🦁 Chelsea fight back for Villa draw; Blades go down; Liverpool sink again | OneFootball

The Premier League weekend kicked off with no fewer than seven fixtures to enjoy.

Here is what went down around the grounds.

Chelsea fight back to snatch Villa Park point

Scorers: Cucurella (OG) 4′, Rogers 42′ ; Madueke 60′, Gallagher 81

It was a horror start for Chelsea after Villa struck goal inside five minutes when a cross ricocheted off of Marc Cucurella before finding the back of the net.

The Blues responded in kind however, as Nicolas Jackson was played in behind and found the back of the net. However, a VAR review found the Chelsea striker to be offside in the buildup.

The former Villarreal man hit the post past the half-hour mark to send another warning shot across the Villa bow, but the score remained in the hosts’ favour.

Chelsea were punished for their lack of ruthlessness in front of goal before the break when Morgan Rogers picked out the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

The visitors pulled one back on the hour mark to rekindle the clash however, as Noni Madueke pounced on a loose ball in the box to fire home and cut the Villa lead.

The turnaround was completed in the final 10 minutes when the Villa defence allowed Conor Gallagher to walk in a curl a shot into the top corner from the edge of the box and level the score.

Late drama ensued. It appeared that Axel Disasi had won the game for Chelsea when he headed home after a set-piece, but the goal was disallowed for a shove in the back on a Villa defender before the goal.

Everton beat Brentford to secure survival

It was a low tempo start to the encounter though, with both sides relying on set pieces and creating very little from open play.

The away side looked the more likely side to break the deadlock though, with only a fantastic block from Jarrad Branthwaite preventing them from taking the lead.

Defence was very much the name of the game for both sides, with the game failing to burst into life in the first half and neither side even managing a shot on target.

Dwight McNeil came close to opening the scoring just eight minutes into the second half, with his long range effort coming back off the crossbar.

The Toffees did take the lead minutes later though, when Idrissa Gueye pounced on a loose ball to fire his side into the lead with their first effort on target.

Brentford pushed for an equaliser, with Keane Lewis-Potter seeing his stinging effort saved by Jordan Pickford.

Everton, meanwhile, were happy to hold onto what they had and remained a threat on the break, with James Garner rattling the bar.

Late Burnley goal holds Manchester United to draw

Scorers: Antony 80′; Amdouni (pen) 87′

Erik ten Hag’s side were looking to continue their push for European football against a rejuvenated Burnley side.

And in an open start to the game, both sides had chances, with David Fofana firing at André Onana before Alejandro Garnacho blazed over in an end to end opening.

The Red Devils began to take a hold on proceedings though, probing the Clarets for an opening as Antony and Christian Eriksen both went close.

Burnley weren’t rolling over though; Vincent Kompany’s side remained a threat, with Lyle Foster testing Onana with two efforts in a first half that they increasingly began to dominate.

Heading into the interval, the Clarets should have been ahead, with the Manchester United no.1 the busiest man on the pitch.

United should have taken the lead just after the break when Antony was found by Alejandro Garnacho, only for the Brazilian to be denied by Muric.

And as Ten Hag rang the changes, both sides had chances to take the lead in an open second half. However, it was the Red Devils that finally made an opportunity count; 10 minutes from time, Antony picked up the ball centrally before firing past Muric and making up for his earlier miss by handing his side a precious lead.

As they have so often this season though, United shot themselves in the foot. Onana undid his good early work with a careless attempted punch, which VAR deemed a penalty offence, and Mohamed Amdouni dutifully converted from 12 yards.

United pushed for a winner, but ultimately had to settle for a point, and dent their chances of European football next season.

Spoils shared in London derby

Scorers: Muniz 52′; Schlupp 87′

Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace revolution continued with a trip to Craven Cottage, as they looked to make it four wins on the bounce.

And they had the better of the opening stages of proceedings, with Michael Olise again at the centre of it. The Frenchman saw an effort of his own saved and provided a tantalising cross that Chris Richards should have done better with.

But Fulham grew into the encounter, and could have been ahead at half time when Issa Diop headed over when well placed.

They were ahead just after though. A cross from Timothy Castagne was met with a powerful header from Rodrigo Muniz, who beat the Palace defence to find himself free eight yards out.

Palace pushed for an equaliser but were almost caught out on the counter-attack, only for Bobby DeCordova Reid to miss the target when well placed.

At the other end, the pressure mounted. Bernd Leno kept out an effort while the Cottagers blocked another from the dangerous Olise. But the goal was coming, and duly arrived courtesy of an excellent strike from Jeffrey Schlupp. with the substitute rescuing a deserved point for his side.

Sheffield United relegated in disgrace

Scorers: Isak 26′, 61 (pen), Guimaraes 54′. Osborn (OG) 66′, Wilson 72′; Ahmedhodžić 5′

Sheffield United travelled to St James’ Park knowing that this could be the day they are officially relegated from the Premier League.

But they proved that they weren’t going down without a fight, with centre-back Anel Ahmedhodžić firing his side into the lead from a corner.

That fight didn’t last long though; 20 minutes later the home side pulled level after a spell of pressure, with Alexander Isak running onto a Jacob Murphy through ball to fire the ball past Wes Foderingham.

It was a poor first half from the hosts despite being level, but they found their stride after the interval and completed the turnaround just before the hour mark. It came courtesy of midfield magician Bruno Guimaraes, who converted a diving header at the back post after a delicious free kick from Anthony Gordon.

Minutes later the game was up as Alexander Isak converted from 12 yards after Mason Holgate was judged to have bought down Gordon, firing into the bottom right with Foderingham motionless.

Things threatened to get ugly once more for the Premier League’s bottom side as Newcastle were gifted a fourth though an own goal from Ben Osborn, before Callum Wilson added a fifth to complete a torrid 18 minutes for the Blades.

It proved all she wrote for the scoring and for Sheffield United’s time in the Premier League, while Newcastle took another big step towards European football.

Wolves hold on against Luton

Scorers: Hwang 39′, Toti 50′; Morris 80′

Luton travelled to Wolves hoping for a massive three points in their survival hunt.

However, after a balanced start to the game with chances for both, they fell behind just before half time as Hwang Hee-Chan got the better of Teden Mengi before firing past Kaminski to open the scoring, and hand the home side the lead.

Any hope that Luton had of getting back into the game after the break was quickly dealt a blow as Toti Gomes doubled his side’s lead with a powerful header.

The Hatters looked out of the game, but with 10 minutes to go they found a way back in through Carlton Morris. The striker pounced after some pinball in the penalty area and brought up his 10th goal of the season, handing his side a lifeline in the tie in the process.

But it proved to be too little too late for the Hatters, with the home side holding on to deal Rob Edwards’ side a blow in their chase for Premier League survival.

Liverpool held by West Ham

Scorers: Bowen 43′, Antonio 77; Robertson 48′, Areola OG 65′

Jürgen Klopp made five changes for the trip to the London Stadium with Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez and Ibrahima Konaté among the casualties.

A front-footed approach by the visitors saw them threaten Alphonse Areola’s goal in the opening stages as Harvey Elliott sent an effort into the side netting.

The Hammers were given a reprieve when Cody Gakpo went down under a challenge in the penalty area from Areola before VAR deemed Luis Díaz to be offside.

But Bowen broke the deadlock just minutes before the interval by glancing home Mohammed Kudus’ cross from the left for his 20th goal of the season.

The Reds began the second half in a similar fashion and were rewarded inside three minutes through Andy Robertson squeezing a side-footed effort past Areola.

They took the lead midway through the second half as Gakpo’s close-range volley cannoned off Angelo Ogbonna and Tomáš Souček before Areola had the final touch.

But despite two good chances for Luis Díaz, they couldn’t create daylight between themselves and the Hammers, and that proved costly.

After some sloppy play around their own area, Bowen lifted in a delightful cross from which Michail Antonio made no mistake, rising high to power the ball past Alisson and level the game once more.

It proved to be all she wrote, and leaves neither side truly satisfied with Liverpool potentially five points behind Arsenal should the Gunners win the north London derby, while the Hammers are unlikely to make European football next season.

Sunday sees a further three match-ups that will have a bearing on the title race with Tottenham hosting leaders Arsenal in the North London derby before Manchester City aim to close the gap in their trip to Nottingham Forest. Elsewhere, Bournemouth and Brighton do battle in a South Coast showdown.