Arsenal and Manchester United lost and left vital points in the fight for the Top 4, on Saturday for the 32nd round of the Premier League, on a day marked by Chelsea’s thrashings against Southampton (6-0), Tottenham against Aston Villa (4-0) and Leeds over Watford (3-0).
The last place that gives access to the Champions League will continue this day occupied by Tottenham (4th), after their great victory in the duel between Cristian Romero, who celebrated, and Emiliano Martínez and Emiliano Buendía, who received a hard rout . Arsenal, which remained settled among the four that go straight to the continental competition, is going through a slump at the most inopportune moment of the season, while United still cannot find the regularity necessary to reach the goal and Cristiano Ronaldo seems increasingly distraught.
The Spurs closed the Premier League games on Saturday, aware of what their rivals had done for the Top 4. The good form of the Harry Kane – Son Heung-min duo excessively punished an Aston Villa that never left to look for the goal.
Cristian Romero hugs his teammates after the second goal of the Korean Son against Aston Villa. Photo: AP
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The South Korean opened the scoring in the first minutes of the match. The result was maintained until the break and given the chances of the locals, nothing seemed to predict the win. Again, in the first minutes of the second half, Dejan Kulusevski (50) doubled the lead for Tottenham.
With a masterful assistance, Harry Kane led to the 1 against 1 for Son, who did not miss (66). Five minutes later, the Korean sealed his personal hat-trick (71) to cement his team in fourth place. A bad day for Dibu Martínez, who left with four goals conceded in his goal.
The Gunners (5th), who had just conceded a painful 3-0 loss at Crystal Palace (9th) on Monday, lost again on Saturday (2-1), during Brighton’s (11th) visit to the Emirates Stadium with Alexis Mac Allister as starter.
The team from the south coast of England had gone seven games without a win (6 defeats and a draw) and had not scored a goal for a month (2-1 defeat at Newcastle on March 5). However, the Belgian Leandro Trossard first ( 28) and later Enock Mwepu (67) scored two goals that silenced the fans of the Gunners.
Mwepu celebrates his goal with Alexis Mac Allister and his teammates. Photo: EFE
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A goal by Gabriel Martinelli could have leveled the scoreboard just before the break, but it was disallowed for offside. Norway’s Martin Odegaard closed the gap too late to score points.
Manchester United (7th), also in the fight for European places but with less margin for error, was defeated 1-0 at Everton (17th) who are under pressure.
Despite not having created much danger, the Toffees they showed at least more determination than their rival and took advantage of their first approach to the United area to score the only goal of the game, Anthony Gordon’s long shot slightly deflected by Harry Maguire (27).
The Toffeesfighting to avoid relegation, remain 17th but open a bit of a gap (4 points with one more game) over the first team in the red zone, Burnley, who had beaten them last week (3-2).
“What a bad time I’m having.” Cristiano Ronaldo can’t find a way around United. Photo: Reuters
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Chelsea, settled in a third position that is not in danger, paid against Southampton (13th) for the frustration after last defeats in the championship 4-1 against Brentford (15th) and in the Champions League on Wednesday against Real Madrid (3 -one).
With goals from Marcos Alonso (8), Mason Mount (16 and 54), Timo Werner (21 and 49) and Kai Havertz (31), the Blues They flexed their muscles against a lesser rival, in a victory that helped them recover their feelings and morale ahead of the decisive second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, on Tuesday at the Santiago Bernabéu.
At the bottom of the table, Leeds (16th) beat Watford (19th) 3-0 and have now accumulated four consecutive games without losing, reinforcing their attempt to avoid relegation.
The goals from Raphinha (21), Rodrigo Moreno (73) and Jack Harrison (85) did not find any response from the Hornetsin serious trouble to achieve permanence.
Source: AFP
