This third week of the Premier League had everything from goals, red cards, upsets, and unlikely comebacks. The first game of this week began on a Friday at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea, who are coming off a draw and loss in their previous two games, butchered a sorry Luton side thanks to hwinger Raheem Sterling who contributed 2 goals and an assist. Summer transfer Nicolas Jackson bagged his first goal in Chelsea blue. Not much to say here, Chelsea dominated in possession (68% to Luton’s 32%) and had 19 shots, 8 of which were on target.
On Saturday, Tottenham picked up their second win of the season against Bournemouth (who are winless) in a 2-0 game. Tottenham hit the back of the net first in the 17th minute as Pape Mate Sarr threaded a great ball through the Bournemouth defense to new signing James Maddison who clipped it just enough for it to roll into the bottom left corner. In the 63rd minute, left back Udogie hit a great sliding cross into the box which winger Dejan Kulusevski flicked into the back of the net for Tottenham’s second. A solid performance from new keeper Guglielmo Vicario meant that Tottenham kept a clean sheet as he looks to retain that starting spot.
Crystal Palace and Brentford would draw 1-1 in a back-and-forth game. Kevin Schade scored a beautiful goal in the 18th minute that fired into the top right corner. Joachim Anderson would equalize in the 76th minute for Crystal Palace. Brentford remains unbeaten at 9th in the table with 2 draws and 1 win.
In London, Arsenal hosted Fulham in a surprising 2-2 draw which will put a dent in Arsenal’s title chances this season. Fulham scored first after a poor back pass from Arsenal winger Buyako Saka gave Adreas Pereria a chance to score from distance only 1 minute into the match, beating a retreating Aaron Ramsdale. Arsenal fought for an equalizer but found nothing as big chances were blown by players like Saka and Kai Havertz. Finally, in the 70th minute, right-back Tete took down Vieria in the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot. Saka stepped up to take the penalty and made up for the earlier misses by putting this penalty away. 2 minutes later, super-sub Eddie Nketiah hit home a cross from close range to turn the game on its head. Fulham would shoot themselves in the foot in the 83rd minute when Clavin Bassey earned himself a red card for a tackle on Nketiah. But Paulinha hit home a corner in the 86th minute to tie up the game. Fulham would almost score in the last minute thanks to speedster Adama Traore who blew down the left side to force a great save from Aaron Ramsdale.
At Old Trafford, Manchester united found themselves 2-0 down to Nottingham Forest in 4 minutes thanks to in-form man Taiwo Awoniyi (7 consecutive games with a goal) who scored a breakaway goal in the 2nd minute, and defender Willy Bolly who headed home the second goal from a freekick in the 4th minute. However, Christian Eriksen grabbed one back in the 17th minute to give United some hope. Near the end of the first half, Manchester United had a chance to equalize but Casemiro missed a wide-open header in front of goal. In the second half, Casemiro redeemed himself by scoring a close-range goal in the 52nd minute. Nottingham Forest made it more difficult for themselves when Joe Worral made an ill-timed challenge on Bruno Fernades to earn himself a red card in the 67th minute. 9 minutes later Danilo crashed into Rashford in the penalty area to give United a penalty. Bruno stepped up to the ball and fired it past American Matt Turner to complete the comeback.
Two teams who are staring down the barrel of relegation this season went head to head in Everton vs. Wolves which was a show of poor attacking and defensive performances from both teams. The game turned when Sasa Kalajdzic came off the bench and scored a glancing header in the 87th minute to win the game for Wolves. It was only their second shot on target but it was enough to earn them the three points.
An undefeated West Ham traveled to Brighton where they pulled off an emphatic 3-1 win away. It all started in the 19th minute with Ward-Prowse scoring the ice-breaking goal. Not much more happened after that until after the half time break. Brighton almost equalized early into the second half via a header from close range from Evan Ferguson but keeper Areola leaped to make a great save. West Ham cleaned up there struggles early in the half when Benrahma had a breakaway down the left side of the field, he waited for his strikers to catch up and then played a great cross-field ball to an on-running Jared Bowen who took a magnificent first touch and with his second dinked it around the goalie into the left corner for West Ham’s second. West Ham hit a new gear from then on out and in the 63rd minute Jared Bowen hit a great ball into in-form striker Michel Antonio who did a shimmy to juke his defender and fired it through his legs into the bottom left corner. West Ham continued with their attacking mindset with Antonio almost grabbing himself a second and a deflection off a defender hitting the crossbar. Brighton’s Pascal Groß hit a long-range shot into the bottom left corner to give his team some hope but keeper Areola had a fantastic game making numerous saves to deny Brighton any other goals. Bowen squandered a great chance in the dying minutes but it was no matter as West Ham took the 3 points.
League Champions Manchester City traveled to newly promoted Sheffield United in what was expected to be a tidy win, however, it proved to be difficult for City who only managed a 2-1 win. Manchester City dominated the whole game with 80% possession and 30 shots. Despite dominance they failed to score in the entirety of the first half and star striker Erling Haaland even missed a penalty, slamming it against the right post. Finally, in the 63rd minute, a cross from Jack Grealish to the back post found its way to Haaland who slammed it home with his head. City continued to dominate up until the 85th minute when right-back Kyle Walker tried to clear the ball with a back heel which was easily latched on to by Sheffield United player Jayden Bogle who fired a shot into the back of the net much to Manchester City’s dismay. In the 88th minute, some poor defending let Rodri get a shot off in the box which bolted into the back of the net to surely secure the win for Manchester City. They remain undefeated with 3 wins in 3 games.
Aston Villa would breeze past (struggling) Burnley in a 3-1 win that saw Matty Cash scoring twice and Mousa Diaby adding the finalizing touches in the 67th minute of the game. Aston Villa retain their good start to the new season, while Burnley remain without a win in their first season back in the Premier League.
The highly anticipated match-up between Newcastle and Liverpool was the last game of this weekend. Newcastle got the lead in the 25th minute when a simple backpass slid under the foot of Trent Alexander-Arnold and right into the path of an on-running Anthony Gordon who slotted it through Allison’s legs to put Liverpool in a losing position. Liverpool’s defensive woes got worse as Virgil Van Dijk took out Isak in what VAR and the referee deemed a scoring position, so he was charged with a red card. From then Newcastle dominated the first half and much of second but failed to find a second goal. In the 81st minute, substitute Darwin Nύñez got ahold of the ball from right outside the box and fired one past Nick Pope into the bottom left corner tying up the game. In the 93rd minute, he struck again, after a great through ball by Salah allowed Nύñez to take a shot past Pope that secured Liverpool’s win.
