1. Spurs’ bid for fourth still alive
WE WON’T KNOW who will take the final Champions League spot allocated to the Premier League until the final day of the season thanks to a late comeback from Tottenham at the Britannia this afternoon.
Lying a point behind fellow North Londoners Arsenal in fifth before the game, Spurs had a disastrous opening few minutes – conceding when Charlie Adam’s free-kick was glanced past Hug Lloris just three minutes in.
The visitors showed spirit, however, and after Clint Dempsey restored parity with an unorthodox lob, Emmanuel Adebayor scored his second massive goal in a week by prodding in a cross seven minutes from time.
Andre Villas-Boas’ side now occupy fourth as a result of the win but the Gunners do hold a game in hand against Wigan on Tuesday. They will be praying the new FA Cup champions can get something at the Emirates but, either way, the race for fourth will go down to the wire.
2. Wigan have one foot in the Championship
They may have caused a seismic shock at Wembley yesterday, but if Wigan are to avoid the drop they will need to muster up two more equally impressive wins in their final league fixtures.
Norwich and Newcastle both earn victories (against West Brom and QPR respectively) today to secure their status in the top tier for another year while Southampton’s draw with Sunderland takes them up the 40-point mark.
Paolo Di Canio’s Black Cats are hovering just above the bottom three on 39 points and face a tough trip to Tottenham this day next week but the Latics fate will already have been sealed if they can’t pick up all three points against Arsenal in midweek
If Wigan do finish 18th, they will enter the record books as the first team to win the FA Cup and be relegated in the same season. Birmingham (2011) and Norwich (1985) are the only sides to lift the league cup and go down.
3. Sturridge shines at the Cottage
With Luis Suarez seeing out his ten game ban, Daniel Sturridge was entrusted with leading the line against Fulham and repaid the faith shown by Brendan Rodgers with a hat-trick in their 3-1 win.
Once again, it was the increasingly influential Phillippe Coutinho who proved the architect of Liverpool’s best play and former Chelsea striker helped himself to three goals as the Cottagers suffered a fifth league loss on the trot.
Sturridge has now scored 10 goals in 13 Premier League appearances since arriving on Merseyside in January, and while in truth he would have had a couple more but for some poor decision-making, signing the 23-year-old has paid off and Rodgers knows it.
He’s not perfect,” the Reds boss said. “He should have squared one when he was through. But he was looking for his hat-trick, he’s a goalscorer, and to be greedy you’ve got to be good.”
“He’s an outstanding player.”
4. Everton have a tough task replacing David Moyes
Departing Everton boss David Moyes admitted he was “gob-smacked and humbled” by the reception he received during his final game at Goodison Park after his players formed a guard of honour for the Scot.
On an emotional day, the Toffees produced on the pitch to overcome West Ham with a 2-0 win and ensure a sixth-place finish in the table.
11 years on since arriving from Preston North End, Moyes leaves as the division’s third longest serving. Names like Roberto Martinez, Neil Lennon and Martin Jol have been mooted but chairman Bill Kenwright faces an extremely difficult job to fill the void left by the man who will take the reigns from Alex Ferguson this summer.
5. Lampard cements his name in Chelsea history books
He may be out of contract at the end of the season but Frank Lampard was still doing what he does best on Saturday and reached a landmark milestone with two goals against Aston Villa.
After seeing his side fall behind through Christian Benteke’s opener, the 34-year-old scored for the 202nd and 203rd time to break the club’s all-time goalscoring record held by Bobby Tambling (who had a spell in the League of Ireland later in his career, fact fans).
Lampard dedicated the goals to his deceased mother and it is an outstanding achievement – for a player who some held doubts about when he joined for £11m in 2001 – to be consistently prolific from midfield for over a decade.
