The Premier League title race is a long-distance marathon that runs over the course of 10 months but it looks like it is going to be a sprint to the finish line in 2017. The ‘world’s most-watched drama series’ once again delivered some of the most thrilling, edge-of-the-seat football to its fans around the globe.
Harry Kane was back in the starting line-up and back amongst the goals once again. He scored for the 6th time in four games against Bournemouth as Tottenham ran out 4-0 winners in Saturday’s lunch-time kick-off. Moussa Dembele scored his first goal in 48 games and a first goal from open play this season for summer signing Vincent Janssen rounded off the scoring, and with Chelsea not playing until Sunday, Spurs victory over the Cherries narrowed the gap to their West-London rivals to just 4 points.
Jose Mourinho’s only defeat with Manchester United since his humbling 4-0 return to his former club back in October came in the FA Cup last month against… yep, you guessed it, Chelsea. In fact, the Red Devils had not beaten Chelsea in 12 previous attempts – their longest winless run against any opposition. In the title race of 2007, Sir Alex Ferguson famously once said “If Chelsea drop points, the cat’s out in the open. And you know what cats are like - sometimes they don’t come home.” Chelsea this season, under the guise of Antonio Conte, had stormed into a lead at the top of the table and never looked back. They were taking bigger and bigger strides as they looked to break away from the chasing pack. Every team has a weakness, however, and it takes a great opposition manager to expose them. The Blues had not kept a clean sheet in 9 Premier League games prior to their visit to Old Trafford and the task of keeping United out was made even more difficult before kick-off with the news that defender Marcos Alonso and goalkeeper Thibault Courtois would both miss the game through illness and injury respectively. It was a case of ‘lucky number 13’ for Jose’s men and they turned in a devastating performance in front of a thunderous crowd. 2-0 winners on the day, Chelsea couldn’t even muster a single shot on target and their FA Cup semi-final clash with Spurs this weekend looks all the more important and it could be a real indicator as to which part of London the title will settle in this season.
Arsene Wenger changed his formation for the first time in 20 years against Middlesbrough on Monday night and it paid off as Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez scored in each half helping Arsenal to just their 3rd win in 9 games. The Gunners are still 7 points off Man City in 4th albeit having played a game fewer. Pep Guardiola’s side ran out 3-0 victor’s over 9th placed Southampton in Saturday’s late game to keep pressure on Liverpool just above them. Jurgen Klopp’s side remain 2 points ahead after the Reds 1-0 win over West Brom on Sunday.