Premier League
English Premier League talking points
Talking points from the Premier League weekend:
BRIGHTON RUE DECISIONS AS EURO HOPES HIT
Brighton & Hove Albion had every reason to feel hard-done-by after their hopes of qualifying for Europe were dented by a 2-1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Not only did they largely outplay their fifth-placed hosts, they were on the receiving end of some poor decision that even led to an apology from officials body the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).
Howard Webb, the PGMOL chief, admitted Brighton should have had a penalty when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg stood on Kaoru Mitoma’s foot in the 70th minute and referee Stuart Attwell waved away appeals for a penalty and VAR failed to intervene.
Brighton also had two goals, one for Mitoma and one for Alexis Mac Allister ruled out for handball.
It all proved a poor advert for VAR as Brighton, for the third time this season, received an apology about decisions.
MISSING MITROVIC A PROBLEM FOR FLIMSY FULHAM
The effect of the eight-match ban handed down to Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic for pushing the referee in their FA Cup clash with Manchester United last month was glaringly obvious as they lost 1-0 to lowly West Ham United on Saturday.
Marco Silva’s side spent the game slinging cross after cross into the box, but with their talismanic target man sitting in the stands for the foreseeable future, there was no-one on hand to make the most of them, and West Ham ended up winning thanks to an own goal.
Mid-table Fulham have little chance of either making the European places or being relegated, but they will need to work out how deal with the absence of the fiery Serb if they are to avoid a repeat of this embarrassing defeat.
MANCHESTER CITY RELENTLESS IN PURSUIT
One thing Arsenal can be sure of is that Manchester City are not about to hand over their title without a hell of a fight.
City are back in the type of groove that twice saw them hold off Liverpool in epic title races and Saturday’s 4-1 victory at bottom club Southampton, while expected, was another example that they will continue to churn out victories.
Since losing to Tottenham in early February, City have taken 22 points from 24 on offer and have the momentum going into the final weeks of the season.
Arsenal remain six points clear, but have played a game more than City and may soon have them breathing down their necks.
ARSENAL UNRAVEL AT ANFIELD
With eight games to go as they try and close in on a first Premier League trophy since 2004, Arsenal will be hoping that squandering a two-goal lead against Liverpool does not end up costing them the title.
Through most of the first half, the league leaders turned Liverpool inside out with the ruthless precision they have shown for most of the season to go 2-0 up. However, they conceded just before the break and unravelled after halftime to draw 2-2.
Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale produced a highlights reel of spectacular saves late on and was a big reason the north Londoners got out of Anfield with a point at all.
Arsenal faced 19 shots inside the box, the most they have faced since records began for this statistic in 2003-04.
“You need your goalkeeper in title races, you need magic moments from your keeper, and Aaron was there for us, just like Alisson has been for Liverpool so many times,” manager Mikel Arteta said.
“But we look at ourselves in mirror and could have done better with some big chances.”
HODGSON UNLOCKS PALACE POTENTIAL AS OLISE PULLS STRINGS
In two games since his return to the Crystal Palace hot seat, new manager Roy Hodgson has seen his side score seven goals — as many as they did in their previous 15 matches — to move six points clear of the relegation zone.
A team struggling to find the net under Patrick Vieira were at their aggressive and free-flowing best as they thrashed Leeds United 5-1, with 21-year-old Michael Olise orchestrating the attack and grabbing a hat-trick of assists in just 16 minutes.
“I have seen him for 10 days less than I have seen the others. What I make of him is that I think he is an enormous talent,” Hodgson said.
“We (coaches) are orchestra leaders. We know the music, we know all the notes, but they have to play the tune.”
-Reuters
Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to remain top of the Premier League as Arsenal and Manchester City came from behind to win on Saturday.
City were 3-2 victors over Fulham to stay one point behind Liverpool, alongside Arsenal who saw off Southampton 3-1.
Arne Slot has now won nine of his first 10 games since succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager, but was frustrated that the visitors invited a late onslaught from the winless Eagles.
Jota prodded the Reds into the lead from Cody Gakpo’s cross on nine minutes.
The Portuguese international was then guilty of missing two big chances to extend Liverpool’s advantage.
Palace failed to make them pay, but victory came at a cost for Slot as goalkeeper Alisson Becker limped off with a hamstring injury.
“If you score the second you break them mentally,” said Slot. “All the fans kept believing in a result because it was only 1-0, even though in my opinion we were the dominant team.”
Fresh from a dominant win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, Arsenal were expected to sweep aside winless Southampton.
But the Saints shocked the Emirates 10 minutes into the second half when Cameron Archer fired in his first Premier League goal since a summer move from Aston Villa.
The lead only lasted three minutes before Kai Havertz scored for the seventh consecutive home game.
Gabriel Martinelli was introduced after an hour and took just eight minutes to make his mark with a finish on the volley from Bukayo Saka’s cross.
Having set up Arsenal’s first two goals, Saka pounced on a loose ball to score the third himself.
Fulham’s outrageous opener
Rodri’s season-long absence due to a serious knee injury is expected to be a major blow to City’s chances of retaining the title for a fifth consecutive season.
But it was the Spaniard’s deputy Mateo Kovacic who scored twice to turn the game around for the champions at the Etihad.
The visitors had not lost since the opening night of the season at Manchester United and led thanks to Andreas Pereira’s finish from an outrageous backheel assist by Raul Jimenez.
Kovacic’s deflected effort quickly brought City level before a cleaner strike less than two minutes into the second half made it 2-1.
Jeremy Doku then smashed into the top corner from outside the box to give City a two-goal cushion, which they needed.
Rodrigo Muniz gave Fulham hope on 88 minutes, but City held out for a 17th consecutive win against the Cottagers.
West Ham eased the pressure on new boss Julen Lopetegui by ending a run of three home defeats to start the new season.
Michail Antonio, Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta struck for the Hammers in a 4-1 win over Ipswich, who are still waiting for their first Premier League win 22 years.
There were six goals before half-time as Brentford beat Wolves 5-3 to leave the visitors still rooted to the foot of the table.
Leicester secured their first league win of the season as Facundo Buonanotte’s strike beat Bournemouth 1-0.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag faces a huge match if he is to remain in charge when the Red Devils visit Aston Villa in the pick of Sunday’s action.
-AFP
Premier League
Premier League rejects City request to delay next season’s games after Club World Cup
The Premier League has rejected Manchester City’s request to postpone the first two games of the 2025-26 season to help the players recover after their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the U.S., the club’s manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.
City and Chelsea are the two English clubs who have qualified for the expanded month-long Club World Cup set to start on June 15. The Premier League’s season will begin in August.
An increasingly packed soccer calendar has been a concern among a growing number of players and managers. A report by global players’ union FIFPRO said some players get only 12% of the year to rest.
The Premier League did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
City midfielder Rodri said in September that players could be close to strike action over the time they are required to play. A knee ligament injury has since put him out for the season.
“I don’t know if we will play more games than the treble year (2022-23)… maybe we’ll play less games,” Guardiola told reporters.
“The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery. Thank you so much. They don’t postpone these games so that will be the moment of, oh, what do we have to do?”
He said the Club World Cup will make it even more difficult for clubs to manage player workload.
-Reuters
Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said a decision about under-fire manager Erik ten Hag is not his call, and was reticent about whether he still has faith in the team’s boss amid their worst start to the Premier League season since 1986-87.
“I don’t want to answer that question,” Ratcliffe told the BBC. “I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
“That team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April — Omar (Berrada, CEO), (Sporting Director) Dan Ashworth — they only arrived in July.
“They’ve only been there . . . you can count it in weeks almost — they’ve not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.”
Ten Hag’s job was the subject of speculation for much of last season en route to the team’s lowest Premier League finish of eighth. After an FA Cup final victory over Manchester City and an end-of-season review, however, Ten Hag signed a new contract to extend his stay at Old Trafford until 2026.
“Our objective is very clear, we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously, that’s very clear,” Ratcliffe said.
Ten Hag continues to plead for patience from fans with the team languishing 13th in the Premier League table, having lost three of their six opening games. They were headed towards defeat by Porto in the Europa League on Thursday before Harry Maguire scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a 3-3 draw.
-Reuters
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