Arsenal’s strong statement heading into the international break, as the Gunners routed Crystal Palace to go eight points clear of Man City.
Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table while Tottenham manager Antonio Conte launched into a rant following his side’s 3-3 draw at Southampton.
The race to avoid relegation threw up more twists and turns as Leeds beat Wolves while Everton and Leicester picked up valuable points.
Here the msnews Uganda takes a look at five things we learned from this weekend’s action.
Under-pressure Tottenham manager Antonio Conte launched into an extraordinary rant that may have consequences after his side let a 3-1 lead slip against Southampton, meaning they missed the chance to go third in the table.
Goals from Pedro Porro, Harry Kane and Ivan Perisic made it look like Spurs were set to move into the Champions League spots, but bottom-of-the table Southampton fought back with a Theo Walcott goal and James Ward-Prowse’s stoppage-time penalty sealing a point.
Conte then conducted a furious post-match interview, saying: “If we are going to discuss the penalty, it means we don’t want to see the other situations. I think it’s much better to go into the problem because the problem is that, for another time we showed that we are not a team.
“We are 11 players that go into the pitch. I see selfish players, I see players that don’t want to help each other and don’t put their heart (in).
“Why? Because they are used to it here, they are used to it. They don’t play for something important yeah. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress.
“It is easy in this way. Tottenham’s story is this. Twenty years there is the owner and they never won something but why? The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stays here. I have seen the managers that Tottenham had on the bench.”
Arsenal bounced back from their Europa League disappointment to continue their dominance in 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 at the top of the table to eight points; they have now recorded six straight league wins going into the international break.
The weekend’s top-flight action saw a welcome return for Bournemouth midfielder David Brooks, who came on in the 79th minute during their 3-0 defeat by Aston Villa.
It was the midfielder’s first appearance since being diagnosed with cancer in October 2021 and applause for Brooks rang all around Villa Park.
“To get back on the pitch and try to help and feel involved was a nice feeling,” the Wales international told the official Bournemouth website.
“The game didn’t really go to plan in terms of when I came on, what I wanted to do and help the team achieve, but yeah, it was a nice moment to get back out there.”
The win against Wolves saw Leeds make it out of the bottom three as the fight for survival took another twist.
A valuable three points for Leeds see them climb into 14th, two points clear of the drop zone, while Wolves are one place above the Yorkshire outfit.
Everton picked up a crucial point after Ellis Simms scored his first goal for the club with a dramatic late equaliser against Chelsea and Harvey Barnes also struck late for Leicester to draw 1-1 with Brentford, ending their five-game winless streak in all competitions.
Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte let rip into his own players in an extraordinary rant after they missed the chance to move up to third with a 3-3 Premier League draw at Southampton.
Spurs looked set to claim a vital win in their quest for Champions League qualification when Ivan Perisic fired home in the 74th-minute after earlier efforts by Pedro Porro and Harry Kane.
Bottom-of-the-table Southampton instead mounted a fine fightback with Che Adams and Theo Walcott reducing the deficit before James Ward-Prowse fired home a stoppage-time penalty to extend Tottenham’s winless run on the road to five matches.
Recent defeats at AC Milan and Sheffield United saw Spurs exit the Champions League and FA Cup to make it a 15th consecutive season without silverware and their manager took aim at all parties in an astonishing 10-minute interview following their collapse at St Mary’s.
“If we are going to discuss the penalty, it means we don’t want to see the other situations,” Conte said.
“I think it’s much better to go into the problem because the problem is that, for another time we showed that we are not a team.
“We are 11 players that go into the pitch. I see selfish players, I see players that don’t want to help each other and don’t put their heart (in).
“Why? Because they are used to it here, they are used to it. They don’t play for something important yeah. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress.
“It is easy in this way. Tottenham’s story is this. Twenty years there is the owner and they never won something but why? The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stays here. I have seen the managers that Tottenham had on the bench.
“You risk to disrupt the figure of the manager and to protect the other situation in every moment.
“Until now I try to hide the situation but now, no because I repeat, I don’t want to see what I have seen today because this is unacceptable and also unacceptable for the fans.
“They follow us, pay for their ticket and to see the team another time, to have this type of performance is unacceptable. We have to think a lot about this.”
Last weekend’s victory over Nottingham Forest had lifted some of the gloom around Spurs but uncertainty over the managerial position remained with Conte’s contract set to expire in the summer and no talks over a new deal under way.
Quizzed on if the lack of clarity over his future had affected the squad, the 53-year-old pushed back at another “alibi” for his underperforming players during a passionate monologue.
He added: “The club has the responsibility for the transfer market. Every coach that stayed here has the responsibility and the players? The players? Where are the players?
“In my experience, I can tell you that if you want to be competitive, if you want to fight, you have to improve this aspect and this aspect, I can tell you, in this moment is really, really low.
“And I see only 11 players that play for themselves.
“There are 10 games to go and some people think we can fight. Fight for what with this spirit, this attitude, this commitment? What? For seventh, eighth, 10th place? I am not used to this position.
“I’m really upset and everyone has to take their responsibility. Not only the club, the manager and the staff, the players have to be involved in this situation because it is time to change this situation if Tottenham want to change.
“If they want to continue in this way, they can change the manager, a lot of managers, but the situation cannot change. Believe me.”
While Conte threatened to talk himself out of a job, Saints rookie boss Ruben Selles reflected on a well-deserved point for his side.
Southampton remain bottom of the table but are only two points off safety and Adams’ second-half goal made him the first striker to score for the club in the league in 2023.
Selles: “We didn’t deserve to be 3-1 down. I think we put a good performance in the pitch and it was simply too much.
“The game can go in another direction but you can see the togetherness from the captain to the rest of the team.
“Together with the crowd, we made an impact. We believed we could score. We made the second and then we got the third one. It was an absolute pleasure to be there.”
Antonio Conte’s astonishing rant at his “selfish” Tottenham players and the culture of the club leaves the Spurs hierarchy with a difficult decision to make.
Conte’s days in north London already seemed numbered prior to his scathing outburst after Saturday’s 3-3 draw at bottom-of-the-table Southampton.
The Italian is out of contract at the end of the season, with neither side keen on extending his stay into a third campaign, but now he could face the sack during the forthcoming international break.
With Tottenham desperately trying to hold on to fourth place in the Premier League and the riches of a return to the Champions League next season, chairman Daniel Levy must decide whether their final 10 games would be more profitable with Conte removed from the equation.
Conte arrived at Spurs in November 2021 with the reputation of a serial winner.
The 53-year-old won league titles at each of his previous three spells in charge of Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan.
Despite his success, the former Italian international’s time at all three clubs ended in acrimony.
The pattern is set to continue at Spurs but without Conte ending the club’s 15-year wait to win a trophy.
Tottenham were dumped out of the both the FA Cup and Champions League within a week earlier this month.
Conte has only recently returned to the touchline after a spell back in Italy recovering from gallbladder surgery and his patience ran out after seeing his side throw away a 3-1 lead with just 13 minutes remaining at St. Mary’s.
“It’s the right moment to speak because I think that after this performance, for me this is unacceptable,” said Conte.
“I see selfish players, I see players that don’t want to help each other and don’t put their heart.”
– Levy under the spotlight –
Conte was even more cutting when pushed on the reasons for Tottenham’s continued failure to succeed under a string of different managers.
“Tottenham’s story is this. Twenty years there is the owner and they never won something,” he added.
“Why? Because they are used to it here, they are used to it. They don’t play for something important. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress. It is easy in this way.”
Amid such a crisis it is hard to believe that Conte’s men still sit fourth in the Premier League table.
But they are just two points ahead of Newcastle having played two games more than the Magpies.
Liverpool and Brighton also have games in hand to close in on the Champions League places.
“There are 10 games to go and some people think we can fight. Fight for what with his spirit, this attitude, this commitment?” Conte said.
“For seventh, eighth, 10th place? I am not used to this position. I’m really upset and everyone has to take their responsibility.”
With the bond between manager and players seemingly broken, the spotlight is on Levy with 15 days until Spurs play again away at Everton.
Levy has not been slow to sack managers in the past.
Mauricio Pochettino was fired just months after reaching the club’s first Champions League final, while Jose Mourinho was dismissed in the week before the League Cup final two years ago.
“Conte wants to be sacked in this international break,” tweeted pundit and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher. “Spurs should just put him out of his misery.”
But removing Conte will also attract more criticism of the record of Levy and the club’s owners ENIC.
Off the field, Levy’s two decades in have turned Tottenham into a financial powerhouse.
The club’s new stadium is the envy of Europe, allowing Spurs’ revenue to overtake local rivals Arsenal.
But to rub salt into Tottenham’s trophyless wounds, the Gunners are closing in a first league title in 19 years while Conte’s reign descends into chaos.
