The Premier League Gameweek 27 arrived in midweek with FA cup games to be played at the weekend.
Chelsea returned to winning ways thrashing the Saints while the Seagulls edged out the Cherries. The Eagles smashed the Villans while the Cottagers took a massive three points away from the Molineux.
Let’s take a look at all the happenings of Gameweek 27 of the Premier League –
Chelsea 4-0 Southampton
Chelsea thumped Saints at Stamford Bridge to get back to winning ways after two straight defeats in the league.
Cole Palmer forced a superb save from Aaron Ramsdale early on to start the proceedings. Christopher Nkunku then opened the scoring for the Blues with a near post diving header in the 24th minute from a corner-kick which Tosin Adarabioyo headed down in the box. Twelve minutes later, Chelsea doubled the lead with Nkunku passing to an overlapping Pedro Neto who rifled the ball into the net. Chelsea scored their third from a set-piece routine again with Levi Colwill powering his header past Ramsdale just before the break. The Saints were out of the game in the first half itself.
Chelsea continued to surge forward with purpose in the second half and completed the rout in the 78th minute with Marc Cucurella latching on to a loose ball into the box and firing it in the far corner.
Chelsea climbed back into the Top four with this win while the Saints remained bottom.
Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1 Bournemouth
The Seagulls continued their rich vein of form at home edging out the Cherries in a tense encounter at the Amex this midweek.
Brighton took the lead in the 12th minute through a spot-kick when João Pedro was fouled by Cherries goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in the box and he converted the spot-kick. Antoine Semenyo missed a golden opportunity at the other end with Kepa making the save. Brighton could have taken the lead but Kaoru Mitoma’s shot hit the far post to the relief of the away fans.
A one-goal lead is always dangerous and Brighton’s missed opportunities came to haunt them when the Cherries equalised at the hour-mark from Justin Kluivert’s superb curling effort into the top right corner. However, the hosts started creating chances and scored the winner via substitute Danny Welbeck in the 75th minute to take all three points from the encounter.
Bournemouth have now lost two straight games in the league and would want to return to their previous form while the Seagulls are peaking at the right time and European places are still in the reckoning.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Fulham
Wolves fell to a home defeat at the Molineux to Fulham in this gameweek.
The Cottagers made a blistering start with Ryan Sessegnon scoring inside the first minute to give Fulham the lead. Joao Gomes restored parity for the hosts in the 18th minute when he fired the ball into the net from a loose ball off a Jean-Ricner Bellegarde cross. Wolves main-man Matheus Cunha also had a superb chance to score but his shot was saved by Bernd Leno.
Fulham started the second half in a similar fashion as the first. Within two minutes of the restart, the Cottagers took the lead when Rodrigo Muniz was set up by Alex Iwobi’s wonderful through ball and he lobbed it over the onrushing José Sá to score. Raúl Jiménez had another opportunity to put daylight between the two sides but shot straight at the goalkeeper.
Fulham returned with a vital three points away after a home defeat in the previous weekend.
Crystal Palace 4-1 Aston Villa
Crystal Palace produced a stunning performance against Aston Villa at Selhurst Park.
It was the visitors who had the first chance when Youri Tielemans’ off-target header in the 21st minute was latched on by Jacob Ramsey who slotted past Dean Henderson but he was denied by the offside flag. The Eagles took the lead eight minutes later, Ismaïla Sarr scoring from close range after Emiliano Martínez parried away Chris Richards’ header from an Adam Wharton cross. Villa thought they had equalised through Morgan Rogers just before the break but again denied for offside following a VAR review
However, the visitors weren’t to be denied a third time as they equalised in the 52nd minute through Rogers who was found in the box by Ollie Watkins and he shot on the turn past Henderson. But Palace regained the lead again just before the hour-mark as the in-form Jean-Phillipe Mateta’s curling shot found the far corner. It was all Crystal Palace from there on with Sarr scoring his second in the 71st minute and Mateta completing the rout in stoppage-time ending Villa’s four-game unbeaten run.
Crystal Palace’s return to form has been exceptional in the past few months as they look really threatening right now.
Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal
Forest and Arsenal shared the spoils at the City ground in a goalless encounter.
In a fairly tepid affair, the only chance of the first half came from Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori who turned his marker around and struck the far post. Arsenal had a few decent chances from corners too but couldn’t capitalise.
The best chance of the game fell to Chris Wood in the second half when Morgan Gibbs-White found him in the box but his first time shot was saved by David Raya. Wood had another opportunity when William Saliba’s mistimed clearance was latched on by him but the defender made amends with a well-timed tackle. The game ended goalless.
Arsenal couldn’t cut the gap at the top and stay second with Forest staying third.
Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Manchester City
Erling Haaland returned to the Manchester City lineup and scored a winner to beat Spurs away from home.
City dominated proceedings in the first half with Haaland scoring the opener in the 12th minute from a Jérémy Doku assist from the left. Savinho could have doubled the lead at the half-hour mark with Doku crossing to him unmarked in the box but he pulled his shot over the crossbar. Haaland had another shot on target but goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario made a reflex save to deny the Norwegian striker. Spurs hardly had anything of interest in attack until then. City almost paid for their misses as Kevin Danso’s glancing header was tipped over by Ederson just before half-time.
City continued to control possession after the break and had a couple of shots saved from Doku and Savinho, a constant threat. Spurs had a chance to equalise with Wilson Odobert threw himself at a Pedro Porro’s cross but couldn’t put it into the net. Mathys Tel should have equalised with Destiny Udogie’s pass but couldn’t capitalise. Haaland thought he had killed the result in the dying minutes but his goal was disallowed for handball.
City jumped back into the Top four with this win while Spurs three-game unbeaten run in the league came to an end.
Manchester United 3-2 Ipswich Town
A 10-man United came back from a goal down to win their game against the Tractor Boys at Old Trafford.
The first goal was scored inside five minutes due to miscommunication between the United defender Patrick Dorgu and goalkeeper Andre Onana leaving Jaden Philogene an open goal at his mercy and he put the ball into the net to give Ipswich a dream start.
However, United turned things around by the half-hour mark with Sam Morsy first heading an own goal from a Bruno Fernandes free-kick and then United scoring from a corner three minutes later through a Mathijs de Ligt header. However, more drama ensued as Patrick Dorgu was sent-off for a poor tackle on Omari Hutchinson following a VAR review in the 43rd minute. Soon after, Jadon Philogene equalised just before half-time compounding United’s misery.
However, the hosts came back in fashion. Two minutes into the restart, United took the lead through Harry Maguire’s powerful header as Ipswich failed to defend another corner. United were more organised in the second half as Ipswich couldn’t find any clear-cut chances and Maguire’s goal ended up giving them the three points.
Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle United
The league leaders extended their lead at the top of the table with a comfortable two-goal win against the Magpies at home.
Newcastle were without their star forward Alexander Isak and it showed as they failed to create any goal scoring chances. Liverpool opened the scoring in the 11th minute with Dominik Szoboszlai scoring past Nick Pope from a Luis Díaz cut back into the box. Callum Wilson had a golden opportunity to equalise when he latched onto a long pass with Ibrahima Konaté playing him onside but he blazed his shot wide. Szoboszlai could have doubled the lead from a Diogo Jota pass but his curled effort had too much bend on it. Liverpool went into the break with a one-goal lead.
The second half started with the visitors starting to grow in the game but couldn’t create goal-scoring opportunities. The hosts then made them pay as they doubled their advantage three minutes past the hour-mark with Alexis Mac Allister turning the ball into the net from a Mohamed Salah return pass in the box. Salah created a few more chances towards the end but Liverpool couldn’t score more. However, they completely neutralised their opponents, ending with a comfortable win.
Brentford 1-1 Everton
Everton extended their unbeaten run to six games after rescuing a point against the Bees.
The opening half-an-hour was uneventful with both teams trying their luck from the distance but after that the game started to open up. The in-form Everton forward Beto only had Mark Flekken to beat after he had capitalised on a slip from defender Ethan Pinnock to latch on to Jack Harrison’s through ball, but the onrushing Flekken saved the chance.Two opportunities arrived for the home side with Yoane Wissa’s tame header from a Kevin Schade cross collected by Jordan Pickford and Kristoff Ajer’s glancing header off target from a Keane-Lewis Potter delivery. Everton threatened at the other end as well but couldn’t break the deadlock. The Bees were threatening to break free and got their reward through Wissa’s header on the rebound off a Bryan Mbeumo shot hitting the crossbar from a Kevin Schade long throw-in.
Everton nearly restored parity in the 64th minute when Charlie Alcaraz’s shot from the edge of the box nearly found the bottom corner. Wissa had a goal disallowed for offside five minutes later. But the equaliser did come in the 77th minute when a Vitalii Mykolenko cross into the box was met by Jake O’Brien at the far post who headed it into the net. Beto had a late chance to grab all three points for the Toffees but Flekken again came to the Bees’ rescue. Vitaly Janelt at the other end could have gotten the three points for Brentford in the dying minutes but his shot went wide.
The game ended at 1-1 with both sides ruing missed opportunities to grab all three points.
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