S5M27: And another one goes

Now that's a matchday.

Sunderland's first Premier League victory against Man Uited at home kicked us off. We then had the Stoke revival with a cracker from Imbula. Watford & WBA gave examples of late away wins - the latter being absolute robbery.

West Ham came back from 2-0 down to draw, kick started by a lovely free kick from Payet. Quite the revelation there. I saw the headline on the back page of the Evening Standard today was some bitter nonsense from Allardyce - I'd quite enjoyed the silence form him after his smug appearance early on in the seaosn when West Ham were doing their inconsistent thing. I think every Hammer would agree that the managerial change was a gamble well worth making.

Southampton's good form continued with a long winner in Wales, slowing the momentum built up by Swansea since they imported their Ranieri copycat. Chelsea continued their improving course under Guus Hiddink by spanking Newcastle. I just don't get them. How their team is so poor, I just can't quite square in my mind.

Then to Sunday. Ah blissful Sunday. A massive game at the Emirates in the early kick off. Firstly...poor form from Sky to move it quite so late. Very disrespectful to fans, but they won't care - they got away with it without of the narrative games of the season.

I'm having none of the Vardy penalty. Pires did the same thing in the Invincibles season and was pilloried as a diver. Rooney and Gerrard have also done the same. Not great defending from Monreal, and for sure a missed foul on Ozil by Morgan but none of that excuses the way Vardy manufactured the contact. It's not clever play - he didn't draw the foul, he just kicked his leg into Monreal completely unnecessarily and it's simulation.

But that just made the end so much sweeter. After the red card (and bizarre withdrawal of Mahrez), there was really only one team going to score...it was a question of whether time would run out first. Enter Danny boy. Dat guy. I've never really understood the need to strip off after scoring a goal...it always seems so contrived but I could have happily run around my road naked for a good hour after that game. Massive result - keeps the race tight as had Leicester gone 8 points clear....

Then we went to Birmingham and Liverpool raced into a comfortable lead against a Villa side who managed to set new markers in atrocity. The final score of 6-0 at home is just pathetic, and it's clearly a team who are looking forward to pastures new in the summer - thoughts echoed by the manager, owner and anyone else associated with the club. The Lescott car tweet thing was just the cherry on top. Just a terrible afternoon for anyone relating to Villa. I blame Tim Sherwood.

Finally, we continue north to Manchester. Yet another farcical penalty decision - how Kante got away with his episode and Sterling got pulled up for his I'll never know. Man City huffed and puffed and drew level with a lovely swept finish from the new wonderboy. Then Spurs did what they've been doing all year - pressed City into a turnover, countered with quick, incisive parking and left City 4 points back. Not irretrievable but they're going backwards, whilst Spurs continue to go from strength to strength. Very concerning.

Let's get statty:
Last week, 26 people played
Most popular predicted result: Everton WIN (26/26)
Most disputed result: Crystal Palace vs Watford (11-5-10 split)

Highest odds: Me mom - 10254/1
Lowest odds: Sam Ruback 1671/1
Average odds: 4722/1

Best predictor: Zoe Daniels (7/10)
Worst predictors: Hesham, Menachem & Josh Gaon (2/10)
Average score: 3.96/10

Best predicted result: Chelsea WIN (23/26)
Worst predicted results: WBA WIN & Norwich vs West Ham DRAW (0/26)

Swing: Long's winner for Southampton - 8 left deflated

Everyone's results:

Leaderboard (>2/3; 18/26)

This week's predos:

West Ham vs Sunderland - WEST HAM
Leicester vs Norwich - LEICESTER
Southampton vs Chelsea - DRAW
Stoke vs Aston Villa - ASTON VILLA
Watford vs Bournemouth - WATFORD
WBA vs Crystal Palace - CRYSTAL PALACE
Man Utd vs Arsenal - DRAW
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS

Good luck guys!