance to move into eighth, which could be enough for a European spot come the end of the season, depending on who wins the FA Cup.

    Tribalfootball

  • Man City strike twice late on to beat Everton

    Man City strike twice late on to beat Everton

    Manchester City remain on track to qualify for next season’s Champions League after winning at Everton with two late goals.

    An uninspiring contest looked to be heading for a drab draw before being brought to life with six minutes remaining when young full-back Nico O’Reilly stole in from close range to convert Matheus Nunes’ cutback.

    Substitute Mateo Kovacic added a second in injury time on the stretch as Pep Guardiola’s men climbed to fourth in the table, four points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea, who face neighbours Fulham on Sunday.

    The first half was often flat and made for a poor spectacle, with Everton’s best chance going the way of centre-back James Tarkowski, who rose highest to James Garner’s corner and flicked a header against the post.

    On the stroke of half-time, City could have gone ahead with a rapid break forward but Kevin de Bruyne saw his goalbound strike brilliantly cleared off the line by Jake O’Brien’s diving header.

    Savinho’s low drive was kept out by Jordan Pickford’s sharp save in the second period, before City had the final say.

    BBC

  • Burnley edge closer to gain promotion back to EPL

    Burnley edge closer to gain promotion back to EPL

    Burnley came from a goal down to win at nine-man Watford and take a big step towards sealing automatic promotion back to the Premier League.

    Strikes either side of half-time from striker Zian Flemming and captain Josh Brownhill saw Burnley recover after Mamadou Doumbia gave Watford an early lead.

    Leeds United’s 1-0 win at Oxford meant they lead the table on goal difference from Scott Parker’s side, who equalled the club’s record unbeaten league run of 30 games.

    The Clarets are just the second team in Championship history to go 30 consecutive, non play-off games without losing after Reading.

    And Burnley can rubber-stamp their top-flight return as early as Monday if they beat third-placed Sheffield United at home.

    Mid-table Watford, who dropped a place to 12th following this defeat, ended the game with nine men after they had both their captain Moussa Sissoko and then Edo Kayembe sent off.

    Watford started positively and were rewarded in the eighth minute when Doumbia headed in Rocco Vata’s left-wing cross, ending Burnley’s hopes of claiming an English record-equalling 30th clean sheet of the season at Vicarage Road.

    Flemming passed up two chances to level for Burnley, and Parker’s men were fortunate not to fall a further goal behind midway through the half.

    After more good work down Watford’s left, Caleb Wiley crossed for Kayembe but he could not keep his header down, instead directing the ball over.

    Burnley dominated possession after that without overly troubling Watford goalkeeper Egil Selvik until a frantic finish to the first half.

    Firstly, Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford produced a stunning flying save to fingertip Kayembe’s drive on to the crossbar.

    While Trafford was still celebrating his save, the first of his three standout stops during the game, Burnley launched an attack of their own which ended with Flemming nodding in Jaidon Anthony’s cross.

    Anthony then tested Selvik before Trafford denied Kayembe at full-stretch once again, and the two teams went in level at the break.

    Just before the hour, though, Burnley completed the turnaround. Following a slick passing move down the right, Connor Roberts’ cross to the far post was knocked back into the middle by Hannibal Mejbri and Brownhill headed the visitors in front.

    Watford then suffered a double blow to their hopes of staging a recovery of their own when Sissoko and then Kayembe were dismissed, both after being shown two yellow cards in quick succession.

    With their two-man advantage, Burnley were the most likely next scorers and Brownhill was denied a second by Selvik.

    But they also had to remain alert at the death and needed a last-ditch CJ Egan-Riley tackle on Vakoun Bayo, and another big Trafford save to keep out Ryan Andrews’ effort to preserve their lead.

    BBC

  • Top three players to watch this weekend in EPL

    Top three players to watch this weekend in EPL

    The Premier League is back for another weekend of action as the title race draws to a close and relegation sides fight to stay up, here are three players to keep an eye on.

    Virgil van Dijk 

    Van Dijk has joined forward Mohamed Salah, who signed a two-year extension last week, in committing his future to the club. The 33-year-old has made 314 appearances for the Reds and will make one more this weekend against relegation candidates Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

    A loss for the Foxes would see them relegated after just 2 wins since the start of the year and collecting just 18 points from 32 games this season. The Dutchman will be at the heart of the Liverpool defense, defending not only a clean sheet but the club’s chances of sealing the title early as long as Arsenal slip up against Ipswich Town. A win is imperative and Van Dijk alongside Salah should be two stars to watch closely this weekend.

    Alexander Isak 

    The 25-year-old has scored 59 goals in 103 games for the Magpies this season and in the final stretch of the campaign, he is a no-brainer when selecting three players to highlight this weekend. Isak is objectively one of the best strikers in the world at the moment as he continues to attract attention from Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and several other top sides ahead of the summer transfer window.

    However, Newcastle remain determined to keep hold of their star striker and as they push towards Champions League qualification, he may want to stay and work under manager Eddie Howe. Saturday afternoon sees Howe’s side face Aston Villa, another side chasing European qualification but after six wins in a row Newcastle are favourites by some distance. Isak is in the form of his life and he should help find the back of the net again this week.

    Mikel Merino

    After Arsenal had lost Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz to injuries many wrote the manager Mikel Arteta’s side off and claimed both their European run and title race were over. He admitted earlier this season that he had never played as a striker before but the former Real Sociedad ace looks right at home and has been exceptional since operating as a makeshift striker for the North London side.

    The Spaniard has registered six goals and three assists for the London giants in all competitions including two assists against Real Madrid in midweek. The Gunners face Ipswich on Sunday in another crucial game in their title race which still isn’t over. Arsenal will be hoping he can continue his sparkling form and contribute more to Arteta’s side who look deadlier than ever despite the lack of a true striker.

  • Newcastle beat Man Utd to boost Champions League hopes

    Newcastle beat Man Utd to boost Champions League hopes

    Newcastle United strengthened their push for a Champions League spot in the absence of unwell boss Eddie Howe with a crushing win over Manchester United at St James’ Park.

    Howe was admitted to hospital on Friday having felt unwell for a number of days.

    Assistants Jason Tindall and Graeme Jones took charge against United and the players responded with a fine performance as they recorded a first league double over their opponents since the 1930-31 campaign.

    United boss Ruben Amorim dropped first-choice goalkeeper Andre Onana after his two mistakes against Lyon in Thursday’s 2-2 Europa League quarter-final first-leg draw, but replacement Altay Bayındır was guilty of a serious error to seal an easy home win.

    The Turkey international clipped a ball straight to Joelinton who headed into the path of Bruno Guimaraes to make it 4-1 in the 77th minute.

    By then, though, Newcastle were in complete command.

    They were the better side from the first minute to the last and opened the scoring when Alexander Isak’s lobbed pass over the visiting defence ended with Sandro Tonali finding the net.

    Italy midfielder Tonali went close to doubling the lead from distance, while Bayındır did well to deny Isak, before Manchester United equalised against the run of play.

    Alejandro Garnacho kept his composure eight minutes before the break to shoot beyond Nick Pope for his side’s first goal in three top-flight games.

    But Newcastle moved up to fourth spot – just a point behind third-placed Nottingham Forest – when Harvey Barnes put the game out of reach with two second-half goals.

    After tapping home Jacob Murphy’s pass across the six-yard area to make it 2-1 in the 49th minute, Barnes produced a ruthless finish 15 minutes later after a slip by Noussair Mazraoui. Bayindir’s howler just compounded United’s misery on Tyneside.

    United, who lost Joshua Zirkzee to a suspected hamstring injury, dropped below Everton on goal difference to 14th in the table – and just three points off fourth-bottom West Ham – after a 10th defeat in 21 Premier League games under Ruben Amorim.

    BBC

  • Man City rediscover best form in win against Palace

    Man City rediscover best form in win against Palace

    Manchester City completed a remarkable comeback, coming from 2-0 down to beat Crystal Palace 5-2 and end the Eagles’ eight-match unbeaten away run.

    With how this season’s gone for Manchester City, Pep Guardiola probably can’t wait for it to come to an end.

    His side are still battling for a top-four spot though, and their chances took a hit inside 10 minutes, when a sweeping Palace move culminated in Ismaïla Sarr squaring for the unmarked Eberechi Eze to tap home at the far post.

    City ought to have drawn level within minutes when the departing Kevin De Bruyne freed Omar Marmoush in behind, but he was thwarted by the midriff of Dean Henderson when one-on-one.

    Guardiola felt Chris Richards pulled Marmoush at the vital moment as he went to shoot and felt he should’ve been sent off.

    His mood won’t have been helped soon after then, when Richards climbed highest inside the area to head home Adam Wharton’s corner from inside the six-yard box.

    He must’ve been feeling worse still when Eze swept home a third, but fortunately for the Spaniard, the offside flag spared his side’s blushes.

    City took full advantage of that reprieve too, halving the deficit shortly after the half-hour mark through De Bruyne, who crashed a 30-yard free-kick in off the post.

    James McAtee should’ve equalised almost straight from the restart, but with City’s tails firmly up, they didn’t have to wait too much longer for a leveller.

    There was an element of fortune to how the ball fell to Marmoush inside the area, but there was nothing lucky about the finish as he leathered home from six yards out.

    The comeback should’ve been complete before the break, but within two minutes of the restart, City had the job done.

    There was an element of simplicity about it, as De Bruyne teed up Mateo Kovačić on the edge of the area who simply swept the ball into the bottom corner.

    McAtee had spurned at least two great chances to mark his inclusion today, and he did eventually get his goal as he burst in behind to latch onto Ederson’s measured ball in behind, bringing the ball down, rounding Henderson and rolling into an empty net.

    City looked close to their irrepressible best at times today, and duly added a fifth goal 10 minutes from time, with Nico O’Reilly providing it as he volleyed home from the edge of the area. That rounded off a great win for City, who have now heaped a wealth of pressure on their top-four rivals to perform later this weekend.

    Tribalfootball

  • Wolves comeback win pushes Ipswich to brink of relegation

    Wolves comeback win pushes Ipswich to brink of relegation

    Wolves closed in on Premier League survival and left Ipswich on the brink of relegation after a vital comeback win at Portman Road.

    Jorgen Strand Larsen and Pablo Sarabia’s second-half strikes cancelled out Liam Delap’s opener to leave the Tractor Boys facing an immediate return to the Championship.

    Kieran McKenna’s third-bottom side are 12 points behind the visitors with seven games left after a damaging defeat.

    It was a game Ipswich had to win, yet a third successive league victory should now end Wolves’ own relegation fears with just 21 points to play for.

    The result meant Southampton will also be relegated on Sunday if they fail to win at Tottenham.

    Strand Larsen and Toti Gomes forced Alex Palmer into early saves but Delap fired Ipswich ahead after 16 minutes when he swept in his 12th goal of the season from Dara O’Shea’s knockdown.

    It gave the hosts a platform, but keeper Palmer almost conceded a calamitous own goal when he allowed O’Shea’s backpass to drift under his foot before scrambling back to palm it off the line.

    Wolves were awarded an indirect free-kick on the six-yard box, only for Sam Morsy to block Emmanuel Agbadou’s strike.

    It rattled Ipswich and they remained on the back foot after the break with Joao Gomes hitting the post for Wolves as the nerves grew.

    It was no surprise when Spaniard Sarabia found the bottom corner to level in the 72nd minute after excellent build-up play involving Strand Larsen.

    The in-form Norway striker, on loan from Celta Vigo, then bundled in the crucial winner from a Sarabia cross with six minutes left for his fourth goal in three successive games.

  • EPL: Arteta defends Arsenal selection after Everton draw

    EPL: Arteta defends Arsenal selection after Everton draw

    Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta defended his team selection after Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Everton.

    Leandro Trossard had the Gunners ahead before a penalty won by  Jack Harrison after being fouled by Myles Lewis-Skelly was converted by Iliman Ndiaye.

    Afterwards, Arteta defended his team selection, denying he was rotating given their Champions League quarterfinal first-leg clash with Real Madrid next week.

    He said, “Everybody has to be important, has to fill in.

    “Not for what was happening on Tuesday, but what happened in training they deserved to start the game.”

    On the performance of Bukayo Saka, Arteta continued: “He is in a much better place. He has played 49 minutes today. He’s in a much better place.

    “Today we have players who have not played together. Let them have the minutes, have the understanding and we will assess who is the best combination for the game.”

    The match marked the last for former Everton captain Arteta at Goodison Park: “Well, I mean the Premier League has got a reputation all over the world for places like Goodison Park. I understand this is evolution of a football club.”

    On facing Real Madrid, he said: “One of the most beautiful games that you can play in football. Against a team that has dominated the competition for the next 25 years.”

  • I’ve changed the EPL – Guardiola hits back at Capello

    I’ve changed the EPL – Guardiola hits back at Capello

    Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has hit back at his former AS Roma coach Fabio Capello.

    Capello branded Guardiola “way too arrogant and presumptuous”, claiming he would refuse to compromise on tactics as he wanted to prove City could only win titles with him in charge.

    In response, Guardiola said on Friday: “I listen to everything that people say about me, so be careful.”

    “It’s not the first time Mr Fabio Capello has said that. I’m not good enough to ruin Italian football. A big hug to Fabio. A big hug.”

    However, Guardiola then continued: “I don’t want to pretend to be, and naming again one of the big managers, one of the exceptional managers in Fabio Capello, and look arrogant, but we helped raise the bar in the Premier League.

    “Teams had to go to the markets and that helps people. People want to do good, people are well organised, have good structures, good decisions, good players everywhere.

    “I’ve been here when I went to Bournemouth in the beginning, and now it’s different. And when I went in the beginning in Brighton, and now it’s different. And when I went in Fulham in the beginning, and now it’s different.”