Liverpool become Premier League champions

Christian Pulisic celebrates the opening goal for Chelsea

After the latest round of fixtures, Liverpool are now officially the champions of England.

It came following Man City’s 2-1 loss to Chelsea. Liverpool had beaten Crystal Palace 4-0 the day before, but City couldn’t do the same, with Chelsea overcoming them. They needed to win but they failed.

City dominated the ball but defensive mistakes cost them. The first goal was a shambles as Benjamin Mendy and Ìlkay Gündogan had a mix up before Christian Pulisic easily got past Mendy. He then finished well past Ederson.

Kevin de Bruyne scored a fantastic free-kick to level the game. However, following more defensive frailties, Fernandinho ended up blocking the ball with his hand. With the help of VAR, the referee awarded a penalty and sent off the Brazilian. Willian converged the penalty. From then on, City couldn’t break Chelsea down and therefore, have lost their title.

Liverpool had no problems against Crystal Palace, with goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, Fabinho and Stadio Mane helping the Reds to a comfortable win.

Nothing but a win would’ve been enough for City and many would’ve predicted that they would’ve kept their slim chances of retaining the title alive, but Chelsea had other ideas.

The whole Liverpool squad gathered together to watch the Chelsea v Man City game just in case they could celebrate the title and, following the game there were joyous scenes. They had won their first title since 1990.

In regards to the rest of the division, there were victories for Man Utd, Wolves and Tottenham to keep the pressure up in the race for the top four. Everton, Arsenal and Burnley also won, while the games between Leicester and Brighton and Newcastle and Aston Villa finished level.

Anthony Martial scored the first Manchester United hat-trick since Robin Van Persie scored three in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge back in 2013. It was the last time United won the title. It was a solid performance from United against Sheffield United and Martial’s goals were clinical. There was excellent link-up play between the attacking players. Paul Pogba showed glimpses of quality on his first start after injury and Bruno Fernandes shone again.

Tottenham’s 2-0 victory over Aston Villa ended a run of seven games in all competitions without a win. An own goal from Tomas Soucek and a first goal since December for Harry Kane have Spurs the win. Kane would’ve missed the rest of the season if it wasn’t for the break, so that is a massive difference for Spurs.

With another goal from Raul Jimenez from another assist by Adama Traore, Wolves remained level on points with Man United and keep up their hopes of playing Champions League football next season.

Arsenal, Everton and Burnley kept up their slim hopes of qualifying for Europe next season with victories over Southampton, Norwich and Watford respectively.

Arsenal had to battle but goals from Eddie Nketiah and Joe Willock gave the Gunners a 2-0 victory over Southampton. It was the Gunners’ first win since their return. Southampton should be safe from any relegation fears as they are ten points above the bottom three.

Michael Keane scored the winner for Everton in a narrow 1-0 victory over bottom club Norwich. It is now looking like only a miracle will prevent the Canaries from dropping straight back down to the Championship.

In the game between Burnley and Watford, Jay Rodriguez played a starring role, scoring the winner with a header to keep Watford looking just over their shoulder. They are only one point above the relegation zone.

Aston Villa still remain in the fight to stay up after Ahmed El Mohamady equalised late on following Dwight Gayle’s goal for Newcastle.

The final game we look at is between Leicester and Brighton which finished goalless. Brighton had an excellent chance to score but Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel pulled off a fantastic save to deny Neal Maupay from the penalty spot. Leicester need to get back up to speed otherwise they will be in danger of getting caught by the chasing pack for the Champions League places. Brighton are lookin strong to remain in the top flight but will still need to carry on picking up points.

It was another key set of matches which will have a big impact on the final standings.

The results follow:

Leicester 0-0 Brighton

Tottenham 2-0 West Ham

Manchester United 3-0 Sheffield United

Newcastle 1-1 Aston Villa

Norwich 0-1 Everton

Wolves 1-0 Bournemouth

Liverpool 4-0 Crystal Palace

Southampton 0-2 Arsenal

Chelsea 2-1 Man City

The first full Premier League matchday after the break

Liverpool were frustrated by Everton

Last weekend we were able to witness all Premier League teams return to action and there was some excitement and controversy to watch.

It was great to see a full matchday with all 20 teams involved. It was the first time for over three months. As usual, there were games which had a lot more action than others. We will have to be patient before we see it back in full flow and at a high intensity on a consistent basis.

The main focus going into the weekend was the Merseyside Derby on Sunday. However, the game failed to live up to the expectation and ended up being a 0-0 draw without much action.

Liverpool weren’t able to win the title with a win but they will want to get it over and done with as soon as they can. They need five points to seal it. With Man City overcoming Burnley on Monday, Liverpool will only be able to win the title this week if City fail to beat Chelsea on Thursday.

After 30 years of waiting, it will be a relief for all Liverpool fans to finally win the title. They still have plenty of time to do so.

For now Man City are making them to have to wait and they were once again relentless against Burnley, winning 5-0. So far since returning, they have scored eight without conceding any.

Phil Foden was the star of the show in the game, scoring two goals in a man of the match performance. He was influential throughout and he will only get better. He has had to be patient since breaking into the first-team squad at City, but with more of these performances he will certainly get more chances. With David Silva looking like he is going to leave City in the summer, Foden might get his chance on a consistent basis.

Riyad Mahrez with two goals and David Silva were the other goal scorers. Burnley were fairly poor, but nothing can be taken away from City’s performance.

Tottenham against Man Utd had quite a bit of controversy, with VAR overturning a decision. Spurs went into half time 1-0 ahead. Steven Bergwijn managed to break through the middle of United’s defence before firing in. David de Gea definitely should’ve saved the shot and Harry Maguire shouldn’t have let Bergwijn run through so easily.

United were better in the second half and on his return, substitute Paul Pogba won them a penalty after being fouled by Eric Dier. Bruno Fernandes stepped up to dispatch the penalty. United were awarded another penalty in the 90th minute after referee Jon Moss adjudged Eric Dier to have fouled Fernandes. However, after VAR had a look at it the decision was overturned. The game finished level which was probably a fair result.

There were some exciting finishes in the games between Watford and Leicester and between Brighton and Arsenal. In the Watford v Leicester game there wasn’t much action until the 90th minute when Leicester’s Ben Chilwell fired into the top corner from the edge of the box. It was a fantastic strike. Leicester thought they had won the game, however, three minutes later following a set-piece Watford’s Craig Dawson acrobatically fired in. It was a frantic end to the finish.

In the game between Brighton and Arsenal there was plenty of action, starting with Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s injury. Leno caught the ball before Brighton’s Neal Maupay went into him, causing him to fall out of the box and get injured. It appeared to be quite severe. Leno wasn’t happy at all with Maupay, feeling that he could’ve avoided it. Emiliano Martínez replaced Leno.

In the second half, Nicolas Pepe provide a spark for Arsenal, cutting in on his left foot, before curling into the top corner from distance. It was a wonderful strike. But, Arsenal failed to manage the game from then on in, conceding an equaliser seven minutes later. They failed to deal with a short corner and Lewis Dunk ended up bundling the ball over the line for Brighton.

Then, in stoppage time at the end of the game, Brighton’s Aaron Connolly played the ball through for Maupay, who finished past Martínez to win the game for Brighton. At the final whistle it got heated, with Maupay celebrating passionately towards Matteo Guendouzi who shoved Maupay by gripping his neck and then more players got involved. Following the game, Maupay said in an interview that they needed to learn “humility”. He certainly had the last laugh.

Rounding up the other results, Norwich ended up losing comfortably 3-0 to Southampton. The Canaries are rooted to the bottom of the table. Southampton on the other hand, are ten points clear of the relegation zone.

Bournemouth remain in trouble after losing to Crystal Palace 2-0 at home in the first ever live Premier League gams on the BBC. They are severely struggling at the moment. The goals came from a brilliant Luka Milivojevic free-kick and Jordan Ayew.

West Ham are also in trouble after losing on their return 2-0 at home to Wolves. Adama Traore made a massive difference after coming on, assisting Raúl Jiménez with a great cross. Pedro Neto volleyed in the other goal. Wolves are fighting for Europe, having had another great season so far. They are right in the mix.

Aston Villa are also struggling, especially having given away a lead against Chelsea. They were 1-0 up at half time following a goal from Kourtney Hause. Chelsea dominated the game throughout but for a while they failed to take advantage of that.

They did manage to break through in the second half, with substitute Christian Pulisic scoring five minutes after coming on. It came as he fired in from a Cesar Azpilicueta cross from the right. Then, a couple of minutes later Olivier Giroud completes the turnaround for Chelsea. There was some slick passing from Chelsea before the ball fell to the Frenchman who fired past Villa goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland via a deflection. Villa were very unlucky. They remain in the bottom three, while Chelsea are fourth.

The other game of the weekend was Newcastle’s 3-0 victory over Sheffield United. It was a tight encounter during the first half but, the game turned in the second half after Sheffield United’s John Egan was sent off for two yellow cards. The first was very debatable, having got in a tussle with Joelinton. Realistically it wasn’t a yellow card, but the second certainly was after he pulled down Joelinton who was going to be running in on goal.

Following that, the Blades capitulated. Five minutes after the red card, Enda Stevens failed to stop a Matt Ritchie cross and Allan Saint-Maximin scores past Dean Henderson. Ritchie fired in a second and Joelinton rounded off the scoring, ending his 10 month goal drought. That could be a big goal for him. Newcastle boss Steve Bruce will be delighted with this result, but Blades boss Chris Wilder will have a lot to ponder.

Below are all the results from the weekend:

Norwich 0-3 Southampton

Tottenham 1-1 Manchester United

Watford 1-1 Leicester

Brighton 2-1 Arsenal

West Ham 0-2 Wolves

Bournemouth 0-2 Crystal Palace

Newcastle 3-0 Sheffield United

Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea

Everton 0-0 Liverpool

Manchester City 5-0 Burnley

The next set of games are midweek with all 20 teams in action

The Championship returns to action

The Hawthorns
West Brom players take the knee before their game against Birmingham

This weekend was the Chamionship’s turn to get back to playing and it didn’t disappoint.

I will be focusing on Cardiff City’s fantastic 2-0 win over title chasing Leeds but will also provide a round-up of the rest of the action over the weekend.

Starting on a more serious note, the Championship followed the Premier League in holding a one minute’s silence before kick-off to honour those who have lost their lives to coronavirus and to thank the NHS for all their hard work.

As well as that, in all the games players and officials took a knee following the referee’s whistle to support the Black Lives Matter movement. We will all be hoping that this has a massive impact as millions of people will be watching the football over the coming weeks.

In regards to the action, there were significant results across the division and plenty of drama which supporters would’ve certainly enjoyed. I’ll start by giving a match report on Cardiff’s huge win.

Cardiff City 2-0 Leeds United

Junior Hoilett holds up a tribute to Peter Whittingham after scoring

Cardiff boosted their play-off hopes with a victory over second-placed Leeds in an exciting encounter at the Cardiff City Stadium.

As well as the minutes silence and taking the knee, there was also a tribute from both clubs to former Bluebird Peter Whittingham and former Leeds players Norman Hunter and Trevor Cherry who have passed away since the last games played. All three are legends of their respective clubs, making over 400 appearances.

Whittingham passed away back in March, aged 35. He died in hospital following a head injury after a fall in a pub in Barry. Whittingham, or ‘Whitts’ as he’s known by so many, will forever be remembered for his fantastic ten years at the club. He had a wand of a left foot and was an exceptional footballer. Many will consider him as one of the greatest footballers to ever play for Cardiff.

Hunter passed away in April after contracting coronavirus. Cherry died very suddenly and unexpectedly in April. Both were fantastic players for Leeds.

There was a minutes applause before kick-off and there were banners laid out in the stands for all three players. It was a fantastic tribute to three fantastic players.

The game itself started at a fast pace, with the Bluebirds coming out of the blocks well, starting strongly. However, Leeds managed to get a hold of the game and started to dominate with Cardiff unable to keep the ball for long. It was starting to look like it would be a very long game for City.

Leeds came very close when from a corner, Will Vaulks had to clear the ball away, after it was heading towards the far post. It was a fantastic clearance, but it only felt like that was only going to temporarily halt Leeds.

For all their dominance Leeds failed to capitalise and with 35 minutes gone, Kalvin Phillips gave the ball away to Junior Hoilett, who ran at the defence before firing past Leeds goalkeeper Illan Mesliet with a powerful left-footed shot. It was a strike that Whittingham would’ve been proud of. Following the goal, Hoilett paid tribute to Whittingham by holding up a Cardiff top with ‘Whittingham 7’ on the back.

Leeds came very close to equalising in stoppage time at the end of the first half. Patrick Bamford was the saviour for Cardiff, blocking Jack Harrison’s attempt while standing in an offside position. The Bluebirds were very lucky to get away with that.

Leeds continued to dominate the ball in the second half and had another excellent chance, but City goalkeeper Alex Smithies saved at point blank range from Tyler Roberts. It was excellent goalkeeping. Smithies had a fantastic game for Cardiff.

Neil Harris made substitutions, bringing on Nathaniel Mendez-Laing after being injured for six months, and Robert Glatzel, and doing after Cardiff doubled their lead. Both players linked up to score, with Mendez-Laing playing the ball to Glatzel, who controlled it before volleying in off the post. It was a great finish from the striker.

The goal came following another mistake by Leeds. This time it was Liam Cooper who gave the ball away, with Mendez-Laing intercepting his pass.

Cardiff managed the game fairly well for the rest of the game, holding on for a massive and crucial win to boost our play-off hopes. It has also slightly dented Leeds’ title challenge. Next up for the Bluebirds is a big game at Preston next Saturday, which could see us move into the top six with a victory. It will be a very tough game though against a good team.

Hopefully the team can push on to end the season strongly and possibly bring Premier League football back to Cardiff.

In regards to the rest of the league, there was some big results with plenty to fight for at the top and bottom of the division.

Three points separate sixth and twelfth. Blackburn, Swansea and Derby all managed to win as well as Cardiff to put them right in the mix. Sixth-placed Preston conceded a late equaliser to relegation-threatened Luton which will be a frustrating result for them.

Derby beat Millwall and Blackburn best Bristol City with all four teams in that play-off battle.

Looking towards the bottom of the table, it is still very tight. Wigan moves up to 17th after a crucial 2-0 victory at fellow strugglers Huddersfield, who are now only one point above the relegation zone. Charlton also won, beating Hull 1-0 which led to them escaping the relegation zone with Hull replacing them. Barnsley gave themselves a chance of staying up with a 1-0 win at QPR and as I’ve mentioned already, Luton managed to get a point at home to Preston.

There is still plenty to play for across the whole division and there will be excitement, as there always is in the Championship. The next round of fixtures is next weekend.

The Return of the Premier League, but not quite the same

Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was one of those who took a knee

It will bring a buzz back to people who haven’t seen Premier League football for 100 days and there were things that would’ve given many people joy but others that were unusual and new that will take time adjusting to.

We all love watching live football and have desperately missed the Premier League. The games at Villa Park and Etihad Stadium would’ve in some way filled the gap that had been in many people’s lives since Leicester’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa on March 9.

There was controversy, with the massive mistake by Hawkeye which denied Sheffield United the opening goal, and there was the class, with Kevin de Bruyne returning at his consistent best. These are aspects which many people have missed.

At kick-off in both games there was a massive statement made by players and officials. They all took a knee for 10 seconds in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Millions of people would’ve been watching the games and this could have a massive impact with the Premier League showing their support.

All players had the words ‘Black Lives Matter’ on the back of their shirts instead of their names and that will be the same in this weekend’s games. We will all be hoping that this has a big influence.

We have to put football into context at this time and although we love football, there are far more important things and like Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said, football is “the most important of the least important things”. As well as taking a knee, there was a minute’s silence for those who have lost their lives to coronavirus.

Possibly the biggest difference with football for now is the lack of fans and that certainly influenced the game and will be very noticeable in all the games to come. Supporters are a massive part of the game, creating a special atmosphere in many games.

However, for now we will have to deal with the noise of the players instead. It could be a while until fans are allowed to return to stadiums with the safety of everyone not able to be ensured. I don’t believe we will get used to it and it won’t be the same.

In regards to the football, there was glimpses of quality and I believe that the more games are played, the better the quality will be as the players increases their match sharpness. Managers will be hoping that their players can hit the ground running.

Below are the results and summary of both games that were played:

Aston Villa 0-0 Sheffield United

The pictures showed that the ball crossed the line

The main talking point of this game was the goal that Hawkeye managed to miss. From an inswinging free-kick by Sheffield United’s Oliver Norwood, Villa Goalkeeper Orjan Nyland appeared to carry the ball behind the goalline. However, referee Michael Oliver pointed to his watch which showed no signal that the ball had crossed the line.

But, the replays showed that the ball had gone in so a goal should’ve been awarded. Hawkeye apologised following the game but that won’t feel like enough for Blades manager Chris Wilder who will feel aggrieved that is side haven’t come away with the three points. It was serious injustice.

Aside from that blunder, this was a tight encounter between two sides with very different aspirations for the rest of the season. Villa are hoping to climb out and away from the bottom three, while Sheffield United are chasing a place in Europe for next season after a fantastic season so far in their first season back in the top flight.

Villa will probably feel like they could’ve won this game but were thwarted by some fine saves by some fine saves from Blades goalkeeper Dean Henderson. Conor Hourihane, Keinan Davis and John McGinn all had efforts on goal that were saved by Henderson. This performance will further increase Henderson’s reputation as a goalkeeper.

Next up for Villa is at home to Chelsea on Sunday, with Sheffield United travelling to Newcastle on the same day.

Man City 3-0 Arsenal City comfortably overcame Arsenal on Mikel Arteta’s return to the Etihad after leaving his coaching role with City to take over as head coach of Arsenal.

The first half was far from ideal for the Gunnera, with injuries for Granit Xhaka and Pablo Mari. David Luiz replaced Mari and he certainly will want to forget this game. With his Arsenal future uncertain, this performance will not encourage the Gunners to try and keep him at the club. During stoppage time at the end of the first half, he failed to stop an attempted Kevin de Bruyne pass, inadvertently deflecting the ball through to Raheem Sterling, who finished past Bernd Leno. This was Sterling’s first goal in 2020 for Man City.

The second half didn’t get much better for Luiz. About five minutes into the half Luiz pulled back City’s Riyad Mahrez, conceding a penalty and he was sent off as he was the last man. De Bruyne scored the penalty. De Bruyne showed his quality throughout the game and was a joy to watch.

Substitute Phil Foden finished off the scoring in stoppage time, stroking in the rebound after Agüero’s shot was saved onto the post by Leno following a slick passing move. It was only because of Leno that City didn’t score more.

Next up for City is against Burnley at home on Monday, while Arsenal travel to Brighton on Saturday.

Football is certainly back and we will be hoping that we see some exciting moments in the weeks to come.