Premier League Round 29 review
It’s now ten rounds before we will find out who the new Premier League Champion is going to be. This weekend, teams across England played round 29 matches. In some of them, Nigerian players and those of Nigerian descent were involved. We will review some of those games.
In the highly charged London derby, Tottenham played hosts to Arsenal at the Wembley Stadium. Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi was in the starting line-up for Emery’s side once again, this time alongside Aaron Ramsey and Henry Mkhitaryan, just behind Alexandre Lacazette.
And it was Ramsey who opened the scoring in the 16th minute after a good pass from Lacazette. Iwobi had a good chance just before the break but his shot was parried away by the Spurs keeper.
Tottenham responded in the second half but had to wait for the referee to give a penalty for their chance to equalize. Harry Kane stepped up to the spot and scored in the 74th minute to level the score.
Arsenal had a chance to steal all three points when the referee gave them a penalty around the 90-minute mark. Pierre-Emerick Aubemayang, who came in off the bench earlier took the penalty, but Hugo Lloris saved it. The match finished with a 1:1 draw.
Jordon Ibe (www.afcb.co.uk)
After getting humiliated by Arsenal in the last round, Bournemouth closed ranks against Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium. However, City still managed to get through and score in the 55th minute through Riyad Mahrez. A single goal was enough for a win and first place on the table. Jordon Ibe was on the bench for the Cherries and didn’t feature.
After a string of games without a win, Brighton finally triumphed against the bottom of the table Huddersfield Town at the Amex Stadium. After a goalless first half, Florin Andone came off the bench for the Seagulls in the 57th minute.
And it was an inspired substitution since his goal in the 79th minute was the decider in this match. Philip Billing played the full 90 minutes on the pitch for the Terriers.
Leicester City travelled to London with their new manager Brendan Rodgers hoping for a good start to the new chapter. However, things didn’t go as planned. Wilfred Ndidi was in the starting eleven for the Foxes, while Kelechi Iheanacho watched the kick-off from the bench.
Watford got a goal early in the game through Troy Deeney. Leicester fought back in the second half and were rewarded when Jamie Vardy equalized in the 75th minute. Iheanacho came into the game in the 83rd minute.
Just when Rodgers thought he earned his first points as Leicester Manager, there was drama in stoppage time. Andre Gray, who came in as a sub earlier, scored a goal in the 2nd minute of time added on to snatch the win for the Hornets. Isaac Success Ajayi was back in the squad for Watford but didn’t play.