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Two matches took place on Thursday in the English Premier League - Champions League finalist London club Arsenal, after a fierce battle and two goals from Jose Reyes, won away against Manchester City, reducing the gap from Tottenham to one point before the final round and keeping the hope alive to secure fourth place, while Sunderland secured their first season victory at home.
In the beginning of the match in Manchester, the hosts looked better, but Arsenal also did not intend to just defend and with Thierry Henry leading the attack, constantly posed a threat with counterattacks. It is not surprising that one of the first real chances to score turned into a goal - T. Henry deceived Claude Reina and calmly passed the ball to the Swede Freddie Ljungberg, who scored his first goal of the season in the Premier League.
However, soon the ball had to be retrieved from their own goal by Jens Lehmann - the disturbed Arsenal defense could not stop Man City's attack after a corner kick. The first to strike was Darius Vassellas and although his attempt was saved by the goalkeeper, David Sommeil was the first to reach the ball and leveled the score from a few meters away.
The sluggish Arsenal could have finished the first half with a goal by T. Henry, but once again he missed the target, deceiving three defenders.
Although Arsenal took initiative at the start of the second half, and F. Ljungberg was prevented from scoring the second goal by the post, the dissatisfied coach Arsene Wenger threw one of his main assets onto the field - Cesc Fabregas, who was celebrating his 19th birthday that day, and he immediately justified all expectations.
The precise pass from the Spaniard led Gilberto into a comfortable situation, who passed the ball to young Robin van Persie, but the Dutchman's shot was slightly off target. Shortly after, the goalkeeper saved shots from R. van Persie and Alexander Hleb, but the pressure mounted and despite the hosts also creating several chances, a goal was eventually scored.
After a substitution, Jose Antonio Reyes once again put Arsenal ahead in the 78th minute, when after a pass from Emmanuel Eboue from the flank, he left no chance for goalkeeper David James. As the match was coming to an end, the Spaniard, after a unselfish pass from T. Henry, scored another goal, securing the victory for the London team.
By earning 3 points, Arsenal reduced the gap from Tottenham to one point. In the final round, the latter will play away against West Ham, while Arsenal will host Wigan for the last time at Highbury stadium.
In the next match, Sunderland avoided making history as the first team in the Premier League not to win a single home match in a season. The team occupying the last place in the championship defeated Fulham 2-1 and did not hide their joy over the victory.
The hosts took the lead in the 32nd minute, when the young Frenchman Anthony Le Tallec scored his fifth goal of the season with a header. Chris Brown doubled the score in the 57th minute and although Tomasz Radzinski softened the result in the second half, Sunderland claimed a deserved and long-awaited victory.
Thursday's results:
1 - 3
29` [0 - 1] Freddie Ljungberg
38` [1 - 1] David Sommeil
78` [1 - 2] Jose Antonio Reyes
84` [1 - 3] Jose Antonio Reyes
2 - 1
32` [1 - 0] Anthony Le Tallec
57` [2 - 0] Chris Brown
76` [2 - 1] Tomasz Radzinski
Standings table:
