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7 points in 7 days

From resignations to relegations, this week in football was a varied and exciting one. It’s 7 points in 7 days by James Martin!

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Wenger Out

After a remarkable twenty-two years at the helm of Arsenal, Arsene Wenger announced this week that he would be stepping down at the end of the season. There is an element of ‘did he jump or was he pushed’ about it; fans have been vociferous in their criticisms of the Frenchman for some time, and it has been suggested that the board finally lost their patience following sustained underperformance.

Regardless, however, it is only right to pay tribute to an absolute giant of the English game. More than two decades managing one team is simply staggering – many fans of the club have never experienced it without Wenger in charge. Over that time, he has succeeded in winning three Premier League titles, going an entire league campaign unbeaten, and picking up the FA Cup on seven occasions. It is sad that it cannot be said in truth that he will be missed by very many supporters, but his legacy at the club will undoubtedly be remembered with great fondness.

 

City Don’t Let Up, Salah Takes the Personal Glory

As one era comes to an end, another appears to be firmly emerging. Manchester City have certainly established themselves as a major player ever since receiving investment from Middle Eastern billionaires, but under Guardiola they are threatening to form a bona fide dynasty. Their performance against Swansea was worthy of their newfound status as champions: The Swans, who had just lost one of their previous four league games, were dismantled 5-0. Five separate players got on the scoresheet, and the assists were also provided by five different individuals – this encapsulates the depth of quality throughout the side, as well as the attacking freedom afforded by Guardiola to all of his players. One of the scorers, however, may have ended the Sunday disappointed: Kevin De Bruyne missed out to Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah in the PFA Player of the Year awards. It is hard to argue with the Egyptian’s win: he has already levelled the league goal-scoring record in the 38-game era with three matches still left to play, and he has been integral to helping Liverpool towards Champions League football for a second successive season.

 

Dortmund Back to Their Best

Borussia Dortmund also have Champions League qualification at the forefront of their minds – their win against fellow top-four hopefuls Bayer Leverkusen went some way to securing this goal. Young English talent Jadon Sancho shone, as did team stalwart Marco Reus – together, the old guard and the new blood absolutely dismantled Leverkusen in a 4-0 rout. Peter Stöger’s men move to within two points of Schalke in second. Leverkusen, meanwhile, have slipped to fourth: they are now under significant pressure from Hoffenheim for the final qualification spot. Ironically, they may need to hope for a favour from Dortmund when Hoffenheim host them on the final day of the season.

 

Köln Comeback Not Enough

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Köln now look all but certain to drop down into the second tier. Unlike Swansea, they managed to produce an upset against superior opposition – they came from two goals down to draw against second-placed Schalke, but the point does little to improve the outlook in terms of league position. Timo Horn was in tears at full-time: the players know the implications of the result. Only an unlikely run of three straight wins coupled with three consecutive losses for Mainz, Wolfsburg or Freiburg will be enough to save them: given that the side have managed just five victories all season, it seems a safe bet that a four-year stint in the Bundesliga will be coming to an end. Schalke, meanwhile, are now just two points clear of Borussia Dortmund.

 

Madness in the Championship

2-2 looks positively boring in comparison to a remarkable game that unfolded in the English Championship. On paper, Bristol City against Hull City did not look set to be a classic: the hosts were pursuing an outside chance of sneaking into the playoffs, but the visitors had already staved off the threat of relegation and had nothing of note for which to play. They did not get this memo. Hull took the lead through Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson, who has impressed hugely since arriving at the club. Bristol City pegged them back, and then scored another shortly before half-time to go in with the lead. Hull fans would have been forgiven for thinking it was over when the home side added a third, but a Frank Fielding own goal left the scores at 3-2 and restored some hope. This seemed dashed when the two-goal margin was re-established with just twenty-five minutes to play. However, Hull’s forwards were not finished. Wilson added his second of the game in the 72nd minute, before an Abel Hernandez strike made it 4-4 eight minutes later. With just three minutes of normal time left, Frazier Campbell fired home to make it 5-4. Such was the nature of the match, the 94th minute equaliser for Bristol City seemed almost inevitable – naturally, it was a sweet long-range strike from the left-back. Not a bad game…

 

Cup Joy for Barcelona

Scoring five is clearly all the rage this week. Barcelona managed it in a cup final: they put Sevilla to the sword in the Copa Del Rey, securing the trophy for a remarkable 30th time. Andres Iniesta has been involved in plenty of those – this could well be his last season for Barcelona, so it was undoubtedly a special moment for him to get on the scoresheet in this one. Other goals game courtesy of Messi, Suarez and Coutinho, with the Brazilian completing the 5-0 rout from the penalty spot. If Valverde can get his side playing in this manner with any kind of regularity, the growing murmurings of discontent surrounding his managerial tenure will surely be silenced.

 

Napoli Heroics

Goals were a little harder to come by in this clash of the Serie A giants. This is understandable, given how much was on the line: Juventus’ surprise slip-up to Crotone earlier in the week blew the title race wide open once more, and Napoli went into the game knowing that a win would leave them just a point adrift with four games to play. They secured this vital victory in the dying moments of the game. It looked set to finish goalless, but centre-back Koulibaly powered home a late header to bring a precious three points back to Naples. This sets up a grandstand finish to Serie A, in what has been the most exciting title race in some years: Sarri’s side will be desperate to break The Old Lady’s stranglehold on the league, which stretches back to the 2011/12 season. Juventus still face trips to Inter Milan and Roma – anything could happen.

 

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