After another enthralling weekend of the Premier League, it’s now time to look back at all the drama from Matchday 35 and what a few days of action it was as Pep Guardiola’s league champions celebrated the title in style at the Etihad Stadium and David Moyes’ West Ham United fell victim to a late flurry of goals at the Emirates Stadium.
Game Week 35’s six matches, with Emirates FA Cup action on elsewhere, were kicked-off on Saturday lunchtime with the crucial meeting of Jurgen Klopp’s high-flying Liverpool and Darren Moore’s rock-bottom West Bromwich Albion live in Sky Sports.
No less than a win would do for the Baggies and it didn’t look as though they were going to get anything when Danny Ings, with his first PL strike in two and a half years, and Mo Salah fired the Reds two ahead, but they hit back with goals from Jake Livermore and Salomon Rondon to salvage a miraculous draw, how important could that point be for them?
Attention then swiftly turned to a single traditional afternoon kick-off which was played out in the blistering Hertfordshire heat, with Watford playing host to strugglers Crystal Palace.
The two teams, managed by Javier Gracia and Roy Hodgson respectively, could not be separated and were involved in a goalless draw, a controversial one, however, with penalty and red card appeals rife and either outfit hitting the post, a wonder it finished goalless.
Sunday would bring us a pair of Sky Sports Super Sunday matchups and another non-televised match key in both halves of the table, but first a London derby between Arsenal and West Ham at the Emirates.
The clash came just days after Arsene Wenger announced he would be leaving the Gunners after 22 years at the end of the season and the home side celebrated the occasion with a 4-1 win, Nacho Monreal putting them ahead and Marko Arnautovic equalising, leaving Aaron Ramsey in dubious circumstances and Alexandre Lacazette at the double to wrap things up, making a closely-fought encounter look like a thrashing.
Meanwhile, while all of this was unfolding in the capital, up North at the bet365 Stadium, Stoke City were presented a do or die mission when they entertained UEFA Europa League challengers Burnley.
Things started in the best possible way for Paul Lambert’s Potters, Badou Ndiaye getting his first goal in English football, though for the second game in succession, they couldn’t hold out, Ashley Barnes getting yet another goal to level for Sean Dyche’s Clarets and hammer another nail into the Stoke coffin.
The day’s football was concluded in Manchester where, at the Etihad and a week after being crowned champions by West Brom’s win at Manchester United, Manchester City took on Carlos Carvalhal’s Swansea City.
If there was a suggestion of City taking their foot off the gas once they had got the job done, it was wrong, strikes from Davis Silva, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus giving the Sky Blues a characteristic 5-0 romp and severely damaging the Swans’ goal difference as crunch time in the relegation battle approaches.
Two sides that are now very much out of the fight for survival are Sam Allardyce’s Everton and Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle United, who rounded off the weekend with a Monday Night Football meeting at Goodison Park.
A single goal was all that was needed to decide this one and Theo Walcott, with his third for the Toffees, was the man to get it with an intricate finish from inside the area just after half-time, the result pushed the Blue Boys of Merseyside up into eighth, now with an outside chance of clinching European football.
So, now that all the spills and thrills from yet another weekend program of the league that we all know and love have been well and truly looked back on, Europa League and UEFA Champions League semi-finals will take centre-stage this midweek, but never fear, the Premier League returns next Saturday lunchtime at Anfield Stadium.
