Manchester City have won at Crystal Palace in the Premier League and are putting pressure on leaders Arsenal. The Liverpool FC failed in the race for places in the Champions League.
Manchester City struggled to a narrow win before the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday against RB Leipzig (first leg 1-1). Coach Pep Guardiola’s team won 1-0 (0-0) at Crystal Palace on Saturday (03/11/2023) thanks to Erling Haaland.
Former Dortmund player Haaland scored a penalty kick for the defending champion in the 78th minute after Ilkay Gündogan was fouled by Michael Olise in the penalty area. It was the 28th goal of the season in the 26th Premier League game for Haaland. Until then, Manchester had struggled at Selhurst Park.
With their third league win in a row, Man City moved up to two points in the Premier League table from leaders Arsenal, who play Fulham on Sunday.
Liverpool are defeated at Bournemouth
Liverpool lost 0-1 (0-1) in Bournemouth. This was a week after the rushing 7-0 win against rivals Manchester United a severe setback for Liverpool in the fight for fourth place. Philipp Billing scored the winning goal for the hosts (28th minute). Mohamed Salah awarded for the “Reds“With a hand penalty (69th) the best chance of equalization.
Bournemouth initially left the relegation zone with the win. Liverpool missed out on points Tottenham Hotspur to finish fourth. The Klopp team were initially dominant, but were hardly able to create dangerous scenes towards the goal. But Bournemouth struck after a counterattack when Billing placed a back pass from the baseline from eleven yards to take the lead in goal.
The “Reds” struggled against the low-lying hosts throughout the season. Even when Liverpool were awarded a hand penalty after video evidence, the compensation did not want to fall. Salah aimed well past the goal. Liverpool play Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16 second leg on Wednesday after losing the first leg 5-2.
Chelsea with an away win
Chelsea FC, long since qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, celebrated in the premier league two wins in a row for the first time since October last year. After beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the second leg of the Champions League, Chelsea won 3-1 (2-1) at Leicester City.
Former Leicester professional Ben Chilwell (11th minute) initially gave Chelsea the lead. An alleged second goal from Atlético loan João Félix did not count according to video evidence because of an offside position. After Patson Daka (39′) equalized in the meantime, Kai Havertz (45′ + 6′) scored shortly before the break. Mateo Kovacic (78th) made everything clear for Chelsea. Leicester also had to play the final minutes with a man down after Wout Faes (87th) saw the yellow-red card.
However, the victory did not bring Chelsea any further in the table. Coach Graham Potter’s team stayed in tenth place despite the three points and has to worry about the renewed Champions League qualification. The situation is more difficult for former champions Leicester, who slipped to 16th place and were only a point away from the relegation zone after the final whistle.
Gary Lineker in the stands at Leicester after being suspended
Ex-Leicester professional Gary Lineker watched in the stands. Lineker had criticized the use of language as in “Germany of the 1930s” when announcing new measures in British refugee policy.
The BBC then suspended him, numerous other employees showed solidarity with Lineker and plunged the BBC into a PR crisis. Some BBC football programs had to do without or with fewer staff at the weekend. Several offers were dropped completely.