After the midweek games post the international break, Premier League games were played again this weekend for Gameweek 31.
While the Gunners shared the spoils with the Toffees, nine-man Palace beat ten-man Brighton in a feisty encounter. Wolves increased their gap from the bottom three with a victory over Ipswich Town, while the Hammers and the Cherries played out an engaging draw. Liverpool were upset by Fulham, while the Manchester Derby ended in a drab draw.
Here’s a look at all the action from Gameweek 31 of the Premier League.
Everton 1-1 Arsenal
Arsenal’s title ambitions were dealt another heavy blow as they drew against Everton at Goodison Park.
In a particularly uneventful first half, Arsenal delivered the telling blow when Raheem Sterling found Leandro Trossard on the counter in the 34th minute and Trossard drilled a low shot that found the far corner, giving his team the lead that they took into the break.
The second half started with Everton trying to assert themselves. They soon got their reward, though it looked contentious. Four minutes into the restart, the hosts were awarded a penalty for a Miles Lewis-Skelly foul on Jack Harrison and Iliman Ndiaye stepped up to equalise from the spot-kick. Arsenal had two free-kicks in promising positions, but Bukayo Saka’s shot hit the wall in one of them and Declan Rice had his powerful effort parried off by Jordan Pickford in the other.
Crystal Palace 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Palace showed great courage to hold on to a 2-1 lead against Brighton as three red cards were meted out in this feisty encounter at Selhurst Park.
The Eagles started brightly against a Brighton side winless in three games, with Jean-Philippe Mateta opening the scoring from an Eberechi Eze pass within three minutes with a dipping shot. Brighton equalised just after the half-hour mark as Danny Welbeck turned the ball in from close range off a Yankuba Minteh cross. The two sides went into the break with a goal apiece.
The second half started frantically too, and within ten minutes Daniel Muñoz capitalised on an Eze pass from a counter-attack as his shot deflected into the net. Then came a flurry of red cards after Palace took the lead. First Eddie Nketiah was sent off for a second bookable offence after a high-footed challenge on Jan Paul van Hecke in the 78th minute. Then, after Palace defender Maxence Lacroix’s head injury had resulted in a 12-minute pause, Marc Guéhi was sent off with a second yellow in the 90th minute. Brighton couldn’t take advantage of Palace being down to nine, however, and deep in injury time Van Hecke was also sent off for a foul on Daichi Kamada.
Palace fought hard to hold on to all three points with the help of goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who made a late instinctive save to deny Yasin Ayari. With this win, they’ve moved to 11th place, two points behind Fulham, while Brighton have not won a league game since beating Fulham early last month.
Ipswich Town 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Relegation-bound Ipswich slumped to another defeat, giving Wolves a 12-point cushion from the bottom three with seven games to go.
Portman Road hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for its hosts this season. However, Ipswich did take the lead in the 16th minute when Axel Tuanzebe’s cross was headed into the box by Dara O’Shea and Liam Delap turned it into the net from close range. The goal was given onside after a VAR check. Minutes later, Toti Gomes almost equalised for Wolves, but O’Shea cleared the ball off the line. Ipswich keeper Alex Palmer was left blushing when he almost turned the ball in his own net from a back-pass but scrambled to clear it off the line as Ipswich went into the break with a slender 1-0 lead.
Wolves came back after the restart looking a much better side and started attacking, with their midfield of André and João Gomes controlling the game. In the 72nd minute, the in-form Jørgen Strand Larsen controlled a long ball forward from Emmanuel Agbadou and found Pablo Sarabia, who struck the ball into the bottom corner. Twelve minutes later, Wolves found the winner as André picked out Sarabia, who returned the favour to Strand Larsen with a superb assist that the Norwegian bundled into the far post. After a lengthy VAR check, the goal was given and the away fans could celebrate.
With this win, Wolves boosted their chances of top-flight survival, with Ipswich’s fate looking ever more sealed.
West Ham United 2-2 Bournemouth
Bournemouth took the early initiative and attacked with intent. They got their reward in the 38th minute when Evanilson poked in from point-blank range after Alphonse Areola had spilled the ball from a long-range shot.
In the second half, the Irons returned to the pitch with purpose and equalised at the hour mark from a thunderous Niclas Füllkrug header off a teasing James Ward-Prowse corner kick. Seven minutes later, Mohammed Kudus found Jarrod Bowen with a cross from the left and Bowen headed into the far corner to give West Ham the lead. However, in the 79th minute, an unmarked Evanilson sneaked in at the far post from a set-piece to restore parity, earning his side a vital point.
Bournemouth’s recent form has dented their chances of European football for next season, while West Ham remain in 16th place, 15 points off the bottom three.
Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest
Two early first-half goals gave Aston Villa a win over the Tricky Trees at Villa Park this weekend.
Villa were off the blocks quickly and started to trouble the Forest defence. They scored the opener in the 13th minute from an unerring finish into the bottom corner from Morgan Rogers after he had superbly controlled an over-the-top ball from Youri Tielemans. Two minutes later, Ian Maatsen’s pin-point cross from the left was tapped in by Donyell Malen to give Villa a two-goal lead. The hosts deserved the lead going into the break.
Forest came out with intent after the restart, however, and a shift in momentum was evident. Forward Jota Silva cut the deficit with a fine finish in the 57th minute. Fullback Neco Williams missed a glorious opportunity to draw Forest level, missing agonisingly by inches. Defender Murillo then almost stole a point in stoppage time with a thunderous 25-yard strike that hit the crossbar. At the other end, Marcus Rashford had a chance to kill the game when he went 1v1 on goal, but Matz Sels stopped his chipped shot. A few moments later, Sels again saved a shot from Rashford before scrambling to punch the ball out of danger.
Villa held on to gain three massive points in their quest for European places, while Forest remain third and in the driving seat for CL qualification.
Brentford 0-0 Chelsea
Brentford and Chelsea played out a goalless draw at the Gtech Community Stadium this weekend.
The Bees created multiple chances, with Bryan Mbuemo and Yoane Wissa missing gilt-edged goal-scoring opportunities. The best chance of the game fell to Mikkel Damsgaard, but he lost his footing and Chelsea keeper Robert Sánchez averted the danger. The Blues barely had a chance in front of goal in the first half.
The visitors then came on after the restart and had a period of domination. Pedro Neto’s speculative effort from distance was parried off by Mark Flekken. Chelsea had another chance from the resulting corner kick, but Reece James’ powerful header was forced away by Flekken. Mbuemo had another decent opportunity on the counter as he linked up with Wissa, but the Cameroonian’s shot on goal was saved. Sepp van den Berg too missed a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock late on.
While Chelsea hardly offered much in terms of attack, Brentford were left ruing their missed chances.
Fulham 3-2 Liverpool
The Cottagers ended Liverpool’s 26-game unbeaten run in the Premier League at Craven Cottage this Sunday.
A relatively ordinary performance from their defence gave Liverpool a mountain to climb in the second half as three defensive errors within 17 minutes gave Fulham a 3-1 lead in the first half. Alexis Mac Allister had given Liverpool the lead in the 14th minute with a right-footed super-strike into the top left corner. However, it all went downhill for the visitors after the opening goal. Nine minutes later, Fulham equalised when a cross into the box ricocheted off Curtis Jones into the path of Ryan Sessegnon, who turned it in from close range. In the 32nd minute, a sloppy pass from Andy Robertson was latched on to by Alex Iwobi, who linked up with Andreas Pereira, giving Fulham the lead. A Virgil van Dijk mistake then saw Rodrigo Muniz finish deftly past Caoimhín Kelleher.
Liverpool came back with intent in the second half and almost pulled one back, with Mohamed Salah setting up Diogo Jota, but Bernd Leno made the save. Luis Díaz was creating all sorts of problems for Fulham off the bench. One of his crosses into the box found Salah, but he scuffed his shot over the bar. Liverpool did pull one back in the 72nd minute through Díaz—a Conor Bradley assist. They kept looking for an equaliser, with Harvey Elliott missing two golden opportunities to win the game for them, but Fulham held on to the three points.
Despite their first away defeat of the season, Liverpool remain 11 points clear at the top. Fulham, on the other hand, have been handed a massive boost in their quest for European football next season.
Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Southampton
Spurs returned to winning ways after two straight defeats as they sealed Southampton’s fate.
The Saints had an early chance as Tyler Dibling’s cross from the right found Kamaldeen Sulemana at the far post and he almost squeezed the ball in. However, Spurs raced into the lead inside 13 minutes when Brennan Johnson found a cross from Djed Spence on the left with a fine finish. Spurs kept attacking and doubled their lead three minutes before half-time with a neat side-footed finish from Johnson yet again.
Southampton left it a little too late to cut the deficit when Mateus Fernandes scored from a Sulemana cross in the 90th minute. They tried looking for an equaliser, but Spurs soon scored a third from the penalty spot through Mathys Tel to kill off the game.
The win will certainly boost Spurs’ confidence before an important Europa League tie in the midweek, while Southampton have nothing much to play for anymore apart from beating Derby County’s infamous points record from 2007/08.
Manchester United 0-0 Manchester City
The much-anticipated Manchester Derby ended up being a drab, goalless affair at Old Trafford. United had the better chances throughout the game, though, and if a little bit of luck had gone their way, they could have secured all three points here.
The first half was pretty uneventful, with both sides resorting to speculative efforts from distance. Phil Foden had a decent chance from the edge of the box but pulled his shot wide of the near post. Alejandro Garnacho had a great chance to break the deadlock but couldn’t get his head onto the ball from a peach of a cross from Diogo Dalot. At the other end, a shot from Ilkay Gündogan went wide as well.
Omar Marmoush started to cause United problems after the restart as he set up Foden in the box; if not from a well-timed tackle from Noussair Mazraoui, City would have taken the lead. Marmoush also tested André Onana from a set-piece, but the United goalkeeper was up to the task. Onana also made an instinctive save from another powerful shot from Marmoush. Manuel Ugarte had a glorious chance to score the winner, but his volleyed shot went wide. Mason Mount also had a late chance, but Rico Lewis blocked his shot off his back as the game ended goalless.
Leicester City 0-3 Newcastle United
The Magpies boosted their chances of Champions League qualification with a comfortable win away at the King Power Stadium.
In a frantic start to the game, Tino Livramento’s cross across the box was tapped in by an unmarked Jacob Murphy inside two minutes. Nine minutes later, Fabian Schär attempted an audacious long-range lob from his own half as he saw Mads Hermansen off his line, but his shot hit the cross bar. However, Murphy raced up the pitch to slot in from the rebound for Newcastle’s second. Harvey Barnes then piled on more misery on his former side in the 34th minute when a parried Joelinton shot landed in his path. Such was the Foxes’ luck that a shot from Patson Daka hit both posts before landing safely in Nick Pope’s hands.
The Foxes performed better in the second half but weren’t able to breach the Newcastle defence. With this win, the Carabao Cup winners have moved up to fifth in the table, level on points with Chelsea with a game in hand, while Leicester’s dismal campaign continues.
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