Premier League Review - Gameweek 6
Content Editor at Free Super Tips, Alex was born in the shadow of Old Trafford and is an avid Man Utd fan. After graduating from university he combined his love of football, writing and betting to join FST and now closely follows goings-on in all of the top European leagues.
Chelsea 2 – 0 Arsenal
In a game littered with controversy it was the Premier League champions who came away from the battle with only their second three point haul of the season.
It was young centre back Kurt Zouma who opened the scoring for Chelsea after heading in a Cesc Fabregas free kick just after half time. Eden Hazard scored in the 90th minute to wrap the game up.
But that only tells half the story. Diego Costa’s trademark dirty tricks led to an angry confrontation with Laurent Koscielny, and after centre back partner Gabriel got involved it ended in the former Villareal player being sent off. Santi Cazorla followed him down the tunnel after the break after picking up a second yellow. Jose Mourinho was typically defensive of his players’ antics after the game whilst Arsene Wenger labelled it an injustice.
Either way, Chelsea have now moved to 13th in the Premier League whilst Arsenal lower themselves to 5th position in the league and are now without Cazorla and Gabriel for their League Cup game against Spurs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdKJIoR6QO0
Swansea 0 – 0 Everton
Bafetimbi Gomis had the best chance of the game as Swansea and Everton held each other to a point apiece in a fairly dull affair at the Liberty Stadium.
Everton were the slightly better team in a very disappointing first half after both team’s good start to the season. Ashley Williams and Neil Taylor both made last ditch blocks to stop Everton scoring in the second half though, whilst Bafetimbi Gomis uncharacteristically put the ball wide in the best chance of the game. Kevin Mirallas getting sent off late on was the major event of the match though, as he went in high and late on Modou Barrow just two minutes after coming on as a substitute.
A point apiece was a fair result though, and it leaves Everton and Swansea in 6th and 7th place respectively after decent starts to the campaign.
Aston Villa 0 – 1 West Brom
Aston Villa succumbed to another defeat as their bad luck continued against Midlands rivals West Brom.
New Baggies boy Salomon Rondon almost put the visitors ahead after just a minute, but Brad Guzan made a fine save to deny his headed opportunity. West Brom continued to be the better side throughout, and the formerly protesting Saido Berahino guided home James Morrison’s shot just before half time to get his first goal since his deadline day antics. Aston Villa never looked like getting back into it despite a slight improvement after the break.
Aston Villa now sit just outside the relegation zone with four points from their opening six games, whilst West Brom have picked up eight points from a possible 18. Aston Villa now look towards their Capital One Cup fixture against fierce rivals Birmingham City, and a win there could be just the confidence boost that they need.
Stoke 2 – 2 Leicester
Leicester did it the hard way once again when they went 2-0 down to Stoke before staging another second half comeback to steal a point from the Britannia.
An excellent performance from the returning Bojan resulted in the opening goal for the Spaniard after a neat pass from Marco Arnautovic. Jon Walters added a second for Stoke to put them two goals to the good after 20 minutes of play. But after coming back to win 3-2 against Aston Villa last weekend, Leicester were full of belief. Danny Drinkwater won a penalty for the visitors, with that man Riyad Mahrez coolly converting it 51 minutes in. A long ball forward to Jamie Vardy saw the striker net the equaliser, but they couldn’t find a winner.
Leicester retain their unbeaten status after another spectacular comeback, and they are now in an impressive 4th position. Meanwhile, Stoke remain without a victory on three points from their opening six games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHRNDGjDBeM
Bournemouth 2 – 0 Sunderland
Two early goals for Bournemouth sealed a victory against a Sunderland side who sit at the bottom of the table and look in dire straits.
Callum Wilson fired in his 5th of the season after just six minutes, and three minutes later Matt Ritchie controlled the ball beautiful on his chest before hammering a volley into the top corner. This goal of the season contender sealed the three points for Bournemouth in the first ten minutes, and Sunderland failed to test them with any regularity for the remainder of the match.
Jermain Defoe had a few half chances, but failed to hit the goalscoring heights that he once did in his younger days. Younes Kaboul was then sent off for the visitors after picking up a second yellow card, an incident that summed up his terrible day at the office.
Bournemouth moved up to 14th with the victory, whilst north east rivals Newcastle and Sunderland sit at the bottom of the table, with the Wearside club taking up the bottom spot with a worse goal difference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQmZ05x9n6o
Newcastle 1 – 2 Watford
Watford picked up where they left off last week against Swansea when they went 2-0 up against the ever-faltering Newcastle on Saturday.
Watford opened the scoring in the 10th minute when an excellent team move saw Odion Ighalo sneak a shot in at the near post. Ighalo added another half an hour in after some excellent hold up play by Troy Deeney. Once again, Darryl Janmaat was Newcastle’s best attacker, and the right back proved this when he continued his run on the overlap and received the ball 8 yards out, slotting it home to halve the deficit after an hour.
Watford’s second win in a row lifts them into the top half of the table, but it all looks bad for Newcastle. They have no confidence as a team after a shocking season last year and seeing their fans turn on them. They lifted themselves off the bottom of the table with this loss, but their return of two points in six games isn’t a tally that is going to keep them in the Premier League.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APAyxsPT-jw
Manchester City 1 – 2 West Ham
Manchester City saw their 100% Premier League win record disappear after goals from Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho helped West Ham on the way to their 3rd shock away win of the season. Club record signing Kevin De Bruyne pulled one back for the title challengers, but Adrian saved West Ham again and again and they eventually came away with the three points.
Manchester City controlled the game, and came away with a lot of shots on goal and the lion’s share of possession, but no points to show for it. This puts the visitors just three points behind Manchester City, with arch-rivals Manchester United sitting in between them after their win over Southampton.
It’s all looking peachy for West Ham though. They have now beaten Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City away from home, and every club in the league will be dreading their visit at the moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2_Utl_e8Bs
Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 0 Crystal Palace
Son Heung-Min was the standout performer in an otherwise fairly dull game as Tottenham Hotspur managed to grab a victory against the in form Crystal Palace.
Son’s work rate and quality impressed throughout, and it eventually result in a goal as he drifted past the Palace defenders so smash one home through Alex McCarthy’s legs. 19 year old Dele Alli also impressed with his quality in the centre of the park. Yohann Cabaye hit the post for Crystal Palace after Bakary Sako was denied brilliantly by Hugo Lloris, but other than that Palace lacked penetration going forward. Christian Eriksen returned from injury to make a substitute appearance, and it was his starting of a counter attack that led to the goal.
This was Spurs’ first league win at White Hart Lane this season, and Son’s goal made it three in two games after his brace in the Europa League in midweek. Crystal Palace’s loss saw them drop to 8th after picking up nine points so far.
Southampton 2 – 3 Manchester United
A fantastic game of football saw Manchester United come away with the three points after Southampton launched a late comeback attempt.
A shocking first 20 minutes from Manchester United saw Graziano Pelle head in the opener for Southampton. But the visitors improved dramatically after this and two fantastically composed finishes from the world’s most expensive teenager Anthony Martial put Man Utd in front by the 50th minute. This makes it three goals in two Premier League games for the youngster. Juan Mata rounded off a 44 pass move by smashing home a shot after Memphis Depays attempt cannoned back off the post, making it 3-1. But another Pelle goal put the belief back into Southampton, and it was only thanks to some fine goalkeeping from David De Gea that they held on for the three points.
This moves Manchester United up to 2nd in the table, and they are now just two points behind their cross city rivals and look like they could actually challenge for the title this season. Southampton’s loss sent them down to 16th position, but there were improvements in their performance on Sunday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0F0bogbV_c
Liverpool 1 – 1 Norwich
Brendan Rodgers’ disappointing run continued as they surrendered a lead to only take a point from their home match against the newly promoted Norwich.
Danny Ings came off the bench to rescue the match from the depths of boredom with a goal shortly after half time. This was a vast improvement on a drab first half, but it didn’t last long for the home side. Russell Martin took advantage of a Simon Mignolet error to loft the ball over him after a Norwich corner. Daniel Sturridge made his first Liverpool appearance of the season, but his only contribution was to try and win a penalty for his side with a blatant dive in the box. Norwich held on after their equaliser, with Phillipe Coutinho wasting a one on one chance and Ings failing to take the ball around John Ruddy in another spurned opportunity.
This result will pile the pressure on Rodgers even more, who has now failed to win in four Premier League games, including defeats to West Ham and Manchester United. They are now in 13th position in the league, while Norwich’s impressive start leave them in 11th place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ1gOE3DRZc