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Football365 5mos ago
F365’s 3pm Blackout: Luton revenge as Villa hand advantage to Spurs and Everton break 2024 duck
Source:Football365

Unai Emery's furious, Carlton Morris is crying and Sean Dyche will be very, very relieved on a huge afternoon for the race for Europe and the relegation battle. Here's F365's 3pm blackout.

Luton 2-1 Bournemouth: Sweet comeback revenge for the HattersCarlton Morris was in tears after scoring his ninth goal of the season to secure victory from behind for Luton, who are now below Nottingham Forest and Premier League safety on goal difference. It wasn't quite a comeback to the same degree as Bournemouth's against them just three weeks ago, but revenge will have tasted sweet all the same.

Luton had picked up just three points from ten games before this one including that 4-3 defeat to the Cherries, which must have been a psychologically damaging one. Bournemouth meanwhile are at the other end of the Premier League form table, picking up 13 points from their last five.

Marcus Tavernier opened the scoring, drilling the ball into the bottom corner having previously hit the corner of post and bar in a first half Andoni Iraola's side had the better of. But Luton either turn games around or have games turned around on them, to such an extent that we might suggest it's to their benefit to be behind with 20 minutes to play.

Jordan Clark drew them level, swivelling and firing the ball past Neto after a tackle on the edge of Bournemouth's box, before Cauley Woodrow's fine cross from the left found Morris, who sidefooted home in the 90th minute. A huge win for Luton, who may yet benefit from further points deductions, but may not even need them.

Aston Villa 3-3 Brentford: Advantage Tottenham after second half capitulationAnyone got eyes on Unai Emery? No one does angry better and we can't think of many things more anger-inducing than giving up a two-goal and five-point lead in nine minutes of second half capitulation at Villa Park.

A word first on Morgan Rogers, whom Manchester City quite clearly made a blunder on. Bought from West Brom as a 16-year-old for close to PS4m, he joined Middlesbrough for around PS1m in the summer, moved to Aston Villa for PS8m in January, and judging by his displays thus far under Emery will be worth three or four times that much in a year's time.

After a delightful assist in defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday, Rogers opened his Villa account on Saturday, almost running over the ball before dragging it with his right to his left and firing it past Mark Flekken. At that point, having doubled Villa's lead after Ollie Watkins' opener, Emery's men looked to be on easy street.

To their detriment, they quite clearly also felt as though they were.

There was some neat build-up ahead of a lovely volleyed finish from Bryan Mbuemo for Brentford's second, but there was a very tame attempt to stop the cross, and a striker shouldn't be allowed to score unchallenged in the box as Mbuemo was. It was a similar case for the first, when a bog standard cross from the left wasn't dealt with, and the third again saw Brentford get in on Ezri Konsa's side, as Sergio Reguilon passed the ball into the six-yard box past a floundering Diego Carlos for Yoane Wissa to tap in.

Watkins jumped highest to get Villa back on level terms and put himself just one goal behind Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot, but this is undoubtedly two points dropped for Emery and his side in the race for fourth spot. Advantage Tottenham, who will go above them with victory over Nottingham Forest on Sunday, and have a game in hand.

Everton 1-0 Burnley: Muric gifts Calvert-LewinThis wasn't quite a must-win game for Everton, who could still have been four points above the relegation zone had they lost, with Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Sheffield United to come at home, as well as Luton away. But what on paper appear to be relatively easy fixtures could surely no longer be deemed as such had they lost to Burnley at Goodison Park. With another points deduction in the offing this had to be a banker after 13 games without a Premier League win. Sean Dyche will be a very relieved man, particularly having heard what happened at Kenilworth Road.

Everton didn't look like scoring through any ordinary method, in the main because for long periods of the game they couldn't get near Burnley's penalty area. 'Long passes' (hoofs) to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Abdoulaye Doucoure or whoever happened to be in the opposition half at time of hoofing didn't stick and Burnley got the ball down and passed it.

Vincent Kompany's side didn't create a great deal either, but they passed the ball, dribbled and made runs. In stark contrast to It could reasonably be described as football.

Arijanet Muric should have been more away of hot-streak striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who had one goal in one game going into this one having failed to score in his previous 18 top flight fixtures. The Kosovan goalkeeper has been excellent having come in for James Trafford in recent weeks, but his attempt to fire a pass through the middle of the pitch was both unnecessary and ill-advised with Calvert-Lewin standing directly in front of him.

Any striker, but specifically this striker, couldn't have finished it better if he tried, as the ball cannoned off his boot and looped over Muric into the net.

Dara O'Shea was shown a straight red for a lunging challenge on Dwight McNeil midway through the second half to ease Everton's path to victory: a huge one - their first since December 16 - to put them four points clear of the drop.

Fulham 0-1 Newcastle: Only one winner and it wasn't NewcastleThis was exactly the sort of game we now expect a ludicrously mercurial but actually quite predictable Fulham side to win. In the six games before this visit of an injury-ravaged Newcastle, Marco Silva's side have beaten Manchester United, Brighton and Tottenham, lost to Wolves and Nottingham Forest, and needed goals in the 86th and 93rd minute to draw with Sheffield United.

Essentially they turn up against teams in the top half and see those literally beneath them as figuratively beneath them. There's also a huge disparity between their home and away results, with 28 of their 39 points accrued at Craven Cottage; rather neatly, Newcastle have also won just 11 points away home. This game could only go one way.

But didn't. Willian, Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Muniz all missed great chances for Marco Silva's side, before Bruno Guimaraes struck for Newcastle after good work from substitute Harvey Barnes, who should probably be starting based on this display and his impact in the win over West Ham.

The Toon are firmly in the race for European football, with this win leaving them just one point behind Manchester United in sixth.

Wolves 1-2 West Ham: Hammers comeback before late, late controversyTwo wins in 12 for West Ham, whose fans could be forgiven for being a tad frustrated at their manager David Moyes replacing striker Michail Antonio with defensive midfielder Edson Alvarez after the Mexican's return from suspension. Few would have watched the 1-1 draw with Spurs and thought they need to be more defensive.

Despite what has been widespread criticism of Moyes this season, his side already had five more points than they managed in the whole of last season before kick-off, and with Bayer Leverkusen to come in the Europa League on Thursday, defeat to a Wolves team that would have leapfrogged them in the table wouldn't have been hugely surprising.

But having barely turned up in a first half which saw them a goal down thanks to a Pablo Sarabia penalty, Antonio was introduced and made the difference, bullying the Wolves defenders and forcing the Hammers up the pitch.

Lucas Paqueta levelled from the spot before James Ward Prowse scored direct from a corner: a goal we would put down to good fortune if it was scored by just about anyone other than the set piece master.

The game ended in controversy as Wolves were denied what they thought was an equaliser in the ninth minute of stoppage time for an offside against young substitute Tawanda Chirewa, who was deemed to have impeded goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, even though he was getting nowhere near Maximilian Kilman's header.