Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
- A mixture of the Bank Holiday and a lack of wi-fi means that I didn’t have the time to review Sunday’s action so I’ll add in Monday’s action as well so here’s a short recap of what has happened over the past two days
- Chelsea stopped Tottenham’s title tilt dead in it’s tracks, you can read about that in more detail here http://realfootballman.com/football/chelsea-vs-tottenham-quick-thoughts/
- Leicester’s draw at Old Trafford postponed the party for just 24 hours more thanks to the result last night
- But even after Sunday’s draw you got the feeling it was all but job done
- Anthony Martial put the home side ahead but Wes Morgan restored parity soon after to give Leicester a share of the points and take them agonisingly close to the finishing line
- Leicester had to see out the last few minutes with 10 men thanks to Danny Drinkwater’s sending off. Memphis Depay felt there should have also been a subsequent penalty also after being pulled back but I think Referee Michael Oliver got the decision right and only awarded a free kick
- A few tense minutes for Leicester to hold out for but they moved even closer to completing the fairytale
- As for United that point doesn’t really help their hopes of snatching 4th place, they are now 4 points behind City albeit with a game in hand
- Manchester City had a miserable afternoon on the South Coast on Sunday as a well changed side were beaten by Southampton 4-2
- Sadio Mane’s hat-trick securing a win and keeping The Saints hopes of a Europa League spot alive
- Again Manuel Pellegrini has made wholesale changes with a Champions League game on the horizon and again it proved to be costly
- The decision will only be justified if they now get a result good enough to progress to the Champions League Final when they face Real Madrid on Wednesday night
- They face Arsenal on Sunday and a win for Arsenal would see them secure 3rd place and could even see them sneak past Spurs again on the final day
- Liverpool really didn’t need that game away at Swansea on Sunday as a near reserve side fell to a 3-1 defeat at The Liberty Stadium
- That has hurt their Top 6 hopes, then again does Jurgen Klopp really want to finish that high if he doesn’t win the Europa League – a risky strategy perhaps
- Swansea were by far the better side and got a deserved win, one that takes them to 13th
- Now some bonus Championship thoughts
- Congratulations to Burnley for bouncing back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, credit to the club for keeping hold of Sean Dyche as many other clubs would have shown him the exit door once they were relegated
- Although looking at that side yesterday they are going to have to buy a fair few players if they want to make a proper fist of it next season
- Brighton missed their opportunity to go top for a couple of hours and needed James Wilson to rescue a dramatic point in the 95th minute
- What is it with the Top 3 and dramatic late goals this season, another one to add to the collection yesterday
- That means they now must beat Middlesbrough on Saturday to go up automatically – failure to do so will mean they face Sheffield Wednesday in the Playoffs
- But they must do so without Lewis Dunk who is suspended due to his sending off yesterday
- A draw will do for Middlesbrough on Saturday, it’s now there’s to lose.
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