Premier League
Premier League talking points
Talking points from the Premier League weekend:
CITY STUMBLE BUT TITLE DESTINY STILL IN THEIR HANDS
The Premier League title race will go down to the wire after leaders Manchester City stumbled by dropping points in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at West Ham United.
Riyad Mahrez could have sealed a win with his late penalty but even though he missed from the spot, City earned a point which keeps their title fate in their own hands.
The result puts further pressure on Liverpool, who need to avoid defeat at Southampton on Tuesday to keep their title hopes alive.
However, a win at home to Aston Villa on the final day would guarantee City a fourth title in five seasons, regardless of Liverpool’s results in their remaining games.
“To do this is an incredible privilege, after many years together,” manager Pep Guardiola said. “To have our chance with our people, to win one game to be champions. I’m looking forward to it.”
WEST HAM QUALIFY FOR EUROPE AGAIN
Sunday’s 2-2 draw at home with City meant West Ham United will play European football once again next season, having reached the semi-finals of the Europa League this term.
West Ham were fighting for a Champions League spot at the start of the season but will finish with a berth for the Europa League or Europa Conference League with the team seventh in the league, two points behind Manchester United, with one game left.
“In the main, if we could finish sixth, that would be an incredible achievement. Seventh already is, but being sixth would be so good if we can do that,” manager David Moyes said.
“When we finished sixth last season we celebrated greatly because of it, but the thought of us finishing in Europe again, we’d have taken that all day long.”
EVERTON FACE DEFINING WEEK
Everton’s frailties that have plagued them all season are still there ahead of what will be one of the most important weeks in the club’s storied 144-year history with the financial consequences of relegation potentially crippling.
The Merseysiders twice led at home to Brentford on Sunday but lost the game 3-2 after an 18th-minute red card for teenage centre back Jarrad Branthwaite gave the visitors an advantage they exploited superbly.
Branthwaite was only playing because Yerry Mina and Ben Godfrey are injured, and Michael Keane was ill, exposing their soft underbelly that will be tested again on Thursday at home to Crystal Palace, where victory will see them safe from the drop.
All three goals came from headers, one via their captain Seamus Coleman as he put the ball into his own net. The 59 goals they have conceded this season is their joint most in a 38-game Premier League campaign.
-Reuters
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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