Attractive race for top 4 Premier League: Aston Villa slows down, MU benefits
Aston Villa escaped defeat against West Ham United in a match where VAR interfered with two goals.
West Ham United met Aston Villa in the context of the two clubs just creating destructive scenes in the European Cup in the middle of last week. If West Ham crushes Freiburg by 5 goals, the away team will destroy Ajax with a score of 4-0.
Ollie Watkins promptly returned when he was hurt after the Ajax match. However, the British star had difficulty facing the red-brown defense. West Ham took advantage of the home field advantage to develop a superior position against Villa
After many chances, in the 29th minute, Michail Antonio headed the opener. Vladimír Coufal made a well-corrected cross to assist Antonio to score. The goal was deserved for the home team because they played better than Emery’s team.
The loss forced Villa to play more determinedly, but they could not find the net in the first half. Villa was shocked at the beginning of the second half. Antonio beat Emiliano Martinez again, but VAR stepped in to confirm that the player had used his hands. ball.
Mohammed Kudus is the trigger in West Ham’s counterattacks. His speed caused Youri Tielemans to foul. Only as the match progressed towards the end did Villa begin to overwhelm West Ham. In the 79th minute, receiving a return pass from Moussa Diaby, Nicolo Zaniolo rushed forward and finished with one touch to defeat Alphonse Areola.
ch was the dominant side as the match progressed towards the end, but the scoreboard did not continue to jump numbers. The final highlight of the match lies in the situation where VAR confirms whether the ball touched Tomas Soucek’s hand before going into the net or not. The referee decided to reject West Ham’s goal to increase the score to 2-1.
This is the second consecutive match Aston Villa has not won in the Premier League. This is very good news for MU in the race to enter the top 4.
Aston Villa currently has 56 points and is ranked 4th on the Premier League rankings. Meanwhile, MU ranked 6th, 9 points behind Aston Villa but played 1 match less.
With such a situation, MU can shorten the gap with the top 4 Premier League in the near future. Not to mention the “Red Devils” can still chase Tottenham, the team currently ranked 5th on the rankings.
In round 29 of the Premier League, Tottenham also did not get the desired results. Spurs shockingly lost to Fulham with a score of 0-3. This makes the “Rooster” of London unable to increase the gap with MU. Tottenham is currently 6 points ahead of the home team at Old Trafford.
In terms of match schedules in the rest of the Premier League, Tottenham and Aston Villa appear to be at a disadvantage. They have to face Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City, three teams currently competing fiercely for the Premier League crown. Meanwhile, the “Red Devils” only have to face Arsenal and Liverpool.
It can be seen that the opportunity to compete in the top 4 Premier League is open for MU even though they do not have an advantage in terms of points. The most important thing for coach Ten Hag’s team is to save points in every match.