Mid-week Premier League Review
It could be argued that the mid-week Premier League programme kept alive Manchester City’s faint hopes of retaining their Premier League title, even though the oil-rich defending champions might as well detach their own ribbons now and save the Premier League some manpower. Nonetheless, a tired looking City managed to see off Wigan eventually, thanks to a moment of inspiration from Carlos Tevez, in a game that was otherwise dictated by the slick and composed passing of the Latics. Tevez has certainly reclaimed his place in City fans’ affections this season, as well as a first-choice role in the side, and it will be interesting to see where he fits in next season should City land at least one of the massive transfer targets that they have been almost inevitably linked with.
The result narrowed the gap at the top to a still significant eleven points, as City’s rivals and neighbours United were held by West Ham at Upton Park, in an entertaining 2-2 draw. The home side lead twice through Vaz Te and Carroll, only to be pegged back on both occasions by goals from Antonio Valencia and, inevitably, Robin van Persie. The first goal came about due to some excellent creative play by Shinji Kagawa, who looks to be beginning to reproduce his Bundesliga pedigree.
The same, though, cannot be said about the form of Wayne Rooney. The England striker, and formerly talismanic figure at Old Trafford, cut a forlorn gait throughout the match, and was eventually substituted having offered very little. There are two schools of thought regarding Rooney. One is that he remains a top-class and, crucially, flexible player who makes a massive contribution to United with his willingness to take on different roles, and that there is still no doubting his ability. The other is that such a high-profile player is not likely to tolerate being shunted around to make way for others, and that it’s debatable whether keeping him in the United squad on his vast wage represents value for money considering he was benched against Real Madrid and rarely plays his best position any more. The summer will see Rooney’s Old Trafford future decided; Paris Saint-Germain wait in the wings ready to snaffle Rooney should the opportunity arise.
Chelsea now occupy a similarly pre-dominant position in the race to finish within the Premier League’s critical top four slots, as they had an emphatic win over Fulham at Craven Cottage. David Luiz put them on their way with a tremendous looping drive, and the Blues went on to win pretty emphatically. Chelsea moved back to third in the table, and now look unlikely to repeat last season’s disappointing league finish, which meant they were only able to play in this season’s Champions League due to winning it, a feat they manifestly failed to repeat this term.
The position of Chelsea was strengthened by the failure of Arsenal to overcome a strong Everton side at the Emirates. David Moyes set his side out to frustrate the Gunners and hit them on the break, and was pretty successful, even if his team were ultimately unable to come away with the three points that they craved. Good result though it was, the goalless draw pretty much sounded the death knell for the Toffees’ hopes of reaching next season’s Champions League, while Arsenal still require some good results to reclaim their perennial top four place. Arsene Wenger will know that Arsenal have three away games and a home fixture with Manchester United among their remaining fixtures, and that the Gunners place in next season’s Champions League is far from certain.
Premier League Results
Tuesday 16th April, 2025
Arsenal 0-0 Everton
Wednesday 17th April, 2025
Fulham 0-3 Chelsea
Man City 1-0 Wigan
West Ham 2-2 Man Utd
Premier League Table
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