Arsenal hands City EPL title after 3-0 loss to Brighton.

  image: Fabrizio Romano Facebook

Arsenal have all but handed the English Premier League title to Manchester City on a silver platter after losing to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday afternoon at the Emirates Stadium.

Following The Gunners defeat, Man City are now four points ahead at the top, with a game in hand, and need just three points to clinch the title.

In only their second home defeat of the season, Arsenal were uncharacteristically poor against Brighton, failing to get any rhythm going in their play.

Instead, it was Brighton who enjoyed most of the ball, averaging 59% possession.

In terms of creating goal scoring opportunities, as scrappy as their play was, Arsenal did manage to fashion 14 goal attempts, but only two of their shots were on target, a stat that tells a story of their bad day at the office.

Brighton had six shots on target, with three of them converted to goals by Julio Enciso 51', Deniz Undav 86', and Pervis Estupinan 90+6.

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For Arsenal, who were in touching distance of the EPL title not so long ago, it is now a case of so near, and yet so far.

Losing the title at the death after such a magnificent season is heartbreaking, but comes with valuable lessons for Mikel Arteta and his men.

As for Brighton, a spot in Europe is still very much a possibility.

Every game is like a final now - Gundogan.

Ilkay Gundogan was the star of the show as Manchester City beat Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon to move within six points of clinching their third English Premier League title in a row.

In a game where Man City didn't create a lot of chances, with just nine goal attempts, Gundogan's brace, 37', 51' and Erling Haaland's 36th goal scored in the 39th minute saw City turning their four shots on target into three goals.

The Cityzens have now gone 22 games unbeaten across competitions.

Gundogan says every game they play now is like a final.

"It’s the end of the season now so every game is crucial. Every game is like a final now," Gundogan told City website.

"For the last three years, this place [Goodison Park] has always been very tough for us. Even more so now. We feel like this is a big win."

On his goals and the assist for Haaland.

"I felt that I was free [first goal]. Both centre-backs were focused on Erling [Haaland].

"I saw the space. The ball was a little bit behind my run. I had to adjust and somehow, I was able to take a touch, I tried my luck and it worked out perfectly."

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Gundogan is counting on their experience when it comes to intense title races to pull City through.

"We have a very experienced team. It’s not really a new situation for us, competing for the last few games of the season with someone else," 

"The margin for mistakes is very slim, we know that. I think that we were able to live these moments in the past helps us a lot.

"Sometimes, you have to stay calm and trust your abilities. Even though it was tough today in the first half, that is exactly what we did."

We have a small minimal advantage - Riveiro on CAFCL spot race.

After their 1-1 draw against Sekhukhune United on Saturday afternoon, Orlando Pirates now have SuperSport United breathing down their necks in the race for the CAF Champions League spot.

Both teams are on 51 points heading towards match day 30, with Pirates second by virtue of a better goal difference.

Always sober minded in his comments, Orlando Pirates coach, Jose Riveiro says they only have a small advantage over SuperSport in the CAFCL spot race, and they have no choice but to put AmaZulu to the sword in Durban next weekend.

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"We need to win. Firstly, it's going to be a difficult game, away. AmaZulu is an excellent team so we need to think about how we are going to win the game. It's the last game of the season. So we need to win, we need the three points," said Riveiro as quoted by SABC Sport. https://www.sabcsport.com/soccer/news/victory-the-only-way-to-secure-champions-league-spot-jose-riveiro

"We have a small minimal advantage but if you think about the scenario three months ago and the advantage that our opposition had in that moment, I think we can be proud of the performance of the team in the last part of the season."

While Pirates will visit AmaZulu for their last game of the season, SuperSport have a tricky fixture of their own away to Sekhukhune United. 

Arthur Zwane, the proverbial sacrificial lamb.

The ugly scenes at Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Saturday afternoon after Kaizer Chiefs were beaten 1-0 by SuperSport United were uncalled for, but they have been bubbling under for sometime.

The game of football, from a fan's point of view, is more a game of emotions than logic, unfortunately for Zwane, the emotional pain of some Chiefs fans was directed at him, wrongfully so, instead of the people who should be feeling the wrath of the supporters.

Zwane, as much as he is no Jesus, is being crucified for the sins of others, Chiefs management that is.

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The fact is, Kaizer Chiefs will not win games/trophies, just because they are the once feared giants, they can't keep riding on the past success carried by their name.

Success demands the right systems and processes to be put in place in order for it to find fertile ground to grow on.

Unfortunately, at Chiefs, that fertile ground is non-existent.

One only has to look at a team like Mamelodi Sundowns as a template, look at their technical team, including analysts and specialist coaches like the highly qualified and experienced Michael Loftman who deals with set-pieces.

And look at the investment they have made to ensure they have a quality squad.

Now take a look at Chiefs and tell me what you see.

The reality is Chiefs deserve to be fourth or lower on the log, because the quality of their team as a whole dictates that, not coach Arthur Zwane.

When Chiefs lose to SuperSport, they are losing to their peers when it comes to squad quality, period.

Zwane, unfortunately, is on the frontline, and on Saturday afternoon, he took the bullets for a team that is still crawling while the football world is running, leaving it behind marveling at the past glory carried by its name. 

I thought we were excellent - Mokwena.

Mamelodi Sundowns kept their hopes of reaching the CAF Champions League final alive when they held Wydad AC to a 0-0 draw on Saturday night at the Stade Mohammed V.

The result left the 2nd leg, to be played in Pretoria next week, in a delicate situation.

A draw with goals will see Sundowns knocked out of the CAFCL.

Nonetheless, Sundowns coach, Rulani Mokwena, thought his side were excellent in Morocco.

Despite managing only a six goal attempts, with a single shot on target, Sundowns put on a controlled tactical performance that saw them limiting Wydad to just 11 goal attempts, with two on target, playing with 10 men in the second half.

"I thought before the red card we were very good, we scored, there were moments where we had 65% ball possessions – here [at Stade Mohamed V]," said Mokwena after the match as quoted by iDiski Times. https://www.idiskitimes.co.za/caf-champions-league/mokwena-rebuffs-criticism-after-cafcl-first-leg/

"I thought we were excellent actually, contrary to your statement. That’s why I give so much, so much praise to the players. They know it’s only half-time, so we keep our feet firmly on the ground."

Going into next weekend's second leg, Mokwena is counting on the Sundowns supporters, and home ground advantage to push the team to the final.

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"We’re still focussed on second leg in Pretoria. We know that we will also have the ammunition also behind us, we will have a stadium that now knows how to play Champions League matches and push this team."

A mature performance from Sundowns in Morocco.

Mamelodi Sundowns left the Stade Mohammed V Stadium bruised, but not beaten as they held defending champions, Wydad AC to a 0-0 draw in a CAF Champions League semi-final first leg on Saturday evening. 

The result was impressive, tricky as it is, because a 0-0 draw leaves the second leg wide open, but it is in the performance that achieved the result where Sundowns were excellent. 

One has to look at how the Brazilians played in the first half when it was still 11 vs 11.

Despite a hostile atmosphere created by the crowd, and the weight of the occasion, Sundowns were still able to block out all the noise, deal with the pressure, and play their normal, daring, arrogant possession football that has earned them respect across Africa. 

You don't go to Morocco, to play the defending CAFCL champions, in front of such a crowd, and control more than 60% of the ball, with a passing accuracy of 80% in the opposition half, but Sundowns did that without any fear or panic, and that is what I call maturity. 

It was in the second half where I thought the Brazilians would be totally against wall. 

Having lost Neo Maema through a red card in the 43rd minute, it was going to take a performance and a half for Sundowns to stop Wydad from taking full advantage of their numerical advantage and win the game. 

But the only thing that Wydad achieved with their extra man, was more possession and one or two good chances. 

But in all honesty, Sundowns were still in control, they still played with confidence, despite having to change their approach a little, they still played with structure, but most importantly, they did not panic. 

Another coach, on another day, would have sacrificed a Thapelo Morena for a midfielder, but not Rulani Mokwena. 

Instead, he simply adjusted the formation and they carried on. 

I do not remember watching a South African side giving such a controlled, measured performance in a hostile environment, except maybe the Orlando Pirates of 1995 who went on to conquer Africa, but Sundowns did it with so much ease, credit, they deserve. 

From good, Sundowns can go on to be great. 

Chiefs' African dreams are over.

Kaizer Chiefs saw their dream of campaigning in African club competitions crushed on Saturday afternoon when they lost 1-0 to SuperSport United at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.

Going into the encounter, Chiefs still had hopes of finishing third and qualify for the CAF Confederations Cup next season, but it wasn't to as they succumbed to their second Dstv Premiership loss in a row.

Ghampani Lungu scored the goal that sealed Amakhosi's fate in the 40th minute, ensuring SuperSport's passage to Africa.

This afternoon's performance was an uncharacteristic one from Chiefs in terms of numbers they normally produce in matches, in attack to be precise, and coach Arthur Zwane will be disappointed.

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Chiefs are a side that clocks high numbers on the goal attempts column, but against SuperSport, in a game they had to win at all costs, they were found wanting when it comes to creating goal scoring opportunities.

Amakhosi managed a lowly 10 goal attempts this afternoon, with a disappointing single shot on target, and it doesn't get worse than that in a must-win encounter.

What this afternoon's game highlighted, in bright colours, is the inconsistency in performances that has been Chief's Achilles heel throughout this season, this was one game where they had to be at their best and be ruthless, but they were almost at their worst.

With this afternoon's loss having summed up their disappointing season, Chiefs will host Cape Town City on Saturday 20 May at FNB Stadium, a game that will close the curtain on a poor season that came with many valuable lessons.