LONDON: Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes was named Premier League Player of the Season on Saturday.&nbsp;Fernandes has equalled the record for most assists in a single Premier League campaign with 20, alongside Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.&nbsp;The 31-year-old has also scored eight league goals for United this term, helping Michael Carrick&#39;s third-placed team secure qualification for next season&#39;s Champions League.&nbsp;Fernandes is the first United player to win the award since Nemanja Vidic in 2010-11.&nbsp;He took the prize ahead of Arsenal&#39;s David Raya, Gabriel Magalhaes and Declan Rice, Manchester City&#39; Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo, Brentford&#39;s Igor Thiago and Nottingham Forest&#39;s Morgan Gibbs-White.&nbsp;United captain Fernandes had already won this season&#39;s Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year award.&nbsp;Manchester City defender Nico O&#39;Reilly won the Premier League Young Player of the Season award.&nbsp;O&#39;Reilly became a regular at left-back for City this season and also featured in midfield, scoring five goals and providing three assists.&nbsp;The 21-year-old bagged both goals in City&#39;s League Cup final win over Arsenal in March and also started in their FA Cup final victory against Chelsea.&nbsp;City&#39;s Rayan Cherki, West Ham&#39;s Mateus Fernandes, Newcastle&#39;s Lewis Hall, Brentford&#39;s Michael Kayode, United&#39;s Kobbie Mainoo and Bournemouth&#39;s Alex Scott and Eli Junior Kroupi were the other nominees for the Young Player award.

Football

Bruno Fernandes won the Premier League Player of the Season award after recording 20 assists and eight goals, helping Manchester United qualify for the Champions League, while Nico O'Reilly claimed Young Player honors..

Man Utd's Fernandes named Premier League Player of the Season

MANCHESTER: Manchester City kept their slender Premier League title hopes alive as Jeremy Doku inspired a 3-0 win against Brentford on Saturday.&nbsp;Pep Guardiola&#39;s side struggled to prise open Brentford for almost an hour at the Etihad Stadium.&nbsp;But Doku&#39;s latest dazzling strike broke the deadlock before Erling Haaland bagged his 26th league goal this season.&nbsp;Omar Marmoush wrapped up an essential City victory in stoppage-time.&nbsp;City closed to two points behind leaders Arsenal, putting pressure back on Mikel Arteta&#39;s team to win at third-bottom West Ham on Sunday.&nbsp;After their damaging 3-3 draw at Everton on Monday put the destiny of the title in Arsenal&#39;s hands, City did their bit to prolong the drama.&nbsp;City will have a game in hand on Arsenal after this weekend, but the Gunners are guaranteed to clinch the title for the first time in 22 years if they win their remaining matches against West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace.&nbsp;Guardiola&#39;s men host Palace on Wednesday before turning their attention to the FA Cup final against Chelsea on May 16.&nbsp;Foreshadowing his match-winning contribution, City winger Doku forced an early save from Caoimhin Kelleher.&nbsp;But &nbsp;Gianluigi Donnarumma almost gifted Brentford a goal when Michael Kayode&#39;s long throw was scrambled off the line after the City keeper made a hash of his attempt to catch the ball.&nbsp;Donnarumma&#39;s lackadaisical effort was in keeping with City&#39;s laboured attempts to take control.&nbsp;Haaland wastefully headed high and wide when Doku&#39;s cross picked out the striker just six yards from goal.&nbsp;When Haaland met Doku&#39;s cutback with a close-range blast, Kelleher repelled it before Nathan Ake failed to convert the rebound to groans from City&#39;s frustrated fans.&nbsp;Bernardo Silva escaped with a booking after the City midfielder lashed out at Nathan Collins.&nbsp;City were equally lethargic at the start of the second half and Donnarumma had to save Igor Thiago&#39;s low drive.&nbsp;Guardiola sent on Marmoush and Phil Foden in a bid to spark City into life and the move paid instant dividends.&nbsp;Doku had scored twice with a eye-catching curlers against Everton and he repeated the trick to end Brentford&#39;s resistance in the 60th minute.&nbsp;Seizing the rebound after his initial effort was blocked, Doku whipped a superb strike into the top corner from the left-hand side of the penalty area.&nbsp;Doku&#39;s fourth goal in his last three games was nearly followed by one for Foden, but Kelleher was equal to his close-range shot.&nbsp;City were still vulnerable at the back and Kevin Schade appealed in vain for a penalty after contact from Matheus Nunes.&nbsp;Haaland settled City&#39;s fraying nerves in the 75th minute, back-heeling in from close-range after his first effort was blocked from Antoine Semenyo&#39;s cross.&nbsp;Marmoush bolstered City&#39;s goal difference, which is now just one less than Arsenal&#39;s, with a composed finish from inside the area in the final seconds.

Manchester City beat Brentford 3-0 with goals from Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush, keeping title hopes alive and closing gap to two points behind leaders Arsenal after a strong second-half performance win match.

Man City beat Brentford to close gap on leaders Arsenal

MANCHESTER: Martin Odegaard said he still believes Arsenal can win a first Premier League title since 2004 despite their devastating 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.&nbsp;Pep Guardiola&#39;s City will leapfrog the Gunners if they beat struggling Burnley on Wednesday as they hunt a seventh league title in nine seasons.&nbsp;Erling Haaland scored the winner in the second half at the Etihad Stadium after Rayan Cherki&#39;s superb opener was cancelled out by Kai Havertz.&nbsp;Arsenal captain Odegaard said the game was decided on small margins.&nbsp;&quot;We played a good game, I thought we pressed them really well, we had some really good moments there on the high press,&quot; the midfielder told Sky Sports.&nbsp;&quot;And then, especially the second half, we looked a lot more dangerous, we had a few big, big moments there in front of goal.&nbsp;&quot;Small margins to decide a game like this, and we weren&#39;t sharp enough in front of the goals. That&#39;s why we go home with nothing, so I&#39;m disappointed.&quot;&nbsp;Arsenal have suffered seven defeats in 55 matches this season, in all competitions. Three of those came in the first 49 matches, with four in the past six.&nbsp;Odegaard was asked whether Mikel Arteta&#39;s men, who host Newcastle next week, would have the added difficulty of a &quot;psychological barrage&quot; following their collapse in form.&nbsp;&quot;There&#39;s always that in football, there&#39;s always pressure, always noise, and that&#39;s a part of being a football player at this level, so that&#39;s completely normal to us,&quot; said the midfielder.&nbsp;&quot;We&#39;re just going to keep going, stay focused on ourselves like we&#39;ve done the whole season -- just look forward to the next game now and bounce back, get a win there and move on.&quot;

Martin Odegaard insists Arsenal can still win the Premier League despite a 2-1 loss to Manchester City, blaming missed chances and small margins while urging focus and recovery.

Arsenal still believe in title hopes despite City loss: Odegaard

LONDON: Liverpool were tipped to turn the Premier League title race into a prolonged coronation this season, but instead the champions find themselves mired in an unexpected crisis after their latest shock defeat. The Reds were beaten 3-2 at Brentford on Saturday as they crashed to a fourth successive league loss. Coming hot on the heels of a first defeat against Manchester United at Anfield since 2016, Liverpool suddenly look more vulnerable than at any time in Arne Slot&#39;s reign. Liverpool are languishing in sixth place after four defeats in their first nine league matches, with leaders Arsenal having seizing their mantle as the top-flight pace-setters. Liverpool have already lost as many Premier League games this season as in their entire title-winning campaign. It is a remarkable fall from grace after Slot&#39;s side romped to the trophy last season, finishing 10 points clear of second-placed Arsenal and wrapping up the title with four games to spare. Fuelled by a &pound;446 million ($593 million) spending spree in the close-season, Liverpool started the campaign as odds-on favourites to extend their reign with a record 21st English title. But Liverpool&#39;s decision to overhaul their already battle-tested squad has backfired. They twice smashed their transfer record in the summer with blockbuster deals for Bayer Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz and Newcastle striker Alexander Isak. Slot also brought in Hugo Ekitike, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, while Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Jarell Quansah were among the notable departures from Anfield. There were early warning signings that Slot&#39;s revamp would not go smoothly when Liverpool were beaten on penalties by Crystal Palace in the Community Shield. Although the Reds won their first seven games in all competitions this term, they rarely impressed and needed late goals to emerge victorious in six of those games. Palace gave Liverpool a dose of their own medicine with a late goal in a 2-1 victory that finally exposed the flaws in Slot&#39;s team. Defeats at Galatasaray and Chelsea followed before United emerged from their own crisis to plunder a 2-1 win at Anfield. By the time Brentford punished Liverpool&#39;s sloppy defending to leave the champions in turmoil, Slot was looking increasingly bewildered on the touchline. &lsquo;Nowhere near good enough&rsquo;Slot&#39;s issues are spread throughout the side, with Wirtz looking completely out of sync, while British record signing Isak has managed just one goal in eight appearances. Mohamed Salah has been anonymous since late last season and Slot has already dropped him twice this term in a bid to spark the Egypt forward into life. Frimpong and Kerkez have struggled at full-back and even captain Virgil van Dijk has been below par as Liverpool find themselves targeted by a barrage of long balls. The tragic death of Diogo Jota in a car crash during the close-season has also taken its toll. But most alarming for Liverpool fans is Slot&#39;s admission that he has no answers to the pressure being applied to his crumbling defence by opponents&#39; direct tactics. &quot;Teams seem have a certain playing style against us, which is a very good strategy to play, and we haven&#39;t found an answer yet,&quot; he said. &quot;You cannot even compete, which we don&#39;t do at the moment, because we simply concede too many goals. &quot;It definitely also has to do with if you change quite a lot during the summer, then I think it&#39;s not a surprise that it can go a bit like this. But I didn&#39;t expect it to go with four losses in a row, let that be clear.&quot; Liverpool are only the fourth reigning champions to lose four consecutive games. It is also the first time they have lost four consecutive league games since February 2021. Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson offered no excuses for their struggles ahead of Palace&#39;s visit to Anfield in the League Cup on Wednesday. &quot;In a difficult moment, the only way to get out of it is work even harder, run that bit more and look after yourself that bit better,&quot; he said. &quot;The results have been nowhere near good enough over the last five, six games. We&#39;re the only ones who can get us out of it. &quot;We need to start playing better and we need to start showing a lot more consistency.&quot;

In a growing crisis, Liverpool suffer a fourth straight league defeat, slipping to sixth as Arne Slot’s squad overhaul falters. Key signings struggle, Mohamed Salah is off form and defensive issues mount, leaving Slot searching for solutions.

Liverpool crisis mounts as Slot searches for answers

LIVERPOOL: Emi Buendia&#39;s curling shot sealed a 2-1 comeback win for Aston Villa against Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.&nbsp;The victory continued Villa&#39;s resurgence after a desperate start to the season and denied Spurs the chance to provisionally move up to second in the standings.&nbsp;Buendia shimmied his way across the edge of the box in the 77th minute at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before sweeping a perfect shot low into the bottom corner.&nbsp;It was Villa&#39;s fifth-straight win in all competitions after failing to pick up a victory in its first six games of the campaign.&nbsp;It ended Spurs&#39; seven-game unbeaten run that looked set to continue when Rodrigo Bentancur fired the home team ahead after just five minutes.&nbsp;Morgan Rogers leveled the game in the 37th before Villa went on to take all three points and consign Tottenham coach Thomas Frank to his second league loss since taking over in the summer.&nbsp;Liverpool played Manchester United later Sunday.

Emi Buendia’s late strike secured Aston Villa’s 2-1 comeback win over Tottenham, extending their winning streak to five matches and ending Spurs’ seven-game unbeaten run.


Articles tagged with "Premier League"

Man Utd's Fernandes named Premier League Player of the Season

Man City beat Brentford to close gap on leaders Arsenal

Arsenal still believe in title hopes despite City loss: Odegaard

Liverpool crisis mounts as Slot searches for answers

Brilliant Buendi fires Aston Villa to comeback win against Tottenham

Man Utd's Fernandes named Premier League Player of the Season