Premier League 2024/25 Gameweek 12 Recap

Premier League fans finally rejoiced that Gameweek 12 was back after the final international break of the 2024 season. This Gameweek featured a lot of interesting games, hardly any boring one-sided encounters even in a draw. Tottenham produced the highlight of the weekend thrashing Manchester City at the Etihad while Arsenal returned back to winning ways against Nottingham Forest at home. Liverpool survived a scare coming back to beat the Saints away and new Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim started his tenure with a draw at Portman Road.

Let’s take a look at all the action from this Gameweek 12

Leicester City 1-2 Chelsea

The Foxes’ misery was further compounded after losing at home to a dominant Chelsea side.  Chelsea started with purpose and intent and found the opener in the 15th minute through Nicolas Jackson. Jackson forced Leicester defender Wout Faes into an error and then slotted the ball into the bottom corner courtesy of a return pass from Enzo Fernández. Chelsea piled on further pressure and thought they had doubled the lead before half time when Noni Madueke scored but it was disallowed by VAR as Marc Cucurella had drifted offside in the buildup. Leicester did come close through Wilfred Ndidi and Kasey McAteer both shooting agonizingly wide of the target to the despair of the Leicester supporters. Chelsea ended the half leading by one goal.

The restart saw Chelsea miss another close chance when Madueke unfortunately diverted Cole Palmer’s shot on goal after Palmer latched on to Mads Hermansen’s parried save to deny Jackson a second. However, Chelsea’s attacking intent was rewarded in the 75th minute when Enzo Fernández headed in after Hermansen had made a reflex save to deny Jackson at close range but couldn’t save the rebound. The game looked beyond the Foxes but they did earn themselves a consolation goal through a Jordan Ayew spot-kick late in stoppage time after Romeo Lavia had clipped Bobby De Cordova-Reid in the penalty area. 

Everton 0-0 Brentford

Everton failed to capitalise at home against Brentford even with the numerical advantage as Bees midfielder Christian Norsgaard was sent-off in the 41^st minute for a studs up challenge on Everton goalie Jordan Pickford. The Bees shot-stopper Mark Flekken was in fine form and made some fine saves to deny the Toffees. He denied Dominic Calvert-Lewin twice, first in the 4th minute when he made a great reaction save from a Calvert-Lewin backheel and then again 22 minutes later. Pickford on the other side denied Yoane Wissa with a great save. Both teams failed to score and the job became harder for Brentford with  Norsgaard sending off. 

Even with Brentford being 10-men down, Everton could hardly summon decent chances to break the deadlock. Brentford though had another opportunity in front of goal with Keane Lewis-Potter on the counter attack but Pickford made the save. The game ended in a tame goalless draw as the Bees got a hard-earned draw away from home while Everton spurned a glorious opportunity to nab all three points. 

Fulham 1-4 Wolverhampton Wolves

Fulham were put to the sword by an impressive Wolves team as they strung up a second successive win in the Premier League. The Cottagers started on the brighter note with Antonee Robinson’s trademark marauding run on the left with a cross finding Raúl Jiménez but his shot hit the cross bar from six yards out in the 16th minute. However, they scored from a much difficult chance when an Alex Iwobi curler in the 20th minute. Main-man Matheus Cunha found the equaliser in the 31st minute with a sublime finish from a long-range Mario Lemina cross in the box. he hosts appealed vigorously for a penalty just before the break when Robinson and Lemina came together in the box, but the onfield-referee waived it off, ensuring the game was all square heading into the break.

Wolves took the lead in the 53rd minute with Cunha turning provider this time when he got the ball inside and slipped in a reverse pass to João Gomes who took a touch before firing a low shot across Bernd Leno and inside the far post. Marco Silva made five changes in an attempt to get his side back into the game and it almost paid off as Harry Wilson struck the bar, before pulling a decent save off José Sá, but Wolves were the ones who increased the deficit with Cunha scoring from a curler in the 87th minute. To add to their woes, Fulham had to play with 10 men as defender Joachim Andersen went off injured with ten minutes left to play. Substitute Gonçalo Guedes finished the domination with the fourth goal deep in stoppage time from a Jørgen Strand Larsen assist. A sigh of relief for Gary O’Neil as his team grabbed a massive three points away from home. 

Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest

Arsenal got back to winning ways as Nottingham Forest’s impressive start to the season is starting to peter out with a second consecutive loss. Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard led a much-improved performance from a team that had gone four matches without a league victory. Arsenal thought they had an opener inside five minutes from a Jurrien Timber goal from a set-piece but the goal was denied as he was marginally offside. Arsenal grabbed the opener with a brilliant solo effort from Saka in the 15th minute. Cutting in from the right flank, he unleashed a curling shot into the far corner, showing yet again why he is Arsenal’s most prolific scorer. 

Despite squandering several chances in the first half, Arsenal doubled their lead early in the second through midfielder Thomas Partey in the 52nd minute. The Ghanaian midfielder capitalised on space created by Ødegaard and fired a powerful long-range shot into the net doubling the Gunner’s advantage. Substitute Ethan Nwaneri then came off the bench and finished from a Raheem Sterling cross to score Arsenal’s third of the night in the 86th minute, killing off the game. There was a collective sigh of relief at the Emirates as Arsenal got a vital win to get back their season on track while Nuno Espírito Santo headache might just have gotten worse with a second straight loss. 

Bournemouth 1-2 Brighton and Hove Albion

The Seagulls incredible start to the season continued with a win and now stay out of Top 4 only on goal difference. Brighton opened the scoring inside four minutes with all three forward players involved; Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck played a delightful 1-2 before Rutter’s powerful drive was parried off by Kepa Arrizabalaga and Joao Pedro scored from the rebound. Bournemouth striker Evanilson had a chance to equalise but his close- range header was saved by Bart Verbruggen in the 26th minute. The Cherries had a spell of dominating phase in the game and thought they had equalised before the break when Semenyo released Kluivert in behind and he then squared for Evanilson to tap in, but the VAR denied the goal for offside.

Brighton came and doubled their advantage soon after the restart with Pedro turning provider this time. In the 49th minute, Pedro played a defense-splitting pass into the penalty area for Kaoru Mitoma to slot into the far corner. However, the Seagulls got into trouble with Carlos Baleba being sent-off for a second yellow card offense before the hour-mark giving the Cherries a lifeline. Though Bournemouth found it hard to break down a stoic Brighton defense until late in stoppage time when David Brooks scored for the Cherries to cut down the deficit. The Seagulls had a late nervy moment and got extremely lucky when Antoine Semenyo’s left-footed volley crashed against the top of the woodwork. 

Aston Villa 2-2 Crystal Palace

On the back of losing four games across all competitions for the first time in his career, Unai Emery was looking to halt the losing run but things threatened to get worse when Ismaïla Sarr stunned Villa Park with an early opener inside five minutes when he latched onto a Jean-Philippe Mateta through ball on the counter for a fine finish. But Ollie Watkins equalised ten minutes later. The drama peaked just before half-time when Dean Henderson saved a Youri Tielemans penalty after a VAR check showed Will Hughes had stepped on Leon Bailey’s heel, and Palace scored from a counter-attack just 57 seconds later through Justin Devenny who scored his first professional goal before the break. 

Villa appealed for another penalty with 20 minutes to go when Maxence Lacroix appeared to get the wrong side of Watkins, but referee Tim Robinson waved it off. The official was involved again moments later when he decided on just a yellow card for Ian Maatsen who took down Sarr when looking like he was the last man. Ross Barkley restored parity for Aston Villa with a header from a corner in the 77th minute. Villa got lucky late in the game when Jeffrey Schlupp’s shot hit the far post and Crystal Palace dropped two points after taking the lead yet again. Oliver Glasner’s side languishing in the bottom three and need to string through some wins now to climb out of the relegation zone. 

Manchester City 0-4 Tottenham Hotspur

Manchester City’s woeful run of form continued with a thrashing from Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad which made it five defeats in a row in all competitions. Manchester City looked the better team in the early period threatening to take the lead with Haaland missing a couple of close chances. However, it was Spurs who drew first blood against the run of play in the 13th minute with James Maddison latching onto a long-range raking pass from Dejan Kulusevki and volleying it past a scurrying Ederson. Maddison grabbed his brace seven minutes later, this time with Joško Gvardiol giving away the ball outside his own box with Maddison producing a deft finish over Ederson to give Spurs a dream two goal advantage. The Cityzens were getting cut open far too easily by Spurs now but the score remained 2-0 to Spurs going into the break. 

Even changes made by Pep Guardiola had no effect in the second half, as Spurs ran riot at the Etihad. Their third goal came through full back Pedro Porro who was teed off by Dominic Solanke in the 52nd minute to send Spurs fans into dreamland amidst a shell-shocked Etihad. Haaland did come close with a long-distance strike grazing the crossbar but nothing else of note from the Manchester City forward line. Guardiola brought in Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish to change things up but to no avail and a fourth Spurs goal in stoppage time completed the rout. Substitute Timo Werner ran past Kyle Walker like he was non-existent before teeing up Brennan Johnson for a tap-in deep in stoppage time to conclude a great win for Ange Postecoglou’s men.

Southampton 2-3 Liverpool

Table toppers Liverpool showed great powers of recovery to beat Southampton at the St. Mary’s stadium to go eight points clear of Manchester City. It was the home team though, that started with purpose with teenager Tyler Dibling being a constant threat for the Reds. Southampton looked solid in defense and Liverpool were finding it difficult to break them down until a poor habit of building from the back under pressure invoked an error from the Saints on which Dominik Szobozslai capitalised to find a curling finish into the top left corner in the 20th minute. Liverpool took the 1-0 lead after a great passage of pressure but got caught out in the 42nd minute when Dibling was tackled by Andy Robertson near the box but the on-field referee and VAR thought the touch was inside the box and awarded a penalty to Southampton. Adam Armstrong’s spot-kick was saved by Kelleher but he scored from the rebound. Southampton went level into the break. 

Arne Slot’s men needed to respond like they have done all season so far but sloppy defending cost Liverpool dear in the 53rd minute when the Saints winger Dibling found a long cross-field pass to Armstrong who attracted all the retreating Liverpool defenders leaving Mateus Fernandes free who simply tucked in past Kelleher to give the Saints a shock lead with the entire St. Mary’s bouncing. However, Liverpool responded like all top teams do through the inevitable Mohammed Salah who equalised in the 65th minute. Ryan Gravenberch lobbed in a long ball forward for Salah who took it down past a bounding Alex McCarthy who missed the flight of the ball and the ball agonizingly trickled past him in goal. Liverpool was in complete control now and started pushing for a winner and another Southampton mistake gave Liverpool the penalty when fullback Yukinari Sugawara handled the ball in the box from a Salah cross. Salah stepped up in the 83rd minute to convert the spot-kick giving Liverpool the lead and he could have had a hattrick but his shot hit the near post. Liverpool pretty much controlled the game from there on denying Southampton any chance of an equaliser getting the much needed three points increasing the gap to 8 points against Manchester City.

Ipswich Town 1-1 Manchester United

New boss Ruben Amorim’s first game in charge of Manchester United ended in an entertaining draw at the Portman Road Stadium. Manchester United started in blistering fashion, scoring the opener from an Amad Diallo run past defenders and passing to Marcus Rashford in the box for a simple finish inside two minutes. Manchester United were attacking with intent in the early period but couldn’t double the advantage. The hosts started to grow in the game with Sammie Szmodic’s low powerful drive saved by André Onana in the 10th minute. Liam Delap forced a brilliant save from Onana when he found a Sammy Szmodics pass in the box in the 39th minute. However, they equalised two minutes before the break when Omari Hutchinson found a sweet finish from outside the box into the top corner beating Onana this time.

United started the second half in a similar fashion to the first and almost took the lead but Alejandro Garnacho pulled his shot wide. The tractor boys started to attack and it was main man Liam Delap whose flicked shot was read perfectly by Onana again. Neither team had many clear-cut chances and the new Red Devils manager made substitutions to affect the game but it was the hosts who looked more likely to score with the visitors looking nervier towards the end. Substitute Conor Chaplin didn’t quite connect with Jack Clarke’s cutback with four minutes remaining in normal time, ending the game in a draw.