Kickoff chronicles

The 34th week of the Premier League was shortened as the FA Cup semi finals were scheduled this weekend for Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City with their respective ties. 

Sheffield United vs Burnley

Nevertheless, it kicked off at Bramall Lane with Sheffield United hosting Burnley. This was maybe Sheffield United’s last chance to grab 3 points and give themselves hope before relegation was almost certainly confirmed. They got off to an appalling start when Burnley found their first in the 38th minute. Jacob Bruun Larsen found the ball falling to him after Wilson Odobert’s shot was deflected. He took a swing at it on the volley and watched his deflected effort creep in inside the near corner. 1 minute later, the Clarets made it 0-2 when Lorenz Assignon added his name to the scoresheet. The Frenchman dribbled past 2 United defenders before nutmegging Auston Trusty with his shot and watching it hit the back of the net. It was a solid first half for Burnley as they went into the interval 0-2 up. The Blades did give themselves hope of a comeback though when Gustavo Hamer scored in the 52nd minute. A powerful run from James McAtee resulted in Hamer receiving the box inside the travelling side’s penalty area. The Dutchman sat down Assignon and curled his shot into the far side of the goal. Burnley reasserted their dominance in the tie when Lyle Foster scored 5 minutes later to make it 1-3. Assignon made a brilliant run from the right wing and passed it into the box for the South African, Foster, to smash into the bottom right corner. They sealed the 3 points when Johann Gudmundsson scored seconds after being subbed on. He received the ball from Josh Cullen, placed inside the right side of the penalty area. He curled it with his left boot, watching it nestle into the far corner. The result finished 1-4 with Burnley now in a solid spot in the league, still 19th, but after a few weeks of picking up results, they find themselves only 4 points away from Premier League safety. Sheffield United’s fate seems confirmed now with the maximum points they can now pick up at 31. The lowest number of points a team has ever picked up to stay in the Premier League, (West Brom 2004/05) 34.

Luton Town vs Brentford

The next game of the latest Premier League match week saw another crucial game down the lower end of the league with Luton hosting Brentford at Kenilworth Road. Brentford opened the scoring inside 24 minutes when Brentford’s two flair African players combined. Bryan Mbuemo threaded a ball through to Yoanne Wissa who smashed his shot into the top right corner, making it 0-1. The two players combined again just before half time when Mbuemo’s cross was not cleared properly by the Luton defenders. Licking his lips inside the box was Wissa again who tapped it in to make it 0-2 just before the break. Brentford went into the break up by two and running riot at Kenilworth Road. 16 minutes into the second period, the Bees made it 0-3 when Ethan Pinnock leapt high to head Sergio Reguilon’s corner into the top right of the goal. Mbuemo made it a hat-trick of assists 2 minutes later when he received a lob pass into the box and poked it across the Luton 6 yards area. Once again it was not cleared and Keane Lewis-Potter snuck in and headed it in from a tight angle. Number 5 came 22 minutes later when Kevin Schade found himself alone in the Luton 18 yard box, free to smash in the pass across the area from Vitaly Janelt. Luton scored a consolation 6 minutes later when Luke Berry punished a poor defensive pass back from the Brentford players. He progressed into the area and rounded Bees keeper Mark Flekken before lashing it in to make it 1-5. The result proved a huge 3 points for Brentford as they confirmed their Premier League status. It only gets worse for Luton; they are still only 2 points away from safety but with Forest yet to play this weekend.

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Arsenal

The last game played on the Saturday in the Premier League was at the Molineux Stadium with Wolves hosting title contenders, Arsenal. The Gunners will be keen to get back on track after being knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich and dropping all 3 points to Aston Villa the weekend prior. Arsenal ran rings around Wolves in the first 45 minutes and were rewarded for their domination in the 44th minute when Leandro Trossard opened the scoring. Gabriel Jesus received the ball inside the hosts penalty area, and was strong, holding off Wolves defenders as he looked for a pass. He fell but as he was on the floor, the Brazilian poked it out to Trossard who swung at the ball, mis-hitting it but watching it fly into the top right corner. The Gunners went into the interval up by one, but probably felt it should be more. After a nervy second period for the travelling team, they finally sealed the points in the 4th minute of stoppage time through Martin Odegaard. The Norwegian drilled a shot deep in the right side of the Wolves penalty area. It was blocked and fell back out to him. He was almost on the bi-line and it looked as if he was destined to pass but Odegaard thought otherwise and embarrassed Wolves keeper Jose Sa by squeezing it in somehow. The game finished 0-2, taking Arsenal to the top of the Premier League again by 1 point. Wolves still sit in 11th position with ambitions of European football probably too tricky now. 

Everton vs Nottingham Forest

The first Premier League game to be played on Sunday was staged at Goodison Park with Everton hosting Nottingham Forest in another huge game at the bottom of the pack. The Toffees found a crucial opener just before the half hour mark through an unlikely source of goals in Idrissa Gueye. The ex PSG midfielder controlled a ball that was cleared by a Forest defender and drilled his shot into the bottom left corner. The half ended 1-0 but Forest were angry as they thought they should have had a penalty just before the break when Callum Hudson-Odoi volleyed the ball into the wrist of Ashley Young. Everton then scored a delightful second in the 75th minute as they started to knit together some nice passes in the Forest half. Abdoulaye Doucoure received it outside the penalty area and laid it off to Dwight McNeil who thrashed his shot into the bottom right corner, watching it hit the post and smash the back of the net. The score ended 2-0 with Everton almost confirming their Premier League safety. Forest however still sit only 1 point away from the relegation zone, missing out on an opportunity to lengthen the gap between themselves and Luton.

Aston Villa vs Bournemouth

The next game of the match week was played at Villa Park with Aston Villa hosting Bournemouth in the Midlands. Unai Emery’s side are coming off a high after beating French team Lille in the quarter finals of the UEFA Conference League. They are now the only English team left in Europe this season with Manchester City, Arsenal, West Ham, and Liverpool all being knocked out in the quarters. Bournemouth shocked most of the home support when they got off to an electric start, winning a penalty inside half an hour. Justin Kluviert played a ball into the box for Milos Kerkez to take a touch backwards. Villa defender Matty Cash had already committed to a challenge and brought the Hungarian down making for an obvious choice for referee Tim Robinson. Dominic Solanke stepped up to take the penalty and smashed it into the top left corner, scoring his 18th of the season. Villa hit back just before the break in the last minute of the first half. Leon Bailey played the ball to Morgan Rodgers who was down the left wing. He progressed into the box and cut back, lashing his shot into the roof of the net. The half ended 1-1 with this game there for the taking. Villa got off to a brilliant start in the second period when they made it 2-1 in the 57th minute. Rodgers played a nice pass to Ollie Watkins who was down the left wing. Watkins looked up and spotted the run of Moussa Diaby. The Englishman played a smart ball through the Cherries defence which Diaby spotted and buried to put the hosts ahead. They sealed the 3 points 20 minutes later when Watkins was released into the penalty area. He rounded Bournemouth keeper Neto and smashed the ball across the goal, with Leon Bailey coming in and scoring one of the easiest, if not the easiest goal in his professional career. The hosts saw out the win with it all ending 3-1. This is a huge victory for Aston Villa as they pull 6 points clear of Tottenham in the fight for the top four. Spurs do still have two games in hand but they have pressure on them now, having to win their two postponed games. The English teams also missed out on that potential 5th Champions League spot with the Premier League dropping out of the UEFA coefficient table with only 1 of 8 teams progressing into the semi finals of their respective competition. Bournemouth still retained their solid mid table position of 13th, but missed out on a huge chance to jump into the top half of the table in 10th.

Crystal Palace vs West Ham United

The following game on Sunday was a London derby with Crystal Palace hosting West Ham at Selhurst Park. The last game between these two was a cracker with Palace coming away with a 4-3 win. They got off to another solid start when Michael Olise opened the scoring after 7 minutes when he headed in a cross from Joachim Andersen. Palace made it 2 in quick succession when Eberichi Eze scored 9 minutes later. Jean Phillippe-Mateta’s effort was saved by the foot of Lukasz Fabainski, deflecting up into the air. Eze jumped spectacularly, acrobatically volleying it into the roof of the net and making it 2-0. 2-0 became 3-0 four minutes later when Emerson tapped Will Hughes’ cross from the left wing into his own net. Palace made it 4-0 inside half an hour when Mateta got his name on the scoresheet. He slid in, tapping in the ball across from Olise, with the two Frenchman combining to add to the woes for West Ham fans. West Ham finally gave their support something to cheer about 10 minutes later when Tomas Soucek headed a Vladimir Coufal long ball across the Palace 6 yard box. Lurking inside was Michail Antonio who poked in a consolation for the Hammers. The half ended 4-1 with this fixture proving to be high scoring again. Palace made it 5-1 in the 64th minute when Eze found Mateta inside the West Ham area. He was given too much time by the Hammers defenders and had acres of space to smash home his second of the game. Palace looked as though they were going to hold out for a 5-1 win until the usually reliable Dean Henderson made an horrendous error, much like Arijanet Muric the previous week for Burnley. He failed to control a lobbed backpass from Tyrick Mitchell and it rolled over his boot and into his own net. It added a bad aftertaste to what had been a spectacular performance by Oliver Glasner’s side but if you ever would want your keeper to make a mistake like that, it is when you’re 5-1 up in the 89th minute. It finished 5-2 taking Palace back up to 14th in the table, with survival confirmed. West Ham continue their dreadful form, sitting in 8th but with multiple teams under them with games in hand.

Fulham vs Liverpool

The final game of the condensed Premier League match week 34 was played in the capital with Fulham hosting Liverpool at Craven Cottage. Liverpool went ahead just after the half hour mark through a player they had been missing in recent weeks; Trent Alexander-Arnold. The right-back had been solid so far and when the Reds won a free kick just outside the area, there was no doubt on who should stand over it. Trent curled it perfectly over the wall and into the top left corner, making it 0-1. Fulham sent the Cottage into a stage of delight when they struck back just before the interval. A ball into the box from Alex Iwobi was not cleared properly and it sat up nicely for Timothy Castagne. The Belgian drilled the ball through a crowd and into the bottom left corner tying the fixture. The teams went into the break level with Jurgen Klopp knowing his team must pick up all possible points if they were to stay in the title race. They regained their lead 8 minutes into the second period through Ryan Gravenberch. The Dutchman received it just outside the Fulham area from Harvey Elliot and curled it perfectly into the top right. They wrapped up the 3 points 19 minutes later when Coady Gakpo played a ball through to Diogo Jota. The Portugues dribbled into the area with the angle getting tighter, but he still managed to get a shot away, watching it trickle into the far corner, scoring his 100th English league goal in the process. The game finished 1-3, taking Liverpool above Manchester City to 2nd in the table and only behind Arsenal on goal difference. Fulham sit 12th, but miss out on a chance to rise to 10th in the table.

Written by Ollie Wade About Me