Another weekend, another bundle of Premier League fixtures! Check out the round-up of the Manchester derby and all of the highlights from the rest of the matches in England this weekend.
Liverpool 2 – 1 Bournemouth
Liverpool beat Bournemouth 2-1 in a tough game at Anfield this Saturday and are now only two wins away from clinching their first Premier League title in 30 years. The would-be champions also recorded their 22nd successive league victory at Anfield, breaking the record set by Bill Shankly’s legendary team in 1972.
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They might be breaking records but Bournemouth definitely made Jurgen Klopp’s side work hard for this win. The hosts scored an early goal, their first against Liverpool since April 2017, thanks to Callum Wilson, who slotted in Jefferson Lerma’s low cross in the 9th minute.
27 – Since the start of last season, both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané have scored a Premier League-high 27 goals in home games. Anfield. #LIVBOU pic.twitter.com/iHVve2DjOq
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 7, 2020
However, Liverpool found their stride when Mohamed Salah equalized with a cool finish after Sadio Mane was gifted the ball by Cherries’ defender Jack Simpson in the 24th minute. Salah has scored 70 goals in his 100 Premier League appearances for Liverpool, seven more than any other player in their first 100 for the club. Legend.
👑Most goals in first 100 @premierleague apps for Liverpool
7⃣0⃣ Mohamed Salah
6⃣3⃣ Fernando Torres
6⃣2⃣ Luis Suarez
6⃣2⃣ Robbie Fowler
5⃣4⃣ Michael Owen
5⃣0⃣ Sadio Mane pic.twitter.com/CBtcjkWcSI— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) March 7, 2020
One Bournemouth mistake, one Liverpool goal. Nine minutes later, another Bournemouth mistake, another Liverpool goal. Sadio Mane found the back of the net to complete the hosts come-back with thanks to a superb pass from Virgil van Dijk.
Although Sadio Mane had an outstanding performance, the award for top-moment of the match is awarded to James Milner for clearing the ball from the goal line and preventing Ryan Fraser’s strike from leveling Bournemouth. What a clearance!
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“We’re not geniuses, but we can really fight and that’s all we have to do until the end of the season,” said Klopp after the game.
Not long to go now, Jurgen!
Arsenal 1 – 0 West Ham
Arsenal beat West Ham at the Emirates and the visitors must be kicking themselves to let those points slip through as they were all-together the better side this Saturday. With 14 attempts on goal and six on target, compared to Arsenal’s nine and two on target, the Hammers’ shortage of a little luck prevented them from coming on top in North London.
0 – Arsenal have failed to record a single shot on target in the first half of a Premier League game at the Emirates Stadium for the first time since January 2019 vs Cardiff, attempting only three shots in total so far today. Sluggish.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 7, 2020
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After a series of strikes, smacked crossbars and epic saves by both keepers, it was Alexandre Lacazette who finally found the back of the net just 12 minutes from time to claim a third straight league victory at home for the first time in over a year. Firstly ruled as offside, the agonizing wait of the VAR check confirmed that Lacazette’s goal stands, his third in four games.
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Arsenal have lifted up to ninth place on the table with 40 points, eight points behind fourth-placed Chelsea. West Ham remain on the brink of the relegation zone only on goal difference.
“I don’t want us to be a hard-luck story. I told my players I thought they played well but let’s get rid of that tag. We can’t let that happen again,” commented David Moyes. “We have got to be more ruthless. At this stage, I would rather we had not played well and won.”
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Burnley 1 – 1 Tottenham Hotspur
Burnley could have leapfrogged Spurs on the table had they won this match, but alas, Spurs drew Sean Dyche’s side 1-1 at Turf Moor on Saturday.
It was a game of two halves as Burnley dominated in the first and Spurs came back strong in the second. The Clarets took a deserved lead in the 13th minute, when Chris Wood found the back of Hugo Lloris’ net after the keeper had already saved a long-range strike by Jay Rodriguez. This was Wood’s 11th league goal this season, his best-ever top-flight campaign, becoming only the third Burnley player to ever net more than 10 times in a single Premier League season.
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The second half started off with a double sub for out-of-sorts Spurs and five minutes in Ben Mee challenged Eric Lemala to gift Jose Mourinho’s side with a penalty. Dele Ali converted from the spot to record his 50th Premier League goal.
50 – Dele Alli is the seventh player to reach 50 Premier League goals for Spurs – only Harry Kane (23 years 44 days) reached this milestone at a younger age for the club than Alli (23 years 331 days). Knack. pic.twitter.com/ScAzJt2cPC
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 7, 2020
Special shout-out to Lloris, who was forced to make a series of fantastic saves, reminding everyone of his caliber and quality as a goalkeeper; something a lot of us tend to often forget. Regardless of the Frenchman’s efforts, this result means that Spurs have now gone five games without a victory in all competitions, which is their worst tally since 2016 when they went seven without a win.
Burnley are down to tenth place with 39 points, losing their ninth spot to Arsenal this weekend, whilst Tottenham are eighth with 41 points.
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Chelsea 4 – 0 Everton
Chelsea thrashed Everton four goals to none this Sunday in what was a miserable return to Stamford Bridge for Carlo Ancelotti, who won the Premier League and FA Cup double there in exactly ten years ago. Including his two triumphs over Spurs’ Mourinho, Frank Lampard has now three wins over ex-Chelsea managers this season.
20 – There were 20 passes in the build up to Chelsea's first goal against Everton, scored by Mason Mount – the second longest passing sequence leading to a Chelsea goal in the Premier League this season. Silky. #CHEEVE pic.twitter.com/TFWEupxKaJ
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 8, 2020
Mason Mount opened up the scoresheet 14 minutes in by blasting past Jordan Pickford at the near post, ending an 18-game goal drought. Just seven minutes later Pedro gave the hosts their second in what was the Spaniard’s first Premier League goal of the season.
Shortly after the break Chelsea netted two goals in three minutes. Willian found the bottom corner with a stunner (51′), followed by in-form Olivier Giroud, who tapped in from a short corner (54′).
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Lampard said after the match: “The whole attitude and focus of the team felt really strong after the Liverpool game. We have to replicate what we did today to some degree every week.”
This result means that Everton remain 12th on the table, while Chelsea stay fourth, three points ahead of Manchester United.
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Elsewhere
Sheffield United vs Norwich and Crystal Palace vs Watford both saw a single-goal win for the hosts. Wolves and Brighton ended on a goalless draw, 10-man Southampton lost 0-1 to Newcastle in a dramatic clash, and Leicester remain third on the table after thrashing Aston Villa 4-0 on Monday night.
That’s it for now! See you at the end of the week for another thriller Premier League weekend! Make sure to bet with 22Bet!
4 – There were just four goals scored in today's 3pm Premier League matches – the only Saturday with fewer goals at this time slot was November 24th 2001, when three goals were scored from six games (min. 5 games played). Tense. pic.twitter.com/0JwkaLwGjY
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 7, 2020
