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Barnsley hosted Everton, both sides in relatively good form with only one defeat in their last 4. It was always going to be close, and Houssem Aouar gave the away side the lead in the first half with a fabulous curling effort that dinked in off the post. Out came the bus and parked up in front of the Toffeemen’s goal, and this was how the score remained. Both sides brought on a couple of subs with around 20 minutes to go, and it was Barnsley who looked stronger for them - Kaoru Mitoma hit a speculative lob from 30 yards with a minute left to play and the home fans went mad as the equaliser was there. Mitoma’s strike was his 7th goal of the season and he has been a huge part of his side’s promising start. Everton will take a point and with 4 attempts on goal and a very defensive set up after their goal, perhaps that is what they came for…
MOM : Houssem Aouar (Everton)
Burnley thought they had got off to the perfect start when Nathan Ake put the ball into the back of the net in the first minute, only to be disallowed for a foul. Whilst the Burnley men protested, Diego Carlos found Grealish who forced a great save from the home keeper. From the resultant corner Rodri’s cross found Son who outjumped everyone to score his 6th of the season and a lead for the Blue and Whites. The first half was wired and 7 minutes later Ake made sure he did get on the spreadsheet, beating Rodri before slotting home to equalise as Simon Hill looked unmoved. From kick-off Blackburn were on it , and this time Son produced a real moment of magic to sidestep Cucurella then chip Agirrezabala to go ahead. Blackburn then had a big penalty shout turned down when Sane was taken down, and the home fans went very quiet in the East Lancashire derby. Burnley huffed and puffed and Blackburn remained resolute, and there were no further goals, with the away fans making a lot of noise and singing Son’s name until the final whistle - the Korean definitely had a big impact on the result here.
MOM : Heung Ming Son (South Korea)
Another derby at Stamford Bridge as Steve Talbot, whose stated mission is to be the best team in London, took on Arsenal, who would also like to claim that position. The Gunners started well, with Bentancur scoring after 3 minutes to take the lead. Chiesa struck back for the Blues to equalise, and then Tariq Lamptey hit one from 30 yards to send the fans wild and believing that the start of the Talbot era had truly begun. Arsenal manager Darren Humphris changed things and brought on Kubo for Raum in an attacking move, as the away team tried to strike back. And again in the 73rd minute, the unlikely game changers of Sallai and Houben entered the arena for Arsenal - and what an impact they had - 2 minutes after they came on the Blues equalised through Timo Werner. Just as the Chelsea fans were lamenting the loss of the lead, Sallai forced a great save from Henderson in the Chelsea goal, and from the corner the keeper flapped and missed, for Sallai to find himself unmarked to score the winner and to send the away fans into raptures as they keep up pace at the top of the table. Arsenal will feel a little fortunate here as they were completely outplayed by Chelsea, who had a massive 70% possession, but they just couldn’t seem to break the Gunners down. Talbot was frustrated with the result but not the performance, and Darren Humphris lauded keeper Owusu-Oduro for keeping them in the game.
MOM : Rodrigo Bentancur (Arsenal)
Leicester v Crystal Palace was always going to be tight, neither side looking to slip back following promising starts. Darren Lear’s side are a tough side to beat and at Walkers Stadium this was no different. There were chances for either side, but both ended up with single figures in terms of shots on target, and Alphonse Areola was brilliant in goal for Leicester, proving impossible to beat on the day. Neither side could break the deadlock and it ended up an entertaining 0-0 draw, Leicester beaten just once in their return to the Premiership and Palace hovering around mid table.
MOM: Alphonse Areola (Palace)
Liverpool v Man U is one of the biggest games in English football history, and this time at Anfield both teams were looking for the win to kick start their season. Liverpool started with 5 at the back, and Andy Robertson created the opening goal with a cross to defender Kevin Mbabu who scored to send The Kop mad and the home side 1-0 up. The Reds looked good value for their lead, and looked like they might get the 3 points they needed - but on 55 minutes Liverpool keeper Onana took out Saka in the box to give Adeyemi the chance to score from the spot and equalise for Steve Outtens’s men, which he accepted. Liverpool kept going and probably could have won this but 1-1 was the final score and these ancient giants move on to another week when they look to kick start.
MOM : Kevin Mbabu (Liverpool)
Newcastle went into this game as second only to Leeds in terms of goals scored, so the Geordies were expecting another action-packed home game against Cardiff. Cardiff are no mugs either, and it was a well fought game. Canales scored the only goal, surprisingly, just after the interval, to give Newcastle the win and Cardiff a second consecutive defeat after an excellent start. The Bluebirds look in good company in the Premiership though, and they will keep surprising teams. Newcastle held on for the 3 and will be pleased with their league start.
MOM : Marcos Llorente (Newcastle)
Man City, who had stuttered a bit whilst keeper Ederson was away, travelled to St MArys to take on Southampton who have been inconsistent so far. It was another game where defences and keepers seemed to be on top, and this was the case until the 70th minute when Southampton defender Nahuel Molina received a cut back from Isak and smashed it home to put the home side ahead. They didn't have long to think about a dream win against the Champions before Silva popped up to equalise and make it 1-1 5 minutes later.Both sides had few chances and if anything Southampton edged this game, but a 1-1 draw seemed to be a result that both sides settled for and City still look to get out of first gear.
MOM : Dusan Vlahovic (Man City)
Tottenham welcomed Aston Villa over to White Hart Lane, with both sides looking to stay in the European spots. Ivan Perisic started for Spurs despite transfer speculation linking him with an imminent move away, and the home fans were celebrating in the 4th minute when Daniel Podence scored his first goal for the club to make it 1-0. As soon as the home side scored, Villa came back on the attack and equalised through Lauro Martinez. This repeated on 29 minutes when Perisic scored to take the lead for Spurs, only for Martinez to equalise again 2 minutes later. On 37 minutes Correa’s shot bounced on the line for Villa, and Keith Drummond spat out his dummy which was strange. It was 2-2 at half time after an excellent first half and all to play for. Into the second half, and on the hour Villa went ahead for the first time in the game, Raphina fed by Lobotka and finding a superb finish with a delicate chip over Green in the Spurs goal. Inaki Williams came on as Spurs went to a back 4, and he had an immediate impact - firstly putting in Kokcu who finished beautifully for the Spurs equaliser - 3-3 with still half an hour to go. Villa retreated and Spurs marched on. Podence, who has looked anything but potent so far in a white shirt, found enough space to unleash a piledriver to make it 4-3 just 4 minutes after Villa had taken the lead, and Spurs continued to attack having let a 2 goal lead slide against Munich in mid week. This time Podence completed his hat-trick and another great performance and win for Spurs.
MOM : Daniel Podence (Spurs)
Watford have stalled a little after a promising start, and today they faced no less than runaway train Leeds United, at Vicarage Road. With 5 at the back and counter-attacking they didn’t make it easy for the league leaders and at half time it was 0-0, with very, very little happening. If anything, Watford had a couple of chances just before half time but there was very little for the crowd to enjoy. It took 60 minutes for the game’s first breakthrough, when Kamara for Watford was devastated to underhit a back pass which Chukuweze latched onto to score the first for Leeds as they broke the deadlock. Watford couldn’t find anything to respond with until Sarr had a spit at Angel Di Maria to which the Argentinian rolled around on the floor clutching his face, and Leeds had plenty of chances to extend their lead, Osimhen and Berardi not packing the same boots as normal, and 1-0 it remained as Leeds march on.
MOM : Moises Caicedo (Leeds)
Sheffield Wednesday got their first points of the season last week, and were looking for something at West Ham, who were looking to climb. Wednesday have Ollie Watkins who knows where the back of the net is, and he was the first scorer as The Owls went ahead after 11 minutes. The travelling support made some noise as they thought their team had turned the corner, and the West Ham fans berated Todd Fortune, who apparently turned up very late for this one. Fortune barked some orders at his players, and Fernandes and Christensen listened, the former supplying the latter to score a beauty to equalise. Cole Palmer is having a terrific start to the season for West Ham, and 4 minutes later he put the home side ahead with a perfect header from Fabian Ruiz’s cross. Wednesday kept going and tried to peg one back but just couldn’t get through. It was obviously a day for spitting, and Zaniolo decided to send some Cole Palmer’s way just after half time to earn a booking, and then at the end of the second half the same player was late on Teze and was shown red for his second booking.
MOM : Bruno Fernandes (West Ham)
Team of The Week: Areola (Palace), Mbabu (Liverpool) , Starfelt (Blackburn), Marquinhos (Man City), Todibo (Villa), Bentancur (Arsenal), Aouar (Everton), Caicedo (Leeds) Fernandes (West Ham), Podence (Spurs), Son (Blackburn)
Performance Of The Week: Blackburn get the award this week - Tony Ayre’s men had not won in 5 and Burnley definitely were looking for all 3 at home, so a Sonny-inspired win was definitely what the doctor ordered for the The Riversiders
Shocker of The Week: There were no huge surprises this week so the unlucky winners are Everton who shut up shop after 30 minutes to try to secure a win and conceded with one minute to go for a point that they probably would have taken before the game to be fair.