Kickoff chronicles

Leicester City vs Nottingham Forest

The curtain opener for the latest Premier League matchweek was set at the King Power Stadium with Leicester’s Steve Cooper taking on his former club Nottingham Forest on Friday night. Forest got off to a positive start and soon found themselves with a 1 goal lead in the 16th minute. An Elliot Anderson cross was deflected kindly into the path of skipper Ryan Yates who was placed just outside the Foxes penalty area. The Englishman drilled the ball back towards goal, watching it nestle perfectly into the bottom left corner. It only took the hosts a further 7 minutes to equalise through their own skipper and club legend Jamie Vardy who popped up with his 4th goal of the season. Harry Winks’ cross from the left wing was met by the outstretched right boot of Vardy, who managed to move in between the 2 Forest centre halves to tap the ball past keeper Matz Sels. At half time the score was level at 1-1 with both sides sharing an equal chance of winning this fixture.

After just 1 minute played in the 2nd period, Forest found themselves with the lead again after Chris Wood notched his 6th goal of the season against his former club. The Kiwi received the ball inside the penalty area from Anderson with his back to goal. Wood then brilliantly tricked Leicester defender Caleb Okoli by faking a turn before spinning in the other direction and firing a shot at goal, watching it creep into the bottom right corner past keeper Mads Hermansen. After Antony Elenga just hit the outright for Forest, the fans inside the King Power felt as though the 3rd goal for the travelling side was almost inevitable. A long ball by shot stopper Sels flew almost the whole length of the pitch, leaving Wood in a tight contest with Wout Faes. Faes failed to clear the long ball properly and was outmuscled by Wood who then headed the ball over Hermansen and gave Forest a vital 2 goal cushion. Forest held out convincingly for the remaining minutes of the game, registering a 3-1 win which took them into the top 5 temporarily (they now sit 7th). Leicester drop crucial points at home and Cooper’s side sit 15th with 9 points.

Aston Villa vs Bournemouth

The 2nd game of matchweek 9 saw Aston Villa host Bournemouth at Villa Park on a lovely Saturday afternoon. Unai Emery’s side thought they had found the lead in the 23rd minute after John McGinn curled the ball into the top corner from an Ollie Watkins cut back. Unfortunately for the hosts, the goal was ruled out as the ball was out of play when Watkins retrieved it. At half time the score remained 0-0, thanks to the heroic 1st half performance of Cherrie’s keeper Mark Travers who made multiple brilliant saves to keep Villa at bay. 

Villa finally broke through the resilient Bournemouth defence and Mark Travers in the 73rd minute when Ross Barkley scored his first goal in his 2nd stint at Villa Park. Ian Maatesen crossed in a ball from the left wing where Leon Bailey headed the ball back across goal. Barkley was present in the area as he lunged in to scrap the ball over the line. After failing to create any meaningful chances in normal time, the Cherries found themselves with one last opportunity to strike level with a free kick from 40 yards out with just 30 seconds to play. Marcus Tavernier whipped the ball in from the left wing, watching as new signing and main man, Evanilson, rose to head the ball past the so far unbeatable Emiliano Martinez. The score finished 1-1 as Bournemouth rescued yet more points on the road after staring down what looked like another defeat. Andoni Iraola’s side sit 11th in the table while Emery’s side hold onto their place in the top 4.

Brentford vs Ipswich Town

The next game of matchweek 9 was hosted in the capital with Brentford hosting Ipswich at the Gtech Stadium. Twenty-eight minutes into the tie, Ipswich shocked the Gtech when Sam Szmodics opened the scoring for the Tractor Boys. George Hirst played a brilliant ball into the path of the Irishman who was just outside the penalty area. Szmodics slid in and perfectly curled the ball into the far right corner, scoring his 2nd of the season. After making the 1st goal, Hirst then scored the 2nd for Ipswich, giving them a priceless 2 goal cushion just 3 minutes later. Conor Chaplin played a brilliant ball into the path of the young man who was left 1-on-1 with Bees keeper Mark Flekken. Hirst dinked the ball over the outcoming Flekken, watching it bobble over the line. One minute before the interval, Brentford found a much needed goal via the returning Yoanne Wissa. Vitaly Janelt played a smart ball through to Wissa where all he needed to do was pass the ball past Arijanet Muric between the sticks for Ipswich. After scoring Brentford’s 1st, Wissa could certainly take all the acclaim for Brentford’s all important 2nd in the first half stoppage time. Mikkel Damsgaard played a perfect ball through to Wissa where he was left 1-on-1 with Muric. His initial shot was halted by Muric but the unfortunate Harry Clarke could not stop himself from sliding in as his outstretched arm pushed the ball over the line. At half time the score stood at 2-2 with the hosts completing the comeback.

The Bees completed the turnaround in the 51st minute when they were awarded a penalty after Clarke wrestled down Keane Lewis-Potter inside the 18-yard box. Bryan Mbuemo stepped up and converted the penalty with confidence, smashing it into the top right and becoming the equal 2nd top scorer so far this season. Things then went from bad to worse for Clarke who had already scored an own goal, conceded a penalty and was now sent off for receiving a 2nd yellow card for another reckless challenge on Lewis-Potter. With just 4 minutes left to play, Ipswich striker Liam Delap thought he’d rescued a point for the Tractor Boys after tapping the ball in from close range from a Leif Davies cross. It was a brilliant finish as Delap scored his 5th of his first Premier League campaign. With just minutes to play in the game, Mbuemo scored to complete his brace. An attempted cross from the Cameroonian was not dealt with by keeper Muric or any Ipswich defenders. Muric left it too late to react as the ball bounced under him and into the back of the net. Delap almost capped off what would have been the game of the season when his sumptuous strike from outside the penalty area, with just seconds to play, rattled against the woodwork in what could have been the goal of the season. It was an end to end exciting game, exactly what the Premier League is all about. Brentford came out victorious 4-3 which took them into 9th on the table. Ipswich dropped all their possible points and sit inside the relegation zone, still without a win.

Brighton vs Wolves

The following game of the weekend saw Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton host Gary O’Neil’s Wolves at the Amex Stadium. Brighton got off to an electric start and they would have found an early lead on a couple of occasions if not for some brilliant saves by Jose Sa in the Wolves goal. Sa was the unfortunate reason for the 1st goal of the game after his goal kick was intercepted by Ferdi Kagioglu inside Wolves’ half. The Turk played the ball into the path of Georginio Rutter who was then able to spot Danny Welbeck in the penalty area. Welbeck took the ball in his stride before finding the bottom left corner to give the Seagulls the lead before the interval.

After a goalless first 40 minutes in the second period, Brighton thought they had sealed the 3 points, thanks to a stellar run by Tariq Lamptey. Lamptey took the ball all the way down the right wing before playing the ball into the path of fellow substitute, Evan Ferguson. The Irishman took a couple of touches to compose himself before drilling the ball into the far corner to make it 2-0. Wolves made sure it was an uncomfortable finish for the hosts when Rayan Ait-Nouri scored in the 88th minute to half the deficit for Wolves. It all got a little too scrapy in the Brighton 6-yard box after a Pablo Sarabia corner before Ait-Nouri inevitably volleyed the ball into the back of Bart Verbruggen’s net. In the 3rd minute of stoppage time there was a huge change of events. Brighton won the ball back inside the Wolves’ half, leaving them with a 4v1 counter attack. Tommy Doyle, the last man back for Wolves, defended brilliantly, intercepting the pass from Mats Wieffer, which surely would have resulted in a goal for the hosts, before playing a perfect long ball across to Matheus Cunha. No one came to shut down Cunha and the Brazilian ate up the turf before firing a shot at the Seagull’s goal. His effort took a huge deflection off the ankle of Jan Paul van Hecke before smashing the upright and finding its way over the line. The score finished 2-2 after Cunha’s potentially season defining goal for the travelling side. O’Neil’s side still sit in the relegation zone on 2 points, but with the spirit his team showed against Brighton surely means they will start to pick up some more points. Hurzeler will be furious his side dropped 2 points from such a convincing position as Brighton sit 6th in the table.

Manchester City vs Southampton

The next game of matchweek 9 saw Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions, Manchester City, take on Russell Martin’s newly promoted Southampton. From the start it always looked like Southampton were going to sit back at the Etihad Stadium with Martin opting to play 5 at the back. Unfortunately for the Saint’s, their plan all went down the drain after Erling Haaland ended a 3 game goal drought when he put the ball into the back of the net, making it 11 for the Premier League season. Matues Nunes’ cross from the left wing was into a dangerous area and Haaland managed to get goal side of Taylor Harwood-Bellis before poking the ball over keeper Aaron Ramsdale. The Saints managed to reset and shut out Man City for the rest of the half and were playing positively. The travelling side even managed to hit the bar with the last kick of the half, proving that this game was not finished just yet. The score remained 1-0 at the interval. The second half was even more entertaining with City dominating the first 25 minutes, trying to find their all important 2nd goal before Southampton dominated the final 20, attempting to score the goal that could salvage them a point. As the full time whistle was blown, the score stayed at 1-0 with City defending professionally to keep the Saints out. Pep’s side moved into 1st on the table while Southampton dropped to last place after Wolves picked up a point versus Brighton. Saints fans will be somewhat positive after a solid performance at the Etihad but know they will have to pick up 3 points against Everton next week.

Everton vs Fulham

The final game played on Saturday night saw Sean Dyche’s Everton host Marco Silva’s Fulham at Goodison Park. The Toffees thought they had snatched the lead right on the half hour mark after Dominic Calvert-Lewin tapped the ball into an uncontested net from an Idrissa Gueye shot which rattled off the upright. Unfortunately for the hosts, Calvert-Lewin was in an offside position. At half time, the score remained 0-0 with both sides sharing equal opportunities to find an opener. 

Fulham finally found the lead in the 61st minute thanks to a brilliant driving run from Emile Smith Rowe. The ex Gunner found former Arsenal teammate, Alex Iwobi, outside the penalty area where Iwobi slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to score against his most recent former employer. After constantly putting Fulham’s defence under immense pressure, Everton finally found a thoroughly deserved goal in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, meaning 4 from the 5 games played on Saturday were decided by a last minute leveller/winner. Iliman Ndiaye crossed the ball in from the left wing where Ashley Young volleyed it across the 6-yard area from the back post. Ready to poach was substitute Beto who headed the ball home to salvage a point for the Toffees. The game finished 1-1 with Everton turning their season around, now unbeaten in 5 games in a row. Everton sit 16th on the table while Fulham sit 10th.

Chelsea vs Newcastle

The first game played on Sunday afternoon saw Chelsea host Newcastle at Stamford Bridge. The Blues thought they’d found the lead after just minutes when Cole Palmer slotted the ball into the back of the net and past Nick Pope but unfortunately for the hosts, the goal was chalked off as Palmer was offside when Nicholas Jackson threaded the ball through to him. Finally in the 18th minute, Chelsea found their goal that stood with Palmer in the thick of it again. The English player of the year played a quite ridiculous pass from inside his own half which left Pedro Neto and Jackson on their own against Nick Pope in goal. Neto squared it to Jackson who tapped the ball past Pope but it was all because of the superb vision and distribution of Palmer. Fast forward 14 minutes and it was Newcastle who managed to strike level. Lewis Hall’s dangerous cross from the left wing was bundled home by Alexander Isak who jumped to volley the ball past Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea net. The half finished 1-1 with the hosts unlucky not to be ahead. 

Just 60 seconds into the 2nd half, Cole Palmer restored Chelsea’s lead. He picked it up inside the Newcastle half from a Romeo Lavia interception before driving towards the 18-yard area. The Englishman was too hot to handle for the Newcastle players as he dribbled into the penalty area before drilling the ball at the far corner and watching it creep in. Pope would have felt devastated as he should have prevented the ball from going in at his near corner. Newcastle then went on to miss a huge chance to strike level late on. A brilliant ball from Fabian Schar, from almost in his own penalty area, saw Isak run onto it and outmuscle Wesley Fofana. This left him 1-on-1 with Sanchez but from a very tight angle. The Swede should have played the ball across the 6-yard area to teammate Joelinton who had an easy tap in but he chose to dribble around Sanchez, giving Moises Caicedo time to track back and make the interception. There was a penalty overturned for Chelsea in stoppage time but it didn’t matter in the end with the Blues coming out victorious, 2-1 winners. Chelsea move into 5th in the league while Newcastle drop into the bottom half of the table (12th).

Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur

The following game of matchweek 9 saw a winless Crystal Palace take on Ange Postecoglou’s exciting Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park. Tottenham let Palace have multiple chances early on and were fairly punished on the half hour mark when Jean Phillipe-Mateta scored his 3rd of the season. Daniel Munoz whipped in a cross from the right wing which saw Eberechi Eze control the ball down beautifully for Mateta with a rabona touch. Mateta then composed himself before thrashing it past Guglielmo Vicario in the Tottenham net. The half finished 1-0 but Tottenham were slowly getting back into the game, hitting the post and forcing a huge save from Dean Henderson after a James Maddison shot.

Eze thought he’d made it 2-0 when he scored inside 2 minutes in the 2nd half. Unfortunately for Palace, the goal was chalked off when Eze received the ball before smashing it under the palms of Vicario, he was in an offside position. Palace actually dominated the rest of the half, forcing more important saves from the Italian Vicario. As the full time whistle was blown, Oliver Glasner will have been disappointed his side could not find the back of the net for a 2nd or 3rd time but will still be satisfied with the huge 3 points his team just picked up. Palace sit 17th on the table with 6 points. After beating West Ham at home 4-1 last week, this result just proves how inconsistent Tottenham have been under Ange this season. Spurs sit 8th in the league with 13 points.

West Ham United vs Manchester United

The next game of the matchweek was huge for both sides’ managers, with Julen Lopetegui (West Ham) and Erik ten Hag’s (Manchester United) jobs on the line if either one of them failed to win. Fans were even titling it the ‘El Sackio’. Manchester United were all over West ham in the first half at the London Stadium, with Diogo Dalot missing an open goal and Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes also fluffing huge chances. The first half finished 0-0 but West Ham left thanking their lucky stars that they had not conceded.

In the second period, the Hammers made some changes that were paying off, with new signing Crysencio Summerville the most impactful. Finally, after 73 goalless minutes of football, West Ham broke the deadlock. After all of Manchester United’s first half domination, it was the hosts that took the lead after a good run and cross into the penalty area from Jarrod Bowen. Danny Ings had a swing at Bowen’s cross but didn’t make a clean connection as the ball looked to be going wide. Summerville, who had made a late run at the back post, caught the United defence sleeping, and slid in to score his first goal in Claret and Blue. After all their earlier chances, it was only fair that United scored in this tie. Amad Diallo chipped a ball into the penalty area where Dalot headed it back across goal. Joshua Zrikzee then attempted to head the ball into the back of the West Ham net but it was too weak, proving the perfect pass for Casemiro to claim the goal instead. With just 4 minutes of normal time to play, West Ham had a quite obscure penalty claim after Danny Ings was tripped in the penalty area by Matthjis de Ligt. At first glance, referee David Coote did not give the spot kick, but after a recommended VAR check, Coote controversially pointed to the spot. Skipper Bowen stepped up to take the penalty and dispatched it professionally, drilling the ball into the far right corner and making for an unstoppable shot for United keeper Andre Onana. West Ham saw out the match 2-1 for back to back home wins under Lopetegui, taking them into 13th on the table. Manchester United sit 1 place lower (14) and it looks like Ten Hag’s time at Manchester is finally up.

Note: Erik ten Hag was sacked by Manchester United on Monday morning, less than 24 hours after the result at the London Stadium.

Arsenal vs Liverpool

The finale game of matchweek 9 was definitely the most anticipated fixture of the week, with Arne Slot’s league leaders Liverpool travelling up to the Emirates Stadium to play Mikel Arteta’s title contending Arsenal. There were doubts about Arsenal’s star man, Bukayo Saka, starting the game, given a recent injury, and Arsenal fans would have been delighted seeing his name on the team sheet. After just 9 minutes, it was Arsenal who scored the opener through their starboy Saka. Ben White played a brilliant lobbed pass down the right wing for Saka to run onto. When inside the penalty area, the Englishman cut the bouncing back back through Liverpool defender Andy Robertson’s legs before thrashing the ball past travelling keeper Caoimhin Kelleher. It was a brilliant start to the game for an Arsenal side full of important players injured but less than 10 minutes later, Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk scored to level the game. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner delivery was on the money, with Luis Diaz flicking the ball over to the back post for Van Dijk to head past David Raya in the Arsenal net. Just minutes before halftime and Arsenal managed to restore their lead through yet another set piece. Declan Rice whipped in a free kick from the right wing where new signing Mikel Merino headed the ball past Kelleher with a bullet of a goal. At half time the score stood at 2-1 with Arsenal hoping to hold out for a huge win.

After dominating the 2nd half and even hitting the post through Diaz, it was fair to say the Reds deserved their 2nd goal in the 81st minute. Trent released Darwin Nunez into the right side of the Gunners penalty area with a perfect lobbed ball from inside his own half. The Uruguayan no.9 controlled it before squaring the ball to Mohamed Salah on the penalty spot. Salah made no mistake with his finish, rolling the ball down the side netting and making it 8 seasons in a row in which he had found the back of the net against the Gunners. Arsenal did find the back of the net in the 90th minute after Kai Havertz hit the post but Gabriel Jesus managed to tap in the rebound. Unfortunately for the hosts, the goal was chalked off as referee Anthony Taylor had blown his whistle way before the ball went over the line for a weak foul in the build up. The full time result finished 2-2 with Liverpool dropping to 2nd in the league, failing to beat a weakened Arsenal side. The Gunners will be satisfied with a point, given their star players such as Martin Odegaard and William Saliba were missing due to injury and suspension. It only gets worse for Arsenal though as their other centre half, Gabriel, was subbed off at half time due to injury and looks unlikely to start vs Newcastle next week, meaning they will be missing their defensive pairing of Saliba and Gabriel. Arsenal sit 3rd on the table.

Written by Ollie Wade