Arsenal, the outstanding leader of the Premier League, did not go beyond a goalless draw in their visit to Nottingham Forest, but two of their pursuers, Manchester City and Liverpool, did not take advantage of the opportunity to get closer to the lead.
City lost 2-0 in the Manchester derby and Liverpool drew 1-1 at Anfield against Burnley, second from bottom.
Arsenal is the leader with 50 points, seven more than City (2nd) and Aston Villa (3rd), which on Sunday could place second in the standings if they score against Everton at home, and Liverpool (4th), current champion, remains far behind, 14 points behind the Gunners.
Despite its privileged position, Arsenal has reasons to regret what happened. When he took to the grass at the City Ground in Nottingham he already knew the results of his rivals, so he missed a great opportunity to put an almost definitive finish to the championship and get closer to a title that has eluded him since 2004.
Missed opportunity for the Gunners
And apparently on the pitch, Mikel Arteta’s men “lost” two points that could end up being golden. The Gunners had many chances to score (15 shots on goal) and Spanish goalkeeper David Raya hardly had any work to do.
“Obviously we were disappointed because we wanted the three points. They didn’t give us a single chance and we had at least four very clear ones. In addition there was a penalty that they gave us and they didn’t whistle,” Arteta lamented.
Before, Liverpool may have definitively said goodbye to the chances of retaining the title after their fourth consecutive draw, 1-1 against Burnley.
The visit of the penultimate classified to Anfield seemed like a favorable opportunity for Liverpool to add the three points and dominated the first half, having a reward in the 42nd minute when the German Florian Wirtz opened the scoring.
Before, at half an hour, Hungarian Dominik Szoboszlai missed a penalty that could have given the hosts a comfortable lead at half-time.
Wirtz had a couple of chances at the beginning of the second period to score, but the former Leverkusen player missed and it was Burnley who ended up scoring, through Marcus Edwards, who beat the Brazilian Alisson Becker with a cross shot (65).
Liverpool tried until the end and scored again, but Frenchman Hugo Ekitiké’s goal was disallowed for having touched the ball with his hand before his shot into the net (78).
Rosenior’s first victory
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea achieved their first victory since Liam Rosenior sat on the bench (2-0 against Brentford).
The Portuguese João Pedro (26′) and Cole Palmer’s penalty (76′) were the authors of the goals for the Blues, who with the victory reached 34 points and rose to sixth position in the championship, two points behind Liverpool and one behind Manchester United in the fight for the Champions League places.
In the first match on Saturday, in the Manchester derby, United beat City 2-0 (goals from Cameroonian Bryan Mbeumo in the 64th minute and Patrick Dorgu in the 76th minute), in Michael Carrick’s debut on the local bench.
Glasner explodes
In Saturday’s other games, West Ham defeated Tottenham 2-1 in a London derby, while Sunderland and Leeds beat Crystal Palace and Fulham at home, respectively.
After the defeat, Crystal Palace coach Oliver Glasner, who this week announced that he will leave the London club at the end of the season, exploded against his leaders over the imminent transfer of his captain Marc Guéhi to City.
“I have the impression that we are abandoned. I have no reproaches for the players. They have done everything they could for weeks, even months” for the club, he assured.
“The worst thing is to sell your captain on the eve of a Premier League match,” added Glasner, who on Friday already took Guéhi’s transfer for granted even though it is not official.
Glasner gave Palace the only two titles in its history (the FA Cup last season and the Community Shield at the start of the current one), but has seen the club sell several of its best players.
