Category: English Premier League

Yoane Wissa’s dramatic stoppage-time goal handed Brentford victory over Bournemouth after an action-packed 2-1 victory at the Vitality Stadium.

Dominic Solanke’s 19th league goal looked to have earned Bournemouth a deserved point moments after Bryan Mbeumo put the visitors in front with his 50th Brentford goal. But Wissa – who set up Mbeumo’s opener – had the last word in the fifth minute of injury time to add to Bournemouth’s frustration after Andoni Iraola’s side had two first-half goals controversially chalked off. “We have been very affected by refereeing decisions. I know that this was his first game and whatever, but it is true that we were very affected today,” said Iraola. “For the second one, the referee has made a mistake because he called a foul and two seconds later we scored. He should have waited to whistle until we scored otherwise the VAR cannot overturn it.”

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Oliver Glasner hailed the “brilliant” Michael Olise after Crystal Palace made it five wins from six matches – and said he could use the same word to describe his teammates.

Olise, the two-goal star of the show in Monday’s 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United at Selhurst Park, opened the scoring in the 26th minute at Wolves with a delightful curling strike. The 22-year-old was then key in the buildup to Palace’s second two minutes later, scored by Jean‑Philippe Mateta.

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A lap of appreciation has rarely seemed more appropriate at Goodison Park. Everton ended their home campaign with another solid win and a lap of the pitch to say thanks to supporters for remaining united throughout a season of unprecedented challenges. Sean Dyche, players and fans alike all deserved their communal moment in the sun.

Everton signed off at Goodison with a fifth consecutive home win and clean sheet, equalling the club’s Premier League record, courtesy of Abdoulaye Doucouré’s header against relegated Sheffield United. Only Manchester City and Arsenal have collected more points since the beginning of April than Everton, who would be 11th in the table but for the two separate points deductions that could have derailed lesser teams and managers. “It was nice to have that moment,” said Dyche of the end-of-season tradition. “The players have put a real shift in this season, as have myself and the staff, and the fans have paid us back.”

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Chelsea rallied from 2-1 down late on to boost their hopes of a top-six finish, while Forest are almost certainly safe from the drop despite losing

• Read Will Unwin’s match report from the City Ground

Chelsea: The club’s co-owner Todd Boehly appeared to boost Mauricio Pochettino’s chances of being kept on as manager next season as he praised the “beautiful” football being played by the team.

Chelsea: Mauricio Pochettino has suggested he would walk away from Chelsea if he were unhappy and his end-of-season job review will not only be about whether the club’s owners want to keep him. David Hytner reports …

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Josko Gvardiol scored twice and turned down the opportunity to complete his hat-trick as the champions steamrollered their hosts at Craven Cottage

• Read Nick Ames’ match report from Craven Cottage

Fulham’s home record against Manchester City: Arsenal fans who are hoping Fulham can do their team a favour by taking points off City today will be disappointed to learn that their record against the champions at home is pretty dismal.

In 15 Premier League games at Craven Cottage, Fulham have won just once – a 2-1 in November 2005, when both the home side’s goals were scored by Steed Malbranque. Fulham have drawn five times against City at the Cottage since football was invented in 1992 and lost on nine occasions.

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Intrigue, mind games and a credible chance of Manchester City slipping up are all missing from this supposedly epic battle

Hello, hello. Testing. Is this thing still on? As we head into the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season, a title race does putatively appear to exist. Arsenal are top, a point ahead of Manchester City. City have a game in hand. Mathematically speaking, nothing yet is decided or settled.

What remains to be seen, of course, is whether this is actually a real title race, or whether we are simply living through a skilfully maintained illusion. After all, it’s almost three months since City dropped points against anybody other than a direct title rival. They haven’t lost in the league since December and are on a run of six straight wins. Three more will be enough to retain the league title. Two will do if Arsenal slip up at Old Trafford on Sunday.

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Arsenal travel to Manchester United on Sunday after title rivals Manchester City take on Fulham in Saturday’s early kick-off

Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Craven Cottage

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• Club have judged prospect of appeal’s success as remote
• Premier League appeal hearing was due to begin on Monday

Everton have dropped their appeal over a two-point deduction for breaching Premier League profitability and sustainability rules after judging their prospects of success remote.

Everton lodged the appeal after suffering a second points deduction of the season on 8 April for a £16.6m overspend up to 2023. They were previously docked 10 points, reduced to six on appeal, for a £19.5m breach up to 2022.

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The Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp, has said that his side can no longer win the Premier League title. Liverpool sit third in the table, five points behind the league leaders, Arsenal, with just two games to play. 'We cannot win it [the Premier League] anymore. We don't have to deal with that,' Klopp said. 'We all can read the table. We all see the situation. Do we expect them to lose? City has to lose three games. Three. Difficult to see that, but you never know.'

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Tricky trips for Arsenal and Manchester City, a big day at the bottom and auditions for Euro 2024

If Arsenal miss out on the title, one of the games they will look back on will be the 2-1 defeat to Fulham on New Year’s Eve, the last time they were beaten away from home in the league. However, Fulham have a chance to do Arsenal a favour this weekend. Marco Silva’s team host Manchester City in the lunchtime kick-off on Saturday and should not be written off. Fulham are awkward, creative and combative at home. Plenty of reason for Arsenal to be optimistic. Until Erling Haaland completes a first-half hat-trick, that is. Jacob Steinberg

Fulham v Manchester City, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST)

Bournemouth v Brentford, Saturday 3pm

Everton v Sheffield United, Saturday 3pm

Newcastle v Brighton, Saturday 3pm

Tottenham v Burnley, Saturday 3pm

West Ham v Luton Town, Saturday 3pm

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• Forest three points above relegation zone with two games left
• Points docked for breach of profitability and sustainability rules

Nottingham Forest’s appeal against a four-point Premier League deduction for breaching profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) has been rejected.

Forest said when the punishment was imposed in March that they were “extremely disappointed” and claimed spending restrictions on promoted clubs undermined the league’s “integrity and competitiveness”. The club argued that their reasons for selling Brennan Johnson two months after the PSR deadline should be treated as mitigation and the points deduction should be suspended but the independent appeal board said: “We reject all the criticisms made by the club of the commission’s approach and reasoning.”

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Erik ten Hag admitted that Manchester United’s season reached a new low after they were thrashed 4-0 by a rampant Crystal Palace. The result left Ten Hag’s side in eighth place in the Premier League with just three games to play, falling behind Newcastle and Chelsea in the race for European qualification. Ten Hag said: 'It was a team performance that was not correct, making big mistakes. Not following the plan or the script. We have individual mistakes but we should cover each other, we let each other down'

• ‘We let each other down’: Ten Hag admits Manchester United at new low

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If Erik ten Hag’s future at Manchester United remained up for debate then surely this removed any lingering doubts for Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Even amid a season in which his team have lurched from one disaster to another, a scintillating performance from a Crystal Palace side inspired by the magical feet of Michael Olise delivered one of the most embarrassing evenings of the Dutchman’s tenure.

United’s European aspirations for next season may now have to rely on them beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final after two goals from Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta’s ninth in 11 since the appointment of Oliver Glasner and another from Tyrick Mitchell gave Palace a league double over their opponents for the first time in Premier League history. The scant consolation for Ten Hag was that Palace could not find a fifth to match their record victory over United back in December 1972 after the substitute Odsonne Édouard hit a post late on. For reference, that result led to the sacking of the manager, Frank O’Farrell, three days later.

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Michael Olise struck twice to deepen the sense of gloom around Manchester United and Erik ten Hag

The teams march out, led by Joachim Andersen and Casemiro. Palace are in their usual red and blue, United all in cream. A camera sidles up to Mason Mount, who responds with a smile.

One of Erik ten Hag’s bigger headaches, just behind the state of his defence, is the state of his attack. Fernandes has been his only reliable goalscorer lately, while Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay have got a few too. Without those three, who’s going to find the net? Antony, maybe, on the principle of London buses. Mount, conceivably – he nicked one at Brentford not long ago. But it feels as if Rasmus Højlund and Alejandro Garnacho will have to raise their game.

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The grumblings have begun. But Tottenham’s improvement from a year ago should not be forgotten

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The good news for Tottenham is that they did not concede a goal from a set play against Liverpool on Sunday. But there wasn’t much else. A 4-2 defeat meant they had lost four successive league games for the first time since 2004 and if Tottenham are to clinch fourth place from Aston Villa, they have to win their remaining three games, one of which is against Manchester City, and hope that Villa don’t win either of their two.

A measure of perspective is essential. Spurs finished eighth last year and the season ended in rancour and recrimination. Antonio Conte had left at the end of March, by which point he had made clear he didn’t much want to be at the club, while fans had tired of his grindingly negative football; what can be tolerated when it’s bringing results soon palls when those results dry up.

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