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 straight forward wins. While Manchester City beat the London Blues at home, The Cherries ran riot against Nottingham Forest. Liverpool destroyed the Tractor Boys at home while a 10-man Gunners fired narrowly to a win against the Wolves.
Let’s take a look at all the action from Gameweek 23 of the Premier League –
Southampton 1-3 Newcastle United
The Magpies came from a goal down to beat the Saints comfortably at the 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 provisionally moved into fourth place after this win as the Saints continue to languish in the drop zone.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Arsenal
The Gunners beat the Wolves in a cagey encounter that saw both teams reduced to 10-man.
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 it’s 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 offense in the 71st minute. With both teams now down to 10-man, 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 the lead to six points off the top while Wolves remained in the bottom three.
Brighton & Hove Albion 0-1 Everton
The Toffees gained a vital three points at the Amex Stadium winning with a solitary goal.
The first half wasn’t without many opportunities and Everton broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute when Everton 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 it 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 maintaining their lead at the top of the table.
Liverpool scored three first half goals through Dominic Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo in a very dominant first half. 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 Cody Gakpo assist. Gakpo then 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 dominating. 20 minutes into the restart, Gakpo made it four when he headed home from a teasing Trent Alexander-Arnold cross. Ipswich were lucky with Julio Enciso not being sent-off for a reckless high boot on Wataru Endo. Ipswich scored a late consolation in the 90th minute from a Jacob Greaves header.
Liverpool hold a six-point advantage with a game in hand 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.
An in-form Justin Kluivert scored the opener inside ten minutes when 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.
The Reds came close to equalising after the break when Nikola Milenkovi?’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 and then six minutes later, he fired into the bottom corner 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.
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Manchester City 3-1 Chelsea
Manchester City came back from a goal down to beat Chelsea at the Etihad to climb back into the 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 that 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 back pass led to Chelsea’s opener from Noni Madueke inside three minutes. However, City levelled just before the break from full-back Joško Gvardiol’s shot from close range.
The hosts then piled up the pressure in the second half with Erling Haaland chipping 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 with Phil Foden driving forward and finishing past Sanchez three minutes from full-time.
While Manchester City move on to fourth spot tied on points with Nottingham Forest, Chelsea is struggling to find 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 after a home defeat to the Foxes.
Spurs had a host of chances in the first half-an-hour through Richarlison, Pedro Porro and Son Heung-Min and deservedly went into 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 with Jamie Vardy tapping in from a Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s cross into the box. Four minutes later, Bilal El Khannouss was allowed too much space outside the box and he drilled the ball into the near post past Antonín Kinský. Spurs did threaten with Dejan Kulusevski’s shot saved by Jakub Stolarczyk and Pedro Porro hitting the crossbar from a free-kick but couldn’t really find a response.
This loss has just piled more pressure on Spurs Manager Ange Postecoglou while Ruud Van Nistelrooy might have breathed a sigh of relief with a victory after seven straight defeats.
Crystal Palace 1-2 Brentford
The Bees ended Crystal Palace’s five-games unbeaten run at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
The first half between the Eagles and the Bees 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 with Will Hughes handling 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 Guehi had encroached the penalty area hence the spot-kick was retaken and 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 the Bees held on for the three points.
With this win, Brentford went up to 11th in the table, two places ahead of their opponents who are in 13th.
Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham United
West Ham scored late to share the spoils with Aston Villa at the Villa Park this Sunday.
Jacob Ramsey shot Villa into the lead in the 8th minute when he slotted into the far corner from an Ollie Watkins pass. Villa continued to dominate in the first half and should have increased their lead through Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins who 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 Sou?ek pass but the goal was rightly denied for offside.
Villa’s topsy-turvy form continued while the Hammers thoroughly deserved the shared points courtesy of their second half performance.
Fulham 0-1 Manchester United
Manchester United gained a massive three points at the 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, Lisandro Martínez ‘s strike from the edge of the box deflected off Saša Luki? 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 fell down to 10th place in the league table.
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