EPL round 35 sees Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan’s first-half double send Sam Allardyce to defeat in his first game in charge of Leeds as Manchester City held on to a 2-1 win to move four points clear at the top of the Premier League, Chelsea won for the first time since March 11 and picked up their first points under interim manager Frank Lampard by beating Bournemouth 3-1 at the Vitality Stadium. Meanwhile, Liverpool moved to within a point of fourth-placed Manchester United as Mohamed Salah’s 30th goal of the season sealed a 1-0 win over Brentford and in another match, Harry Kane breaks the record for headed Premier League goals in a season as Spurs go sixth as we take a look at the results from the Saturdays fixtures week 35 of the EPL.
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‘The taker is the taker’, “This is a business” says Pep Guardiola
Guardiola had calmed down a little by the time he faced the media after the match but he was still adamant Haaland should have taken the penalty, given the situation his side were in.
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“The game is not over,” Guardiola said. “It shows how nice and generous Erling is. If it is 4-0 with 10 minutes left, OK. “But at 2-0? At 2-0, especially in England, it is never over.
City have now gone 20 games unbeaten in all competitions and this victory was another step towards their third successive Premier League title, part of their bid for a Treble that also includes the FA Cup and Champions League.
“Erling is the best penalty taker right now so he has to take it. I want the player who is the taker because they have more routine and a specialism. He has maybe taken 10 or 11 penalties and he had the feeling – Gundogan does not have that right now.
“I admire the fact Gundogan wanted the responsibility to take the penalty – that is the best value in a player – but normally the taker is the taker, and Erling had to take it because he is our specialist.
“Today Erling could have scored two or three goals. He played incredibly well, in his movement and how he fought for us. I like to praise him when he does not score.
They have played catch-up to Arsenal for most of the season and trailed the Gunners by eight points in January but, with both sides left with four games to play, they have opened up a significant lead for the first time – not that they are taking anything for granted.
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“If Gundogan scores the penalty everyone is ‘OK, hat-trick, well done’. But a taker is a taker. At 2-0, this is a business, not a situation where we cannot forget it.”
“Probably the best warning about that is today,” Gundogan added. “But we have an experienced team and have had these kind of run-ins in recent years. We know what to do to keep the momentum going and win games. Nothing more but also nothing less.”
Chelsea end losing run under interim Lampard
Chelsea end losing run under interim boss Frank Lampard thanks to late goals from Benoit Badiashile and Joao Felix at the Vitality Stadium after Conor Gallagher had earlier given Chelsea the lead in the first half before Matias Vina equalised for Bournemouth.
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“There are a few players finding their feet,” Lampard said. “Typically at Chelsea, one or two have fed into the group and now we have more. It’s understandable that as a group finding rhythm and confidence can be difficult.
The Blues had never tested a win and lost all four Premier League games since Lampard’s return in April, but had led through Conor Gallagher’s early header.
Matias Vina levelled for Bournemouth, but Benoit Badiashile and Joao Felix struck to add inside the last 10 minutes.
Relegation remains a possibility for the Cherries with three games left, while Chelsea are 11th in the table.
“This is a first step, it won’t be plain sailing but there is talent there and the players need to come together to get us to where we want to be.
With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raheem Sterling among five players left out from the side that had lost 3-1 at Arsenal in their previous outing, Chelsea were much improved with 21-year-old Noni Madueke a particular threat on the right-hand side.
“We came in off the back of a tough run, it’s been a tough year and there is a lot of work to do. But the performance and the result in isolation are really good; we deserved to win the game. It’s a nice step forward for the lads.”
Lampard had opted to bring in Gallagher as well as Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah, Mykhailo Mudryk and Kai Havertz, and he said shaping aside from a large squad after a poor run has been difficult.
Mohamed Salah level with Steven Gerrard on 186 goals; Liverpool closes gap on Man Utd to one point
Liverpool make it six wins in a row to exert more pressure on the race for the Champions League as Mohamed Salah’s early opener from close range is enough to close the gap on Man Utd to one point, albeit having played two games more; Brentford remain in ninth
Salah’s 13th-minute opener from close-range brought him level with Steven Gerrard on 186 goals as Liverpool’s joint fifth-highest goalscorer after a bright start from the hosts at Anfield, where the pre-match rendition of the national anthem was drowned out on the day of King Charles’ coronation.
Mohamed Salah continued his superb scoring form as Liverpool made it six Premier League wins in a row by defeating Brentford to move one point behind Manchester United in the race for the top four.
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The Egypt forward became the first player in Reds history to score in nine consecutive home appearances, while his winner was his 100th goal for the Reds at Anfield.
His 13th-minute attempt was not the most eye-catching goal of his career – Salah bundling the ball over the line from close range after Virgil van Dijk’s cushioned header across the six-yard box.
But his 30th goal of the season set Jurgen Klopp’s side on the way to another crucial win that keeps alive Liverpool’s outside hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Liverpool are on 62 points, one behind fourth-placed Manchester United who have two games in hand – including one at struggling West Ham on Sunday.
‘One of the all-time greats
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he was “really proud” of Salah after the former Roma and Chelsea forward wrote his name into the club’s history books.
Since Liverpool were held 0-0 by Chelsea at Anfield on 21 January, Salah has scored in each home game against Everton, Real Madrid, Wolves, Manchester United, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham, Fulham and Brentford.
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“He is one of the all-time greats,” added Klopp, who signed Salah from Roma for £34m in June 2017. “Now he is just a world-class player with a desire to score goals. He works hard to close players down.”
EPL week 35 Saturday results
Bournemouth 1-3 Chelsea
Manchester City 2-1 Leeds United
Tottenham 1-0 Crystal Palace
Wolves 1-0 Aston Villa
Liverpool 1-0 Brentford
