Gameweek 17 of the 2024/25 Premier League season continued to enthral football fanatics with entertaining end-to-end football, resulting in some feisty draws, shock results, and high-scoring encounters and featuring a nine-goal thriller at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to round off the action.
Let’s take a look at all the action from Gameweek 17.
Goals from Jhon Durán and Morgan Rogers helped Aston Villa leapfrog Manchester City into sixth spot with an impressive 2-1 win at Villa Park, as Pep Guardiola’s champions succumbed to their ninth defeat in their last 12 games across all competitions.
Villa tore right into the heart of the City defence from the outset as John McGinn nicked the ball off Joško Gvardiol to allow Durán to test City’s goal inside the first minute. City keeper Stefan Ortega had to pull off two crucial saves inside the opening 100 seconds as Villa set the tone.
Durán did open the scoring with a beautifully-worked move after Youri Tielemans had spotted the run of Rogers, who unselfishly squared the ball to the Colombia international for his seventh league goal of the season. City, thereafter, continued dominating possession, but they were too static and too predictable in their passing. Rogers, in particular, had the champions on the ropes time and again as he picked up the ball on the half-turn, held off his marker, and ran at City’s defence.
In the second half, City offered very little as Rogers deservedly doubled Villa’s advantage midway through the half. Phil Foden, though, eventually pulled one goal back for the visitors in stoppage time, but even that could not mask how poor City were.
Nottingham Forest ended Brentford’s unbeaten home run of this season with a deserved 2-0 win in west London to ensure they spent Christmas inside the top four, with goals from Ola Aina and Anthony Elanga sealing a memorable win for the Tricky Trees.
The Bees, who were playing their third game in less than a week, soon ran out of steam after coming out the gates in blistering fashion, having few answers to Forest’s fast-moving forward play before Aina gave his side the lead.
Five minutes into the second period, it was game over for Brentford when Elanga robbed Keane Lewis-Potter after his heavy touch before turning Ben Mee inside and finding a well-placed finish to beat Mark Flekken in goal. Brentford, who hadn’t lost at home since the final day of last season, did get close to scoring via Kristoffer Ajer, whose powerful rising drive hit Matz Sels in the face on its way over the crossbar, but Forest demonstrated why they boast the third-best defence in the league and managed to hold off Thomas Frank’s men to register their fifth away win of the season.
West Ham and Brighton played out a draw at the London Stadium in a result that suited neither side: the Hammers failed to pull away from the relegation scrap, while the Seagulls missed out on drawing level with Manchester City on 27 points.
Fabian Hürzeler’s side worked hard to get themselves in front when Mats Wieffer fired into a gaping goal after Lukasz Fabianski dropped Pervis Estupiñán’s high cross at his feet under pressure from Lewis Dunk, with the goal eventually given after a VAR review for offside. But Brighton could only hold the lead for seven minutes as Mohammed Kudus brought his side level just before the hour mark.
Following the result, Brighton have now gone five league matches without a win—with only Southampton on a worse run—as they slip to ninth in the table. The Irons, meanwhile, are now unbeaten in three successive Premier League games for the first time this season.
A hattrick from Alexander Isak, coupled with a powerful strike from Jacob Murphy, was enough to seal the three points for the Magpies as the Tractor Boys failed to build on last week’s crucial victory at Wolves.
Looking for a quick start, Isak rifled the ball into the roof of the net to hand his side the lead 26 seconds after kick-off. The flag was raised immediately, but a three-minute VAR check confirmed that Murphy was onside next to Cameron Burgess, allowing the goal to stand. Newcastle struck again, having been given too much space in midfield, as Gordon picked up the ball on the edge of the area and carried it from left to right, setting up Murphy to rifle an effort off the crossbar and into the net in the 32nd minute. Newcastle then managed to rub salt in the wounds a couple of minutes into the first-half stoppage time as Dara O’Shea’s pass-back to Arijanet Muric resulted in a loose ball which Bruno Guimarães pounced on before Isak slotted it into the net to make it 3-0.
If the game wasn’t dead before half-time, it certainly was in the 54th minute as Murphy broke into the box and set up Isak with a back-heel flick; the Swede slotted the ball past Muric to complete his hattrick and get Newcastle’s fourth. Dan Burn later added a fifth goal from a scramble deep into second-half stoppage time, but it was ruled out following a VAR check.
Arsenal kept pace with league leaders Liverpool as Gabriel Jesus inspired them to a 5-1 London derby thrashing of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
After his hattrick sunk the Eagles in the Carabao Cup quarter-final in midweek, Jesus made it five goals in four days against Palace as his first-half brace put the Gunners 2-1 up inside the first 14 minutes. The game became uncomfortable for the Gunners, however, when Bukayo Saka limped off injured with what looked like a hamstring injury. Subsequently, Palace had a great chance to equalise with Jean-Philippe Mateta through on goal, but Arsenal keeper David Raya was up to the task and kept Palace at bay. Arsenal restored their breathing room when Jesus’s header rebounded off the right post and found Kai Havertz, who slotted the ball into the empty Palace net.
Palace came out in the second half with intent, but Raya pulled off saves from Ismaïla Sarr twice and then Mateta just when the hosts looked all but sure to pull one back again. However, Arsenal made them pay again when Jesus’s close-range strike was denied by the feet of Dean Henderson inside the penalty area, but the rebound fell to substitute Declan Rice, whose strike was diverted in by Gabriel Martinelli. Rice then turned goalscorer as he curled home from inside the box with five minutes to go.
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Bottom-placed Southampton secured a point away from home for only the second time this season as a stout defensive performance saw them hold hosts Fulham to a goalless draw at Craven Cottage. This was only the sixth point of the campaign for the struggling Saints, but the much-improved showing would have given hope to their new manager, Ivan Juric, who was watching from the stands.
Fulham dominated most aspects of the game but proved unable to forge a breakthrough to the frustration of their fans. Their best first-half effort came from Alex Iwobi, whose curling left-footed effort forced a fingertip save from Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who returned between the sticks after a finger surgery.
The England international was called into action again and made an even better stop in the 67th minute to block Harry Wilson’s left-footed half-volley, which was hit hard from close range but was pushed over the bar by Ramsdale.
Fulham now go to Stamford Bridge to meet Chelsea on Boxing Day, having moved up one place to ninth with the added point. Southampton, on the other hand, remain at the foot of the table and are six points adrift after Wolves’ victory over Leicester City.
Vitor Pereira made the dream start to life as Wolves head coach as his new side ended a run of four straight defeats with a 3-0 win against Leicester on Sunday.
Goals from Gonçalo Guedes, Rodrigo Gomes, and Matheus Cunha across a 25-minute spell in the first half sealed an impressive win for the Midlands club. The Portuguese coach made four changes to the side that lost 2-1 the previous week, and two of those, Guedes and Gomes, pounced inside the opening 36 minutes to give their side a two-goal cushion. Wolves’ top scorer Cunha also took advantage of some sloppy Leicester defending to score a third—his ninth goal of the season—right before half-time.
Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy made a double change at half-time, then another just seven minutes into the second half, but the hosts barely threatened as Wolves halted a four-match losing streak to move within two points of the Foxes, who are just one place above the relegation zone.
Nicolas Jackson struck the post with a close-range header as Chelsea failed to keep pace with Liverpool, having been held to a 0-0 draw by Everton at a blustery Goodison Park on Sunday.
The conditions made it difficult for both teams, but they each had chances to win the game. Jackson was also denied from point-blank range by Everton keeper Jordan Pickford, who got his fifth clean sheet in six games. Chelsea keeper Robert Sánchez saved from Jack Harrison at the other end, while Iliman Ndiaye’s goal-bound shot was blocked by visiting defender Tosin Adarabioyo as Everton impressed, with new executive chairman Marc Watts in attendance.
Chelsea remain in second place with 35 points, four points off Liverpool and having played two games more. Meanwhile, Everton have climbed to 15th place with 16 points from 16 games, four clear of the relegation zone.
A brilliant Bournemouth won 3-0 at Old Trafford for the second season running as Manchester United’s fortunes continue yielding mixed results under Ruben Amorim. The hosts worked hard without reward in the first 45 minutes and then shot themselves in the foot after the break, showing no guile to be able to respond in the attacking third and casting further doubt on some of Amorim’s attacking selections.
Bournemouth teenager Dean Huijsen became the latest player to capitalise on United’s lax set-piece defending as he glanced home a first-half opener from a Ryan Christie free-kick.
A quick-fire double in the second period—Justin Kluivert’s penalty and Antoine Semenyo’s finish two minutes and eight seconds after that—sealed the biggest blow of Amorim’s short United reign to date, condemning the Red Devils to their seventh Premier League loss of the season.
Andoni Iraola’s side are now fifth in the table, while United are marooned in 13th. This is the first time since 1989 that they are set to spend Christmas in the bottom half of the table.
An injury-hit Spurs were thrashed 6-3 by Liverpool in a chaotic game in North London. This is the second time in Premier League history that the Lilywhites have conceded six at home, with this latest defeat leaving them languishing in 11th at Christmas.
Despite having seven players unavailable, Spurs still played their full-throttle football against the Reds and were punished ruthlessly. Goals from Luis Díaz, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai in the first half with a James Maddison goal in between gave them a sizeable cushion at the break.
Things went from bad to worse for Spurs when a brace from Mohamed Salah inside the first 15 minutes of the second half effectively took the game out of their reach. Two goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke gave the Tottenham faithful some hope before Díaz’s second goal of the night in the 85th minute sealed Liverpool’s 6-3 emphatic win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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