Kickoff chronicles

Brentford vs Bournemouth

The opening tie of matchweek 11 saw Thomas Frank’s Brentford host Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth at the Gtech Stadium. Brentford had just come off the back of a terrible loss to Fulham Monday night, conceding 2 goals in stoppage time to lose 1-2. Bournemouth had achieved their biggest result of the season, beating Manchester City 2-1 at home. Bournemouth were gifted a shock start to the game when Evanilson scored his 4th Premier League goal of the season. Sepp van den Berg played a woeful and weak pass back to his keeper Mark Flekken which saw Evanilson get on the end of the loose pass. He then rounded Flekken before passing the ball into an empty net. The Bees then equalised just 10 minutes later through their signature long throw in. Mathias Jensen’s catapult of a throw was pinballed around in the penalty area before Yoanne Wissa jumped up to head Brentford level. At half time, the score stood at 1-1 with the game up for grabs.

The Cherries made the perfect start to the 2nd half when they flexed their set piece muscle just like the Bees earlier on. After a brilliant series of passes from a corner around the Brentford penalty area, Justin Kluviert played a neat 1-2 with Lewis Cook before he smashed the ball past Flekken’s near post to restore their lead. Just 60 seconds later, Brentford equalised when Byran Mbuemo’s pass found Mikkel Damsgaard on the goal line of the Cherries’ penalty area. Damsgaard then fired a shot and shockingly beat Bournemouth keeper, Kepa, right at his near post. Eight minutes later, the hosts led for the first time in the afternoon. Vitaly Janelt picked up the ball in the middle of the park before playing the perfect ball into the feet of Wissa. The Brentford star man took the ball in his stride before dinking the ball over the outcoming Kepa and making it 3-2. The Cherries came so close to equalising with the last kick of the game when Dean Huijsen saw his header rattle the crossbar before Antonie Semenyo’s effort was heroically blocked by Wissa. When referee Darren Bond blew his full time whistle, Brentford saw the game out to pick up a huge 3 points against a strong Bournemouth side. The Bees sit 11th in the table on 16 points while Bournemouth sit 12th on 15.

Crystal Palace vs Fulham

The following game of matchweek 11 was the first London derby of the weekend, with Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace hosting Marco Silva’s Fulham at Selhurst Park. The Cottagers were definitely the most dominant out of the two sides in the opening 45 minutes and found a deserved opener in stoppage time in the first half. Emile Smith Rowe dispossessed Palace centre half, Maxence Lacroix, which saw the ball fall into the path of Raul Jimenez. The Mexican no.9 then played the ball back towards Smith Rowe who placed the ball into the bottom right corner.  At half time the score was 0-1 with Glasner needing a huge 2nd half performance from his players if they were to pick up any result against Fulham.

Smith Rowe thought he’d doubled his advantage in the 52nd minute when he slid in to tap Alex Iwobi’s ball past Dean Hendrson but VAR soon overruled his goal. Fulham were threatening to double their advantage against Palace for the majority of the 2nd period and Dachi Kamada only made matters worse for his side when he was shown a straight red card for a reckless and dangerous tackle on Kenny Tete. After his heroics against Brentford last week, Harry Wilson was yet again the man for Fulham to win all 3 points. Iwobi was heavily involved, playing a brilliant ball into the path of Wilson who took a touch before drilling the ball under Henderson in the Palace net. Wilson then thought he’d made it 0-3 after a nice finish from inside the penalty area but it was chalked off as he had controlled the ball down with his arm. At full time, Fulham came out 0-2 victors, taking them into 7th in the table. After other teams around the bottom 5 in the league picked up points, Palace dropped into 18th after their terrible start to the season.

West Ham vs Everton

The next game of the matchweek saw Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham host Sean Dyche’s Everton at the London Stadium. Despite not dominating much of the ball, Everton were creating more chances, coming so close to scoring through Abdoulaye Doucoure in the 8th minute if not for a brilliant sliding challenge by the shortest man on the pitch, Crysencio Summerville. West Ham did fire up in the dying minutes of the first half but at the interval, the score remained 0-0.

West Ham were ultimately better in the 2nd period with Summerville hitting the post in the 75th minute before Danny Ings drew a solid save out of Jordan Pickford in the 87th minute. After quite a boring game in the capital, Ings had come on and was really firing up the Hammers having already registered a couple of shots on target. Then, with probably the last chance of the game, Ings found himself with space inside the Everton penalty area after Lucas Paqueta played him in. Ings let the ball bounce before cracking a shot, watching it take a huge deflection before Pickford tipped the ball over the bar brilliantly, arguably the save of the season so far. The game finished goalless in London, with both sides missing out on a huge opportunity to snatch an ugly 3 points in what looks like a relegation fighting season for Lopetegui and Dyche. West Ham remain 14th in the table on 12 points while Everton stay 16th on 10 points.

Wolves vs Southampton

The following game of matchweek 11 was huge in terms of relegation with Gary O’Neil’s rock bottom Wolves hosting Russell Martin’s newly promoted Southampton at the Molineux Stadium. The hosts got off to an electric start when they found the opener inside 2 minutes. After a driving run by Matheus Cunha into the Saint’s penalty area, the Brazilian then played a wonderful through ball into Pablo Sarabia inside the 18-yard box.The Spainard then took the ball around outcoming Aaron Ramsdale in goals before tapping the ball into an uncontested net. Southampton weren’t playing poorly as they went on to find the back of the net 10 minutes later although it was later disallowed. Ryan Manning drilled the ball into the top right corner but it was chalked off as Mateus Fernades had fouled Wolves defender Nelson Semedo, giving Manning more time to get his shot away. At half time, the score stood at 1-0 with Wolves hoping to hold on for their first win of the season.

Five minutes into the 2nd period, Wolves took the next step into hopefully securing all 3 points after their best player, Cunha, conjured up quite a sumptuous strike. Mario Lemina played the ball into the path of the Brazilian where he took a couple of touches before beautifully wrapping the inside of his boot around the ball, watching as it rolled perfectly down the side netting. At 2-0, Southampton never really looked like they had a route back into the game as the score finished 2-0. Southampton switched back around with Wolves, the Saints sitting in 20th with 4 points while O’Neil’s side sat 19th with 6. It is looking positive for O’Neil’s side though as they have a much easier run of games coming up. For Southampton, they fail to score yet again, with Martin’s side scoring a measly 7 goals this season.

Brighton vs Manchester City

The next game of the matchweek was a greatly anticipated fixture down the South Coast, with Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton hosting Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at the Amex Stadium. After a convincing start, the champions found the lead in the 23rd minute after Mr inevitable, Erling Haaland, popped up with his 12th goal of the season. Mateo Kovacic played a brilliant pass into the feet of Haaland where the Norwegian held off the challenge from Jan Paul van Hecke. Haaland’s initial shot was blocked by the underside of keeper Bart Verbruggen’s arm but the Golden Boot winner was quick to bundle home the seconds and give City the lead. The Citizens certainly dominated the rest of the half and were unfortunate not to have a 2 or even 3 goal lead at the break. Hurzeler would have been satisfied his players defended well enough to keep the game at 0-1 but knew they needed to play much better in the next 45 minutes if they were to get a result.

Brighton came at City with a real purpose in the next period and forced Brazilian shot stopper, Ederson, into some great saves to keep them at bay. After missing an amount of really well worked chances in the 2nd half, it was a very scrapy goal that saw the Seagulls tie the game in the 77th minute. Kaoru Mitoma crossed in a ball from the left which saw City forced to make a number of blocks to keep out Brighton strikers, Joao Pedro and Danny Welbeck. Eventually, after the City defender struggled to clear the ball with any conviction, the returning Pedro (from injury) poked the ball in to tie the game. Just 6 minutes later, Brighton completed their turnaround when another player returning from injury scored. Welbeck received the ball outside the penalty from Carlos Baleba where he quickly played the ball to Pedro. The Brazilian then sliced open the City defence with a wonderful through ball which saw new signing, Matt O’Riley, place the ball into the bottom right corner to all but seal the win for Brighton. City did have a huge chance to equalise in the 6th minute of stoppage time through their goal scoring centre half, Josko Gvardiol, but the Croatian put the header just wide. Brighton held out for a huge 3 points, not just for themselves but for Liverpool as well who played a couple hours later. Hurzeler’s side sit 6th in the league on 19 points while Pep’s team lose their 4th game on the bounce and stay in 2nd.

Liverpool vs Aston Villa

The final game played on Saturday night saw Arne Slot’s high flying Liverpool host Unai Emery’s Aston Villa at the famous Anfield. The Reds found the lead inside 20 minutes when they hit Villa on the counter attack after their own corner. Virgil van Dijk cleared the ball out to Mohamed Salah who was left with just Leon Bailey to halt him and teammate Darwin Nunez to his left. Salah opted to go alone but was tugged down by Bailey, surely resulting in a red card if not for Nunez who picked up the ball, took it around Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez, before smashing the ball into an empty net. Villa had two huge chances to level the game just before half time and came so close, with the brilliant Caoimhin Kelleher denying Amadou Onana and Diego Carlos with two brilliant saves. At half time the score stood at 1-0 but Aston Villa was far from out of the game yet.

After an even 2nd period, Liverpool sealed the 3 points in the 84th minute when they hit the Villians on the break yet again. Dominik Szoboszlai cleared the ball out of the Liverpool area from a Villa throw in which saw Salah pick the ball up inside his own half before eating up the turf and motoring into the Villa penalty area. The Egyptian did have options in the penalty area but chose to go alone, lifting the ball over keeper Martinez to win the game for the Reds 2-0. Liverpool go 5 points clear of Manchester City, with Slot only losing 1 game from 17 in all competitions so far for Liverpool. Villa are in a poor run of form at the moment as they sit 9th on 18 points. Emery will hope they can beat Crystal Palace at home next week to keep their European ambitions alive.

Manchester United vs Leicester City

The first game played on Sunday in Matchweek 11 saw Manchester United host Leicester City at Old Trafford in what was Ruud van Nistelrooy’s last game as United manager before Ruben Amorim takes charge. United started Van Nistelrooy’s farewell in spectacular fashion when their skipper Bruno Fernandes scored a signature worldie. Fernandes played the ball to Amad Diallo down the left wing who then returned the ball to him with a sharp back heel. The Portuguese international then shaped to shoot, watching as his effort curled perfectly into the far bottom corner. United then doubled their advantage just 20 minutes later, with Fernandes in the thick of it again. Noussair Mazraoui whipped in a cross from the left wing which was met by a diving header from the captain. The goal did go down as an own goal as the ball quite clearly deflected off the thigh of Foxes’ defender, Victor Kristiansen. At half time the score was 2-0 in favour of the Red Devils, with Ruud’s side threatening to run away with the fixture.

After missing an earlier chance from the same position, Alejandro Garnacho found the back of the net in spectacular fashion, easily the best of the bunch in the 82nd minute. Fernandes was yet again heavily involved, making a brilliant run through the middle of the pitch before playing the ball over to Garnacho who was just outside the penalty area. The young Argentinian wonder kid set himself up before perfectly curling the ball into the top right corner. At full time, the game finished 3-0 with United sending off Van Nistelrooy and making way for Amorim in the perfect way. United sit 13th in the league on 15 points while Leicester stay in 15th on 10 points.

Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle

The following game played on Sunday afternoon saw Nuno Espirito’s 3rd placed Nottingham Forest host Eddie Howe’s underperforming Newcastle at the City Ground. After such a positive last few months for Forest, it continued to get even better for them in the 22nd minute when Murillo, who had never scored a senior goal in his career, nodded home Anthony Elanga’s free kick to give the hosts the advantage. Newcastle weren’t playing badly in the first 45 minutes, they just lacked any conviction in the final 3rd which resulted in the first half finishing 1-0 with Forest leading.

Nine minutes into the 2nd period, the Magpies tied the game when Anthony Gordon saw his corner bobble around the penalty area before Alexander Isak smashed the ball into the bottom right corner. Eighteen minutes later, Newcastle completed the turnaround when Joelinton scored one of the goals of his career. Isak demonstrated his brilliant hold up play in the middle of the park before spreading the ball wide to the Brazilian. Joelinton then drove into the area, composed himself and curled the ball perfectly into the far left of Matz Sels goal. Only 8 minutes after the Magpies found the lead, they sealed the 3 points through substitute Harvey Barnes. Sandro Tonali received the ball outside the Forest penalty area where he immediately played in Barnes. The Englishman dribbled with the ball before chopping back and squeezing the ball impossibly into the near bottom corner, with Sels left with egg on his face. The full time score was 1-3 with Newcastle taking home a surprising 3 points. Eddie Howe’s side jumped to 8th in the league with a solid win on the road. Nuno’s team dropped into 5th, but equal on points with 3rd placed Chelsea and Arsenal, it is still a very positive start to the season for the Midlands side.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Ipswich Town

The third game played on Sunday afternoon starred Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham hosting Scott McKenna’s Ipswich at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Both teams got off to a good start with Spurs forward Brennan Johnson missing an open net and Ipswich/Aussie centre half, Cameroon Burgess, hitting the upright after a Leif Davis corner. The Tractor Boys finally broke the deadlock after 31 minutes when Sam Szmodics scored in acrobatic fashion. Jens Cajuste’s cross in from the right wing was flicked over to the back post by main man Liam Delap. Delap’s header sat up kindly for Szmodics who scored with a wonderful bicycle kick to register his 3rd goal of the season. Just 2 minutes before the interval, Ipswich doubled their advantage with Szmodics and Delap combining yet again. Szmodics’ cross from the left wing was diverted almost over the line by Spurs defender, Radu Dragusin, where Delap was quick to poach the goal over the line and claim it as his own. At half time the score stood at 0-2 to the Tractor Boys with Ange left staring down yet another embarrassing defeat.

Spurs came out for the 2nd half playing much better, with Dominic Solanke scoring off  Pedro Porro’s corner 3 minutes into the half. Unfortunately for Spurs, the goal was chalked off as Solanke volleyed the ball into his own wrist. Finally, the hosts scored their first goal of the afternoon in the 67th minute. Once again from a Porro corner, Rodrigo Bentancur brilliantly headed the ball into the top right corner in hope of a late Spurs comeback. Tottenham came so close to equalising in the 5th minute of stoppage time when Solanke saw his effort from close range brilliantly saved by Ipswich keeper Arijanet Muric. The score stood at 1-2 when the full time whistle was blown with McKenna and his side winning their first game in the top flight of English football in over 22 years. Ipswich shot out of the relegation zone into 17th place on 8 points. Spurs drop into 10th on 16 points with the home fans booing their players off the pitch, crying out for some consistency in performances.

Chelsea vs Arsenal

The final game of matchweek 11 on Sunday night, arguably the most anticipated of the weekend, saw Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea host Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea got off to a positive start with Cole Palmer having a 30 yard strike tipped over the bar by Gunners keeper David Raya. Malo Gusto then went on to miss an open goal with a header from the 6-yard box after the brilliance of Pedro Neto and his cross from the right wing. Arsenal then started to fire up after the 25 minute mark and should have scored when Gabriel Martinelli fluffed his lines inside the Chelsea 6-yard area. He drilled the ball straight at keeper Davison Sanchez when he could have easily placed it either side of the Blues shot stopper. The travelling side thought they had made the breakthrough just before the interval when Declan Rice’s quick free kick found Kai Havertz. The German’s tricky feet allowed him to dance though the Chelsea players and poke the ball past Sanchez but it was soon disallowed due to Havertz being offside. At half time the score remained 0-0 with the game up for taking.

It only took 15 minutes for the North London travelling side to find the opener in the 2nd period. To the relief of the Gunners fans, Martin Odegaard had finally recovered from injury and managed to chip in with an assist on his return. Odegaard’s cross from the right wing was intricately controlled down by Martinelli before the Brazilian stabbed the ball past Sanchez at his near post. Only 10 minutes after Martinelli’s opener, new Chelsea signing, Pedro Neto, netted his first Premier League goal for the club. The winger picked the ball up in the middle of the park from Enzo Fernandez where he only had one thing on his mind. The Portuguese international took a touch before drilling the ball into the bottom right corner, levelling for the hosts in spectacular fashion. With just seconds to play in extra time, Arsenal came inches away from taking all 3 points back to North London. William Saliba passed the ball perfectly across the 6 yard box where Leandro Trossard, who had just missed an open goal, arguably cost Arsenal the point again by putting the cross wide when he was best leaving the ball for Havertz who was unmarked with a good angle. When the full time whistle was blown, the score finished 1-1 with the points shared. Maresca’s side jumped into 3rd on the table with 19 points and Arteta’s Arsenal are only behind them by goal difference in 4th.

Written by Ollie Wade