Man City win to keep the pressure on Liverpool. All the action from Game Week 28:
Manchester City Flag
Champions Manchester City faced old boss Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham in a thrilling low scoring game. Manchester City started with 5 changes after lifting the League Cup. City started strong, controlled the game and dominated the possession as usual. West Ham were forced to defend their territory with everything. Within the first ten minutes, City had three clear cut chances with De Bruyne shooting narrowly wide, Mahrez volleying over the bar and David Silva hitting the post. City were slick with their passing but forgot to wear their shooting boots.
In the second half, the best chance was created by the Hammers against the run of play and Ederson was forced to make a stunning save from Andy Carroll’s well connected shot of Lanzini’s cross. Riyad Mahrez was caught in the Hammer’s offside trap very often and was eventually replaced by Raheem Sterling in the second half. Sane had an underwhelming game going by his high standard. Guardiola replaced him with Bernardo Silva.
It took the Portuguese midfielder only a matter of minutes after coming on to earn a penalty for his side for contact inside the box. Sergio Aguero shot the ball past Fabianski from the penalty spot to put Man City ahead. City dug deep and held on to the slender lead to make sure the gap between the Champions and the leaders is just 1 point.
Liverpool put 5 past Watford at Anfield with goals from Mane (2), Origi and Van Dijk (2). Liverpool now have 69 points and up next, they face Everton away in the Merseyside derby.
Race for Top 4 heats up:
Tottenham lost more ground in the race for the title by losing to Chelsea in the London derby. Maurizio Sarri benched Kepa after his refusal to go off the pitch in the Carabao cup finals. Chelsea fielded an attacking team on paper with Higuain, Kovacic and Alonso making their return to the starting line-up.
Both teams hit the woodwork before Pedro slotted the ball past Hugo Lloris to give Chelsea the lead. Spurs added to their own suffering with Trippier misplacing a back pass past his keeper resulting in an own goal. Chelsea are still in the sixth spot but only 3 points behind fourth placed Arsenal.
The race for top 4 heated up with Man United coming home with all three points in a tricky game against Crystal Palace in Selhurst Park. Romelu Lukaku scored twice to give Red Devils the lead. The stadium erupted when Joel Ward scored from a diving header. The hopes of a come back was put to the sword by Ashley Young who scored in the 83rd minute. Despite the scoreline, the match was evenly poised and Andrew Townsend remarkably failed to score from the early chances. The Eagles had more shots than Manchester United and should be proud of their performance.
Bournemouth’s away struggles continue:
Arsenal comfortably beat the Cherries 5-1 at the Emirates with goals from Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Koscielny, Aubamayeng, and Laczette. Lys Mousset scored for Bournemouth but his side struggled to show the ruthlessness they have displayed at Dean Court this season. The result takes Bournemouth down to the twelfth spot.
Newcastle climb further up, Cardiff and Fulham’s woes persist:
In the other games that kicked off early, bottom club Huddersfield shocked Wolves with a 1-0 win but with just 14 points from 28 games, they still have a mountain to climb to get out of the drop zone.
Cardiff were thrashed at home by Everton 3-0. The result made the bluebirds drop to the relegation zone. Newcastle moved further up the table to 13th place after their win against Burnley. Leicester edged Brighton 2-1 in front of their new boss Brendan Rodgers who watched them from the stands at the King Power stadium.
In the crucial fixture between strugglers Southampton and Fulham, it was Southampton who prevailed with a 2-0 win. The win takes them out of the relegation zone while Fulham are glued to the 19th spot.
LosMejor's Editorial Team includes a team of experts who cover the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. The Editorial team is headed by Deepak Selvan.
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