Newcastle moved into the Premier League’s top four with a decisive 2-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur. Manager Eddie Howe’s Magpies won for a fourth time in their last five matches and are undefeated in seven matches since incurring their only loss of the season at Liverpool. Newcastle striker Callum Wilson opened the scoring with a controversial goal following a collision with Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Miguel Almiron then scored for a fifth time in his last five matches. Spurs received a consolation goal when Harry Kane scored for a tenth time this season, becoming only the fourth player in Premier League history to score in double digits in nine consecutive seasons. Spurs were unable to kick on, however, as the Newcastle defense held firm after Kane’s 54th minute goal. Newcastle has not lost since August while Spurs lost for a second time in the last five days.
The Magpies replaced Chelsea in the top four after Chelsea dropped points in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. An 87th minute penalty kick by Jorginho seemed to decide the match in favor of the home club but the Red Devils were not yet finished. Manchester United midfielder Casemiro headed in the equalizer in the fifth minute of stoppage time to salvage the point for his club and deny Chelsea a sixth consecutive clean sheet across all competitions. Chelsea remains undefeated under Manager Graham Potter but is suffering some of the same lack of offensive spark as experienced under Thomas Tuchel. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raheem Sterling were notably quiet in Saturday’s match as Sterling continued his dubious record of never having scored against Manchester United.
Sterling’s former club, Manchester City, responded to its first loss of the season by defeating Brighton and Hove Albion 3-1. Erling Haaland, who was kept off the scoresheet in his club’s loss to Liverpool, resumed his scoring march with a brace against the Seagulls which brought his season total to 17 goals after just 11 matches. City won for a tenth consecutive time at the Etihad, scoring at least three goals in each of those home victories. The victory on Saturday moved Manchester City to within two points of table leading Arsenal. Brighton, meanwhile, remains without a win after five league matches under Manager Roberto De Zerbi.
Liverpool, which drew with De Zerbi’s squad in his league debut, looked ready to turn around a disappointing season two successive wins over Manchester City and West Ham. That momentum came to a screeching halt, however, when the Reds fell to previously bottom of the table Nottingham Forest in a shocking 1-0 loss at the City Ground.
Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Dean Henderson, on loan from Manchester United, was outstanding in frustrating the efforts of his parent club’s historic rival and perhaps less impressive in his family inappropriate gestures to Liverpool supporters after the match. Nottingham Forest won for just a second time this season to give its own supporters some survival hope. While remaining bottom on goal differential, Forest is now level on points with the other two relegation clubs, two points from safety and, remarkably, just five points from the top half of a tightly congested Premier League table. Liverpool finds itself five points removed from the Champions League places after its disappointing performance on the weekend. Manager Jurgen Klopp needs to go back to the drawing board to find the answers to his club’s puzzlingly poor season. Southampton held league leading Arsenal to a 1-1 draw as Arsenal dropped points for only a second time this season. Stuart Armstrong equalized for the Saints in the 65th minute after Granit Xhaka had given the Gunners an early lead. The scrappy Saints have recovered to capture points from losing positions on eight occasions this season with only Crystal Palace having executed more comebacks. Arsenal had won 18 consecutive league matches when scoring the first goal.
Former Arsenal manger Unai Emery has been announced as the next manager at Aston Villa. Emery returns to the Premier League after a period of rehabilitation in Spain. While his league results in Spain were somewhat underwhelming, Emery once again proved himself a master of European competitions as his Villarreal side won a fourth Europa League Cup for the manager by defeating Manchester United in the 2021 final. Emery suffered communication issues during his much-criticized Arsenal reign and close attention will be focused on how his relationship with the Aston Villa players progresses. Those players were believed highly unhappy under former Manager Steven Gerrard and celebrated their freedom from the former Liverpool legend by winning 4-0 over Brentford in their first match since Gerrard’s sacking. The four-goal outburst was only the second time this season that Villa had scored more than a goal. The Bees, meanwhile, have been stung for at least three goals in a third of their games and are one of five teams to have conceded more than 20 goals this season.
Crystal Palace, playing without suspended defensive midfielder Cheik Doucoure, was also guilty of a poor defensive performance in a 3-0 defeat at Everton. The necessary insertion of Luka Milivojevic for the absent Doucoure significantly weakened the Eagle defense. The Toffees saw oft injured striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin score for a first time this season after one Milivojevic miscue. The Palace attack, meanwhile, was fruitless against an Everton defense which has conceded the joint third fewest goals in the league.
Wolverhampton has scored the fewest goals in the league and added horrendous defense to its repertoire in a 4-0 pasting at the hands of Leicester. The Foxes moved out of the relegation zone as Jamie Vardy scored his first goal of the season. Wolves, Leicester, and Nottingham Forest now lead the league with a dubious seven losses apiece. Leeds is gaining in the loss column, however, after losing for a fourth consecutive time in a 3-2 home loss to Fulham. The managerial tenure of Jesse Marsch hangs by a thread after the home supporters at Elland Road were vociferous in their condemnation of the American manager after another poor performance dropped Leeds into the relegation places. Fulham’s fifth win in twelve league contests matches the win total for the entirety of the Cottagers’ last season in the Premier League in 2020/21.
West Ham moved into the top half of the table for a first time this season with a 2-0 win over Bournemouth as Said Benrahma and Kurt Zouma notched their first goals of the season for the Hammers. Bournemouth lost, while failing to score, for a second consecutive match as the successful new manager bounce associated with interim manager Gary O’Neil appears to be ebbing.
