Chelsea in dramatic come back dent Aston Villa top-four hope

A brilliant second-half strike by Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher secured a 2-2 Premier League draw with Aston Villa on Saturday as the Blues staged a thrilling comeback from two goals down to threaten Villa’s Champions League hopes.

Aston Villa are fourth on 67 points, seven ahead of Tottenham Hotspur, who play title-chasing Arsenal in the North London derby on Sunday as one of their three games in hand over Villa. Chelsea are ninth on 48 points.

Thrashed 5-0 by Arsenal in midweek, Chelsea got off to the worst possible start when Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn’s shot was scuffed into his own net by Marc Cucurella in the fourth minute, and the home side dominated the opening 45 minutes.

They went in 2-0 up at the break after Morgan Rogers added their second goal just before the break, his third in three home games for Aston Villa.

However, the game then turned as Aston Villa were forced to replace keeper Emi Martinez with Robin Olsen due to a hamstring injury, and the Swede was powerless to stop Noni Madueke from pulling back a goal in the 63rd minute.

READ ALSO:

• Two arrested for torturing 60-year-old man to death in Anambra
• Relegation threatened Burnley hold Man United to a 1 – 1 draw
• Yahaya Bello: American school returns $720,000 advance tuition fees, gives reasons

When Gallagher was left room to shoot from the edge of the box he needed no second invitation, curling a stunning 81st-minute equaliser past Olsen to put his side level.

Chelsea almost completed an incredible comeback by snatching a late winner as substitute Axel Disasi headed what looked to be a stoppage-time winner for the visitors, but Benoit Badiashile was found to have committed a foul in the build-up and the goal was ruled out.

That decision provoked an angry response from the Chelsea players, with several of them confronting the referee after the final whistle to protest about the decision.

“Should it have been three points? Yes. Do I think the goal should have stood? Yes. Nothing else to say about the situation,” Chelsea goal-scorer Madueke said in a post-match TV interview.

“We have an abundance of quality and when we fire we’re a match for any team. The last game was terrible. For 70 minutes today the team were outstanding,” he added.

Villa’s Rogers was philosophical, despite how close his side came to losing on the night.

“We are disappointed, they controlled most of the game. we should probably see the game out, we might look back on it as a good point because they’re a good team,” he said.

Chelsea in dramatic come back dent Aston Villa top-four hope

Relegation threatened Burnley hold Man United to a 1 – 1 draw

Burnley’s survival hopes received a huge boost after it held Manchester United to a stalemate at Old Trafford, with Zeki Amdouni’s late penalty earning the Clarets a point that inches Vincent Kompany’s men a little closer to pulling off a great escape.

Adrift of safety and knowing Nottingham Forest and Luton play fellow basement dwellers next weekend, Burnley realistically needed to leave Old Trafford with something to show for their efforts to boost their survival hopes.

Those hopes almost took an instant hit though, when Alejandro Garnacho was afforded too much space at the far post, but he was leaning back and his strike drifted harmlessly over the bar.

United were firmly on top in the opening stages, and they came even closer shortly after when Antony broke in behind, only to see his effort drift narrowly wide of the post.

A United opener only seemed a matter of time away when they came even closer midway through the first half, with Bruno Fernandes watching on with anguish as his effort crashed back off the post.

That seemed to be the wake-up call Burnley needed, as it was then their turn to land a couple of blows, with Wilson Odobert’s effort forcing an acrobatic stop out of Andre Onana, before Lyle Foster’s header saw the Cameroonian produce an even smarter stop.

READ ALSO:

• Yahaya Bello: American school returns $720,000 advance tuition fees, gives reasons
• NAFDAC seals 50 Kaduna shops selling cooking oil in dirty environment
• Japa: 72,000 doctors dumped Nigeria last year, says MDCN report

It was all Burnley towards the end of the opening 45, but they simply couldn’t make their pressure count, with Onana again keeping United in the game by denying Foster one-on-one.

You sensed there was always a likelihood the Clarets would be made to pay for their missed chances, and they were almost made to do so within minutes of the restart. Fortunately for Kompany’s men, Arijanet Muric produced a fine stop to deny Antony after he was smartly set up by Garnacho.

It was a rather strange feeling for both sides as the game approached its latter stages – largely because both desperately needed the win for very different causes.

United looked the likelier of the two to find what would’ve been a huge winner, yet the irrepressible Muric was doing his level best to ensure that wouldn’t be the case, producing another impressive stop to deny Garnacho.

There was always a sense of inevitability that Muric would eventually get beaten, and so it proved a little over 10 minutes from time.

It was in gift-like fashion too, as Antony read Sander Berge’s blind pass, strode clear on goal and slotted into the bottom corner.

Unwilling to lie down though, a moment of madness from Onana, who clattered Amdouni, afforded the Swiss international the chance to score from the spot – one he duly accepted to earn Burnley a deserved point in the desperate battle to beat the drop and dent United’s top six hopes in the process.

Relegation threatened Burnley hold Man United to a 1 – 1 draw

Liverpool draw West Ham as title hopes slip

Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes seem all but over as Michail Antonio scored to rescue a point for West Ham at London Stadium.

Jarrod Bowen opened the scoring just before the break when he rose highest to meet Mohammed Kudus’ cross into the area as Liverpool showed little evidence that their Merseyside derby loss in midweek had done much in the way of spurring them on.

But the visitors were much improved in the second half and Andy Robertson equalised when he scored from Luis Diaz’s low pass into the penalty area.

READ ALSO:

• FG borrows N3.8trn from CBN in 6 months, says new report
• GRA regeneration scheme: Alake endorses housing projects
• Naira fall: Senator warns CBN against artificial measures

They were then rewarded for their pressure when Cody Gakpo’s effort from a corner bounced off Angelo Ogbonna, Tomas Soucek and Alphonse Areola before finding the back of the net.

It looked like they were on their way to bouncing back from back-to-back defeats in the league until Antonio’s thumping header put the Hammers back on level terms.

Liverpool sit third in the table with three games remaining, two points behind leaders Arsenal, who face Tottenham on Sunday, while Manchester City are second but have two games in hand.

Liverpool’s title hopes appear to be all but over, with the Reds relying on both of their title rivals to slip up to get back in the race.

Liverpool draw West Ham as title hopes slip