Weekend Review: Arsenal feeling the title pressure thanks to clinical Cunha
Gunners’ defeat to Manchester United sees their lead in title race slip to four points, while Champions Hurdle favourite Sir Gino suffers potential season-ending injury
Manchester United’s (9/2) 3-2 victory over Arsenal (1/2) on Sunday evening opened up the Premier League title race, cutting the Gunners’ lead at the top to four points.
A Lisandro Martinez own goal gave the hosts the lead, only for Bryan Mbuemo to equalise minutes later.
After the break, Patrick Dorgu’s wondergoal gave United the lead, with Mikel Merino pulling Arsenal level with less than 10 minutes remaining.
But substitute Matheus Cunha’s strike from outside of the box gave United all three points, moving them into fourth place, and capping off a thrilling game in north London.
The result came after Manchester City’s (1/4) 2-0 win over Wolves 24 hours earlier thanks to first-half goals from Omar Marmoush and Antoine Semenyo.
Both results meant City are now four points behind the leaders with 15 games remaining.
Aston Villa (6/5) kept pace with City and are level on points with the reigning title holders after a 2-0 away win against Newcastle.
Crystal Palace’s (5/2) worrying form continued, losing 3-1 to Chelsea (11/10) at home, but are still eight points clear of the relegation zone.
In two positive results for the bookies, Bournemouth scored a last-minute winner to beat Liverpool 3-2 and a seemingly resurgent West Ham ran out 3-1 winners at home to Sunderland.
Bet365’s Steeve Freeth said: “We were slightly disappointed to finish flat this weekend, particularly following defeats for 8/15 Arsenal and 4/5 Liverpool, alongside home losses for Brentford and Newcastle.
“However, we were hit by the volume of goals scattered around the Premier League coupon.
“First Manchester City and then Arsenal, so no surprise to see Michael Carrick shorten into 5/4 to still be in charge at the start of next season after the win at the Emirates with the Red Devils shortening from 5/1 into 6/4 for the top four since his return to the dugout. Bryan Mbeumo’s name will only appear once in the record books for scoring.
“His replacement, and matchwinner, Matheus Cunha’s 87th minute strike meant we paid out bets on Mbeumo scoring two or more goals due to our Sub On Play On concession.
“Arsenal have been odds-on for the title since the start of October and remain so at 4/11.
“At the other end of the table, Crystal Palace’s relegation odds have plummeted from 150/1 into 8/1 having not won since 7 December. Just a few weeks ago, they were 11/2 for a top four finish after their victory at Fulham.”
Elsewhere, at the bottom of the table, Nottingham Forest (3/1) surprised Brentford (9/10) with a 2-0 away win.
Burnley were denied a rare victory, drawing 2-2 (9/4) against Tottenham (evens) due to a late Spurs equaliser.
Betfred’s Alan Firkins noted: “Fred will be doing cartwheels and the Reds find themselves up into fourth place albeit eight adrift of Aston Villa and City, third and second, respectively.
“Forest’s win at Brentford was well received by the traders, and on that front, pride of place surely goes to Bournemouth, thrilling last-gasp 3-2 victors against Liverpool at The Vitality.
“West Ham’s welcome renaissance continued with a sound 3-1 success at home against Sunderland, who badly missed the injured Granit Xhaka’s talismanic presence in midfield, and Burnley grabbed a Turf Moor point against Spurs but remain, proverbially, in trouble deep.
“Several pitfalls for punters then but bags of thrilling action to savour. Latest Prem outrights: Arsenal 1/3, City 3/1, Villa 14s, Man Utd 50/1 and it’s 100/1 bar the four.”
Arsenal also remain favourites for the title with BOYLE Sports, at 4/11, though City are now 11/4 with the pair set to face each other in April.
Spokesperson Brian O’Keeffe said: “It was another big swing in the title race, with Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat to Manchester United giving Manchester City and Aston Villa a real shot of momentum as we head into the business end of the season.
“Arsenal remain the team to catch and are still the favourites in the outright market at 4/11, but that cushion at the top has been trimmed and City have shortened to 11/4 to capitalise if the Gunners wobble again.”
Midnite senior trader Alex Firth highlighted the form of the bottom three teams over the weekend, paying particular attention to West Ham’s and Nottingham Forest’s victories.
He noted: “The fight for survival took more twists in the Premier League over the weekend. West Ham secured a much-needed win over Sunderland in the early kick-off on Saturday at 6/5 before Nottingham Forest responded with an unlikely win of their own. Sean Dyche’s side were 3/1 heading to Brentford and left Brentford with a 2-0 win.”
There was a lack of shock results across Europe, with most favourites finding a way to win in Scotland, Italy and Spain.
Except Bayern Munich (3/20), who suffered their first defeat of the season against 13th-placed Augsburg (14/1), losing 2-1.
Teams elsewhere were able to get the job done. Real Madrid (4/5) beat Villarreal (13/5) 2-0, Barcelona (2/25) dispatched Real Oviedo (12/1) 3-0 to finish the weekend one point ahead of Madrid at the top of the table and third-place Atlético Madrid (3/10) beat Mallorca (9/1) by the same scoreline.
It was goals galore in Italy. Inter (1/4) beat Pisa (8/1) 6-2 with six different goalscorers for the home side, while Como (1/2) also put six past Torino (5/1) without reply.
Napoli (7/2) lost pace in the race for the title due to a 3-0 defeat to Juventus (9/10) while bet365 paid out on Bologna (9/4) to beat Genoa (7/5) when they took a two-goal lead.
In France, Bradley Barcola’s late goal for PSG (3/10) secured all three points against Auxerre (7/1) to keep PSG two points clear of Lens (9/4), who were beaten 3-1 by Marseille (11/10).
Freeth added: “The home banker in Europe looked to be at fortress Allianz Arena, but incredibly Bayern Munich suffered their first defeat of the season to Bundesliga strugglers Augsburg with the 16/1 shots beating the runaway leaders 2-1.
“That was it as far as shocks went in the Bundesliga with victories for favourites Dortmund, Leverkusen, Leipzig and Hoffenheim on Saturday and Stuttgart and Freiburg on Sunday.
“Alvaro Arbeloa is now 5/4 to start next season as Real Madrid’s manager following his latest victory, having steadied the ship since that shock defeat to Albacete.
“Barcelona reclaimed the top spot in La Liga with a 3-0 win over Real Oviedo, while Atletico Madrid leap-frogged Villarreal into third with a similar scoreline at home to Mallorca.
“In Serie A, it was a weekend filled with goals as short-priced favourites Inter and Como both netted six, while well-fancied Atalanta scored four and Juventus bagged three against Napoli.
“Ethan Nwaneri made an impressive debut for Marseille, scoring just 13 minutes into the top of the table clash against Lens while Bradley Barcola scored a valuable late goal for PSG at Auxerre.”
In the horseracing, an injury to Sir Gino at Cheltenham Trials Day has ruled out the Nicky Henderson-trained six-year-old for the season.
Sir Gino suffered a fractured pelvis in the International Hurdle, where he was the 2/5 favourite, and which was won by The New Lion at 9/4.
Nico de Boinville pulled the horse up after the third-last flight, with on-course vets attending to Sir Gino immediately.
The situation didn’t look good, however, Henderson announced on social media later that day that Sir Gino was “comfortable and stable”.
Firkins remarked: “While there’s mercifully every chance of a full recovery, his racing career must be in considerable doubt, though aged just six you never know.
“Willie Mullins’ Lossiemouth now heads the ‘Champion’ betting at 2/1, with Saturday’s main beneficiary of Sir Gino’s misfortune The New Lion second-in at 3/1.
“Can’t believe I’m saying this but Constitution Hill, Nicky Henderson’s superstar former title-holder who has fallen on three of his last four spins, is quoted at just 5/1.”
The last contest of the eight-race card on Trials Day turned into something of a farce, though, after ground staff discovered a deep hole on the track before the 4.10pm.
Despite an image shared on social media showing a member of the team with his whole arm disappearing into the hole, the race was given the go-ahead, albeit with the hazardous area dolled off.
The race went off at 4.39pm amid fading light, yet the still image of what was a photo finish was so dark it was hard to even see the horses let alone which had crossed the line in first place.
Speaking on the AK Bets podcast, Anthony Kaminskas, founder of on-course and online bookmaker AK Bets, called the decision to run the race after the hole was discovered a “braindead decision”.