Premier League: Kane and Salah can emulate Haaland, Chelsea show fight and six other things learned

On a remarkable bank holiday weekend in the Premier League, there were plenty of twists and turns as the title race, relegation battle and fight for European football headed further towards a gripping conclusion.

Manchester City maintained their lead at the top of the table by edging out a 2-1 win over Leeds, but Arsenal kept themselves very much in the title picture with an impressive 2-0 victory at Newcastle.

In the joust for top four, a shock 1-0 defeat for Manchester United at West Ham, along with Newcastle’s slip up, has given Liverpool hope of a late dash for Champions League qualification after their 1-0 victory against Brentford.

Leeds and Leicester are in desperate trouble at the bottom after respective losses at City and Fulham, with Nottingham Forest and Everton leapfrogging them out of the relegation zone following wins over Southampton and Brighton, respectively.

It proved a fascinating bank holiday weekend of top-flight action with several talking points to mull over, and Mail Sport has taken a closer look at eight of them.

Manchester City maintained their lead at the top of the table on a remarkable bank holiday weekend in the Premier League

West Ham’s shock 1-0 win over Manchester United was one of the talking points of the weekend

Chelsea show some character… for a change

On the back of six consecutive defeats in all competitions, everything seemed to point to another miserable afternoon for Frank Lampard’s Chelsea as they made the trip to an in-form Bournemouth side on Saturday.

Lampard, one more loss away from being subjected to endless James Bond memes with a record of 0-0-7, had endured a torrid spell as caretaker manager since returning to his beloved club and, following last week’s thrashing at Arsenal, there were few signs of this changing anytime soon.

That was until the Blues finally showed some resolve and character at the Vitality, where they scored twice in the final eight minutes to win 3-1 and earn Lampard his first victory – rendering any 007 memes futile.

As well as relieving their interim boss of significant pressure, the victory serves as an overdue reminder of the quality Chelsea possess in their expensively-assembled ranks despite a truly disastrous season that has left them down in 11th place.

Bournemouth are no world beaters but, after winning four of their last five games to steer clear of the relegation dogfight, this was no easy place to come and Lampard’s men were worthy of their triumph in the end.

Benoit Badiashile, who scored his first goal in English football, is a commanding presence at the back and deserves to be one of the first names on the team sheet, while in Enzo Fernandez Chelsea may well have got their hands on an elite-level midfield general for years to come. Noni Madueke also looks a promising talent.

Believe it or not, further reinforcements are required this summer in goal, midfield and attack – not to mention a host of departures across the board – yet there is plenty for Mauricio Pochettino to be excited about as he prepares to take charge at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea finally showed some character to claim a 3-1 win away at Bournemouth on Saturday

Benoit Badiashile (left) got on the scoresheet as the Blues ended their torrid recent run

Frank Lampard avoided  brutal James Bond memes after steering clear of a 0-0-7 record

Emery’s Villa bubble bursts

After going 10 games unbeaten before last week’s trip to Manchester United, the bubble appears to have burst for Aston Villa following another 1-0 defeat against Midlands rivals Wolves on Saturday.

Unai Emery has rightly received widespread plaudits for turning their season around after replacing Steven Gerrard in October, and the sheer fact that consecutive defeats for Villa now warrants a talking point speaks volumes about the work he has done so far.

Yet a formidable second half of the campaign now threatens to go out on a whimper for his side, who could end up qualifying for the Europa Conference League by finishing eighth if certain results go their way.

While a place in the top half is all but secured with Chelsea 12 points behind in 11th, Villa face a battle to keep hold of eighth place and potential European football ahead of tough closing fixtures against Tottenham, Liverpool and Brighton.

The bubble may have burst for Emery and Co, but their home form remains strong after five consecutive victories, which will bring confidence ahead of the visit of Spurs.

Unai Emery and Aston Villa’s bubble has burst after consecutive Premier League defeats

Spirited Leeds bring positives for Allardyce

Anything but defeat for Leeds against Man City would have gone down as a major upset, even by Sam Allardyce’s famous firefighting standards.

Though in not disgracing themselves in a 2-1 loss at the Etihad, and even giving the league leaders a scare by pulling a goal back late on, Allardyce can’t have asked for much more from his first game in charge.

The newly-appointed Whites boss will take positives from a spirited display against Pep Guardiola’s relentless winning machine, who blitzed title rivals Arsenal in more convincing fashion than his relegation-threatened side. If they can show the same desire and organisation in their remaining games, survival is not out of the question.

Nevertheless, wins for Forest and Everton have left them two points adrift of safety and in trouble heading into the final three games of the season, with Leicester also sitting above them in 18th on goal difference.

Saturday’s clash with top-four candidates Newcastle therefore promises to be a seismic afternoon in Leeds’ survival bid. If other results don’t go their way, anything but a victory could well end their hopes of beating the drop.

Yet with one of the Premier League’s greatest escape artists at the helm, anything is possible. 

Kane and Salah could emulate Haaland in a team like City 

In the midst of below-par seasons where their respective teams are concerned, Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah continued their superb individual campaigns by netting the only goals in 1-0 wins over Crystal Palace and Brentford, respectively.

Salah was on hand with his 30th goal in 48 games for Liverpool this season – as well as his seventh in as many games and 100th career strike at Anfield – while Kane registered his 26th goal in 35 league games for Tottenham. The England captain has scored eight times in his last nine matches.

Harry Kane (left) and Mohamed Salah (right) continued their fine run of individual form

Imagine if they had the luxury of playing for Man City like Erling Haaland

Imagine, then, if they had the luxury of playing for Man City? 

Erling Haaland has smashed record after record at City this term, already setting a new benchmark for goals in a single Premier League campaign with his 35th of the season last week.

While not taking anything away from Haaland – a machine of a goalscorer who at 22 years old is likely not even close to his peak – it can be argued that Salah and, in particular, Kane would achieve similar feats if part of Pep Guardiola’s treble-chasing City side.

Salah has managed to sweep home 30 goals for an underwhelming Liverpool team who could well miss out on Champions League qualification this season. Kane, meanwhile, is only nine goals shy of Haaland’s historic league return right now despite spending the entire campaign battling through chaos at Spurs.

While all if, buts and maybes, Salah and Kane would likely write even more history of their own in a team as powerful as City’s.

Mature Arsenal banish the ghost of St James’ Park

Last season Arsenal travelled to Newcastle with a win required to keep their Champions League hopes alive. Instead, they were left crestfallen after a 2-0 defeat allowed bitter rivals Tottenham to usurp them at the penultimate hurdle.

St James’ Park was the scene of a traumatic Gunners collapse, a place where Mikel Arteta’s greenhorn side had let the heat of a fierce top-four battle scorch them right at the death. 

On Sunday they made their first trip to Tyneside since that sorry evening while in a similar position; with another defeat against a stronger Newcastle threatening to put the final nail in the coffin again – this time in their bid to win the Premier League.

After recent slip-ups against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton were followed by a thrashing away at title rivals Man City, many expected Arsenal to wilt under the pressure inside a hostile St James’ once more.

Arsenal’s win at Newcastle shows how far they have progressed over the past 12 months

What played out, however, was a dominant, professional performance which shows exactly how far the Gunners have come over the past year, both tactically and mentally.

Martin Odegaard’s strike after 14 minutes took the sting out of a ferocious Newcastle start and from that point Arteta’s men enjoyed near-complete control up until the break, one glaring Joe Willock chance aside. Though Eddie Howe’s Magpies upped the ante after the interval and were unfortunate not to equalise before Fabian Schar’s own goal killed the game.

While the hosts had their chances, Arsenal returning to the scene of last year’s collapse, keeping a clean sheet and inflicting Newcastle’s second home defeat of the season is a striking contrast which symbolises their growth in maturity.

Feet up for the Hammers 

The obvious headline from West Ham’s surprise 1-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday was about Erik ten Hag’s men blowing the top-four race wide open again with Liverpool hot on their heels in fifth.

But a much-needed first win in four games comes as a huge relief to the Hammers, who have all but guaranteed their Premier League status for another year.

It has been a disappointing season domestically for David Moyes and Co, with 18 defeats in 34 matches leaving them sweating over their top-flight future.

West Ham can focus mainly on Europe after all but confirming their Premier League safety

That was before Sunday’s victory against United, which moved them seven points clear of the drop zone with just nine to play for.

The near-impossible combination of a late collapse and miraculous winning runs from Leicester and Leeds is required to send them packing to the Championship, meaning they can put their feet up and focus mainly on reaching the Europa Conference League final – with AZ Alkmaar to come in the last four on Thursday.

Leicester’s punt on Smith has backfired 

When they parted company with Brendan Rodgers last month, Leicester were already in deep trouble after slipping into the relegation zone. 

The decision to axe a coach who previously guided them to successive fifth-place finishes and an FA Cup came purely out of desperation to avoid the drop. Why, then, did they decide to take a punt on Dean Smith, a Championship-level manager whose top-flight credentials have never been proven?

Smith’s greatest managerial achievement to date was masterminding Aston Villa’s success in the 2019 Championship playoffs. The following season, up in the Premier League, they narrowly avoided relegation by a single point after spending close to £150million in the transfer market.

Leicester’s punt on Dean Smith at such a crucial stage of the season has backfired on them

The former Walsall and Brentford boss was then sacked early in the next season after a run of five straight defeats, before suffering relegation with Norwich last season and eventually losing his job there in December. Thus, the decision to rest their Premier League hopes on his shoulders was always a gamble.

Leicester can’t have many complaints if they drop to the Championship after hiring a second-tier coach.

Southampton’s fate all but sealed

While at least some hope remains for Leicester, any faint chances of a great Southampton escape ended in their 4-3 defeat against Nottingham Forest.

It certainly wasn’t for the want of trying, nonetheless, with Ruben Selles’ men pegging the hosts back on three occasions.

Yet languishing eight points adrift of safety at the foot of the table, even victory over Fulham this weekend may not be enough to keep them up.

It looks like a matter of when, not if, Southampton’s fate is confirmed.