Gameweek 23 of the 2024/25 Premier League season arrived with some big encounters, some contentious refereeing calls, and some shocking results along with a few straightforward wins.
While Manchester City beat Chelsea at home, Bournemouth ran riot against Nottingham Forest. Liverpool destroyed Ipswich Town at home, while a 10-man Gunners fired narrowly to a win against Wolverhampton.
Let’s take a look at all the action.
Southampton 1-3 Newcastle United
The Magpies came from a goal down to beat the Saints comfortably at St Mary’s Stadium this weekend.
Southampton took a shock lead in the 10th minute through Jan Bednarek’s thumping header into the far post. However, Newcastle equalised in the 26th minute through Alexander Isak from the spot-kick after he was fouled by Joe Aribo in the penalty box. Isak scored his second four minutes later when he slotted home from a Jacob Murphy through ball.
Martin Dúbravka denied Taylor Harwood-Bellis with an instinctive save from levelling the game in the opening minutes after the restart. Sandro Tonali then killed off the game in the 51st minute when he was set up by an Anthony Gordon pass. Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes thought he had scored in the 84th minute, but his effort was disallowed after a lengthy VAR check.
Newcastle United are now level on points with fourth-placed Man City, with Southampton continuing to languish in the drop zone.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Arsenal
The Gunners beat Wolves in a cagey encounter that saw both teams reduced to ten men.
Both teams had decent chances in the first half, with Pablo Sarabia and Kai Havertz scuffing glorious opportunities for their teams to take the lead. The game was turned on its head by on-field referee Michael Oliver as Martin Lewis-Skelly was controversially sent off for a challenge on Matt Doherty when Wolves were on the counter. Arsenal went into the break with a man down.
The game got stretched in the second half as Wolves had several opportunities to score but couldn’t and it remained goalless until João Gomes was sent off for a second yellow offence in the 71st minute. With both teams now down to ten men, Arsenal broke the deadlock two minutes later through Riccardo Calafiori, who shot into the far corner from a Gabriel Martinelli cross into the box. Wolves had a chance to restore parity in the 83rd minute, but Rayan Aït-Nouri shot straight at an onrushing David Raya.
A massive three points for Arsenal as they kept their six-point distance from the top, while Wolves remain in the bottom three.
Brighton & Hove Albion 0-1 Everton
The Toffees gained a vital three points at the Amex Stadium, winning by a solitary goal.
The first half wasn’t without many opportunities, and Everton broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute when they were awarded a penalty for a Joël Veltman handball. Iliman Ndiaye stepped up and converted the spot kick.
In the second half, the Seagulls had a few decent chances from Kaoru Mitoma, Carlos Baleba, and Georginio Rutter but couldn’t make any count. A resolute Everton backline kept the Seagulls at bay.
After the away win against Manchester United, this was a missed chance for the Seagulls as they suffered a shock loss to Everton.
Liverpool 4-1 Ipswich Town
Liverpool thrashed a struggling Ipswich at home to maintain their lead at the top of the table.
The Reds scored three first-half goals through Dominic Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah, and Cody Gakpo in a very dominant display. Szoboszlai scored from outside the box to give Liverpool the lead in the 11th minute. Salah doubled the lead in the 35th minute from a Gakpo assist, and then Gakpo turned scorer just before the break when he tapped in from a rebound off a Szoboszlai shot. Liverpool went into the break with a 3-0 lead.
The second half remained the same, with the hosts remaining the dominant party. 20 minutes into the restart, Gakpo made it four when he headed home from a teasing Trent Alexander-Arnold cross. Ipswich were lucky when Julio Enciso was not sent off for a reckless high boot on Wataru Endo. The Tractor Boys scored a late consolation in the 90th minute from a Jacob Greaves header.
Liverpool hold a six-point advantage with a game in hand on top of the league table, while Ipswich remain in the bottom two.
Bournemouth 5-0 Nottingham Forest
The Cherries put up a five-star performance against an in-form Nottingham Forest at home.
The on-fire Justin Kluivert scored the opener inside ten minutes as he unleashed a powerful shot into the bottom corner. At the other end, Ryan Yates’s drilled shot was kept out by Kepa Arrizabalaga. Bournemouth took the slender 1-0 advantage into the break.
Forest came close to equalising after the break when Nikola Milenkovic’s header was tipped over the crossbar by Kepa from close range. Dango Outtara’s quickfire double within minutes further stretched their lead: first his looping header from a Kluivert cross found the top corner in the 55th minute before he fired into the bottom corner six minutes later, beating Matz Sels. Outtara completed his hattrick in the 87th minute when he finished from close range. Bournemouth added further insult to injury in stoppage time through Antoine Semenyo’s goal to make it five.
While the Cherries continued their streak of 11 games unbeaten, Forest suffered their first defeat in nine straight games.
Also read: Premier League 2024/25 Sponsors
Manchester City 3-1 Chelsea
Manchester City came back from a goal down to beat Chelsea at the Etihad to climb back into top four.
Debutant striker Omar Marmoush almost made an immediate impact as he raced onto a through ball from Phil Foden and had a first-time shot on goal, which Robert Sánchez palmed away in the opening minutes. Moments later, City’s new defensive signing Abdukodir Khusanov was at fault for Chelsea’s opener as his sloppy headed backpass led to Chelsea’s opener from Noni Madueke inside three minutes. However, City levelled just before the break from fullback Joško Gvardiol’s shot from close range.
The hosts then piled up the pressure in the second half as Erling Haaland chipped over Sánchez to give his side the lead in the 67th minute. Even though Chelsea tried to get back into the game, they couldn’t capitulate on half chances and the hosts broke further free as Phil Foden drove forward and finished past Sanchez three minutes from full-time.
With City back in top four, Chelsea continue struggling for form, with only one win in their last five PL encounters.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Leicester City
Tottenham Hotspur fell further down in the league table after a home defeat to the Foxes.
Spurs had a host of chances in the first half-hour through Richarlison, Pedro Porro, and Son Heung-min and deservedly took the lead with a Richarlison diving header from a Porro cross in the 33rd minute. A minute later, Leicester almost responded through James Justin, whose goal-bound shot was deflected wide.
A minute into the restart, the Foxes restored parity as Jamie Vardy tapped in from a Bobby De Cordova-Reid cross into the box. Four minutes later, Bilal El Khannouss was allowed too much space outside the box and drilled the ball into the near post past Antonín Kinský. Spurs did threaten the Leciester goal as a Dejan Kulusevski shot was saved by Jakub Stolarczyk and Porro hit the crossbar from a free kick, but they couldn’t really find a response.
This loss has piled more pressure on Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou, while Ruud van Nistelrooy has breathed a huge sigh of relief with a victory after seven straight defeats.
Crystal Palace 1-2 Brentford
The Bees ended Crystal Palace’s five-game unbeaten run at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
The first half remained cagey with chances few and far between, pointing towards a dour draw.
However, the second half was more eventful and the deadlock was broken at the hour mark when the visitors were awarded a penalty when Will Hughes handled the ball and Nathan Collins was brought down by Maxence Lacroix in the penalty box. Bryan Mbuemo struck the post from the penalty spot, but a VAR review confirmed that Palace defender Marc Guéhi had encroached the penalty area hence the spot kick was retaken; Mbuemo didn’t miss a second time. Brentford doubled the advantage in the 80th minute when Mikel Damsgaard crossed in a teasing delivery, which Kevin Schade headed home. Nervous moments ensued after Palace debutant Romain Esse cut down the deficit in the 85th minute, but Brentford held on for the three points.
With this win, Brentford have moved up to 11th in the table, two places ahead of Palace in 13th.
Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham United
West Ham scored late to share the spoils with Aston Villa at Villa Park this Sunday.
Jacob Ramsey shot Villa into the lead in the eighth minute when he slotted into the far corner from an Ollie Watkins pass. The Villans continued to dominate in the first half and should have increased their lead through Youri Tielemans and Watkins, but both pulled their shots wide.
The Hammers started to grow in the game after the restart and Lucas Paquetá had two glorious chances to equalise. However, their attacking efforts paid off in the 80th minute when Emerson Palmieri’s header from Edson Álvarez’s tantalising cross from the right restored parity. West Ham thought they had won the game late on when Paquetá slotted home from a Tomáš Soucek pass, but the goal was rightly denied for offside.
Villa’s topsy-turvy form continues, while West Ham thoroughly deserved the shared points courtesy of their second-half performance.
Fulham 0-1 Manchester United
Manchester United gained a massive three points at Craven Cottage thanks to a solitary Lisandro Martínez goal in the second half.
It was a lacklustre performance from both sides and United looked set on defending rather than attacking. The first half ended goalless.
Even in the second half, there weren’t many clear-cut chances and the game looked set to head towards a stalemate. However, with 12 minutes to play, Martínez’s strike from the edge of the box deflected off Saša Lukic and dropped in under the bar. It was United’s first effort on target. Joachim Anderson had a late chance from a corner for Fulham, but Toby Collyer headed it away to the relief of the Red Devils fans.
An under-pressure Ruben Amorim got some relief after the defeat to Brighton in the previous league game, while Fulham have fallen down to 10th place in the league table.
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