Kickoff chronicles

Leicester City vs Brentford

The opening game of Matchweek 26 played on Friday night saw Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester City host Thomas Frank’s Brentford at the King Power Stadium. Leicester made their usual sluggish start which was pounced on by the clinical Bees. Mikkel Damsgaard received the ball just outside the penalty area from Kevin Schade down the left wing where he immediately chipped the ball over the Leicester defence and into the path of Yoanne Wissa. The Dane’s ball was superb, with Wissa smashing the ball into the turf and watching as it bounced over Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen. Brentford’s 2nd came just 10 minutes later when Damsgaard registered his 10th assist of the season, taking him to equal 2nd in the running for Golden playmaker this season, when he played the ball down the right wing to Bryan Mbeumo. Mbeumo cut in from the right side of the penalty area where he cracked a shot, watching as his effort curled beautifully into the far left corner, scoring his 15th goal of the season as he climbed into 5th in the race for the Golden Boot. No.3 came 5 minutes later for the Bees when Mbeumo’s inswinging free kick was flicked into the back of the net via a towering header from the skipper, Christian Norgaard. The half time score stood at 0-3, with the damage already done thanks to the attacking brilliance from Brentford. Van Nistelrooy was now staring down a 6th home loss in a row, scoring a total of 0 goals across the 6 games.

The 2nd half was yet again a tough watch for the home crowd, with their team continuing to make poor choice after poor choice and lacking any real attacking presence. The only bright spark from a very dampened performance for the Foxes was Facundo Buonanotte putting in a very positive shift in the 2nd half despite his teammates lacking any real desire or fight. No.4 for the Bees came in the last minute of normal time after Mbeumo made a driving run down the right wing. The Cameroonian then dribbled into the penalty area where Hermansen was forced into making yet another big save. Unfortunately for the Dane he was very much fighting a solo battle to keep out the Brentford attackers as Boubakary Soumare cleared the ball right into the path of Fabio Carvalho. The young attacker drilled the ball into the bottom left corner to cap off a brilliant away performance by the Bees, the first time in their history they had won 4 away games in a row in the Premier League. The full time score finished 0-4, with Brentford remaining 11th in the league, despite only being 4 points away from a European place. It is yet another woeful performance by Leicester, as they sit 19th with relegation almost certain.

Everton vs Manchester United

The next game of Matchweek 26 played on Saturday afternoon saw David Moyes’ Everton host Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United at Goodison Park. Everton made a very quick start to the tie, which the fans at Goodison have become quite accustomed to. Jack Harrison whipped in Everton’s latest corner in the 19th minute where the ball was not properly cleared by the United defenders. Abdoulaye Doucoure then made a soaring header to clear the ball over the United backline and into the path of striker Beto. The Portuguese attacker smashed the ball into the Goodison turf and watched as it bounced over Andre Onana and into the roof of the net. Beto has now scored in 4 games in a row as he is revitalising his Toffees career under Moyes. Everton then doubled their advantage in the 32nd minute after Jesper Lindstrom played a brilliant through ball down the right wing for Beto to chase. Beto squared the ball to Harrison where the Leeds loanee fired a shot at Onana. Onana was weak in saving the shot, going to ground as the ball was deflected up into the air. After his big header was the difference in the first Everton goal, Doucoure then leapt up again, this time heading the ball into the empty United net to take the claims himself. The first half score finished 2-0 with it now very hard to see United spark a comeback given Everton’s recent form.

The Toffees were yet again the better side in the 2nd period although United scraped their way back into the game in the 72nd minute thanks to a captain’s intervention by Bruno Fernandes. The travelling side won a free kick from 25 yards out where the Portuguese international brilliantly fired the ball into the bottom right corner, an unsavable effort for Toffee’s keeper Jordan Pickford. From out of nowhere, the Red Devils then equalised the game in the 80th minute, with all of Everton’s hard work canceled out. Fernandes was again involved, whipping a free kick into the Everton area which was cleared out of the 18 yard box by Beto. Uruguayan midfielder, Manuel Ugarte, chested the ball just outside the penalty area before thrashing the ball into the top left corner, making for a brilliant equalising goal. Eight minutes later Pickford was then forced to make a save of the season contender, acrobatically leaping backwards to tip a wonder strike from Fernandes over the bar. The hosts were then robbed of a penalty with only seconds to play when Ashley Young’s shirt was tugged as he attempted to smash in the rebound off Idrissa Gueye’s effort. Referee Andy Madley initially gave the penalty but for reasons unknown he made the decision to overturn it after VAR’s intervention. The full time score finished 2-2 with United rallying to comeback from 2 goals down. Everton continue their brilliant unbeaten run under Moyes as they sit 14th while United sit 1 place below in 15th, 1 point less with 30.

Arsenal vs West Ham United

The following game of the Matchweek saw Mikel Arteta’s 2nd placed Arsenal host Graham Potter’s 16th placed West Ham United at the Emirates Stadium. Despite their difference in positions on the table, the game got off to an even start, with Arsenal dominating possession but West Ham missing the bigger chances. Moments after he’d agonisingly dragged a shot wide of the bottom corner, West Ham skipper Jarrod Bowen soon popped up with a huge goal just before the interval. Bowen received the ball just outside the penalty area where he played it wide to West Ham’s other star player in the current season, Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Wan-Bissaka made a workhorse run down the right wing while Bowen slowly made his way into the Arsenal penalty area. Wan-Bissaka beat his man Riccardo Calafiori before chipping the ball into the penalty area, watching as the unmarked Bowen dove in to head the ball past Arsenal keeper David Raya. After Liverpool had dropped points during the week to Aston Villa, this was a must win game for Arsenal if they were to keep their title ambitions alive but it was West Ham who went into the interval with a 0-1 lead.

Despite having a 0-1 lead to protect, West Ham came out firing for the 2nd half and came millimetres away from doubling their lead in the 55th minute when Aaron Cresswell’s low and hard ball across the penalty area was just a toe’s length ahead of Bowen who had lunged in for a potential brace. With 20 minutes left to play in the tie, West Ham found themselves a golden opportunity to seal all 3 points after Mohammed Kudus dispossessed Myles Lewis-Skelly on the halfway line with no Arsenal defenders back to stop him. Lewis-Skelly then brought Kudus down, resulting in an obvious red card (although referee Craig Pawson required a VAR intervention to overturn his initial decision. Now down to 10 men, it was always going to be very difficult for Arsenal to pick the lock of a very resilient West Ham defence as the Hammers saw out their best result of the season, a 0-1 away win at the Emirates. It is now the 3rd season running that West Ham have contributed to derailing the Arsenal title charge (drawing with them in early 2023 at home 2-2 and beating them in December 2023 0-2 away). It is also a really positive result for Potter who will hope his side can continue their form with just 12 games left to play in the season. It now feels all over for Arsenal, who are 7 points behind leaders Liverpool who are yet to play this matchweek. This would also be the 2nd time this decade that they have come 2nd in 3 successive seasons.

AFC Bournemouth vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

The next game of Matchweek 26 saw Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth host Vitor Pereira’s Wolves at the Vitality Stadium on a sunny Saturday afternoon on the South Coast. Wolves now look a completely different side under the new management of Pereira and made a positive start in the 1st half, unfortunately missing a few chances. Things then got a whole lot easier for the Midlands side when Bournemouth centre half, Illia Zabarnyi, was shown a red card for a nasty challenge on Rayan Ait-Nouri. Referee Michael Salisbury originally brandished a yellow card but after a VAR check, he changed his decision to a red card, meaning the hosts had over an hour left to play with 10 men. Only minutes after the Argentine was shown his marching orders, Wolves found the back of the net through their star player. Marshall Munetsi crossed the ball in from just outside the penalty area where the ball seemed to drop right between the two Bournemouth centre halves and into the feet of Cunha. The Brazilian was shocked he was allowed the ball in such a dangerous area but he still showed great composure, taking a touch before smashing the ball into the roof of the net. The half time score finished 0-1, with the away side leading thanks to Cunha’s 12th goal of the season.

The 2nd half was much less action packed, with Bournemouth lacking their usual attacking presence as they had been reduced to 10 men early on in the tie. Wolves missed a huge chance to double their lead in the 62nd minute, with the Zimbabwean Munetsi putting the ball wide from 6 yards out and missing a chance to score on his full Wolves debut. Wolves created a few more chances before the full time whistle and would have been slightly frustrated they couldn’t convert. In the end, it didn’t matter as the score finished 0-1 when Salisbury blew his full time whistle. Wolves picked up another huge 3 points which saw them go 5 points clear of the bottom 3, although they remain 17th. Bournemouth drop rare points at home as they miss out on a monumental chance to climb into the top 4. The Cherries will probably put that down to an unlucky red card decision though as they remain 5th.

Fulham vs Crystal Palace

The following game of Matchweek 26 saw Marco Silva’s Fulham host Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage. After a dominant start to the tie from the travelling Eagles, they found a deserved lead in the 37th minute through another corner kick, one of their specialties this season. Will Hugues whipped the ball in from the right flag where Palace’s newest centre half Maxence Lacroix made first contact with the ball, watching as it caught a huge deflection off old Palace centre half Joachim Andersen and into the back of the net. It was a very unfortunate incident for Andersen who put the ball into the back of his own net to give his former employers the lead. Palace dominated for the rest of the half, with star boy Eberechi Eze dragging a shot from outside the penalty area just wide of the far post. The score at the interval stood at 0-1 with Marco Silva needing a huge 2nd half performance from his players if they had any chance of turning the tie on its head.

Palace thought they’d doubled their lead in the 55th minute after Eze cheekily backheeled the ball into the penalty area where top scorer Jean-Philippe Mateta rifled the ball into the top left corner with a rocket of a strike. Unfortunately for the away end, the goal was chalked off as Mateta was marginally offside and he was denied his 13th goal of the season. Palace then finally found a 2 goal cushion just 11 minutes later after Mateta picked the ball up inside his own area where he weaved his way through the Fulham midfield before he threaded a killer ball into the path of Daniel Munoz down the right wing. The Colombian full back looked to be cutting back into a central position but he tricked Calvin Bassey, taking the ball to the goal line before thrashing it into the roof of the net from an almost impossible angle. Fulham had a couple of chances before the full time whistle but Palace were too strong defensively and held out for a fully deserved 0-2 win against their London rivals. Palace continue their brilliant stretch of form as they climb into 13th on 33 points while Fulham drop into 10th with 39 points.

Ipswich Town vs Tottenham Hotspur

The following game of Matchweek 26 saw Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town host Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur in what looked an intriguing tie at Portman Road. After a shaky start to the game for Spurs, with Guglielmo Viccario forced into making a couple of goal line saves inside the opening minutes before Liam Delap rattled the crossbar with a wonderful header, they found a real nerve settler in the 18th minute. Archie Gray played a brilliant ball over the Ipswich backline and into the path of skipper Son Heung-Min who had space to run into down the left wing. The South Korean dribbled to the goal line before firing the ball across the 6-yard box, watching as the returning Brennan Johnson was present to bundle the ball over the line. The Son to Johnson duo then combined again just 8 minutes later when Son received the ball down the left wing. He cut the ball back to Johnson who was 12 yards away from goal where the Welshman fired a shot, watching as it flew under the grasp of English keeper Alex Palmer. Just as Ange thought his side were on course to a 3rd consecutive win in the league, one of Ipswich’s brightest stars Omari Hutchinson threw a real spanner in the Australian’s plans. Kalvin Phillips played a ball into the penalty area for Jack Clarke where Clarke immediately cut the ball back for Hutchinson. Hutchinson then fired the ball into the bottom right corner with a lovely curling effort to drag the Tractor Boys back into the game. The score at half time stood at 1-2 with Ipswich hoping to complete a comeback which would see them close the gap between themselves and Wolves in 17th.

Only 15 minutes into the 2nd half the hosts thought they had completed the comeback after substitute Luke Woolfenden headed the ball in at the back post from Hutchinson’s delivery but the assistant referee had his flagged raised at the far side for offside. After another unconvincing start, this time in the 2nd period, Spurs wrapped up all 3 points in the 77th minute after the delicate feet of James Maddison found Djed Spence in the Ipswich penalty area. Spence took a couple of touches before smashing the ball into the top left corner via a handy deflection, scoring his first ever Premier League goal. No.4 came in the 84th minute thanks to Spurs standout performer of the season, Dejan Kulusevski. Dane Scarlett flicked the ball onto Kulusevski with an intelligent header down the right wing after Kevin Danso cleared the danger out of the Spurs penalty area. The Swede drove with the ball down the flank before cutting into the penalty area and perfectly curling the ball into the bottom left corner. The full time score finished 1-4 with Tottenham finally stringing together a run of wins now that the majority of their players have returned from injury. Spurs sit 12th in the league on 33 points while Ipswich remain 18th, 5 points clear of safety.

Southampton vs Brighton Hove & Albion

The following game of Matchweek 26 saw Ivan Juric’s Southampton host South Coast rivals, Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton, at St. Mary’s Stadium. Brighton found an expected advantage in the 23rd minute due to some more woeful Southampton defending. A lofted pass over into the Saints half was not dealt with by the host’s defenders where Joao Pedro was easily able to pick their pockets, leaving him 1-on-1 with the helpless Southampton keeper Aaron Ramsdale. Pedro chipped the ball over the English keeper to give the Seagulls an early advantage over their rivals. The remaining minutes of the first half was fairly even, with Brighton dominating possession and Southampton left creating no real chances whatsoever as the score at half time stood at 0-1.

Brighton doubled their advantage 11 minutes into the 2nd period thanks to more terrible Southampton defending. Georginio Rutter dispossessed Joe Aribio right outside the penalty area where the ball fell to Yankuba Minteh. Minteh was then unselfish, poking the ball across the 18-yard area to the man who had started the move, Rutter, to finish into the bottom left corner. No.3 for Brighton came 15 minutes later, with this goal all down to pure talent rather than Southampton incompetence. Adam Webster played a long and hard ball from inside his own penalty area to Pedro who was placed on the halfway line. Pedro needed just one touch, flicking the ball through the Southampton defence where Kaoru Mitoma was able to run in on goal with no one to halt him. Much like Pedro’s goal, Mitoma then lifted the ball delicately over Ramsdale to wrap up a convincing 3 points for the Seagulls. Brighton then found no.4 in the 82nd minute after Brajan Gruuda’s corner kick flew over the crowd of players in the 6 yard box and into the feet of local lad Jack Hinshelwood. Hinshelwood controlled the ball before smashing it into the bottom left corner. Brighton saw out the remaining minutes to claim a very convincing 0-4 win on the road. Hurzeler’s side climb into 9th on the table, 2 points away from a potential European place. Southampton are yet again humbled at home as they still remain on track to become the Premier League’s worst ever side.

Aston Villa vs Chelsea

The final game played on Saturday evening in Matchweek 26 saw Unai Emery’s Aston Villa host Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea at Villa Park. Chelsea took an early lead inside 10 minutes thanks to an electric run down the right wing by Pedro Neto, easily one of the most rapid players to ever grace the Premier League. Neto flew past Ian Maatsen down the flank before drilling the ball across the 6-yard area, with Enzo Fernandez left with the easy task of sticking a leg out to tap it across the line. Villa dominated for the rest of the half but their top scorer Ollie Watkins, who is usually so reliable in the opposition’s penalty area, was having an off day as he missed multiple chances in the closing moments of the half. The score at the interval stood at 0-1 with Chelsea hoping to put an end to their horror run of form.

Villa found a deserved goal early in the 2nd period which saw them go back onto level terms. Matty Cash whipped the ball in from the right wing where his cross caught a deflection off Malo Gusto. This confused Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford who was clearly lining up a shot but the quick thinking of the Englishman allowed him to poke the ball across the penalty area, serving it up on a plate for PSG loanee, Marco Asensio. With just 1 minute left to play of normal time, Villa snatched all 3 points right at the death with the loanee duo of Rashford to Asensio combining again. Rashford took a short corner, playing a sharp 1-2 with Youri Tielemans. He then drilled the ball across the penalty area to Asensio whose strike was far from crisp. It bobbled through a crowd of legs and under Chelsea keeper Filip Jorgensen who most definitely should have kept his effort out. The full time score finished 2-1 with Asensio becoming Villa’s latest hero. The hosts jump into 8th on the table, 1 point behind Maresca’s side who sit 7th, a huge difference given in late December the majority of fans were talking of them as genuine title contenders.

Newcastle United vs Nottingham Forest

The first game of Matchweek 26 played on Sunday afternoon saw Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United host Nuno Espirito’s Nottingham Forest at St. James’ Park. Newcastle made the worst possible start to the game when Jacob Murphy gave the ball away carelessly to Callum Hudson-Odoi just outside the area. With Newcastle keeper Nick Pope not expecting a shot, Hudson-Odoi had an unguarded goal to shoot at where he drilled the ball into the bottom left corner. Newcastle soon conjured up a timely response, with two of their young English talents combining to equalise for the Magpies. Lewis Hall played a long ball across the turf to the 18-year-old Lewis Miley. Miley took one touch before drilling the ball into the bottom right corner on the spin, making for a brilliant Newcastle leveller. Just 2 minutes later, Newcastle completely flipped the script after Murphy made amends for his earlier error. Hall was yet again heavily involved, dribbling down the left wing before he attempted to chip the ball into the danger area for Alexander Isak. Hall’s cross caught a huge deflection which led the ball right into the path of Murphy who bundled the ball over the line to give the Magpies the lead. Eight minutes later, Newcastle found a 2-goal cushion when Isak netted his 18th goal of the season. Yet again, Hall proved his worth, attempting to whip in a cross only for the ball to clatter into the arm of Forest full back Ola Aina resulting in a clear Newcastle penalty. Isak stepped up to take it and audaciously chipped the ball over Forest keeper Matz Sels who had already committed to diving to his left. One minute later, the hosts all but wrapped up the 3 points when Isak scored his 50th goal in the Premier League, a landmark for the Swedish striker. Joe Wilock slipped the ball into the left side of the penalty area where Isak immediately got a shot off. His effort flicked up off the outstretched legs of centre half Murrilo and over Sels in goals. The score at half time stood at 4-1 with Forest putting in another poor performance away from home.

The away side gave Newcastle something to think about in the 63rd minute when centre back Nikola Milenkovic scored to make it 4-2. Nicholas Dominguez whipped the ball in from the right corner flag where his pacey delivery flew over the crowd of bodies in the box and over to Chris Wood at the back post. Wood poked the ball back into the 6-yard area where Milenkovic showed great improvisation when flicking the ball past Pope using his heel. After an actionless next 25 minutes, Forest left Newcastle fans with their hearts in their throats after Ryan Yates scored in the 90th minute to make it 4-3. It was yet again off a corner, with Anthony Elanga’s cross finding Morgan Gibbs-White who cracked a shot. Gibbs-White’s effort was blocked by Fabian Schar but the rebound was smashed home by Yates. Despite Forest’s best efforts to fight back, the full time score finished 4-3 with Newcastle only just holding on. Newcastle picked up a huge 3 points in their aspirations for top 4 as they moved into 5th on the table, level on points with 4th placed Manchester City. Forest loose consecutive games for the first time this season as they remain 3rd on 47 points.

Manchester City vs Liverpool

The final game of Matchweek 26 was easily the most anticipated of the weekend with the 2 biggest teams in the last decade facing off, with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City hosting Arne Slot’s Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium. Despite Manchester City dominating possession in the early stages of the game, Liverpool took the lead in a very professional manner. Alexis Mac Allister was in charge of the Red’s latest corner which he drilled right across the goal line where Dominik Szoboszlai had emerged from the pack of players to receive the ball. The Hungarian cut the ball back for Mohamed Salah who smashed the ball past Ederson in the City net to score his 25th goal of the season (already his 2nd best goal scoring season in the Premier League with 11 games still left to play). City thought they might have equalled things right on the half hour mark when Omar Marmoush smashed the ball in from closer range, fresh off the back of a hat-trick last week. His effort was then later ruled out as the Egyptian was marginally offside. Twenty-three minutes after their 1st, Salah returned the favour to Szoboszlai when he received the ball in the right side of the penalty area. Salah then opted to lay the ball off to the Hungarian where Szoboszlai perfectly passed the ball into the bottom right corner to give the Reds a priceless advantage right before the interval. The score at half time stood at 0-2 with Slot’s side threatening to go 11 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table.

Liverpool came so close to sealing all 3 points in the 56th minute after Ryan Gravenberch brilliantly slipped the ball through the City defence to find Szoboszlai. Szoboszlai then rolled the ball across the penalty area for Curtis Jones to tap into an uncontested net but VAR later found the Hungarian midfielder to be millimeters offside. Liverpool took their foot off the pedal a little during the end, but Manchester City were unable to conjure up anything in the final 3rd, with their top scorer and star player Erling Haaland sidelined. Liverpool held out for a brilliant 0-2 win which was the Reds first win at the Etihad since Guardiola had been appointed as City manager in 2016. It also saw them complete a domestic double over the Citizens as they extended their lead at the top to 11 points. It was a disappointing result and performance from the hosts who remain 4th and will now look forward to their upcoming game in midweek versus Tottenham which is now a must win in their hopes for a place in the top 4.

Written by Ollie Wade