Red Devils come from behind to beat Aston Villa & Hammers Top 4 in Peril

11/05/2021 | Categories: Football Results | Published by: Chris Daniels

Bruno Fernandes: Man Utd's transformation with 'Portuguese magnifico'

EPL Matchday 35 of 38 – Sunday, 9 May 2021

Aston Villa 1, Manchester United 3 – Villa Park – Sunday, 9 May 2021

Manchester United ensured a Premier League top-four finish for themselves when they came from being a goal down to beat Aston Villa 1-3 away at Villa park on Sunday afternoon.

But it were the hosts who took the lead in the 24th minute when Victor Lindelof made a mess of his clearance allowing Bertrand Traore to steal the ball away and unleash a terrific shot to the top corner of the net.

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United tried hitting back through attempts from Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford but Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was equal to task as he denied the two forwards. United custodian Dean Henderson was active at the other end as he kept out an Ollie Watkins strike to deny Villa from doubling the lead moments before the interval.

United found the equalizer shortly after the break on 52 minutes when Fernandes converted a penalty after a dogged Paul Pogba forced Douglas Luiz into a challenge inside the area and Greenwood completed a turnaround when 4 minutes later, his low strike found the bottom corner.

Greenwood waltzed past Tyrone Mings 4 minutes later and let loose a fierce low drive that beat Emiliano Martinez all ends up. Villa responded through Traore as he headed goal-wards but Henderson turned the ball behind.

United survived a penalty scare when the ball appeared to hit Greenwood’s arm inside the box but VAR ruled out a penalty.

Edinson Cavani coming in for Greenwood just beyond the hour mark and wasted no time in making his impact felt on the game. The Uruguayan swooped in out of nowhere into the area to head in a Rashford floater and put the game beyond Villa’s reach with only three minutes of play to go.

A blow to the United defense came when John Maguire was forced off on 78 minutes with Ole Solskjaer confirming afterwards that the center-back is ruled out for the remaining matches of the season.

United are ten points behind champions-in-waiting City but will have the opportunity to close in within four points as they come up against Leicester City and Liverpool in a packed week. Dean Smith’s Villa on the other hand have dropped out of the top half to the 11th after Sunday’s home defeat.

West Ham United 0 Everton 1 – London Stadium – Sunday, 9 May 2021

Calvert-Lewin virtually ends West Ham’s Top Four dreams

West Ham’s dreams of making it to the Premier League Top Four were dealt a blow when they succumbed to a 0-1 defeat to visiting Everton at the London stadium on Sunday evening.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin

A slide-rule pass from Ben Godfrey freed up Dominique Calvert-Lewin on the right to score his 16th league goal of the season in the 24th minute of play.

Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to play with three center-backs paid off as his side defended resolutely to some West Ham pressure after the opener. The best chance for the Hammers came just before the interval when Said Benrahma headed over from a Pablo Fornals cross with only the goalkeeper to beat.

But the Hammers were not able to cause real threat to goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and the closest they came to scoring after the interval was when Vladimir Coufal’s shot hit the post and Jarrod Bowen failed to capitalize on the rebound from point-blank range.

The Toffees had the chance to finish the game off when substitute Joshua King’s header came back off the post late on.

With the weekend win at the London stadium, Everton have made their place in the Top eight quite secure, being 3 points ahead of 9th placed Arsenal’s 52 and with a game in hand to boot.

West Ham’s task of finishing inside the Top Four has been made harder as they have drifted 5 points clear from 4th placed Leicester City’s 63 with only three games remaining to pull off something miraculous.