NEWCASTLE 1 ASTON VILLA 1
In the battle of the super subs, Ahmed Elmohamady had the last laugh to breathe new life into Aston Villa’s survival bid.
Dwight Gayle scored moments after coming off the bench as Newcastle drew 1-1 with Aston VillaCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Dwight Gayle thought he had won it for Newcastle after scoring within a minute of coming on.
It looked like another nail in Villa’s coffin, with the games running out fast to avoid the drop.
Desperate for a goal, Villa boss Dean Smith threw Elmohamady on with 13 minutes to go.
And the Egyptian wing-back did not disappoint, heading past Martin Dubravka five minutes later to hand the Villans a lifeline.
With Wolves, Liverpool and Manchester United up next, leaving St. James’ Park with nothing would have been a bitter pill to swallow.
It would have come as no surprise to Newcastle manager Steve Bruce though, having signed Elmohamady THREE times over the years.
The equaliser came from fellow sub Conor Hourihane’s corner, and while a decent header it went straight through the ever-reliable Dubravka.
The Magpies looked nothing like the side that saw off Sheffield United with ease on Sunday.
With an FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City on Sunday, they were off the boil for the majority.
With safety all but secured, little to no harm is done.
But for Villa it could mean everything – giving them renewed hope of battling the drop with seven games to go.
Bruce stuck with the same side from their first game back, gunning for three straight Prem wins for the first time since managing Wigan in 2009.
His Villa counterpart moved skipper Jack Grealish into a midfield three from an advanced position after just one point from their first two.
And it caused the hosts –unable to string more than two passes together – no end of problems from the off.
Villa’s right-hand side was the danger area, with two perfect crosses inside the first 15 minutes from Ezri Konsa and Anwar El Ghazi.
Trezeguet wasted the first, hitting the deep ball into the ground and harmlessly over the bar.
Mbwana Samatta was up next, but the Tanzanian could only glance delivery well wide from 12-yards.
As ever with Newcastle this season, if there is one man to give them a spark it’s been Allan Saint-Maximin.
Ahmed Elmohamady’s equaliser secured a vital point for VillaCredit: EPA
Subdued for the first 37 minutes, the French winger suddenly burst into life, skipping past two before flashing a wicked ball across the six-yard box.
And the Toon were finally awoken from their slumber with Joelinton forcing a great block from Tyrone Mings after a neat step-over on his left foot.
After 43 minutes they finally mustered a shot on target, Matt Ritchie stinging the hands of Orjan Nyland from 25-yards.
But it was far from a stirring 45 minutes, with Douglas Luiz’s booking on the brink of half-time getting the pulse racing more than the football.
VAR checked to see if the Brazilian had headbutted Jamal Lascelles but he was eventually shown a yellow for “showing an aggressive attitude”.
After the break, Ritchie had Nyland scrambling down to his right from the edge of the box within seconds after cutting in from the left.
Having burst out of the traps on Tyneside, Villa’s attacking verve slowly ground down to a halt.
It was all Newcastle now, with their front men finally finding the space to hurt Villa.
Miguel Almiron had the best chance of the game after 57 minutes after Danny Rose pulled it back to him after a neat overlap.
But rather than hitting it first time on his left, the Paraguayan took a touch and saw his shot from 10-yards blocked.
With no goal incoming, Bruce finally shuffled his after 64 minutes, bringing on Carroll for Joelinton.
Three minutes later it was Gayle for Ritchie, with the two subs instantly combining to break the deadlock.
Carroll curled a low cross into the box from the right, with Gayle latching onto it before dinking over the onrushing Nyland for his first Toon goal since May 2018.
But Villa’s replacements refused to be outdone, with the equaliser coming 15 minutes later.
Hourihane swung it in from the left and Dubravka –partially unsighted- watched Elmohamady’s header pass straight through him for a potentially lifesaving point for Villa.
Michael Keane netted Evertons winner against NorwichCredit: Getty – Pool
EVERTON 1 NORWICH 0
Daniel Farke leads Norwich into their first FA Cup quarter-final for 28 years on Saturday.
Yet Manchester United will fancy their chances of scoring an absolute hatful at Carrow Road.
For a team whose poor defending is now matched by a complete lack of firepower, it seems impossible that the rock-bottom Canaries – who have never played in a final – will reach the semi-finals for only a fourth time.
Unless there is a major improvement from Farke’s team when you look at their first two games after the restart, it could get embarrassing.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton team barely had to get out of third gear for their first Premier League win in five.
The visitors were poor in the first half but as soon as Michael Keane shortly into the second half with a glancing header, Everton looked extremely comfortable in what was a deadly dull match for the BBC cameras.
Ancelotti’s side can now put their feet up as they do not have another game for six days, when they face Leicester at Goddison.
Meanwhile, Norwich will be studying lots of videos of Anthony Martial, who scored a hat-trick against Sheffield United and could cause this weak defence and its terrible zonal marking system some major damage.
Norwich now have no hope whatsoever of staying in this League. In January, TV pundit and former Liverpool player Danny Murphy said they were the best team ever to be at the bottom of the League but their vibrant passing games – albeit at times suicidal – has disappeared.
They have scored just once in seven League games and Jordan Pickford did not have too much to do last night.
It was the first time Teemu Pukki had started a Norwich League game on the bench since joining the club two years ago.
Alex Iwobi was the best player at Carrow RoadCredit: PA:Press Association
But his replacement, Swiss striker Josip Drmic, who had a penalty saved by Jordan Pickford in the Uefa Nations League third-place play-off penalty shoot-out last summer, was left completely isolated.
Pickford watched with relief as a shot from Onel Herndandez deflected onto the side of the post while with with the sun shining bright in his eyes, he decided to punch clear a shot from Lukas Rupp just before the break.
Everton, extremely quiet as an offensive force, took 25 minutes to manage a shot of any sort but Richarlison’s drive was straight at Tim Krul.
Lacking creativity, an unimpressed Ancelotti replaced Tom Davies with Gylfi Sigurdsson at the break.
Sigurdsson had a goal-bound shot blocked less than a minute at the restart and Everton played with more direction and purpose.
And they took the lead when Keane got in front of Timm Klose and Kenny McLean to score with a header from Lucas Digne’s corner.
Alex Iwobi had one of his better games for Everton and was comfortably their most effective player, causing Jamal Lewis plenty of problems down the right.
But when you consider his move from Arsenal was worth up to £34million, it has not not been the greatest piece of transfer business in Everton’s history – although there have been a few other dodgy ones to rival that.
Ancelotti will be thankful that his team were sensible and showed some decent game management although the end of the season cannot come soon enough.
Everton are comfortable enough in mid-table and would have needed a couple more wins to stand a chance of challenging for a Europa League place.
But as they now have one of the world’s best managers, there is no doubt that it will not be long before Evertton will be back challenging for a place in Europe.
Sadly for Norwich next season, they will be back in the Championship.
Raul Jimenez kept Wolves in the top four hunt as Wolves beat Bournemouth 1-0Credit: Getty Images – Getty
WOLVES 1 BOURNEMOUTH 0
For almost an hour this was a Mexican stand-off.
So it didn’t take a genius to work out if anybody was going to end the stalemate it would be Wolves star Raul Jimenez.
Eddie Howe’s struggling Bournemouth can’t say they weren’t pre-warned.
Last night was the FOURTH game on the spin the Mexican striker has scored against them, taking his total tally of Premier League goals this season to an impressive 15.
The 29-year-old is now just two goals short of Wolves legend John Richards’ 44-year-old club record of 17 top flight goals in a season.
Only a mug would bet against the former Atletico Madrid and Benfica hitman grabbing the three
goals required, in Wolves remaining seven league games, to set a new Old Gold standard.
For 59 tortuous minutes this pair didn’t manage one shot on target.
Then Adama Traore whipped in a peach of a cross to the back stick and Jimenez produced a leap any Mexican jumping bean would have been proud of, to soar above Jack Stacey and Steve Cook.
His venomous header from six yards ripped the heart out of Bournemouth – and threatened to do the same to poor Aaron Ramsdale’s net as it soared into the roof of the rigging.
Every Bournemouth player knew what Traore and Jimenez were going to do – stopping them is a different story!
This was the 10th time this season the pair had combined to score a Premier League goal – more than any other combo.
Until then, Nathan Ake had handled Jimenez expertly but on this occasion the Dutchman was lured to the front post as Traore added another nought to his worth with another superb assist.
Bournemouth will feel gutted to take another step closer to the trapdoor because until then neither side had managed one shot on target and, the only real excitement was a spate of five bookings after the first half water-break, when both bosses clearly instructed their players to get their fingers out.
Adama Traore was involved in plenty during the feisty gameCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Wolves meanwhile remain level on points with fifth placed Manchester United and within two points of fourth-placed Chelsea, who host Manchester City on Thursday – for a side playing their 50th game of the season that’s not bad going!
Bournemouth haven’t had many opportunities to look down on anybody this season.
Yet they started the day above their hosts – until kick-off at any rate.
The ‘away’ dressing room at Molineux isn’t large enough to accommodate a full Premier League squad under new Covid-19 safety protocols. So the visitors were given the roomy Sir Jack Hayward Suite to get changed and prepare in.
That meant they emerged from mid-way up the Billy Wright Main Stand – above the tunnel where Wolves’ players were waiting – and descended the steps to the playing field.
When they got there there was some bad news waiting as Wolves boss Nuno his simplest call of the season, restoring in-form Adama Traore to his starting line-up – and no wonder!
The Spanish powerhouse is unplayable at times and there was one moment in the first half when he was grounded and surrounded by four opponents, yet still wriggled out of it in a move Harry Houdini would have approved of.
After their shambles against Palace it was time for the Cherries to stand up and be counted and they certainly achieved that as they frustrated Wolves.
Organised and tight at the back, they stifled the home side’s creativity and squeezed the life out of them in the middle of the park.
It wasn’t pretty but it was effective as Jefferson Lerma called the shots to the four midfielders in front of him, protected by four determined defenders behind him.
But a daft booking for Callum Wilson when he went in late on Rui Patricio will be costly as it clocked up his 10th booking of the season and a two-game-ban.
Until Jimenez struck this game was more sterile than the Red Zone at a deep-cleaned Molineux.
But in 30 degree heat weary legs understandably buckled towards the end and Wolves sub Leander Dendoncker almost caught out Aaron Ramsdale with a 40 yard chip which sailed just wide.
Then fellow sub Pedro Neto almost scored a wonder-goal in stoppage time as he weaved beyond four shattered Cherries defenders, from deep inside his own half, only to shoot just wide after drawing Ramsdale off his line.
However Wolves will be just as pleased at their efforts at the other end as they kept a fourth successive top flight at Molineux for the first time in 40 years.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
