The Premier League never ceases to amaze. Gameweek 16 of the 2024/25 season has gone by, featuring more feisty encounters, shock results, and entertaining football.
This week saw the Gunners being held to a draw by the Toffees as Forest upset the Villans. While Liverpool and Fulham contested a dramatic draw, the Magpies ran riot against the Foxes and Man United piled more misery on Pep Guardiola’s men by grabbing a dramatic late win in the Manchester Derby.
Let’s take a look at all the action from Gameweek 16.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Ipswich Town
A late dramatic winner from Ipswich Town spelled more trouble for Gary O’Neil’s Wolves.
Both teams came into this game on the back of three defeats, but it was the Wolves manager who was under more pressure at Molineux. Ipswich opened the scoring in the 15th minute courtesy of an own goal by Matt Doherty, who deflected in Conor Chaplin’s strike after it had hit defender Toti Gomes.
Wolves started to grow in the game, though, and had two glorious chances to equalise before half-time. Jean-Ricner Bellegarde blasted his shot over the crossbar after being teed up by Mario Lemina, while Jørgen Strand Larsen’s tame shot was saved by Arijanet Muric.
However, Wolves got the reward for their efforts in the 72nd minute as the in-form Matheus Cunha slotted home from a tight angle. Cunha missed another chance to win the game for his side. Wolves’ defensive woes on set-pieces reared up again late in stoppage time when Jack Taylor nodded in Harry Clarke’s in-swinging delivery from a corner, giving Kieran Mckenna’s side a much-needed three points.
Wolves’ troubles multiplied further after the game as left-fullback Rayan Aït-Nouri was sent off for a second yellow for an incident involving Wes Burns.
Liverpool 2-2 Fulham
A ten-man Liverpool salvaged a point in a dramatic draw against the Cottagers at home.
The visitors started with intent and opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Andreas Pereira found a cross from Antonee Robinson and volleyed it in goal. Things got even worse for Liverpool in the 17th minute when Andy Robertson was sent-off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity to Harry Wilson outside the box. The first half ended with Fulham leading 1-0.
However, Liverpool came back immediately after the break and levelled the score through Cody Gakpo’s diving header from a Mo Salah cross into the box. Liverpool dominated even when Fulham had a numerical advantage but fell behind in the 76th minute again when they hit them on the counter as Robinson provided a cutback for Rodrigo Muniz to flick into the open goal. Diogo Jota then came off the bench to rescue a point for Liverpool in the 85th minute when he received a pass from Darwin Núñez and neatly finished it past Bernd Leno.
Both Liverpool and Fulham had late chances to find a winner, but neither could force the issue, ending the game with honours even.
Arsenal 0-0 Everton
Arsenal failed to close the gap at the top when they drew against Everton at home.
It was the visitors who created the first decent chance in the fifth minute as Abdoulaye Doucouré’s shot was blocked by a sliding Gabriel Magalhães. However, it was all Arsenal after that as an inspired Jordan Pickford denied Martin Ødegaard and Gabriel Martinelli in the first half.
A few minutes into the second half, Arsenal were yet again denied by Pickford when he dived to the left to save Bukayo Saka’s clever near post shot. The Gunners continued to dominate proceedings, but Everton’s defence put up a strong resistance and even thwarted a number of set-piece opportunities that Arsenal had in succession. The Gunners wanted a late penalty following a coming-together between Vitaliy Mykolenko and Thomas Partey, but VAR denied the request.
For all their efforts on goal, the Gunners were frustrated by the dogged Toffees and failed to capitalise on Liverpool’s dropped points against Fulham, while Everton earned a hard-fought point.
Newcastle United 4-0 Leicester City
The Magpies decimated the Foxes in a one-sided encounter at St James’ Park.
Anthony Gordon was denied the first goal early when his powerful strike was saved by Mads Hermansen. The winger was exceptional and caused Leicester all kinds of problems. In the 30th minute, his cutback found Jacob Murphy, who struck home and made up for his miss from moments ago.
Hermansen was replaced by Danny Ward due to injury; five minutes into the restart, the Foxes had conceded two goals—Bruno Guimarães headed home at the far post in the 47th minute before Alexander Isak headed home three minutes later. Leicester could barely get going when Murphy scored his second from an Isak assist at the hour mark to kill the game.
With this win, the Magpies climb up to 11th place, while the Foxes are only four points from the drop zone.
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Aston Villa
Nottingham Forest turned the game around in the late stages to take all three points against Aston Villa.
The first half was particularly uneventful, with no clear-cut chances for either side. However, the second half started with intent from the home side, and just after the hour mark Emiliano Martínez showed great reflexes to put out Nicolás Domínguez’s header off the line. A minute later, though, Jhon Durán met John McGinn’s clipped cross to head home, beating Matz Sels in the Forest goal.
It looked as though Lady Luck had deserted Forest when Chris Wood thought he had equalised but his effort was chalked off for an offside. However, the hosts refused to throw in the towel and their efforts paid dividends when Nikola Milenkovic connected his head to a Morgan Gibbs-White cross in the 87th minute. Three minutes into stoppage time, Anthony Elanga provided the finishing touches to a cutback from Elliot Anderson to give his side a massive three points at home.
With this win, Forest have gone up to fourth spot in the table, ahead of Manchester City.
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Brighton and Hove Albion 1-3 Crystal Palace
The Eagles stunned the Seagulls to take all three points at the Amex with a frantic first-half display.
Palace found the opener through defender Trevor Chalobah in the 27th minute, who scored from a loose ball that had dropped into the six-yard box off a Palace corner. Six minutes later, Palace doubled their lead as Ismaïla Sarr nodding home Tyrick Mitchell’s left-wing cross. The Seagulls did take control of proceedings late in the first half, with Dean Henderson dealing with Kaoru Mitoma’s low-drive effort.
After the break, Brighton brought on Julio Enciso and launched wave after wave of attack, bringing Henderson into action time after time. The English goalie first parried off Lewis Dunk’s header from a corner and then tipped off Enciso’s curling effort around the right post. Palace somehow kept Brighton at bay and then delivered the killing blow when Sarr drove through the midfield and shot past Bart Verbruggen to score his second and Palace’s third in the 82nd minute, stunning the home fans. Brighton did get a consolation in the 87th minute from a Marc Guéhi own-goal, but Palace avoided any further mishaps and won the match 3-1.
A huge sigh of relief for Oliver Glasner. Slowly and surely, Palace are improving, while Fabian Hürzuler’s headache has just gotten worse with a third poor result from his side.
Manchester City 1-2 Manchester United
The Manchester Derby ended in a dramatic last-gasp defeat for the Cityzens, compounding Pep Guardiola’s problems even further.
City took the early initiative and created a few clear-cut chances but failed to convert. They had the first shot on goal in the 20th minute when Jérémy Doku jinked past Noussair Mazraoui and his cross fell to Phil Foden, who volleyed just off-target. Foden played well, with Erling Haaland and had another effort that deflected wide. The hosts did find the opener in the 30th minute from a short corner routine as Joško Gvardiol’s header hit the far post, exposing United’s set-piece frailties yet again.
Even after the restart City were the dominant side but failed to convert half-chances, which came to hurt them in the end. Ederson made his first save after the hour mark from Amad Diallo’s flicked header that could have ended up in the net. United got the closest when Bruno Fernandes was played through, but he tipped his shot over the bar in the 76th minute. Diallo started to cause City all sorts of trouble. United’s equaliser came from a Matheus Nunes error as Diallo pounced on his sloppy back pass and ended up being fouled by Nunes, earning his side a penalty, which Fernandes stepped up to convert and equalised. United now smelt blood and went looking for a winner. Diallo controlled a long ball from Lisandro Martínez and sneaked it into goal from a tight angle to give United the victory in stoppage time.
Ruben Amorim has now beaten City twice with two different teams this season as pressure mounts even further on Pep Guardiola and the Cityzens.
Southampton 0-5 Tottenham Hotspur
A five-star Spurs hammered a woeful Saints at St Mary’s Stadium this Gameweek.
Spurs opened the scoring inside the first minute when Djed Spence drove the ball forward and played through James Maddison, who swept in the opener. Spurs were 2-0 up after 12 minutes when Son Heung-min slotted home after Jan Bednarek’s poor header, and 3-0 two minutes later when Son turned provider for Dejan Kulusevski to turn the ball home from close range. The Saints were already out of the game within the first quarter of an hour, which was enough for many home fans to start directing their frustrations towards Russell Martin, but the fourth goal, scored by Pape Matar Sarr in the 25th minute, led to a mass exodus of disappointed fans. Already four down, the Saints had yet another half to play. Their manager was already down the tunnel before the end of the first half when Maddison scored his second and Spurs’ fifth from the tightest of angles.
The second half was the exact opposite of the first, with no more goals. Dominic Solanke, Son, and Maddison were withdrawn with one eye on the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Man United. Southampton could barely muster a response and suffered a heavy defeat, with their topflight survival chances looking really bleak.
Chelsea 2-1 Brentford
Chelsea cut down the lead at the top to two points with a feisty win against the Bees, who continue being particularly woeful away from home.
The Blues dominated possession in the first half but failed to create any clear-cut chances, However, they deservedly took the lead through Marc Cucurella’s header minutes before the break.
Nicolas Jackson should have doubled the Blues lead on the hour mark when he struck Jadon Sancho’s cross over from six yards out. Brentford came close to making them pay when Christian Nørgaard forced a finger-tip save from Robert Sánchez. Minutes later, Fábio Carvalho’s sliding effort bounced down off the bar inches from crossing the line to the relief of the Stamford Bridge crowd. Chelsea did get a second courtesy of Jackson on the back of a blistering counterattack in the 80th minute. Brentford did get a late consolation in the 90th minute through Bryan Mbuemo, but it was too late.
Chelsea’s win was marred by Cucurella’s sending-off in stoppage time for an altercation with Kevin Schade. Enzo Maresca’s men were the only team in the top three that took advantage of others dropping points. They are looking ready to have a go at the league title.
Bournemouth 1-1 West Ham United
Bournemouth salvaged a draw in the dying minutes of the game against the Hammers thanks to a sublime piece of skill from Enes Ünal.
The hosts took the early initiative and attacked, with Antoine Semenyo’s scuffed shot hitting the post. West Ham went close minutes later when Jarrod Bowen curled his effort from the edge of the box onto the crossbar. Dango Ouattara should have scored in the closing minutes of the first half after he was picked out at the back post, but he was denied by a sprawling save from Lukasz Fabianski, who then made another reflex save from Evanilson’s near-post header from a Ryan Christie corner. The 39-year-old goalkeeper kept the Hammers in the game singlehandedly.
The second half was particularly uneventful until the late stages, when Bournemouth’s Tyler Adams barely got his fingertips onto an Aaron Wan-Bissaka cross in the penalty box. The touch was minimal, but VAR deemed it as handball and a penalty was awarded to West Ham in the 87th minute. Lucas Paquetá coolly slotted home from the spot-kick to the delight of the West Ham fans. The jubilation was short-lived, though, as three minutes later substitute Ünal produced a curling free-kick into the top-left corner of the Hammers goal, beating a sensational Fabianski and clinching for his side a point.
Bournemouth have climbed up to sixth place with this draw, while West Ham remain fourteenth in the league table.
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