Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta stood in unison with Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola in condemning the fixture schedule.
Guardiola said it was “unacceptable” that his side had to play an FA Cup semi-final less than 72 hours after being in action in the Champions League on Wednesday night as they beat Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday tea-time.
The Gunners’ plight was arguably worse as they were also in Europe on Wednesday night but had to travel back from Germany on Thursday following their Champions League exit to Bayern Munich.
They made light of that quick turnaround as they beat Wolves 2-0 on Saturday to go back to the top of the Premier League before they play again on Tuesday night against Chelsea.
“It’s not about us, Pep or myself, it’s about the well-being of the players,” Arteta said after Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard goals sent his side one point above City.
“Especially when you are competing in European competition, everything has to be competed in the same way.
“You cannot have a team that hasn’t played for seven days or three days before and has more recovery time and you have to play in the Premier League or the FA Cup.
“It is not right. If you look at it any angle it’s not right. If you want to protect and you always talk about the players and the protagonists, let’s protect them and think about them and do everything we can to give them the maximum time so they can recover and they can maintain the show they put on every week.
“We stayed in Munich, I think we had two hours sleep, wake up and we started to talk about Wolves first of all and then understand what we had to do to win the game.
“The boys were unbelievable. You look at the amount of games we have played in the last few weeks, the type of games we have played and the attitude and the way they have run today is top.”
It was a good recovery from the Gunners after a horror week where their title hopes were damaged by a 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa last week before their Champions League exit in Munich.
But they could be four points clear of City by the time Guardiola’s side next play as they try to wrestle control of a thrilling title race.
Arteta added: “It was really good, I really liked the performance, the result, the clean sheet but also the way individually and a team they showed they still have a step forward to make.
“We realised we want to be involved in big competitions, fighting for the Champions League, fighting for the Premier League, the level it requires, we have to do something special. You have to have that love to compete.”
Wolves battled hard but are crippled by injuries, with the majority of their key attacking players sidelined.
They are now six games without a win, but boss Gary O’Neil was proud.
“I thought it was an incredible performance, it exceeded my expectation of what we were able to produce today,” he said.
“We didn’t deserve to lose 2-0, losing 1-0 and not quite being able to break them down is probably as bad as it should have been for us.
“We came up just short against one of the best teams in world football so there’s no disgrace in that.”
New York City FC v Colorado Rapids: Hosts’ morale strong as Cushing aims to extend winning run
The morale in New York City FC’s squad is good, so says coach Nick Cushing, as his team aim to extend their winning streak when they take on the Colorado Rapids.
NYCFC have won their last three MLS games, and are unbeaten in five, heading into Saturday’s fixture.
It is their final game of a five-match home run, with Cushing’s team up to sixth in the Eastern Conference.
"The morale is really good," Cushing said. "As a coach, you like it when the mood is happy and vibrant and everybody is flying but you also want to make sure the feet are on the floor and the eyes are facing forward.
"We looked at the performance [against Charlotte FC], and I agree we have to score more goals. The process of scoring more goals was about how do we create more chances. I think now we're in a place where it is about how do we score more of the chances we create.
"The aim is to make sure that we prepare ourselves well so that we get ourselves mentally to a place where we can perform well and control the game against a really difficult Colorado team.
"We know they’re going to press and be aggressive. The area of development for the team is to take the chances we create and score goals and continue to be an attacking team.
"Every time we’re hard to play against we give ourselves a chance of winning. When I look out at the guys on the training field I see hungry guys."
The Rapids, meanwhile, are sixth in the Western Conference.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
NYCFC – Santiago Rodriguez
Rodriguez assisted on New York City FC’s stoppage-time winning goal on Saturday, his sixth goal contribution of the season (four goals, two assists), all at home. Since the start of last season, Rodriguez has recorded 15 goal contributions in 22 home matches compared to four in 19 away matches.
Colorado Rapids – Rafael Navarro
Navarro is the Rapids’ leading scorer this season, with four goals in MLS. All of those have come from his right foot, with Navarro averaging a goal every 201 minutes.
MATCH PREDICTION: NYCFC WIN
Colorado’s four-match unbeaten run ended last week with a 2-1 loss at FC Cincinnati. The Rapids are winless in their last nine away matches against Eastern Conference opposition in all competitions (D3 L6).
NYCFC have won three straight regular-season matches for the first time since the last three matches of the 2022 season. NYCFC had managed only two wins in their previous 10 matches dating back to the end of last season.
NYCFC are unbeaten in six all-time meetings with the Rapids (W3 D3). The Rapids are one of two teams (San Jose Earthquakes) NYCFC have played more than three times and never lost against.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
NYCFC – 52%
Colorado Rapids – 21.1%
Draw – 26.9%
Ronaldo delivers another hat-trick as Al Nassr ease past Al Wedha
Cristiano Ronaldo crafted a decisive hat-trick as Al Nassr hammered Al Wedha 6-0 in Saturday's Saudi Pro League meeting.
Portugal veteran Ronaldo found the net twice in the first 12 minutes at Al Awal Park before completing his treble after the interval.
Sadio Mane teed up Ronaldo's third finish, as well as an 18th-minute strike from Otavio, who returned the favour for the Senegal international to score on the stroke of half-time.
Mohammed Al Fatil added a late sixth as Al Nassr recorded their seventh straight league win since their March 7 loss against Al Raed, moving them back within nine points of leaders Al Hilal.
Jorge Jesus's Al Hilal swept Al Tauwoon aside in a 3-0 away triumph on Friday for their fourth straight victory across all competitions.
Talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic opened the scoring at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium before Saud Abdulhamid and Saleh Alsherhi wrapped up a win that kept Al Hilal in charge of the title race.
There was no such fortune for fifth-placed Al Ittihad as they fell to a third straight defeat in all competitions after a 3-1 loss away against Abha.
Jota levelled after Grzegorz Krychowiak's 57th-minute penalty, only for Hassan Al-Ali and Fabian Noguera to power hosts Abha to a comfortable win.
Burnley boss Kompany demands never-say-die attitude as Premier League relegation looms
Vincent Kompany refused to admit defeat as Burnley slipped closer to Premier League relegation after a 4-1 thrashing by Newcastle United at Turf Moor.
The Clarets' heavy defeat, coupled with Nottingham Forest's 3-1 win over Sheffield United on Saturday, leaves Burnley five points adrift of safety with just two games remaining.
Burnley's loss was their 22nd in the Premier League this season (W5 D9), only in 2009-10 (24) and 1975-76 (23) have the Clarets lost more times in a Football League campaign.
Yet Kompany attempted to find the positives in the performance, suggesting there is still a chance his side take it to the final day against fellow relegation-battlers Forest.
"In the end I am not beaten or defeated by it personally in terms of my attitude," said Kompany.
"They are a good side with phenomenal attacking players, midfielders comfortable on the ball and aggressive in other situations.
"We never let this game die, the result and score was done but we kept going, kept threatening and that is all I can ask my players to do.
"For us, we have to look at that [next] Tottenham game as the final game of the season. If the opposition teams lose and we win, what are you going to write then? That's all it is.
"If they lose and we win, all of a sudden we have a different discussion before the next game. If we get a bonus with a game against Forest, then that's our final, that's how we have to look at it."
Callum Wilson, Sean Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak – the latter who saw a second-half penalty saved, too – were all on target in a home humbling for Burnley.
Dara O'Shea's late consolation goal mattered for little as this disappointing result was made more painful by Forest winning at Bramall Lane.
Nuno Espirito Santo's 17th-placed side fell behind to Ben Brereton Diaz's penalty, only for Callum Hudson Odoi's brace and a second-half finish from Ryan Yates to save the day.
Blades manager Chris Wilder was left aggrieved, though, as his already-relegated United wanted a free-kick for a foul on Brereton Diaz in the build-up to Yates' goal that made it 2-1.
"I will let you put two and two together. I think it is a pretty easy, comfortable decision for everybody to make because of the situation," Wilder said, seemingly referencing Forest's recent problems with refereeing.
"I will let you decide on that situation. I'm not going to get dragged into that debate, a foul is a foul, whether it is a push in any part of the pitch.
“For me it is a foul, people tell me the game has moved on, you could say Ben needs to be stronger, but there is no need for him to go down like that, you can see he has two hands in his back.
"They score from that opportunity, we go 2-1 down."
Forest's top-flight safety could be secure before they face Chelsea next Saturday, with Burnley needing victory away against Tottenham to take their survival hopes to the final day.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
