Weekend Review: Manchester City lift the FA Cup in mixed weekend for punters

Manchester City (3/4) secured a domestic cup double on Saturday, beating Chelsea 1-0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley in what ended up being a mixed weekend for punters.

Antonine Semenyo’s goal settled the tie in 90 minutes, leaving City with a slim chance of completing a treble as they chase Arsenal in the Premier League having already secured the Carabao Cup earlier this season.

The majority of league fixtures took place on Sunday, with 20 goals scored across the six matches and only one team failing to score in the shape of Brighton in their 1-0 defeat to Leeds United (5/2).

West Ham were soundly beaten 3-1 by Newcastle (1/1), leaving the Hammers two points behind rivals Tottenham and needing Chelsea to do them a favour and beat Spurs on Tuesday to take the relegation battle to the final day of the season.

Manchester United (1/2) and Nottingham Forest’s five-goal thriller ended in a 3-2 win in favour of the Red Devils, while Sunderland (3/1) kept their European hopes alive by beating Everton 3-1.

In the Friday night fixture, Aston Villa (6/4) heaped further misery upon Liverpool and ran out 4-2 winners.

Commenting on the action across England, Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “Firm favourites Manchester City lifted the FA Cup for the eighth time in their history with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Chelsea on Saturday at Wembley.

“One moment of audacity from Antoine Semenyo on 72 minutes settled affairs, flicking at an Erling Haaland cross with his heel and diverting it expertly into the far corner.

“Sadly, at the other end of the table, West Ham couldn’t get anything from St James’s Park, falling to Newcastle 3-1, and a return to the Championship for the first time since 2012 looks likely.”

The plethora of goals in the Premier League provided punters with bet builders on the action with “joy”, according to bet365’s Steve Freeth.

“The Premier League coupon kicked off with six goals at Villa Park, followed by five at Old Trafford, providing bet builder joy for punters,” he said.

“We wrestled back the impetus in the 3pm matches with Brighton and Everton losing and Brentford and Fulham both drawing. The Seagulls’ failure to score at Elland Road stopped the BTTS accumulator.

“Newcastle’s 3-1 win over West Ham was a small loser, but a lot bigger for West Ham who find themselves close to tasting Championship football next season.

“The FA Cup final will be remembered for an outstanding winning goal, but little else, and it proved profitable at Wembley. A low-scoring game with five shots on target, eight corners and four cards, it was, aside from the goal, a forgettable final.”

FDJ UNITED’s Ali Gill added it was a set of results that began with customers being on top but, by the end of the weekend, bookmakers had clawed things back thanks to a number of draws on Sunday.

“Overall, a decent set of results from a players point of view in the Premier League,” said Gill. “A goal-fest at Villa Park on Friday night, and a win for Villa which far from surprised punters, saw the weekend get off to a bad start as far as the trading room was concerned.

“But a late, late winner for Leeds against Brighton, Fulham being held to a draw at Wolves and a Sunderland comeback win at Everton all contributed to a good day on Sunday, despite a five-goal Manchester United win in the day’s opener.”

“The FA Cup was hardly a thrill a minute, but a solitary goal was enough from our point of view to overcome the City win, and that match left us very nicely ahead.”

Broken Hearts

Up in Scotland, Celtic (3/5) secured the Premiership title with a dramatic 3-1 win over Hearts, ending the Edinburgh club’s fairytale season.

That result, coupled with an emphatic Rangers (7/10) win over Falkirk, were bad news for operators.

Things did not improve in Germany, where Harry Kane scored a hat-trick for Bayern Munich (3/20) in their victory over Koln and Freiburg (3/2) dispatched RB Leipzig with ease.

However, Leverkusen drew 1-1 with Hamburg, Hoffenheim lost 4-0 to Monchengladbach (3/1) and Heidenheim lost 2-0 to Mainz (9/4) to rescue things in Germany for the punters.

Bettors enjoyed further wins in Italy thanks to Roma’s (1/2) 2-0 win against Lazio, Milan (7/10) beating Genoa on the road and Como (1/4) beating Parma 1-0.

Bookmakers, on the other hand, were grateful to Fiorentina (7/1) who upset Juventus 2-0 and sent the Turin side tumbling down the table and into sixth place.

Having already called the FA Cup final “forgettable”, Freeth said of the Celtic result: “I’m certainly not saying that about the end of the Scottish Premiership, where we suffered losses with Celtic’s title-winning success over Hearts and Rangers hitting five at Falkirk.

“Harry Kane was at it again in the Bundesliga, scoring his fourth hat-trick of season with 260 pre-game wagers on the Bayern Munich goal-machine.

“There were a few shocks for us on the final day coupon in Germany, with favourites Leverkusen, Hoffenheim and Heidenheim all failing to win.

“Fiorentina rescued us in Serie A as the 7/1 shots ruined a favourites five-fold in the early kick-offs by beating Juventus in Turin. This was after wins for odds-on shots Roma, Como, Milan, and Napoli leaving the Bianconeri in sixth spot having started the day in third. 

“However, there were some coupon busters in France with Lille, Lyon, Nice and PSG all failing to record victories.”

Bulgarian Banger

Outside of football, bet365 suffered its “worst ever” result in the Eurovision Song Contest after Bulgaria’s (25/1) win on Saturday night.

Singer Dara amassed 516 points with her song ‘Bangaranga’, while the UK’s ‘Look Mum no Computer’ by Sam Battle came last with one point.

Freeth noted: “It was gamble landed in the Eurovision Song Contest with Bulgaria, who were 150/1 just five days prior, scoring a massive 516 points to take the spoils, resulting in our worst-ever result in the competition.

“Bulgaria had started the night at 10/1, but the money in the lead-up to the Vienna showpiece was spot on with Dara amassing 516 points after topping both the public and jury vote, a feat not achieved since 2017, with her ‘Bangaranga’ song aided by brilliant staging.”

Over to horseracing where, at Newbury, Notable Speech (2/1) won the Lockinge Stakes by two lengths. More Thunder (9/1) did its best throughout but the Charlie Appleby trained horse finished strongly and is now 6/4 at Royal Ascot.

Midnite’s Alex Firth said: “In racing, Notable Speech signalled the return to form for Charlie Appleby’s yard with an impressive victory in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes.

“More Thunder was staying on strongly at the line and should set up a good rematch in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.

“Kalpana resumed winning ways with her first run this season in the Aston Park Stakes and she is likely to be targeting all the big middle-distance Group 1s again this season.”

Gill added: “On Saturday at Newbury the Lockinge went the way of favourite Notable Speech under William Buick. Unsurprisingly well backed on the day, that was certainly one the punters cheered home.”