Category: English Premier League

The birthday boy Ismaïla Sarr ended Crystal Palace’s wait for a home victory as Adam Wharton starred on his return from injury to deal a major blow to Aston Villa’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League again.

It was a night when everything seemed to go Oliver Glasner’s way as Unai Emery saw his side succumb to a seventh defeat in their last nine away matches in the Premier League. Having found a way back into the game at the start of the second half thanks to an equaliser from Morgan Rogers after he had seen another goal disallowed for the narrowest of offsides, Villa were blown away as Jean‑Philippe Mateta and Sarr’s second on the Senegal forward’s 27th birthday sealed only a third league win of the campaign at Selhurst Park for Palace.

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Chelsea and Palace walloped Southampton and Villa respectively, Fulham won at Wolves, and Brighton beat Bournemouth

Chelsea: Jorgensen; Gusto, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Enzo; Palmer, Sancho, Neto; Nkunku. Subs: Sanchez, Acheampong, Fofana, James, Samuels-Smith, Amougou, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Mheuka.

Southampton: Ramsdale, Sugawara, Bree, Bella-Kotchap, Walker-Peters, Downes, Smallbone, Fernandes, Aribo, Kamaldeen, Onuachu. Subs: McCarthy, Stephens, Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Manning, Wellington, Grønnbæk, Dibling, Archer.

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Title race and relegation over by February? The Premier League is rich, but there’s no jeopardy and no real sense of excellence, at least not on the pitch

Ladies and gentlemen we have now reached our cruising altitude. The pilot will be putting his feet up and drinking tiny cans of Sprite from here to the middle of May. Sit back, zone out. Stick on a bad film with Seth Rogen in it. You can even watch the football if you like. Just don’t expect much to happen for the next three months.

So much for that excitingly bumpy, turbulence-fuelled Premier League season, all perky upstarts, crumbling certainties and unexpected shifts of altitude, which really did seem to be shaping up just a few short weeks ago. As of game weekend 26 and Arsenal’s defeat against West Ham, followed by Liverpool strolling through Manchester City, the league has reached a stage of premature entropy.

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Mikel Arteta’s team have suffered unfortunate injuries but they also have far less self-belief than a Liverpool side who look destined to win the Premier League

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And with that, surely, the title race is over. Liverpool had drawn four of their previous eight games which had created an opening. Had Arsenal beaten West Ham and Liverpool lost at Manchester City this weekend, the title would have been in Arsenal’s hands, at least to the extent that they would have won it if they had won every game they had remaining this season, including away at Liverpool. But, after Arsenal limped to a 1-0 defeat, Liverpool produced their best performance in weeks to win 2-0. The gap is 11 points and, even though Arsenal have a game in hand, it’s very hard to imagine either Liverpool dropping sufficient points or Arsenal winning enough for that to be overturned.

Arteta described himself as “very, very angry” after his side’s defeat, admitting they were “nowhere near the levels that we have to hit to have the opportunity to win the Premier League”. But there’s been an element of that all season. This was only Arsenal’s third league defeat of the campaign, but there has been something distinctly underwhelming about them. Too many points have been frittered too cheaply. Too often they have failed to grasp chances. And too often ill-discipline has let them down.

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Gunners lose their heads while Mohamed Salah outperforms Kevin De Bruyne in Liverpool’s triumph

• Premier League top scorers | Latest table | Full fixtures

Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah have mirrored each other as leading men in the Premier League. They even share the status of being discarded by Chelsea, but Sunday’s match may be where their paths finally diverge. Salah delivered a goal and an assist while De Bruyne was a shock selection, unused by Manchester City in Madrid. On Friday Pep Guardiola hinted the Belgian’s time at the club was done. If Sunday was a last hurrah, De Bruyne misfiring passes and chasing shadows was a brutal reminder of how time catches up with even the very best. Where the Belgian exhibits physical decline from sheer miles on the clock, Salah, just a year younger, played to his peak, often buzz-sawing into midfield areas De Bruyne once commanded. The Egyptian king’s contract situation remains at an impasse, the sense being he awaits the right offer from Liverpool. De Bruyne may now be reduced to mere cameos as Guardiola rebuilds, a sad coda. John Brewin

Match report: Manchester City 0-2 Liverpool

Match report: Arsenal 0-1 West Ham

Match report: Everton 2-2 Manchester United

Match report: Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea

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Salah and Van Dijk stood out for Liverpool while Savinho and Foden disappointed in City’s attack

Ederson Possibly unsighted for second goal. The keeper’s judgment was well poised, as usual. 6/10

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Goals from Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai helped Liverpool to a deserved win and 11-point cushion

Chris in Corfu gets in touch: “It’s just like in years gone bye. City will be two down in 15 minutes and all of sudden l will be back at Maine Road watching peak Cityitis.”

Graeme Neill gets in touch: “Obviously The Narrative suggests that between Arne’s comments the other night and the fact he’s on the bench, Nunez will come on when the game is delicately poised and score the first of the 15 goals he’ll boot in between now and the end of the season. But let’s face it, he’s going to shank the ball into Old Trafford when the goal is gaping in the 94th minute, isn’t he?”

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Anyone doubting the determination of Eddie Howe and Nuno Espírito Santo to take their players on grand tours of Europe next season will have changed their minds after watching this.

When the final whistle blew, Howe’s fifth-placed team had closed the gap on Nuno’s Forest to three points and must have felt that Madrid, Milan, Munich and the rest of the Champions League staging posts had moved into sharper focus on the horizon.

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Four goals in 11 minutes saw Newcastle rebound from conceding early, but when Forest came back at them in the second half they were left hanging on

What could possibly go wrong?

Also going on…

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Marcus Rashford was the provider as Marco Asensio’s first two goals for Villa helped them come from behind to take all three points

• Read Ben Fisher’s match report from Villa Park

1 min: Villa get the ball rolling, their players wearing their usual home kit. Their visitors are in – I’m going to say – cream shirts, shorts and socks, with blue and orange trim.

Not long now: Black Sabbath are blaring over the Tannoy and the Champions League qualification hopes of both teams are very much up in the air. Referee Michael Oliver leads both sets of players out on to the Villa Park pitch, their arrival greeted by the thick end of 43,000 supporters, the vast majority of whom will be hoping for a game every bit as entertaining – but slightly less end-to-end and even – as the match between Villa and Liverpool on Wednesday night. Kick-off will be along very shortly.

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National supporters will see their heroes play against each other when Manchester City meet Liverpool on Sunday

The rivalry between Manchester City and Liverpool has grown in recent years thanks to the coaching of Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp turning it into a battle for the title over numerous seasons. The fixture has become significant around the world but in one north African nation it has a new edge as their rising star and their national hero come face-to-face.

Omar Marmoush arrived in Manchester in January after City paid £59m to buy him from Eintracht Frankfurt. The Egypt forward built his reputation in Germany and has added to it in the Premier League after a hat-trick against Newcastle followed some promising performances to indicate he is up to Guardiola’s high standards. Marmoush is a beacon in a disappointing season for City but has some way to go to match his compatriot Mohamed Salah, the man leading Liverpool towards a second Premier League title. From Alexandria to Zagazig, eyes in Egypt will be on the Etihad on Sunday as the country’s heroes do battle.

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Fabian Hürzeler said his only ­disappointment was not winning by more after seeing his side thump Southampton at St Mary’s.

The Seagulls ripped Southampton apart throughout with goals from João Pedro, Georginio Rutter, Kaoru Mitoma and Jack Hinshelwood ­taking them to within three points of the top six. But for some wasteful finishing and a brilliant performance from the Saints goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, the scoreline might have been even more impressive for Hürzeler’s Europe-chasing side.

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Arsenal suffered a shock home defeat to West Ham thanks to a Jarrod Bowen goal

Bournemouth (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga; Hill, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez; Christie, Adams, Cook; Kluivert, Semenyo; Ouattara.

Subs: Dennis, Brooks, Scott, Evanilson, Adams, Sinisterra, Soler, Jebbison, Winterburn.

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Having restored parity from two goals down, Manchester United got a late reprieve when referee Andy Madley overturned his own decision to award Everton a penalty

• Read Andy Hunter’s match report from Goodison Park

Referee: Andy Madley

Assistants: Mat Wilkes and Craig Taylor.

Fourth official: Anthony Taylor.

VAR: Matt Donohue.

Assistant VAR: Derek Eaton.

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A rousing fightback does not camouflage the extent to which Ruben Amorim and Manchester United were reprieved at Goodison Park. The visitors recovered from two goals down to salvage a point against in-form Everton, but only after a penalty awarded to David Moyes’ team was controversially overturned in the 96^th minute.

Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte, the latter with his first United goal, appeared to have rescued Amorim’s team from a dire first-half performance in which Beto and Abdoulaye Doucouré gave Everton a merited lead. Moyes’ side were comfortable until Fernandes converted a free-kick in the 72^nd minute but were given the chance to regain the lead in stoppage time. After André Onana had saved from Idrissa Gueye, Ashley Young appeared to be impeded by both Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire before he could reach the rebound. Referee Andrew Madley immediately awarded a spot-kick but overturned his decision after being sent to the pitchside monitor by VAR. It was a huge and debatable let-off for United.

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