Conte and Arsenal criticism transcended European heartache – what we learned

Arsenal consolidated their lead at the top of the Premier League table, while Tottenham manager Antonio Conte began to rant after his side were held to a 3-3 draw with Southampton.

The race to avoid relegation led to more ups and downs as Leeds beat Wolverhampton while Everton and Leicester picked up valuable points.

Here, the Palestinian News Agency takes a look at five things we learned from this weekend’s work.

Will Conte’s criticism have consequences?

Under pressure, Tottenham coach Antonio Conte began an unusual struggle that could have consequences after his team lost a 3-1 lead against Southampton, meaning he missed the chance to climb to third place in the table.

Goals from Pedro Boro, Harry Kane and Ivan Perisic made it look as if Tottenham were on the verge of moving into the Champions League, but bottom-placed Southampton saved a Theo Walcott goal and a James Ward-Prowse penalty in stoppage time. a point.

Conte then gave an angry post-match interview, saying: “If we’re going to discuss the penalty, it means we don’t want to see other situations. I think it’s much better to dwell on the problem because the problem is that we have shown once again that we are not a team.”

“We are 11 players who go out onto the pitch. I see selfish players, I see players who don’t want to help each other and don’t put their hearts (in).”

“Why? Because they’re used to it here, they’re used to it. Yeah, they don’t play for something important. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under pressure.

“It’s easy that way. That’s the story of Tottenham. Twenty years there the owner won nothing but why? The fault is for the club only or for every manager who stays here. I’ve seen managers who have had Tottenham on the bench.”

Can Arsenal be stopped?

Arsenal recovered from their disappointment in the Europa League to continue their league dominance by beating a coachless Crystal Palace 4-1 on Sunday.

Bukayo Saka once again played a key role for Arsenal, who extended their lead at the top of the table to eight points; They now have six straight league wins in the international break.

Return of the cherry cheer brooks

The weekend’s League One game saw the pleasant return of Bournemouth midfielder David Brooks, who came on in the 79th minute during their 3-0 defeat by Aston Villa.

It was the midfielder’s first appearance since being diagnosed with cancer in October 2021 and Brooks was applauded throughout Villa Park.

“It was an amazing feeling to be back on the field and trying to help and feeling involved,” the Welsh international told Bournemouth’s official website.

“The game wasn’t really planned in terms of when I came on, what I wanted to do and help the team achieve, but yeah, it was a great moment to be back there.”

The problems of wolf rule continue

Wolverhampton manager Julen Lopetegui was once again frustrated with refereeing decisions after the 4-2 defeat by Leeds.

Rodrygo concluded the match with a strike in stoppage time, which led to the expulsion of the untapped substitute, Matthews Nunes, and Wolverhampton was angry because the goal held after a mistake by Adama Traore in the match.

“I could write a book (about bad decisions): Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Southampton, today. Sometimes you can understand mistakes, it’s part of football, but repeating the same mistake against us is not easy.”

I do not want an explanation, and I do not expect an explanation. In the last game (against Newcastle) it was the same, today again.

“I want to have fair decisions and not have the sensation or feelings that they were unbalanced. At the end of the season they are usually balanced but we are very unlucky, we have to be decisive in bad things but we didn’t deserve to lose this game.

“We got a very clear penalty again but the referee and VAR think otherwise.”

Heat up the downhill race

Victory over Wolves took Leeds out of the bottom three as the fight for survival took another turn.

Three valuable points for Leeds see them move up to 14th, two points above the relegation zone, while Wolves are one place clear of Yorkshire.

Everton secured a crucial point after Ellis Sims scored his first goal for the club with a thrilling late equalizer against Chelsea and Harvey Barnes scored a late equalizer for Leicester to draw 1-1 with Brentford, ending their streak of five consecutive matches in all competitions.