They say an image can speak a thousand words. That City supporter with the Arsenal bottle proved that yesterday, capturing the pulse of the entire league with one inspired (and likely alcohol-induced) bit of kidology.
Gunners humbled by Cherries
This league looked completely done and dusted a month ago. But Arsenal haven’t looked the same since that insipid League Cup final exit at the hands of the Citizens. Mikel Arteta needs to get a grip on things; there’s a league to be won. A home game against Bournemouth should have been a chance for them to flaunt their title aspirations. But Arteta put the handbrake on in a severe way, playing the double-pivot of Rice and Zubimendi in a game that simply had to be won. Why can’t Arteta just show some belief in the side that has got to this point. He should play Rice as the lone 6 and allow his more creative players to impress themselves upon the game. Arsenal looked terrified on Saturday, and it was little surprise when Junior Kroupi gave the visitors a 17th minute lead. Arsenal did manage to level things, with Viktor Gyokeres thumping home a penalty with real authority. But the expected Arsenal 2nd half barrage never materialized. Alex Scott- who bossed the midfield battle all afternoon- stole the points for the Cherries, driving through the heart of the Arsenal defence to completely alter the fabric of this season’s title race. Arteta deserves plenty of credit for morphing a mid-table mess into a title-contending outfit. But he also needs criticism for his overcautious approach in recent weeks (not to mention some of his embarrassing, quasi-motivational attempts to galvanize the supporters).
City heap pressure on Arteta
City responded in majestic fashion, overcoming a ragged first-half performance to crush an out-of-sorts 3-0 at the Bridge. Both sides looked fragmented in the first 45 mins, guilty of carelessly giving away possession on numerous occasions. Guardiola must have given his men a proper halftime rollicking because they were a different unit in that 2nd stanza (it was as if someone had changed Chelsea’s difficulty down like on FIFA). Cherki was once again the creative nexus of the side, beautifully setting up both O’Reilly and Guehi to make it 2-0. Jeremy Doku added gloss to the scoreline in the 68th minute, pinching Caicedo’s pocket before blasting the ball past a helpless Robin Sanchez. O’Reilly gave Guardiola a bit of a scare, going off midway through the 2nd half with a little knock. His ability to invert and play in the midfield allowed City to absolutely overwhelm the Chelsea engine room. City have gone into beast mode since that Wembley triumph, tapping into that wellspring of brilliant late-season form that they have cultivated during Guardiola’s reign. Victory over Arsenal next week will take them to within three points of the Gunners with a game in hand. Déjà vu, anyone?
Bayern create history at St Pauli
here have been some who have doubted Vincent Kompany’s current Bayern squad. Are they merely the beneficiaries of shallow Bundesliga competition? But their 2-1 win triumph at the Bernabeu did a lot to silence the doubters. And they reaffirmed their ascendancy on the domestic front this weekend, thrashing St Pauli 5-0 to put themselves within touching distance of yet more domestic glory. The swashbuckling Bavarians carved out their own slice of history in the process, reaching 105 goals for the season to break the all-time Bundesliga scoring record (the previous highest was 101). With five games left to go, Die Roten have the chance to set a scoring benchmark that may never be matched (this Kane, Diaz, Olise partnership doesn’t get the flowers it deserves). And the crazy thing is that they achieved all of this with a heavily rotated side ahead of their Champions League return leg at the Allianz Arena. Dortmund did Dortmund things this weekend, losing at home to Leipzig to give Bayern the chance to clinch the title with victory over Stuttgart next week.
Real Madrid compound European misery with dropped points against Girona
The wheels have come off for Alvaro Arbreloa’s Real Madrid. There was a real sense of optimism in the immediate aftermath of Alonso’s termination, with Arbreloa bringing a feel-good factor back to the Bernabeu. Everything Mbappe looked at turned into goals while Valverde captured Spanish hearts with his gladiatorial midfield output. But Mbappe’s injury issues came at the wrong time, and he has struggled to reach the same heights since returning. Valverde led the charge in Friday night’s fixture with Girona, opening the scoring with a trademark long-range effort (though closer inspection suggests that Paulo Gazzaniga should have smothered the effort). But a familiar foe came back to haunt Los Blancos, as Atletico loanee Thomas Lemar equalized with a thunderous left-footed drive. Try as they may, Real couldn’t unlock a well-organized Girona side. Mbappe gave arguably his worst performance of the season, lacking conviction when presented gilt-edged chances. It would be foolish to be overly critical of Mbappe given his obvious goal-scoring pedigree (not to mention his World Cup credentials). But his club career has undeniably lived in the shadow of his international accomplishments. He was never able to steer PSG to Champions League glory (they needed him to leave to finally make that a reality). And he looks set to make it back-to-back seasons without a La Liga or Champions League title at Real (which is sacrilegious in these circles). Just food for thought.
Barca open nine-point gap with resounding win over Espanyol
Barca bounced back from their humbling Champions League defeat to Atletico with an emphatic 4-1 win over Catalonian rivals Espanyol. A derby-day win was just the tonic for a Barca side still reeling from that highly contentious Champions League quarterfinal clash. Ferran Torres put his recent woes behind him, scoring a typically opportunistic brace in the first half-hour to set Barca on their way. It wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies for Barca in that first half, as converted centre-back Gerard Martin was forced to come off with an injury. Martin has been a reliable part of Flick’s defensive unit and will be sorely missed in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the Metropolitano Stadium. Lozano gave Espanyol some hope in the 56th minute, smashing home a loose ball to leave the Camp Nou on tenterhooks. Lamine Yamal would apply the dagger in the 87th minute, taking advantage of a fortunate ricochet before tapping the ball into an unguarded net. Rashford rubbed salt into Espanyol wounds a few moments later, brilliantly volleying home to lead further credence to the rumours that Barca are set to sign him on a permanent basis. With La Liga virtually assured, Barca can really focus all their energy on this week’s daunting trip to Atletico.
Inter pull off unreal comeback in game of the season contender
It’s been another dream weekend for Cristian Chivu, as his Inter side march inexorably towards the Scudetto title. Milan waved the white flag in embarrassing style, limply going down 3-0 at home to Udinese. Napoli fought back from 1-0 down to grind out a 1-1 draw at Parma. It set the stage for Inter to open up a nine-point gap at Champions League-chasing Como. But Fabregas’ side didn’t get the memo, going 2-0 up through Valle’s rebound finish and Paz’s breakaway goal. Inter looked a shadow of the side that massacred Roma last week. Enter stage right: Marcus Thuram. The Frenchman stepped up in the absence of bench-warming Martinez, prodding home Inter’s first goal just moments before the break. That goal changed the complexion of the match and Thuram would equalize soon after the break. Inter were rampant, and ever-industrious Denzel Dumfries would complete the comeback with a brace of his own. Como never threw in the towel, scoring an 89th minute pen to set up a rousing finale. But Inter held on for a sensational win that typifies the best aspects of Chivu’s dynamic stewardship.
Player of the Week- Donyell Malen
This is a slightly leftfield option. Donyell Malen has been a minor revelation since joining Roma on loan in January, scoring ten league goals to currently sit T3 in the Capocannoniere standings (which tells you something about the state of goal-scoring in Italy). The Dutch winger was in inspired form in Friday night’s clash with Pisa, netting a vibrant hat-trick to continue his outrageous form. Speaking of Serie A goal-scoring deficiencies, Malen’s hat-trick was the first in Serie A since February last year! That is unbelievable to me (it sheds a little light on the Italian national side’s recent woes).
