Premier League 2018-19: 5 takeaways from matchweek 29

Premier League matchday 29 was filled with some exciting fixtures like West Ham vs Newcastle, Watford vs Leicester City with the headling game being the North London Derby and the Merseyside Derby.

The week started with the best possible start as Arsenal took on Spurs at the Wembley stadium. The game had everything from goals, red cards, controversial moments, missed penalty, as one would expect from the North London Derby. The game finished with a 1-1 draw and a red card at the end for Arsenal's Lucas Torreira. The evening was followed by comfortable wins for Man City, Brighton, Palace, Wolves and West Ham. Man United vs Southampton was another fiery game where Southampton scored the opener and managed to equalise after United went 2-1 up but were bamboozled by Romelu Lukaku's heroics. The second half of the round consisted of Brendan Rodgers' frustrating return to the Premier League and a possible upset of the season by Everton.

Here are 5 takeaways from matchweek 29.

#5 Spurs dragged back into the race for top 4

Tottenham had the worst possible spell coming into the North London derby as Mauricio Pochettino's men were recovering from two defeats by Burnley and Chelsea consecutively. A Tottenham side who were looking like the underdogs for the title is now on the verge of missing Champions League football next season.

As the table stands now, Spurs are only three points away from Man United and four from Arsenal. With Chelsea having a game in hand, Spurs could possibly finish outside of the top four if they fail to turn their recent disastrous spell. Even against Arsenal at home, a fixture in which they have managed to perform well in the last couple of years, Spurs were looking vulnerable.

In the last nine remaining games, the Lilywhites still have to take on Liverpool and Manchester City away from home, making the task of finishing in Champions League qualification spots seem even more daunting.

#4 Lukaku proves he has a future at Manchester

Manchester United continue to shine under Ole

United were handed the worst possible start when Southampton's Valery scored an absolute banger from 25 yards to beat De Gea. Then, United had the equaliser from a beautiful long-range shot by Andreas Pereira. Shortly, Lukaku curled one away from Gunn like he did against Palace and made it 2-1. His celebrations were cut short as 5 minutes later James Ward-Prowse equalised for the Saints. It was looking that the game would end in a draw but Lukaku had other plans. The Belgium international scored yet another wild goal to win it at the end.

Lukaku's performance as a number 9 has been improving in the last couple of matches which has raised the question of whether or not he has a future at Manchester. While his hold up play is still questionable, he is proving to be a decent back up striker for the Red Devils.

The Red Devils have not lost in the EPL under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, but they will now focus their efforts on beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. After the tie with the Ligue 1 champions, United would travel to Emirates in a crucial game which could decide who finishes fourth at the end of the season.

#3 Frustrating start for Brendan Rodgers

Vardy has scored his first goal under Rodgers in his first game in-charge — Vardy has scored his first goal under Rodgers in his first game

Last week, Brendan Rodgers was announced to take over as the new Leicester boss. Leicester. However, the manager had a frustrating start as the Foxes conceded in the last minute against Watford after they were seeing the game 1-1.

Watford opened the scoring thanks to Troy Deeney's header from a Deulofeu freekick. Jamie Vardy, who had the least touches in the game, scored the equalizer for Leicester. Vardy has now scored the first goal for last four Leicester managers. Leicester had all the momentum from there but their vulnerability at the back haunted them. In injury time during the final stages of the game, Deeney slipped a ball through to Andre Gray who then finished it off to make 2-1.

The Foxes are attempting to save their season but Puel could not even save his own job this season. Rodgers had a pretty great time as the manager of Celtic where they dominated the Scottish Premier League. Now, he is back to face reality in the EPL.

#2 Everton shows courage

Matchweek 29 ended with one of the biggest upsets of the season. It was a must-win game for Liverpool if they wanted to go on top of the table as City were 2 points ahead of them after the latter's victory over Bournemouth. On the other hand, Marco Silva's Everton were a wounded animal and their season had gone worse than expected.

Liverpool looked lethargic coming into the match and Everton were up for it. Even Calvert-Lewin who was playing as a striker was seen to be going in for tackles and winning the ball back in the midfield. Klopp's selection was also questioned for his midfield being "too defensive" and even his substitutions were unconvincing.

Marco Silva was looking to cause an even bigger upset as all 3 of his substitutions were attacking options. However, in the end, both sides fought to a goalless draw which will only benefit the Citizens. Now, City are back on top of the Premier League with a one-point lead over Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp's title hopes are now dependent on City to drop points.

#1 VAR couldn't come quicker

Fans are getting more and more unhappy about the controversial decisions made in matches. Arsenal were seemingly robbed in the North London Derby due to inconsistent and horrific referring. Harry Kane's penalty should not have been awarded as a couple of Spurs players were offside when the freekick was taken.

Aubameyang's penalty should have also been retaken as Jan Vertonghen was clearly one of the players inside the box before the penalty was taken. Ultimately, Vertonghen made that vital block after the penalty was saved to deny Arsenal in the last minutes.

Even in the Manchester United game, many fans believed that striker Romelu Lukaku should have been sent off for roughly running into the back of one of the Southampton players.

While all of these errors will be wiped out by VAR next year, the FA should consider training referee's to be consistent while making decisions. Arsenal's Lucas Torreira was shown a straight red card due to a follow up on Danny Rose, but Rose was shown a yellow for a similar type of challenge on Bernd Leno. This type of officiating just cannot be allowed as it will hurt the reputation of the Premier League.

Edited by Jong Ching Yee