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Premier League Matchday 14 Review; Liverpool score late goal to keep the pressure on Manchester City

After 14 Matchdays in the English Premier League, the only team stopping Manchester City from opening a huge point gap on the rest of the division is Liverpool, and the Reds stayed close in a miraculous fashion at the weekend.

There were other surprising results as well as Wolves continue their slump and Manchester United continued to struggle at home. Welcome to Premier League review this week.

Cardiff City 2 vs. 1 Wolves

Cardiff City and Wolves met for another match after their fiery encounter in the Championship last season, and the Welsh side had the last laugh. Wolves opened the scoring through a Matt Doherty goal, but Cardiff City rallied round in the second half to record their 3rd league win of the season.

Manchester City 3 vs. 1 Bournemouth

Courageous Bournemouth took the game to Manchester City in this Saturday lunch time encounter, but the Cityzens proved too strong for Eddie Howe’s men and secured all three points. The goals came from Bernado Silva, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gondugan after Callum Wilson had equalized for the Cherries.

Leicester City 2 vs. 0 Watford

Watford continued their poor form when they face Leicester City in this game. The Hornets went down to two first half goals from Jamie Vardy and James Maddison. They were so frustrated that they even had a man sent off in the 90th minute.

Crystal Palace 2 vs. 0 Burnley

Palace kept their recent good form intact as they followed up picking up a draw against Manchester United in their last game by beating out-of-form Burnley in this game.

That was Palace’s 3rd win of the season and sent Burnley down to the 19th position with Liverpool up next for the Clarets.

Newcastle 0 vs. 3 West Ham

Newcastle had returned to form recently but they couldn’t keep up the good work they have done recently when West Ham came to town at the weekend.

The Magpies fell to an 11th minute goal by Javier Hernandez and could not get back into this game, the Hammers finished them off with two more goals in the final half hour.

Huddersfield 1 vs. 2 Brighton

Huddersfield looked like they were on their way to yet another Premier League win when they took the lead in the very first minute in this game. However, Steve Mounie was shown a red card just after the half hour mark and the Seagulls took advantage of their man superiority and won the game.

Southampton 2 vs. 2 Manchester United

Manchester United continued to struggle as they could only manage a draw against a struggling Southampton side. The Red Devils were 2-0 behind inside the first 20 minutes, but they rallied round to equalize before the break.

In the second half, they were back to their normal self with no desire to collect all the points.

Chelsea 2 vs. 0 Fulham

Chelsea recovered well from losing to Tottenham in their last league game to secure the win and inflict the first defeat of his reign on Claudio Ranieri.

Goals from Pedro and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were enough to see off the Cottagers.

Arsenal 4 vs. 2 Tottenham

Arsenal emerged victors in this closely contested north London derby. The Gunners were first to score through Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, but they were soon behind as Tottenham turned the game on its head to get in the lead 2-1 at half time.

Aaron Ramsey came off the bench to provide two assists for the Gunners to win the game 4-2.

Liverpool 1 vs. 0 Everton

Everton would feel hard done by after Liverpool left it late to secure a 1-0 win against them. The Toffees are now winless in their last 19 Merseyside derbies and would go into the New Year having never won at Anfield in 20 years.

Divock Origi came off the bench to score the game’s winner after Jordan Pickford made a horrendous mistake from a Virgil van Dijk’s volley that seem to be going out of play.

The Premier League resumes in midweek with some interesting fixtures, we would be back with the review of the next matchday.

Cheers.

Premier League Match Day 12 Review: United suffer derby loss as Fulham remain bottom

The Premier League entered matchday 12 last weekend. With the International break fast approaching, several teams looked to end with a bang but that wasn’t the case for Manchester United.

Cardiff 2 vs 1 Brighton

A late Sol Bamba goal was enough to help Cardiff City beat Brighton and earn an important win in their battle to beat the drop this season. The Welsh side can also count on a first-half red card given to Brighton as a help for themselves.

Leicester City 0 vs 0 Burnley

The former Premier League champions and Burnley played out a very boring draw in this game that brought a little on-field action. Off the field, the home side was spurred on by their fans who were looking for a good home win to banish the negativity of the death of their owner. But it never came.

Huddersfield 1 vs 1 West Ham

Huddersfield were denied a second Premier League win of the season by a late equalizer by Felipe Aderson. The Terriers had taken the lead in the 6th minute when Alex Pritchard became their first player to score a home goal in the Premier League for them this season. But they were pegged back by West Ham on the 74th minute.

Newcastle 2 vs 1 Bournemouth

Bournemouth came into this game after beating Fulham away from home on their last travel and they were expected to earn another win here, but Rafa Benitez’s men dug deep to earn all three points thanks to a brace of goals from Solomon Rondon.

Southampton 1 vs 1 Watford

The Saints were looking to grab an unlikely win in this game and have a good case after having a goal controversially ruled out for offside, but Watford played well and deserved their equalizer, although a 2-0 scoreline would have made it harder for them to have earned a point.

Crystal Palace 0 vs 1 Tottenham

Palace suffered yet another defeat as their misfiring front men continue to fail to net a goal for them. This time, the Eagles defended well and matched Spurs in terms of goal attempts, but they still fell to a Juan Foyth 66th minute goal and would look for a win after the International Break.

Liverpool 2 vs 0 Fulham

Liverpool laboured on Sunday but they still ended up winning bottom of the table Fulham. The Reds needed a response after going down 2-0 against Red Star in the Champions League in midweek, and their fans would be delighted that they have remained unbeaten after 12 games in the Premier League this season. Winless have now lost their last 5 games on the trot.

Chelsea 0 vs 0 Everton

Everton went to Stamford Bridge with a determination to end Chelsea’s unbeaten run and the Toffees almost had their way. However, the Blues stood firm and earned a draw that was probably deserved. The game was tensed, Jorginho’s tackle of Sigurdson epitomises how tough the game was.

Manchester City 3 vs 1 Manchester United

Manchester United could not take advantage of the momentum their 2-1 win over Juventus in Turin had brought them as they were beaten by their city rivals in this Manchester derby. City kept asking questions of Mourinho’s defence and they continued to struggle to cope with City’s intensity.

When Anthony Martial scored the penalty to make it 2-1 it appeared like something familiar was about to take place, but that wasn’t to be after Ilkay Gondugan came off the bench to make it 3-1 in favour of City.

Arsenal 1 vs 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

laboured laboured for so long and were ultimately saved from a home defeat because Wolves were very wasteful. The Premier League new boys took the lead at the Emirates Stadium on the 13th minute. They defended very well from then on and had several chances to win the game late on but they kept missing them all before the Gunners scored an 86th-minute equalizer through Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The international break means there would be no Premier League action for the next two weeks, however, we hope that Chelsea would keep their unbeaten run when we resume as they travel to Tottenham.

Premier League Matchday 9 Review as Arsenal enters the top four and Chelsea almost lost their unbeaten run

Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool maintained their unbeaten start to the season, but Manchester City showed again why it would be hard for any team to stop them. Newcastle also edged closer to getting relegated from the Premier League this season after yet another home loss. Here is our review for Matchday 9.

Chelsea 2 vs. 2 Manchester United

The Red Devils almost snatched all three points and end Chelsea’s unbeaten run in the league, however, Ross Barkley had other ideas as he slotted home a late leveller in the 96th minute for the Blues who had gone behind to two goals from Anthony Martial, despite having taken the lead through Antonio Rudiger.

West Ham 0 vs. 2 Tottenham

Tottenham scraped through to take all three points from their Saturday game against West Ham. The Hammers had started to put some good results together, but Tottenham ensured that they lost their last two games by the same scoreline. This would also boost Tottenham’s morale ahead of their Champions League clash with PSV later this week.

Newcastle 0 vs. 1 Brighton

Brighton earned their second consecutive 1-0 victory when they visited Saint James Park. That result ensured that the Magpies remain without a win this season despite coming close to securing one the last time out at Manchester United.

Newcastle are now rooted at the foot of the table after collecting just two points from their opening 9 games of the season.

Bournemouth 0 vs. 0 Southampton

Bournemouth have scored the same number of goals as Liverpool this season, yet they failed to find the back of the net in this boring south coast derby. Southampton remain 16th on the league table after this result and their struggles in front of goal would start worrying their fans.

Cardiff City 4 vs. 2 Fulham

Fulham played some of the best-attacking football in the Championship last season and that helped them to gain promotion into the English top flight, however, they would need to defend better if they want to avoid relegation.

Cardiff became the latest team to take advantage of Fulham’s defensive problems to secure their first win of the season and that helped them to move ahead of the Londoners who are now 18th on the league table with 25 goals conceded.

Wolves 0 vs. 2 Watford

Watford looked like they could win the Premier League when the season began, however, they suffered back to back defeats which has left them struggling to come up the table.

But in this game, they turned on the style and did what Manchester City and Manchester United have failed to do this season, which is to beat Wolves. The Hornets are 7th on the league table now and their fans can continue dreaming of Europe.

Manchester City 5 vs. 0 Burnley

Manchester City are considered genuine title contenders to retain their crown this season and Pep Guardiola’s team showed why they are so highly rated. With the amount of men Burnley commit behind the ball, it is impressive for City to have netted 5 times, it would be interesting to see how long Liverpool can keep challenging them.

Huddersfield 0 vs. 1 Liverpool

Mohamed Salah was back among the goals as Liverpool got yet another win to keep pace with Manchester City. It was a beautifully worked goal that the Egyptian netted, but the Reds don’t seem to have discovered the form that saw them rip apart several teams last season.

Everton 2 vs. 0 Crystal Palace

Everton secured another impressive win here thanks to good substitutions from Marcos Silva. Their two goals were scored by Cenk Tosun and Dominic Calvert Lewin who had both been brought on by the Portuguese tactician in the second half.

The Toffees are now 8th on the league table while the Eagles who missed a penalty before the Everton goals are now 15th on the league table.

Arsenal 3 vs. 1 Leicester City

Arsenal survived an early scare after Leicester City had gone ahead at the Emirates to win their 10th consecutive games in all competitions. Mesut Ozil had equalized just before the break, a second half double from Pierre Emerick Aubameyang helped the Gunners complete the comeback. They are now fourth on the league table, just 2 points behind league leaders Manchester City and Liverpool.

Pep Full of Respect as City Hold Liverpool

It is awfully difficult to find a team that forces a major tactical tweak out of Guardiola. A staunch believer in expansive attacking tiki-taka football, Pep doesn’t make any compromises when it comes to attacking. Having suffered three defeats in his last three games against Klopp’s Anfield juggernaut, all eyes were on Pep for his answer. And it came in the form of some respect.

Sterling, Sane, Aguero, B. Silva… Pep Guardiola has a team blistering with attacking talent in every corner. Even his fullbacks in the shape of Mendy and Walker are great attacking outlets for a team that never relents at pressing the opposition. In Klopp, Pep has found a kryptonite, the one manager whose style thwarts everything Guardiola’s boys can come up with.

Manchester City may have been on the cusp of a famous win at Anfield, but the general feeling leaving the field – once the disappointment of the penalty fades off – will be one of relief rather than sadness. While the Cityzens were sweeping away all before them last season, Klopp’s Liverpool proved to be major spoilers, both in the domestic and European league, and they were poised to do same here again. This time, though, Guardiola was prepared to prevent any of the silly errors that aided Liverpool’s wins of last season.

Where Stones was nervy and unconvincing last January, he was confident and assured this time, never misplacing a pass or missing a clearance or tackle all game. His defensive partner Aymeric Laporte showed all the hallmarks of a classy defender that his price tag demands. And the initial collective sigh at the lack of a true leader at the back in the form of either Kompany or Otamendi was soon forgotten once the initially frantic opening to the game gave way.

Guardiola may have played a 4-3-3 formation, but this was far from typical Pep. His players were set up in a more restricted, quite defensive 4-3-3. His use of Mahrez in place of Sane showed his intention not to be too expansive in the attack, while Walker and Mendy picked their moments to bomb forward. In the Amazon Prime documentary – ‘All or Nothing’ – Guardiola admitted that City suffers at Anfield, pointing to the Red’s electric front three of Sadio Mane, Salah, and Firmino.

“If you play an open game at Anfield against Liverpool you don’t have 1% chance of winning. Maybe they are the best team in the world on transitions.” “They scare me. They are dangerous. I mean it.”

As respect goes, no team could hope to get any more than that from Guardiola. Seeing the difficulty his team had suffered while trying to impose their game on this team, he went for a more laidback approach – a compact 4-3-3 formation content on winning the midfield battle and building attacks slowly in order not to leave any spaces. The result was a goalless game on what was billed to be an epic night at Anfield.

Leroy Sane’s introduction as the Reds began to tire out served to stretch them even further, with Man City prepared to go for the kill. It soon paid dividends as Sane won a penalty – after several unawarded penalties shout by City earlier in the game –but the Anfield nets were not to be ruffled today. Riyad Mahrez missed the penalty in what was a defining moment in the game, and perhaps in the season ahead, but Guardiola will have little worries after his City side successfully contained Liverpool’s attacking threat, limiting them to only a few half chances.

Salah remains a long way away from the form that saw him hit over 40 goals last season, and he hardly saw any chances here as he was closely marshalled by both Mendy and Laporte. The Silva’s in the midfield worked hard to ensure there were might few dangerous possession turnovers. Further forward, Aguero, Sterling and Mahrez were tidy in possession. Although they could have won the game in its intense final moments, Pep will have no problems with leaving a problematic location with a point just before the international break.

“The back four was so good and we made a good build-up, Guardiola noted. We were solid against a team that punishes your mistakes. We played so well. If you want to analyze the result, it is okay, it could be better. It will always be better to win at Anfield, but do not lose.” Klopp’s summary was even more accurate, “Today was a game full of respect, both teams respected each other a lot.” It’s not often you find Pep according to a team so much respect, but as Van Dijk said afterwards, they’ve earned it.

Premier League Match Day 8 Review: United Stage Comeback, Top Three Maintains Tie at the Top

Super Sunday saw the league’s top two go head to head, ending in a stalemate, while Manchester United’s fightback earlier on Saturday may just have saved Jose Mourinho his job.

Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 West Ham United

Fresh from their victory over Manchester United last time out at Old Trafford, West Ham went down to Glenn Murray’s first half strike as Brighton got their first Premier League win in six attempts. The ever fresh 35-year-old Murray struck in the 25th minute. West Ham had a flurry of close chances and half chances, but Arnautovic could only shoot over the bar from six yards out, and Fabian Balbuena only managed to head wide with the goal begging.

Burnley 1-1 Huddersfield

Huddersfield fought their way to a draw with center back Christopher Schindler scoring his first Premier League goal to earn them a draw. Sam Vokes had handed Burnley the lead when he scored his second goal in as many matches in the 20th minute. Huddersfield Town are still searching for their first win but would have been happy to settle for a draw here, moving up to 18thon the table.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves continued their fine start to life in the English top tier with a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace, moving up to 7th. Matt Doherty scored his first Premier League goal with a fine finish past Palace’ goalkeeper Hennessey in the 56th minute of the game. They pushed to add more cushion to their lead but had goalkeeper Rui Patricio to thank for an excellent double save in the 70th minute.

Leicester 1-2 Everton

Gylfi Sigurdsson scored a stunner to ensure that Everton left the King Power Stadium with their first away win of the Premier League season. Brazil international Richarlison had earlier given them the lead in the seventh minute from a deflection. Kelechi Iheanacho played in Rui Patricio who levelled for the Foxes on 40 minutes before they were reduced to 10 men just 5 minutes after the hour mark. Sigurdsson made this advantage count, ensuring the spoils were not shared as Everton moved level on points with Leicester.

Tottenham 1-0 Cardiff

Following their Wembley Champions League defeat at the hands of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Tottenham returned to winning ways at the same venue. Eric Dier scored a rare goal from a deflected Kieran Trippier cross with only 8 minutes on the clock to get the tie going. Toby Alderweireld cleared on the line to preserve the lead, before Cardiff captain Sean Morrison repeated the trick at the other end. Mike Dean brandished a red card to the visitors just before the hour with Spurs occupying fifth place into the break.

Manchester United 3-2 Newcastle

With reports of Jose’s impending sack filling the buildup to the game, Mourinho needed his boys to stand up and make a statement. It was a struggling United against early relegation strugglers Newcastle who had yet to win – or even lead – a game in the league this season, after 7 tries. This was as winnable as they get, but United found themselves behind after just 7 minutes, and 2 down after 10 minutes – Kenedy and Yoshinori Muto (on his debut) helping Benitez’s men forward. The comeback was set in motion when Mata fired in a well-taken free-kick at 70 minutes. Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez scored one apiece to give United their first win in five games.

Watford 0-4 Bournemouth

Bournemouth eased to a 4-0 win over early fliers Watford at Vicarage Road with Christian Kabasele sent off early in the game. The Cherries took the lead on 14 minutes with David Brooks netting on the rebound. With Watford down to 10 men after 33 minutes, Joshua King scored from the spot for the penalty he’d won, before making it 3 before the break. Callum Wilson scored a goal of his own to make it 4-0 soon after the second period resumed, putting it completely out of reach for the Hornets.

Fulham 1-5 Arsenal

Arsenal stretched their winning run to 9 games in Sunday’s early kick-off, emphatically dispatching off Fulham in style. Alexandre Lacazette grabbed himself a double with substitutes Aaron Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang getting one and two respectively. Lacazette opened the scoring at Craven Cottage with a fine finish from a Nacho Monreal pass just before the half-hour mark, but Andre Schurlle ensured both teams went in level at halftime. Following the restart, Lacazette restored Arsenal’s lead, before Ramsey and Aubameyang came on to seal the victory.

Southampton 0-3 Chelsea

Hazard continued his fine run in front of goal as Ross Barkley starred to ease Chelsea to a comfortable win at St. Mary’s. Hazard gave Chelsea the lead on the stroke of the half hour with a fine finish from Barkley’s assist, taking his tally to a league-leading seven goals in eight games. Barkley soon got off the mark for Chelsea for the first time since his Winter arrival, converting a delightful Olivier Giroud assist. Kepa made some excellent saves to preserve Chelsea’s clean sheet, before Morata got his second goal in as many games after good work by Eden Hazard, ensuring Chelsea goes into the break level on points with both City and Liverpool.

Liverpool 0-0 Man City

Man City may still be looking for their first Anfield win in 15 years, but they sure avoided embarrassment this time. The top of the table clash which had served up many thrillers last season failed to produce any goals as both Klopp and Pep paid their respects to tactically equal opponents. Mohamed Salah had one tame effort at goal, while City came close a number of times. The best chance of the night fell to Riyad Mahrez after Sane was felled by the otherwise reliable Van Dijk. Unfortunately for City, he blazed over, leaving City to rue a missed opportunity to go clear at the top of the table.