Football fans finally rejoiced as Gameweek 12 of the 2024/25 Premier League season arrived last weekend after the final international break of the year.
This Gameweek featured a lot of interesting games and hardly any boring one-sided encounters—even in a draw. Tottenham produced the highlight of the weekend by thrashing Man City at the Etihad, while Arsenal returned to winning ways against Nottingham Forest at home. Liverpool survived a scare as they came from behind to beat the Saints away, while the new Man United boss started his tenure with a draw.
Here we take a look at all the action from Gameweek 12.
The Foxes’ misery was further compounded after losing at home to a dominant Chelsea side.
The Blues started with purpose and found the opener in the 15th minute through Nicolas Jackson, who 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 build-up. Leicester did come close through Wilfred Ndidi and Kasey McAteer, but both shot agonisingly wide of the target to the despair of the Foxes supporters.
The restart saw Chelsea miss another close chance when Madueke unfortunately diverted Cole Palmer’s shot on goal after the latter had 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 Fernández headed in after Hermansen had made a reflex save to again deny Jackson at close range. The game looked beyond the Foxes’ reach at this point, but they did earn themselves a consolation goal through a Jordan Ayew spot-kick late in stoppage time after Roméo Lavia clipped Bobby De Cordova-Reid in the penalty area.
Everton failed to capitalise at home against Brentford even with the numerical advantage after Bees midfielder Christian Nørgaard was sent off in the 41st minute for a studs-up challenge on Jordan Pickford. Mark Flekken was in fine form, though, and made some key saves to deny the Toffees. He denied Dominic Calvert-Lewin twice, first in the fourth minute with a reaction save and then again 22 minutes later. Pickford, on the other side, denied Yoane Wissa. Both teams failed to score and the job became harder for Brentford after Nørgaard was sent off.
Even with Brentford down to ten men, Everton could hardly muster decent chances to break the deadlock. Brentford 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 goalless draw as the Bees got a hard-earned point away from home, while Everton spurned a glorious opportunity to get some crucial three points.
Fulham were put to the sword by an impressive Wolves team as they strung up a successive win in the Premier League.
The Cottagers started on the brighter note with Antonee Robinson’s trademark marauding run on the left, whose cross found Raúl Jiménez, but his shot hit the crossbar from six yards out in the 16th minute. However, they scored from a more difficult chance with an Alex Iwobi curler in the 20th minute. Wolves’ main man Matheus Cunha then found the equaliser in the 31st minute with a sublime finish from a long-range Mario Lemina cross in the box. The hosts appealed vigorously for a penalty just before the break when Robinson and Lemina came together in the box, but the on-field referee waived it off as the game remained all square heading into the break.
Wolves took the lead in the 53rd minute as Cunha turned provider 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 bringing out a decent save from José Sá. Wolves then increased their lead as Cunha scored from a curler in the 87th minute. To add to their woes, Fulham had to play with ten men for the last ten minutes after defender Joachim Andersen went off injured. Substitute Gonçalo Guedes added another seal of approval to Wolves’ domination on the day with a fourth goal deep in stoppage time from a Jørgen Strand Larsen assist.
Arsenal got back to winning ways, while 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 when Jurriën Timber scored from a set piece, but the goal was denied as he was marginally offside. The Gunners did grab the opener with a solo-effort goal from Saka in the 15th minute, who cut in from the right flank and unleashed a curling shot into the far corner.
Despite squandering several chances in the first half, Arsenal doubled their lead in the second through Thomas Partey in the 52nd minute as he capitalised on the space created by Ødegaard and fired a long-range shot into the net. Substitute Ethan Nwaneri then 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 to winning ways, while Nuno Espírito Santo’s headache might just have gotten worse with a second straight loss.
The Seagulls’ incredible start to the season continued with a win and they are now out of top four only on goal difference.
Brighton opened the scoring inside four minutes with all their forward players involved: Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck played a delightful one-two before the former’s powerful drive was parried off by Kepa Arrizabalaga only for João Pedro to score 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 later in the first half and thought they had equalised when Antoine Semenyo released Justin Kluivert, who squared it to Evanilson for a tap-in, but VAR denied the goal for offside.
Brighton doubled their advantage soon after the restart as Pedro turned provider, playing a defence-splitting pass into the penalty area in the 49th minute for Kaoru Mitoma to slot into the far corner. However, they got into trouble with Carlos Baleba was shown a second yellow before the hour mark. Bournemouth, however, still found it hard to break Brighton’s stoic defence down and only managed to do so late in stoppage time when David Brooks scored to cut down the deficit. The Seagulls had a late nervy moment but got lucky as Semenyo’s left-footed volley crashed into the woodwork.
Having lost four consecutive games across all competitions for the first time in his career, Unai Emery was looking to halt the bad run of form, but things threatened to get worse when Ismaïla Sarr stunned Villa Park with an opener inside five minutes as he latched on to a Jean-Philippe Mateta through ball on the counter for a fine finish, though 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.
Villa appealed for another penalty with 20 minutes to go when Maxence Lacroix appeared to have fouled Watkins, but the referee waved it off. The official was involved again moments later, though, when he decided to show Ian Maatsen just a yellow after he took down Sarr while seemingly being the last man. Ross Barkley restored parity for Aston Villa with a header from a corner in the 77th minute. Villa then got lucky late in the game when Jeffrey Schlupp’s shot hit the far post.
Crystal Palace dropped two points after taking the lead yet again. Oliver Glasner’s side are languishing in the bottom three and need to string through some wins now to climb out of the relegation zone.
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Manchester City’s woeful run of form continued with a thrashing at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad, which made it five defeats in a row for them in all competitions.
City did look the better team early in the first half, threatening to take the lead as Erling Haaland missed a couple of close chances. However, it was Spurs who drew first blood against the run of play in the 13th minute as James Maddison latched on to a long-range pass from Dejan Kulusevki and volleyed it past a scurrying Ederson. The Englishman then grabbed his brace seven minutes later, this time Joško Gvardiol giving away the ball outside his own box, leaving Maddison to produce a deft finish over Ederson and hand his side a two-goal lead going into the break
Even the changes made by Pep Guardiola had no effect in the second half as Spurs continued to run riot. Their third goal came through right-back Pedro Porro, who was teed off by Dominic Solanke in the 52nd minute to send Spurs fans into dreamland at a shell-shocked Etihad. Haaland then came close with a long-range strike to bring his side back into the game, but the shot merely grazed the crossbar. City’s forward line managed to create little of substance after that. Guardiola even subbed on Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish, but to no avail. A fourth Spurs goal in stoppage time completed the rout as substitute Timo Werner ran past Kyle Walker before teeing up Brennan Johnson for a tap-in.
The table-toppers showed great powers of recovery to beat Southampton at St Mary’s stadium to go eight points clear of Man City.
It was the home team that started with purpose, though, with teenager Tyler Dibling being a constant threat for the Reds. Southampton looked solid in defence and Liverpool were finding it difficult to break them down until a mistake while building from the back saw Dominik Szobozslai capitalise on the moment to find a curling finish into the top-left corner in the 20th minute. Liverpool were then caught out in the 42nd minute when Dibling was tackled by Andy Robertson near the box, but both the on-field referee and VAR deemed the touch was inside the box and awarded a penalty to Southampton. Adam Armstrong’s spot-kick was saved by Caoimhín Kelleher but he managed scored from the rebound.
Arne Slot’s men needed to respond like they have done all season, but sloppy defending cost Liverpool dearly in the 53rd minute when Dibling found a long cross-field pass to Armstrong, who attracted all the retreating Liverpool defenders, leaving Mateus Fernandes free to tuck the ball in past Kelleher. However, Liverpool responded in the 65th minute as Ryan Gravenberch lobbed in a long ball forward for Mo Salah, who took it down past Alex McCarthy. Now in complete control, the Reds started pushing for a winner, and another Southampton mistake gave them a golden chance when fullback Yukinari Sugawara handled a Salah cross in the box. The Egyptian stepped up in the 83rd minute to convert the spot-kick, giving Liverpool the lead, who managed to control the game from there on to take home all three points.
New Man United boss Ruben Amorim’s first game in charge ended in an entertaining draw at Portman Road.
United started in blistering fashion, scoring the opener as Amad Diallo ran past the Ipswich defenders and passed to Marcus Rashford in the box for a simple finish inside two minutes. The Red Devils continued attacking with intent in the early period but couldn’t double their advantage, which allowed the hosts to grow into the game and saw a low-drive shot from Sammie Szmodics’ saved by André Onana in the 10th minute. Liam Delap then forced a brilliant save from Onana when he found a Szmodics pass in the box in the 39th minute. The Tractor Boys equalised two minutes before the break when Omari Hutchinson found a sweet finish from outside the box into the top corner.
United started the second half as they did the first and almost took the lead through Alejandro Garnacho, who pulled his shot wide. Ipswich then started to attack as Delap flicked a shot for Onana to save. Neither team had many clear-cut chances in the half, and Amorim soon made some changes hoping to affect the game, but it was the hosts who looked more likely to score. Ipswich substitute Conor Chaplin didn’t quite connect his shot with four minutes remaining in normal time, and the game ended in a draw.
Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham were under huge pressure as they travelled away to one of the most difficult stadiums in St James’s Park, but they exceeded expectations by grabbing all three points. The Magpies had the better chances and dominated almost the entire game, but the Hammers sat back and successfully soaked the pressure while being clinical in the decisive moments.
Alexander Isak had put the ball in the net as early as the fifth minute, but he was deemed offside. Against the run of play, West Ham scored the opener from a Tomáš Soucek header off an Emerson Palmieri corner in the 10th minute. Newcastle continued to dominate possession, and Anthony Gordon’s shot was saved in the 35th minute by a charging Lukasz Fabianski after Jean-Clair Todibo gifted him the ball in the box, while Isak missed a glorious chance to equalise from Bruno Guimarães’ lofted pass just before the break.
The Hammers doubled their advantage in the 53rd minute when Jarrod Bowen set up Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the box, whose low shot found the far post to the delight of the away fans. The Magpies looked deflated after the second West Ham goal and didn’t manage many clear-cut chances after that.
This was a vital win for West Ham and must have boosted their confidence ahead of the big game against Arsenal at home next weekend, while the Magpies need to improve their performance at home.
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