Kickoff chronicles

The 25th week of the Premier League kicked off in West London with Brentford hosting Liverpool at the Gtech. It started with Liverpool dominating before Brentford having a turn with Ivan Toney scraping his shot wide of the post. Liverpool fans then had to watch Curtis Jones go off injured after he came out a challenge second best. Liverpool found the opener when Virgil Van Dijjk cleared the ball from the Red’s penalty area. They soon found themselves in a 2 vs 1 situation when Diogo Jota headed the clearance to Darwin Nunez who was 1 on 1 against Bees keeper Mark Flekken. Nunez took it beautifully and as he progressed into the box, he delicately chipped the ball over the Dutch shot stopper. Liverpool were then dealt with another injury blow, this time Diogo Jota was the man in pain after having Christian Norgaard fall onto the Portuguese international’s knee. The half ended 0-1 with Jurgen Klopp the happier manager. Liverpool kicked off the second half perfectly when Mo Salah threaded the ball into the box to Alexis Mac Allister. He took it gracefully and poked the ball into the corner to double their advantage. Liverpool Found a third in the 68th minute when Coady Gakpo flicked a header through to Salah. He proved too strong for Nathan Collins and thrashed it in. Brentford gave their supporters something to cheer about in the 75th minute when Sergio Reguilon’s effort was saved but Ivan Toney was there to lash it in. Liverpool eventually sealed the 3 points when Coady Gakpo received it outside the area from Luis Diaz and progressed forward. He then drilled it past Flekken and went over to celebrate with his away support. The Reds saw the result out with it all ending 1-4. This sees Klopp’s men go first on 57 points and Brentford stay in 14th.

The next game on Saturday saw Arsenal make the trip up to 19th placed Burnley. Arsenal found themselves up by 1 after just 5 minutes when Gabriel Martinelli cut it back to Martin Odegaard. He controlled it and volleyed it past Burnley keeper, James Trafford and into the bottom right corner. Arsenal found their second through a penalty this time when Leandro Trossard was taken down in the Burnley area. Bukayo Saka stepped up to take it and calmly slotted it into the bottom right corner. The half ended 0-2 with Burnley asking no questions of the Arsenal defence. It only took the Gunners 90 seconds in the second half to find their third when Saka cut into the Burnley area. He put it onto his lethal right foot and smashed it into the roof of the net. Trossard found himself in on the action when a cross into the box found its way to the Belgian. He hit it first time, curling it around Trafford and into the bottom left. Kai Hvertz then scored no.5 for Arsenal in the 78th minute when he dribbled down the left wing. He cut in and dribbled past a Burley defender before placing it in to make it 0-5. It finished at 5, taking Arsenal to 2nd in the table, 2 points ahead of Manchester City. Burley languish in 19th, waiting for Sheffield United to play.

The third game of the match week was staged at Craven Cottage with Fulham hosting Aston Villa. The  away side thought they had opened the scoring after just 90 seconds. Youri Tielemans slipped the ball through to Ollie Watkins who slotted it past Fulham Keeper Bernd Leno but he was soon found to be offside. Fulham did the same 20 minutes later when Tim Ream smashed in a ball from a set piece but was found to be in an illegal position. Then, in the 23rd minute, Villa found the opener when Jacob Ramsey pounced on a poor Fulham throw in. He passed it into Watkins who shrugged off his defender and placed the ball past Leno into the far corner to put the travelling side ahead. Just before halftime, Alex Moreno scored a third offside goal in this game, heading the ball in off a Villa corner but the flag was raised. 10 minutes into the second half, Villa doubled their advantage through a usual source of goals in Ollie Watkins. He was released into the Fulham area by Tielemans again and he made no mistake with his finish, drilling it past Leno. Fulham then gave the away side something to think about in the 63rd minute when inform striker, Rodrigo Muniz, tapped in a cross from right back Antonee Robinson. Aston Villa held on and saw out the win, but it could have ended very differently as Adama Traore saw his 1v1 effort saved by Emi Martinez in the 90th minute. It ended 1-2 with Villa jumping back into the top 4 and Fulham staying in 12th. 

The following game of the match week was staged at St. James’ Park with Newcastle taking on Bournemouth. The first half was goalless, but ultimately still entertaining with both teams having equal chances. Almost instantly after the interval, Bournemouth were gifted an opener early on in the second half when Newcastle goalkeeper, Martin Dubravka received a pass back. As he took his touch, he slipped and Dominic Solanke was there to tap the ball into an empty net. Newcastle found an instant way back into the game when Fabian Schar had his shirt pulled in the Cherries penalty area. VAR recommended another look and after a few minutes, referee Michael Salisbury pointed to the spot. Anthony Gordon buried the penalty into the bottom right corner to level the game. Bournemouth soon restored their lead when Antonie Semenyo made a dashing run into the Newcastle area. He hit the ball with power and watched his blistering strike ripple the Magpies net. Newcastle left it late to equalise, and eventually found it in the 1st minute of stoppage time.. After a cross into the Bournemouth box caused confusion, 2nd half substitute Matt Ritchie smashed the ball in from 1 yard out, scoring his first goal since 2020. This proved to be the last notable action of the enticing game and it finished 2-2. This result sees Newcastle stay in 7th and Bournemouth hold on to 13th. 

The 5th game of the match week was played in Nottingham with Forest hosting West Ham at the City Ground. Forest were the more dominant force throughout the whole first half with West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola being brought into action multiple times. Forest found their opener eventually right on the brink of half time. Nicholas Dominguez passed the ball into the middle of the box for Taiwo Awonyi to receive. The striker turned and proved too strong for the West Ham defence when he barged through and scored for the hosts. The first half ended 1-0 with West Ham’s attack offering up nothing. The Hammers reduced their chances of a comeback even more when Kalvin Phillips was shown a second yellow card for a nasty tackle on Morgan Gibbs-White. After Anthony Elenga missed a huge chance in the dying moments to win the game for Forest, Callum Hudson-Odoi won it for them late on in the match. Nico Williams was persistent in chasing a ball that looked destined for West Ham defender Nayef Aguerd to win. He knocked it around the West Ham centre back and crossed it in. Elenga missed it but it fell to Hudson-Odoi who took a touch and had all the time in the world to nestle it into the bottom left corner. His strike won the game for Forest with it all ending 2-0. West Ham continue to be winless in 2024 leaving them dropping another spot into 9th. This was a huge 3 points for the home side though taking them up to 15th but Palace still to play.

The 6th game played on Saturday afternoon was held in North London with Spurs taking on Gary O’Neil’s Wolves. Wolves dominated the opening half with Hwang Hee-Chan missing a huge chance in the opening 5 minutes. Wolves found their opener when Joao Gomes’ glancing header off a Pablo Sarabia corner put them ahead 3 minutes before the break. Wolves almost found a second before the break if it wasn’t for a brilliant save from Guglielmo Vicario to keep it at 0-1. Tottenham found the perfect start to the second half when Dejan Kulusevski stole the ball in the Wolves area. He took it around two defenders and then from an impossible angle, poked the ball through Jose Sa’s legs to level the game. Wolves didn’t take long to hit back. Pedro Neto’s blistering pace down the left wing was too much for Tottenham as the away side formed a counter attack. He cut it back to goal scorer Gomes who made it a brace for himself when he perfectly side footed the ball powerfully past Vicario. Despite Tottenham’s efforts to level the game, Wolves held out for a huge three points in the fight for european football. This leaves Tottenham in 5th with Villa jumping over them in the top 4 and Wolves in 11th, but only 2 points away from a potential European spot.

The final game played on Saturday afternoon was probably the most anticipated encounter of the match week. Man.City were taking on Chelsea at the Etihad with their last match ending out in a thrilling 4-4 draw. Both teams had huge chances missed with Erling Haaland heading a cross over the bar and Nicolas Jackosn having his one on one effort saved by Ederson. Chelsea were taking advantage of City’s high press and made one count in the 42nd minute. Jackson played a switch ball across to Raheem Sterling who only had one defender on him. He checked back and curled his shot beautifully into the corner, scoring yet again against his former employer. It was just proving not to be Manchester City’s day with Haaland missing chance after chance. City finally found their equaliser in the 83rd minute through Rodri. He progressed forward into the box and powerfully poked the ball past Djordje Petrovic to tie the game. City kept pressing Chelsea’s defence but were unable to find a winner. It ended 1-1 with City dropping a crucial 2 points meaning Liverpool go 4 points clear and Arsenal, 2. Chelsea stay in 10th, but are slowly making progress up the ladder.

The following game of the weekend was played on a Sunday afternoon at Bramall Lane with Sheffield United taking on Brighton. Sheffield United set themselves up to fail when Mason Holgate got sent off for a horrible high foot challenge on Karou Mitoma. Brighton found their first when Pascal Gross’ corner found Lewis Dunk at the back post. He headed it across goal for Facundo Buonanotte to bundle over the line. Their second came 4 minutes later at the 24th minute when Mitoma’s effort was saved by United keeper Wes Foderingham. Danny Wlbeck was there to pounce though and hammered the rebound into the roof of the net. Ben Osborn thought he had reduced the deficit just before the break when he scored from a corner but he was declared offside by the assistant referee. The half ended 0-2 with Brighton running rings around the home side. The Seagulls scored their 3rd in the 76th minute when Mitoma’s cross from the left wing hit the leg of United defender Jack Robinson and bamboozled Foredingham in goal. They made it 4 three minutes later when Gross’ cross found the boot of AFCON winner, Simon Adingra who calmly volleyed the ball into the bottom right corner. The Ivorian made it a brace in just 7 minutes when his shot from the right side of the area took a deflection, lobbing over Foderingham and finding the back of the net for 5. Brighton left the score at 5 with this proving a huge three points for them in the race for Europe. It leaves them in 7th place and Sheffield United stay rock bottom, on course for relegation.

The last game played on Sunday afternoon was staged at Kenilworth Road with Luton hosting Manchester United. It proved to be an enthralling opening 15 minutes when Man.U opened the scoring within 30 seconds. Casemiro cleared the ball from the United penalty area where it looked like it would be an easy pass back to his keeper for Amari’i Bell. Instead, he caught it all wrong and his pass fell right into the path of inform Rasmus Hojland. The Danish striker took the gift and ran around Luton keeper Thomas Kaminski to strike the ball into an empty net. United found their second in the 7th minute when a corner bobbled out to Alejandro Garnacho. He caught it beautifully on the volley and it thundered towards goal. It ended up with great improvisation from Hojland when he smartly used his chest to deflect it into the goal and trick Kaminski. The inform striker is now the youngest Premier League player to score in 6 consecutive games and is continuing his brilliant spell in a United shirt. Luton found hope just 7 minutes later when Tahith Chong’s deflected shot fell to the head of Carlton Morris who headed it under the arm of outcoming United keeper, Andre Onana. Luton’s best chance to equalise in the first half came through Morris again when his powerful shot from outside the box just skimmed wide of the outright. The half ended 1-2 but Luton were still well in the game. Garnacho should have won the game for United in the 67th minute when he was one on one with Kaminski but the Belgian keeper made a crucial intervention, reaching out and palming the ball from Garnacho’s right foot as the winger tried to dribble around him. Luton came so close to equaling the game when Ross Barkley’s header from a Luton corner dipped but not enough as he watched it hit the bar and go over. The game ended 1-2 leaving Erik Ten Hag’s men in 6th still, but with Spurs losing to Wolves, they are slowly creeping up on them. Luton sit 17th but Everton are still to play Palace on Monday night.

The final game of the match week was a tussle at the bottom of the table with Everton taking on Crystal Palace at Goodison knowing just a point would take them out the bottom 3. The first half was equal with both teams having major chances and Everton’s long ball approach giving them lots of opportunities to get forward. The half ended 0-0 with Palace’s new manager Oliver Glasner watching from above as Roy Hodgson’s replacement. Despite Everton’s dominance over Palace in the second half, the Eagles were the first to score when strong hold up play outside the Everton area from Jean Phillippe-Mateta resulted in Jordan Ayew scoring from a wicked strike, similar to Jefferson Lerma’s last week. This kicked Everton into life even more and they eventually found their equaliser in the 84th minute. Amadou Onana rose high to head in a Dwight Mcneil corner to level the game with 6 minutes of normal time to play. Everton were frustrated for the rest of the game as Palace were slowing the game down as much as they could to stop the Toffee’s momentum. The game finished 1-1 with Everton scraping their way out of the bottom 3 into 17th and Palace in 15th.

Written by Ollie Wade