Hundred points of Salah for the performance and record of Manchester City
In England, Liverpool, which had guaranteed itself the championship title, beat Brighton and Hove Albion 3-1 on the road. By the eighth minute, the Merseysides scored two unanswered goals after the grossest mistakes of the opponent. First, Mohammed Salah struck an accurate blow from the penalty area, and then assisted Jordan Henderson.
At the end of the first half, Leandro Trossard managed to play one goal, but shortly before the final whistle, Salah scored twice. An Egyptian with 19 goals is in third place in the Premier League scorers race, second only to Jamie Vardi (22) and Pierre-Emerick Obameyang (20), and second - by the number of points for performance - 28 (19 goals + 9 assists). Only Kevin De Bruyne is ahead of the striker (29, 11 + 18).
At the same time, Salah scored exactly 100 points for performance (73 goals + 27 assists) in the last three seasons of the Premier League, which he spent as part of the Merseysides. Mohammed is ahead of the nearest pursuer - Sergio Aguero - by 25 points (58 + 17).
Liverpool won the 30th victory in a single submarine season faster than anyone in history. This team took only 34 matches.
In turn, Manchester City, having suffered two defeats in the last three matches of the Premier League, did not leave the slightest chance to Newcastle in a home meeting - 5: 0.
Goals in the hosts were marked by Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Marez, David Silva and Rahim Sterling. Federico Fernandez sent another goal into his own net.
Silva, in addition to the goal, gave two assists and brought the number of “assists” in the current season in all tournaments to ten. Thus, the Spaniard gives at least ten assists in each of the ten seasons spent in Manchester City. In total, he has 121 assists for the townspeople.
In the reporting match, the hosts also broke the Premier League record for the percentage of accurate passes - 93.7%. This is the best indicator since the 2003/2004 season, when these statistics were started.
Also on Wednesday, two applicants for tickets to the Europa League, Sheffield United and Wolverhampton, met. As a result, the team from Sheffield won with a minimum score thanks to the ball of John Egan in the 93rd minute. The defender scored a goal in the second round in a row, although he had not previously scored in the Premier League. Having scored three points, the hosts reduced the gap from sixth place to one point, which gives the right to participate in the qualification of LE.
Pique on the bike and two goals from Cazorla from the penalty spot
Barcelona, the second in the examples standings, beat the outsider Espanyol in the Catalan derby with a minimum score. The game itself turned out not too spectacular and bright.
Blue garnet as the favorite owned the initiative, but practically did not create dangerous moments at the opponent’s goal. But at the beginning of the second half the teams exchanged deletions. First, a direct red card was awarded to Ansu Fati, who came forward to replace Barça after the break, and a few minutes later, Hispaniola midfielder Paul Lozano.
Soon after, Luis Suarez from the goal line finished the ball into the net and brought the hosts a major victory. This goal helped the Uruguayan reach a clean third place on the club’s top scorers list in history. He has 195 goals. Above are only Cesar Rodriguez (232) and Lionel Messi (630).
For Espanyol, this defeat became fatal. For three rounds to the finish, Francisco Rufete’s wards are 11 points behind 17th place and no longer have a chance to escape. The team will leave Example for the first time since 1993.
It is also worth noting that Barcelona defender Gerard Pique arrived at the stadium by bicycle.
The cyclist? Not! 🚴🏻♂️
Just Piquet rushes to the mast with Espanyol 😳⚡
📹 Twitter MovistarFutbol pic.twitter.com/NU4r5X1M8m
But “Villarreal”, gaining an excellent move after the resumption of the season, but losing to Barcelona in the previous round, won again. On Wednesday, the wards of Javier Reviglia Caleja were stronger than Getafe - 3: 1.
Santi Cazorla helped score three points for Villarreal. The 35-year-old Spaniard scored two penalties and became the 18th player to break the ten-goal mark this season. And eight of them scored a midfielder from the penalty spot.
Atalanta’s ninth consecutive victory and Mertens’s 124th goal for Napoli
In Italy, Atalanta extended the winning streak in the national championship to nine matches and rose to third place in the standings. In addition, the Bergamaski reduced the gap from Lazio to two points and to nine from Juventus.
However, the match with Sampdoria turned out to be difficult for the wards of Gian Piero Gasperini. Until the 75th minute, the opponents could not open an account. However, “Atalanta” was rescued by corner, as well as successful replacements.
First, the Ukrainian Ruslan Malinovsky helped Rafael Toloy to distinguish himself, and then Luis Muriel hit the gate of the former team after filing a corner. At the same time, both entered the field in the middle of the second half.
For the Colombian, this goal was the 17th in the current season of Serie A and helped him catch up with Joao Pedro from Cagliari in the scorer race. Together they share fourth place in it.
It turned out to be a good evening for the Napoli players, who share fifth place in the Italian championship standings with Roma. The Neapolitans on the road were stronger than the outsider Genoa (2: 1) and won the seventh victory in the last eight matches of Serie A.
The guests went ahead in time added to the first half. The best scorer in club history, Dris Mertens, scored the 124th goal on the team.
However, immediately after the break, the hosts managed to win back the corner. And three points “Napoli” brought the substitute in the middle of the second half of the meeting, Irwin Lozano. One of the first touches he beat the goalkeeper after transferring a partner from the depths.
In turn, “Roma” interrupted an unsuccessful series of three defeats in a row in the Italian championship. On Wednesday, the Romans at home won a strong-willed victory over Parma - 2: 1.
The quick goal from the penalty spot did not bother the hosts and they answered him with two of their balls. And the main hero of the confrontation was the Armenian midfielder of the team Henrikh Mkhitaryan. At the end of the first half, he evened the score with a powerful blow under the crossbar from the area of the penalty spot, and after the break he assisted Jordan Veret.
Mkhitaryan scored a goal in the second match in a row. In the last round, he hit the gates of Napoli. In total, he has eight goals in Serie A and four assists.
18 shots in the penalty shootout and 12th Dynamo victory in the Ukrainian Cup
Meanwhile, Ukraine hosted the final match of the Cup of the country, in which Kiev Dynamo and Vorskla from Poltava met. The metropolitan team was considered a clear favorite of the match held in Kharkov. The opponent expected to repeat the success of 2009, when Vorskla beat Shakhtar in the tournament finals.
The game began for the wards of Yuri Maximov successfully. Already in the 11th minute Ruslan Stepanyuk knee closed the canopy at the far post. However, Dynamo recouped in the middle of the first half.
The teams failed to score more in either the main or extra time. As a result, the fate of the trophy was decided in a penalty shootout. In the first seven attempts, the players realized, after which they began to make mistakes. As a result, the “lottery” dragged on for 18 hits, and the fateful shot of the Vorskla player Vladimir Baenko was much higher than the goal, after which Artyom Shabanov realized his attempt.
Thus, Dynamo won the Ukrainian Cup for the 12th time in history. More often this was done only by Shakhtar (13). The remaining teams account for only four cups.
Carrera step to silver and wait for the finale
And the former head coach of Spartak Massimo Carrera took another step towards winning the silver medals of the Greek championship with AEK. In the seventh round of the playoffs of the champions, his wards beat OFI - 2: 0.
At the same time, the third-ranking PAOK lost points in the match against Panathinaikos - 0-0. Thus, for three rounds before the end of the season, AEK's advantage over the closest pursuer increased to four points. At the same time, owners of gold and silver awards will have the opportunity to play in the Champions League next season.
AEK is also waiting for the final match of the Greek Cup, in which the wards of the Carrera will meet with the Olympiakos, who had earlier guaranteed their championship.