Premier League GameWeek 36 began with a seven-goal thriller at St James’s Park, culminating in an important header from Allisson Becker that boosted Liverpool’s chances of a top-four finish.
Oladipupo Mojeed brings us a recap of the highlights from Premier League GameWeek 36.
Newcastle United 3 – 4 Manchester City
Ferran Torres returned to the starting line-up of the new Premier League champions with a hat-trick against Newcastle United.
Read Also: Preview of Premier League MatchDay 36
His goals helped City establish an English league record of 12 successive away victories as Manchester City twice came from behind to win the match.
Pep Guardiola, who gave Scott Carson the nod in goal, saw his City side dominate early on. But they fell behind to Emil Krafth’s powerful header from Jonjo Shelvey’s corner.
Joao Cancelo restored parity for the visitors with a deflected effort into the bottom right corner. City went into the lead through Torres, who expertly turned home Ilkay Gundogan’s free-kick 185 seconds later.
It looked as though the visitors would cut loose, but Steve Bruce’s men responded from the penalty spot. After a VAR review, they levelled when City defender Nathan Ake was deemed to have fouled Joelinton. The Brazilian made no mistake from the spot.
The Tyneside club got in front through another penalty kick from Arsenal loanee, Joe Willock. City full-back Kyle Walker conceded a poor tackle on Willock. The midfielder’s initial effort was parried into his path by Carson, and he followed it up to score.
The final word later came from man-of-the-match Torres, when he guided Gabriel Jesus’s cross into the top right corner. He became the youngest player to score a league hat-trick for a Guardiola team. He later secured maximum points for City when he turned in a Cancelo shot that bounced back off the Newcastle post.
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 West Ham United
The Hammers could not secure the maximum points they needed to continue their push for a top-four finish, and were held to a draw at Brighton.
The result leaves the Hammers in sixth, with five points separating them and Chelsea who are currently occupying the final top-four spot, with two games remaining.
Danny Welbeck continued his goalscoring form when he finished smartly from Percy Tau’s through pass to lift the ball beyond West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, to record his 50th Premier League goal.
Said Benrahma equalised for the visitors with his first for West Ham after 31 appearances.
The draw leaves the Seagulls in 17th, having dropped 25 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season.
Southampton 3 – 1 Fulham
Che Adams, Nathan Tella, and Theo Walcott were on song as the Saints earned another win against Fulham at St Mary’s.
Che Adams, who has scored nine Premier League goals this season is behind Steven Fletcher as the only Scottish player to score more since 2012-13.
After Adam gave the hosts the lead, Nathan Tella scored his first senior Southampton goal to double their lead after coming on as a second-half substitute. Thus, they registered back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since December.
The 21-year-old, described by Ralph Hasenhuttl as the biggest talent, later set up the home side’s third goal with a classy backheel that found Theo Walcott.
Burnley 0-4 Leeds United
Leeds United continued their fine form on their return to the Premier League with an impressive victory over Burnley at Turf Moor.
They went into the lead through Mateusz Klich, who curled in from the edge of the penalty area shortly before half-time. Jack Harrison doubled their lead with a flicked finish before Rodrigo sealed the game with a brace in three minutes.
The result means Leeds can still finish in the top half of the table, having lost just one in nine league games.
Everton 0-1 Sheffield United
Daniel Jebbison became the youngest player in Premier League history to score on his first start. His solitary strike proved enough to secure maximum points for Sheffield United.
The result ended Everton’s top four ambition as they are currently eighth on the log, with eight points separating them from Chelsea.
Jebbison is 17 years and 309 days. The young forward slid in from close range after good work by Jack Robinson. He had the opportunity of setting another record when he seized on a short backpass by Mason Holgate. But his effort was saved by Jordan Pickford.
Everton made some attemtps to come back in the game but Aaron Ramsdale pulled off a stunning double save from Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin to preserve Sheffield United’s lead.
The goalie denied Richarlison again in the second half to win their second Premier League away win of the season, and handing Everton their ninth league defeat this season.
West Bromwich Albion 1 – 2 Liverpool
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker scored an incredible injury-time winner to help Liverpool claim a significant victory in their quest to finish in the top-four. The Reds laboured for maximum points by coming from behind to beat the hosts.
Having been frustrated by the Baggies and in a bid to keep their hope alive, the Brazilian keeper came up for a corner from Trent Alexander-Arnold. Needless to say, his header got them the win they so badly needed.
The Baggies initially went ahead through Hal Robson-Kanu, who capped his first Premier League start since December 2017 with a neat side-foot finish.
A typically incisive Mohamed Salah finish brought the visitors level. The Egyptian’s low shot inside the far post took his tally to 22 goals for the season, level with Harry Kane at the top of the scoring charts.
Alison broke a Liverpool record that has stood for over a century when he scored the winner. The victory takes the Reds just a point and a place behind Chelsea in fourth and three points worse off than third-placed Leicester with two games to go.
Tottenham Hotspur 2 – 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Tottenham Hotspur boosted their hopes of qualifying for the Europa League with a comfortable win over Wolves.
The hosts got a deserved victory, after hitting the woodwork three times from several chances they created.
Harry Kane scored his 22nd Premier League goal of the season after calmly slotting in the opener from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s superb pass on the stroke of half-time.
Spurs continued their dominance, with Kane and Dele Alli both hitting the right-hand post within seconds of each other. They were later rewarded when Hojbjerg reacted first after Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio had parried a Gareth Bale effort to slide the ball into the bottom right corner.
Crystal Palace 3 – 2 Aston Villa
Crystal Palace returned to winning ways with a hard-fought victory over Aston Villa at the Selhurst Park.
Tyrick Mitchell’s first Premier League goal rewarded Palace in their comeback victory against the Villans. The 21-year-old full-back got the winner six minutes from full time after bundling the ball in with his shoulder following Eberechi Eze‘s fluffed cross.
In the ernergetic affair, the hosts found themselves 2-1 behind from the 34th minute, but turned the table with an impressive second half display.
Wilfried Zaha restored parity for them with 15 minutes left to play when produced a driving run and fired a fierce shot that deflected into the net off Villa defender Ahmed Elmohamady. Mitchell netted the winner soon after.
After going behind through John McGinn’s well-taken opener, Palace restored when Christian Benteke headed in against his former club. Anwar El Ghazi then restored Villa’s lead when he fired in at the back post.
The defeat left Villa in 11th, four points behind 10th-placed Leeds with two games to play, making a Premier League top-half finish unlikely. Palace, who are already safe from relegation recorded 44 points in Premier League GameWeek 36. They now have the chance of hitting the 50-point mark for the first time in the Premier League.
Premier League GameWeek 36 recorded a total of 27 goals, with almost a third of those coming from the thriller at St James Park.
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