EPL Review, Week 37: Pep Guardiola Rotates Heavily As Manchester City Win Their Third EPL Title In Row
Written By Onyeka Daniel
For today’s round of matches, three games took place with West Ham facing Leeds United, Brighton taking on Southampton and Manchester City receiving a guard of honor from Chelsea at the Etihad stadium as both team faced off with practically nothing to play for.
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While West Ham have been guaranteed of safety for this season, the same cannot be said for Leeds United and they needed to get all three points to get out of the relegation spot.
They signaled that intent by taking the lead through Spanish forward, Rodrigo in the 17 minute, but that lead was short lived as the Hammers leveled up through Declan Rice in the 31st minute to end the first half at 1-1.
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The home side were the better side in the second half and they took the lead in the 72nd minute through Jarod Bowen before second half substitute, Manuel Lanzini added a third in the 94th minute to keep Leeds rooted in the relegation spot with one game to go.
At the Amex Stadium, Brighton condemned an already relegated Southampton to their fifth straight defeat while they took a giant step towards qualifying for Europe next season. Young Irish forward, Evan Ferguson set the ball rolling with two goals in the first half in the 29th and 40th minute.
The Saints pulled one back in the second half through Mohammed Elyounoussi in the 58th minute and it looked like they were back in the game 5 minutes later through a Theo Walcott strike but the goal was ruled out as offside by the VAR before Pascal Gross added a third and made sure the 2 goal lewd remained in the 69th minute to end the game at 3-1, just like the West Ham vs Leeds United game.
At the Etihad stadium, Pep Guardiola fielded a heavily rotated squad after Arsenal’s defeat against Nottingham Forest yesterday had handed them the title without even kicking a ball. The likes of Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and Ilkay Gundogan all got some deserved rest with plenty of youngsters taking to the field.
Instead, the Guardiola decided to field Stefan Ortega, Sergio Gomez, Rico Lewis, Kalvin Phillips, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez. The Argentine World Cup winner justified his place in the starting lineup by opening the scoring in the 12th minute as he was set free in the area by Palmer and he made no mistake with a lovely finish into the bottom left corner.
Read Also: Fantasy Premier League Preview: Week 37
The first half ended with City taking the lead. City continued to dominate in the second half, but they failed to make it count and despite bringing on the big guns for the 2nd half, the score would end 1-0 to give the Cityzens all three points with both sides having the opportunity to score but failing to take their chances.
In a rescheduled fixture, they will be playing Brighton in the midweek away from home in a rescheduled fixture before the last game of the season next weekend. With the top four teams now guaranteed, tomorrow, Liverpool will take on Leicester city with the knowledge thag they can’t displace either Manchester United or Newcastle United.
But the Foxes have everything to play for as a win will take them out of the relegation spot (19th) that they currently occupy on the EPL table. Notwithstanding, the last two teams that will be relegated will be determined in the last game of the season next week with Everton, Leeds United and Leicester city all battling for the remaining spot to remain in the EPL next season.
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