EPL Round 9 Week in Review.

Everton 2 – 0 West Ham United (Bernard 16, Sigurdsson 90+2)

Bernard and Sigurdsson earn Everton triumph

Everton were looking to gain traction after starting the weekend in the relegation zone against an impressive West Ham side. It didn’t take long for the home side to grab the opener, however, as Bernard drove onto the penalty area and took the long way around the West Ham defense before he prodded it past Roberto in the West Ham goal after just 16 minutes. The goal was thoroughly deserved as Everton have been dominant in the early stages.

West Ham did create some decent chances of their own as the half wore on, most notably from a Lanzini free kick that was blazed fractionally past Pickford’s left hand post.

Momentum didn’t change during the break at half time as Everton were very much in the ascendancy and were very close to getting their second as Walcott received the ball on the edge of the box and absolutely drilled it onto the crossbar with Roberto not moving. Iwobi also had an excellent chance but failed to strike it past the goalkeeper, instead opting to hit it straight at him.

Sigurdsson who was strangely left out of the first team came on in the 87th minute, and it did not take long for him to make an impact as he took possession on the edge of the box and buried an absolute perfect strike into the top left corner.

Everton could’ve won this game 5 or 6 nil today. West Ham just didn’t seem to have any bite and will go back to London with their tails between their legs.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 -1 Watford (Doucoure 6, Alli 86)

Watford, who are sitting bottom of the table traveled to North London with more hope than they would’ve expected as Spurs are seemingly drifting further and further down the league table. Especially after the last time out’s loss to Brighton, the fans expected to see Pochettino’s side to try and make a statement here, but unfortunately it was more of the same. Doucoure scored the opener for Watford in the 6th minute from a wonderful cross from Janmaat and the Frenchman calmly slotted the ball past Gazzaniga.

Tottenham could count themselves very unlucky when Deulofeu slid in on Rose and contact seemed to have been made but the referee and VAR between them decided that there wasn’t enough. More penalty shouts, this time it looked stonewall penalty as Vertonghen clipped the ankle/foot of Deulofeu and he went tumbling inside the box, but once again the officials and VAR decided it wasn’t; wrong call in my opinion.

Second half started and Poch decided to bring on Heung-Min Son, and he immediately made a difference to the home side as he latched onto a nice ball from Dele Alli and cracked the ball against the Watford crossbar.

Finally though, Tottenham did get their equalizer after a huge mix up between Foster and Kiko, and Alli just chested the ball and drilled it into the empty goal. However, VAR once again came into effect, as they looked to see if Dele had handled the ball, but it looked to be his shoulder and the goal stood. Game over and a very lucky escape for Spurs, still far from good enough for the home side as Watford gave them a very good game and Watford can hold their heads high after this one.

Aston Villa 2-1 Brighton (Grealish 45+2, Taggert 90+4, Webster 21)

Both sides here started the day in a very similar position, just hovering in and around the relegation zone, but today Villa were the side who managed to get the three points. But it was Brighton who scored first with a wonderfully placed header from Webster that sailed past Heaton who couldn’t do much about it. The next controversial moment of the game came via a couple of rash challenges 5 minutes apart from Aaron Mooy which resulted in a red card for the Australian.

It’s far too sad that the dismissal of moot had definitely changed the momentum of the game, as Aston Villa became the dominant side with Grealish running the show for the home side. Villa thought they’d equalized when Hourihane hitting a brilliant strike into the top corner but it was ruled out by VAR as Wesley had held down Matt Ryan in the build up of the play. The equalizer did come shortly after though after Grealish tapped in a Giulbert cross after the defenders seemed to leave it for each other and Villa park came to life.

Aston Villa had the majority of the second half but without really creating any clear cut chances despite Jack Grealish absolutely dominating the play. And the hard work paid off deep into injury time when Grealish set up Taggert with a delightful deft tough that the Englishman passed into the top corner and Villa Park erupted in cheers as Villa win their 3rd game of the season.

Bournemouth 0 – 0 Norwich

Both sides had gone into this game without having a clean sheet this season and both sides came away with one after what can only be described as a dour game with not an awful lot to report on. The first real chance of the game fell to Dominic Solanke after Callum Wilson laid it off to the youngster. But he hit it straight at Tim Krul, which resulted in a corner. Midway through the second half Pukki forced a great save out of Ramsdale as he powered a low strike towards the bottom left corner.

Both sides will be happy with a clean sheet and it’s Norwich’s first point away from Carrow Road, but that’s really the only positive to come out off this game.

Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle (Alonso 73)

Newcastle traveled to Stamford Bridge with hopes of winning their second game in a row after beating Manchester United before the International break, and after an uneventful first half they seem to be doing everything right. But Chelsea eventually grew into the game as Abraham hits the bar after Willian’s delivery is perfectly placed just before the hour mark.

Dubravka pulled off a couple of nice saves including against Pulisic when he was played in by Willian, but unfortunately for Steve Bruce’s side Chelsea finally reached a breakthrough when Hudson-Odoi played in Marcus Alonso on the left hand side of the box and the Spaniard drilled it hard and low.

In the 80th minute Abraham was extremely close to getting his 8th goal of the campaign but was denied by Yedlin with a last ditch tackle.

Chelsea extend their unbeaten run to 5 games now and Newcastle drop back into the relegation zone.

Leicester City 2 – 1 Burnley (Vardy 45, Tielemans 74, Wood 26)

Leicester who started their day sitting third in the table hosted Burnley, who themselves were comfortably mid-table and one year on from Leicester’s owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s tragic death, this was always going to be an emotional affair.

Leicester started the day the brighter of the two sides as an early corner from Maddison caused chaos in the box before Burnley got rid of the danger. 10 minutes later, Chris Wood had a good chance but just couldn’t reach the ball after it deflected of Soyuncu and just missed the striker and fell into Schmeicel’s arms.

The deadlock was broken 25 minutes in after a lovely lofted cross from McNeil found Wood in between Soyuncu and Evans at the far post and Wood was there to head the ball right into the top corner from close range.

Leicester did draw level just before the break when a greta cross from Barnes came in from the left and Vardy met it head first and it flew into the back of the net.

Leicester’s winner came 16 minutes from time after Burnley couldn’t quite clear the ball after a cross from the right by Barnes, and it fell perfectly to Tielemans who smashed it into the top corner.

There was more drama to come as Burnley thought they had equalized but was ruled out by VAR as it looked like Wood had tripped Evans, but I admit it was quite harsh on the visitors. Leicester hold on for the 3 points and are looking to be a very strong outfit this season.

Wolves 1 – 1 (Ings 53, Jiminez 61)

Southampton traveled to the midlands to face a Wolves side who was still on a high after defeating Manchester City during the last round of fixtures.

Wolves put the ball in the back of the net just before half an hour as Jimenez took it around Gunn and slotted it into the back of the net. Unfortunately though, it was ruled out for “deliberate handball” and Jimenez picked up a yellow card for his trouble. Jimenez put it into the back of the net again after a Cutrone shot was parried away from the Saints keeper, and again it was ruled out, this time though, due to offside.

Early in the second half we got the breakthrough, Danny Ings ran it into the box and dribbled it around Rui Patricio; nice goal from the former Liverpool striker, deadlock was broken. Less than 10 minutes later, Wolves got the equalizer, Doherty was taken out by Hojberg inside the box and the referee had no choice but to point to the spot. Jimenez finally got his goal after placing it into the bottom left hand corner.

It was very much an even game, and a draw is a fair result. Both sides could have won it, but there was a lack of killer instinct inside the box. Southampton climb out of the relegation zone, albeit only just in 17th and Wolves only 3 points above them in 13th.

Crystal Palace 0 – 2 Manchester City (Jesus 39, D. Silva 41)

Manchester City were hoping to try rebound from their shock loss to Wolves last time out and Crystal Palace were wanting more of the same after beating West Ham and Norwich consecutively.

Man City came out the stronger and after 5 minutes Kevin De Bruyne supplied his trademark cross into the box and Jesus just couldn’t connect and the defence managed to scramble the ball clear. 5 minutes later, Gundogan cut inside and curled his effort towards the bottom right corner and Hennessey stuck his foot out to turn the shot away.

City were dominating throughout the first half and they finally got their goal when Bernardo Silva supplied a glorious cross and Gabriel Jesus connected with a diving header which went in off the far post. 2 minutes later it was 2! David Silva was unmarked as he latched onto Sterling’s pass and calm volleyed between the Palace keeper’s legs; 2 -0 and it looked like it could be few more.

Early in the second half, Sterling himself came close as he wrong footed his defender before driving his shot towards the goal but Hennessy managed to get across quick enough to save it. An hour into the game there was a good penalty claim for the visitors as Zaha clumsily brought down De Bruyne, however VAR decided it wasn’t a “clear and obvious” error and the play continued. Fifteen minutes from the end, Man City’s ‘keeper Ederson was forced to make a quite brilliant save from a Benteke header as the Brazilian pushed it onto the bar and out of danger. There were a couple more chances for the away side but the 3 points went to the Manchester club who put more pressure onto Liverpool.

Manchester United 1 – 1 Liverpool (Rashford 36, Lallana 85)

The perennial thigh rubber of the weekend saw bitter rivals Manchester United and Liverpool go head to head at Old Trafford on Sunday Afternoon. Both sides needed the win for very different reasons; United needed this to get themselves out of trouble and try and regain some momentum, whereas Liverpool would go on to break the winning record of 18 games with a win here.

United started the better of the two sides, but it was Firmino who probably had the first real chance for the visitors, the ball was worked nicely and neatly found the Brazilian however he managed to completely slice the ball and completely miss the target from a tight angle. 10 minutes from the end of the half, the home side took the lead, Daniel James had plenty of space down the right hand side and played a lovely ball across the Liverpool penalty area and Rashford calmly placed the ball beyond Alisson, who was making his return from injury. However, Liverpool complained that Origi was fouled in the build up to the goal, but VAR deemed it not to be.

Mane had the ball in the back of the next right on half time after he out muscled Lindelof and slotted the ball past De Gea, but it was obvious that he had handled the ball and the goal did not stand.

The second half was much more in Liverpool’s favor and the pressure was starting to tell as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came quite close from a shot from the edge of the box. Liverpool did eventually get their equalizer very late on and from an unlikely source. Robertson played a beautiful cross from the left that evaded everyone and Lallana at the far post post knocked it in to an open goal in the 84th minute. Liverpool were whisker’s away from winning the game after a ferocious shot from Oxlade-Chamberlain would go millimeters wide of the post in the 92nd minute.

It was probably a fair result based on the balance of the play, but both sides could have won it.

Sheffield United 1 – 0 Arsenal (Mousset 30)

The final game of the weekend was at Bramall Lane, where Sheffield United hosted Arsenal. The home side have surprised many as their brand of football from last season in the Championship seemed to still be working in the Premier League with comebacks against Chelsea and a win against Everton. They’re a very enjoyable team to watch, but Arsenal who are very exciting in their own right came to Sheffield with high expectations.

The first main chance of the game fell to the away side, as Leno’s clearance was met by Kolasinac who put the ball on the plate for the Ivorian who just couldn’t make enough contact on the ball which could’ve almost guaranteed a goal.

Sheffield United got the breakthrough, as the home side won a corner and from the set piece, O’Connell’s knockdown was greeted by a simple tap in by Lys Mousset for his first goal of the season. Right on half time Xhaka had a couple of good chances to equalize but Henderson in goal was equal to the challenge.

Some nice build up play for the Blades ends with Lundstram playing it to Fleck who ends up hitting the side netting, Arsenal had a few half chances trying to chase the equaliser but they seem to be disjointed and Emery has some serious work on his hands if this Arsenal side are to end up in the top 4. On the other hand, the Sheffield United fans are extremely happy as they should be, the home side created the better of the chances and nobody would argue that they didn’t deserve the win.

So at the end of the weekend, Man City have closed the gap at the top of the league to 6 points after Liverpool were held at Old Trafford, Leicester, Chelsea, Arsenal and Crystal Palace make up the remaining top 6 places, where as down at the bottom, Watford are still stuck at the base after picking up a point in North London and Newcastle and Norwich are 18 and 19th respectively.

Thanks for reading, Lee Spilling (@Leeboy83ynwa)