The Fairytale Continues
There really is only one place to start after a day like yesterday, as Riyad Mahrez had the perfect day at the office. At about twenty-five past four, he was scoring the first of four as Leicester City routed a hapless Swansea side to move back to eight points clear at the top of the Premier League, matching the marker that Tottenham set down on Monday night against Stoke. And then, about five or so hours and one private jet ride later, Mahrez was crowned the PFA Player of the Year. And thoroughly deserved to. A tally of 17 goals and 11 assists is staggering for a winger, especially one who has quite literally come out of nowhere. Signed for just £400,000, Mahrez has been a mini-revelation at the heart of the revelation that has been Leicester City.
And it was he who capitalized on a shoddy piece of defending from Ashley Williams to cut in and fire a precise finish past Fabianski to make sure that after less than ten minutes, the pressure was off. The game was never in doubt from there, as Leicester, shorn of top scorer and number one striker Jamie Vardy, showed that they don't need Vardy to score goals. Two goals from Leo Ulloa, on the half hour and hour mark put the game to bed, before a late strike from Albrighton put the gloss on it.
Swansea offered very little to the game after gifting Mahrez the opener, and a sloppily conceded free kick led to an offside trap so appalling that you'd see better in the school yard, allowing Ulloa to power home a header to put Leicester 2-0 up and if there had been any doubts about the result of this fixture, they were well and truly dispelled. Swansea's only real chance of the game came about two minutes later, as an overzealous Robert Huth conceded a free kick from a similar position, but whilst Ulloa found the net, Fernandez could only head over.
And from there, Swansea offered nothing to the match and the game threatened to stagnate completely, with Leicester only too aware after what had happened to Liverpool that 2-0 could be a precarious scoreline, and unwilling to over-commit looking for a third, and Swansea looking like a side already off on holiday, much as Stoke had for Spurs six days earlier.
The result was the same. A lightning fast break from Jeff Schlupp, who was easily the best player on the pitch for Leicester as he ran riot in the second half, squared across at the second time of asking for Ulloa to pinch his second from all of a yard. And from there, Leicester took their foot off the brake pedal, Schlupp in particular causing havoc down the left, firing just wide twice and setting up Okazaki who also failed to hit the target.
The introduction of pacy substitutes Albrighton and Gray meant that Leicester remained a constant threat on the break and it was a scintillating run from Gray, leaving Taylor for dead as he outstripped a tired Swansea defence that set up Albrighton's goal, as Gray's volley was palmed out into the path of the English winger, who was dropped today for Schlupp and made his mark off the pitch.
Ranieri deserves a mention too. In the absence of Vardy today, he made two big decisions. First, the seemingly straightforward decision to play Ulloa instead of Vardy in a straight swap, that looks obvious in hindsight, especially when you consider that Ulloa scored twice, but at the time, looked as if it might not have been, with Mahrez an option in the CAM role or Andy King in the middle of the park if Leicester wanted to go 4-5-1. And the other was to drop Albrighton for Schlupp, one that raised eyebrows at kick off but again was vindicated as Schlupp dominated Rangel on the opposite flank to Mahrez, and did everything but score.
Overall, this was not the sternest test for Leicester, and certainly with the fixture list that they have left, Spurs fans won't be losing sleep over Leicester winning this game. But what it was was a potential banana skin, as every game is in the Premier League. And Leicester navigated it effortlessly, with a class performance that once again puts the pressure on Tottenham and lays a marker down. Leicester are not going to slip up. They aren't going down without a fight. This title is theirs to win and if they turn in two more performances like they did today against Everton and Chelsea, two sides that are painfully average at the moment and have about as much to play for as Swansea did, then they'll secure the two results needed to win the Barclays Premier League. And nope I can't believe that I wrote that sentence either.
Race To Survive Heats Up
In all the hubbub of the LFC result yesterday, I didn't really go into any detail about how that big point for Newcastle affects the race down the bottom, and where the three sides left are at regarding their survival.
If the Premier League title is increasingly looking like it'll be wrapped up early, then make no mistake, barring something truly mad, this relegation dogfight is going down to the final day. With Newcastle, Sunderland and Norwich all separated by a solitary point, and Sunderland out of the bottom three on goal difference alone (their goal difference is -18, with Norwich at -25 and Newcastle -26) and Newcastle only a point behind both of their rivals, this one really is going down to the wire.
Norwich didn't play this weekend, but Sunderland did, and they secured a 0-0 draw with a pretty poor Arsenal side that seem to have forgotten that their annual battle for 4th place isn't over yet, with Manchester United breathing down their necks and Manchester City's goal difference superior to theirs. The first half was a rather tepid affair, with Arsenal creating a couple of decent chances from set pieces and both teams having half a penalty shout, but in the second Sunderland were immense and barring a string of terrific saves from Petr Cech, would have won the game.
Either way, a point was as good a result for Sunderland as Newcastle's was yesterday, and leaves the table looking very tasty. Starting with Newcastle, they still have to face Palace, Villa and Spurs, so you would expect them to finish with six more points than they currently do, moving them to 36. What that means is that, given goal difference, you'd imagine Norwich would need probably six points and Sunderland probably five in order to stay up. Sunderland have Stoke, Chelsea, Everton and Watford left, whilst Norwich, bizarrely, also face Everton and Watford in their final two games, with United and Arsenal before then.
Simply put? I fancy Sunderland. If Sunderland pick up even one point against Stoke or Chelsea, then I suspect that they'll stay up. Everton and Watford in the final two games for both Norwich and Sunderland are very winnable and I suspect that Sunderland will win on the final day away at Norwich and probably stay up on goal difference, maybe by a single point. If Norwich want to stay up then they'll need a result against either United or Arsenal, because I think winning both of their remaining games will be a tall order.
And as for Newcastle? They've got to do what they can and hope that Leicester have wrapped up the title before the final day. If Spurs have nothing to play for then Newcastle, if they need a result, could well get one. But if Spurs are even slightly still in the title race on the final day then Newcastle are screwed. If both teams are giving 100% then Spurs' 100% is vastly superior to Newcastle's 100%.
I think the big day will be Wednesday 11th May with Norwich at home to Watford, and Sunderland at home to Everton. If either of those teams can pick up a win that day, then I suspect that they will stay up.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Palace join United in the FA Cup final. Awesome.
- Racing beat Leicester 19-16 to face Sarries. Game on.
- Sean Dickson given out handling. The twonk.
- Ballance and Cook both made 50s. Excellent.
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