Leicester vs Nottingham Forest
Friday night served up a thriller at King Power Stadium as Forest looked to continue their strong start to the season, Leicester hunted some crucial points to keep their heads above water. It took just 16 minutes for Ryan Yates to put the reds ahead with a slick, curling finish from outside the box that left the flat footed Hermansen reaching. Leicester fired back seven minutes later in classic style: Jamie Vardy snuck a toe past his defender at the near post to poke in the equaliser, a sight we we’ve grown all too accustomed to. But in the second half, Forest kicked it up a gear. Two minutes in, “ol’ reliable” Chris Wood bagged his sixth goal of the season, putting Forest up 2-1. Vardy made a case for a penalty, which was quickly waved off by Craig Pawson, before Matz Sels launched a long ball that left Wout Faes scrambling and let in the man Chris Wood to gracefully head the winning blow over Leicester’s out-of-position keeper, to make it 3-1. Forest now moves up to 7th, eyeing an outside shot at Europe, while Leicester sits in 15th with 9 points, just 5 points clear of the drop zone with some tough tests ahead.
Brentford vs Ipswich
Ipswich travelled into the capital to face Brentford as they aimed to escape from the bottom three, while Brentford eyed up what many expected to be an easy 3 points for them. In the most exciting game of the weekend the sides shared 7 goals, a penalty, a red card, an 86th minute equaliser and a 96th minute winner. Bryan Mbeumo shone, scoring a brace that included the winner to take Brentford up to 9th in the table. Harry Clarke had a day to forget which included conceding the foul for the penalty, scoring an own goal and being sent off for a second yellow, a feat only matched once before in the premier league by Jan Bednarek against Manchester United in their 9-0 loss in 2021. The game finished 4-3 to Brentford who, although finding themselves 2-0 down 31 minutes in, fought their way back into the game and to an eventual win.
Brighton vs Wolves
The second of the four 3pm kickoffs saw another thrilling game which had Wolves heading to Brighton to try and pull themselves out of last spot in the table after their difficult start to the season. Brighton took the lead just before the end of the first half through a strike from Danny Welbeck who scored his 6th of the season. Wolves looked the better of the two teams in the second half but an 85th minute goal from Evan Ferguson looked to wrap up the three points for the seagulls. In the 88th minute, Aït-Nouri lashed a boot at a loose ball in the Brighton box to claw back a goal and keep the visitors hopes alive heading into extra time. With the last play of the game Brighton looked set up to put the game to bed with a 4 on 1 break in the Wolves half, however Tommy Doyle had other plans. With a smart interception and a long ball forward, Cunha found himself with the ball and in the 93rd minute scored the equaliser to break Brighton’s hearts. The draw moves Wolves up into 19th while Brighton squander the chance to build on their impressive start to the season.
Man City vs Southampton
Halloween may have been a couple days later, but many expected a blood bath at the Etihad as the Saints looked as if they were walking up to the gallows on Saturday. Haaland led Man City looked sure to take the three points but it was not as easy as many would have expected. It only took 5 minutes for the robot to break his three game goalless streak, stabbing in a trademark poachers goal to take the lead. However, for the rest of the 90 minutes the goals appeared to evade him. Whether by divine intervention or a miracle only worthy of the saints, the Norwegian racked up 2.33xG as he squandered chance after chance. Although Southampton had little relief from defending their goal, Cameron Archer had a shot strike the crossbar in the first half to deny him an equaliser. The game finished 1-0 to City, putting them top of the league, and Southampton sitting plum last with only one point from their 9 games.
Villa vs Bournemouth
Villa faced the Cherries at their home ground to round out the 3pm kick-offs, a Bournemouth side who are not scared of an upset and would have gone into the game eyeing up some crucial points after a 2-0 win against Arsenal the week prior. In the first half John McGinn had the ball in the back of the net, only to have his goal ruled out by VAR due to the ball leaving play in the build up to the goal. Travers proceeded to save shot after shot as Aston Villa continued to search for an opener. It took until the 76th minute for Ross Barkley to break the deadlock with a lunge at a loose ball, knocking it past the Bournemouth keeper and into the net. Bournemouth had a strong claim for a penalty late into the game as Leon Bailey clearly struck the ball with his arm leaping for a header. A claim VAR determined as void due to the handball being ‘Accidental’, whatever that means. But in the 96th minute to draw themselves level, Evanilson guided a header past Martinez to score the 3rd injury time goal of the day. Bournemouth earned a hard-fought point that keeps them in the middle of the table, while Aston Villa sit 4th, missing out on a chance to leapfrog Arsenal into third.
Everton vs Fulham
To round out the Saturday games Fulham travelled up to Merseyside to face a new look Everton side that had gone unbeaten over their previous 4 games. The game was controlled mostly by Fulham, having greater possession, xG and number of shots compared with the hosts. In the first half Dominic Calvert-Lewin had the ball in the back of the net but was quickly reminded of the offside rule. In the 61st minute Iwobi came back to haunt his previous employers by skilfully skipping through the Everton midfield before effortlessly placing a shot into the bottom corner, leaving Pickford with no chance of reaching it. The game felt all but finished until the toffee’s unlikely hero, Beto, scored a header in the 94th minute to snatch a point for the blues. The Fulham players will travel back to their West London homes and maybe while watching a run club or two pass by their windows on Sunday morning, think ‘How did we let that one slip’.
Chelsea vs Newcastle
The Magpies were at Stamford Bridge on Sunday with aspirations of reviving their poor form and getting some points on the road against an in form Chelsea team. In the first half a counter attack from Chelsea set off by a world class pass from Palmer, played in Neto, who after skipping past Schar whipped it onto Jacksons right boot to make it 1-0 to the hosts. Isak netted an equaliser in the 32 minute by tapping in a cross put in by Lewis Hall that had Sanchez ball watching. Only 2 minutes into the second half Palmer found himself running at the Newcastle defence, seeing an opening for a shot, took his chance, rifling one into the bottom left. Newcastle fans will be questioning Pope’s reactions for that one, but who can blame him when it takes 3-4 business days for him to reach the ground due to his 6’4 frame. Late into the second half, Burn looked as if he had pulled Nkunku down which Simon Hooper initially gave, but the VAR assistants, after checking their FPL mini leagues, decided to ask him to change his mind. The penalty claim was overruled and the game ended 2-1 to Chelsea, putting them comfortably on the tails of the top 4.
Crystal Palace vs Spurs
A Palace team which had only 3 points to their name hosted a Spurs side that had only failed to score in one of their previous eight premier league outings. After messing about with the ball trying to play out from the back, Van de Ven cheaply conceded possession to Munoz who quickly crossed a ball into Eze, who, with a deft flick, played it off to Mateta who had no trouble burying his shot in the back of the net. When will we be free from watching every team try and subsequently fail to emulate Man City and Pep Guardiola’s tactics. For the rest of the game both teams had their chances, though big saves made by both Henderson and Vicario kept the score line at 1-0. The result gives Palace their first win of the season and Postecoglou his first aneurysm since Brighton away.
West Ham vs Man Utd
Erik ten Hag’s last game managing Manchester United was against West Ham, who although their lavish spending in the summer had failed to start the season particularly well. The first half mostly consisted of the United players missing chance after chance. Dalot found himself with an open goal after knocking it past Fabianski, and then proceeded to blast the ball high and wide, flashbacks of a Gerrard penalty miss to get Roy Hodgson sacked. United hit the bar twice in the game and it took until the 74th minute for West Ham to eventually take the lead through a Summerville goal. That woke up the visitors and 7 minutes later, Casemiro had headed them equal with less than ten minutes to chase a winner. In the 88th minute Danny Ings went down in the box from a coming together with De Ligt which David Coote waved off. VAR, like the devil on your shoulder whispered, ‘take another look’, bringing the referee over to the monitor to change his mind. The ref then decided to hammer the last nail in Ten Hag’s coffin himself and award the penalty. Bowen easily scored to win the game 2-1 for the hammers. United now Ten Hagless sit 14th, 7 points off relegation while West Ham leapfrog the reds on the same points but having scored more goals.
Arsenal vs Liverpool
The biggest game of the weekend saw the league leaders take on third place as Man City’s two little brothers decided to battle it out for bragging rights as second best on Sunday evening. A long ball from Ben White to Saka, who sat Andy Robertson down with a cheeky nutmeg, led to the first goal only 9 minutes in. Liverpool replied quickly through a header from Van Dijk, who was assisted by a flick on at the near post by Luis Diaz. Late in the first half Rice whipped a free kick in which was met by the head of Mikel Merino, who guided the ball past Kelleher to make it 2-1 at half time. Throughout the second half Liverpool controlled possession, pinning Arsenal into their own half and applying the pressure while looking for an equaliser. It took until the 81st minute but a through ball from Trent played the ball in behind for Nunez to square one to Salah, who was never missing a chance that easy. Before the final whistle Arsenal had the ball in the back of the net although Anthony Taylor had already blown the whistle for a possible foul earlier on in the play. Arsenal fans will feel hard done by as VAR could not influence the decision as the referee had blown the whistle well before the ball crossed the line. The 2-2 draw leaves Liverpool and Arsenal 2nd and 3rd respectively while City go top of the table on 23 points. Arsenal fans will be questioning why they sat back once they had taken the lead, something they are growing too familiar with recently.
