Kickoff chronicles

The 28th week of the top flight in England kicked off at Old Trafford with Manchester United hosting Everton. United got off to a perfect start when Alejandro Garncho was brought down inside the area by Everton centre back, James Tarkowski. Bruno Fernandes stepped up to take the penalty and did not disappoint the home support when he buried it into the bottom right corner. The Toffees were slowly finding their way into the game but their progress was halted when, once again, Garnacho won a penalty for United after being fouled by Ben Godfrey. Marcus Rashford stepped up to take it this time and doubled the home side’s advantage when he watched his strike nestle into the left side of the net and send Jordan Pickford the wrong way. The half ended 2-0 with Manchester United not looking likely to drop their lead. The second half was once again dominated by the Reds and despite a few chances, they were unable to score in the second period. The game ended 2-0 leaving Everton in 16th with 25 points and United 10 places above on 47 points.

The next game of the match week was played at the Vitality Stadium with Bournemouth taking on Sheffield United. Bournemouth won an early penalty inside 12 minutes when Dominic Solanke was taken out from behind by Tom Davies. The inform Cherry stepped up to take it but took a big slip as he watched his penalty almost clear the roof of the stadium. It was brutally punished 15 minutes later when Gustavo Hamer smashed in a rebound from a Jayden Bogle shot that was saved by Neto. The half ended 0-1 with Sheffield United so far able to keep a clean sheet, a feat they have not replicated in the league since early December. It only got better for the Blades when Jack Robinson doubled their advantage in the 64th minute when he poked in Hamer’s corner. Bournemouth thought they had finally got one back when Solanke prodded it in but it hit his hand in the build up and VAR chalked it off. This fired the Cherries even more and they reduced the deficit to one in the 74th minute. Dango Ouattara scored his first home goal for Bournemouth when he headed in Ryan Christie’s corner at the near post. They left it late, but the home side found a late equaliser in the 1st minute of stoppage time. A corner was cleared by United but only as far as Chris Mepham. He kicked it over his head back into the danger area where Ouattara flicked it onto Enes Unal. The Turkish international jumped and cushioned it past Blades keeper, Ivo Brbic to score his first for the Cherries, and win them a hard fought point. It ended all square at 2-a-piece leaving United in 20th after the Burnley result and Bournemouth in 13th.

The third game of the week was played at Selhurst Park with Crystal Palace set to play Rob Edwards’ Luton Town. Palace kicked off in the perfect fashion when Daniel Munoz pounced on a Alfie Doughty error. He sprinted into the box and dribbled around Luton keeper Thomas Kaminski. His touch was heavy and he cut it back to Jean Philippe-Mateta. The Frenchman superbly flicked it with the back of his heel and watched it trickle across the line. Palace continued their dominance for the rest of the half but were unable to hit the target with any real conviction. The half ended 1-0 with Oliver Glasner’s team playing much more attractive football than the Hatters. The second half kicked off with Palace dominating again, their biggest chance when Eberechi Eze scored just outside his own half watching his long range effort just dip over the bar with Kaminski left a bystander. Little did the home support know, there was more late Premier League drama to come. Luton left it until the very last kick of the game to level the game. It came with the two of the second half substitutes combining when Andros Townsend crossed a ball into the Palace area. On the end of it was Cauley Woodrow who saw his glancing header just creep in at the near post. The game ended 1-1 with Luton taking a huge point back home with them. It still leaves them in the bottom 3 but now only 3 points separating themselves and Forest. Palace picked up 1 point but it was not enough to climb into 13th.

The game following was staged at the Molineux Stadium with Wolves hosting Fulham. The Cottagers were the far better team in the opening period but failed to get any of their meaningful chances on target. Marco Silva would go into the break as the more positive manager but his team were going to need to put some of their chances away if they were to leave the Midlands with anything. 7 minutes into the second half, Wolves shocked the majority of the support inside the ground when they found the opener. Toti cut it back from the right side of the penalty area after he received the ball from a Pablo Sarabia free kick. Inside the 6 yard box was Rayan Ait-Nouri to smash it home. Wolves doubled their advantage 12 minutes later when Joao Gomes back-heeled it to Nelson Semedo who cracked a shot. His effort caught a deflection off Fulham midfielder Tom Cairney and bobbled past keeper Bernd Leno. The away support wasn’t to leave with nothing when Alex Iwobi tapped in a consolation. It came from a cross from Antonee Robinson where Amanda Broja tried to volley it in. Iwobi watched the ball and reacted quickly, turning his body to poke it over the line. The game finished 2-1 taking Gary O’Neil’s Wolves to 9th in the table but with Newcastle yet to play. Fulham remain in 12th on 35 points.

The last game played on Saturday afternoon was at the Emirates stadium with Arsenal taking on Brentford. Arsenal got off to a perfect start, opening the scoring inside 20 minutes and continuing their brilliant start to 2024. Ben White crossed the ball inside the box for Declan Rice to head the ball into the far corner. Despite the Gunners first half domination, Brentford went into the break with something to fight for. It was looking like Arsenal were playing the half out at 1-0 when Gabriel passed the ball back to keeper Aaron Ramsdale. The English international took too much time and the pacey Yoane Wissa pounced on it and watched his tackle cross the line in the last action of the half. It left a sour taste in the mouths of Arsenal fans after they had watched their team dominate Brentford for the whole half. Ramsdale was almost embarrassed again early in the second period when Toney hit the ball on the volley from 40 yards out. The Arsenal keeper was able to adjust himself and palm the spectacular effort out for a corner. All the attention then turned to the Brentford goal as Arsenal searched for a winner. They came so close when Declan Rice’s shot hit the crossbar from just outside the area. They finally found their match winner in the 86th minute, this time through Kai Havertz. Ben White was again involved when his cross into the 6 yard box was flicked in at the near post by the German international. The Gunners held out for the three points, taking them to 1st in the table. They also continue their winning start to 24, on a brilliant streak of 8. No team that has started the new year with 8 wins has ever lost the title. Brentford however aren’t doing as well sitting 15th on 26 points.

The first game that was played on Sunday afternoon was at Villa Park with Aston Villa hosting Tottenham Hotspur in the fight for 4th place. The home side had the bulk of the play in the first half and were unlucky not to go ahead with Tottenham’s defence left scrambling on multiple occasions to keep the game goalless. The half ended 0-0 but it was hard to see Villa not scoring in this tie. To the shock of all the fans inside the stadium, Tottenham were the team to open the scoring in the opening minutes of the second period. Pape Sarr received the ball down the right wing where he whipped in a cross to the 6 yard box. Running in was James Maddison who jumped to poke it past Villa keeper Emi Martinez. Spurs made it 0-2 when Dejan Kulusevski picked the pocket of the usually reliable Ezri Konsa. There to receive it was Son Hueng-Min who passed it through to Brennan Johnson. The Welshman leant back and curled his shot into the top corner, leaving the away fans in a state of disbelief. It went from bad to worse for Aston Villa when John McGin was sent off for a reckless challenge on Destiny Udogie. The Scottish international made no attempt to get the ball and kicked through both of Udogie’s legs in frustration. After an enticing opening 20 minutes in the second half, the game quieted down for a while. Spurs found themselves running away with a 0-3 lead in the 1st minute of added time when Son smashed in a cutback from the left wing, crossed in by Kulusevski. Three became four when Tottenham scored in the 90+4th minute. Son played a one-two with 2nd half substitute Timo Werner who opened up his body and watched his shot fly past Martinez from the left side of the area. The game ended 0-4 tightening the gap between the two teams; Tottenham 5th, Aston Villa 4th, with just 2 points separating them.

The second game played on Sunday afternoon was at the AMEX stadium with Brighton playing Nottingham Forest. Brighton were keen to get off to a good start to overshadow their 0-4 loss to Roma midweek. They did just that on the half hour mark when Pascal Gross’ inswinging freekick was headed into his own net by Andrew Omobamidele. Forest saw out the rest of the half positively with Divock Origi getting on the end of multiple chances but just lacking the final touch to tie the game. The half ended 1-0 but the away side was still in touching distance. Midway through the second period, a crucial decision was made by referee Michael Salisbury when he chose not to send off Jakub Moder after a nasty two footed challenge on Nico Williams. Brighton were resilient and managed to keep out everything Forest gave them, earning a hard fought 3 points. It leaves them in 8th, but now only 1 point away from West ham. The same can’t be said about Forest though as they sit 17th, 3 points away from the relegation zone.

The next game played on the Sunday was in the capital with West Ham hosting bottom of the league Burnley at the London Stadium. To the shock of every fan in the 60,000 seater stadium, Burnley went ahead on the 10 minute mark. David Datro Fofana picked up the ball in midfield and dribbled through the West Ham midfield. It was bouncing and he hit it on the bobble from 30 yards out. His strike was perfect and there was nothing West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola could do but watch it rise into the top corner. West Ham were sloppy for the rest of the first half and were punished again when Josh Cullen’s ball across the 6 yard area was poked into his own net by Hammers centre back Konstantinos Mavropanos. This was the last action of the half and the deflated West Ham team went into the dressing rooms to the boos of the home crowd. Luckily for the Hammers, they kicked off the second period in a perfect manner when they scored inside 1 minute. Lucas Paqueta jumped on a poor Maxime Esteve clearance and found himself in the clear with the only Burnley player back, keeper James Trafford. He took it professionally and watched his effort nestle into the bottom left corner. The hosts continued their solid start to the second half but failed to find the final predator touch in the Burnley area. It wasn’t until Danny Ings was subbed on in the 82nd minute that West Ham would find some daylight. The Hammers thought they had drawn level in the 85th minute when Michail Antonio chested down a Paqueta pass to Ings who lifted it into the net. VAR had a closer look and maybe made a controversial decision when ruling Antonio offside. This only fired Ings up more as he went on to score another. Mohammed Kudus crossed the ball into the box and it caught a little deflection, taking it into the path of Ings. The English international took a touch and hit the ball on the spin, watching it hit the side netting and drawing West Ham level. He almost made it a three goal comeback and a stoppage time brace when he found himself in the same position, this time just hitting the upright. The game ended 2-2 with both teams feeling as though they had dropped a crucial 2 points. Burnley jump back up to 19th after Sheffield United won a point down the South Coast and West Ham stay 7th.

The last game on Sunday was probably the most anticipated of the match week with 1st placed Liverpool hosting 2nd placed Man.City at Anfield. The Reds thought they had opened the scoring inside 18 minutes when Darwin Nunez cut the ball back to Luis Diaz who had an open net to tap it into but Nunez was flagged offside by the assistant referee. Man.City disappointed the majority of the crowd when John Stones flicked in Kevin De Bruyne’s corner at the near post in the 23rd minute. In the second quarter of the game, both teams shared equal chances but they both failed to hit the back of the net. The first period ended 0-1 with Jurgan Klopp’s team left with a lot to do. Liverpool came out of the dressing rooms with a desire and found a way back into the tie with just 4 minutes played in the second half. Nunez pounced on a poor backpass from Nathan Ake and drew the foul in the area from City keeper Ederson. Alexis Mac Allister stepped up to take the penalty and curled it beautifully into the top left corner. City came so close to an equaliser in the final 20 minutes twice. Their first chance was an odd one with the Liverpool keeper, Caoimhin Kelleher punching it into the face of Phil Foden, defecting it onto the crossbar. Their second chance was even closer with 2nd half substitute Jeremey Doku cutting it onto his left foot from the left side of the area and hitting the inside of the post. The game finished all even at 1-1. This actually sees Arsenal go top on goal difference and Liverpool level on points with the Gunners. City are not far behind as only 1 point splits 1st and 3rd with the title race getting more and more exciting as each week goes on.

The final game of the matchweek played on a Monday night saw Chelsea and Newcastle face off at the historic venue of Stamford Bridge. Chelsea opened the game in perfect fashion when they scored their earliest goal since 2019. Cole Palmer cracked a shot from outside the area which Nicholas Jackson deflected into the bottom corner purposely with the back of his heel. The hosts didn’t keep their great start to the game up as Newcastle found a leveller just before the interval. Their top scorer, Alexander Isak was the man to tie the game when Bruno Guimaraes picked him out with space outside the Chelsea area. The Swede controlled it, cut in, and put just enough curl and power on the ball to see it hit the bottom right corner. Chelsea thought they had gone ahead almost instantly after Isak’s equaliser when Jackson scored another but the assistant referee flagged him as he mistimed his run. The half ended 1-1 and the game all to play for in the second period. It didn’t take many second half minutes for Chelsea to find their second when Palmer received the ball outside the area from Enzo Fernandez, and struck the ball perfectly into the bottom right corner. It was a deserved Blue’s goal after all the effort they had put in. Chelsea pretty much sealed the game in the 76th minute when substitute Mykhailo Mudryk took the ball from his teammate Conor Gallagher and dribbled through both Newcastle centre backs. He then rounded the keeper and tapped the ball into an empty net. Newcastle did give the hosts something to think about in the last minute of normal time when Jacob Murphy scored a wonder goal. He turned Chelsea wingback Marc Cucurella inside out and then smashed his shot into the top right corner leaving Chelsea keeper Djordje Petrovic with no chance. It caused no problems for Chelsea though as they saw out the game 3-2, picking up a crucial 3 points in the process if they were to make a late comeback in the league. Both teams stay in their positions; Newcastle 10th, Chelsea 11th respectively but the gap between the two sides now reduced to just 1 point.

Written by Ollie Wade