– Andy Carroll’s hat-trick denies Arsenal vital two points to chatter their slim title hopes
– Aston Villa’s all but lost their Premier league status and condemned to the Championships by Bournemouth
– Palace secured their first victory in 2016 with an important victory at home to relegation threatened Norwich
– Chelsea lost their first EPL match under the interim manager Gus Hiddink
– Jamie Vardy’s brace against Sunderland poises Leicester for the EPL title, seven points clear with five games to go.
– Tottenham on the trail of Leicester with the thrashing of Manchester United at the White Hart lane and ready to pounce if the leaders falter.
– Liverpool romped past Stoke to get ready for the quarter-final encounter with Borusia Dortmund
Naij.com sports brings you another exhilarating round in the EPL with the Gunners slim hope of the Premier League title virtually all but ended by the Hammers and Newcastle’s EPL survival looking slimmer as the amount of matches dwindle.
Chelsea lost their first EPL match under Hiddink while Swansea secures their EPL status.
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Sunderland 0-2 Leicester
What an enthralling and unpredictable season it has been in the EPL, ‘will’ probably be the most unexpected triumph for an underdog in sport, let alone football. For a team who was fighting against relegation this time last year as a newbie in the EPL to a team on the brink – and rightfully so, of winning the biggest price in world football is truly unprecedented and a joy to behold for all underdogs in any walk of life.
The EPL leaders moved even closer to the title with the clinical Jamie Vardy’s brace, the first in the 66th minute before adding his second – 21st of the season – in added time.
Leicester now need maximum nine points to become English champions for the first time while the relegation threatened home side remain in the bottom three, four points behind Norwich City, who they play next Saturday.
Tottenham 3-0 Manchester United
The match delay was worth the wait for the home side after the visitors team bus got stuck in traffic after blitzing them in six second half minutes to keep their faint title hopes alive.
Spurs ended their 15year wait for a victory at home to United to close the gap on the leaders to seven points with 15 points to play for.
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The first half was an intriguing affair with both sides fighting tooth and nail to conjure an opening to no avail. The home side started the brighter in the second half before making their superiority count in the 70th minute when Dele Alli broke the deadlock with a first time strike past De Gea.
Toby Alderweireld doubled the scoring four minutes later with a header from Erik Lamela’s fine free kick before Lamela himself sealed the victory two minutes later with another first time shot past De Gea.
Tottenham are seven points behind Leicester and six above Arsenal in third with five games to play while United are still fighting for a Champion’s league place.
Liverpool 4-1 Stoke
Moreno, Sturridge and Origi helped Liverpool to an easy victory over Stoke despite the manager resting seven players ahead of the Europa League quater-final against Borussia Dortmund.
Origi staked his claim with a brace to justify his selection in midweek ahead of Sturridge despite rewarding his manager’s faith with a crucial away goal against Dortmund.
Moreno opened the scoring with a dipping long range strike before Bojan equalised for the away side.
Sturridge restored the lead with a close range header before Origi’s brace put paid to the tie.
West Ham vs Arsenal
West Ham 3-3 Arsenal
It was a goal fest at the Boleyn Ground, a typical scintillating derby match with no quarter given, end-to-end stuff.
Andy Carroll scored an eight-minute hat-trick on both sides of the half, but was not enough for the Hammers to secure a stunning comeback victory as the Hammers recovered from two nil down before the Emirates club snatched a late point.
West Ham found themselves two goals behind despite having a valid goal harshly ruled out for offside in the 14th minute of the match with Mesut Ozil opening the scoring with his sixth goal of the season just four minutes later.
Alexis Sanchez doubled the lead in the 35th minute – both goals assisted by Alex Iwobi, before Arsenal surrendered their control of the game when Carroll scored twice in less than two minutes.
Carroll scored again with an emphatic header- the first player to score a hat-trick against the Gunners since Wayne Rooney in 2011, shortly after half-time to put the hosts in front.
Koscielny levelled the scoring to ensure a share of the points when he netted past Adrian after Welbeck touched the ball into his path in this breathless match.
Bournemouth players celebrates the victory
Aston Villa 1-2 Bournemouth
Aston Villa are closer the Premier League relegation, thanks to goals from Steve Cook and Joshua King with Jordan Ayew reducing the deficit in a home loss to Bournemouth.
Villa is one of only seven teams to have played in every EPL campaign since its launch, succumbed to the Premier League new boys to chatter the heart of the faithful.
Steve Cook put the visitors ahead with a deft flick before the break before Joshua King added a second with 74 minutes on the clock.
Jordan Ayew scored a late consolation, but did little to lift the gloom inside Villa Park. Bournemouth have now all but secured a second campaign in the EPL with this victory to allow the manager to plan for next season.
Alan Pardew as a Crystal Palace player
Crystal Palace 1-0 Norwich
Jason Puncheon scored his first goal of the season at the right time to end Crystal Palace’s lack of victory and misery in 2016 with this hard fought win over fellow strugglers Norwich City to ease their lingering fear of relegation.
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Puncheon’s long range strike settled a combative contest midway through the second half to leave the visitors fourth bottom – only four points clear of Sunderland who have two games in hand and play the first against leaders Leicester City on Sunday.
However, Palace are now 10 points clear of the dreaded relegation zone and could secure their status with a win against Everton on Wednesday.
Guus Hiddink
Swansea 1-0 Chelsea
Chelsea’s Premier League unbeaten run Hiddink came to an abrupt end defeat with this loss to Swansea in their first match since Conte was confirmed as the permanent successor.
Gyfil Sigurdsson’s first goal in five league matches gave the Swans a deserved lead midway through the first-half, and Pato could have restored parity but wasted two golden opportunities.
Swansea resisted a late onslaught by the visitors to hold on and end Gus Hiddink’s 15-match unbeaten run while ensuring another season in the EPL in the process – their third consecutive home victory since 2013.
Sadio Mane of Southampton
Southampton 3-1 Newcastle
Newcastle’s EPL safety is looking precarious with another away defeat that leave them six points adrift of safety, lurching them closer to relegation.
Despite their desperate need of a result, they put in another below-par performance on their travels, to keep Southampton in sight of European football next season.
Shane Long broke the deadlock as early as first four minutes with a confident low finish before Graziano Pelle doubled the scoring with a bent effort into the bottom-right corner.
Victor Wanyama wrapped up the comfortable victory with his first goal of the season before a consolation goal from Andros Townsend.
Editor’s Note: This report was originally published on April 9, and updated on April 10.
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