Teemu Pukki finished one goal and scored another at Old Trafford when Norwich City bent against Manchester United on a 3-2 stand. Liverpool clearly covered their toughest rival in Manchester City in the England Cup semi-finals with a score of 3–2.
16.4. 19:30 • Updated April 16th. 19:55
Teemu Pukki was in flames on Saturday in the Premier League fight against Manchester United. The Finnish striker from Norwich City played a key role as the guests teased the home team to the end. United star player Cristiano Ronaldon however, the hat trick won the hosts with 3-2 goals.
Pukki hit his tenth goal of the season in the second half of the match, leveling the match to 2-2. Before that, the Finn fed Norwich’s opening goal in the first half. That hit pushed in Kieran Dowellfor whom the goal was the first in his Premier League career.
The Owl striker has now scored a goal against all six Premier League clubs (Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur). In the previous three seasons, only Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Wilfried Zaha have been able to do the same.
With his goal, Puk also became the first player in Norwich history to score ten goals or more in consecutive seasons in the Premier League. In his first season in the England Main Series 2019–20, Pukki scored a total of 11 goals.
However, Ronaldo was even hotter than the Finns. The Portuguese hit two goals in the opening half and finished his hat trick to the full in the second half.
Ronaldo’s winning goal came from a free kick, which was his first free kick goal on the club team since July 4, 2020. At that time, he was still playing in Serie A in the ranks of Juventus.
The tight loss was very annoying for Norwich, who finished last in the Premier League. “Canary Birds” need points, although its chances of survival in the main series are minimal. United, meanwhile, improved their stance in the battle for the places in the European Cup series.
Norwich manager Dean Smith was disappointed with the outcome.
– Ronaldo gets his praise after his hat trick and gets them right, but we helped him. We know we can do better against him, Smith told the BBC.
Liverpool took the Battle of the Titans
While other Premier League clubs struggled in league matches, the top teams in the series, Manchester City and Liverpool FC, faced the English Cup semi-finals. The match was the second time in a week for the teams fighting for the scepter of the best football team in the island nation. The teams ’previous encounter ended a week ago in Manchester in a 2-2 draw.
This time, however, Liverpool took a firmer grip on the duo’s superiority. The Red Shirts hit the opening half three times and eventually took the place in the England Cup final with 3-2 goals.
Before the match, resentment was aroused by the singing of some Manchester City supporters in the middle of a quiet moment. Liverpool supporters buzzed with this gesture, as a quiet moment was dedicated to the memory of Liverpool supporters who died in a spectator accident in Hillsborough in 1989.
The best player in the opening season and the American who played for City Zack Steffen a Senegalese striker became a nightmare Sadio Mane. The Liverpool striker struck two goals in the first half, one of which was born with the help of Steffen’s fooling around. The 27-year-old goalkeeper waited too long for the ball in his foot near the finish line, with Mane spinning towards him and sliding the ball from Steffen’s feet to the goal.
City came in strong for the second half and managed to narrow down quickly Jack Grealishin with paint. Still a match in the last minute of the game in Manchester Bernardo Silva hit the team’s head. In the end, Liverpool made sure that Manchester Sky Blue couldn’t finish the extra hits.
The final place in the Cup is 13th for Liverpool in its club history. The team still has a chance to win four trophies this season. It has already won the English League Cup this season, is second in the Premier League, in the semi-finals of the Champions League and now in the English Cup final.
Liverpool will face the winner of the second semi-final pair Chelsea-Crystal Palace in the final. London clubs will meet on Easter Sunday at 6.30pm.