Week 20 of the English Premier League sees Liverpool dropping two points at Sunderland, Man Utd win six on the trot, and 10-man Man City beat Burnley.
Chelsea has the chance to move eight points clear in the Premier League if they can beat Spurs on Wednesday after Liverpool could only manage a draw at the Stadium of Light.
Jurgen Klopp’s side came into their clash with Sunderland on the back of four league wins on the spin, with Sunderland having lost four of five. But it was a spirited performance from David Moyes’s side.
Daniel Sturridge, who was making a rare league start, headed Liverpool ahead in the 19th minute – his fourth goal in successive games against the Black Cats. But some dodgy defending from Ragnar Klavan led to Jermaine Defoe converting from the spot after the Estonian defender had blocked the path of the onrushing Didier Ndong.
Liverpool then took the lead for the second time after Sadio Mane found space to prod the ball home at the back post after a near post flick from a Sunderland defender from a corner. But six minutes from time, Mane was cast as the villain when he gave away a clear penalty, handling the ball from a free-kick, and Defoe stepped up to score his 11th league goal of the season to end the tie 2-2.
Liverpool’s next game is away at arch-rivals Man Utd, and Jose Mourinho’s side continued their impressive assault on the top four spots with a win away at West Ham.
The Hammers can feel hard done by in this one after Mike Dean had another shocker. West Ham started with a spring in their step, but Dean clipped it when he sent Sofiane Feghouli for an early bath for a tackle with Phil Jones that looked like the United defender was the offending party. It was Dean’s fifth red card of the season.
West Ham continued to press despite having 10-men, and twice Michail Antonio could have put the London side ahead. Then Jose Mourinho sent Marcus Rashford and Juan Mata onto the pitch and everything changed. Rashford with some great work down the left, cutting the ball into the box, and the little Spaniard was on hand to give United a 1-0 lead.
The final goal for United came 12-minutes from time and once again West Ham were unlucky. Zlatan Ibrahimovic turned and scored after a ricochet off Ander Herrera, but the giant Swede was clearly offside.
United has now won six league games on the trot and is unbeaten in 13 matches, the best record since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson back in 2013.
Man City Back to Winning Ways; Pep Guardiola Not Happy
Has Pep Guardiola had English media training from Gordon Strachan?
The Spaniard is a right pain in the ass during his post-match interviews, and he was his usual sarcastic and sardonic self after City took all three points after a tough day at the office against Burnley.
Burnley arrived at The Etihad after their 4-1 annihilation of Sunderland, knowing City had lost three league games in December including a New Year defeat at the hands of Liverpool. And they would have been delighted to see the name of Sergio Aguero on the subs bench, with Guardiola preferring Kelechi Iheanacho as the sole striker.
The dynamism of the game turned in the 15th minute when the referee sent Fernandinho off for a two-footed tackle. It was the third time the Brazilian had received his marching orders in his past six outings and the seventh red card in all competitions for City players.
But Burnley seemed to fall asleep when handed the one man advantage and were 2-0 down just after half-time thanks to strikes from Gael Clichy and Sergio Aguero who came off the bench to great effect. Burnley managed to pull one back through Ben Mee, but that all-important second goal eluded them.
In other news, Burnley has confirmed the signing of Joey Barton, proving to all our children that they can act like a complete dick and still be given plenty of chances in this life.
The Best of the Rest
West Brom continues to make me look like a mug for saying they were going to be relegation fodder at the start of the season by beating Hull 3-1. Then again, everyone beats Hull. Robert Snodgrass opened the scoring for Hull, and they began well, but individual errors once again saw them crash to defeat with Chris Brunt and Gareth McAuley both finding space in the box to thump home headers to give the Albion all three points. James Morrison scored the third.
Ronald Koeman poured more misery on his old side as Everton beat Southampton 3-0 at Goodison Park. Ross Barkley was the leading man as Enner Valencia, Leighton Baines (pen) and Romelu Lukaku condemned the Saints to their third loss in succession.
And Middlesbrough drew nil-nil with the champions Leicester. No surprises there. The Riverside Stadium has seen fewer Premier League goals than any other this season.
Premier League Results (Week 20)
Man City 2 v 1 Burnley
Everton 3 v 0 Southampton
Middlesbrough 0 v 0 Leicester
Sunderland 2 v 2 Liverpool
West Brom 3 v 1 Hull
West Ham 0 v 2 Man Utd
Remaining Fixtures
Bournemouth v Arsenal (Tue, 3 Jan)
Stoke v Watford (Tue, 3 Jan)
Crystal Palace v Swansea (Tue, 3 Jan)
Spurs v Chelsea (Wed, 4 Jan)
Premier League Table
1. Chelsea – 49
2. Liverpool – 44
3. Man City – 42
4. Arsenal – 40
5. Spurs – 39
6. Man Utd – 39
7. Everton – 30
8. West Brom – 29
9. Bournemouth – 24
10. Southampton – 24
11. Burnley – 23
12. Watford – 22
13. West Ham – 22
14. Leicester – 21
15. Stoke – 21
16. Middlesbrough – 19
17. Crystal Palace – 16
18. Sunderland – 15
19. Hull – 13
20. Swansea – 12
Premier League Title Odds (Courtesy of Bodog)
Chelsea -175
Liverpool +550
Man City +750
Arsenal +1000
Man Utd +1800
Spurs +1800
