Premier League hits and misses: Erling Haaland’s big moment for Man City while Man Utd struggle in front of goal
Man Utd are not clinical enough
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights of Brighton against Manchester United in the Premier League.
It was a little jarring to hear Luke Shaw pointing to Manchester United’s poor finishing at Brighton when it was his handball that was ultimately responsible for their defeat. But you could understand his argument. Erik ten Hag said much the same afterwards.
Antony squandered a wonderful opportunity to the set the tone in the second minute, while Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial had clear sight of Jason Steele’s goal in the left channel soon after. This wastefulness has been something of an issue of late.
Three goals in five matches represents an alarming return and reflects the fact that Ten Hag does not have a reliable set of finishers among his forward line. Martial has gone seven hours without a goal. Wout Weghorst’s Premier League goal for United may never come.
Rashford has had little support all season. Bruno Fernandes is the club’s second highest goalscorer in the competition with just six. United are the lowest scorers among the top seven. Shaw’s error cost them a point. But there are concerns at the other end.
Adam Bate
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Brilliant Brighton are real deal
Kaoru Mitoma was not even at his best. Moises Caicedo was playing out of position. Pascal Gross and Solly March were out of the starting line-up for the first time this season. But this was still a reminder of just how good Brighton have become under Roberto De Zerbi.
That they had almost 60 per cent possession against Manchester United was barely worthy of note – it has become expected. Brighton can pass just about any opponent off the pitch these days, a testament to the patterns that have developed under the Italian coach.
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United were still capable of troubling them, of course. They have top quality players in Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes. But one would be hard pressed to argue that any team is better coached. With even better players, this football would blow anyone away.
As it was, it needed a stoppage-time penalty to decide the game in their favour, moving Brighton above Tottenham and Aston Villa with Liverpool in their sights. Manchester City still have to play them at the Amex too. There might be juice in this title race yet.
Adam Bate
Haaland’s big moment shows why he is special
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights of Manchester City against West Ham in the Premier League
Pep Guardiola tries to resist the idea of the individual, emphasising the accomplishments of the team, but he recognised that this was a special achievement by Erling Haaland. The players and staff lined up for a guard of honour to mark his scoring record.
Haaland had been denied space for an hour but when the opportunity to break finally came, there was an inevitability to what came next. His technique is remarkable – more on that later – but it is his temperament that stands out too. He had to be patient.
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“In the first half, he was not much involved because the defensive structure from West Ham was exceptional,” Pep Guardiola said afterwards. “But he does not become desperate and anxious and nervous. He is calm.” When the opportunity came, he took it.
David Moyes called it “the first time we had allowed Haaland space in behind,” but there was no panic, no sense of him snatching at it. Instead, it was a reminder that for all his pace and power, that ability to bully defences, this is a striker of unusual finesse.
He dinked the ball over Lukasz Fabianski. It brought to mind the sheer variety of finishes that he has treated us to already. “Penalties, crosses, combinations, transitions. He is a guy who can do many, many things,” said Guardiola. “That is why he scores a lot of goals.”
Adam Bate
Pep’s rotation pays off as Ortega steps up
Image: Man City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega made his Premier League debut against West Ham
Dropping your first-choice goalkeeper – and arguably the league’s finest, at that – for a must-win game as you pursue the Premier League title may seem like an unnecessarily bold idea – but Pep Guardiola did it anyway.
The Manchester City manager knew a slip-up at home to West Ham would see his side waste one of their games in hand at the top of the table and allow Arsenal to maintain their lead.
But Guardiola still felt the need to remove Ederson from his starting line-up, explaining to Sky Sports that a rest would be “good” for the ‘keeper as City continue to play in three competitions.
In his place came Stefan Ortega, City’s No 2 who had never previously played in the Premier League.
If Ortega had a nightmare debut and contributed to City dropping points, Guardiola’s decision would have been heavily criticised.
But the manager highlighted the “confidence” he had in Ortega ahead of his maiden league start and that belief was well-placed, as his ‘keeper made a couple of decent saves on his way to a welcome clean sheet.
It wasn’t just Ederson who was given a breather, with Manuel Akanji and Ilkay Gundogan – such reliable performers this year – also starting on the bench against West Ham.
Guardiola will be delighted with how his plan worked out, given three key players will now be well rested ahead of Leeds’ visit to the Etihad on Saturday, live on Sky Sports – another crucial stop on what City hope is a journey to the treble.
Joe Shread
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West Ham’s defensive approach falls short
The task facing West Ham looked tough enough before they lost three players – including Declan Rice – to illness. Once that was confirmed, any lingering hope of an unlikely upset all but disappeared but Moyes’ side certainly made it awkward for City.
The attempt to stifle and frustrate was obvious. Guardiola praised their defensive structure but West Ham had only 20 per cent of the ball in the opening 50 minutes and Fabianski was being whistled for perceived time-wasting before 10 of those minutes were through.
It is all but impossible to maintain that approach for 90 minutes and succeed. Moyes acknowledged that the attacking play was not good enough and that the threat posed to the opposition was minimal. As an act of damage limitation, it worked. It was still a defeat.
Adam Bate
Has Jones fixed Klopp’s midfield problem?
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights of Liverpool against Fulham in the Premier League
Liverpool are on an unbeaten run of seven games, winning five on the spin. This is their longest unbeaten run in the league this season.
Curtis Jones has started the last seven.
There is a good chance these things aren’t a coincidence with the midfielder growing week-by-week in stature and confidence in the heart of Jurgen Klopp’s engine room.
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Jones had previously only started one league game this season before his run of games.
In a part of the pitch that has been woefully underperforming all season, Jones has beefed it up in recent weeks with a run of intelligent performances. Direct, forthright and shrewd with the ball – he was working at a 100 per cent pass completion rate in the first half – and tenacious without it, his performances are exactly what is required when you play in a Klopp midfield.
Is he the longer-term fix Liverpool have been crying out for this season? The signs are positive on that front.
Lewis Jones
Lampard must be ruthless with underperforming stars
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights of Arsenal against Chelsea in the Premier League
With just five games left and nothing but pride left to play for as a disastrous season heads towards its conclusion, the time feels right for Frank Lampard to make some tough decisions regarding some of the underperforming stars within Chelsea’s bloated squad.
The interim manager has overseen six successive defeats since returning to the club so cannot be blamed if he decides to take drastic action in search of a maiden win ahead of Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth.
- Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea – Match report and highlights
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Even though he won’t be at Chelsea next season, the best Lampard could do for the club he served with such distinction during his playing career would be to help put some foundations in place for next season.
With the Blues boasting a bloated squad that will need trimming in the summer, the club’s record goalscorer can start sorting the wheat from the chaff during the season’s remaining weeks.
The likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic are likely to be sold at the end of the campaign, so it’s not clear what can be gained from continuing to give them minutes.
Mateo Kovacic’s contract has just over a year remaining and little progress has been made on a renewal, while N’Golo Kante and Cesar Azpilicueta’s deals expire in the summer.
Lampard could instead choose to focus on the players his successor is likely to want to build around, such as Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke.
The interim boss praised Madueke for his goal-scoring performance against Arsenal and the young winger was one of the only Chelsea players to emerge from another bruising defeat with any credit.
But if Lampard puts his faith in some more of Chelsea’s hungry young players, he may be rewarded with some similarly impressive displays.
Joe Shread
Odegaard inspires rejuvenated Arsenal
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Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira clashes with ex-Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink over Arsenal’s title experience, with the Frenchman likening the club’s season to Leicester’s triumph
If there was one player who exemplified the contrast between Arsenal’s performance against Chelsea and the one they produced against Manchester City last week it was Martin Odegaard.
The Arsenal captain drew criticism from some supporters for his ineffective showing at the Etihad Stadium, where his glaring error gifted City possession in the build-up to their third goal.
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But he was outstanding at Emirates Stadium, his two-goal display providing a timely reminder of why what happened last week should be considered an anomaly in a stunning individual season.
The Norwegian took his goals brilliantly, converting both of them first time from Granit Xhaka crosses, the double taking his tally to 14 in the Premier League. Not since Cesc Fabregas has a central midfielder scored more times in a single campaign for Arsenal.
Chelsea couldn’t get near him in the first half, the 24-year-old popping up between the lines and doing what he does best; funnelling the ball forward as quickly and effectively as possible and executing passes lesser players might not even see.
It is his newfound goal-scoring ability, though, that has taken him to a new level this season. “That’s what we had to get out of him,” said Mikel Arteta in his press conference.
“He’s got the talent, but he needed to occupy different spaces and become a threat, and to have a mentality to win matches, not just to control games. I think that’s changed.”
It has allowed Arsenal to change too. They may not be title favourites any longer, but it is in large part thanks to Odegaard’s continued excellence that they are in still in the race.
Nick Wright
Kiwior shows his potential
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he believes it is still possible to win the Premier League this season
Mikel Arteta, already without William Saliba due to a back problem, admitted his concern after an apparent injury to his centre-back partner Gabriel Magalhaes late on in Arsenal’s win over Chelsea.
But he can at least take heart from how Jakub Kiwior, signed as the Brazilian’s understudy for £28m from Spezia in January, handled being thrust into the team for his first Arsenal start.
The Polish international showed some early nerves, sending an errant pass straight to Enzo Fernandez inside the first minute of the game, but he recovered well, showing coolness and composure even as Chelsea ramped up the pressure.
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He found a team-mate with 53 out of 56 passes after that early lapse and showed impressive anticipation on more than one occasion to halt potentially dangerous Chelsea breaks.
“He looked ready, he looked fresh, he looked really determined,” said Arteta of the decision to start him. “He’s been better and better every single day, not only training but his interaction, his language.
“He’s more settled and he’s a player I really like, that’s why we signed him. He’s got potential at his age to be great. He had a big task against the players he had to face today. I think he did really well.”
With Gabriel now an injury doubt as well as Saliba, Arsenal may need more of the same from him in the weeks ahead.
Nick Wright
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