– Everton’s Anthony Gordon on the ground celebrates his goal against Manchester United at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Saturday, April 9, 2022. Everton beat United 1-0 and improved their chances of avoiding relegation. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira) AP
The day of the Premier League could not have been better for Tottenham.
With their 4-0 win at Aston Villa – which included a Son Heung-min hat-trick – and defeats to Arsenal and Manchester United on Saturday, Tottenham are the favorites to occupy fourth place in the table, the last one to qualify for the Champions League.
Antonio Conte’s side are in top form as their rivals implode and are now three points clear of Arsenal, who lost 2-1 at home to Brighton, their third loss in four games.
Son, Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski are an attacking trio for Tottenham that no one can stop, scoring and assisting every goal against Villa.
Everton scored an important win in their fight to avoid relegation and dealt a further blow to Manchester United’s hopes of finishing in the top four in the standings with a 1-0 win.
Anthony Gordon’s shot from the edge of the penalty area deflected off United defender Harry Maguire’s outstretched leg and netted in the 27th minute at Goodison Park.
United had two good chances at the feet of Marcus Rashford early in the game, both thwarted by Jordan Pickford, and were unable to break Everton’s stubborn and sometimes desperate defense in the second half.
The Manchester team was in seventh place, six points behind Tottenham.
The outlook is more positive for Everton, who were three points clear of the bottom three as they struggled to avoid what would be their first relegation since 1954.
Arsenal’s bid to qualify for the Champions League suffered another setback when they lost 2-1 at home to Brighton, their second successive loss.
Leandro Trossard and Enock Mwepu scored for Brighton, with Martin Odegaard scoring late.
Chelsea handed Southampton a humiliating 6-0 defeat, in good practice for their upcoming Champions League game, which they must win to avoid elimination.
Mason Mount and Timo Werner had doubles, which were joined by goals from Marcos Alonso and Kai Havertz.
Chelsea will face Real Madrid on Tuesday at the Santiago Bernabeu. The first leg at Stamford Bridge ended 3-1 in favor of the Spanish team.
Leeds United beat Watford 3-0, and Aston Villa hosted Tottenham in the night game.
–
