Last weekend we were able to witness all Premier League teams return to action and there was some excitement and controversy to watch.
It was great to see a full matchday with all 20 teams involved. It was the first time for over three months. As usual, there were games which had a lot more action than others. We will have to be patient before we see it back in full flow and at a high intensity on a consistent basis.
The main focus going into the weekend was the Merseyside Derby on Sunday. However, the game failed to live up to the expectation and ended up being a 0-0 draw without much action.
Liverpool weren’t able to win the title with a win but they will want to get it over and done with as soon as they can. They need five points to seal it. With Man City overcoming Burnley on Monday, Liverpool will only be able to win the title this week if City fail to beat Chelsea on Thursday.
After 30 years of waiting, it will be a relief for all Liverpool fans to finally win the title. They still have plenty of time to do so.
For now Man City are making them to have to wait and they were once again relentless against Burnley, winning 5-0. So far since returning, they have scored eight without conceding any.
Phil Foden was the star of the show in the game, scoring two goals in a man of the match performance. He was influential throughout and he will only get better. He has had to be patient since breaking into the first-team squad at City, but with more of these performances he will certainly get more chances. With David Silva looking like he is going to leave City in the summer, Foden might get his chance on a consistent basis.
Riyad Mahrez with two goals and David Silva were the other goal scorers. Burnley were fairly poor, but nothing can be taken away from City’s performance.
Tottenham against Man Utd had quite a bit of controversy, with VAR overturning a decision. Spurs went into half time 1-0 ahead. Steven Bergwijn managed to break through the middle of United’s defence before firing in. David de Gea definitely should’ve saved the shot and Harry Maguire shouldn’t have let Bergwijn run through so easily.
United were better in the second half and on his return, substitute Paul Pogba won them a penalty after being fouled by Eric Dier. Bruno Fernandes stepped up to dispatch the penalty. United were awarded another penalty in the 90th minute after referee Jon Moss adjudged Eric Dier to have fouled Fernandes. However, after VAR had a look at it the decision was overturned. The game finished level which was probably a fair result.
There were some exciting finishes in the games between Watford and Leicester and between Brighton and Arsenal. In the Watford v Leicester game there wasn’t much action until the 90th minute when Leicester’s Ben Chilwell fired into the top corner from the edge of the box. It was a fantastic strike. Leicester thought they had won the game, however, three minutes later following a set-piece Watford’s Craig Dawson acrobatically fired in. It was a frantic end to the finish.
In the game between Brighton and Arsenal there was plenty of action, starting with Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s injury. Leno caught the ball before Brighton’s Neal Maupay went into him, causing him to fall out of the box and get injured. It appeared to be quite severe. Leno wasn’t happy at all with Maupay, feeling that he could’ve avoided it. Emiliano Martínez replaced Leno.
In the second half, Nicolas Pepe provide a spark for Arsenal, cutting in on his left foot, before curling into the top corner from distance. It was a wonderful strike. But, Arsenal failed to manage the game from then on in, conceding an equaliser seven minutes later. They failed to deal with a short corner and Lewis Dunk ended up bundling the ball over the line for Brighton.
Then, in stoppage time at the end of the game, Brighton’s Aaron Connolly played the ball through for Maupay, who finished past Martínez to win the game for Brighton. At the final whistle it got heated, with Maupay celebrating passionately towards Matteo Guendouzi who shoved Maupay by gripping his neck and then more players got involved. Following the game, Maupay said in an interview that they needed to learn “humility”. He certainly had the last laugh.
Rounding up the other results, Norwich ended up losing comfortably 3-0 to Southampton. The Canaries are rooted to the bottom of the table. Southampton on the other hand, are ten points clear of the relegation zone.
Bournemouth remain in trouble after losing to Crystal Palace 2-0 at home in the first ever live Premier League gams on the BBC. They are severely struggling at the moment. The goals came from a brilliant Luka Milivojevic free-kick and Jordan Ayew.
West Ham are also in trouble after losing on their return 2-0 at home to Wolves. Adama Traore made a massive difference after coming on, assisting Raúl Jiménez with a great cross. Pedro Neto volleyed in the other goal. Wolves are fighting for Europe, having had another great season so far. They are right in the mix.
Aston Villa are also struggling, especially having given away a lead against Chelsea. They were 1-0 up at half time following a goal from Kourtney Hause. Chelsea dominated the game throughout but for a while they failed to take advantage of that.
They did manage to break through in the second half, with substitute Christian Pulisic scoring five minutes after coming on. It came as he fired in from a Cesar Azpilicueta cross from the right. Then, a couple of minutes later Olivier Giroud completes the turnaround for Chelsea. There was some slick passing from Chelsea before the ball fell to the Frenchman who fired past Villa goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland via a deflection. Villa were very unlucky. They remain in the bottom three, while Chelsea are fourth.
The other game of the weekend was Newcastle’s 3-0 victory over Sheffield United. It was a tight encounter during the first half but, the game turned in the second half after Sheffield United’s John Egan was sent off for two yellow cards. The first was very debatable, having got in a tussle with Joelinton. Realistically it wasn’t a yellow card, but the second certainly was after he pulled down Joelinton who was going to be running in on goal.
Following that, the Blades capitulated. Five minutes after the red card, Enda Stevens failed to stop a Matt Ritchie cross and Allan Saint-Maximin scores past Dean Henderson. Ritchie fired in a second and Joelinton rounded off the scoring, ending his 10 month goal drought. That could be a big goal for him. Newcastle boss Steve Bruce will be delighted with this result, but Blades boss Chris Wilder will have a lot to ponder.
Below are all the results from the weekend:
Norwich 0-3 Southampton
Tottenham 1-1 Manchester United
Watford 1-1 Leicester
Brighton 2-1 Arsenal
West Ham 0-2 Wolves
Bournemouth 0-2 Crystal Palace
Newcastle 3-0 Sheffield United
Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea
Everton 0-0 Liverpool
Manchester City 5-0 Burnley
The next set of games are midweek with all 20 teams in action
Cardiff City Daily 