10 thoughts from the weekend's Premier League action

theScore examines the most important Premier League developments from the weekend, dissecting the biggest talking points after a busy slate of action.

Chelsea and Newcastle fans can’t ignore reality

British media hammered Chelsea and Newcastle United ahead of their match on Sunday, with the Daily Mail’s Oliver Holt calling it the Premier League’s “game of shame” and a “prospect that turns the stomach.” The Guardian’s Marina Hyde billed it as a clash of autocrats and hypocrisy, and The Associated Press described it as the “sportswashing derby.”

It was impossible to ignore the geopolitics behind the fixture. A pair of Newcastle fans stood behind the Saudi Arabian flag at Stamford Bridge not even 24 hours after the kingdom announced the execution of 81 people under ethically dubious circumstances. One Blues supporter of 55 years asked one reporter why he and his friends had to “suffer” as a result of sanctions against owner Roman Abramovich, even as dozens of Ukrainians died as a result of Russian airstrikes that same morning.

Another banner hanging from the stands proudly celebrated “Roman’s Empire” against the backdrop of the Russian flag. During the match, some of the Magpies’ traveling fanbase sang joyfully about Abramovich being a “war offender” even as the man behind the sovereign wealth fund that purchased their club ordered the largest single mass execution in Saudi Arabia’s modern history.

Not every fan behaves with the same hypocritical views. Many Chelsea supporters understand why the U.K. government sanctioned Abramovich, a “pro-Kremlin oligarch” who, according to parliament, gained financial benefits from his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. There is room for sympathy for the Blues employees that may lose their jobs because of the squeeze on finances, but given the events of the day, any willful praise of the people behind these clubs is insensitive at best.

Yarmolenko’s emotional goal ends drought

West Ham United gave Andriy Yarmolenko the time he needed to cope and come to grips with the invasion of Ukraine, his ancestral homeland, by Russia, the country of his birth. Yarmolenko’s teammates held his shirt aloft before the 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Feb. 27, and manager David Moyes said he was trying his best to support him. Still, Moyes conceded he felt “helpless.”

Yarmolenko missed four games – often glued to his phone while waiting for updates from friends and family in Ukraine – before returning and scoring Sunday against Aston Villa. In tears, the 32-year-old dropped to his knees and pointed to the sky as his teammates ran over. They were less so celebrating his goal than standing with him.

We love you, Yarma! ?? pic.twitter.com/KsQ1PUhHRh

— West Ham United (@WestHam) March 13, 2022

It was special for many reasons: Yarmolenko hasn’t always had the support of the fans, who singled him out in the past for an apparent lack of effort, and Sunday’s goal was his first in the Premier League since July 2020. It had been a long time coming.

But amid absolute terror in his country, the club and its fan base have rallied around Yarmolenko, showing that compassion still exists beyond talk of form and results.

“I just want to say thank you to my teammates, who support me all the time, every day,” he told Sky Sports. “To West Ham fans, they also support me and Ukrainian people, and I also want to say thank you to all British people because we feel you support us.”

Havertz solving Chelsea’s No. 9 conundrum

Chelsea have spent plenty of time – and enormous amounts of money – trying to find a genuine No. 9 who can be the long-term focal point of their attack. The position has seen a rotating cast of characters in recent years, with varying degrees of success.

Thomas Tuchel may have found the answer – just not in the form that most people expected, as Kai Havertz continues to thrive playing centrally up front.

Amid Romelu Lukaku’s struggles in his second stint at the club and Timo Werner’s reduced role, it’s the angular German who is establishing himself as the Blues’ most credible scoring threat.

3 – Kai Havertz has scored in three consecutive Premier League appearances for the first time, while in all competitions he’s had a hand in six goals in his last five games (5 goals, 1 assist). Central. pic.twitter.com/LaVi3LNOKn

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 13, 2022

Havertz scored the lone tally in Chelsea’s slim 1-0 win over Newcastle on Sunday, and his goal featured everything you want to see from a “traditional” No. 9: Havertz hung on the shoulder of the last defender, timed his run perfectly to latch onto an exquisite ball over the top from Jorginho, and then cradled the pass with a sumptuous first touch before quickly slotting the ball home.

The 22-year-old excelled when given license to play through the middle and roam around the field during his breakout years at Bayer Leverkusen, and Tuchel is now giving the young attacker an extended opportunity to replicate that role at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues have a vast collection of talented wide attackers to complement a central forward, and going into this season, most simply assumed the latter would be Lukaku. It’s increasingly looking like Havertz is the better fit.

Everton look cooked

The fabled “new manager bump” hasn’t quite worked out at Everton – if anything, things have gone in the opposite direction.

Since appointing Frank Lampard on Jan. 31, the spiraling Toffees have played six Premier League matches and have lost five of them, including Sunday’s latest setback – a 1-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Everton’s lone win under Lampard was against fellow strugglers Leeds United.

Results elsewhere on Sunday left Lampard and Co. level on points with 18th-placed Watford. Yes, Everton have three matches in hand on both Watford and 16th-placed Leeds, but right now, there’s absolutely no reason to be confident that those contests will result in anything but losses. That’s how dysfunctional Everton look at the moment.

22 – Everton have 22 points from 26 Premier League matches this season, their lowest ever tally at this stage of any league campaign (assuming 3 pts/win all-time). Duldrums. pic.twitter.com/3qDZelxWum

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 13, 2022

“I am fresh to the club, so sometimes I find it a bit hard to take the constant negativity which kicks in instantly here when something goes wrong because I don’t feel that,” Lampard said earlier this week.

Lampard may start to feel it very soon.

Not only are Everton in dismal form, but they still have to play a resurgent Newcastle, West Ham, Manchester United, rivals Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester City, and Arsenal before the curtain closes on the campaign.

Things could still get much worse at Goodison Park.

Injuries eroded Foxes’ defensive organization

Opposition fans should keenly anticipate corner-kicks against Leicester City. Thomas Partey recorded the 14th set-piece goal against Leicester this season when he met Gabriel Martinelli’s corner in Arsenal’s 2-0 win, a figure that already eclipses the Foxes’ set-piece concessions from last term (12) and is greater than their 2018-19 and 2019-20 campaigns’ totals combined (seven and six, respectively).

Leicester’s weak spot accounts for 35% of all the goals they’ve let in, and unsurprisingly, no Premier League team has conceded more from set pieces this season.

But those numbers should come as no great shock when Caglar Soyuncu and Daniel Amartey have the most game time in the middle of the Foxes’ backline. Both players are serviceable as a deputy to a wiser center-back, but the inelegant Soyuncu can be impulsive, and Amartey is merely a fill-in, with the best performances of his career largely coming in midfield or at right-back.

It’s not a pairing that a club with Champions League aspirations should rely on.

The composure and communication were notably different when Jonny Evans – a veteran with 335 Premier League appearances – and the young yet mature Wesley Fofana were fit. Evans’ best years are behind him now that he’s 34 and increasingly susceptible to injuries, but Fofana was crucial to Leicester’s European dream. However, the team has yet to feature him in this campaign due to a serious foot issue.

Managers often cite injuries to explain bad form, but it’s more than an excuse for Brendan Rodgers. The gulf in quality from Fofana and Evans to Amartey and Soyuncu – the latter of whom handled in the area to gift Arsenal’s second goal on Sunday – is stark and has undoubtedly contributed to Leicester’s set-piece woes. Their absences in defense and elsewhere in the squad – notably those for Wilfred Ndidi, Jamie Vardy, and James Justin – have undoubtedly derailed the club’s great ambitions following last season’s FA Cup triumph.

Sadly, this campaign appears to be a write-off.

Here are the main talking points from Saturday’s matches …

Brighton emerge as league’s newest crisis club

Premier League strugglers Everton, Watford, Norwich City, and Leeds United can definitely relate to Brighton & Hove Albion. The Seagulls’ downward spiral continued Saturday, as title contenders Liverpool cruised to a comfortable win over the Premier League’s newest crisis club.

Brighton started the contest positively before Luis Diaz’s opening goal for Liverpool in the 19th minute ultimately left the deflated home side with no way back. Mohamed Salah netted his league-leading 20th goal in the second half to help Liverpool cut Manchester City’s lead atop the table to three points and condemn Brighton to their fifth defeat in a row.

Fortunately, Graham Potter’s side still has an 11-point gap above the relegation zone thanks to strong defensive performances earlier this season, including impressive away draws at Liverpool and Chelsea. But a wretched five-game stretch in which they’ve found the back of the net only once has seen Brighton slide down the table over the last month, from ninth to 13th place.

The club’s prospects of snapping their losing streak look even bleaker with matches against top-four challengers Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal on the horizon, as well as a rescheduled clash against City. But it’s games against Premier League basement-dwellers Norwich City and Southampton that Potter will have his eyes on as winnable matches that could help Brighton avoid a relegation battle.

Diaz is Liverpool’s present and future

Life after Salah and Sadio Mane may not be so bad after all.

Executing Jurgen Klopp’s pressing tactics takes a selfless, energetic, and intelligent footballer. Against Brighton, Luis Diaz showed the kind of effort off the ball the German frequently demands. That’s not to say Klopp doesn’t expect goals or that Diaz can’t provide them. After all, he scored his 18th goal of the season at Amex Stadium, absorbing a punishing tackle from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez in the process.

But Diaz can do a little bit of everything. The 25-year-old covered 11.2 kilometers Saturday while winning seven duels and possession of the ball another six times. He ran all around the pitch and still out-touched Salah and Mane in the opponents’ penalty area.

It helped that Diaz played at a high intensity under manager Sergio Conceicao at Porto. “He didn’t have to change, really,” Klopp said. Still, the Colombian international has made the transition to the rigors of the Premier League look seamless. He’s made 10 appearances for Liverpool in just six weeks across four competitions, looking every bit the part as both a starter and substitute.

Few midseason signings hit the ground running in such a commanding way. Diaz’s performances should give Liverpool the push they need to challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title – and the confidence that they can and will go on if they can’t renegotiate Mane and Salah’s expiring contracts.

Ronaldo shows again just how much United rely on him

Interim Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick admitted Friday that he was unsure if Cristiano Ronaldo was happy. But the smile on the Portuguese star’s face throughout his one-man demolition of Tottenham had to be a welcome sign for all associated with the club.

Amid a season when Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United has been repeatedly questioned, the aging footballer silenced critics Saturday with a historic performance at Old Trafford.

Ronaldo’s best game of the season came at a crucial time for a Manchester United side still reeling from last week’s lopsided Manchester derby defeat. After a stunning opening strike, Ronaldo found the back of the net again before halftime to put United ahead with a goal that saw him become the all-time leading men’s scorer.

“Viva Ronaldo,” chants rang out as he completed his hat-trick.

Aside from the goals, Ronaldo’s presence alone is enough to transform United’s attack. It can go from the futile unit that struggled against Manchester City without him to the high-scoring, cohesive group that brought the Old Trafford faithful to their feet Saturday.

By the numbers: Ronaldo’s remarkable career so far

Following yet another memorable performance from Ronaldo, theScore breaks down some standout numbers from his career.

16: The veteran’s logged 10 or more goals in 16 consecutive league campaigns. Ronaldo’s incredibly scored 20 or more in each of his last 12 league seasons. He’ll have to record eight goals in nine matches to extend that streak by another term.

49 – Cristiano Ronaldo (37y & 35d) has scored the 49th hat-trick of his club career, while he becomes the second oldest player in Premier League history to net a treble after Teddy Sheringham in August 2003 (37y & 146d). Speechless. pic.twitter.com/FUwWb6Axet

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 12, 2022

59: Ronaldo has racked up 49 hat-tricks in club football, adding to his 10 Portugal trebles. And that, quite frankly, is obscene.

95: He’s now five short of becoming a Premier League centurion for United. He’s level on goals with Dutch poacher Ruud van Nistelrooy, and only Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, and Paul Scholes have more in England’s top flight for the Red Devils.

115: Ronaldo’s goal tally over 184 Portugal caps is unsurpassed in men’s international football. He broke Iranian icon Ali Daei’s previous record of 109 goals during a World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland last September.

450: The attacker signed off on nine years at Real Madrid with 126 more goals than Los Blancos’ second all-time highest scorer, Raul. His final figure is disputed, with some crediting Ronaldo with 451 strikes for Madrid.

807: CR7’s overall goals in professional football. He’s now two ahead of Austrian-Czech forward Josef Bican’s mark that went untouched for 67 years.

Spurs’ inconsistency due to over-dependency

Should Tottenham finish outside England’s Champions League places this season, the prominent reason for their failure will be clear.

Their recent form across all competitions reads LWLWLWL. The last time Tottenham recorded two straight victories was in December, which came courtesy of a League Cup defeat of West Ham United and top-flight win over Crystal Palace.

“I’m the first to say that if we want to be competitive and improve your level, you have to work a lot. We are up and down,” Spurs boss Antonio Conte said after the 3-2 loss to United, according to Alasdair Gold for Football.London.

Conte acknowledged his team’s improvements in his post-match press conference. However, he didn’t dig into the reasons for the inconsistency that blights his side’s pursuit of a top-four finish.

And the truth is, the problem is likely down to Spurs’ dependence on just two players.

Against United, Harry Kane’s clinical penalty couldn’t hide the fact he and Heung-Min Son performed below-par at Old Trafford. Though Dejan Kulusevski was menacing, the Swede’s performance wasn’t enough to compensate for the other two-thirds of Spurs’ attack.

It’s often up to Kane and Son to create and finish. It’s not in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur’s remit to furnish regular chances from central midfield, and the wing-backs aren’t regularly meeting Conte’s high expectations from this position. So when Kane and Son aren’t up to their usual standards, Tottenham can be a soft, blunt instrument.