Premier League 2025-26 Week 26 Updates: City Roar To Victory; Arsenal Stutter & Spurs Collapse With Significant Collateral Damage
Spurs said goodbye to manager Thomas Frank in a week where City reignited the title race, Chelsea underwhelmed, and Arsenal showed signs of self-doubt.
Last Updated: 06.25 PM, Feb 16, 2026
City roar to victory with Haaland back among the goals
THE ONUS was on City to produce a performance that could convince — not just their doubters but even their most ardent fans — that they can at least push Arsenal if not overcome them. The flaws in the City’s backline resurfaced here despite an unconvincing performance, somehow snowballing into a landslide win. Fulham had their chances, and had they taken any, City’s sense of high from the rip-roaring victory away to Anfield could have concluded in an embarrassing reality check. For the sake of theatre at least, City took theirs, while Fulham’s creative players huffed and puffed. Most importantly for Pep Guardiola, Erling Haaland finished the kind of chance that has simply eluded him over the last month — an instinctive drive along the ground that strikers produce in their prime. Two games have changed the outlook at City and given a comparatively easier run of fixtures over the next two months, the race could — against prevailing opinion — well be on.
Chelsea rediscover familiar failings against stubborn Leeds
Chelsea‘s spontaneity is such that the club can take you from excellence to mediocrity in the space of a game. At home to a motivated Leeds side, Chelsea expectedly dominated proceedings, taking the lead by a couple of goals. But a predictably tepid second-half display followed, where the Blues let the game slip away, eventually conceding an equaliser that could put slapstick comedies to shame. Cole Palmer had the easiest chance of the night to win the game with the last kick; however, the truth is that Chelsea shouldn’t have been pushed that far in the first place. The coming run of fixtures for the club is so arduous and intimidating that the club could come to rue dropping precious points, especially from winning positions. Manager Liam Rosenior will hope some consistency beds in. But the chances are, more twists will follow.
United's resurgence hits the pause button
Much like Chelsea, United suddenly hit a dead end in their search for a fifth consecutive win in the Premier League. Unlike Chelsea, though, United’s performances have been excellent, zipping with energy and intensity. Two of those wins have come against elite adversaries, and under Carrick, the club has rediscovered the attacking philosophy that holds together the club’s identity from the inside. But against West Ham, United were lucky to grab a point. The club won’t return to being a trophy-winning machine overnight, but the players’ newfound passion and courage is a welcome addition to a Premier League season trying to cling onto legacy for legacy’s sake. The big clubs are getting their act together, and though that spells curtains for overachievers like Aston Villa and Newcastle, it at least puts some familiar cats back among some familiar pigeons. Prestige, too, after all, is a spectacle unto itself. And maybe worth fighting for.
WATCH | The Best Saves, the Best Goals and the Best Assists of Matchweek 26 here on JioHotstar, now available with your OTTplay Premium subscription.
Arsenal stutter in the pressure of City’s gaze
Possibly the most interesting game of the round was played last after the dust of all the other fixtures had settled. Arsenal were handed a straightforward task. To respond to City’s provocations with a routine, no-nonsense victory away to an impressive Brentford side. From the outset, the assignment was tricky. Brentford are no pushovers, and in Igor Thiago, they boast, possibly, the league’s second-best striker after Haaland. The premise soon became the process, as Arsenal and Brentford exchanged punches, ugly set-piece routines and a couple of messy goals in a game that was the most entertaining in midfield. Declan Rice, for once, looked jaded, and their unshakeable defence was bullied. Arteta’s is still the best team, but psychology will now play 12th man.
Thomas Frank pays the price as Spurs prepare for relegation dogfight
The inevitable came to pass as Thomas Frank was shown the door after Spurs replicated one of their more uninspiring performances against Newcastle. At the moment, the club simply resembles a squad of mediocre players, unwilling to run, hunt and attack for the club. Thomas Frank couldn’t inspire a thin squad, but the Spurs’ problems are bigger than the man trying to pull at old, irrational purse strings. It’s a bit baffling that despite their considerable resources, the club manages to repeat mistakes with the consistency of a house that can’t help but set itself on fire. The challenge now is to avoid getting sucked into a relegation battle that is fast encroaching towards the middle of the league table. The bottom two will likely stay there, but the third club to go down could be a coin toss between half a dozen teams at the moment. Surely, a club as big as Spurs can do better.
Postscript:
Two managerial sackings in the space of a day shook up this week’s action. Thomas Frank’s exit would have surprised no one, but the sacking of Sean Dyche at an upwardly mobile Nottingham Forest beggars belief. For an incoming relegation scrap, no one is better suited to lead a club that not too long ago was flirting with European qualification. Forest have actually improved in key areas since Dyche’s appointment, but this pirouette towards a third manager in a single season echoes absurdity on a scale and at speed not seen before.