Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa celebrates scoring their second goal. Photo: AFP
LONDON:
Ollie Watkins kept Aston Villa in the hunt for the Premier League title with an impressive win at Chelsea to leave the top three separated by just three points heading into the final Premier League games of 2025.
Arsenal maintained a two-point lead over Manchester City after they both battled to 2-1 wins against Brighton and Nottingham Forest respectively on Saturday.
On the back of an 11-game winning streak, Villa visit Arsenal next on Tuesday in a huge game in the title race.
At the other end of the table, West Ham are looking increasingly likely to join fellow strugglers Burnley and Wolves in the Championship next season.
AFP Sports looks at three talking points from the Premier League weekend:
Watkins adds X factor to Villa charge
Villa are enjoying their best run since 1914 to force themselves into an unexpected challenge for a first league title in 45 years.
Unai Emery’s men had put themselves in that position without much of a contribution from their top scorer for the past five seasons.
Watkins had netted just three times this campaign before coming off the bench to turn the game at Stamford Bridge.
Emery revealed earlier this month that the England international has been battling knee discomfort for more than a year, but he looked back to his best inside the box to put Chelsea to the sword.
“His mentality was amazing, his commitment was amazing,” said Emery.
Watkins is hoping for more to celebrate on his 30th birthday when Villa visit the Emirates, aiming to move level on points with title favourites Arsenal.
If this does prove to be a turning point in his season then Villa truly can dream about ending a 30-year wait to win any trophy.
“I haven’t been where I wanted to be. But look I can use this as a marker now and and push on from here,” said Watkins.
Pressure mounts on Maresca
Just a month ago, Chelsea were Arsenal’s closest challengers before the two sides met at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues have won just once in six league games since to tumble out of the title race and down to fifth.
Enzo Maresca took the chance after his only victory in that run — 2-0 over Everton earlier this month — to complain about a lack of support inside the club for him and his players.
But the Italian is beginning to exhaust the patience of many Chelsea fans.
Maresca has credit in the bank after winning the Conference League and Club World Cup in his debut season.
But playing long into the summer in sapping conditions to become world champions is beginning to take its toll.
Maresca could only watch from the stands, serving a touchline ban, as his side failed to capitalise on a dominant first half before crumbling once Villa clicked into gear in the second half.
Emery’s ability to change the game also did little favours for the former Leicester boss.
Watkins labelled his manager a “tactical genius” for a triple substitution and change of shape that turned the tide Villa’s way.
Maresca attempted to respond but his own triple change had no positive impact and his next decision to withdraw Cole Palmer drew an angry response from the England international.
West Ham woe
The Hammers are in desperate trouble after a 1-0 home defeat to Fulham left them five points adrift of safety.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s arrival in east London inspired a run of eight points from his first seven games, but West Ham have taken just two from the last 18 available.
Meanwhile, Leeds and Forest have found far better form to pull away from the bottom three.
“We can spend hours and hours talking about all the aspects, but basically when you don’t score, the situation that we are in, everything bad happens to us,” said Nuno.
