Plus: Ruben Selles inspires Southampton; Joao Felix is on the fringes as Chelsea draw another blank; Goodison Park roars Everton to crucial win; Unai Emery shows his anger at Aston Villa's approach; Wolves wobble back towards danger...
Sunday 19 February 2023 14:21, UK
The pendulum swings back Arsenal's way. The Gunners came from behind twice before scoring two goals in injury time to beat Aston Villa, a feat City were powerless to match after getting pegged back by Nottingham Forest two hours later. This will feel like a loss.
The prolific Erling Haaland went missing. Pep Guardiola, booked for confronting the fourth official over an incident involving the Norwegian striker, was unusually composed in his post-match address.
He bemoaned missed chances and was critical of poor defending for the goal conceded, but also gave a glowing review of a "brilliant" performance. His body language on the sidelines during the game said otherwise. Guardiola spent almost the entirety of the first half with his hands on his hips on the edge of his technical area - he was anxiously watching wave after wave of City attacks end in disappointment.
A week that began with so much promise - outshining Arsenal on their own patch - has ended in regret. This was the moment to seize control of the title race and City stuttered. How they might come to rue those opportunities missed.
Laura Hunter
Liverpool have had a good week. On Monday they were 12 points off fourth but head home from the North East on Saturday just six points adrift of Newcastle with a game in hand. They're back in the hunt.
Forwards Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo, who have faced criticism for slow starts at Anfield since joining for big transfer fees, are now contributing in the final third when it counts. Slowly but surely Liverpool are starting to look more like Liverpool again. But they're far from being back.
Even two goals and a man up, Liverpool were vulnerable and needed their goalkeeper to rescue them in key moments. Alisson produced four saves - one less than Newcastle substitute Martin Dubravaka, but it was the importance of the stops which set the Brazil No 1 apart.
"Alisson has been Liverpool's best player," Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said on co-commentary. "Jurgen Klopp will be looking at this and there are still things that will worry him."
He set the tone inside five minutes keeping out Miguel Almiron, one of the Premier League's most prolific players this season, with a big hand one-on-one. How many times have we seen Liverpool crumble after a poor start in this campaign? Not today, not on Alisson's watch.
Alisson's importance was further underlined as he kept out Allan Saint-Maximin after half an hour and Callum Wilson with eight minutes of normal time left. Liverpool are still fragile and they needed their goalkeeper at St James' Park to keep their confidence intact.
He is the glue holding Liverpool together.
Zinny Boswell
What a difference a week makes. Nathan Jones was dismissed in the wake of a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to 10-man Wolves, which prompted anger from disgruntled supporters.
That loss - a seventh from eight top-flight games under the Welshman - left Southampton four points from safety with 16 games remaining and with just four wins all season.
Ruben Selles has been tasked with uniting the struggling south-coast club and having insisted they have a squad capable of avoiding relegation, he could not have made a better start to his audition for the position on a full-time basis.
Selles feels he is as capable as any other candidate after a stunning end to a turbulent week. Failed talks with former Leeds boss Jesse Marsch now look like a blessing in disguise.
The 39-year-old Spaniard has held various coaching roles across Europe during his career, including in Greece, Azerbaijan and Denmark, but is yet to be a full-time manager.
He had a one-match stint as Saints caretaker earlier this season - a penalty shoot-out victory over League One Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup - before Jones was confirmed as successor to Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Southampton committed 24 fouls against Chelsea, the most in a Premier League game so far this season. This was a tigerish display, one that had been conspicuously lacking under both Hasenhuttl and Jones. There have been false dawns already for Saints this season, most notably after positive results at home to Chelsea and away to Manchester City.
Southampton have completed the league double against Chelsea for the first time since the 1987-88 season; there are the hallmarks of an exciting, young team.
This time, under Selles it has to act as a springboard to something more tangible. Had Southampton lost, they would have been seven points adrift of safety given the results elsewhere on a day when relegation battlers bared their teeth.
While they are still waiting for ignition at Stamford Bridge, Selles must surely now be in pole position to land the Southampton job on a permanent basis. One result doesn't make a season, and the visit to Leeds at Elland Road next week will be an entirely different proposition.
Ben Grounds
Chelsea's wretched form has seen them win just twice from their last 14 Premier League games, with goalscoring a major issue.
They have scored just eight times in those last 14 fixtures. In fact, they have found the net just 23 times in their 23 league games, the same number they have conceded.
Graham Potter is arguably the antithesis to Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone, so it is perhaps no surprise that Joao Felix had looked so liberated prior to this personal setback at home to Southampton.
It is an irony that the best player Chelsea have got they don't actually own. His qualities must be utilised if Potter is to get out of this particular hole.
Felix's licence to play freely was seen at Fulham and West Ham, but he was on the periphery here.
On his debut at Craven Cottage and indeed in scoring at the London Stadium, the Portuguese still looked like he was missing a striker to play off. Felix is like Zola without his Vialli. Saturday was the turn of David Datro Fofana to audition, the raw 20-year-old Ivorian signed for £11m from Molde last month.
After 45 minutes in the FA Cup defeat at Manchester City and a 15-minute cameo against Fulham, this was his full Chelsea debut. He had played well before being replaced at half-time. What message will that send to the youngster?
There was a sense of finality about Romelu Lukaku's move back to Inter Milan last summer on a two-year loan deal, but you just wonder if Chelsea might explore ways of bringing the Belgian back now that other pieces of the attacking jigsaw are in place.
Until that problem position is solved, Chelsea will be less than the sizeable sum of their parts.
Ben Grounds
At times this season, Goodison Park has not been the most harmonious of places.
Fan protests before and after games against the running of the club from owner Farhad Moshiri and the club's board have dominated much of the season so far, while empty seats in the Director's box at the stadium have become a feature of Everton's home games.
But despite all of that, there is no denying how important a factor Goodison is to the players, who secured what could be a crucial 1-0 win over relegation rivals Leeds.
We saw it at the end of last season when Everton's home form played a huge part in them staying in the top flight. But it wasn't something former boss Frank Lampard was able to build on and four straight home defeats in his last four games played a big part in his eventual dismissal.
However, new boss Sean Dyche is now two wins from two with two clean sheets at home, and it's something he wants to continue to build on.
"We want to make this a tough place to come, and we are doing that with two wins and two clean sheets," Dyche said. "Home form is a big help, we want it to become a fortress. We're getting there but it takes time and belief. It's a one-game-at-a-time mentality, that's what I believe."
Similar words have been heard before, but the platform is there to make it a reality.
Aston Villa are the visitors next week and a third straight home win would continue to build the hope that Everton can pull away from danger quicker than expected.
Oliver Yew
If a stoppage-time goal is a sign of champions then how about two of them? How about three in the final third of a game that has flipped the title race once more?
After an hour at Villa Park, Arsenal were contemplating finishing three points behind Manchester City. Instead, they ended it two points clear with that game in hand remaining. This 4-2 win over Aston Villa could come to be seen as a pivotal point in the season.
Asked after his team's game, but before City's surprise slip against Nottingham Forest, if the comeback had restored belief, Mikel Arteta suggested that there is more belief than ever.
That makes sense. Arsenal were facing a fifth game without a win when down at half-time. They came out for the second half early, gathered themselves in a huddle and set about starting the recovery. Completing it had them 'absolutely bouncing', according to Arteta.
Jorginho has stepped into midfield and contributed. Ben White was brilliant on his return to the team. Gabriel Martinelli looked brighter off the bench. Arsenal have had a wobble. The hope now is that this can be the galvanising moment in their season.
Adam Bate
When Aston Villa lost at home to Leicester, there were those supporters at Villa Park who felt convinced that this performance was proof of the folly of passing out from the back. The sight of players dispossessed in deep areas, gifting goals, was too much to take.
Unai Emery sees it differently and he was more troubled by the defeat to Arsenal this weekend. The score was the same, a 4-2 home defeat, and the opposition was stronger. But the manner of this loss frustrated him more because his team did not try to pass the ball.
"We were with ball possession in minute 92 and did not keep possession. We did a long ball. Gave them the ball. They attacked progressively, in the attacking third, and they scored the third goal. That is the example of the match for me. It is not what I want to build here.
"Against Leicester, we lost the ball building up easy and with bad decisions but that is the way, taking good decisions in the build-up. Today, we did not give the ball away in the build-up but we were doing long ball more times, giving them more balls that we have to keep."
There will be difficult times ahead at Villa if they are to persist with Emery's way. It is a more ambitious approach and places more technical demands on the players. But his obvious disappointment suggests that he will double down on his commitment to play.
Adam Bate
All you have to do is look at the shooting statistics and you will see where Wolves' problems still lie.
Fifteen shots, 1.16 xG. Zero goals. On Bournemouth's side, four out of their five shots were ranked at 0.09 xG or lower - but still ran out 1-0 winners.
Wolves created plenty of chances in the game, got the ball into good areas. But they are still feeling the effects of the 'old Wolves' that came before Julen Lopetegui's arrival. The one that saw them sit bottom of the table.
You can also look at the substitutes that Lopetegui brought on this Saturday. Daniel Podence, Diego Costa, Raul Jimenez and Joao Gomes were all brought off the bench - but all of them looked below par and only one of them has scored since January 14.
It led to Bournemouth manager Gary O'Neil, whose side went into the Molineux clash without a win in nine games, saying that his side weren't up against a "massive threat".
Lopetegui needs to create more threats or, after lifting Wolves away from the relegation fight with three wins in four, they could be right back in the mix for the drop.
Sam Blitz
Brentford boss Thomas Frank once again proved his managerial and coaching qualities on Saturday as his side nicked a last-gasp draw against Crystal Palace that was all in the planning.
The Danish head coach used all five substitutions, with his third and fourth changes particularly game changing at 1-0 down.
Vitaly Janelt - who eventually scored the 96th-minute equaliser - and Keane Lewis-Potter came on as Frank switched from their 4-3-3 set-up to an all-out-attack 3-4-3 formation that saw Lewis-Potter and Bryan Mbeumo act as wing-backs.
Janelt's stoppage-time header may have made for a chaotic ending to the game, but it was the culmination of a week's planning and preparation.
"We actually trained in this 3-4-3 formation earlier this week," revealed Frank. "Seven minutes, you need to get an equaliser, need to get it to the sides, get a lot of crosses and produce chances.
"I think the five subs made an impact, also with our offensive formation in the end."
This tactical detail enhances the 49-year-old's as one of the Premier League brightest coaches.
He is currently masterminding an outstanding run of form - now 11 league games unbeaten - that is giving real hope to a potential European push.
But his opposite number Patrick Vieira must find a formula to stop his Palace side conceding such late goals.
Since the start of last season, no team has conceded more result-altering goals in the 90th minute in more different Premier League games than Palace (5). So how do the Eagles prevent this from happening again?
"Decision-making when we have the ball," Vieira said. "How you regroup in the last minute of the game to not allow them to make those crosses."
With their next five matches reading Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Brighton and Arsenal, Vieira's side are likely to be tested on the last-gasp front again.
Heading into Saturday's game between Brighton and Fulham, both sides were locked on 35 points in sixth and seventh place respectively. For either side to secure a European spot come May 28 would be an incredible achievement.
But Brighton's quest for a foray into Europe hit a - hopefully minor - bump. It was certainly an off day for a Seagulls side that has impressed this season under both Graham Potter and now Roberto De Zerbi.
There's no doubting the performance levels were there and the football played was very good for much of the game. But they had 21 shots, 65 per cent possession and no goals to show for their efforts. While it is certainly not time for panic stations, this is not the time to lose your cutting edge.
But this can also largely be down to a stoic Fulham defence. Tim Ream, Kenny Tete, Issa Diop and goalkeeper Bernd Leno were also incredibly impressive. As Marco Silva said after the game, it showed the resilience and determination from his team to never give up - even if they did not deserve it.
It may beg the question whether opposition teams are starting to adapt to 'De Zerbi ball'. They know where the dangers are - almost all of Brighton's attacking play came through Kauro Mitoma and Pervis Estupinan down the left wing with Solly March also dangerous on the other side - and that they will dominate possession, meaning teams will largely have to rely on counter-attacks and set pieces.
In that instance, Fulham played the game plan to perfection.
So, what did we learn? Well, nothing is decided on a rainy afternoon in February. But losing or winning a game against a close rival can have an impact on the psyche. Fulham will be buoyed, having also kept their fourth clean sheet in five away Premier League matches - no mean feat.
For Brighton, they now have two weeks until their next league game, although face an FA Cup fifth-round tie against Stoke in between. It gives them plenty of time to regroup and work out a few chinks in their armour.
They also have two games in hand over Fulham, which will extend to three with Brighton missing next weekend's fixtures, having been scheduled to play Carabao Cup finalists Newcastle.
There is still plenty to play for. But the race for Europe between two unlikely competitors is certainly going to be an interesting watch.
