The much-awaited Gameweek 4 of the 2024/25 Premier League season arrived this past weekend after the two weeks of international break, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.
From Liverpool being shocked by Nottingham Forest at home to Aston Villa coming back from a 0-2 deficit, there were plenty of surprises. While West Ham snatched a late equaliser at Craven Cottage, Crystal Palace showed great mentality to draw from a 0-2 deficit at home to Leicester City.
From North London turning red to Wolves being devoured by the Magpies, this was yet another fantastic Premier League weekend for the fans.
After the disappointment against Liverpool at home, Man United travelled away to Southampton looking to get back to winning ways. The Saints were also looking forward to getting their first points on the board at St Mary’s.
However, the visitors dominated the whole game and went back home with a convincing 3-0 win. The Red Devils scored two first-half goals, from Matthijs de Ligt and Marcus Rashford, and a late injury-time goal through Alejandro Garnacho.
Southampton captain and defender Jack Stephens was also red-carded in the 79th minute, making it even worse for the home side.
With three wins out of three, everyone expected Liverpool to win this encounter easily at home, but the Reds were in for a shock.
Nottingham Forest played with a low block as Liverpool kept most of the possession but failed to find an opening in the first half. It was a more assured second-half display from Forest as they started creating a few chances of their own, Liverpool looking even more disjointed and clueless. Then, a swift counter-attacking move saw Anthony Elanga link up with substitute Callum-Hudson Odoi, who scored the winning and the game’s only goal in the 72nd minute.
Forest thus won their first match at Anfield in 69 years as a stunned Kop watched in despair.
Man City were back at home turf against Brentford after the international break. They soon found out that Brentford weren’t pushovers, however, as the Bees stung in the very first minute through Yoane Wissa.
But the defending champions would soon take control of the game and start going forward with purpose. The Cityzens scored two first-half goals courtesy of Erling Haaland, taking a 2-1 lead to the dressing room at half time. The second half continued in the same vein, with City going hammers and tongs at Brentford, but it was a brilliant display in goal from Mark Flekken that saved his side’s blushes.
City remain top of the table with a 100% win record this season.
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The home side started brightly in the first half and their efforts paid dividends when Emile Smith Rowe found Raúl Jiménez in the box, who slotted in Fulham’s opening goal in the 24th minute.
The Cottagers continued to attack in the second half as well and missed a few chances. Then, just when it looked like Fulham were getting away with the three points, West Ham found a dramatic equaliser through Danny Ings in the fifth minute of stoppage time to level the game.
This game saw the away side starting with attacking with intent, which led to them opening the scoring through Jamie Vardy in the 21st minute. The Foxes continued to attack and doubled their lead through Stephy Mavididi in the 46th minute.
However, Palace showed great powers of recovery to cut down the deficit to one goal as Eberechi Eze provided an assist for Jean-Philippe Mateta in the 47th minute. Leicester still looked destined to win the game, but a poor tackle in the box from defender Conor Coady gave away a silly penalty in stoppage time, which Mateta converted to earn a valuable draw for his side.
Brighton attacked with great intent and purpose from the start but failed to find a goal in the first half, with Ipswich keeper Arijanet Muric showing great reflexes with a stunning double save.
The second half was much more even, with Ipswich coming close to scoring themselves with a Liam Delap shot that hit the post. The Tractor Boys ultimately earned a hard-fought point at the Amex, leaving the Seagulls ruing their missed chances.
This was undoubtedly the game of the week. Bottom-of-the-table Everton travelled to Villa Park in what seemed like a very difficult away fixture, though they drew first blood by scoring against the run of play through Dwight McNeil in the 16th minute before doubling their lead with a Dominic Calvert-Lewin header in the 21st minute, much to the dismay of the Villa Park faithful.
However, the Villans were not to be denied. They scored their first goal through Ollie Watkins in the 36th minute and restored parity in the second half as Watkins scored his second in the 58th minute. But the moment of the match came from Villa substitute Jhon Durán, who scored a stunner from 35-odd yards out to grab all three points for his team.
The unbeaten Cherries hosted Chelsea at the Vitality Stadium and were the stronger team initially with several decent chances. Their best chance to open the scoring came when they were awarded a penalty through a Robert Sánchez foul, which Evanilson failed to convert.
Chelsea substitute Christopher Nkunku then scored the match-winner through a Jadon Sancho assist in the 86th minute to settle the game in the Blues’ favour.
The North London Derby was always going to be a feisty affair. Arsenal were playing without their midfield duo of Martin Ødegaard and Declan Rice, hence it seemed like Spurs would have the upper hand going into this fixture.
Tottenham, at home, started on the front foot with many attacking chances in the first half, while Arsenal soaked up the pressure. The second half saw more of the same, with the likes of Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson missing decent chances, though the Gunners had a couple of opportunities going forward as well.
The telling blow arrived in the form of a corner when Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães headed home in the 64th minute. Spurs did try to equalise, but the Arsenal defence stayed strong under pressure to grab all three points away from home.
This one saw the visitors start with purpose and getting a couple of decent chances at goal, but it was Wolves who scored the opening goal through Mario Lemina in the 36th minute when he found a nicely-weighted pass in the box from Jørgen Strand Larsen that was left by João Gomes for him to slot in.
Newcastle struck back late in the second half through a fortunate Fabien Schär strike in the 75th minute that deflected off Craig Dawson into the top-left corner.
The moment of magic in the game arrived from Newcastle substitute Harvey Barnes, who struck an absolute screamer into the top right corner to grab all three points for his side
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