Mid-Week Premier League Recap

With the FA Cup run taking away some weekend Premier League fixtures, this week saw the opportunity for catching up, including the Manchester Derby.

There were four games this week, with 9  goals being scored, 19 yellows.

 

Tuesday

Screen Shot 2019-04-24 at 11.10.28.png

Tottenham Hotspur v Brighton & Hove Albion 

1-0

Christian Eriksen‘s stunning later winner finally broke through a resilient Brighton side, boosting Tottenham’s hopes of a top-four finish and a place in the Champions League next season.

The Seagulls were on course to gain a point in their battle to avoid relegation before the Danish playmaker, Spurs’ most effective attacking player of the night, shot low from 25 yards out in the 88th minute.

Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld had earlier striked the post whilst Lucas Moura and Dele Alli both had efforts cleared off the line.

Brighton haven’t scored in seven games and were restricted to counter attacks and set pieces, with the impressive defensive duo of Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy heading off target.

Third-placed Spurs and now three points ahead of Chelsea and four clear of Arsenal.

17th-placed Brighton have a tough run to end the season with games against Arsenal and Man City coming up. They remain three points clear of the danger zone with three games remaining.

 

Up Next:

Spurs v West Ham – Saturday, April 27 (7:30am)

Brighton v Newcastle – Saturday, April 27 (12:30pm)

 

Screen Shot 2019-04-24 at 11.11.56

Watford v Southampton

1-1

Shane Long had given Southampton an early lead, scoring the fastest goal in Premier League history (7.69 seconds).

For much of the game it looked like the Saints would hold on for all three points and secure Premier League football next season, however Andre Gray had something to say about that with a 90th minute strike to steal a point.

Southampton struck the post twice before the break as the Hornets struggled, although the hosts were much improved after the break and created several chances in the second half.

Visiting goalkeeper Agnus Gunn had just saved from Roberto Pereyra‘s header when a rebound fell kindly for Gray, who shot powerfully past the keeper at the near post.

Southampton’s point sees them two place and six points ahead of Cardiff, and Watford moved into seventh with three games renaming, however Wolves’ defeat of Arsenal on Wednesday saw the Hornets drop back down to eighth, one point behind Wolverhampton.

The Hornets leap helps maintain their prospects of qualifying for the Europa League via league position, although they also have the chance to play in Europe by upsetting Manchester City in the FA Cup Final on May 18.

 

Up Next:

Watford v Wolves – Saturday, April 27 (10am)

Southampton v Bournemouth – Saturday, April 27 (10am)

 

Wednesday

Screen Shot 2019-04-24 at 11.31.12.png

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal 

3-1

Arsenal missed the opportunity to go fourth in the Premier League after being outplayed and outclassed by Wolves at Molineux.

Ruben Neves put the hosts ahead with a free kick from 25 yards out, before Matt Doherty headed home their second.

Diogo Jota added a third just before the break after the Gunners carelessly gave the ball away and the Portuguese ran at the away defense before firing a low shot past goalie Bernd Leno.

Defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos headed in a consolation goal for the visitors from Granit Xhaka‘s corner in the 80th minute.

The victory sees Wolves climb from 10th to seventh, whilst Arsenal remain fifth, one point adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea and four behind rivals Tottenham.

With three games left of the season, the Wolves are in contention to qualify for Europe. If Man City defeat Watford in the FA Cup final, whoever finishes seventh in the league will take the last available European spot and enter next season’s Europa League at the second qualifying stage.

 

Up Next:

Watford v Wolves – Saturday, April 27 (10am)

Leicester v Arsenal – Sunday, April 28 (7am)

 

Screen Shot 2019-04-24 at 11.33.36.png

Manchester United v Manchester City

0-2

Manchester City moved back to the top of the Premier League with a hard-fought victory over neighbors and rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Second half goals from Bernardo Silva and substitute Leroy Sane took the defending champions a point clear of Liverpool with three games remaining.

Jesse Lingard missed the hosts’ best opportunities, firing a first half volley wide, before missing the ball when presented with a wide open net after the break.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær‘s team, who host Chelsea on Sunday, remain sixth in the table, three points from a place in the top four and Champions League qualification. If the standings remain the same after the next three games, United will play in the Europa League next season.

 

Up Next:

Man United v Chelsea – Sunday, April 28 (11:30am)

Burnley v Man City – Sunday, April 28 (9:05am)

 

 

ALL TIMES U.S. EASTERN

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

Website Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑

%d bloggers like this: