Gameweek 27 of the 2024/25 Premier League season arrived in the midweek, with FA Cup games to be played at the weekend.
Chelsea returned to winning ways with a thrashing of the Saints, while the Seagulls edged out the Cherries. The Eagles smashed the Villans, while the Cottagers took a massive three points away from Molineux Stadium.
Let’s take a look at all the games of Gameweek 27 of the 2024/25 Premier League season.
Chelsea 4-0 Southampton
Chelsea thumped Southampton 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 as Nkunku passed to an overlapping Pedro Neto, who rifled the ball into the net. Chelsea scored their third from a set-piece routine again as Levi Colwill powered his header past Ramsdale just before the break, putting the Saints 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 when Marc Cucurella latched onto a loose ball into the box and fired it in the far corner.
Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Bournemouth
Brighton continued their rich vein of form at home by beating Bournemouth in a tense encounter at the Amex.
Brighton took the lead in the 12th minute through a spot kick when João Pedro was fouled by Bournemouth keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in the box. Antoine Semenyo then missed a golden opportunity at the other end. Brighton could have doubled their 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 Bournemouth equalised at the hour mark through 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.
Bournemouth have now lost two straight games in the league and will want to return to their previous form to keep pace with the rest of the pack for a European spot.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Fulham
Wolves fell to a home defeat at the hands of Fulham, who made a blistering start to the game as Ryan Sessegnon scored inside the first minute. João Gomes restored parity for the hosts in the 18th minute as 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 after the restart, they took the lead when Rodrigo Muniz was set up by Alex Iwobi’s wonderful through ball and lobbed the ball over the onrushing José Sá to score. Raúl Jiménez had another opportunity to put more daylight between the two sides but shot straight at the goalkeeper.
Crystal Palace 4-1 Aston Villa
Palace produced a stunning performance against Aston Villa at Selhurst Park.
It was the visitors who had the first chance when Youri Tielemans’s off-target header in the 21st minute was latched onto by Jacob Ramsey, who slotted past Dean Henderson but was denied by the offside flag. The Eagles took the lead eight minutes later, with Ismaïla Sarr scoring from close range after Emiliano Martínez parried away Chris Richards’s header from an Adam Wharton cross. Villa thought they had equalised through Morgan Rogers just before the break, but they were 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 shot on the turn past Henderson. But Palace regained the lead just before the hour mark as the in-form Jean-Phillipe Mateta’s curling shot found the far corner. It was all Palace from thereon, 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 recent weeks as they look keen on replicating last season’s second-half form and surge up the league table.
Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal
Forest and Arsenal shared the spoils at the City Ground in a goalless encounter.
In what was a fairly tepid affair, the only chance of the first half fell to Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori, who turned his marker around and struck the far post. The Gunners had a few decent chances from corners but couldn’t capitalise on any of them.
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 he latched onto William Saliba’s mistimed clearance, but the French defender managed to make amends with a well-timed tackle.
Arsenal couldn’t cut the gap at the top and stay second, with Forest remaining third.
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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 and Haaland scored the opener in the 12th minute from a Jérémy Doku ball off the left. Savinho could have doubled the lead at the half-hour mark, with Doku finding him unmarked in the box and crossing to him, but he pulled his shot over the crossbar. Haaland had another shot on target, but Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario made a reflex save to deny the Norway international. Spurs hardly had anything of interest in attack up to this point, though City did almost pay 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. Spurs had a chance to equalise when Wilson Odobert threw himself at a Pedro Porro cross, but he couldn’t put it into the net. Mathys Tel should have equalised off of Destiny Udogie’s pass, but he couldn’t finish either. Haaland thought he had killed the result in the dying minutes, but his goal was disallowed for handball.
City have jumped back into the top four with this win, while Spurs’ three-game unbeaten run in the league has come to an end.
Manchester United 3-2 Ipswich Town
A 10-man Man United came back from a goal down to win 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 André Onana, leaving Jaden Philogene an open goal at his mercy 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 Matthijs de Ligt header. However, more drama ensued when Dorgu was sent off for a poor tackle on Omari Hutchinson following a VAR review in the 43rd minute. Soon after, Philogene equalised just before half-time, further 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. The Red Devils were more organised in the second half as Ipswich couldn’t find any clear-cut chances. Maguire’s goal ended up being the winner.
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 decent goalscoring chances. Liverpool opened the scoring in the 11th minute as Dominik Szoboszlai put the ball 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 then 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 into the game, but they still failed to create decent goalscoring 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 didn’t need to either as 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. In-form Everton forward Beto only had Mark Flekken to beat after he had capitalised on a slip from defender Ethan Pinnock, but the onrushing Flekken saved the chance. Two opportunities then arrived for the home side: Yoane Wissa’s tame header from a Kevin Schade cross was collected by Jordan Pickford before Kristoff Ajer’s glancing header went 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 another Wissa header on the rebound off a Bryan Mbeumo shot that had hit the crossbar from a Kevin Schade long throw-in.
Everton nearly restored parity in the 64th minute when Carlos Alcaraz’s shot from the edge of the box nearly found the bottom corner. Wissa had a goal disallowed for offside five minutes later. The Everton equaliser finally arrived 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 his side’s rescue. Vitaly Janelt at the other end could have gotten the three points for Brentford in the dying minutes, but his shot went wide.
West Ham United 2-0 Leicester City
The Hammers defeated a lacklustre Leicester City to earn vital three points at home.
The hosts started brightly and took the lead in the 21st minute through Tomáš Soucek as he tapped in the ball when Mads Hermansen parried off a Mohammed Kudus shot that had fallen in his path. The Hammers continued to keep possession and cause problems, which resulted in the second goal. Just before half-time, Leicester failed to clear a corner, resulting in Jarrod Bowen picking up the ball and squeezing it in from a tight angle as it took the last touch of Jannik Vestergaard and was given as an own goal.
The visitors hardly had any clear-cut chances in the second half to put West Ham under pressure. New recruit Evan Ferguson had a superb chance to score the Hammers’ third, but a last-ditch tackle from Vestergaard saved the Foxes from further humiliation.
Leicester City are living dangerously and are now five points off 17th-placed Wolves. With many tough fixtures to follow, their chances of survival are looking bleak.
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