Gameweek 30 of the 2024/25 Premier League season returned in the midweek following the last international break of the season.
Arsenal registered a 2-1 victory over London rivals Fulham at the Emirates Stadium, while Wolverhampton Wanderers maintained their gap from the relegation zone with a narrow 1-0 win against the Hammers. Nuno Espírito Santo’s Forest, meanwhile, won their third league game on the bounce to remain in the driving seat for Champions League qualification.
Let’s take a look at all the action from Gameweek 30.
Arsenal 2-1 Fulham
Goals from stand-in striker Mikel Merino and a returning Bukayo Saka gave the Gunners a confidence-boosting win ahead of their UCL quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid next week. Saka scored just seven minutes into his comeback, though Arsenal lost another key player in Gabriel Magalhães, who was taken off with an apparent hamstring injury.
Merino put Arsenal in front with a deflected effort from Ethan Nwaneri’s cut-back for his sixth goal in ten games for club and country. The goal came after Gabriel had limped off, who pulled up clutching his hamstring while sprinting back towards his goal in pursuit of Fulham’s Adama Traoré. He was replaced by Jakub Kiwior in the 16th minute.
Gabriel Martinelli, who was a menace down the left-hand side throughout the game, was the architect of Arsenal’s second goal. It was his acrobatic flick that was headed in at the back post by Saka, who had come off the bench for his first appearance since December.
Arsenal looked set for a clean sheet, but Fulham substitute Rodrigo Muniz managed to pull a goal back in stoppage time, having missed a glorious headed chance minutes earlier.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 West Ham United
Jørgen Strand Larsen’s shot deflected in off former Wolves captain Max Kilman midway through the first half for what turned out to be the only goal of the game. Even though West Ham pushed for an equaliser late on, the home side held on for a deserved victory to further put away fears of relegation.
Evan Ferguson, making his first start on loan at West Ham, should have put the away side ahead early in the game but could not sort his feet out in time and failed to get enough on Jarrod Bowen’s cut-back. Even though Strand Larsen’s goal was a bit fortuitous, Wolves were easily the better side in the first half and deserved the lead.
Graham Potter made three changes at the break and West Ham improved significantly. Substitute Niclas Fullkrüg even hit the crossbar with a header, though their best chance to equalise came in the 89th minute when fellow sub Tomáš Soucek dragged his effort wide.
With this defeat, West Ham remain 16th and are only five points ahead of Wolves.
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Manchester United
Forest winger Anthony Elanga came back to haunt his former side Manchester United after racing up the pitch in the first half to score the only goal of the game at the City Ground. He flooded forward from his own penalty area in the fifth minute, covering 85 metres in just nine seconds, to lash home the winner.
United dominated the ball with 68% possession but offered little in the final third. When Harry Maguire poked in an effort with virtually the last kick of the game, Murillo was called into action to clear the ball off the line.
The win marked the Tricky Trees’ first league double over United since 1992, when legendary boss Brian Clough was still in charge of the club.
United’s bubble of optimism—having won back-to-back games before the international break—has now been pierced by another defiant performance from third-placed Forest
Bournemouth 1-2 Ipswich Town
Nathan Broadhead and Liam Delap were on target to earn Ipswich a vital 2-1 win at the Vitality Stadium and keep alive their hopes of survival. The Tractor Boys, tasked with responding after Wolves moved 12 points clear of the drop with a 1-0 win over West Ham on Tuesday night, withstood the early Bournemouth pressure to secure their first league win of the calendar year.
During the first half, Alex Scott saw an effort cleared off the line by Dara O’Shea. But shortly after, Ipswich went down the other end on a counter, led by an impressive solo run by Julio Enciso. The Brighton loanee slipped in Broadhead, who scored his first-ever top-flight goal by slotting the ball through the legs of an untested Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Scott drew out an outstanding save from Alex Palmer minutes into the second half. In a pattern that mirrored the first half, another rare Ipswich attack saw Liam Delap finish a sweeping move by smashing home his 11th league goal of the season from Conor Townsend’s clever cut-back.
Bournemouth pulled one back from an indirect free-kick as Evanilson found the back of the net in the 67th minute. The Cherries continued to push but ended up tasting their fourth consecutive home loss. Their European ambitions have been hampered massively by their current five-match winless run.
Southampton 1-1 Crystal Palace
Matheus França scored his first goal in English football to earn Palace a point against bottom-of-the-table Southampton.
With safety all but impossible, Ivan Juri? employed a gung-ho approach from the off at St Mary’s—though it backfired almost immediately. Some slack defending allowed Jean-Philippe Mateta freedom to pick his spot from 20 yards and crash a shot off the underside of the crossbar, with Aaron Ramsdale beaten.
The hosts did not go back into their shells, however, and took a surprise lead 20 minutes in when Flynn Downes and Mateus Fernandes linked up brilliantly before the latter delivered a cross that Paul Onuachu powered into the bottom corner. The Nigerian later spurned two decent chances to extend the lead, but not before Mateta drew a sharp low save from Ramsdale after some sumptuous control and an exquisite shot on the turn.
Oliver Glasner made three changes just before the hour mark, but none of Ben Chilwell, Daichi Kamada, and Eddie Nketiah managed to spark the side into action. For long periods, the Eagles looked a shadow of the side that had beaten Fulham at the weekend to book a place in this year’s FA Cup semi-finals.
By the 90th minute, the prospect of surpassing Derby County’s famous points tally from 2007/08 was within touching distance for the Saints, but, as has been the case all season, a moment of defensive naivety cost them the three points as Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ headed clearance returned the ball to Jefferson Lerma, who picked out França to head home and break Southampton hearts all over again.
Southampton can be relegated as early as Sunday if they lose to Spurs and Wolves beat Ipswich. One small consolation for Juric and Co, however, is that they have successfully avoided becoming only the third team in English top-flight history to lose ten home games in succession.
Newcastle United 2-1 Brentford
Sandro Tonali’s extraordinary strike helped Newcastle beat Brentford 2-1 to boost their Champions League qualification hopes as they find themselves withing two points of fourth-placed Chelsea.
Eddie Howe’s side looked like dropping two crucial points after Bryan Mbeumo’s penalty had cancelled out Alexander Isak’s 20th Premier League goal of the season, but Tonali blasted Newcastle back in front in the 74th minute to secure all three points for the Carabao Cup winners.
Howe called for Newcastle to put winning their first trophy in 70 years to the back of their minds as they targeted a strong finish to the season. After a number of missed chances, Isak delivered again, scoring his 20th league goal of the season to give his side the lead in first-half stoppage time.
Midway through the second half, Yoanne Wissa punished Newcastle as he got to Mbeumo’s cross ahead of goalkeeper Nick Pope, who brought the Brentford forward down. Mbeumo made no mistake from the spot, scoring his tenth Premier League penalty to set up a brilliant finish. Brentford’s tails were up, and Ethan Pinnock came inches from giving them the lead, but his header crashed against the post before Pope gathered the loose ball. They were ultimately left stunned as Tonali’s rocket won the day for Newcastle.
Brighton & Hove Albion 0-3 Aston Villa
Marcus Rashford scored his first Premier League goal for Aston Villa in their 3-0 victory over Brighton to boost their European hopes amid controversial VAR decisions.
Rashford, who netted twice in Villa’s 3-0 win at Preston in the FA Cup at the weekend, put the visitors ahead early in the second half before substitutes Marco Asensio and Donyell Malen wrapped up a seventh consecutive Villan victory in all competitions.
Brighton had Simon Adingra’s equaliser ruled out after VAR deemed Kaoru Mitoma had deliberately handled the ball in the build-up and sent referee Stuart Attwell to the pitch-side monitor to chalk it off.
Attwell and VAR played a key part throughout the game, with the other significant decision occurring in the first half when Villa were denied a penalty. Jacob Ramsey went over Jack Hinshelwood’s outstretched right leg but Attwell was unmoved and VAR ruled that the contact was not enough to “reach the threshold for a foul”. Brighton also had a penalty appeal on Mitoma turned down during the first half, while VAR allowed Asensio’s goal to stand.
The hosts came closest to opening the scoring in the first half, hitting a post from Yasin Ayari’s free kick. They were booed off after the game, ultimately, and now find themselves place below seventh-place Villa in the league table.
Manchester City 2-0 Leicester City
Manchester City cruised to a routine 2-0 victory over lacklustre Leicester to extend the Foxes’ winless run without scoring to an astonishing seven games, one shy of the Premier League record.
Pep Guardiola’s side are currently placed in fifth in the chase for a Champions League finish, a point behind Chelsea, while Leicester sink ever closer to the Championship having lost 14 of their last 15 games.
In one of the most one-sided encounters all season, the hosts broke the deadlock inside two minutes as Jack Grealish ended his 16-month wait for a Premier League goal by sweeping Savinho’s cutback inside the post after Jeremy Doku had seized possession. Any prospect Leicester might muster a challenge immediately disappeared.
With Erling Haaland sidelined, Omar Marmoush operated through the middle and added to City’s tally when Mads Hermansen effectively threw the ball at his feet and he rifled in off the crossbar.
Leicester failed to offer any attacking threat and failed to register a single shot on target. They finished the game having generated an xG value of 0.02 – the lowest by any top-flight team all season – beating Newcastle’s 0.04 against Crystal Palace.
Liverpool 1-0 Everton
Liverpool restored their 12-point advantage at the top of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Everton in a controversial Merseyside derby at Anfield.
The teams had met in an explosive derby in February earlier this season that ended 2-2, with James Tarkowski equalising deep in stoppage time in a chaotic game that featured four red cards, including one to Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.
However, it was Diogo Jota’s fine goal in front of the Kop just before the hour mark that won the game for the Reds after David Moyes’ side had boasted the clearer openings in the first half.
Beto had one ruled out for offside and hit the post with another chance as Liverpool, who lost the Carabao Cup final last time out having been knocked out of the Champions League in their previous home fixture, struggled to show their best again. However, the Toffees should have seen centre-back James Tarkowski sent off for what most regarded as a horrible foul on Alexis Mac Allister.
But Arne Slot’s side piled on the pressure in the second half, Jota’s moment of quality, twisting and turning inside the box, proving decisive. It is now a century of wins for Liverpool against Everton. This one takes them a step closer to the Premier League title.
Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham supporters chanted ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ at Ange Postecoglou as their side fell to a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea.
As their fierce local rivals boosted their Champions League qualification chances at Stamford Bridge thanks to Enzo Fernández’s free header, frustration boiled over in the away end as the Spurs fans, who had been chanting against the club’s board throughout the game, turned their wrath on their manager.
Chelsea was by far the better side during the first-half, in which Nicolas Jackson troubled Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven from the first minute, Destiny Udogie denied Enzo Fernández on the goal-line, Vicario had to save brilliantly from Jadon Sancho while Spurs failed to have a shot on target.
However, it was Cole Palmer who came up with his first assist since December 1 with a fine cross for Fernández to nod home. They had seen a second-half goal ruled out – Moises Caicedo’s crisp volley scrubbed off after a four-minute VAR check judged Levi Colwill offside.
Postecoglou felt vindicated with his decision to bring on Pape Mater Sarr for Lucas Bergvall – which was welcomed with boos from the travelling fans – when he scored the equaliser in the 71st minute, although that strike was ultimately ruled out.
A fifth home win on the spin has lifted Chelsea up to fourth in the table and their Champions League chase is looking good. They sit a point ahead of Man City and two clear of Newcastle, who have a game in hand.
Spurs are languishing in 14th in the Premier League and as a result their priority is their Europa League quarter-final with Eintracht Frankfurt next week.
But any hope of building confidence and momentum from a big derby day performance disappeared. Tensions between fans, manager and players are now an increasingly concerning issue too.
Leave a Reply