by Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table while Tottenham manager Antonio Conte broke out in a rant after his side’s 3-3 draw at Southampton.
The race to relegation brought further twists and turns as Leeds beat Wolves while Everton and Leicester picked up valuable points.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at five things we learned from this weekend’s action.
Will Conte’s criticism have consequences?
Under pressure Tottenham manager Antonio Conte launched an extraordinary tirade that could have consequences after his side lost a 3-1 lead against Southampton, meaning they missed a chance to finish third in the table.
Goals from Pedro Porro, Harry Kane and Ivan Perisic made it look like Spurs could move up to a Champions League spot, but bottom-placed Southampton saved themselves with a goal from Theo Walcott and James Ward-Prowse’s injury-time penalty a point .
Conte then gave an angry post-match interview, saying: “When we talk about the penalty it means we don’t want to see the other situations. I think it’s much better to address the issue because the issue is that we showed another time that we are not a team.
“We are 11 players going on the pitch. I see selfish players, I see players who don’t want to help each other and don’t put their hearts into it.
“Why? Because they’re used to it here, they’re used to it. They don’t play for something important, yes. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress.
“It’s easy that way. Tottenham’s story is as follows. Twenty years the owner has been there and they have never won anything, but why? The fault lies only with the club or with any manager who stays here. I saw the managers Tottenham had on the bench.”
Can Arsenal be stopped?
Arsenal bounced back from their Europa League disappointment and continued their dominance of the league after beating managerless Crystal Palace 4-1 on Sunday.
Bukayo Saka again played a key role for the Gunners, who extended their lead to eight points at the top of the table; They have now registered six league wins in a row before the international break.
Brooks cheers Cherries back
The weekend’s high-profile action was a welcome return for Bournemouth midfielder David Brooks, who came on as a 79th-minute substitute in the 3-0 defeat by Aston Villa.
It was the midfielder’s first appearance since his cancer diagnosis in October 2021 and applause rang out for Brooks at Villa Park.
“It was a nice feeling to get back on the pitch and try to help and feel involved,” the Wales international told Bournemouth’s official website.
“The game didn’t really go to plan in terms of my coming on, my goals and supporting the team, but yeah it was a nice moment to get back out there.”
Wolves referee problems continue
Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui was once again frustrated with refereeing decisions after a 4-2 defeat by Leeds.
Rodrigo ended the game with an injury-time goal that saw substitute Matheus Nunes sent off and Wolves were furious that the goal stood after Adama Traore was fouled in the build-up.
“I can make a book (about bad decisions): Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Southampton, today. Sometimes you can understand mistakes, they are part of football, but repeating the same mistake against us is not easy,” said Lopetegui.
“I don’t want an explanation, I’m not waiting for one. It was the same in the last game (against Newcastle) today.
“I want to make fair decisions and not feel or feel like it was unbalanced. At the end of the season they will usually be even, but we are very unlucky, we have to be critical about the bad things, but we didn’t deserve to lose this game.
“We had a very clear penalty again, but the referee and VAR think the opposite.”
The descent race is getting hot
Victory against Wolves saw Leeds finish in the last three as the fight for survival took another turn.
With a valuable three points for Leeds, they climb to 14th, two points clear of the drop zone, while Wolves are one place above the Yorkshire team.
Everton clinched a crucial point after Ellis Simms scored his first goal for the club with a dramatic late equalizer against Chelsea and Harvey Barnes also scored late for Leicester to draw 1-1 with Brentford, ending their five winning streaks in all competitions.
