Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Premier League Week 8 Results: Arsenal Prevails But Spurs Go Top; Late Lighting At Old Trafford; Chelsea Blitz Burnley; Liverpool, Brighton, West Ham, Newcastle, Villa, Palace, Forest, And Wolves Earn a Point In Weekend of Draws

Arsenal ended the hex, and defeated Manchester City for the first time with Mikel Arteta as manager, in a 1-0 victory Sunday at the Emirates. Gabriel Martinelli, making his return from injury as a second half substitute, scored the winner in the 86th minute to topple Manchester City from the top of the Premier League table. Fellow substitute Kai Havertz earned a bit of redemption with his first assist for the club on Martinelli’s winning goal. Arsenal moved past Manchester City in the standings, but it is Tottenham Hotspur which sits atop the table. North London rivals Spurs and Arsenal are level on points and the two remaining undefeated clubs in the league. The clubs are also equal on goal differential, but Spurs has scored two more goals than the Gunners to break the early table tie. Manchester City falls to third after a second consecutive Premier League loss and third defeat in the Citizens’ last four matches across all competitions. It’s the first time City has lost back-to-back league matches in almost five years.

Tottenham Hotspur squeezed past Luton Town 1-0 despite being reduced to ten men for the entire second half after two first half yellow cards eliminated Yves Bissouma from the contest. Micky van de Ven scored his first goal for Tottenham Hotspur, heading in a cross from James Maddison, Maddison’s joint league leading fifth assist of the season.

Liverpool missed a chance to move past Manchester City into third place when Brighton’s Lewis Dunk scored a 78th minute equalizer in a 2-2 draw with the Reds. Mohamed Salah had a brace for Liverpool and now has five league goals for the season to go with his four assists.

Fifth place Aston Villa still trails Liverpool by a point after a 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton. A Pau Torres goal salvaged a point for the Villans after Hwan Hee-Chan had given Wolves the lead. Hee-Chan scored for a second consecutive match after his winner versus Manchester City last week.

West Ham’s 2-2 draw with Newcastle was another of three draws on Sunday. The Hammers’ Mohammed Kudus delivered his first Premier League goal in the 89th minute to salvage the pint at London Stadium and neutralize a brace by Newcastle’s Alexander Isak.

Manchester United’s Scott McTominay dramatically pulled Manchester United back from the brink with two stoppage time goals for a 2-1 victory over Brentford at Old Trafford. McTominay had only entered the match with three minutes left in regulation before his added time heroics. Harry Maguire, like McTominay a seldom used outcast during Manager Eric ten Hag’s regime, assisted on Mctominay’s winner in the 97th minute. The win snapped a two-match losing run for the Red Devils at their historic ground and prevented Manchester United from losing a fifth Premier League match this season.

Everton had lost all four of its home matches this season before feasting on bumbling Bournemouth at Goodison Park Saturday. Numerous mistakes by the Cherries made the Toffees look like the offensive powerhouse they are not. Winless Bournemouth Manager Andoni Iraola has the Cherries in the relegation zone and likely faces a must win match if he is to save his job in two weeks. After the international break, the Cherries face Wolverhampton and former Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil who was sacked in favor of Iraola after keeping the club up last season.

Chelsea now has three consecutive victories across all competitions following a 4-1 defeat of Burnley. Chelsea exploded for three second half goals after a Burnley own goal had pulled Chelsea back from an early one goal deficit. Raheem Sterling, perhaps with something to prove after not being called up by England, was key to Chelsea roaring back against the Clarets.  It was Sterling’s cross that Burnley defender Ameen Al-Dakhil deflected into his own net. Sterling would then win a penalty converted by Cole Palmer to give Chelsea the lead. Sterling would then score himself for Chelsea’s third goal. Nicolas Jackson would join in the goal scoring fun for Chelsea’s fourth and final goal, assisted by Palmer.

There was no scoring at all at Selhurst Park where Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest played to a goalless draw. Both sides were hampered by the injury absence of key attacking players such as Eberechi Eze for the Eagles and Taiwo Awoniyi for the Tricky Trees. An otherwise unremarkable match did mark Crystal Palace Manager Roy Hodgson’s 400th Premier League contest.

The seat of Sheffield United Manager Paul Heckingbottom became warmer after his Blades were dispatched 3-1 at Fulham. Sheffield United sit at the bottom of the table with one point and no wins to date. Fulham Manager Marco Silva, meanwhile, celebrated his 50th win as Fulham’s manager. Fulham is level on points with 11th place Chelsea.  

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