In the span of four days, Arsenal let slip any hopes they had of overtaking Chelsea for the Premier League title, and in typical Arsenal fashion. Despite being eight points behind Chelsea before the midweek fixtures, Arsenal had a chance to put some pressure on the Blues at the top. The Gunners were taking on mid-table side Watford at the Emirates Stadium while Chelsea traveled to Anfield to face top-four contenders Liverpool.
Week 24 of the Premier League yielded a familiar set of storylines for the division: Chelsea are probably going to win the title, Arsenal’s challenge has collapsed and they’re now in fourth, Liverpool find themselves on the outside looking in and Jose Mourinho is talking about double standards.
Chelsea’s victory over Arsenal on Saturday was marked by a strange phenomena that led to the end of midfield enforcer Francis Coquelin’s career. Coquelin was employed to stop suspicious characters from running straight through the Arsenal midfield, but he failed after suffering spontaneous human combustion while tracking Eden Hazard.
He exploded into hellfire. There is no adequate explanation for this bit of poltergeist, in fact, referee Martin Atkinson adjudged it to be a foul, which is a pretty terrible way to treat someone who’s just suffered self-detonation.
Leading up to the Super Bowl, Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a conversation with retired NFL player Osi Umenyiora, who asked the Swede what position he would play if he were in the NFL.
Here's Zlatan's answer: “The guy who makes the difference. I’d be the one who catches the ball. Maybe I wouldn’t be so fast but I would be like a bull and run through all of them.”
Gabriel Jesus had quite the full EPL debut for Manchester City Wednesday against West Ham, scoring and assisting in a 4-0 win.
Gabriel Jesus didn't want to get left out of Man City's goal party pic.twitter.com/dF0OMnSzoc
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 1, 2017
Peter Crouch became the 26th player to score 100 Premier League goals during Wednesday's 1-1 draw against Everton.
Of course, he did "The Robot" to celebrate.
Peter Crouch scores his 100th Premier League goal! pic.twitter.com/NU9ij10ATJ
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 1, 2017
Pep Guardiola’s first season in England is not going to the way he planned. His Manchester City side are currently out of the top four, endangering their chances of qualifying for the Champions League — let alone winning the title.
They also have the most losses out of all teams in the top six with five defeats, and conceded the most goals with 28. The team has many problems on the pitch, and converting their chances inside the final third seems to be the biggest one.
The January transfer deadline window passed without the need for everyone to lose their collective minds over a deal like Karim Benzema to Burnley or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to PSG, Manchester City, Arsenal or any of the other clubs he really likes.