Wednesday 16 March 2016

Leicester see daylight



With only 8 matches remaining Leicester City are 5 points clear of Tottenham and have the league title in their sight.  
Week 21 - In midweek matches Leicester City scored late to win at Tottenham and take themselves within goal difference of leaders Arsenal who conceded a last minute goal to draw 3-3 at Liverpool with Firmino and Giroud each scoring twice for their respective teams while Manchester United suffered the same fait drawing 3-3 at Newcastle after Wayne Rooney had netted a brace for the Red Devils and Manchester City were held to a goalless draw at home to Everton.  A Jermain Defoe hat-trick helped Sunderland to a 4-2 victory at 10-man Swansea while 10-man Norwich lost 3-1 at Stoke City and Crystal Palace lost to a single goal at Aston Villa. Enner Valencia scored twice as West Ham came from behind to win 3-1 at Bournemouth while Watford lost 2-0 at Southampton and a late goal gave West Bromwich Albion a 2-2 draw at Chelsea.
Week 22 - Manchester City sailed past Crystal Palace 4-0 with a double from Aguero at the Etihad to close the gap at the top as Leicester City could only draw 1-1 at bottom club Aston Villa and Arsenal drew 0-0 at Stoke. Chelsea who came from 2 down to draw level with 2 goals in quick succession conceded in stoppage time but scored a controversial goal with the last kick of the match to draw 3-3 at Stamford Bridge while Tottenham came from behind to smash Sunderland 4-1 with 2 goals from Eriksen at White Hart Lane and Bournemouth put 3 past their visitors from Norwich without reply. A brace from Ward-Prowse helped Southampton to a 3-0 home win over WBA while Manchester United enjoyed a 1-0 win at Liverpool and 2 early goals at Newcastle gave the Magpies a 2-1 win over West Ham. On Monday evening Swansea were 1-0 winners at home to Watford.
Week 23 - In a thrilling match at Norwich, Liverpool came from 3-1 down to lead until the last minute when they were pegged back to 4-4 but regained their lead with the last kick of the match to run out 5-4 winners with Firmino claiming a double. Ten-man Arsenal suffered a costly 1-0 loss at home to Chelsea and were overtaken by Leicester City who enjoyed a 3-0 home win over Stoke City and Manchester City who twice fell behind to goals from Valencia but fought back with goals from Aguero to draw 2-2 at West Ham. Tottenham bounced back from a goal down to win 3-1 at Crystal Palace while Manchester United lost 1-0 at home to Southampton with debutant Charlie Austin coming off the bench to grab the late winner. There were draws for Bournemouth 1-1 at Sunderland and Aston Villa 0-0 at West Brom and there were 2-1 wins for Watford at home to Newcastle and Swansea away to Everton.
Week 24 - In midweek Jamie Vardi scored both goals as Leicester City prolonged their stay at the top with a 2-0 home win over Liverpool while a single goal gave Manchester City all 3 points at Sunderland and a double from Harry Kane helped Tottenham to a 3-0 win at Norwich, moving them above Arsenal on goal difference after the Gunners were held to a goalless draw at home to Southampton. Bournemouth came from behind to win 2-1 at Crystal palace while 10-man Aston Villa lost 2-0 at West Ham and Manchester United cruised to a 3-0 victory at home to Stoke City. West Bromwich Albion salvaged a 1-1 draw with a goal in stoppage time at home to Swansea while 2 late penalties from Ross Barkley buried Newcastle 3-0 at Everton and Chelsea drew 0-0 at Watford.
Week 25 - In a top-of-the-table clash Robert Huth scored twice as Leicester City won 3-1 at Manchester City to go 5 points clear of Tottenham who scored a single goal at home to Watford and Arsenal who won 2-0 at Bournemouth while Chelsea salvaged a 1-1 draw with a goal in injury time at home to Manchester United and Sunderland came from 2 goals down to draw 2-2 with 2 late goals at Liverpool. Aston Villa picked up a much needed win with 2 goals at home to Norwich while Newcastle moved out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion. Stoke City suffered their 3rd 3-0 defeat in a row losing at home to Everton while Southampton who were reduced to 10 men held on to win 1-0 at home to West ham and Crystal palace drew 1-1 at Swansea City.
Week 26 - Arsenal came from behind to close the gap at the top with a last-gasp goal from the returning Danny Welbeck to beat 10-man Leicester City 2-1 at the Emirates, but remain in 3rd place after Tottenham won 2-1 at Manchester City. Manchester United lost 2-1 at Sunderland and Southampton won by a single goal to nil at Swansea while Norwich let a 2 goal lead slip to draw 2-2 at home to West Ham United. Stoke City ended their poor run with a 3-1 win at Bournemouth while Crystal palace continued their poor form losing 2-1 at home to Watford with  a Troy Deeney double and West Bromwich Albion defeated Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park. The big hitters were Chelsea who took Newcastle apart 5-1 at Stamford Bridge with 2 from Pedro Rodriguez and Chelsea who demolished Aston Villa 6-0 at Villa Park.
Week 27 - Leicester City picked up another 3 points at the top with a last-minute goal at home to Norwich City and Tottenham came from behind to win 2-1 at home to Swansea City while Marcus Rashford put Arsenal to the sword with 2 goals as they lost 32- at Manchester United.  West Ham put one goal past their visitors from Sunderland and Chelsea came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Southampton while Aston Villa lost 2-1 to a double from Marko Arnautovic at Stoke. A 2nd half brace from Connor Wickham was not enough for Crystal Palace who lost 3-2 after conceding 3 goals in the first half at West Brom and there was a goalless draw between Watford and Bournemouth while Manchester City picked up silverware with a penalty shootout victory over Liverpool in the League Cup at Wembley.
Week 28 - In midweek Leicester City took a small step towards the league title despite being held to a 2-2 draw at home to West Brom as Tottenham lost 1-0 at West Ham and Swansea came from behind to hand Arsenal a shock 2-1 defeat at the Emirates. Manchester City suffered a blow with a 3-0 loss at Liverpool while Manchester United scored late to pick up 3 points at home to Watford and Bournemouth struck twice at home to dispose of Southampton.
Chelsea won 2-1 at Norwich and Sunderland scored a last-minute goal to deny Crystal palace victory after Connor Wickham had netted twice for the visitors while Newcastle lost to a late goal at Stoke and Aston Villa remained rooted to the bottom of the table after losing 3-1 at home to Everton.
Week 29 - In a pulsating North London derby 10-man Arsenal came from behind to draw 2-2 at Tottenham giving Leicester City the opportunity to extend their lead at the top with a 1-0 win at Watford while Manchester City thumped Aston Villa 4-0 with Aguero netting twice in front of the home crowd who had endured a goalless first half. Bournemouth enjoyed a 3-1 win at Newcastle while Sunderland scored a late goal after hosts Southampton had been reduced to 10 men but were pegged back to 1-1 with a last-minute equalizer, and Chelsea failed to overtake Stoke City as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge. Ten-man Everton came unstuck after failing to extend their 2 goal lead from the spot and were beaten 3-2 with a last-gasp gaol at home to West Ham while Norwich lost 1-0 at Swansea, and on Sunday Manchester United who were reduced to 10 men in the first half lost 1-0 at West Brom while 10-man Liverpool came from behind to win 2-1 with a last minute goal at Crystal Palace.     
Week 30 - With the 6th round of the FA Cup in full swing only 5 Premier League matches were played. Manchester City drew blanks at Norwich while Southampton were 2-1 winners at Stoke with Graziano Pelle scoring both goals for the Saints and Harry Kane scored either side of the break to settle the match in Tottenham's favour away to Aston Villa. Bournemouth enjoyed a 3-2 win at home to Swansea and on Monday evening newly appointed Raffa Benitez took Newcastle to Leicester City who took another step towards the league title with a 1-0 win over the Magpies.