Premier League table & Champions League race as Man Utd & Tottenham both win
By Euan Burns
It was a good weekend of Premier League action for two teams that are trying to secure a place in the top four as both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur recorded victories on Sunday afternoon.
The first game of the day saw United host Leicester City at Old Trafford and it was a game played at a furious pace to begin with. The Red Devils started very well but it was soon Leciester who looked the most likely to score first.
David De Gea was forced into two incredibly impressive saves in the first half as United struggled to hold onto the ball, but with the quality of forwards that Erik ten Hag has in his side, a goal is never far away. Bruno Fernandes played a great pass to release Marcus Rashford who finished calmly past Danny Ward.
In the second half, United were much better and put Leicester to the sword. Goals from Rashford and Jadon Sancho put United in full control and the coach was able to start resting players for the return Europa League leg against Barcelona.
Position | Club | Played | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Arsenal | 23 | 28 | 54 |
2 | Manchester City | 24 | 36 | 52 |
3 | Manchester United | 24 | 13 | 49 |
4 | Tottenham | 24 | 9 | 42 |
5 | Newcastle | 23 | 20 | 41 |
In the later game, Tottenham welcomed West Ham to north London and they knew that any dropped points would let Newcastle United off the hook after their loss against Liverpool the night before.
It was far from being a vintage performance from Spurs in the absence of Antonio Conte who is recovering from his surgery in Italy, but defender Emerson Royal gave them the lead 10 minutes into the second half. In an unusual bit of linkup, he received the ball from Ben Davies in the box and finished well.
The points were then secured against a sorry West Ham side when Harry Kane played the ball through for his partner in crime, Heung-min Son, who finished superbly with just under 20 minutes to play.
For United, the weekend's action means that they are just three points away from Manchester City having played the same number of games. They are also only five behind Arsenal but the Gunners have a game in hand.
Spurs now move into the top four of the Premier League table and are one point ahead of Newcastle, although Eddie Howe's side do still have a game in hand to play.