Premier League weekend talking points

April 17 (Reuters) – Talking points from the weekend’s Premier League action:

RONALDO DOES AGAIN

Once again, Manchester United performed below par. Once again they needed saves from David de Gea to bail them out, and once again Cristiano Ronaldo came to the rescue with a hat-trick in a 3-2 win over Norwich City on Saturday.

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The evergreen striker scored the 60th hat-trick of his professional career for club and country (50th at club level), and has now scored 20 or more goals in all competitions in each of his last 16 seasons at club level, a run starting back in 2006-07 with United.

Ronaldo’s exploits, however, masked more of United’s struggles on a day when fans expressed their annoyance by protesting against the club’s owners before the game, and during the game itself, booing players and chanting ‘you don’t ‘re not fit to wear the jersey”.

“I don’t think we need to talk about Cristiano’s performance today, another hat-trick was the difference again,” United manager Ralf Rangnick said.

“But we have to raise our own level and standard.”

ARSENAL LOSES MORE GROUND IN RACE FOR TOP FOUR

A win for Arsenal against Southampton would have put them level on points with rivals Tottenham Hotspur, but they stumbled to a 1-0 defeat at St Mary’s Stadium and put Manchester United back in the race for last place in Champions League.

After similarly lackluster performances at Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace, Arteta’s side slipped to sixth after losing three games on the rebound, scoring just once. They had only lost two of their previous 13.

Arsenal still have a game in hand against Spurs, but with tough games against Chelsea, Manchester United and West Ham United to come in the next fortnight, Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Southampton will go down as a missed opportunity.

TIME IS COUNTING FOR WATFORD IN THE QUEST FOR SURVIVAL

Relegation-threatened Watford were seconds away from sealing a point against Brentford after a much improved second half to crash out to their 10th successive league defeat at home thanks to Pontus Jansson’s strike on the 95th minute.

The late goal was particularly hard to digest for Watford, who had shrugged off the cobwebs after a mediocre first 45 minutes and came close to scoring their own winner through Joshua King and then Imran Louza seconds before Brentford struck.

The result means 19th-placed Roy Hodgson’s side – who are six points from the safe zone – are running out of time to salvage their season and avoid a Championship drop, with little evidence to suggest they have the quality to come back. immediately.

POPE SHOW HIS QUALITY FOR BURNLEY

Burnley must have regretted a penalty missed by Maxwel Cornet in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at West Ham United, but the managerless side had Nick Pope to thank for securing a point in goalkeeper Mike Jackson’s first game after the sacking of Sean Dyche.

The goalkeeper made two excellent saves in the second half to deny Michail Antonio after jumping to prevent Issa Diop’s low header, ensuring the top sides will be out for his signature even if his current side avoids the relegation.

“That’s why he’s in that England group. They’re great saves but those are the standards he sets for himself,” Jackson said of Pope, who has eight caps with the national team and has attracted interest from Fulham, who are pursuing the promotion.

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Written by Hritika Sharma, Shrivathsa Sridhar and Peter Hall Editing by Toby Davis

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