Premier League – Week 7

Tottenham continued a miserable week with defeat to Brighton in the early kick off, and Manchester United, hoping to end their torrid run, visited Newcastle to end the match weekend.

We were treated to 25 goals, 41 yellow cards and saw Seamus Coleman get sent off.

 

Saturday

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Brighton & Hove Albion v Tottenham Hotspur

3-0

Tottenham’s miserable week continued as they followed their Champions League thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich with a crushing loss at Brighton.

After their 7-2 drilling midweek, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino was expecting a response from his players, which didn’t only not happen but goalie Hugo Lloris gifted Neal Maupay a bizarre opener, suffering a freak arm injury in the process.

Although the visitors improved after the break, Aaron Connolly killed off any hope of them launching a comeback as the 19-year-old Irishman produced a well taken strike for his second goal of the game, Brighton’s third.

Tottenham have now failed to win in their last 10 away games in the League, stretching back to a 2-1 victory at Fulham on January 20, and have lost 17 in all competitions this calendar year – more than any other top-flight side.

To make the win extra special for the Seagulls, not only was it their first win since opening day, but it was Graham Potter‘s first at the Amex since becoming manager.

 

Up Next:

Villa v Brighton – Saturday, October 19 (10am)

Spurs v Watford – Saturday, October 19 (10am)

 

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Burnley v Everton

1-0

Jeff Hendricks‘ beautiful volley ensured Burnley punished 10-man Everton and piled even more pressure on beleaguered Toffees manager Marco Silva.

The visitors have lost their last four league games and find themselves just above the relegation zone, whilst their hosts slowly but surely climb the table.

Up until the goal it had been a scrappy affair; home keeper Nick Pope tipped Gylfi Sigurdsson‘s curling free-kick wide, whilst Johann Berg Gudmundsson headed his attempt straight to Jordan Pickford at the other end.

The Toffees will rue the dismissal of captain Seamus Coleman, who picked up a yellow in each half, which allowed the Clarets to take advantage and win the game.

 

Up Next:

Leicester v Burnley – Saturday, October 19 (10am)

Everton v West Ham – Saturday, October 19 (7:30am)

 

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Liverpool v Leicester City

2-1

James Milner‘s injury-time penalty earned the Reds a dramatic win over an in-form Leicester City, helping maintain their flawless start to the Premier League season.

Brendan Rodgers‘ Foxes looked to be on course for a hard-earned point on his return to Anfield after James Maddison‘s low finish 10 minutes from time cancelled out Sadio Mane‘s 40th-minute strike.

As the clock ticked into stoppage time a communication breakdown between Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel and sub Marc Albrighton ended with the latter bringing down Mane. After consultation with the video referee the penalty was awarded, Milner stepped up and scored, Jurgen Klopp celebrated wildy as his side took the lead, and Rodgers turning away in despair.

The Foxes felt they’d done enough to earn a point and their frustrations exploded at the final whistle, with sub Ayoze Perez getting involved in angry exchanges with numerous Liverpool players – who were celebrating increasing their lead of Man City at the top of the league to eight points.

 

Up Next:

Man United v Liverpool – Sunday, October 20 (11:30am)

Leicester v Burnley Saturday, October 19 (10am)

 

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Norwich City v Aston Villa

1-5

Aston Villa were ruthless as they swept aside an injury-plagued Norwich City to move out of the bottom three and leapfrog their opponents in the table.

Record signing Wesley answered his critics by opening the scoring with a neat control and finish, doubling the tally with a tap-in, then missing a penalty.

The Canaries continued to defend woefully after the break, allowing Jack Grealish to sweep in a third and effectively end the hosts’ hopes of a comeback.

Conor Hourihane and Douglas Luiz added more to ruin Norwich boss Daniel Farke‘s 100th league game in charge, and made sure it ended in humiliation, even with Josip Drmic striking a consolation goal.

The stunning road win sees Dean Smith‘s side move up to 15th, whilst their hosts slide into the bottom three with their fifth defeat in six games.

 

Up Next:

Bournemouth v Norwich – Saturday, October 19 (10am)

Villa v Brighton – Saturday, October 19 (10am)

 

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Watford v Sheffield United 

0-0

Watford remain without a Premier League win this season after being held to a forgettable goalless draw by Sheffield United, who extended their unbeaten away run at Vicarage Road.

Neither side was able to steal the game in a low quality first half, although Andre Gray should have given the hosts an early lead, but somehow managed to lift Roberto Pereyra‘s low cross over the bar with an open goal. That situation was almost made worse down the other end when Craig Cathcart nearly scored into his own net, but Ben Foster spared the captain’s blushes with a magnificent fingertip save.

The Hornets improved slightly after the break and Danny Welbeck should have broken the deadlock, but Dean Henderson thwarted the former Arsenal and Man United striker with a clever stop.

The hosts remain bottom of the table with three points from seven games, whilst Chris Wilder‘s side sit 13th. 

 

Up Next:

Spurs v Watford – Saturday, October 19 (10am)

Sheffield v Arsenal – Monday, October 21 (3pm)

 

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West Ham United v Crystal Palace

1-2

Crystal Palace snatched victory at West Ham as Jordan Ayew had an 87th-minute goal awarded by VAR at the London Stadium.

The score was originally ruled offside by the linesman after Ayew slotted home Martin Kelly‘s header but the decision was overturned after a lengthy VAR review.

Sebastien Haller had given the hosts the lead, but Patrick van Aanholt‘s penalty leveled the playing field before Ayew‘s goal stole all three points.

The win moves Roy Hodgson‘s side into sixth, tied on points with Chelsea (14), whilst ending West Ham’s six-game unbeaten run.

 

Up Next:

Everton v West Ham – Saturday, October 19 (7:30am)

Palace v City – Saturday, October 19 (12:30pm)

 

Sunday

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Arsenal v AFC Bournemouth

1-0

David Luiz scored the lone goal as Arsenal edged past Bournemouth, moving them up to third in the Premier League.

The Brazilian glanced home Nicolas Pepe‘s ninth-minute corner for his first goal since his summer arrival from Chelsea.

Bournemouth improved after the break and went close through Callum Wilson, but they rarely troubled Bernd Leno in the Arsenal goal.

A last-ditch tackle from Matteo Guendouzi prevented Joshua King from converting a low cross from Wilson, who also fired straight at Leno in stoppage time.

The Gunners move above Leicester, Burnley and Palace with the win, but the Cherries remain 10th.

 

Up Next:

Sheffield v Arsenal – Monday, October 21 (3pm)

Bournemouth v Norwich – Saturday, October 19 (10am)

 

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Manchester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers

0-2

Adama Traore, who hadn’t scored since September 2018, netted twice in the final 10 minutes at the Etihad Stadium to ensure the reigning champions fell eight points behind Liverpool in the title race.

It’s the first time Wolves have defeated Man City on the road in the top flight since 1979.

Traore scored the first 10 minutes from time after capitalizing on a mistake from Joao Cancelo, before heading in the second on the break deep into stoppage time.

City have now dropped five points in their opening four home games of the season. They dropped just three in the whole of last season and seven the one before that.

David Silva came closest for the hosts when his free-kick hit the bar after the break. Raheem Sterling also had a shot blocked in the scramble that followed.

It’s only the second time in 45 league games that the champions have failed to score. The last time it happened at home was in the league against Huddersfield in May 2018, by which time they’d already won their first title of the Guardiola era.

 

Up Next:

Palace v City – Saturday, October 19 (12:30pm)

Wolves v Southampton – Saturday, October 19 (10am)

 

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Southampton v Chelsea

1-4

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard believes his Blues side can get “a lot better” after they swept past Southampton to move into fifth.

Tammy Abraham‘s looping finish gave the visitors the lead, before Mason Mount doubled Chelsea’s advantage from close range.

Danny Ings reduced the deficit for the Saints, but N’Golo Kante‘s deflected shot off Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Michy Batshuayi‘s neat finish sealed the victory, and left the hosts down in 17th, above the relegation only on merit.

 

Up Next:

Wolves v Southampton – Saturday, October 19 (10am)

Chelsea v Newcastle – Saturday, October 19 (10am)

 

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Newcastle United v Manchester United 

1-0

Steve Bruce hopes Newcastle’s victory over the struggling Manchester United “is the turning point” as his side moved out of the relegation zone and in to 16th.

Matty Longstaff, 19, capped an impressive debut with the winner, drilling home a low finish from outside the box to leave the Red Devils sitting 12th, just two points above the bottom three with only two wins this season.

Longstaff‘s debut was made even more the special as he got to play in the midfield alongside his brother Sean. The former could have scored in the first half but rattled the crossbar with a thunderous 25-yard drive, whilst Fabian Schar flicked a header narrowly over.

Steve Bruce finally got his first managerial win over Manchester United. It’s taken him 400 league games but he’s accomplished it. He won three top-flight titles as a player with the Red Devils.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær‘s side looked bereft of ideas in front of goal – Andreas Pereira‘s curling strike made for a comfortable save for Martin Dubravka, whilst Harry Maguire nodded a free header wide from four yards out.

Man United’s tally of nine points after eight games is their lowest since 1989/90, when they were one point worse off.

 

Up Next:

Chelsea v Newcastle – Saturday, October 19 (10am)

Man United v Liverpool – Sunday, October 20 (11:30am)

 

 

ALL TIMES U.S. EASTERN

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