Premier League Week 15: Arsenal Stumped, Chelsea Stutter, Liverpool Clash With One Of Their Own
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City banish midweek ghosts, Arsenal haunted by the ghost of Villa, and Salah lights the Liverpool castle on fire, writes Manik Sharma.
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WEEK 14 FLASHBACK: As the festive season kicks in, games are pouring in thick and fast in the Premier League. The midweek games were underlined by two key results. Fresh off a tremendous point against league-leading Arsenal, Chelsea’s return from the Promised Land of a possible title was swift — they were swept away by a terrific Leeds. But the game that took the headlines was Man City nearly giving away a 4-goal lead in a match that echoed the hysteria and formlessness of this unique Premier League season. City banish midweek ghosts with solid win But cue the weekend, and Pep Guardiola’s men in light blue produced a commanding performance against one of the league’s most awkward opponents, newly promoted Sunderland. Not only did captain Ruben Dias score an absolute belter, but the vein of form that Phil Foden has been on continued with yet another well-taken goal. Created by an audacious rabona by Ryan Cherki, it capped off a fine City performance that, for their manager’s sake, was sans any unmerited drama. City look the closest to challenging Arsenal’s chokehold on the league, but games like the one in midweek offer little conviction that they actually might. WATCH | Man City vs Sunderland highlights available on JioHotstar, now available with your OTTplay Premium subscription. |
Liverpool self-destruct as Salah ignites mutiny off the pitch Elland Road has confined not one, but two teams to dust in a week’s time. First Chelsea’s hopefuls and now Liverpool’s meek resurgence. For half at least, Liverpool looked solid, on the money, and up for a game they surely needed to win to keep their underfire manager from coming under more pressure. Hugo Ekitike deservedly started and took his goals with aplomb. Even after Leeds pulled two goals back, the Reds responded immediately with an excellent team goal. That, however, was the last straw of a thinning collection of positives. The Liverpool defence — perhaps the poorest the club has had in years — leaked a poor late goal, again. That, however, wasn’t the biggest body blow of the day. More on that later. Watch the match highlights here. Chelsea take one step forward and three steps backwards Chelsea are a good team of individuals, with some exceptionally deep pockets of talent in key positions. Not all of them are, however, equally capable. Up front, Chelsea are still as hopeless as they were three years ago. At Bournemouth, the Blues played three different strikers, but none of them could play the role with any sort of conviction. At the back, Chelsea are still susceptible to a lack of maturity. Robert Sanchez pings between hero and villain depending on a coin toss. And the talented wingers at their disposal simply don’t contribute enough goals. Away to a good Bournemouth side, Chelsea were lucky to scrape through the first half, before stringing good — but toothless — play together in the second. All that talk of possibly being Arsenal’s closest challengers is a tad too immature. |
Aston Villa re-emerge as familiar tormentors of Arsenal In what was possibly one of the games of the season so far, Aston Villa returned to haunt Arsenal in their presumed jaunt to a title no one else wants to claim. Villa’s return to consistency augurs well for a league screaming for some sort of definable pattern, but it also heralds the launch of what could become a mighty scramble for European places. Against Arsenal, Villa were exceptional — intense, tactically astute, and unafraid to take the game to a team that’s starting to look a little tired of late. This is no crisis for Arsenal but a welcome blip that could upstart Arteta’s reactionary iron grip on a title he can no longer afford to throw away. The credit for this showpiece game and the thrilling way in which it ended, however, goes to Villa. Under the tutelage of a manager as competent and experienced as Unai Emery, there is no reason why the grand old club can’t dream of getting over the line, where they faultered last season at the death. WATCH | Aston Villa vs Arsenal match highlights here Simons finally fires for beleaguered Spurs Spurs aren’t great to watch. Nor are they particularly solid at the back. But against an excellent Brentford side, they showed signs of life with the welcome impact — and his first goal — of the summer recruit Xavi Simons. Simons is exactly the kind of player that Spurs need to start firing if Thomas Frank wants to stay in the job he deservedly earned by putting together a formidable Brentford side. That none of his previous players joined him at the London club is a bit of a mystery, but given the choices he has and the players slated to return from injury, it’s a matter of time before his scattered pieces begin to fall in place. |
Postscript: Legend vs Club Shortly after Liverpool suffered yet another ignominious loss against a determined Leeds side, Mo Salah scored, maybe, one of the biggest self-goals in football history — off the field. In a public statement, the Liverpool legend cried foul about being dropped from the first team and being made a scapegoat for the club’s poor performance. Most infuriatingly, though, he declared his relationship with current manager Arne Slot as non-existent. It’s not exactly an echo of the contentious relationship that Cristiano Ronaldo shared with Erik Ten Hag on his return to Manchester United, but there are parallels: a legend in decline, a team struggling to accommodate him and a club at a crossroads, trying to choose the lesser of two evils. Only one thing’s certain from hereon in. Mo Salah’s Liverpool career is over. That it would finish so unceremoniously, though, would have been no one’s guess. Something not even a rival would wish. Liverpool fans deserve better. Premier League matches come to you live and exclusive on JioHotstar, with an OTTplay Premium subscription for only Rs 149 per month. Don’t miss a minute! |
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