“Looking forward to seeing more of Salah next season.”
Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win over beat West Ham United. Chelsea remained in second place after a 3-0 win against Stoke City at Stamford Bridge.
Yaya Touré, Samir Nasri, Edin Džeko and Stevan Joveti? scored in Manchester City’s 4-1 win over Southampton.
Juan Mata scored twice as Manchester United beat Newcastle United 4-0 at St James Park. Goals from Steven Naismith and Romelu Lukaku helped Everton thrash Arsenal 3-0 at home. Tottenham Hotspur hammered Sunderland 5-1 at home.
Manchester City 4 Southampton 1 – 12.45pm KO, Saturday
Manchester City set the marker with a convincing 4-1 lunchtime win over Southampton.
An early setback for the visitors saw Goalkeeper Artur Boruc ruled out, which was compounded with an early penalty for Manchester City that Yaya Touré converted.
During the match, England hopeful Jay Rodriguez suffered a cruciate ligament injury, which has ruled him out of the World Cup.
In the 37th minute, Southampton also earned a penalty, which was slotted into the net by Rickie Lambert.
Just as the Saints got going, City scored two quick goals on the stroke of half-time courtesy of Samir Nasri and Edin Džeko. Southampton couldn’t offer much in the 2nd half before Stevan Joveti? sealed the points with nine minutes to go with Manchester City’s 4th goal.
Newcastle United 0 Manchester United 4 – 3pm KO, Saturday
A disappointing show by the hosts allowed the Champions romp to a convincing 4-0 win at Newcastle United.
Manchester United started the match with eight changes in personnel, as they kept focus on their crucial Champions League tie against Bayern Munich. Juan Mata’s excellent brace either side of half time sparked the fixture to life as United went on to record a morale boosting win.
Javier Hernandez made it 3-0 just after the hour mark before Adnan Januzaj rounded off a miserable afternoon for the Magpies as they lost 4-0 at home. Manchester United boss David Moyes said:
“I’ve said all season that I believe we have a really good squad of players and we showed that today. They played well and deserved the victory.”
Chelsea 3 Stoke City 0 – 5.30pm KO, Saturday
Following Manchester City’s lunchtime win, Chelsea had to get a result against Stoke City to return to the top of the league, albeit briefly.
Striker Mohamed Salah made an impressive first premier league start while the in-form Eden Hazard was rested. Salah scored a goal just after the half hour, taking the hosts into a half-time lead.
In the 61st minute, Frank Lampard made it to 2-0 from a rebound as his penalty was saved by goalkeeper Asmir Begovi?. Willian secured the win with eighteen minutes remaining, sending Chelsea back to winning ways.
An optimistic Chelsea fan on Facebook said: “Looking forward to seeing more of Salah next season.”
Everton 3 Arsenal 0 – 1.30pm KO, Sunday
Everton beat Arsenal 3-0 to close in on a Champions League spot.
Attacking straight from the off, Everton took the game to Arsenal and were rewarded with a goal in the 14th minute with Steven Naismith scoring. Still stunned, Arsenal were 2-0 down just twenty minutes later when Romelu Lukaku fired home.
With limited chances created by the visitors, Everton broke again and created a move that ended with Mikel Arteta scoring an ironic own goal for his former side.
The race is on for the fourth Champions League spot, with Arsenal still marginally favourites due to an easier run-in.
A bitterly disappointed tweeter from India said: “Don’t know if it was just me but I felt a few players were reluctant to pass to Giroud. That’s how bad it is for us.”
West Ham United 1 Liverpool 2 – 4pm KO, Sunday
A lacklustre display by the visitors was rescued by a dominating display from skipper Steven Gerrard as Liverpool defeated West Ham United 2-1.
With a largely uneventful first half coming to a close, the match sparked into life when James Tomkins handled in the area, awarding Liverpool a penalty which Gerrard converted at ease.
Only a minute later though, Guy Demel equalised controversially. Former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll fouled Liverpool Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, causing him to drop the ball at Demel’s feet to equalise.
More Liverpool pressure in the 2nd half led to a foul on Jon Flanagan in the area that led to another penalty, with Gerrard slotting home again.
Even though it was nervy finish, Liverpool raced back to the top of the Premier League after completing a 2-1 win. They lead Chelsea by two points with five games left.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers said: “The mentality at Liverpool is to be fearless. We will respect the opposition, but it’s about ourselves.”
In other matches, Shahid Khan’s Fulham helped their relegation fight after securing an important 2-1 win at Aston Villa. Fellow strugglers Cardiff City lost 3-0 at home to Crystal Palace, while Hull City defeated Swansea 1-0 at home. Norwich also lost 1-0 at home to West Bromwich Albion in another relegation ding dong.
Two goals from Emmanuel Adebayor handed Tottenham Hotspur a comfortable 5-1 win against Sunderland.
Next week sees Liverpool host Manchester City in a match, which could potentially decide the Premier League title – Although Chelsea will still want to have their say.
Loading ...