Kickoff chronicles

Leicester City vs Chelsea

After a weekend of international football, it was finally time for the world’s most watched domestic league to resume and what a brilliant match to kick the Premier League back off in Matchweek 12. The opening game on Saturday morning saw Steve Cooper’s Leicester City take on Enzo Maresca’s (Ex-Foxes manager) Chelsea at the King Power Stadium. The travelling side made a far superior start to the fixture and deservedly found the lead inside a quarter of an hour. Benoit Badiashile cleared the ball from inside his own half where the persistent Nicholas Jackson pressed down Foxes’ defender Wout Faes. After causing Faes to clear the ball into Enzo Fernandez, the Argentine played the ball back to Jackson who cheekily dinked the ball over the leg of Caleb Okoli before poking the ball professionally into the far corner. Chelsea thought they had doubled their lead in the 32nd minute when Noni Madueke passed the ball into the bottom right corner after receiving the ball from Marc Cucurella inside the 6-yard area but the Spanish fullback was in an offside position. Despite one good Leicester chance in the closing minutes of the half, Chelsea were completely dominating the match and it was hard to see the hosts making a comeback.

The travelling side should have doubled their lead in the 54th minute after Joao Felix’s saved shot from inside the area fell perfectly to Cole Palmer who was left with an unguarded net to aim at. Palmer’s effort from a yard out was on target but his own teammate, Madueke, accidently blocked his shot from crossing the line. Chelsea finally sealed all 3 points in the 75th minute when Cucurella crossed the ball into the 6-yard box from the left wing. Senegalese striker, Jackson, then saw his headed effort on target saved by Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen but the follow up was nodded home by skipper Enzo Fernandez. After Chelsea took their foot off the accelerator later on in the game, the Foxes finally started to cause some problems. They won a penalty in the last kick of the game after Bobby De Cordova-Reid was brought down in the 18-yard box by Romeo Lavia. Jordan Ayew scored the spot kick, dispatching it into the bottom left corner, but it was only a consolation for the hosts as Chelsea came out 1-2 victors. Steve Cooper’s side dropped to 16th in the table on 10 points while Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea stayed 3rd on 22.

Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest

The 2nd game of Matchweek 12 saw two teams, neck and neck, in 4th and 5th play off at the Emirates Stadium with Mikel Arteta’s underperforming Arsenal hosting Nuno Espirito’s high flying Nottingham Forest. The Gunners thought they had opened the scoring inside 5 minutes when Jurrien Timber slid in to poke the ball over the Forest line but as he wheeled away in celebration, he was met with the assistants raised flag. Arsenal then took the advantage in truly spectacular fashion with their 2 key attacking players, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, linking up to score. Saka cut in from the right wing before playing a 1-2 with Odegaard, seeing him dribble with the ball wonderfully across the Forest penalty area before thrashing the ball into the top right corner. The hosts dominated the rest of the half and were unlucky not to go into the interval with a 2 goal advantage.

The Gunners soon found their 2 goal cushion only 8 minutes into the 2nd period. Saka played the ball back out of the penalty area and into the path of Thomas Partey who was no stranger to the spectacular. The Ghanaian took a touch before curling the ball perfectly into the far bottom corner. After a very dominant Arsenal performance, they wrapped the tie up in style when 17-year old Ethan Nwaneri scored his first Premier League goal for the club. After Raheem Sterling made a dangerous run into the Forest penalty area, the Chelsea loanee cut the ball back for Nwaneri to poke the ball past Matz Sels and into the bottom right corner. In the last minute of the game, Jota Silva thought he had scored a late consolation but he was offside when the pass from Chris Wood was played through. Mikel Arteta’s side held out for a strong 3-0 win against a potential European candidate as they brought themselves back to within 1 point of Manchester City. Forest lost their 2nd game in a row and 3rd of the season as Nuno’s side dropped to 7th in the league.

Bournemouth vs Brighton

The following tie of Matchweek 12 then saw Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth host Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton Hove and Albion at the Vitality Stadium, both relatively fresh off the back of wins against title holders, Manchester City. The Seagulls got off to a brilliant start inside 4 minutes when Brighton’s 3 frontmen, Joao Pedro, Danny Welbeck, and Georginio Rutter combined to score a wonderful goal. After a string of passes between the 3, Rutter cracked a shot from outside the penalty area which was saved by Cherries stopper Kepa. Unfortunately for the Spaidnard, Pedro had anticipated the save and followed up the shot, tapping the rebound into an empty net. The early goal was a real wake up call for the hosts as they slowly started to get back into the tie. Bournemouth thought they’d levelled things up in the 42nd minute when Evanilson dribbled the ball into an uncontested net, but when Antonie Semenyo threaded the ball through to Justin Kluivert in the build up, Kluivert was in an offside position. At half time the score remained 0-1 with Bournemouth unlucky not to even the game.

Much like the first half, the Seagulls scored in the opening 4 minutes of the half when Pedro’s brilliant reverse through ball found the right boot of Karou Mitoma who exquisitely passed the ball into the bottom right corner. Pedro was showing how important he is for Brighton, directly contributing to 4 goals in the last 2 games. With things all going smoothly for the travelling side, things then turned sour when midfielder Carlos Baleba was shown a 2nd yellow card for a nasty challenge on Milos Kerkez, reducing Brighton down to 10. After defending heroically to keep a temporary clean sheet, the Cherries finally broke Brighton down in the 3rd minute of stoppage time to give their fans some hope. Enes Unal controlled the ball down inside the penalty area and laid it off to fellow substitute David Brooks. The Welshman took a heavy touch before toe poking the ball into the top left corner with still a couple of minutes to play. Putting the away side under immense pressure, the Cherries then came inches away from levelling with the last kick of the game after Semenyo had to watch his ridiculously insane volley from outside the area rattle the woodwork and fly over the bar. It was nail bitingly close to a grand finale as Brighton just managed to hold out for a solid 1-2 win against one of their Southern Coast rivals. Hurzeler’s side jumped to 5th in the table but are level on points with 3rd placed Chelsea. Bournemouth dropped to 13th in the league on 15 points.

Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace

The following game of Matchweek 12 saw Unai Emery’s Aston Villa host Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace in what looked an interesting tie at Villa Park. The Eagles secured a shock 1-0 lead inside 4 minutes when they hit Villa on the counter. A brilliant pass through the guts of the pitch from Marc Guehi found the feet of Jean-Philippe Mateta who immediately played through Ismalia Sarr. Punishing Villa for their high line of defence, Sarr was through on goal with just the goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, to prevent him. The Senegalese international held off the challenge from the Villa defenders before burying the ball into the bottom right corner. The hosts then equalised half an hour later due to poor defending from Palace. John McGinn was easily able to find Ollie Watkins outside the penalty area where the striker was given way too much time and space to dribble around Palace keeper Dean Henderson and slot the ball away to make it 1-1. The Villains were then gifted the perfect opportunity to take the lead just before the interval when referee Tim Robinson pointed to the spot after Will Hughes made a rash challenge on Leon Bailey inside the penalty area. Youri Tielemans stepped up to take the spot kick but his effort was brilliantly denied by English keeper Henderson, who dove to his right and kept the ball out with a strong left wrist. Minutes after Henderson had saved the penalty, Palace hit the hosts on the break yet again, this time through Sarr. Sarr ate up the Villa Park turf, running almost the whole length of the pitch before playing the ball across the penalty area. Mateta stretched out but couldn’t make any contact with the ball but the young Justin Devenny was unmarked behind him and free to curl the ball around Martinez and into the bottom right corner. At half time the score stood at 1-2 with Palace the surprise of the matchweek so far.

After a far more superior 2nd period, Villa equalised for the 2nd time in the afternoon after Ross Barkley brilliantly headed the ball into the top right corner from a Tielemens corner. It was a deserved goal for the hosts in the 77th minute. Moments later Palace were only inches away from restoring their lead again after Jeffrey Schlupp’s volley from inside the penalty area was superbly saved onto the woodwork by Martinez in goal. At the full time whistle, the game finished all square at 2-2 which seemed a fair result for both sides. Despite picking up a point at Villa Park, Palace dropped into 19th with only 8 points after a slow start to the season for Glasner’s side. Villa also dropped down to 8th in the league on 19 points, although Emery’s side are only 3 points away from the top 4.

Fulham vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

The next game of Matchweek 12 saw Marco Silva’s high-flying Fulham host Gary O’Neil’s underperforming Wolves at Craven Cottage. Moments after Raul Jimenez of Fulham hit the crossbar from point blank range, the hosts found a fully deserved opener in the 20th minute. Kenny Tete played the ball across the top of the penalty area to Alex Iwobi who immediately shaped his body to fire a shot at the Wolves keeper, Jose Sa. The Nigerian did so spectacularly, watching his curled effort spin effortlessly into the top left corner. Wolves then equalised 11 minutes later when Mathues Cunha added to his tally of wonder goals this season. The initial brilliant pass over the Fulham backline by Mario Lemina found the Brazilian but the rest of the move was all kudos to Cunha. He took the ball down with a very intricate first touch before lobbing Bernd Leno in goals for Fulham, levelling the game in spectacular fashion. At half time the score stood level at 1-1, a fair result so far given both side’s performance.

The travelling side took the lead for the first time in the evening just 8 minutes into the 2nd period when Cunha threaded the ball through to fellow Brazilian Joao Gomes. Gomes took a touch with his right before drilling the ball into the far corner with his left, making for an unreachable shot for Leno. After Fulham had hit the Wolves’ woodwork twice in a row, the Brazilian duo of Cunha and Gomes wrapped up all 3 points for the away side, once again with another worldie from Cunha. He received the ball from Gomes outside the penalty area before cracking a shot with his first touch of the ball, spinning away in celebration as his effort curled beautifully into the top right corner. Wolves then put the cherry on top of what was a much needed win when they found themselves with numbers on the counter attack in stoppage time. The ball carrier, Jorgan Strand Larsen, played the ball across to Goncalo Guedes who composed himself before rolling the ball into the opposite corner. Wolves held out for a convincing 1-4 win on the road, with Gary O’Neil’s side slowly starting to pick up points after a poor start to the season. Wolves jumped out of the bottom 3 and into 17th. Fulham missed out on the opportunity to move into the top 6 as they sit in 10th on 18 points.

Everton vs Brentford

The following fixture of Matchweek 12 saw Sean Dyche’s Everton host Thomas Frank’s Brentford at Goodison Park. Everton dominated the first half and would have found the lead on multiple occasions if not for missing the target and some brilliant saves from the Dutchman Mark Flekken in goals for the Bees. Just before the interval, Brentford went down to 10 men after Christian Norgaard was shown red after a horrid challenge on Everton keeper Jordan Pickford, sliding in to tap the ball past the Englishman but ending up colliding into him with his studs facing up. At halftime, the score remained 0-0 but Brentford left with an uphill task in the 2nd half having gone down 1 man.

In the 2nd period, Everton struggled to take the lead against a weakened Bees side and at the end of the 90 minutes it was Mark Flekken taking all the claims, keeping his first clean sheet of the season which was fully deserved after many stellar performances this season. Despite the Dutch goalkeeper stopping some shots, there was no hiding Everton’s inability to hit the target, failing to score 3 games in a row against bottom of the league Southampton, a poor West Ham side, and now a 10 man Brentford. Dyche’s side sit 15th on the table while Brentford sit in 11th.

Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur

The final game played on Saturday was the blockbuster of the Matchweek with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City (on a 4 game losing streak) hosting Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs (who contributed to one of those losses in the Carabao Cup) at the Etihad Stadium. After quite a dominant opening 10 minutes from Manchester City, it was Tottenham Hotspur who found a shocking lead in the 13th minute. Dejan Kulusevski’s cracking cross from the right wing was met by the first time volley from James Maddison who cushioned the ball past Ederson in the City net. Birthday boy Maddison then doubled up for the day when he made it 2 in 7 minutes. Maddison was yet again the orchestrator, punishing another poor error from Josko Gvardiol, intercepting his pass and playing the ball into his skipper, Son Heung-Min, who was outside the penalty area. Son then shaped to shoot before playing a lovely reverse pass to the left of him where Maddison had intelligently continued his run. The Englishman then took a touch before dinking the ball over Ederson brilliantly. At half time, it was a classic example of smash and grab x2, with City undeservedly down by 2 at the interval but it was all due to Ange and his brilliant tactics.

Just 7 minutes into the 2nd period, Tottenham fans were sent into yet another state of disbelief when their side made it 0-3 against the reigning champions. The Swede, Kulusevski, played a brilliant ball across the City penalty area where Dominic Solanke controlled it on the goal line. Solanke then cut the ball back to ex-City player, Pedro Porro, who fired the ball into the top left corner of his former club’s goal, with Spurs well and truly dismantling Pep’s side. City dominated the next half an hour of play but it was unfortunately not their day, with Erling Haaland failing to hit the target consistently and only troubling Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario on a few occasions. However, Vicario was forced into some major saves by the rest of the City attack and credit was also due to the two centre halves for the away side, Ben Davies (who hadn’t played many minutes this season and was also playing out of position as a natural left back), and Radu Dragusin (who had received a lot of stick from his own fans after poor performances). Normal centre back pairing, Micky van de Ven and Christian Romero, were both out injured, replaced by Dragusin and Davies. Spurs completed what was City’s heaviest defeat in the Guardiola era at City when the 2 subs, Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson, combined to score the 4th. Werner used his electric pace to out muscle and run past Kyle Walker before playing a teasing ball across the penalty area for Johnson to slide in and tap home. The full time score finished 0-4, with this arguably being Pep’s worst ever result as a manager and Postecoglou’s best. Tottenham jumped into 6th on the table after their best result of the season but fans are still crying out for some consistency with this result a perfect example of how topsy turvy their performances have been, losing to Ipswich Town 2 weeks ago. City lost their 5th in a row in all competitions as they stayed in 2nd, with Liverpool left with the opportunity to go 8 points clear and Chelsea, Arsenal, and Brighton all just 1 point shy of the Champions.

Southampton vs Liverpool

The first game on Sunday afternoon saw Russell Martin’s 20th placed Southampton host Arne Slot’s 1st place Liverpool at St. Mary’s Stadium. Southampton went down 0-1 early yet again in the Premier League having not learnt from their multiple mistakes, giving the ball away attempting to play out from the back. After a few scrappy passes by the Saints players, Flynn Downes tried to clear the ball from the goal line of his own area. His clearance was weak and it fell kindly to Dominik Szoboszlai who took a touch before beautifully curling the ball into the top left of Alex McCarthy’s goal. Tyler Dibbling, arguably Southampton’s brightest prospect and talent, then scraped the Saints back into the game when he won a penalty after being brought down by Andy Robertson on the edge of the area. Adam Armstrong’s initial effort from the 12-yard spot was kept out by Caoimhín Kelleher but the Irish shot stopper was unable to stop Armstrong’s 2nd effort from flying underneath him. At half time the score stood all square at 1 a piece, with Southampton hoping to cause one of the upsets of the season.

The Saint’s then found themselves in a very promising 2-1 position just 11 minutes into the 2nd period when Dibbling played a perfect ball into the feet of Armstrong. After already scoring his goal for the afternoon, the veteran held the ball up before playing in Matues Fernandes who passed the ball into the bottom left corner. Only 9 minutes later, Liverpool levelled it up at 2-2 through their Egyptian king, Mohamed Salah. It was a very smart goal, with Ryan Gravenberch playing a lofted ball over the Saints defence where Salah just stuck out a leg, with McCarthy left to watch the ball roll over the line after he had made the risky decision to come and claim the lobbed pass. Liverpool then completed their own comeback in the 82nd minute after referee Samuel Barrott awarded his 2nd penalty of the afternoon, this time to the travelling side after defender Yukinari Sugawara unintentionally handballed Salah’s cross which was travelling into the path of Robertson at the back post. Salah dispatched the penalty perfectly, smashing the ball into the top left corner and all but winning the game for the Reds. Slot’s slide held out for a nervy 2-3 win away from home which saw them go 8 points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table. Southampton stayed in 20th with a measly 4 points but there were some positives to take away after they gave 1st place a real run for their money.

Ipswich Town vs Manchester United

The final game played on Sunday in Matchweek 12 saw Scott McKenna’s Ipswich Town, fresh off the back of their first win in the Premier League in over 20+ years, host Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United at Portman Road, Amorim the permanent replacement of Erik ten Hag (Who is Ruben Amorim?). Within 90 seconds, United had found the lead and it was all due to Amorim’s formation and set up. Amad Diallo, now playing as a left wing back, played a 1-2 with Bruno Fernandes before sprinting down the left flank. Diallo then crossed the ball into the penalty area, watching as Amorim’s chosen striker, Marcus Rashford, beat Ipswich keeper Arijanet Muric to the ball to tap it into the back of the net. Despite finding an early lead, Manchester United took their foot of the pedal as the Tractor Boys started to get back into the game. After a few brilliant saves from Andre Onana in between the sticks for Manchester United, the hosts struck level in spectacular fashion. Arguably their 2 most dangerous players so far, Wes Burns and Omari Hutchinson, combined with Burns finding the feet of Hutchinson who had space to operate outside the United penalty area. The Chelsea loanee then fired a shot, aided by a deflection off United full back, Noussair Mazraoui, but watching as it curled perfectly into the top left corner. At  half time the score stood at 1-1 with Ipswich the better team in the opening 45 minutes.

It was fair to say in the 2nd period, the Tractor Boys shocked the Manchester United players as they came at them yet again. They should have scored on multiple occasions throughout the next 45 minutes but United shot stopper Onana was having one of the games of his career. At full time, the score finished 1-1 with Amorim failing to claim all 3 points on his Premier League managerial debut. Manchester United still sit in the drab position of 12th after yet another poor showing. Ipswich will be disappointed they couldn’t find their 2nd and all important goal as they draw their 6th match of the season after 12 games. McKenna’s side sit 18th in the table with 9 points.

Newcastle United vs West Ham United

The closing fixture of Matchweek 12 saw Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United host Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham United on a fresh Monday night at St. James Park. Newcastle got off to a really positive start inside the opening exchanges of the game and their main man, Alexander Isak, put the ball into the back of the net just 5 minutes in, only for the assistant referee to rule the goal out for offside. Only 5 minutes later, West Ham took a shock lead against the run of play. Emerson’s outswinging corner delivery found the head of Tomas Soucek, West Ham’s biggest player, where the Czechia international’s header found the bottom right corner perfectly. It was Newcastle’s first corner conceded all season and, surprisingly, it was West Ham’s first corner scored. After their goal, West Ham started to get back into the game, but veteran 39-year-old keeper Lukasz Fabianski was forced into making some big saves to keep the Magpies at bay. The Hammers went into the interval with a surprising 0-1 lead with Eddie Howe left fuming his side could not convert any of their multiple shots on the West Ham goal.

Lopetegui’s side then doubled their advantage only 8 minutes into the 2nd period, coming totally against the run of play again. Lucas Paqueta won the ball back in the middle of the pitch before spreading the ball wide to skipper Jarrod Bowen. Bowen took the ball with him down the line before threading it into the penalty area where the overlapping Aaron Wan-Bissaka had crossed in. Wan-Bissaka, or Spiderman as West Ham fans refer to him, controlled the ball before dragging his shot into the far left corner. It was a perfect time for him to score his first goal in Claret and Blue as West Ham were now leading 0-2. Newcastle fans tried to fire up their side to hopefully charge a late comeback but for the first time this season, Lopetegui’s players showed professional game management and were able to see out the rest of the 90 comfortably. The full time score finished 0-2 with West Ham picking up a huge 3 points on the road as they look to turn their season around. It was by far their best result of the season, coming at a good time as they look towards Arsenal next week. For Eddie Howe’s men, it was quite a poor performance as they failed to test Fabianski in the West Ham net in the 2nd half. Newcastle sit 10th in the table while West Ham stay 14th.

Written by Ollie Wade