1. Chelsea and Conte’s defensive masterclass
MANCHESTER CITY HAVE one of the best attacks in the Premier League, but for large parts of tonight’s game at Stamford Bridge, their front players were made to look ordinary.
Aside from an individual error by Thibaut Courtois that led to Sergio Aguero’s goal, Chelsea barely put a foot wrong at the back.
And the Blues were particularly solid following Eden Hazard’s second goal. Except for two quick-fire chances that Aguero and John Stones were presented with in the dying minutes, Chelsea didn’t ever look like surrendering their second-half league.
The tactical switch at half-time, which saw Nemanja Matic replace Kurt Zouma, clearly paid dividends. After the break, Matic and N’Golo Kante protected the backline with aplomb, while City’s forwards looked increasingly ineffectual and demoralised as the game wore on.
Under Antonio Conte, Juventus frequently had the best defensive stats across Europe’s big five leagues, and the Italian has taken little time to impose a similar influence at Chelsea.
Compared with 53 goals let in last season, the Blues have conceded just 24 times this campaign — only Spurs have a better defensive record of all the teams in the Premier League — and accomplished displays from the likes of David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta were key to a vital win this evening.
2. Mourinho not helping Man United’s lacklustre attack
There was frustration at Old Trafford last night, despite a late Zlatan Ibrahimovic penalty salvaging a draw for Man United and keeping their unbeaten run intact against Everton.
It was the Red Devils’ 12th stalemate of the campaign, and ninth on home turf.
Despite a goal from their Swedish superstar being incorrectly ruled out for offside, Man United’s expensively assembled attack was far from convincing not for the first time this season.
But Jose Mourinho certainly didn’t help matters with his team selection. Everton were always going to set up in a pragmatic fashion, so the hosts starting with two defensive midfielders in Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini was strange to say the least.
Keeping Henrikh Mkhitaryan — arguably United’s most creative player — in reserve until the 65th minute was also somewhat baffling.
With just 21 goals scored at Old Trafford, only six Premier League sides have been less prolific on home turf than the Red Devils this season, and Mourinho certainly deserves a share of the blame for this recurring issue.
3. Ozil and Arsenal rediscover winning form
It’s fair to say that Mesut Ozil has tended to receive a disproportionate amount of the blame for Arsenal’s woes this season.
The German international has complained at being singled out, and his grievances are legitimate to a point.
However, as one Arsene Wenger’s side’s key players, there is a certain degree of inevitability about the criticism aimed at the 28-year-old star when things go awry for the Gunners.
Nevertheless, Ozil has still been poor too often this season. In big games, such as the thrashing by Bayern Munich in the Champions League, he has been virtually anonymous, and the player’s talent is not so exceptional to the extent that it justifies his frequently poor work ethic off the ball.
This evening, however, the World Cup winner made the difference for Arsenal — scoring the first goal and setting up the second amid a convincing 3-0 win over relegation-threatened West Ham.
And while tonight is a start, both man-of-the-match Ozil and Arsenal in general have a long way to go to rescue a disappointing season, as they currently remain outside the Champions League places, joint-fifth with Man United, but ahead of Mourinho’s men on goal difference.
4. Spurs’ youngsters show admirable resolve
With the lowest average age of any Premier League team, Tottenham would be forgiven for showing inexperience and naivety at times in this campaign.
This evening at the Liberty Stadium, however, Spurs’ youngsters demonstrated the kind of resolve that they patently lacked at times last season.
Most notably in the 2-2 draw with Chelsea, the North London side let the emotion of the occasion get the better of them as their title challenge collapsed late in the season. The match, which confirmed Leicester as Premier League champions, took place amid a flurry of bad challenges resulting in a highly charged occasion that saw nine of Tottenham’s players booked and Mousa Dembele retrospectively banned for putting his fingers in Diego Costa’s eye.
Yet tonight, they gave a display that suggested they have acquired an extra level of maturity and mental fortitude following last year’s setback.
Until the 88th minute, the visitors trailed Swansea after an 11th-minute Wayne Routledge strike, but three late goals saw them earn a vital win that kept the title race alive.
The fact that they were without several important players through injury, including Harry Kane, Danny Rose and Hugo Lloris, made the dramatic victory all the more impressive.
5. Familiar problems as Liverpool’s title hopes all but over
There was a point this season where Liverpool looked capable of competing for the title, but that seems a distant memory now.
Tonight’s 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth felt like all their problems since the start of the campaign in microcosm.
With 66 goals scored, they have the best attack in the league, but only two teams in the top half of the table — West Brom and Watford — have conceded more goals.
Again tonight, they were nervy in defence, with Georginio Wijnaldum’s dreadful back-pass leading to Bournemouth’s opening goal.
Despite securing five wins and being unbeaten in 10 games against the top six this season, the Reds have struggled against weaker teams, with their last six losses coming against sides in the bottom half of the table, and this evening’s encounter not much of an improvement.
Moreover, not for the first time, they badly missed Sadio Mane — Jurgen Klopp’s men have picked up just two points from four Premier League games without the Senegalese international.
The best the Reds can hope for now, it seems, is a top-four spot. And while they remain six points ahead of Arsenal and Man United, their rivals both have two games in hand, so a Champions League place is far from guaranteed as it stands.
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