Liverpool is now one win away from the Premier League title and celebrating it with their fans. (Remember, the last time they won was during the Covid pandemic, so there were no fans at Anfield to congratulate them.) Apart from that, this weekend was packed with incident, so I’ll just get to it right now.
Premier League winners from Matchday 33
Trent Alexander-Arnold
There’s one way to goose negotiations for your contract extension: Score the only goal in a game when it was looking like Liverpool might shoot at Leicester’s goal over and over and get nothing. His pounce on a loose ball from a corner kick leaves his team close to glory.
Aston Villa
They hosted a Newcastle team that was fresh off a 5-0 drubbing of Crystal Palace during the midweek, and Villa smoked the Magpies 4-1. It could have been worse, too, with three Villa shots hitting the frame of the goal. It gets no easier next week, as they visit Manchester City inn a game with huge Champions League implications.
Chelsea
After spending most of their game against Fulham shooting straight into the arms of Bernd Leno from distance, the Blues finally sparked to life in the last 15 minutes, with Tyrique George scoring his first-ever Premier League goal and Pedro Neto with a wondrous turn-and-shoot to win the game.
Nottingham Forest
Up 2-0 at halftime, the Trees turned conservative in the second half against Tottenham and almost paid for it, needing a fingertip save by Matz Sels and a clearance by Harry Toffolo of a shot that was halfway across the goalline to preserve their 2-1 victory. However, the three points they got put them back into third place and shored up their Champions League hopes.
Pablo Sarabia
In a game that was rough on the eyeballs, Wolverhampton’s attacker provided a moment of sublime skill when his free kick went over the wall and dipped away from André Onana to defeat Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Bryan Mbeumo
Two goals and an assist in Brentford’s 4-2 victory over Brighton. It was the Bees’ first win at home since early December, and while the home fans had plenty of reason to be nervous, they ended the game with a reason to celebrate.
Nico O’Reilly
The big Manchester City midfielder has earned mentions in this column for his goals in the FA Cup, and he scored his first Premier League goal in a 2-0 win over Everton that was looking pretty even between the teams.
Premier League losers from Matchday 33
Leicester City
Officially relegated. Their last win (over Tottenham) was back in January. That will send you down. The Foxes will be in the hole of the Championship next season.
João Pedro
True, Brighton had gone from tied up at 1-1 to down 3-1 in the space of 10 minutes, but the Brazilian striker made things worse when he elbowed Christian Nørgaard in the face and was sent off. The Seagulls’ offense works better when he’s in the middle acting as a focal point, and while they did manage to score another goal with only 10 men, his red card worked to consign his team to defeat.
Jan Paul van Hecke
I hate to kick a man when he’s down, but that’s exactly what the Brighton defender did in the later stages of his team’s loss. After being upended by a hard foul, the Belgian was lucky to stay on the pitch after he got up and kicked Brentford’s Nathan Collins (who wasn’t the man who fouled him) while the Irish defender was getting back to his feet. Maybe referee Tim Robinson figured the red card wasn’t worth it with only three minutes left in stoppage time. Still, van Hecke really should have received a suspension for the next match.
Eberechi Eze
It probably wouldn’t have mattered with Newcastle as ruthless as they were, but when the Crystal Palace striker took a stop before his penalty kick and Nick Pope didn’t move, you knew he was going to miss. Sure enough, Eze put his penalty down low near the Newcastle keeper for an easy stop. With Palace only 1-0 down at the time, that could have given them some hope at St. James Park.
Graham Potter
West Ham were up 1-0 and cruising at home when the coach tried to close up shop in the final stages, with Luis Guilherme going in for Mohamed Kudus and Konstantinos Mavropanos replacing James Ward-Prowse. The Hammers basically invited Southampton to attack them, and the Saints snatched a draw in stoppage-time with a goal by Lesley Ugochukwu. Feel good for the Saints fans at London Stadium, who celebrated like they’d just won the FA Cup. (It was just Southampton’s second point in the standings since Boxing Day.) The draw left the West Ham players cursing at each other, but the coach has been in charge for 14 games and only won three of them. The season can’t end quickly enough for the East Londoners.
Samuel Barrott
The referee gave two yellow cards to Crystal Palace’s Chris Richards when both fouls were clearly embellished by the Bournemouth wingers. It looks worse in light of Bournemouth’s Alex Scott escaping unpunished after clattering Ismaila Sarr when he was on a yellow. Unless the FA overturns one of those in their offices, the American defender will get an enforced vacation.
Ipswich Town
Gripe about Leif Davis’ red card if you want, but the Blues were being pulled apart by Arsenal well before he was sent off. The 4-0 loss actually flatters the home side, as it could have been worse.
Bournemouth
Playing the second half with the man advantage, they couldn’t break the 0-0 deadlock. The Cherries aren’t going to Europe next season, y’all.
The Europa League
Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are semifinalists in the competition despite languishing in 14th and 16th place respectively. The standard of competition in the Premier League is higher than it is in the Europa League, but that’s because the Premier League has such a huge financial advantage over the competing leagues in Europe. If one of these teams wins and gets the Champions League that comes with it while hovering above the relegation zone, everybody is going to look ridiculous. UEFA need to do something to level the playing field.