Chelsea's 3-0 victory over Everton at Goodison Park was surely their final hurdle of the season; Antonio Conte has all-but secured the Premier League crown despite Tottenham Hotspur's confident win in the north London derby.
Sunderland were officially relegated on a dreadfully dull Saturday, when only four goals were scored and a 0-0 featured as the opening game on Match of the Day for the first time ever. It was also the first Saturday in Premier League history in which no home side found the net.
Sunday's games were considerably more exciting. Manchester United's draw with Swansea City did little to enhance perceptions of Jose Mourinho's first season at Old Trafford, and the same can be said for Pep Guardiola, whose Manchester City team were held 2-2 at Middlesbrough.
Here are three things we learnt from the weekend action:
1) Guardiola's bizarre new tactic suggests he still doesn't quite understand how to keep things simple
Pep Guardiola has developed a bad habit for trialling unusual tactical experiments at inopportune moments. Middlesbrough's narrow defensive shell is pretty simple to outmanoeuvre; get the ball out wide quickly to stretch the defence and, eventually, you will force the breakthrough.
Despite Man City naturally playing this way for much of 2017 - Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane hug the touchlines, stretching the pitch so that Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva get space in the middle – Guardiola thought this would be the best time to test a super-narrow 3-4-1-2. Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus partnered up front, with De Bruyne at number ten and 19-year-old Aleix Garcia playing in a centre-mid-heavy XI.
Unsurprisingly, City couldn't find any space through the centre and therefore failed to seriously threaten the Boro goal. After a predictably frustrating opening 50 minutes, Sterling and Sane came onto the pitch, finally adding width to the game; Sane's dribbling from the left flank earned the two set-pieces from which City scored.
What's more, Boro's opener came via a counter-attack down the left as Stewart Downing galloped into space that would not have opened up had City used their usual system. At both ends of the pitch, Guardiola's unneccesary experiment badly let them down.
2) Everton's poor midfield tactics highlight why Chelsea are so difficult to stifle
After Man Utd successfully suffocated Eden Hazard earlier this month, Ronald Koeman decided to copy their template by instructing Idrissa Gueye to sit on top of the Belgian. Unfortunately, his three-man midfield, led by the positionally wayward Tom Davies and Ross Barkley, made this a strategy that would lose Everton the match.
Throughout the opening half, Pedro found plenty of space through the centre thanks to Hazard's movement. He drifted out of the central zone, pulling Gueye with him and thus leaving Davies to cover the area all by himself (Barkley hovered further forward). Despite these early warnings, Koeman did nothing to correct the issue and Chelsea broke the deadlock with this exact manoeuvre in the second half.
Davies has a lot of talent on the ball but is rash when asked to defend. Without Gareth Barry or Morgan Schneiderlin to support him, Davies often presses at the wrong moment or leaves players completely free. In the build-up to Pedro's wonder-strike Gueye was dragged out by Hazard, leaving Pedro free to push beyond Davies; he should never have had so much space to shoot.
Everton learnt, like so many others, that keeping Chelsea quiet is far easier on paper than in practice. However, Koeman really should have expected this scenario to develop and played Barry from the start – or brought him on at half-time after alarm bells rang in the opening 45.
3) Mourinho's tactical changes show his instincts are too defensive
For a relatively dull 1-1 draw, Man United versus Swansea City was surprisingly tactical. The Swans unexpectedly played a narrow diamond 4-4-2, which initially overwhelmed the United midfield before Mourinho switched to a similar formation in the second half. When the visitors moved to a wide 4-3-3 in search of an equaliser Mourinho promptly copied them again.
If his side had been leading by more than a single goal, this sort of conservative, counter-acting tactical management would be acceptable, but just 1-0 up at Old Trafford the Portuguese should be criticised for such a defensive attitude. As United manager, it is vital he embraces a brave and more attacking philosophy on home soil; seeing out 1-0 wins is no way to win the Premier League when you possess the world's most expensively assembled squad.
Best of the Week – Spurs' confidence
Tottenham didn't exactly sparkle in the north London derby, but they did more than enough to deflate their local rivals and put to bed any talk of a late-season revival for Arsene Wenger. Tactically, it was a typically organised display from Mauricio Pochettino's team, who deserve particular credit for how they controlled Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.
Victor Wanyama and Eric Dier were superbly in-sync, denying the slightest space in that key number ten area, while Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld completely dominated Olivier Giroud.
Worst of the Week – Crystal Palace's defending
Both of Burnley's goals at Selhurst Park were the result of truly woeful defending from Crystal Palace that highlighted how little the four defenders have played together. Sam Allardyce's defence was without Mamadou Sakho, Scott Dann, and James Tomkins for this one, meaning Martin Kelly had to play centre-back. It was a huge gift for Burnley, whose safety depended upon a positive result here.
Source: tribalfootball.com