Week 31 of the English Premier League sees Chelsea end the title hopes of Man City, Spurs late show makes it a two-horse race, and Hull steps out of the bottom three.
Manchester City‘s eight-game unbeaten run in the Premier League came to a grinding halt at Stamford Bridge and with it their title hopes.
It was a pivotal tie in the title race after Chelsea’s stutter against Crystal Palace, but they showed what champions are made of with a 2-1 victory courtesy of two goals from Eden Hazard.
The first came on ten minutes when Hazard’s shot was deflected off the head of Vincent Kompany to leave Willy Caballero looking like, well, a willy. Sergio Aguero equalised 16-minutes later when Thibaut Courtois, who was celebrating his 100th game for the Blues, gave the ball to David Silva, saved his subsequent shot, but could do nothing to stop Aguero tapping in the rebound.
City was on top at this point, driving through a central midfield that looked a little lightweight with Cesc Fabregas handed the role of supporting N’Golo Kante, But Chelsea went into the half-time break with the lead nonetheless. Fernandinho brought Hazard down in the box, and the Belgian picked himself up and scored on the second attempt after Caballero had saved his penalty.
At half-time, Antonio Conte put Nemanja Matic into the centre of the park, forced City to try and play around the big man, and it changed the complexion of the match. Chelsea was a lot stronger and managed to hold on for all three points with the scoreline that former Chelsea and Man City player Wayne Bridge predicted in the inaugural #CallIt campaign at BetStars.
Spurs Late Show Makes it a Two Horse Race
With City out of the title race, the only side left with a prayer is Spurs. Mauricio Pochettino’s side travelled to Swansea having earned more points in their last ten matches than any other team in the Premier League.
Only Liverpool, Man Utd, and Chelsea have beaten Spurs this season, so it was a surprise that lowly Swansea was heading into the final two minutes of regular time with a 1-0 lead courtesy of a strike from Spurs old boy Wayne Routledge.
Spurs, who were having an off day up until this point, dug in and showed the strength and fortitude to turn things around. A mentality that may one day win them the Premier League.
First, a Christian Eriksen shot deflected into the path of Dele Alli to tap home his 18th goal of the season to level things in the 88th minute. Then Eriksen threaded the ball to Victor Janssen who flicked it on to Son Heung-min to give Spurs the lead in the 91st minute, before a beautiful slide rule pass from Alli put Eriksen through on goal to score the third three minutes later.
Spurs have now won five Premier League game on the trot.
Swansea, who played well for large parts of the match, are now winless in four and drop into the bottom three.
Hull Sparkle Against Boro
The reason Swansea fell into the bottom three with defeat against Spurs is because Hull left a vacant spot with a thrilling victory over visiting Middlesbrough.
The form guide predicted a Boro defeat. They arrived at the KCOM Stadium without a manager and winless since the middle of December. Hull, on the other hand, had won five of the six games they had played at home since Marco Silva took charge.
But it was Boro who went ahead in the fifth minute when Adam Traore dragged his shot wide only for Alvaro Negredo to poke it home at the far stick. Hull, though, responded quickly and were 3-1 up going into first-half injury time thanks to goals from Lazar Markovic, Oumar Niasse, and Abel Hernandez.
And then Boro had a little bit of luck as Marten de Roon wandered into the six-yard box from an offside position to head home after a spot of head tennis from the six-yard box. Harry Maguire settled things in the 70th minute when he headed home from an Andrew Robertson free kick.
The win moved Hull out of the bottom three for the first time since October. Only Spurs, Chelsea, and Everton, have won more points than Marco Silva since he took over from Mike Phelan in December.
The Best of the Rest
Arsenal piled more pressure on under-fire West Ham boss Slaven Bilic with a comfortable 3-0 win at The Emirates. Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez were instrumental in the win. The goals came from Ozil, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud. Walcott has now scored 19 goals this season and 18 in his last 23 starts. West Ham boss Bilic later admitted that his side is in a relegation scrap after losing their fifth game in succession.
Liverpool missed the opportunity to put more daylight between them and the chasing Champions League pack after a 2-2 draw on an emotionally charged night at Anfield. Bournemouth had beaten Liverpool at the start of the season and took a point thanks to a late goal from Josh King. Benik Afobe (Bournemouth), Philippe Coutinho & Divock Origi (Liverpool) were the other scorers on a night when Liverpool remembered the 96 people who lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster.
And Crystal Palace’s run of four successive wins came to an end at Southampton acting as a reminder that the hard work is yet to come. Christian Benteke kept up his recent fine form with a 31-minute opener. Southampton equalised before the break thanks to Nathan Redmond. Late goals from Maya Yoshida and James Ward-Prowse sent Crystal Palace into a fixture list that pits them against Arsenal, Leicester, Liverpool, and Spurs with real potential for trouble.
Week 31 Results
Watford 2 v 0 West Brom
Burnley 1 v 0 Stoke
Leicester 2 v 0 Sunderland
Man Utd 1 v 1 Everton
Swansea 1 v 3 Spurs
Arsenal 3 v 0 West Ham
Hull 4 v 2 Middlesbrough
Southampton 3 v 1 Crystal Palace
Liverpool 2 v 2 Bournemouth
Chelsea 2 v 1 Man City
Premier League Table
1. Chelsea – 72
2. Spurs – 65
3. Liverpool – 60
4. Man City – 58
5. Arsenal – 54
6. Man Utd – 54
7. Everton – 51
8. West Brom – 44
9. Southampton – 37
10. Watford – 37
11. Leicester – 36
12. Stoke – 36
13. Bournemouth – 35
14. Burnley – 35
15. West Ham – 33
16. Crystal Palace – 31
17. Hull – 30
18. Swansea – 28
19. Middlesbrough – 23
20. Sunderland – 20
Premier League Odds (Courtesy of Bodog)
Chelsea – 1400
Spurs +1000
To Be Relegated
Sunderland -5000
Middlesbrough -1400
Swansea -150
Hull +135
Crystal Palace +700
