ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE WEEK 24 ROUND UP
BRIGHTON 0 V 4 CHELSEA
Despite a gallant effort from the Brighton side, Chelsea was too strong in many departments and cruised to victory. The Premier League champions moved up to third with two goals in the opening six minutes put them on the way to victory. Eden Hazard opened the scoring for the visitors with a neat finish from inside the box and midfielder Willian added a second from 18 yards, after one of the best moves of the season, Brighton fought back and should have had a penalty when Chelsea stand-in goalkeeper Willy Caballero upended defender Ezequiel Schelotto, while Israeli striker Tomer Hemed was brilliantly denied by the former Manchester City shot-stopper. Dutch midfielder Davy Propper headed against the post and Schelotto went close after the break as Brighton pushed to get back in the game, but Chelsea were always a threat, and Willian had a free-kick pushed on to the post by Brighton keeper Mat Ryan before Hazard scored his second with a fine solo effort and Victor Moses late goal completed the victory.
Click here for the goals – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZNaiBhXx2U
ARSENAL 4 V 1 CRYSTAL PALACE
Arsenal ended a run of three Premier League games without a win as a four-goal burst in the first half helped to see off Crystal Palace, Nacho Monreal opened the scoring with a header and then assisted both of the next two goals for Alex Iwobi and Laurent Koscielny inside 13 minutes. Alexandre Lacazette then rounded off a brilliant move to make it 4-0 after 22 minutes. Luka Milivojevic scored late on for Palace but they slip to 13th on the table. Arsenal remains sixth.
Click here for the goals – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOryptWRCcY
BURNLEY 0 V 1 MAN UNITED
Manchester United beat Burnley thanks to Anthony Martial’s well-taken goal at Turf Moor, Anthony Martial’s second-half strike was one of only two efforts on target from the visitors in a display that was effective, but lacking in any excitement. After a dour first half, Martial fired in off the underside of the bar after good work in the build-up from Romelu Lukaku, Burnley pressed forward in search of a leveler, coming closest when Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s free-kick hit the bar.
Click here for the action – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i5mO3sofyA
EVERTON 1 V 1 WEST BROM
Oumar Niasse scored just 56 seconds after coming on as a substitute to save a point for Everton. Niasse volleyed in a header back across goal from Theo Walcott, who was making his debut after arriving from Arsenal on Wednesday in a deal worth more than £20m. Jay Rodriguez had scored his third goal in five matches to give West Brom a seventh-minute lead. Sadly, the most significant moment of the match was the season-ending injury suffered by James McCarthy as he raced back to make a goal-saving challenge on Salomon Rondon.
Click here for the goals – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZClswUu4DAI
LEICESTER CITY 2 V 0 WATFORD
Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez both scored as Leicester beat Watford to continue the visitors poor run. Watford has now won just one of their last 11 Premier League matches, while Leicester improves to two wins from seven in the league and move up to seventh place in the table, Vardy scored from the penalty spot after he was brought down in the area by Watford defender Molla Wague. The England striker got to his feet and rifled the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal, Mahrez then made sure of victory with a goal in the closing stages.
Click here for the goals – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb9pa5kFvmY
STOKE CITY 2 V 0 HUDDERSFIELD
Two second-half goals from Joe Allen and Mame Biram Diouf was enough to lift Stoke out of the bottom three. Peter Crouch played what could be his last game for Stoke as Chelsea are lined up to sign him before the transfer window closes. Stoke moved up to 17th with the victory, while Huddersfield is three points above the relegation zone.
Click here for the goals – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8_YyMCKMJE
WEST HAM UNITED 1 V 1 BOURNEMOUTH
West Ham had to come from behind to earn a draw at home to Bournemouth, Ryan Fraser had put Bournemouth ahead with their first shot on target but it was left to Mexican striker Javier Hernandez to rescue a point when he reacted quickly to finish off Marko Arnautovic’s effort.
Click here for the goals – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPSFaNa1UXk
MANCHESTER CITY 3 V 1 NEWCASTLE
The Man City bus keeps rolling along with few stops along the way, their latest victory came via Sergio Aguero’s 11th hat-trick of his City career and his second of the season, the Argentinian striker claimed City’s first goal when he got the faintest of touches to head in from Kevin de Bruyne’s goal-bound strike, before he converted a penalty after Javier Manquillo tripped Raheem Sterling, Jacob Murphy pulled one back with a chipped finish over Ederson, but Aguero powerfully finished after Leroy Sane’s jinking run to seal the victory.
Click here for the goals – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4PdeUvOR7g
SOUTHAMPTON 1 V 1 TOTTENHAM
Tottenham’s draw at Southampton meant they missed the chance to move level on points with fourth-placed Liverpool. The Saints took a deserved early lead as Spurs central defender Davinson Sanchez diverted Ryan Bertrand’s low cross into his own net, but within four minutes, Harry Kane scored his 99th Premier League goal nodding home a straightforward header as the Saints defence failed to compete from a Ben Davies corner, both teams had the chances but failed to add to the scoreline.
Click here for the goals – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVVhG18oNLY
SWANSEA CITY 1 V 0 LIVERPOOL
The shock of the week came over in Wales, where bottom club Swansea produced a fantastic performance and victory over Liverpool. Alfie Mawson’s goal proved the difference as the Swans recorded a potentially priceless win in their fight against relegation. Liverpool, unbeaten in their previous 18 games, had by far the better scoring chances but some poor finishing, fine home defending and an impressive display from goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski kept them at bay.
All Liverpool fans look away – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKincoA2Kp4
In my predictions I had six correct results and one correct score, so a little better form.
Please see following my week 25 predictions:
Swansea 1 v 2 Arsenal
West Ham 1 v 2 Crystal Palace
Huddersfield 1 v 2 Liverpool
Chelsea 3 v 1 Bournemouth
Everton 1 v 2 Leicester
Newcastle 2 v 1 Burnley
Southampton 1 v 1 Brighton
Man City 4 v 1 West Brom
Stoke 2 v 1 Watford
Spurs 3 v 1 Man United
Have a good week,
Gary
