by Goal of the week
Welp, Manchester City have taken notes from the NBA and figured out how to set screens on set pieces.
Time for us all to pack up and go home, I think.
City’s 1-1 draw at Liverpool was a moment of magic from Kevin De Bruyne, aided by a crafty set-piece routine. Nathan Aké decided to opt for Alexis McAllister from Liverpool, clearing room for him John Stones drive from the center of the box to the near post for a tap-in. But it was De Bruyne who did the heavy lifting. His cross required pace, bend and precision – and De Bruyne delivered.
It was a rare bright spot in a City performance that wasn’t very characteristically sloppy. They were scattered with the ball, and cut open too often without it. Liverpool’s intensity clouded the pitch, with City taking the ball out at an unusually high clip; It was the first time this season that Pep Guardiola’s team had under 50% possession. They conceded a free in the second half and were lucky not to go behind, with hat-tricks missing from Luis Díaz and Jérémy Doku almost conceded a 98th minute penalty.
The draw keeps City (narrowly) ahead in the title race, despite dropping to third in the league. They host Arsenal in a must-win game at the Etihad on March 31. A home win would give City an advantage over Liverpool, who have a tougher track and a long injury list.
Player of the week
How many teams are pretending to let Liverpool nab Alexis McAllister for £35m? Mac Allister was partly to blame for City’s lead, but he equalized with a penalty early in the second half and ran the show over a breathless 100 minutes.
Mac Allister was Liverpool’s best player. In a fierce atmosphere, he brought calm and purpose to Liverpool’s attack and led the team’s press. Only Liverpool’s centre-backs saw more of the ball.
“Pep probably saw it too,” Jürgen Klopp said after the game. “The way we played through the middle of the field today – some of the best moments of my coaching career to be honest.”
Mac Allister was at the heart of it all. In the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold, he is now the creative center of the team, the player sat in the middle of the field around which Liverpool’s front line revolves. In the last seven Liverpool goals where he has been on the pitch, Mac Allister has scored, assisted or been involved in the build-up.
And it’s just so out of control. Mac Allister set his sights on Rodri early on Sunday, knowing that stopping City’s metronome was the fastest way to spring counters. You can count on one hand the number of times Rodri has been handed the ball this season; Mac Allister stole the ball from Rodri twice Sunday. That has only happened twice this season. One of those? When Rodri faced Mac Allister at home in November.
Trainer of the week
And now for your weekly reminder Gáire O’Neill cooking up something special at Wolves. Fulham beat 2-1 on Saturday for the ninth-placed club in the table, six points ahead of sixth-placed Manchester United. With 10 games to go, a European place is up for grabs.
It is worth remembering where the club was when Ó Néill inherited the job on the eve of this season. O’Neil came up four days before the start of the league campaign following the shock resignation of Julen Lopetegui. For most teams, those preseason antics would have set up a long, hard relegation slog. Instead, O’Neill promised he could get more out of this squad.
It is working. The win over Fulham was Wolves’ 12th of the season, an improvement on last season. O’Neil has internalized a long-standing Premier League maxim for those without the resources of Manchester City: To win, you have to master every style. O’Neill’s team changes from week to week. Few managers were better at devising one-off plans.
There is a dearth of young managers, we are told, who can step into the shoes of the big beasts. But early in his career, O’Neill has hit all the checkpoints. He kept Bournemouth in the league before they released him hoping to introduce a more exotic style. At Wolves, he walked into one of the most corrosive situations in the league – and guided his team into the top half of the table. As resumes go, that’s pretty, pretty good.
One of the biggest swinging factors this summer will be whether Wolves can keep O’Neil when the playoffs start to roll. The club has already spoken to Uí Néill about extending his contract. But those considering Brentford’s Thomas Frank or Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi should take a closer look at O’Neil.
Controversy of the week
Kai Havertz scored a late winner to give Arsenal a 2-1 win over Brentford, lifting them to the top of the table.
But Havertz was lucky to still be on the field. Booked in the first half for an elbow and leaping for a header, Havertz took a dive in the box midway through the second looking for a penalty. The con did not work, although Havertz was not shown the second booking.
“Havertz is a clear, clear Leap,” Brentford manager Thomas Frank said after the game. “I want them to admit it. That should of course be a yellow and a red card. And then he wouldn’t be able to score the winner and hopefully we might have gained a bit more momentum, maybe won the game.”
The ‘what were you thinking?’ awarded
When the Guardian Weekend Awards take over and take over the Premier League Hall of Fame, John McGinn’s slide on Tottenham’s Destiny Udogie which will be his first ballot entry in the ‘what was he thinking’ wing.
Villa went into action against Spurs on Sunday. They were 2-0 down before McGinn’s red card. After his dismissal, Tottenham ran out comfortable 4-0 winners.
Unai Emery made a change at the back, switching from his traditional 4-4-2 formation to a 5-3-2 to try and contain Tottenham’s mobile forward line. The plan failed. And then the Villa captain seemed to lose his head.
McGinn’s reckless challenge cost Villa more than a shot to get back into the game. The midfielder will miss the teams next three games, including a trip to Manchester City. And that’s on top of losing Boubacar Kamara for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Victory against Spurs could result in a momentum swing in the race for the top four: Villa now have two key players, Spurs have a game in hand and were leading the battle by four goals difference in favor of Tottenham. Villa have not played in the Champions League for 40 years, when it was the European Cup, and there were signs on Sunday that they are starting to feel the pressure.
Disappointing performance of the week
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Everton were struggling in front of goal when you missed the frustrating thing. For major passages in their 2-0 loss at Manchester United, they were the better side. When United looked isolated in the opening 10 minutes, Sean Dyche’s side had a clear plan. And then Everton gave away a free penalty in the 12th minute. And then they gave away an almost identical one in the 36th minute.
They probed throughout the rest of the game, but did not develop a breakthrough in the final third. It epitomized Everton’s form over the past three months – they haven’t won a league game since December 16.
The United performance hit on a common theme. Everton have scored just 29 goals this season despite posting an xG of 48. They have failed to score in 11 league games this year. In open play, they have been outscored 22-14 this season, despite up to xG of 30 in open events.
As usual with Dyche’s side, they are reliant on set plays, scoring 15 times from corners or free-kicks – one better than they returned the ball in play. You’d like to think at some point luck will turn in Everton’s favour. Dyche continues to point to xG and other dorkier metrics as proof that Everton are playing above their record. But, at some point, you are what your goal score says you are.
A lack of clinical contact in and around the box reduces Everton’s margin of error. They have to get the little things right to stay up. At United, they lost composure in both boxes and defended themselves to shoot at least a point.
