Roundup of the latest Premier League action as the title and relegation battles delivered more twists.
Week 28 saw the title fight take centre-stage as two contenders collided whilst a rival snuck into top spot to set up a blockbuster run-in, whilst the battle for Europa League and Europa Conference League plus survival rumbled on.
FA Cup action however meant that Week 29 was heavily depleted with just four fixtures, as the relegation fight took the limelight whilst Aston Villa and Tottenham continued their scrap for the final Champions League qualification spot.
Week 28
Headers from Declan Rice and Kai Havertz either side of Yoane Wissa’s equaliser saw Arsenal beat Brentford 2-1 to move top of the table.
Liverpool and Manchester City slipped to second and third after they played out a 1-1 draw at Anfield, in which Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty for the Reds cancelled out John Stones’ close-range strike.
Fourth-placed Aston Villa suffered a 4-0 loss at home to fifth-placed Tottenham, as James Maddison netted the opening goal before Son Heung-min provided assists for Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner either side of his own strike.
First-half penalties from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford saw Manchester United round out the top six with a 2-0 home win over Everton.
Down in the relegation zone, rock-bottom Sheffield United blew a 2-0 lead as Dango Ouattara and Enes Unal struck late to rescue Bournemouth a 2-2 draw, after Gustavo Hamer and Jack Robinson had put the Blades in front.
Burnley remain second bottom after David Datro Fofana’s strike and Konstantinos Mavropanos’ own-goal put them 2-0 at half-time, only for Lucas Paqueta and Danny Ings to rescue West Ham a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium.
Cauley Woodrow cancelled out Jean-Philippe Mateta’s flick as third-bottom Luton fought back for a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace, only to then blow a 3-0 half-time lead to lose 4-3 at Bournemouth in a rearranged clash in which Antoine Semenyo scored twice for the Cherries.
Elsewhere, goals from Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer and Mykhailo Mudryk saw Chelsea beat Newcastle 3-2 at Stamford Bridge, despite Alexander Isak having cancelled out Jackson’s first half effort before Jacob Murphy netted a 90th minute consolatory goal.
Rayan Ait-Nouri’s strike from Toti Gomes’ pullback pass and Tom Cairney’s own-goal saw Wolves beat Fulham 2-1, despite Alex Iwobi’s injury-time consolatory goal for the Cottagers.
Andrew Omobamidele’s own-goal saw Brighton snatch a 1-0 home win over Nottingham Forest.
Week 29
Nicolo Zaniolo’s 79th minute strike rescued fourth-placed Aston Villa a 1-1 draw at West Ham, after Michail Antonio had headed the Hammers into a 29th minute lead from Vladimir Coufal’s cross.
Fifth-placed Tottenham missed out on a chance to move up to fourth with a surprise 3-0 loss at Fulham, with Rodrigo Muniz having scored either side of Sasa Lukic’s first goal for the Cottagers.
Luke Berry became the first Luton player to score in the top-four tiers of English football as he rescued third-bottom Luton a 1-1 draw at home to Nottingham Forest, after Chris Wood had converted Morgan Gibbs-White’s dinked pass into the net to put the visitors ahead.
Jacob Bruun Larsen’s penalty and David Datro Fofana’s strike saw second-bottom Burnley move to within eight points of safety with a 2-1 home win over Brentford, as Sergio Reguilon was sent off and Kristoffer Ajer headed in a consolatory goal for the Bees.
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