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English Premier League: Matchweek 25 Full Review – Title Race Thickens

By Mahith Gamage

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: Gonzalo Higuain of Chelsea celebrates after he scores his teams first goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Huddersfield Town at Stamford Bridge on February 02, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: Gonzalo Higuain of Chelsea celebrates after he scores his teams first goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Huddersfield Town at Stamford Bridge on February 02, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
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MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 03: Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero (r) celebrates with Raheem Sterling after scoring his hat trick goal despite the efforts of Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno and Laurent Koscielny during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal FC at Etihad Stadium on February 03, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 03: Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero (r) celebrates with Raheem Sterling after scoring his hat trick goal despite the efforts of Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno and Laurent Koscielny during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal FC at Etihad Stadium on February 03, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) /

Manchester United 1 Leicester City 0:

Well, it wasn’t always going to be a walk in the park for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, no matter how good his start was. United struggled against Burnley last week, eventually snagging a point with 2 late goals, and although they started this match against Leicester City very well, it didn’t go that way the entire match. Paul Pogba’s emphatic return to form continued against the Foxes, however, and his beautiful dinked ball to Marcus Rashford led to the opening goal in just the 9th minute. Pogba and Rashford have seen complete 180’s in their form. The rest of the match was very even however, with both sides nearly even on shots and possession. A little bit of quality from United’s 2 main men made all the difference though, as they leapfrogged Arsenal into 5th.

Manchester City 3 Arsenal 1:

It’s been over 4 years since Arsenal last won an away match against a top 6 Premier League side, which was coincidentally also at the Etihad. While Santi Cazorla shone that day, a new hero who is quickly gaining cult status in Matteo Guendouzi shone on this occasion. Despite this, the Gunners were quite poor in this match bar a good stretch of play in the first half. Within the first minute, however, Arsenal somehow conceded a goal despite having all 11 players in their own box, when Alex Iwobi brainlessly gave the ball away on the edge of his own area and Sergio Aguero scored his first of the night. When it seemed like it might get ugly for Arsenal though, captain clutch Laurent Koscielny pulled one back.

The match ended up 3-1 however after Raheem Sterling fed Sergio Aguero on either side of the half for the Argentine to grab a hat-trick. One of Arsenal’s many liabilities, Stephan Lichtsteiner, was directly at fault for both goals as his speed, IQ, and technical deficiencies were completely taken advantage of by Raheem Sterling. This match helped portray the large gap in quality between Arsenal and the rest of their rivals, as the Gunners didn’t manage a single effort on target in the 2nd half despite being a goal down and needing one desperately. This victory allowed City to put the pressure on Liverpool, whilst Arsenal slid from 4th to 6th in the Premier League with this woefully unsurprising performance.

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