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Prem Round 14
Starting at West Ham this week, the Hammers welcomed Southampton to London and were looking to climb up towards the European spots. Saints themselves started a point ahead of their opponents so all to play for. In the 34th minute Alex Isak popped up with a goal to break the deadlock and the Saints fans started bouncing. Three minutes later Wesley Fofana had limbs going mad as he made it 2-0 and Saints looked strong. Fortune told his men to attack as the home fans vented their frustration, and Thiago instantly pulled one back for them, despite looking miles offside. Cole Palmer thought he had equalised on the stroke of half time when his shot clipped the bar and it was 2-1 when they went in. Palmer looked desperate to get something out of this game and unfortunately his over exuberance got him a second yellow when he took out Isak and he saw red, not a player Fortune will want to be missing games. IT looked like an uphill struggle for the Hammers, but Bruno Fenades, despite intense transfer speculation around his future managed to find a beauty of a finish to equalise and the stadium came alive again. Southampton meant business today though, and Dejan Kulusevksi, himself the subject of transfer rumours with Spurs said to be very interested, hit a shot that beat Nick Pope in the air and gave Saints the lead. Isak sealed the points just before the end with a contender for goal of the season for Southampton and “The Saints Go Marching In” reverberated around the ground. More questions than answers for Todd Fortune as the Hammers drop to 16th.
MOM : Thiago (West Ham)
Chelsea are beginning to look dangerous and keep tweaking up through manager Steve Talbot. They made the short trip across London to play Watford, who have been really struggling at the foot of the table. One of the biggest reasons for their recent form has been Kevin De Bruyne, and he picked up Dalot’s layoff to open the scoring for The Blues in the 7th minute, Talbot standing motionless. Lamptey added a second on 15 minutes and it looked like a long day for the Hornets. De Bruyne added his second before the interval and it was 3-0 Chelsea and as easy as you like. The Belgian maestro completed his hat-trick 18 minutes into the second half, and it was a case of how many at this stage. A long clearance from Rrhamani found Sarr who hit an incredible volley to pull one back, but Chelsea weren’t done and Dalot added the 5th to make it a miserable day for the Vicarage Road fans.
MOM : Kevin De Bruyne (Chelsea)
Bizarre scenes at Hillsborough, where both managers didn’t manage to turn up! It didn’t stop the players putting on a game, and Newcastle went to an early 2-0 lead with Acuna and Llorente firing home. Ollie Watkins pulled one back for Wednesday and De Roon equalised to make it 2-2 at the break. James Ward-Prowse connected with a diving header to spark a Geordie pitch invasion in the second half, immediately followed by Clauss’s winner that secured a 4-2 victory for the Magpies and they march on. The whereabouts of the two managers is still a mystery and rumours that they were seen in the Sheffield Premier Inn the night before together have been unsubstantiated.
MOM : Marcos Llorente (Newcastle)
The Manchestrer derby is always a big game and this time both teams desperately needed to get 3 points to fire up their seasons. City lost Ruben Dias through injury in the 31st minute to give van Aken a rare outing at the back. It was a pretty cagey first half until VAR ruled that Marquinhos’s shot had crossed the line and City went ahead. United seemed unsettled, and several players were still arguing with the ref when City scored again through Laporte, and then Harry Kane before half time scored with a perfect header. He celebrated by lifting his shirt to reveal a T-shirt saying ‘I want to go back to Spurs’ which manager Nick Lovell quickly ordered him to cover it. In a flash it was 3-0 City and Steve Outten looked furious. Half time couldn’t come quickly enough for his side and Jude Bellingham suddenly found his on switch which has been hidden for some time - he did a step over, nutmegged a defender and then cracked a laser shot that Oblak couldn’t stop and the stadium was buzzing at half time as it was 4-0 to Man City. 4 goals in 9 minutes for the Blue half of Manchester. Despite a firm dressing down at half time it was all City again in the second half and Bellingham seemed to keep the button with another magic goal 4 minutes in. Kalvin Phillips resorted to spitting at him and somehow only had a warning and there was still time for Oblak’s shocking clearance to be gobbled up by Bellingham who scored his hat trick and City’s 6th goal and the United fans left with 20 minutes to go. A 6-0 drubbing that manager Steve Outten was quoted as saying ‘season over’ afterwards - clearly absolutely furious with his players.
MOM : Jude Bellingham
Another missing manager at The Emirates as Matt Rose didn’t arrive for the game against Arsenal leaving Cardiff managerless. In the confusion Asprilla put Arsenal ahead after 14 minutes and this turned out to be the only goal of the game. The game itself was pretty dull, Darren Humphris will be delighted with 3 points to extend their unbeaten run to 4, but the mystery of Rose’s whereabouts was more interesting than the football
MOM : Reece James (Arsenal)
If anyone is desperate for points it is Burnley, and they weren’t relishing a trip to surprise package Barnsley. Ant Harris’s men had defeated Spurs in mid week with a reserve team in Europe, and they were looking to cement their strong start in the league. Burnley looked like a different tem here, and attacked with purpose. Pedri’s deflected shot put them ahead on 15 minutes, Araujo made it 2-0 and then Guedes made it 3 despite claims for offside. Reinildo hit an absolute rocket from range to make it 4-0 and after last week's 6-6 draw with Chelsea it looks like the Burnley boys have remembered where the net is. Ant Harris looked stunned and his side scored a crappy consolation before half time through Anderson’s free kick which really should have been saved by the Burnley keeper. Burnley managed the second half to win 4-1 in a slightly flattering scoreline, but their quality in the final third just about did for the Tykes.
MOM : Pedri (Burnley)
At Ewood Park, Carl Starfelt started the game for Blackburn by spitting at Hermoso. Villa didn’t seem to mind, and scored immediately through Sutalo, which was the only goal of the first half. This was a very tight game with not many clear chances, but Villa had to wait until 5 minutes before the final whistle to secure all 3 points when MArtinex produced a stunner to make it 2-0 and a fine away win for the Villains.
MOM: Josip Sutalo (Villa)
Mystery selection fans were delighted with David Gooch’s team news as not only Nathan Patterson played at the back, but 10-14 DM Confais started too, as the boss showed he is his own man despite media derision. Leicester must have fancied their chances and Sotoca put them ahead after 14 minutes with a neat header. The Foxes went into the interval with a lead and looked good value for it. In the second half Gooch’s men came out with purpose and Areola misjudged Aouar’s shot to gift them an equaliser. The selection watchers were given an even bigger treat by Gooch on the hour, when NAthan Patterson was substituted to be replaced in defence by….. Devante Cole!. As the Leicester players were scratching their heads and working out what the hell was going on Lukaku managed to sneak in to put The Toffees ahead and Everton parked the bus to snatch an unlikely win in the circumstances.
MOM : Houssem Aouar (Everton)
Leeds faced Crystal Palace at home and were looking to strengthen their lead at the top of the table. Tim Davey’s men hadn’t won in 3 so needed something here just to settle the nerves. It was one way traffic throughout the game as Leeds bombarded the Palace goal - but they found Livakovic in goal in supreme form, making 11 saves, and a solid Palace back 5. With 8 minutes to go and at 0-0 they continued to pour forward, and with their first shot on goal Palace smashed and grabbed all 3 points with De Paul’s acrobatic finish. Davey was disappointed after the game, bemoaning his side’s luck, and Palace will feel that they robbed a win here, but will definitely take it!
MOM : Victor Osimhen (Leeds United)
Anfield has become a harder place to visit since Graeme Edwards took charge, and Spurs had to try and overcome their recent wobbles and get something from this game. Tim Brown’s men never really look comfortable defending but today they did that very effectively and adopted a counter-attacking style. Both sides had their chances but Stephen Bergwijn opened for Spurs on 14 minutes with a top quality strike which curled in to get the away fans making some noise. Just on half time they made even more noise, as Berwijn was brought down in the area. Hojlund stepped up to take the spot kick but blazed over and it was a let off for Liverpool. Spurs defended really well ,and Etienne Green in goal looked solid, and they hung on for a memorable 1-0 win at Anfield, which incredibly now puts them at the top of the table for the first time this season, just leapfrogging Leeds. They will look forward to the next home game against the other half of Merseyside and the Spurs fans are in disbelief as they screenshot the Premiership table.
MOM : Ramy Bensebaini (Spurs)
Team of the Week : Livakovic (C Palace), Clauss (Newcastle), Bensebaini (Spurs), , Vestegaard (Cardiff), Cucurella (Burnley), Thiago (West Ham), Kulusevski (Southampton), De Bruyne (Chelsea), Bellingham (Man City), Isak (Southampton), Lukaku (Everton)
Performance of The Week: Burnley winning 4-1 at Barnsley is not a result anyone would have backed and Simon Hill’s men have deserved a bit of luck
Shocker of the Week: 3 shockers of the week: Mike Bradwell, Matt Rose and Chris Banks - where were you gentlemen???