Gameweek 15 of the 2024/25 Premier League season continued to enthrall football fanatics with entertaining end-to-end football, resulting in some feisty draws, shock results, high-scoring encounters, and weather playing spoilsport in the last Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park.
Let’s take a look at all the action from Gameweek 15.
As Storm Darragh raged through Merseyside from Friday, a warning was raised by the Liverpool City Council for people to stay indoors due to the storm causing havoc in the area. Ultimately, Everton decided to postpone the Merseyside Derby scheduled for Saturday to ensure safety of the players and fans. The new date for the game will be decided at a later date.
After winning comfortably in the midweek fixture, everyone expected Man City to build on that momentum against a struggling Crystal Palace, but they dropped two massive points yet again.
The Eagles have been really subpar since the start of the season, but they started this game at blistering pace when Daniel Muñoz was set through by Will Hughes and scored inside four minutes to give Palace the lead. Two minutes later, City came close to an equaliser as Kevin De Bruyne set up Erling Haaland, but a charging Dean Henderson headed off the danger. City had another close chance in the 22nd minute as Ilkay Gündogan’s powerful drive hit the far post and Savinho struck wide from the rebound. City were getting closer and finally got the equaliser through Haaland from a Matheus Nunes cross at the half-hour mark. The first half ended 1-1, with the momentum well and truly on the side of the visitors.
Ten minutes into the second half, the Eagles regained the lead with another poor defensive moment from City. Will Hughes swerved an in-swinging cross from a corner kick, which was headed in by an unmarked Maxence Lacroix. City got another equaliser this time through a De Bruyne assist for Rico Lewis, who struck a fierce shot into the top of the net in the 68th minute. However, just when City were going for a winner, Lewis was sent off in controversial manner with a second yellow six minutes from time. With City down to ten men, neither side could force the issue and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.
The Bees maintained their unbeaten home record with a thrilling win against the Magpies.
As they have done numerous times this season, the Bees started on the front foot again, with Bryan Mbuemo firing in a shot into the top corner for the opener in the eighth minute. However, the lead lasted for only three minutes as Alexander Isak pulled off a diving header from a Jacob Murphy shot towards goal. Isak had another glorious chance to take the lead, but an incredible Mark Flekken recovery denied him. Newcastle paid the price for that massive miss when Yoane Wissa gave Brentford the lead in the 28th minute as he drove forward with the ball and unleashed a curler into the top-right corner. Four minutes later, though, the Magpies found another equaliser when Murphy found an open Harvey Barnes in the box for a shot into the far corner. The two teams went into the break tied at 2-2.
The hosts took the lead again in the 56th minute when Nathan Collins latched onto a poor clearance in the box and side-footed the ball into the far corner past Nick Pope. Newcastle could barely manage scoring chances in the second half and soon saw Kevin Schade put further daylight between themselves and the Bees in the closing stages to give Brentford a much-deserved three points.
Nottingham Forest returned to winning ways after their drubbing at the hands of Man City in the midweek fixture.
It was another game in Manchester for the visitors at the weekend and they had a dream start as Nikola Milenkovic headed home from a corner inside two minutes. But United equalised after fifteen minutes with Alejandro Garnacho driving forward; his shot on goal was blocked by Mats Sels, but Rasmus Højlund scored from the rebound. Jota Silva then shot over the crossbar from a headed down pass from Milenkovic in the 26th minute. Murillo came close in the 32nd minute but shot wide. On the other end, Bruno Fernandes was denied by the woodwork as well. Both teams went into the break tied at 1-1.
Two minutes into the restart, United gifted Forest the lead when Morgan Gibbs-White’s swerving shot was misread by André Onana and went into the net. Chris Wood then increased Forest’s lead seven minutes later, glancing a close-range header into the far post. Fernandes pulled one back at the hour mark to get United back in the game, but the Red Devils couldn’t conjure up many scoring opportunities after that and ended up losing the game to the disappointment of the home crowd.
With this win, Forest have risen to fifth, while United lie a disappointing 13th in the league table.
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Aston Villa built a bit of momentum with a second consecutive win in a span of three days.
Southampton started brightly and dominated possession early on but failed to register a shot on target. Their defensive woes were further compounded when Jhon Durán opened the scoring for Aston Villa in the 24th minute. He chased a long ball and capitalised on some mediocre defending by Saints defenders Nathan Wood and Taylor Harwood-Bellis before driving forward and shooting past Joe Lumley. The Colombian came close to doubling Villa’s lead minutes later when Ian Maatsen’s cut-back found him in space, but his shot was blocked. Villa went into the break with a slender advantage.
Unai Emery’s side controlled the game in the second half, with Southampton hardly finding any opportunity to get an equaliser. Villa were dealt an injury blow to winger Leon Bailey, who was replaced in the 59th minute. Ross Barkley nearly found a second for Villa late into the closing stages with a close-range shot, but it was blocked by Wood.
The Villans would be relieved by the three points, while the Saints languish at the bottom with no reprieve.
Arsenal couldn’t take advantage of Liverpool’s game getting postponed and only managed a draw at Craven Cottage.
Fulham opened the scoring in the 11th minute through Raúl Jiménez from their first real attack of the game. Jiménez was played in by a long Kenny Tete through ball that he drove forward before putting the ball into the far corner. Arsenal dominated the entire half after that and missed a host of chances. Declan Rice scuffed a volley in the 23rd minute and an unmarked Thomas Partey glanced wide off the post from a corner. Fulham went into the half with a slender advantage and Arsenal in command.
The Cottagers’ resolve was broken six minutes into the second half as William Saliba provided the finishing touches to a Kai Havertz header into a dangerous area in the six-yard box, giving the Gunners a well-deserved equaliser after a lengthy VAR check. Arsenal went on to attack even more, but Fulham goalie Bernd Leno was up to the task. The Gunners’ inability to score from open play has been visible in the last few games, and it hurt them here as well. They finally thought they had scored from a Bukayo Saka close-range header at the far post from a Gabriel Martinelli assist in the 87th minute, but Martinelli was offside in the build-up and Arsenal had to contend with a 1-1 draw.
While Fulham would be happy with a point in a game where they were behind for most of the time, Arsenal would definitely be disappointed and will need to improve on their open-play chances if they don’t want to fall further behind in the title race.
Leicester City rescued a late draw, coming back from a 2-0 deficit, at the King Power stadium.
Brighton were wasteful in the first half, with João Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma missing easy scoring chances. Pervis Estupiñán forced a wonderful save from Mads Hermansen with a long-range curler destined for the top-right corner. However, the Seagulls did find the opener from a Tariq Lamptey scorcher that went into the side netting in the 37th minute. Brighton went into the break with a one-goal advantage.
The hosts played with more intent after the restart. Vardy saw a well-worked move end in a blocked shot and went close with a header later on that was saved superbly by Bart Verbruggen. However, these close chances cost them when substitute Yankuba Minteh raced through on goal, dribbling past defenders to drill Brighton’s second into the net in the 79th minute. The hosts didn’t give up hope, though, and Jamie Vardy started the comeback with a neat finish into the far post for the Foxes’ first goal in the 86th minute. Six minutes later, in the dying stages of the game, Vardy coolly set up Bobby De Cordova-Reid for the equaliser to the jubilant roar of the home fans.
The Seagulls’ disappointment continued into the weekend after their midweek loss to Fulham.
The Cherries snatched a dramatic last-gasp win away to a struggling Ipswich Town, piling more misery on the Tractor Boys.
Though the visitors were the dominant team in the first half, it was the hosts who took the shock lead through Conor Chaplin in the 21st minute. There was also a key moment that went against Ipswich at the end of the first half when the home side had a goal disallowed from a corner for a shove by Liam Delap after Cameron Burgess had headed home from close range.
Bournemouth started the second half with positive intent but were not able to find an equaliser. However, what has been impressive about this Andoni Iraola side is their mentality till the end, and it was on show in this game too as they staged a late comeback. Dango Ouattara’s cross eluded Arijanet Muric and Enes Ünal bundled the ball in at the far post in the 87th minute, with Burgess failing to clear. Outtara then grabbed the winner deep in stoppage time when he scored off a rebound from a David Brooks’s shot to give the Cherries a massive three points.
Ipswich Town’s woes continue at home and their topflight status is in serious jeopardy.
This seven-goal thriller at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was the most exciting game from start to finish.
Spurs started with a bang, racing into a 2-0 lead inside 11 minutes. Marc Cucurella slipped while defending and Brennan Johnson drove forward with the ball past the Spaniard and crossed to Dominic Solanke, who pushed the ball into the net in the fifth minute. Dejan Kulusevski then capitalised on another Cucurella slip, hitting his shot near post and beating Robert Sánchez in the 11th minute. However, Chelsea pulled one back through a powerful low drive from Jadon Sancho from outside the box in the 17th minute. Spurs went into the break with a slim 2-1 lead, looking vulnerable in defence.
Horrendous defending mistakes in the second half cost Spurs massively as Chelsea ran rampant. At the hour mark, Yves Bissouma’s lunging tackle on Moisés Caicedo in the six-yard box was deemed as a foul, resulting in a penalty. Cole Palmer stepped forward for Chelsea and restored parity and was involved again as his mazy run set up Enzo Fernández, who volleyed powerfully into the net to give Chelsea the lead in the 73rd minute. Palmer was at it again for Chelsea’s fourth when Pape Matar Sarr bundled into the back of Palmer in the box, conceding yet another penalty. Palmer sealed the three points for the Blues with a cheeky panenka in the 84th minute. Son Heung-min did pull one back from a James Maddison assist in stoppage time, but it was a little too late for Spurs.
Pressure seems to be building on Ange Postecoglou with more points dropped, while the Blues are now second in the league table, just four points behind leaders Liverpool.
Julen Lopetegui and West Ham breathed a sigh of relief with a massive three points against Wolves in a game rife with tension and controversy.
The hosts started with intent but were unable to break the deadlock. They had a great opportunity in the 34th minute from a Mohammed Kudus curler, but it was parried by Sam Johnstone, who also save the rebound from Tomáš Soucek. In the closing stages of the half, Rayan Aït-Nouri and Nelson Semedo both had their efforts blocked as Wolves grew in belief, while Matt Doherty had a number of chances as well, but desperate West Ham defending ensured it remained goalless at the break.
The second half again highlighted Wolves’ vulnerability on set pieces as Soucek opened the scoring from a looping header at the far post from a Jarrod Bowen corner in the 54th minute. With the Hammers getting the opener, Kudus had a goal ruled out for offside, and while the VAR intervened to deny the Ghanian, he did not do so for the two times Wolves asked for a penalty—first for a push on Gonçalo Guedes and again when Jean-Ricner Bellegarde appeared to be caught in the six-yard box. Wolves did draw level in the 69th minute when Doherty latched onto an Aït-Nouri cross to turn it into the net. Wolves’ celebrations were short-lived, though, as three minutes later Guedes allowed Bowen inside on his left foot for a curler into the bottom corner. Wolves couldn’t manage many clear-cut chances in the closing stages to get something out of the game.
While the Hammers got a crucial home win, Wolves suffered another damaging defeat and continue languishing in the bottom three.
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