Weekend recap: Man Utd get lucky in thriller, Liverpool disappoint as City go top

We continue our weekly recap of the weekend’s Premier League action by looking at how Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United did over the weekend. 

Liverpool

Liverpool dropped two points on Sunday when they drew 0-0 at Goodison Park against Everton. The Reds would have returned back to the top of the Premier League table with a win, but the point sees them trail Manchester City by one point. The draw was disappointing for Liverpool, but they weren’t at their best and couldn’t argue that they really deserved to win the game. Everton put it up to them, as they were always going to do, and troubled at times.

Jurgen Klopp’s substitutions were strange and uninspiring. Roberto Firmino replaced Divock Origi, which was fine, as Firmino had to play but Klopp didn’t fancy him for the 90 minutes as he’d just returned from an ankle problem. But James Milner replaced Gini Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana replaced Sadio Mane. With Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri on the bench, Klopp had better options to choose from. Daniel Sturridge was also among the substitutes.

Liverpool are now the chasers in the title race. They’ll be hoping that Man City slip up along the way. With nine games remaining, there is still plenty of time for Liverpool to catch Pep Guardiola’s side, but the Reds need to sort their form out and get back to the team we saw earlier in the season. They’ve now drawn 0-0 in three of their last four games, but they were difficult fixtures against Bayern Munich, Man United and Everton. It’s still a worrying time for them as they try to stay in the hunt for their first league title since 1990.

Man United

There was a thriller at Old Trafford on Saturday as Man United beat Southampton 3-2 [watch the goals here]. There was a rule in place for the game: only good goals are allowed. Each of the five goals were brilliant. Yann Valery opened the scoring for Southampton after 26 minutes when he blasted past De Gea, beating the Spaniard at his near post, from 25 yards. But Andreas Pereira equalised for United eight minutes in the second half when he finished into the same corner as Valery from a similar distance. Pereira’s was on the opposite side and his was a beauty of a curler.

United took a 2-1 lead after 59 minutes when Romelu Lukaku finished low from inside the box. This goal was also impressive, even if Lukaku was fractionally offside. But James Ward-Prowse equalised for the Saints with 15 minutes remaining when he sent a free-kick into the top corner. It looked like the two teams were heading for a point each, but Lukaku again finished well with his right foot with just two minutes to play. This one was from just outside the box and found the bottom corner. In stoppage time, Paul Pogba saw a penalty saved by Angus Gunn. Sorry, Paul, only good goals allowed!

It was a tremendous game, and, in truth, there could have been more goals. Both sides had penalty shouts that could have easily been given. But they weren’t. Five goals, which were all really well taken, is enough for a game. Man United moved back into the top four; one point ahead of Arsenal, who they play at the Emirates next Sunday.

Man City

Man City returned to the top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 win away to Bournemouth on Saturday. Riyad Mahrez, who replaced the injured Kevin De Bruyne just before half-time, scored 10 minutes into the second half for City. Guardiola confirmed De Bruyne’s injury, saying: “Kevin will be out for a while with a muscular problem – hamstring.” But he may send him off to his special doctor in Barcelona, who will perform magic on the Belgian and have him back fit for City’s next game, which is at home to Watford next Saturday.

The reigning Premier League champions aren’t giving their title up without a fight, and since they’ve moved back to the top of the table, will be confident of retaining it. Liverpool are going to push them, though, so City need to keep winning almost every week. There are 27 points still to play for, so there’s plenty of football to be played. The title race will continue; let’s hope it goes to the wire.

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This article was written by PremPlace. You can see their website by clicking here.