Manchester United compound Steve Cooper’s problems  with a 2-0 defeat at City Ground

And….Antony scores yet again

By Ed Emeanua

Taiwo Awoniyi and Emmanuel Dennis are slowly being dragged down to Championship level football next season as their Nottingham Forest side continue on a free fall on relegation lane after losing again to to Manchester United by a 1-0 scoreline at City Ground on Sunday.

Forest’s gallantry in the home game lasted till the 32′ when Anthony Martial ran into Forest’s box with intense swiftness to force Keylor Navas to react with a great save. This pressured the Costa Rican goalie to tip the ball straight into the path of Matheus dos Santos Antony, who in turn, rested the ball in the net.

Despite Forest losing the game, the difference between the winner and loser is so insignificant that it was hard to say which of the two sides was fighting for a European place and which was batting against relegation.

Scoreless in their three games against Man United this season, Nottingham Forest weren’t looking like a side that was eager to reverse that fortune until Awoniyi struck a clear chance to score wide of the mark on 44′.

The Nigerian forward continued to cause problems at the visitor’s end but failed to finish off any of his efforts before the break.

On 76′, yet in another passing move, Manchester United’s Antony connected with an advancing Diogo Dalot, who in turn drills his shot past Navas to seal the win for the visitors.

At the point of scoring the second goal, Manchester United had 19 shots with nine of them on target. On the other hand, Nottingham Forest had failed to test David De Gea in goal for the opponent even once from their six shots. That says a lot about the lack of form of the home team’s attacking end.

With ten minutes remaining, Emmanuel Dennis was extracted from the bench to replace Scott McKenna for Forest, but it was too late for the Nigerian attacker to make any significant impact.

Forest are left with just seven games remaining to save their season from their current perilous second placing from the bottom of the table.

 To avoid distractions as Premier League shield pursuit loses momentum

Mikel Arteta pointing the way forward as several clubs focus their attention 

In his first season in charge, Arteta guided the Gunners to FA Cup cup win, despite shaky periods trailing the way, in addition to failing to qualify for the Champions League.

Notable plus for Arteta is the blend of Arsenal’s play with remarkable flair and transition, an accomplishment that will certainly align him with the interests of his many new suitors, though Arsenal are still very keen to retain him at the Emirates.

However, Arsenal’s main attention for now centers on the chase for the Premier League shield as they continue to nurse the hope of becoming champions again after 19 years of waiting.

Arsenal maintain lead but their clad iron grip on League shield chase loosens

By Ed Emeanua

Arsenal FC continued their steady but methodical pursuit of the English Premier League (EPL) shield this season, but relegation tormented West Ham United forced them to relent somewhat, after coming from two goals down to holdoff the league leaders in a pulsating 2-2 draw at the London Stadium on Sunday.

Arsenal still tops the table with 4 points separating them and defending champions Manchester City, who still has a game to play.

Arsenal poured forward in an attacking spree from the start of the game, but it was the home side that had a shoutout for a likely hand to ball incident early on in the fast paced encounter.

West Ham had built up with neat passing around the edge of the box in a meticulous effort to breach Arsenal’s defense. Saïd Benrahma found the room in the 5th minute to send a tentative shot towards the goal line that hit Rob Holding’s arm but the central referee and VAR both ruled his arm was tucked in directly in front of his body, so, no foul.

The visitors were already two goals up within the first 10 minutes of the game to show their determination and tenacity to remain on top of the EPL table.

The match began to swing from one end to the other. As if in a rehash of how to yank a defenses apart, Arsenal’s Thomas Partey transitioned play, Bukayo Saka dribbled inside before teeing in a reverse pass into overlapping right back Ben White’s path. West Ham failed to track him and his play flashed across the box, finding Jesus for a simple tap-in for the first goal.

Then on the 10′, Gabriel Martinelli was allowed too much room and time to locate Martin Odegaard with a timed cross to the back-post which allowed him to guide in the ball past Łukasz Fabiański on the volley for the second goal.

The game then turned into a ding-dong affair. On 31′, Partey mysteriously gives the ball away very casually on the edge of the box, allowing Declan Rice to pounce and win the duel, before rolling his pass into the path of Lucas Paquetá who was brought down by Gabriel. The referee blew his whistle allowing VAR to check the incident allowing West Ham to get a deserved lifeline.

Benrahma stepped up for the spot kick, kept his cool and sent Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way to tuck the ball into the bottom right corner, bringing the scores to 2-1.

In the second half, Martinelli’s close shot from a corner kick on 50′ struck Antonio’s arm for a penalty award but Saka skied his spot kick wide off the mark.

Then on 54′, Thilo Kehrer looped the ball into the box with Arsenal defense caught napping, allowing Jarrod Bowen to evade the offside trap and finishing with a first time shot past Ramsdale to tie the game 2-2.

Both sides pressed for the lead but mush share equal blames for spurning chances after chances to win the game.

Leicester slumps further down in the relegation zone with a 3-1 loss to Man City

By Ed Emeanua

Leicester City attacker Kelechi Iheanacho scored Saturday for Leicester City against his former club in a 4-0 drubbing by Manchester City FC at the Etihad but that was not enough to earn his relegation hounded team a relegation struggle reprieve.

Leicester drifted 3-0 until Iheanacho reduced the scoreline in the 75th minute on a somewhat calamitous day for standby manager Dean Smith, whose side now lie second from bottom on the Premier League ladder with 25 points from 31 games in their difficult struggle against relegation.

Despite that awful placing, they are just two points outside the safe zone and can still bail themselves out from the dire straits, but must first find the right form.

Iheanacho was unlucky not to add a second when his shot beat goalie Ederson de Moraes of Man City but was repelled by the upright around the 84th minute.

The Nigeria forward was a substitute in the game but compatriot Wilfred Ndidi was a substituted started in the encounter.

With the victory, Manchester City rose inside three points of surprise Premier League leaders Arsenal. John Stones was the unlikely fifth minute goal scorer off an awesome shot from 22 yards .

The second for City was from a penalty kick that was awarded after Jack Grealish’s shot struck Ndidi’s hand.

Erling Haaland concerted the spot kick to score his 31st Premier League goal in his first English football season.

The Man City striker then went on to score the third goal with the assistance of Kevin de Bryune to continue his sublime run.