Premier League Review - Gameweek 5

Everton 3 – 1 Chelsea

Chelsea’s disastrous start to their title defence continued as they visited Goodison Park for the Saturday lunchtime kickoff. Steven Naismisth came on early in the first half after an injury to Muhamed Besic, and the Scot went on to score a hat trick against the Premier League champions to put his name in the mix for a starting position.

After heading in the opener he made it 2-0 with an emphatic finish. Nemanja Matic scored from long range to put Chelsea back in the picture, but Naismith finished the game off coolly with an 82nd minute goal.

This makes it four points from a possible 15 for Chelsea, making it their worst start to a season since the 1980s. The media are piling the pressure on Jose Mourinho, and he’s pretty high up there in the race for the first sacking of the season after guiding his team to the edge of the relegation zone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1T93S5xOQE

Arsenal 2 – 0 Stoke

Theo Walcott proved that he can be utilised as the frontman of Arsenal attack by scoring his 11th goal in as many Premier League starts. The pacey forward latched onto a ball over the top of the Stoke defence from Mesut Ozil to open the scoring in the first half, and Arsenal looked comfortable from that point onwards.

Stoke didn’t trouble the Arsenal back line at all really, even with their new continental stars in attack. Olivier Giroud spurned a glaring opportunity in the second half before heading in a second goal for Arsenal.

It could have been much worse for Stoke though. Both Walcott and Giroud missed a hat full of chances throughout the game, and the Gunners could have easily won by four or five goals had Walcott and Giroud been more clinical.

This puts Arsenal in 3rd position in the Premier League ahead of their Champions League clash with Dinamo Zagreb, whilst Stoke have been demoted to bottom place in the league after three defeats and two draws.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3CJ22h9wPc

West Brom 0 – 0 Southampton

There’s not really much to say about this game. Both teams played defensively throughout and seemed content with a goalless draw.

Callum McManaman had a penalty appeal waved away for the West Brom, but apart from that they didn’t threaten the Southampton goalmouth too often. Dusan Tadic had a decent game for Southampton, who were largely the better side, but he couldn’t engineer a clear cut chance for the away side.

The only real talking point was the reintroduction of Saido Berahino, who tweeted that he would never play for the club again just ten days ago after being denied a move to Spurs on deadline day. He received a largely positive reception, with a few mottled boos seeping through.

Crystal Palace 0 – 1 Manchester City

Two of the Premier League’s in form sides faced each other in this 3pm kickoff, but in the end it was the winning mentality of the Manchester City team that took the three points.

Crystal Palace contained the visitors very well overall, but that task was made much easier by the injury to star striker Sergio Aguero early in the match. £50 million man Kevin De Bruyne was brought on as his replacement, but it was another substitute that made the headlines. 18 year old Manchester City academy player Kelechi Iheanacho came on for the final few minutes of the game and stabbed home a rebound from Samir Nasri’s shot to keep City’s perfect start to the campaign going.

Crystal Palace certainly performed admirable, but few could argue that Manchester City deserved to win the game. They dominated from start to finish, but the absence of chances due to the absence of Aguero was clear to see. The winning mentality of those top tier players shone through in the end though, and Iheanacho’s 90th minute winner will surely be enough to keep him in the fray for a more regular position in the squad.

Watford 1 – 0 Swansea

Watford finally managed to break their scoring duck when they hosted Swansea on Saturday. The Hornets had previously failed to score since the opening day of the season, despite being one of the most attacking sides in the Championship last season.

But Odion Ighalo finally struck home an hour into the game to send Watford ahead. They weren’t in an attacking mood for the remainder of the game though as Valon Behrami was dismissed for a stamp on Andre Ayew.

Swansea just didn’t turn up though, they lacked that penetration that came so easily to them in the first few games of the season, with Ayew and Bafetimbi Gomis getting little to feed off due to the awful performance from Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Watford’s first win of the season has sent them up to 12th position, whilst Swansea are now down to 7th place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC2BUTOSGkI

Norwich 3 – 1 Bournemouth

Norwich proved the better side as they played against their fellow promoted team Bournemouth on Saturday.

Wes Hoolahan had an excellent game. He provided a wonderful assist for Cameron Jerome’s opener by putting it through Steve Cook’s legs and squaring it for Jerome, all while holding his shinpad for an unknown reason. He added a goal to his assist shortly after the break with a well struck shot from outside the box.

Debutant Matt Jarvis rounded the game off with his first goal for Norwich before Steve Cook got a late consolation goal for a disappointed Bournemouth.

Nobody could argue that Norwich deserved the win. They controlled the game from start to finish and thoroughly earned the three points to put them up into 8th place. Meanwhile, Bournemouth sit in 15th with their four point tally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avh5y–rJVY

Manchester United 3 – 1 Liverpool

A drab first half turned into a dominant display from Manchester United as the two sides faced off in another grudge match.

There was little in the way of excitement in the opening half of this game. Manchester United controlled possession, as they have done often this season, but failed to create any goalscoring opportunities, as they have done often this season.

The second half saw a change though. Daley Blind scored with a sublime sidefooted finish from a well worked free kick just four minutes after half time, and Ander Herrera then converted a penalty after taking a tumble from a reckless Gomez lunge. Christian Benteke showed why Brendan Rodgers paid £32 million for him though with an incredible overhead kick to give an otherwise poor Liverpool a lifeline.

But the stage was set for a young hero to be born at Old Trafford. The world’s most expensive teenager, Anthony Martial, came on as a substitute and proceeded to weave his way through the Liverpool defence and score with his first ever shot in the Premier League. It was a goal that was reminiscent of the legend that he has been compared to, and Thierry Henry himself would have been proud of that goal.

This elevated Manchester United to 2nd in the table after Crystal Palace’s defeat to the challengers earlier in the day. Brendan Rodgers is facing some mounting pressure though, and this result certainly won’t have helped him out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1U2RlkagRQ

Sunderland 0 – 1 Tottenham Hotspur

A shocking start to the Sunday afternoon football saw Sunderland host Tottenham Hotspur as both sides looked for their first win of the season.

Neither looked very capable of getting a win though. Jermain Defoe did manage to hit the post with an effort, whilst Spurs went the entire first half without a shot on target. Eventually, after a lot of disappointing attempts at attacking, Ryan Mason put the ball in the back of the net for Spurs. Even this wasn’t without problem though as Mason injured himself due to the onrushing Costel Pantilimon.

Three points is three points though, and Spurs will be happy with the result. But the problems are still evident despite the introduction of new striker Son Heung-min, who had a pretty poor debut. They are heavily reliant on Harry Kane, but the star man isn’t performing in front of goal at the moment and they seem to be lacking any other ideas for how to get the ball in the net.

Leicester City 3 – 2 Aston Villa

A stunning late resurgence from Leicester City saw them remain unbeaten in the Premier League this season, leaving Tim Sherwood wondering what on earth just happened.

Aston Villa went 2-0 up after a fine Jack Grealish finish and a second half strike from Carles Gil. They deserved the lead as well after dominating Leicester and creating a number of openings.

But Leicester City star man Riyad Mahrez came to life in the second half. He provided the corner for Ritchie De Laet to volley home a lifeline in the 72nd minute and then had a hand in Jamie Vardy’s close quarters equaliser. Mahrez continued to dazzle the Villa defenders with his skill, and once again he provided the pass for Nathan Dyer to head in a winner in the 89th minute. The debutant will have cemented his place in Leicester fans’ hearts with a brave effort to secure the winner that ended up with him going down injured after a blow to the head.

This continues Leicester’s unbeaten start to the season, and they find themselves in an impressive 2nd place after overtaking Manchester United. Villa haven’t looked anywhere near as bad as they did last season, but still sit dangerously close to the relegation zone in 15th position.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDIvA5I1pxM

West Ham 2 – 0 Newcastle

Dimitri Payet proved an invaluable asset once again as he scored both goals in West Ham’s very deserved 2-0 victory over a shockingly poor Newcastle.

The visitors couldn’t seem to amount any form of attacking threat on the home side, and the fact that their most dangerous player was full back Daryl Janmaat tells a story in itself. Hothead Alexsandar Mitrovic was suspended for the game after being sent off before the international break (and during it, for that matter) so Newcastle didn’t seem to have any outlet for their attempts at going forward.

Dimitri Payet didn’t take long to get started though, curling a fine strike into the Newcastle goal in the 9th minute. He added a second in the second half after Victor Moses made one of his trademark runs before striking the ball into the crossbar. Payet picked up the rebound and added to his tally.

This leaves Newcastle without a win this season, and continued their four match goalless run. West Ham have been lifted to 5th position though after picking up a second consecutive victory in the Premier League.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x36xwwg

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