With QPR and Reading being confirmed as relegation victims last weekend the battle for survival at the bottom had become a seeming four-horse race with Sunderland, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Wigan all within five points of each other going into this weekend’s round of fixtures. How would this weekend’s events affect that? Read on to find out!
Good Week For: Wigan (Come-back victory versus West Brom away to keep pace with other relegation candidates), Tottenham & Chelsea (It’s the sign of a good team when you can win late without playing well at all)
Bad Week For: Fulham (Trounced at home by a relegates side; can’t be good for team morale), Norwich & Sunderland (Slipped back towards the relegation battle after looking like escaping it a few weeks back)
Having conceded late in last weekend’s fixture, Wigan were the team needing a good result this weekend as they travelled to West Brom. Romelu Lukaku had led West Brom to a record points-total in their Premier League history and continued to lead the line in this fixture for the Baggies as he was instrumental early on and kick-started the move for West Brom’s first goal. A great through-ball to Rosenberg allowed Shane Long to played through for his 11th goal of the season and gave Wigan a mountain to climb early on. Lukaku and Maloney came close for West Brom and Wigan respectively but neither could take their chances until Aroune Kone scored a stunning header in the aftermath of a brutal tackle by Billy Jones. McCauley put West Brom ahead again right after half-time leading Wigan to make substitutions which eventually changed the game as Wigan scored twice to come from behind for the 3-2 victory; Wigan’s first great escape of May, Roberto Martinez’ll be hoping it isn’t their last.
Gabriel Agbonlahor made sure Aston Villa didn’t fall behind Wigan in the standings with his 62nd Premier League career goal at Carrow Road against Norwich. After Agbonlahor’s goal early in the second half, Andres Weimann then latched onto a squared ball from Agbonlahor but lashed the ball over the bar. Agbonlahor went close again after being played through by Benteke but again he couldn’t convert and Villa were punished when Grant Holt converted a penalty to draw Norwich level. Agbonlahor though scored at the death to give Villa a deserved 2-1 victory.
Liverpool are now almost certain to finish behind city rivals Everton in the Premier League standings for a second season in succession, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished by the blues since 1962. Everton are now need only two points from their remaining fixtures to secure 6th place after the two sides’ clash at Anfield ended in a 0-0 draw meaning Everton are still yet to win a league game at Anfield under David Moyes. Moyes though believed that a disallowed Everton goal in the second half should have stood after being ruled out for restricting Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina. Replays suggested that Moyes was right to feel aggrieved but the referee didn’t see it that way and the game ended 0-0.
Elsewhere in the league, Reading finally turned on the quality as they beat Fulham 4-2 at Craven Cottage. A brace from Robson-Kanu as well as individual goals from Adam Le Fondre and Karacn outweighed a brace from Fulham’s Bryan Ruiz to see Reading grab a good result; if only they could have played like that more often this season then their fortunes might have been different.
Southampton manager, Mauricio Pochettino faced what he believes is the Premier League’s Lionel Messi as he took his Southampton side to White Hart Lane to face Gareth Bale’s Tottenham. A woeful Tottenham side barely deserved a point from this game but came away with all three thanks to a wonder-goal from man of the moment Gareth Bale.
Another ex-Southampton winger was responsible for another scrappy win for a London side as Theo Walcott gave Arsenal the perfect start against Harry Redknapp’s doomed QPR side. Arsenal couldn’t kick on from there though as QPR came back into the game and had as many chances as the Gunners but just couldn’t convert.
Chelsea kept pace with their fellow London clubs in the race for Champions League football as they came away from a fixture against Champions elect Manchester United with all three points. Juan Mata scored the winner for Chelsea in the 87th minute but the main talking point from the match was the incident involving David Luiz that got United full-back Rafael sent off in the 89th minute. The Chelsea centre-back got very physical with Rafael in a tussle to clear a United counter-attack and Rafael retaliated and seemed to injure David Luiz only for replays to show the Chelsea man smiling on the floor. Not that United were in any position to mount a comeback but it does again bring the debate over simulation back into the public eye again when we should be focusing on the football at this stage in the season.
Sunderland slipped back towards the clutches of the relegation zone as they played out a dour 1-1 draw with Stoke City. Both sides looked to be heading back towards their best form in recent weeks which made the prospect of this fixture seem quite exciting despite each side’s style of play but in truth it was far from a memorable occasion as Sunderland trundled to a draw and are now within three points of the relegation zone.
Two other fixtures brought us less than memorable occasions this weekend as Newcastle’s trip to West Ham and Manchester City’s trip to Swansea both proved to be shy of goals. West Ham and Newcastle played out a very physical contest with not much cutting edge whereas Swansea and Manchester City were involved in a much more open clash with a fair bit of slick football being played from both sides. However neither fixture managed to produce a goal and we had a rather dour end to Saturday’s football action.
Manchester City haven’t yet secured Champions League football for next season but it’s more or less a certainty that they will do that within the next week; if they don’t then what a shock that would be! Who do you want to see qualify for those remaining Champions league places and which team do you want to see be replaced in the Premier League by the Championship’s playoff winners next season? Whoever you want, we’ll be happy to tell you what you actually got so just stick with us here at Fortitude to find out all the latest Premier League news.
Results:
West Bromwich Albion 2 – 3 Wigan Athletic
Norwich City 1 – 2 Aston Villa
Liverpool 0 – 0 Everton
Fulham 2 – 4 Reading
Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 0 Southampton
Queens Park Rangers 0 – 1 Arsenal
Manchester United 0 – 1 Chelsea
Sunderland 1 – 1 Stoke City
West Ham United 0 – 0 Newcastle United
Swansea City 0 – 0 Manchester City