Nothing is predictable in the Premier League, where in an afternoon of upheavals and shocks, Arsenal regained the lead that Manchester City could not defend while Chelsea collapsed with a defeat against bottom club Southampton, victorious at Stamford Bridge in the opening of a unknown 39-year-old Valencian coach, Rubén Sellés.
Arsenal now commands the standings with a two-point advantage over the champion, whom they are trying to dethrone.
He also has to make up a postponed game against Everton.
This Sunday, Manchester United will try to stay placed in the fight for the title: if they beat Leicester they will be five points off the top of the table.
"Character, resilience and quality", summarized Mikel Arteta to explain what happened in Villa Park.
Arsenal passed those of Cain, was up to two times behind and equalized the score on both occasions before taking the points (2-4).
Without Thomas, their bulwark in midfield, with Nketiah disconnected to offer a reference in attack, with the doubts typical of a team that had just scored one point out of a possible nine and lost their footing in the standings, Arsenal rebelled against their fortune, against the problems that Aston Villa raised, specifically before Ramsdale's goal to punish the
gunners
up to two times before the break.
Watkins counterattacked as soon as the game began and Coutinho finished off an excellent collective action.
In between, Bukayo Saka had scored, always present for his team and for whom Arteta asked for protection from the referees at the end of the game against the kicks of the rivals.
Premier League
matchday 24
astonville
Ollie Watkins 5'Coutinho 31'
2 4
Finalized
Arsenal
Bukayo Saka 15'Zinchenko 61'Emiliano Martínez 93'Martinelli 97'
"We changed some things and improved," said Arteta after a comeback that came with a goal from Zinchenko midway through the second half and a final agony and ecstasy of two goals in extra time.
"The coach told us the right words at half-time and we all wanted to get back on the field as soon as possible," explained the Ukrainian footballer.
Arsenal footballers play with the passion of those who want to write their history.
They're on a mission and they're eagerly pursuing it.
That is why the explosion of joy when in minute 94 a kick from Jorginho from the front crashed into the crossbar, the rebound hit Dibu Martínez's neck and the ball went tame behind the goal line.
Shortly after, Martinelli closed the game with all of Aston Villa at the shot from the last corner.
"I didn't know that Jorginho could score from afar!"
Arteta pointed out at the end and before highlighting one of the latest additions to the team, a signing that comes in handy given Thomas's physical problems.
“He has had a great impact on a day-to-day basis and it is good that our fans perceive it that way.
He was tremendous today.
His best quality is that he makes those around him better”, summed up the Gipuzkoan coach, a motivator who leads the team from tactics, but also from outburst and enthusiasm.
Jorginho, the crossbar and the touch of fortune in 'Dibu' Martínez 💥
A goal to NEVER GIVE ARSENAL FOR DEAD, a goal for Mikel Arteta's team to come back and believe in the title 🔥🔥#PremierLeagueDAZN ⚽🏴 pic.twitter.com/ZhGnvLlhWB
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) February 18, 2023
The Birmingham game ended half an hour before the start of the one played by Manchester City in Nottingham, a duel that seemed to move towards the process and that in the end could be decisive in the resolution of the championship.
City scored when they played the worst and suffered when they made merits to sentence, but they left two points they had in their portfolio (1-1) because Bernardo Silva's goal before the break spun a succession of nonsense against the goal defended by Keylor Navas , which also grew in the face of the siege.
Haaland despaired of the lack of aim.
Premier League
matchday 24
Nottingham Forest
Wood 84'
eleven
Finalized
M.City
Bernardo Silva 41'
City did not close the game and five minutes into the nineties New Zealander Wood opened it like a melon.
A single shot on goal was enough for Forest to blow up the Premier League in an action bordering on offside that put the VAR to the test.
English video arbitration is under scrutiny after an error that cost Arsenal two points against Brentford and his job for Lee Mason, the referee who was in command, a league classic until his short-term retirement last summer.
Now they have retired him completely.
It's called FOOTBALL and it's so beautiful because it's impossible to explain 🔥🔥
Nottingham Forest's goal that turns the Premier League upside down and takes Manchester City's lead.
What a CRAZY!#PremierLeagueDAZN ⚽🏴 twitter.com/TAvt5E9j9J
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) February 18, 2023
The Premier does not forgive.
Not even those who spend and spend trying to tame the ball.
There is Chelsea, who does not succeed, defeated again and this time against the bottom of the table, Southampton.
At the controls of the southern England team was Rubén Sellés, a globetrotter from Valencia who has spent time in various facets as a member of technical
staffs
in Greece, Russia, Azerbaijan, Norway and Denmark before landing in Southampton last summer.
This season he had already taken command of the team in a League Cup match after the dismissal of Ralph Hasenhüttl.
As Nathan Jones barely lasted eight games, he dressed in gold again.
But this time in a first place.
Premier League
matchday 24
Chelsea
0 1
Finalized
southampton
Ward Prowse 46'
A masterful direct free kick from Ward-Prowse gave him an unexpected victory in a match that ended with a scare because Azpilicueta received a kick to the face in a game incident and had to be removed on a stretcher and under the usual immobilization protocols required by the Premier.
The Navarrese defender reassured everyone with a raised hand gesture as they evacuated him from the pitch.
Less sore, but more upset, will be his coach Graham Potter, who in 23 games in charge of Chelsea has only won nine and has the team at a disadvantage in the Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund.
What a blow to Azpilicueta!
He had to leave the game on a stretcher after receiving a very hard kick from Sekou Mara 🙏🏻 # PremierLeagueDAZN ⚽🏴
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) February 18, 2023
Saturday's day culminated in St James Park, where Liverpool managed to add their first consecutive victory of the year.
After 21 games played in 2023, an agonizing month and a half, 12 losses and four draws, Klopp's team enjoyed a favorable afternoon in Newcastle.
They prevailed 0-2 after the expulsion of Pope, the local goalkeeper, after 20 minutes of competition.
Next Tuesday Liverpool host Real Madrid at Anfield, in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.
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