Premier League: Matchweek 23 Sunday Roundup – City and Spurs Victorious

There were only 2 matches on Sunday in the Premier League, although both matches featured a top 6 side in need of victory.

Both Manchester City and Spurs played their 23rd match of the season on Sunday, as the Citizens travelled to Huddersfield whilst Spurs went across town to take on Fulham. As heavy favourites as Man City were, there are no easy matches in the Premier League whatsoever, and they couldn’t afford to drop any points whatsoever against Huddersfield, as they aim to keep up with Liverpool at the top of the table.

As for Spurs, they had the opportunity to extend their lead over 4th place Chelsea to 4 points, following the Blues’ loss to Arsenal on Saturday. Spurs were without their 3 top scorers in Kane, Moura, and Son, who is at the Asian Cup with South Korea.

City ease past Huddersfield in a much needed 3-0 victory.

As mentioned earlier, there are no easy games in the Premier League…yet it does seem that the easy games come more frequently for Manchester City than any other side! Huddersfield are rock-bottom in the division and did not really have any hope in this match. Despite this, they held up really well in the first half and were 1-0 down at halftime due only to a Danilo goal, that deflected unfortunately off of key defender Christopher Schindler. The Terriers restricted Man City to just the single shot on target in the 1st half.

The 2nd half was started in strong fashion by Manchester City, as they scored twice within the span of a few minutes early in the half. Leroy Sane was the key figure in both goals, as he put in the cross for Sterling’s goal and slotted home the 3rd himself. It was the German’s 8th goal and 9th assist in just his 15th start.

Huddersfield take on Everton in 8 days time, whilst Man City will have the monumental task of holding off Burton in the League Cup semi-final 2nd leg, going in with a 9-0 aggregate lead.

Harry Winks’ late winner sees Spurs capture a crucial and 3 points.

It was never going to be easy for Spurs without 3 of their best forwards, and that was quite evident throughout this match against Fulham, especially early on. The man who was entrusted to score the goals for Spurs in Kane’s absence, Fernando Llorente, found the back of the net early on. Unfortunately, it was for the opposition! This match showed us the massive gap between the 1st and 2nd choice strikers for Tottenham. Daniel Levy will certainly have to look to improve the rotation options for centre-forward, as Harry Kane often gets overworked.

Against the worst defensive side in the Premier League, Spurs went into halftime with just 1 shot on target, and a goal down. Despite this, they upped the tempo and quality in the second half, equalizing just 5 minutes after the restart through Dele Alli. Late on in the match however, Alli went down injured on the touchline while holding the back of his knee area. This raises another major issue for Spurs, who will likely be without him for a few weeks at least, with their Champions League round of 16 tie against Dortmund looming.

While it’s usually Harry Kane coming up with the heroics, it was young midfielder Harry Winks who did the honours on this occasion, scoring deep into extra time, latching onto a cross from N’Koudou, who replaced Alli. It was a bitter way to lose for Fulham, who played far better than many expected.

It was a crucial goal for Spurs though, who extend their lead over Chelsea to 4 points. Their next match is coincidentally against the Blues, although it is in the League Cup semi-final. Fulham on the other hand, won’t be in action for another 8 days when they take on Brighton.