Without further ado, here are the winners and losers from this gameweek.
When you consider what Bournemouth is on the verge of achieving, it makes it even stranger that Andoni Iraola is content to simply walk away at the end of the season. Their game against Fulham began with jeopardy. Ryan Christie was sent off at 41 minutes with the game still at 0-0 and Fulham in pursuit of Europe themselves. As if even the football gods want Bournemouth to make it to Europe next season, Fulham's Andersen got sent off 6 minutes later, restoring numerical parity, and Bournemouth would go on to win 1-0. They sit in 6th place (which might be a Champions League spot), 2 points ahead of Brighton in 7th, and 4 points behind Villa in 5th with 2 games to go. As I have done so often this season in this column, I want to highlight the magnitude of the job Iraola has done by recounting the key players they've lost as the season has gone on. Kepa Arrizabalaga, Dean Huijsen, Ilia Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez, Antoine Semenyo, and Dango Ouattara. These are not bad players either, their destination clubs were Arsenal, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Brentford. And yet, having lost so much talent and juggled so many key injuries this season, Iraola is on the verge of sending the small South Coast club into Europe for the first time. Oh and did I mention that Bournemouth haven't lost a game in the league since 7th of January? What a story, what a manager!
It was under raucous circumstances that West Ham narrowly lost to Arsenal. A lengthy VAR review, pushing and shoving from corners, how much is too much when it comes to heckling the goalkeeper? All the things that have been debated about fiercely all season might come to define West Ham's relegation battle. That loss means that they remain 2 points adrift of safety and that their fate is not entirely in their hands. They could win their next two games, and they'd still need Tottenham to drop points in order to survive. The situation is dire in East London at the moment. It would take a miracle now, but all Nuno and his boys can do is focus on getting the maximum points from their games against Newcastle and Leeds, and then hope and pray that Spurs falter somewhere.
Fabian Hurzeler deserves an award for "best late turnaround of the season," because Brighton left it really late to get going this season. But how does that old saying go? Better late than never! They beat Wolves 3-0 to move up to 7th, and with only two games to go, they seem poised to steal the last European spot from a Brentford side that has been impressive all season. Such is the magnitude of this turnaround in the last stretch of the season. Win their last two games against Leeds and Manchester United, and they are basically guaranteed a place in Europe next season, no matter what happens elsewhere. Not bad for a team that went 13 games without a win at some point this season.
Alright, look, you have to contextualise Villa's performance at the weekend by remembering that they pulled themselves from 1-0 down in the Europa League semis to blow Nottingham Forest away 4-0 in the 2nd leg in midweek. That being said, drawing with Burnley at a point in the season when every point is critical is not good. The plan for Villa was always to get back into the Champions League by finishing in the top 4 and trying to win the Europa League. I'd argue that finishing in the top 4 is the more important task because it is easier to manage, as you have 38 games across which to pick up the necessary points. The Europa League is effectively a knockout competition, and we know how those can go, even if you've gotten to the final (as Villa have), all it takes is one moment to lose it. Given their current form and the fact that they play Liverpool and Manchester City in their final two games of the season, Villa might very well be out of the Champions League spots when the season is over and have all their hopes riding on the Europa League final. It's not the ideal situation at Villa Park right now.
It seems like Arsenal will make it over the line now. For most of that game against West Ham, it seemed like they would falter yet again in this unpredictable title race. They struggled to break West Ham down and looked tired from the effort it took them to get into the Champions League final during the week. They needed not one but two spells of magic to see the win over the line. A fantastic David Raya save to deny Mateus Fernandes, and a brilliant run and cut back from Odegaard to set up the goal by Trossard. And even after all that, they needed VAR to come to their rescue after West Ham scored a late equaliser. It's not champagne football, it's not the cleanest of title wins, but Arteta's Arsenal are almost there, and that is the fact.
I don't think any stat summarises the torrid run of form Chelsea is currently on than the fact that they've picked up only 1 point since gameweek 29. That's 7 full gameweeks of football and just the solitary point from 630 minutes of football. Their season is almost certainly over, and there will be no European football next season barring a miracle. The hope among the fanbase will be that the hierarchy has learned from their mistakes this season and can make a better go of things next season.
