Narrowing the gap

 

After 30 weeks, with many teams still with games in hand, Liverpool are within one point of Manchester City and with the quadruple still a possibility while Chelsea, with their uncertain future due to sanctions, are in third place. Arsenal lead Tottenham and Manchester United as favourites for Fourth.

Week 21 – The year began with league leaders Manchester City coming from behind to beat 10-man Arsenal 2-1 in a controversial match at the Emirates while Manuel Lanzini scored 2 of West Ham’s 3 first-half goals at Crystal Palace who mounted a late unsuccessful comeback to lose 3-2 and Tottenham broke the deadlock deep into stoppage time to win at Watford. On Sunday, Chelsea came from 2 down to draw 2-2 at home to Liverpool with 2 goals just before the break and Brentford came from behind to send Aston Villa home 2-1 losers while an Anthony Gordon double at Goodison Park was not enough as Everton lost 3-2 to Brighton and Leeds United won 3-1 at home to Burnley. Leicester against Norwich and Southampton against Newcastle were postponed while on Monday evening Manchester United lost 1-0 at home to Wolves.

Week 22 – Before the weekend matches began, in rearranged midweek matches, Brentford suffered a 4-1 loss at Southampton and Tottenham lost 1-0 at home to Chelsea. On Friday evening, Brighton and Hove Albion earned a late 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace and on Saturday Manchester City took another step towards the league title with a 1-0 home win over Chelsea while Aston Villa came from 2 Bruno Fernandes goals down to draw 2-2 at home to Manchester United. Watford scored a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at Newcastle while Wolves were 3-1 winners at home to Southampton and Everton’s 2-1 defeat at Norwich resulting in the sacking of Rafa Benitez. On Sunday, Jack Harrison scored a hat-trick for Leeds United who enjoyed a 3-2 win at West Ham while Liverpool put 3 past their visitors from Brentford without reply. Arsenal’s match at Tottenham was postponed due to a shortage of available players.

Week 23 – In midweek matches Chelsea drew 1-1 at Brighton and Manchester United were 3-1 winners at Bretford while Steven Bergwijn scored twice in the last seconds of stoppage time as Tottenham came from 2-1 down to win 3-2 at Leicester. On Friday Josh Sargent scored twice as Norwich City won 3-0 at Watford who ended the match with 10 players while on Saturday Aston Villa were 1-0 winners at Everton and Newcastle enjoyed the same outcome at Leeds. Manchester United scored with the last kick of the game to beat West Ham United 1-0 at Old Trafford while Manchester City drew 1-1 at Southampton and Wolves returned from Brentford with a 2-1 victory. On Sunday Tottenham lost 2-0 at Chelsea and Liverpool won 3-1 at Crystal Palace while Brighton drew 1-1 at Leicester and there was a goalless match between Arsenal and Burnley at the Emirates.

Week 24 – Before the midweek matches began, Watford drew 0-0 at Burnley who were hosts again where they drew 1-1 against Manchester United while Watford lost 1-0 at West ham and Newcastle enjoyed a 3-1 win at home to Everton. On Wednesday Southampton were 3-2 winners at Tottenham while Crystal Palace drew 1-1 at Norwich and Manchester City put 2 past their visitors from Brentford. In a thriller at the Villa, Leeds United took the lead but needed 2 more goals to make up a 2-goal deficit and draw 3-3 with Aston Villa who finished the match with 10 players for whom Jacob Ramsey scored twice while Daniel James netted twice for the visitors and on Thursday it was 1-0 to 10-man Arsenal at Wolves while Diogo Jota scored both goals in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at home to Leicester.

Week 25 – Raheem Sterling netted a hat-trick as Manchester City won 4-0 at Norwich while Southampton drew 1-1 at Manchester United and Leeds lost 3-0 at Everton. Brighton won 2-0 at Watford and Crystal Palace played a goalless match at Brentford while the match between Chelsea and Arsenal was postponed, as Chelsea were winning the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi. On Sunday Tottenham lost to 2 early goals at home to Wolves while West Ham scored in the last minute to draw 2-2 at Leicester and there were 1-0 wins for Liverpool at Burnley and for Newcastle at home to Aston Villa. On Tuesday evening, 10-man Brighton lost 2-0 at Manchester United.

Week 26 – Manchester City levelled from the spot in stoppage time, but Harry Kane completed his brace with the last kick of the match as Tottenham won 3-2 in Manchester while Chelsea scored the only goal of the match in the last minute at Crystal Palace and Liverpool came from a goal down to beat Norwich 3-1 at Anfield. Burnley celebrated a 3-0 victory at Brighton and Southampton were 2-0 winners at home to Everton while Newcastle drew 1-1 at West Ham. Arsenal defeated Brentford 2-1 at the Emirates and Watford picked up a 1-0 win at Aston Villa while on Sunday Manchester United enjoyed a 4-2 win at Leeds and Leicester lost 2-1 at Wolves.

Week 27 – Before the weekend several rearranged matches took place in which Leeds United were smashed 6-0 at Liverpool with Mohamed Salah scoring 2 penalties and Sadio Mane grabbing a late brace while Wilfried Zaha scored 2 late goals as Crystal Palace Walloped Watford 4-1 at Vicarage Road and Tottenham lost 1-0 at Burnley. On Thursday Arsenal came from behind to beat Wolves 2-1 with the last kick of the match at the Emirates. The week’s fixtures began on Friday evening when Norwich lost 2-0 at Southampton and on Saturday Leeds were battered 4-0 at home to Tottenham which resulted in the sacking of Marcelo Bielsa while there were 2-0 away wins for Aston Villa at Brighton and for Newcastle at 10-man Brentford. Manchester City won by a single goal at Everton while Burnley drew 1-1 at Crystal Palace and Manchester United were held to a goalless draw at home to Watford. On Sunday while Liverpool were winning the League Cup on penalties against Chelsea, one goal gave West Ham all 3 points at home to Wolves and in a rearranged match on Tuesday Leicester scored 2 late goals to win at Burnley.

Week 28 – Aston Villa celebrated a 4-0 victory at home to Southampton and Chelsea achieved the same result at Burnley with Kai Havertz netting a brace for the Blues while Leeds United, under new manager Jesse Marsch, lost 1-0 at Leicester. Ivan Toney scored all 3 goals for Brentford at Norwich who hit back with a single goal in the last minute while Crystal Palace scored twice to win at Wolves and Newcastle netted 2 early goals as they enjoyed a 2-1 home win against Brighton. West Ham lost 1-0 at Liverpool while on Sunday Manchester City triumphed 4-1 over their neighbours Manchester United with Kevin de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez scoring 2 goals each and Arsenal were 3-2 winners at Watford. On Monday evening Everton came unstuck 5-0 at Tottenham for whom Son Heung-min and Harry Kane scored 2 apiece.

Week 29 – Several matches were played on Thursday. Watford fell apart 4-0 at Wolves and Leeds suffered a 3-0 loss at home to Aston Villa while Newcastle came from behind to win 2-1 at Southampton and Chelsea were 3-1 winners at Norwich. On Saturday Tottenham lost 3-2 at Manchester United with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring all 3 goals for the Red Devils while Ivan Toney scored a late double as Brentford picked up a 2-0 home win over Burnley who had a player dismissed in stoppage time and Liverpool scored twice without reply at Brighton. On Sunday Newcastle fell to a last-minute goal at Chelsea while Cucho Hernandez netted a brace as Watford won 2-1 at Southampton and West Ham enjoyed the same result at home to Aston Villa. Norwich levelled at Leeds in stoppage time but the host made it 2-1 with the last kick of the match while 10-man Everton lost 1-0 at home to Wolves and Arsenal were 2-0 winners at home to Leicester. On Monday evening league leaders Manchester City drew 0-0 at Crystal Palace.

Week 30 – On Wednesday Liverpool narrowed the gap at the top to one point with a 2-0 win at Arsenal while Tottenham were 2-0 winners at Brighton and on Thursday 10-man Everton defeated their visitors from Newcastle with the winner coming deep into stoppage time. The Friday evening match saw Leeds United score in added-on time as they came from 2 down to win 3-2 at 10-man Wolves. With the quarter finals of the FA Cup taking place, there was only one match on Saturday in which a single goal gave Arsenal a win at Aston Villa and on Sunday Son Heung-min scored twice as Tottenham enjoyed a 3-1 win at home to West Ham and Leicester defeated Brentford 2-1 at the King Power Stadium.

Faltering followers

At the end of 2021, Manchester City are running towards another league title as Chelsea and Liverpool have begun to drop points in a season where postponed matches have started to stack up.

Week 11- The weekend’s fixtures began on Friday evening with an early goal that gave Southampton a home win over Aston Villa while on Saturday Manchester City put 2 past Manchester United at Old Trafford and Burnley earned a 1-1 draw at league leaders Chelsea. Norwich City picked up their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory at Brentford while Wolves lost 2-0 at Crystal Palace and Newcastle drew 1-1 at Brighton who finished the match with 10 players on the field. On Sunday, West Ham United defeated Liverpool 3-2 at the London Stadium and Arsenal were 1-0 winners at home to Watford who ended the match with 10 players while Tottenham drew 0-0 at Everton who also suffered a late dismissal and Leicester City drew 1-1 at Leeds United.

Week 12 – Chelsea powered past their hosts Leicester in the early kick-off while Manchester United, who were reduced to 10 players, were thumped 4-1 at Watford resulting in the termination of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s managerial contract and Arsenal were swept aside 4-0 at Liverpool. Brentford drew 3-3 at Newcastle and there was a 3-3 draw at Burnley with Christian Benteke scoring a double for Crystal Palace while Brighton fell to 2 late goals at Aston Villa with Steven Gerrard at their helm. Under the leadership of Dean Smith, Norwich City picked up a 2-1 home win against Southampton and West Ham United lost 1-0 at Wolves while on Sunday Manchester City put 3 unanswered goals past Everton at the Etihad and Leeds United, who had taken a first-half lead, lost 2-1 at Tottenham.

Week 13 – Two goals after the break gave Arsenal a home win over Newcastle United and Liverpool eased 4-0 past Southampton with a double from Diogo Jota at Anfield while Aston Villa were 2-1 winners at Crystal Palace and there were goalless draws for Norwich at home to Wolves and for Leeds United at Brighton and Hove Albion. Jamie Vardy scored twice in Leicester’s 4-2 home win over Watford and West Ham lost 2-1 at Manchester City while Manchester United drew 1-1 at league leaders Chelsea and a single goal gave Brentford all 3 points at home to Everton. Tottenham’s match at Burley was postponed due to heavy snow.

Week 14 – In midweek matches Mohamad Salah netted a brace as Liverpool battered Everton 4-1 at Goodison Park while Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Manchester United’s 3-2 defeat of Arsenal at Old Trafford and Manchester City were 2-1 winners at Aston Villa. Brighton scored a last-minute goal to draw 1-1 at West Ham while Southampton twice took the lead but drew 2-2 at home to Leicester and Chelsea won 2-1 at Watford. Newcastle United, who played most of the match with 10 players in front of their home crowd, drew 1-1 with Norwich City and Leeds United broke the deadlock with a last-minute penalty at home to Crystal Palace while Brentford lost 2-0 at Tottenham and Burnley drew 0-0 at Wolves.

Week 15 – Chelsea twice took the lead but lost 3-2 at West Ham and their top spot as a Bernardo Silva double helped Manchester City to a 3-1 win at Watford and Liverpool broke the deadlock deep into stoppage time to take all 3 points at Wolverhampton while Burnley lost 1-0 at Newcastle and Brighton salvaged a 1-1 draw with a last gasp goal at Southampton.On Sunday, Leeds scored late to draw 2-2 at home to Brentford and Crystal Palace lost to a single goal at Manchester United while Ezri Konsa scored both goals as Aston Villa were victorious 2-1 at home to Leicester and Tottenham scored 3 unanswered goals against their visitors from Norwich. On Monday evening Everton came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 with 2 late goals at Goodison Park.

Week 16 – Brentford converted a stoppage-time penalty to win 2-1 after falling behind at home to Watford on Friday evening while on Saturday the penalty theme continued as Jorginho scored his second penalty in added-on time to give Chelsea a 3-2 home victory over Leeds United and there were 1-0 home wins thanks to penalties for Manchester City against 10-man Wolves and Liverpool against Aston Villa while a spot-kick at Norwich settled the match in Manchester United’s favour. Arsenal eased past Southampton 3-0 at the Emirates and on Sunday, with Tottenham’s match at Brighton being postponed due to covid, Leicester City swept their visitors from Newcastle aside 4-0 with the help of a Youri Tielemans double while Conor Gallagher scored a brace as Everton were beaten 3-1 at Crystal Palace and West Ham United were held to a goalless draw at Burnley.  

Week 17 – In midweek Kevin de Bruyne scored twice as Manchester City demolished Leeds United 7-0 at the Etihad and Aston Villa scored twice at Norwich without reply while Southampton scored twice in quick succession to turn an early setback at Crystal Palace around but drew 2-2 and Wolves were 1-0 winners at Brighton. Arsenal defeated 10-man West Ham 2-0 at the Emirates to overtake them in the table while Liverpool came from behind to win 3-1 at home to Newcastle and Everton drew 1-1 at Chelsea. The matches between Brentford and Manchester United, Burnley and Watford and Leicester against Tottenham were all postponed due to positive covid tests.

Week 18 – Arsenal outclassed Leeds United 4-1 at Elland Road with Gabriel Martinelli netting a brace in the only match of the day on Saturday as the matches at Manchester United, Aston Villa, Southampton, West Ham and Watford against Brighton, Burnley, Brentford, Norwich and Crystal Place respectively were all postponed due to covid. With Leicester’s match at Everton being postponed on Sunday, Manchester City banged in 4 goals without reply at Newcastle while 10-man Liverpool drew 2-2 at Tottenham and Chelsea played in a goalless match at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Week 19 – On a Boxing Day bonanza Leicester City were blown away with 4 goals in the first 25 minutes at Manchester City but hit back with 3 goals in quick succession after the break only to lose 6-3 with a double from Raheem Sterling while Bukayo Saka also scored twice as Arsenal thumped Norwich 5-0 at Carrow Road and 10-man Crystal Palace lost 3-0 at Tottenham. Southampton were 3-2 winners at West Ham while Chelsea came from behind to win 3-1 at Aston Villa with 2 penalties from Jorginho and Brentford lost 2-0 at Brighton. The matches between Liverpool and Leeds, Wolves and Watford and Everton’s match at Burnley were all postponed. On Monday evening Manchester United salvaged a 1-1 draw at Newcastle.

Week 20 – In the last matches of 2021, played in midweek, Liverpool lost 10 at Leicester while Tottenham drew 1-1 at 10-man Southampton and Crystal Palace put 3 past Norwich without reply. Watford took an early home lead but were beaten 4-1 by West Ham while on Wednesday Brighton and Hove Albion earned a last gasp 1-1 draw at Chelsea and a single goal gave Manchester City a win at Brentford. With the matches between Arsenal and Wolves, Leeds and Aston Villa and also Newcastle’s trip to Everton all being postponed, the final match of the calendar year was played at Manchester where United enjoyed a 3-1 victory over Burnley.

Fans singing the Blues

 

Football supporters poured into stadiums across the country after a lengthy absence due to covid restrictions. Chelsea have been steadily gathering momentum and are sitting at top after 10 weeks of action, followed by Liverpool, Manchester City and West Ham United.

Week 1 – Brentford began life in the Premier League in the opening match of the season on Friday evening with a 2-0 home win over Arsenal while on Saturday in the early kick-off, Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick as Manchester United battered Leeds United 5-1 at Old Trafford. Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace 3-0 at Stamford Bridge and Liverpool enjoyed the same result at Norwich while Everton came from behind to win 3-1 at home to Southampton. Aston Villa pulled 2 goals back but lost 3-2 at Watford while Brighton put an early setback behind them to win 2-1 at Burnley and Wolves fell to a single goal at Leicester. On Sunday, West Ham United turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 victory at Newcastle and champions Manchester City lost 1-0 at Tottenham.

Week 2 – Manchester City got back to winning ways in front of their home crowd with a 5-0 thumping of Norwich City while there were 2-0 home wins for Liverpool, Aston Villa and Brighton against Burnley, Newcastle and Watford respectively. Everton twice took the lead but drew 2-2 at Leeds while Brentford played a goalless match at Crystal Palace and on Sunday Arsenal suffered a 2-0 loss at home to Chelsea while Tottenham were 1-0 winners at Wolves and Manchester United drew 1-1 at Southampton. On Monday evening Michail Antonio netted a brace as 10-man Leicester were pummelled 4-1 at West Ham.

Week 3 – Ten-man Arsenal were humiliated 5-0 at Manchester City with Ferran Torres netting twice for the champions while Chelsea, who were also reduced to 10 players, drew 1-1 at Liverpool and there was a 1-1draw between Aston Villa and Brentford with both goals coming in the first 15 minutes. Conor Gallagher struck twice for Crystal Palace who drew 2-2 at West Ham while Southampton Converted a penalty deep into stoppage time to draw 2-2 at Newcastle and Leicester were 2-1 winners at Norwich. Brighton lost 2-0 at home to Everton while on Sunday Leeds drew 1-1 at Burnley and there were 1-0 wins for Manchester United at Wolves and Tottenham at home to Watford.

Week 4 - Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice on his return to Manchester United as the Red Devils swept Newcastle aside 4-1 at Old Trafford while 10-man Tottenham lost 3-0 at Crystal Palace and Arsenal scored their first goal of the season to win at home to Norwich. Manchester City were 1-0 winners at Leicester and Brighton achieved the same result with a last-minute winner at Brentford while West Ham, who ended the match with 10 players, drew 0-0 at Southampton. A double from Romelu Lukaku helped Chelsea to a 3-0 home win over Aston Villa while on Sunday 10-man Leeds lost 3-0 at home to Liverpool and on Monday evening Everton fell behind but struck back with 3 goals in quick succession to win 3-1 at home to Burnley.

Week 5 – On Friday evening Newcastle and Leeds drew 1-1 while on Saturday 10-man Brentford held onto a 2-0 win at Wolves and Liverpool were 3-0 winners at home to Crystal Palace. A double from Ismaila Sarr helped Watford to a 3-1 win at Norwich while a single goal gave Arsenal 3 points at Burnley and Manchester City drew blanks at home to Southampton.           Everton lost 3-0 at Aston Villa while on Sunday Tottenham were 3-0 losers at home to Chelsea and Leicester lost 2-1 at Brighton. Manchester United scored a last-minute 2-1 winner as hosts West Ham United missed the chance to level from the spot in stoppage time.

Week 6 – Manchester City defeated Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge while Manchester United lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa with a last-minute penalty miss denying them a draw and in a thrilling match at Griffin Park Liverpool drew 3-3 with Brentford. West Ham came from behind to win 2-1 with a last-minute goal at Leeds while an own goal and brace from Jamie Vardy saw Leicester City draw 2-2 at home to Burnley and there was a 1-1 draw between Watford and Newcastle. Everton were the only home side to win on Saturday as they put 2 past Norwich while on Sunday Arsenal blitzed into a 3-0 lead on their way to beating Tottenham 3-1 at the Emirates to go above them in the table and Southampton lost 1-0 at home to Wolves. On Monday evening Brighton scored deep into stoppage time to draw 1-1 at Crystal Palace.

Week 7 – Everton drew 1-1 at Manchester United while Chelsea scored 2 late goals to win 3-1 at home to 10-man Southampton and Newcastle lost 2-1 at Wolves with Hee-Chan Hwang netting twice for the hosts. A single goal gave Leeds United a home win against Watford and there were goalless draws for Burnley and Brighton at home to Norwich and Arsenal respectively while in the big match on Sunday, Manchester City twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Liverpool. Crystal Palace came from 2 down to draw 2-2 at home to Leicester and there were 2-1 wins for Tottenham at home to Aston Villa and Brentford at West Ham United with the winning goal coming deep into stoppage time.

Week 8 – Roberto Firmino claimed a hat-trick as Liverpool walloped Watford 5-0 at Vicarage Road while Wolverhampton Wanderers came from 2 down to win at Aston Villa with 3 goals in the last 10 minutes and in a thrilling match at Leicester City, Manchester United were beaten 4-2 while Manchester City were 2-0 winners at home to Burnley. There were 1-0 wins for Chelsea at Brentford and Southampton at home to Leeds United while Norwich and Brighton drew blanks at Carrow Road. On Sunday, in front of their new owners, Newcastle United got off to a flying start, but lost 3-2 to Tottenham and ended the match with 10 players while West Ham triumphed 1-0 at Everton and on Monday evening Arsenal, who took an early lead, made it 2-2 with the last kick of the match at home to Crystal Palace.

Week 9 – The weekend’s matches began on Friday evening with a 3-1 home win for Arsenal over Aston Villa. On Saturday Mason Mount netted a hat-trick as Chelsea ran riot at the Bridge putting 7 past Norwich while Joshua King also scored a hat-trick to help Watford bounce back from an early setback to win 5-2 at Everton and Phil Foden scored twice in Manchester City’s 4-1 win at Brighton. Maxwel Cornet scored both goals for Burnley who drew 2-2 at Southampton while Leeds United needed a last-minute penalty to draw 1-1 at home to Wolves and Newcastle earned the same result at Crystal Palace. On Sunday, Mohamed Salah claimed a hat-trick as Liverpool demolished Manchester United 5-0 at Old Trafford with the Red Devils being reduced to 10 players after the 5^th goal while West Ham were 1-0 winners at home to Tottenham and Leicester won 2-1 at Brentford.

Week 10 – Brighton & Hove Albion fought from 2 down to draw 2-2 at Liverpool while Crystal Palace took an early lead and went on to win 2-0 at Manchester City, who were reduced to 10 players for half the match, and 2 early goals gave Arsenal a win at Leicester. Reece James scored twice as Chelsea won 3-0 at Newcastle while Burnley picked up a 3-1 home win against Brentford and Southampton were 1-0 winners at Watford. Tottenham’s 3-0 loss at home to Manchester United led to the dismissal of manager Nuno Espirito Santo and on Sunday 3 second-half goals in the space of 4 minutes, resulted in a 2-1 win for Leeds at Norwich while 10-man Aston Villa were hammered 4-1 at home to West Ham United. On Monday evening, Everton lost 2-1 at Wolves.