Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Premier League Week 5 Results: Manchester City Stays Perfect; Spurs Use Extra Time To Cut Down Blades; Seagulls Bombard Troubled United; Liverpool Slay Wolves; Arsenal Edges Everton; Villa Grounds Eagles With Late Goals

Manchester City spotted West Ham an early lead before the Citizens scored three second half goals to remain unbeaten and untied on the season. James Ward-Prowse had put West Ham in front and the Citizens were being frustrated early on by West Ham’s low block defense and some outstanding goalkeeper play by Alphonse Areola. The comeback started when Jeremy Doku scored his first goal as a Manchester City player less than a minute into the second half. Bernardo Silva put City ahead at the 76-minute mark and 10 minutes later Erling Haaland scored his league leading seventh goal of the season. Manchester City remained top of the table with their fifth win in as many matches. West Ham, meanwhile, suffered its first loss of the season against two wins and a draw.

Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur also delivered comeback victories to remain undefeated, two points behind Manchester City. Wolverhampton’s Hwang Hee-Chan stunned Liverpool with a goal just seven minutes into the clubs’ match at Molineux Stadium. It wasn’t until the second half that the Liverpool attack began to flash. Mohamed Salah assisted Cody Gakpo’s equalizer and then found Andy Robertson who deposited the matchwinner into the net in the 85th minute. Wolverhampton, which failed to put a shot on the correct target in the second half, was victimized by an own goal in stoppage time to end matters.

Tottenham Hotspur stayed undefeated with late drama in north London. Spurs were surprisingly on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline with newly promoted Sheffield United at the end of regulation time. Eight minutes into stoppage, a Richarlison goal breathed life into his side.

Two minutes later, the Brazilian striker would assist the winner by Dejan Kulusevski. The 98th minute goal was the latest winning comeback in Premier League history and continues a fairy tale start to Manager Ange Postecoglou’s Premier League career. The Australian was named Premier League Manager of the Month for August and has won both of his September matches to continue a four-match winning run. Sheffield United Manager Paul Heckingbottom, meanwhile, can only bemoan another near miss as all four of the Blades’ losses this season have been by a single goal, the last three defeats coming in the 88th minute or later.

Brighton heaped further misery on Manchester United when the Seagulls soared to a 3-1 victory at Old Trafford. Brighton leads the league in goalscoring, and a porous Manchester United defense was no match for the Seagulls. Saturday’s loss marked a fourth consecutive match in which the Red Devils conceded more than one goal, an undesirable feat which hadn’t been accomplished by the club since 1979. United has also lost three times in its opening five matches for the first time since 1989. Brighton has now won their last four league matches against the Red Devils and are currently fifth in the Premier League table after winning four of five matches this season. The Seagulls will also play their first ever European match this week, hosting AEK Athens in the Europa League.

Aston Villa moved up the table, to seventh position, with a thrilling 3-1 win over Crystal Palace. In yet another Saturday comeback in the Premier League, Villa was losing by a goal after 86 minutes of play against the Eagles. Jhon Duran would knot matters before regulation time ended and a controversial penalty kick would give the Villans the lead eight minutes into stoppage time. A 111th minute goal by Leon Bailey would then remove all doubt. Crystal Palace Manager Roy Hodgson, who became ill before the match, was absent as his Eagles crash landed.

Arsenal eked out a 1-0 victory over Everton in Sunday’s late match. Leandro Trossard scored the only goal of the match in the 69th minute as the Gunners remained two points behind Manchester City and level on 13 points with Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool. Trossard was deputizing for Gabriel Martinelli who was forced off in the first half with a hamstring injury. David Raya, meanwhile, kept a clean sheet in his goalkeeping debut for Arsenal as Everton has now harvested just two goals from five matches, both of those goals coming in a 2-2 draw with Sheffield United.

Luton Town have also scored just twice but have played only four matches, all losses, after the Hatters’ 1-0 defeat on Saturday at Fulham. Carlos Vinicius scored the winner for a Cottagers side which has scored just a goal or less in four of its five matches, managing to win two of those contests, as the club navigates life after the departure of striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Newcastle, another former club of Mitrovic’s, ended a three-match losing run with a 1-0 victory over Brentford. It was a close affair with the Magpies earning the victory on Callum Wilson’s penalty kick after Anthony Gordon was taken down by Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flecken. Wilson is unerringly accurate from the spot, converting on his last 11 penalty kicks taken. Brentford lost for the first time in its last eight league matches dating to last season.

Chelsea continued to spin its wheels in a goalless draw at Bournemouth. Both clubs failed to convert opportunities and both goalkeepers played well. Chelsea was held scoreless for a second consecutive match and has just one win, over basement dweller Luton Town, this season. Bournemouth Manager Andoni Iraola continues to search for his Premier League win.

Burnley’s Vincent Kompany can celebrate his first point as a Premier League manager after his Clarets drew 1-1 at Nottingham Forest. The Clarets defeated the Tricky Trees in August at the City Ground in Carabao Cup play and Forest Manager Steve Cooper cannot be happy with his club failing to come away with a victory from two home matches with Burnley. Forest was perhaps fortunate not to lose this second meeting. After former Chelsea player Callum Hudson-Odoi had knotted matters in the second half with his first goal for Nottingham Forest, Lyle Foster looked to have given Burnley a late win but was deprived by a VAR ruling of a handball in the buildup.

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