Premier League Matchday 23

A great weekend of football in the Premier league with an abundance of goals and lots of talking points.

I am going to start by breaking down the 7 goal thriller at the Molineux Stadium where Wolves narrowly beat Leicester by way of a last minute winner. Diogo Jota netted 17 times in the Championship last season leaving him as one of the leagues top scorers, he had previously failed to replicate that fine form this season however all of that changed in the early kick off on Saturday. Jota netted a hat-trick including the winning goal in a game that he will not forget in a hurry. The game was wide open with both sides scoring freely, Wolves appeared to miss the commanding presence of Willy Boly who was suspended for the fixture after getting sent off against Manchester City. Early goals from Bennett and Jota meant that Wolves went into the break 2-0 up but by the 51st minute the sides were level after a goal from Gray and an unfortunate own goal from Coady, his second in as many games. Jota put Wolves back in the lead before Wes Morgan levelled for the visitors. Jota completed his hat-trick in the last minute which led to an ecstatic Nuno Espirito Santo storming the pitch. Santo has been charged with misconduct by the FA as a result of this which I believe to be quite harsh as anyone with a passion for the game would want to react in a similar way given the circumstances.

Over in London Arsenal recorded a 2-0 win over rivals Chelsea with the goals coming from Lacazette and Koscielny. Chelsea looked toothless in attack and only managed to register one shot on target all game. Consistently forced wide by Arsenal for the first hour of the game Chelsea put a lot of balls in the box but they were missing a target man. This led to Giroud being introduced in the 68th minute, although the Frenchman was unable to find the net. Chelsea really do need to acquire a goal scorer in this transfer window as they risk missing out on a top 4 finish. Sarri’s decision to play Jorginho in the regista role at the expense of playing Premier League and World Cup winner Ngolo Kante in his preferred position becomes increasingly baffling and frustrating as each game passes by. Another sub-par performance in a big game from Chelsea led to a scathing attack on his players from the manager, he questioned the players attitude and said they are a hard group to motivate. It will be interesting to see if the board back the Italian in the summer and if they do I predict a big change of personnel at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal played well and were able to effectively shutdown Chelsea in the second half of the game after scoring both of their goals in the first half.

The last team to beat Liverpool at Anfield in the league was Crystal Palace over 600 days ago. The ‘bogey’ team returned this Saturday and it was a difficult afternoon for Jurgen Klopp’s men who managed to register a 4-3 win. Goals came from Liverpool’s ever-present trio up top who continued their excellent run of form. Townsend, Tomkins and Meyer found the net for Palace. Wilfried Zaha caused Liverpool trouble all afternoon with a fine performance down the left wing, I would not be surprised to see him finally land a big money move in the summer. James Milner was sent off by none other than his old PE teacher John Moss, with Trent Arnold injured and Clyne on loan to Bournemouth it will be interesting to see who Klopp chooses in the right back slot in Liverpool’s next game.

Manchester United registered another win under new manager Solksjaer as they beat Brighton 2-1 at Old Trafford. The standout performer was Marcus Rashford who has really flourished in this new system at United. Paul Pogba scored from the penalty spot and put in another good performance as United continue to look like a brand new team now that the ‘reigns are off’. The team are now playing a much more attacking brand of football and the players appear much happier than they did during Mourinho’s tenure. Gross scored Brighton’s only goal of the game in the 72nd minute.United are now within 3 points of the top 4 after a remarkable turnaround. Could Solksjaer be the man for the job permanently?

Tottenham are missing Harry Kane to injury and Heung Min Son is at the Asian Games. The depleted side missed their star men and struggled to a 2-1 victory away at 19th placed Fulham on Sunday. Harry Kane’s replacement Fernando Llorente found the net at the wrong end of the pitch as he put Fulham 1-0 up on the 17th minute. Deli Alli scored the equaliser shortly after half time before more misery for Spurs as Alli came off with a hamstring injury late in the game; however it was his replacement Nkoudou who registered an assist in injury time as Kane’s namesake Harry Winks saved the day for Tottenham. Fulham were unlucky not to get the draw here after putting in a good performance, they will need to show real grit towards the back end of the season if they are to remain in the top flight of English football.

In the rest of the weekends action Manchester City kept the pressure on leaders Liverpool as they breezed past bottom of the league Huddersfield 3-0 with goals from Danilo, Sterling and Sane. Burnley and Watford were held in a deadlock at Vicarage Road in a game that finished 0-0. Bournemouth beat West Ham 2-0 by way of a stunning finish from Callum Wilson and a late goal from Josh King. Newcastle cruised to a 3-0 victory against Cardiff with a goal from Perez and a brace from Schar. Everton slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Southampton, the in-form Lucas Digne registered an own goal and the other goals came from Ward Prowse and Sigurdsson.