Arsenal FC, with World Cup winners Mesut Özil and Per Mertersacker, have lost ground on Manchester City in second place in the Premier League after losing on Monday evening. Following the 1-0 defeat to Swansea, Arsenal lie three points behind last season’s champions with two games to go. Bafetimbi Gomis scored the late winner for the Welsh side to boost his teams chances of the Europa League. Özil and Mertesacker both played the whole game.
Germany U21s internation, Emre Can, didn’t make the starting XI for Liverpool FC in the 1-1 draw against the newly-crowned champions Chelsea, and with a six point gap behind Manchester United, they theoretically still have a chance of fourth place in the league. John Terry put Chelsea in the lead at Stamford Bridge, but departing Liverpool legend, Steven Gerrard, equalised shortly before half time.
Podolski’a Inter beat Klose’s Lazio
World Cup heroes Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose were on the pitch together for just 16 minutes during Inter Milan’s 2-1 victory over third place Lazio. Manager Roberto Mancini brought on the loanee from Arsenal in the second half, whilst Klose was subbed off after Frederico Marchetti’s red card. Lazio remain a point behind city rivals AS Roma, despite the defeat, and three points ahead of SSC Napoli.
Lazio initially took an early lead thanks to a goal from Antonio Candreva, leaving them dreaming of second place, but then Mauricio saw red for a professional foul. Hernanes converted the resulting penalty for the equaliser. The Brazilian then went on to score the 83r minute for Inter, who lie two points off the Europa League.
AC Fiorentina have managed to stay on track for Europa League qualification despite the absence of Germany striker Mario Gomez. Three days after the bitter semi-final defeat in the Europa League to FC Sevilla, Fiorentina ran out 3-1 winners against FC Empoli. With 55 points, Fiorentina remain in fifth place ahead of Sampdoria (54). Gomez was on the bench for the whole 90 minutes.
Real slip up, Kroos injured
Real Madrid and World Champion Toni Kroos may as well forget about the Spanish league title. The record champions were held to a 2-2 draw against Shkodran Mustafi’s FC Valencia, in a game that saw Kroos substituted with a thigh injuries after 25 minutes.
With two games left this season, Real have barely any hope of overcoming the four point deficit behind FC Bayern’s Champions League opponents FC Barcelona, who beat Real Sociedad 2-0 at the weekend to set up the perfect opportunity of claiming the title against holders Atlético Madrid this coming weekend. Germany U21s keeper Marc-André ter Stegen was on the bench for the game.
Paco Alcacer and Javi Fuego scored for Valencia, who currently occupy fourth place on 73 points. Pepe and Isco pulled the two goals back for Real to rescue a point after World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty just before the break.