Gameweek 8 of the Premier League resumed after the two-week International break and it certainly lived up to the hype. From tight scrappy games to goals and red cards galore, this weekend’s encounters were physical, feisty, tactical and caused upsets that no one expected.
From comeback wins to stoppage-time heart breaks, this Gameweek had everything for the football aficionados.
Let’s take a look at all the encounters from Gameweek 8 of the Premier League –
Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 West Ham United
Spurs were on the backfoot in the initial stages with West Ham coming close through Mohammed Kudus inside ten minutes and it got worse for the home side when Kudus scored the opening goal in the 18th minute with Jarrod Bowen being the orchestrator with an inviting pass into the box.
But Spurs soon regained control and almost equalised from a Brennan Johnson shot going wide of the post. Spurs equaliser came in the 35th minute when Dejan Kulusevski’s powerful strike was deflected into the post by Hammers goalie Areola.
Spurs took the lead when full-back Udogie’s cut back into the box found Yves Bissouma for their second in the 51st minute. Two minutes later Spurs were on the attack again and this time it was Son whose shot on goal was spilled by Areola into the net. West Ham’s defensive woes got even worse at the stroke of the hour, Son ran past the defenders and scored from a tight angle. West Ham couldn’t find a way back and they were reduced to 10-men with Kudus being sent off for hitting Spurs defender Micky Van de Ven. A dismal start for Julen Lopetegui’s men while Spurs end the weekend with an emphatic victory.
Ipswich Town 0-2 Everton
Everton’s fortunes are on an upward trajectory in the past few weeks and they grabbed three vital points away from home against Ipswich. Everton scored the opening goal in the 17th minute through Iliman Ndiaye when the Senegalese player latched onto a loose touch from Wes Burns to aim his shot high into the net. Controversy ensued when Ipswich had a penalty denied for a foul on Clarke in the box and felt hard done by the decision from VAR.
Everton then doubled their advantage in the 40th minute through Michael Keane who scored from an acute angle after Ipswich failed to clear the ball from an Everton corner. Even though Ipswich had a flurry of chances, only few were clear cut and they came the closest in the 80th minute when Conor Chaplin failed to finish with Pickford making a save. Dominic Calvert-Lewin should have scored from a superb 1v1 chance late on but Muric made a great save to deny the Everton forward. A brilliant result for Sean Dyche’s men who are improving every game and now clear of the relegation zone with a five-point gap.
Manchester United 2-1 Brentford
Erik Ten Hag and his team must have breathed a sigh of relief as they narrowly overcame a tricky Brentford side at home. Amidst heavy criticism and questions over his job, United came back from a goal down to secure the critical three points.
Brentford almost scored early again but a great pass from the left missed everyone in the box. Man United could hardly find many chances in the first-half with Brentford looking dangerous in attack. The Red Devils paid for their mistake just before the break when Brentford took advantage of an extra man with Mathijs de Ligt being treated on the sidelines. Ethan Pinnock escaped Dalot to head home from a corner just before the break to pile more pressure on the home side.
But United showed up with intent in the second half and scored instantly in the 47th minute when a pin point Rashford cross found Garnacho in the box who slotted past Flekken to restore parity. United went for the kill and took the lead from Hojlund in the 62nd minute when he dinked past the keeper from a Bruno Fernandes pass.
Brentford couldn’t muster many chances on goal and left Old Trafford with a defeat while United supporters will have something to cheer about with the all-important three points
Fulham 1-3 Aston Villa
Fulham welcomed Aston Villa at the Craven Cottage this weekend. The home side started brightly and scored inside five minutes with Raúl Jiménez latching onto a poor judgement from Lucas Digne on a long header and finishing past Martínez.
However, Villa soon equalised through Morgan Rogers’ fortuitous deflected shot in the 9th minute that Leno couldn’t save. Fulham had a glorious opportunity to restore their lead when they got a penalty for a Matty Cash handball in the box but Andreas Perriera’s poorly taken spot-kick was saved by Martínez.
The second half saw Aston Villa in the ascendancy and they soon reaped rewards. The Villans took the lead in the 59th minute when Ollie Watkins drove a powerful header into the net from a corner kick. Fulham imploded further when defender Joachim Andersen was sent off for preventing a goal scoring opportunity in the 64th minute making matters worse for Marco Silva’s side. With a numerical advantage Villa forced a mistake from Issa Diop in the 69th minute when he deflected a Lucas Digne pass into his own net beyond a flailing Leno.
A superb comeback for Unai Emery’s men was dampened by Jaden Philogene’s red card late into stoppage time with both sides ending the game with 10-men.
Newcastle United 0-1 Brighton and Hove Albion
Brighton beat Newcastle winning narrowly in a feisty encounter at the St James’s Park.Newcastle had the better part of possession and chances but fluffed them and such is the level of this Brighton side that they punished them with their one attacking chance in the first half when Danny Welbeck found a sumptuous Lewis Dunk long pass and played a few neat exchanges with Georginio Rutter before overpowering his marker to score past Pope in the 35th minute.
Newcastle came out with attacking intent but failed to find the net with a stoic Brighton defending for their lives. Alexander Isak in particular looked rusty after a layoff with a toe injury and spurned a couple of scoring opportunities. Brighton did end up with massive three points away from home but the game ended on a sour note for the Seagulls with Welbeck leaving on a stretcher after an innocuous looking nudge in the back from Fabian Schär.
Eddie Howe must have been left wondering though as to how his team couldn’t score even after dominating from start to finish.
Southampton 2-3 Leicester City
Leicester came back from a 0-2 deficit to beat the Saints away at the St. Mary’s Stadium. Southampton had a dream start at home. Kyle Walker-Peters took the initiative after a quick freekick, passing to Ryan Manning who squared for Cameron Archer to score their opening goal in the 8th minute. Aribo scored their second through a similar move just before the half-hour mark, with Kyle Walker-Peters the assister this time.
The second half saw Leicester orchestrate a thrilling comeback with Facundo Buonanotte cutting down the lead to one when Abdul Fatawu found him at the far corner in the 62nd minute. Ten minutes later, Ryan Fraser was punished by VAR for denying Jamie Vardy a goal-scoring opportunity and was sent off with Leicester being awarded a penalty. Vardy scored coolly from the spot to restore parity. With a numerical advantage, the Foxes went for the kill and completed their comeback when an unmarked Jordan Ayew found the ball from a corner and slotted past Ramsdale sending the away fans in delirium.
While Leicester is getting better, Saints find themselves winless this season, languishing at the bottom of the table.
Bournemouth 2-0 Arsenal
The Cherries are becoming a force to reckon with under Andoni Iraola and are certainly no pushovers as they proved against Arsenal this weekend. The general consensus was that Arsenal was going to canter to a win but Bournemouth had other ideas, Antoine Semenyo being a menace for them all night. The Ghanaian International did everything but score though. Arsenal didn’t create many clear-cut chances in the first half and paid the price for their indiscipline yet again when Saliba tugged Evanilson with the forward running onto a goal scoring opportunity. Initially the Arsenal defender was shown a yellow but VAR intervened and deemed it a red. The Gunners down to 10-men at the half-hour mark looked to keep the Bournemouth attack at bay.
The second half saw Bournemouth out of the traps quickly to try and find a goalscoring opportunity but it was the Gunners who saw a glorious opportunity spurned by Martinelli when Kepa sent a sloppy pass from the box. However, it was minutes later that the Gunners were undone by a set-piece brilliance from Bournemouth with Ryan Christie finding the net. Bournemouth tried to turn on the screws after the opener and put the game to bed when Evanilson was awarded a penalty for a foul by David Raya in the 79th minute. Kluivert stepped in and converted the spot-kick to the dismay of the away fans.
Bournemouth ended Arsenal’s unbeaten run with an unexpected win while Arteta’s men would be left to rue the three dropped points.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Manchester City
Molineux hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Cityzens and this game tested Pep Guardiola’s team’s resolve till the end. The away side started brightly with Doku playing a 1-2 with Gundogan before striking over the bar. But it was the home side that grabbed the opener in the 7th minute with a beautiful pass from Nelson Semedo that Jørgen Strand Larsen tapped home. Wolves had a golden chance to double their lead when Semedo was released with a beautiful pass but Ederson made the save. The defending champions levelled the game in fine style when defender Joško Gvardiol’s cracking shot found the top right corner in the 33rd minute beyond a flailing José Sá.
The second half saw a tussle between the two sides with the Wolves shot-stopper José Sá.making great saves and keeping his team within a shout for a point. However, Man City’s relentlessness paid off deep into stoppage-time when John Stones headed the winner from a Phil Foden corner. A dramatic late win for the Cityzens while Wolves continue in relegation places even after a heartening performance.
Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea
Arne Slot’s Liverpool had their first big test after the international break playing against a rejuvenated Chelsea side at Anfield. The away side started with great intent in the early stages with Liverpool being pushed into a corner. However, the home side started to attack a bit more and had a penalty shout denied for a Colwill foul on Salah in the box Liverpool piled on more pressure and a few minutes later had a penalty given for a Colwill foul on Curtis Jones this time. Salah slotted in calmly from the spot-kick in the 29th minute to give Liverpool the lead. Liverpool had another penalty given just before the break when Curtis Jones was seemingly fouled by the Chelsea goalie Robert Sánchez but it was rightfully denied by VAR as Sánchez had played the ball first. For all of Chelsea’s attacking and possession, Liverpool defended deep and didn’t give them an opportunity to strike back.
The second half began with Chelsea trying to up the tempo and they soon restored parity with Konate playing Nicolas Jackson narrowly onside as he found a great pass and scored in the 47th minute. But the home side regained the lead three minutes later when Salah placed a sumptuous pass in the path of Curtis Jones who finished superbly past Sanchez. The game was incident-packed with players losing their cool a couple of times.
Chelsea did try to create more chances however, the Blues left empty-handed from Anfield after an impressive away performance and Liverpool remained top with a home win.
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Crystal Palace
Nottingham Forest’s great start to the season continued as they overcame the Eagles at home. Forest were the dominant side from the start with Chris Wood missing at least three clear cut chances in the first half. However, it didn’t hurt as the solid Forest defense kept Crystal Palace at bay as Palace forwards had to resort to shooting from distance with Eddie Nketiah coming close with one of his shots hitting the post.
Twenty minutes into the second half, the NewZealand forward, Wood tried his luck from distance and found the winner as his shot went past a diving Henderson who should have saved it. On the other hand, the opposition goalkeeper Matz Sels made some really great saves against Eze and Co. to win Forest the game and get them the massive three points.
Nuno Esperito Santo’s Nottingham Forest sit pretty in the top half of the table while Palace’s dismal start to the season continues and Oliver Glasner needs to find solutions sooner rather than later.
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