Leaders Liverpool lost their 3rd match in a week, and their 2nd to a last-minute winner, to a resurgent Chelsea. Matchday 7 began with Bournemouth reaching 2nd place (briefly), before victories for Arsenal and Spurs on Saturday. Elsewhere, Manchester United recorded their 3rd-straight home victory (something that hasn’t happened for 2 years), as they defeated Sunderland, who remain 1 point ahead of the Red Devils. On Sunday, there were victories for Aston Villa, Everton, Newcastle, and Manchester City, despite facing heavy pressure at the end of the match from Brentford. Guardiola will be fearing the worst, however, after former Ballon d’Or winner Rodri went off injured. Wolves were also made to wait for their first league victory, after conceding a late equaliser to Brighton. Sports Talk United takes a look at some of the biggest matches on matchday 7.
Semenyo storms the Cottagers
Bournemouth’s excellent start to the season saw them start Friday night’s fixture against Fulham in 6th place. As storm Amy rocked the Vitality Stadium, the home side failed to deliver a clear-cut chance, despite the early pressure. Adams and Semenyo both forced Bernd Leno into smart saves, while an offside flag prevented a strong penalty appeal from Evanilson. Much like everyone in the stadium, the first-half was mostly a ‘damp squib’.
Into the second-half, and Bournemouth stepped up a gear. A David Brooks corner almost went straight in, but Leno managed to claw the ball away from under the crossbar. Then, out of nowhere, Fulham looked like a threat, and opened the scoring. Ryan Sessegnon charged forwards down Fulham’s left-flank. After passing to Samuel Chukwueze, he continued his run into the penalty area. An inch-perfect pass allowed Sessegnon to poke home from just 8 yards out. Fulham had the lead, despite barely being in the match beforehand.
Bournemouth’s response arrived in the form of Semenyo. Receiving the ball on the left-flank, he stood 2 Fulham players up, before charging around the outside of both. At the byline, he drove into the penalty area, before firing an audacious effort from the tightest of angles. The shot was too powerful for Leno, who let the ball through his legs. Bournemouth had all of the momentum again, and it only took 5 minutes to find the lead. Justin Kluivert received a pass in the centre-circle, before carrying the ball forwards. Under minimal pressure, he drifted past Tom Cairney, before firing an unstoppable effort into the top corner from 25 yards.
Looking for an equaliser, the ball was cleared to the edge of the area following a Fulham corner, and Kluivert played a through ball for Cannon-Doak to run onto. The pacy winger had the entire Fulham half to sprint into, before he slid a pass across the penalty area. Semenyo had the pace to keep up with the Scotland winger, and he smashed the ball past Leno to send Bournemouth second in the table.
Estêvão gives Liverpool the Blues
The first-half was a tentative affair, though lit up with a single moment of magic. In the 14th minute, Moises Caicedo received the ball 40 yards from goal, and drove forwards. With no defender coming out to close him down, he fired a pinpoint effort into the top corner from the edge of the box. Liverpool’s biggest chance fell to Dominik Szoboszlai, but his goal-bound effort was blocked by Benoît Badiashile. Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca was then booked for protesting the referee not awarding his side a penalty.
During the break, Conor Bradley was replaced by Florian Wirtz, and he almost made an immediate impact. Cody Gakpo stole the ball on the halfway line, and Liverpool charged forwards. The Dutchman passed to Wirtz on the edge of the area, and the German produced a glorious pirouetted back-heel into the path of Mo Salah, whose effort from 10 yards was saved. Salah then rolled back the years, charging down the right wing, cutting inside Badiashile, before firing an effort over the bar. Liverpool were turning the screw, and the pressure told just after the hour. Szoboszlai crossed to the penalty spot, and Alexander Isak produced a sublime first touch, gently turning it into the path of Gakpo, who fired home from 6 yards.
Rather than buckle under the pressure, Chelsea fought back, and targeted Szoboszlai at right-back. Estêvão and substitute Jamie Gittens both forced Giorgi Mamardashvili into big saves. Estêvão then crossed to Enzo Fernández 6 yards out, but his header hit the post. Deep into stoppage-time, Liverpool were sitting deeper and deeper. On the edge of the box, Fernández slipped a clever pass into Marc Cucurella, who fired the ball across the 6-yard box. At the back post was Estêvão charging in, beating Andy Robertson to the ball, and forcing it over the line. Stamford Bridge erupted, and Maresca ran off to join the goal celebrations. When he returned, he was shown a second yellow card, and dismissed. It made no difference to the final score, but it is still Chelsea’s 4th red card in their last 5 matches.
Toffees prove too sticky for Palace
Crystal Palace were looking to extend their club record-breaking run of 19 matches unbeaten, while Everton were hoping to be the first club to beat the Eagles since April 16th (a 5 – 0 loss to Newcastle Utd).
It was the away side that started the stronger, with Marc Guéhi forcing Jordan Pickford into a close-range save, and Tyrick Mitchell hitting the outside of the post from an ambitious effort. A lovely passing move between Ismaïla Sarr and Adam Wharton almost led to the opening goal, feeding Jean-Philippe Mateta on the edge of the area. His powerful effort was well parried away by Pickford, though. With the away side in control, it was no surprise they opened the scoring soon after. Yeremy Pino turned his marker, fed Sarr deep in the Everton half, and laid the ball right to the onrushing Daniel Muñoz, who finished low past Pickford.
During the half-time interval, Everton head coach David Moyes made a double-substitution: with Carlos Alcaraz and Beto replacing the ineffective Tyler Dibling and Thierno Barry. Despite starting the second-half with significantly more purpose, it was Palace who threatened. Mateta had a 1-vs-1 from 12 yards, beating Pickford with a clipped finish, only for Jacob O’Brien to head off the line. Sarr was then played in by Pino, and he initially went round Pickford, but enough defenders were covering to stop his shot. The rebound fell to Mateta, but he stabbed his instinctive effort wide of the post, with Pickford stranded.
Palace were soon made to rue their missed chances. Vitalii Mykolenko clipped a ball into the penalty area for Beto to chase, though Maxence Lacroix had him covered. He had not, however, noticed the run of Tim Iroegbunam, and brought the Everton player down. Iliman Ndiaye stepped up, sent Henderson the wrong way, and suddenly the home side sensed victory. With Palace holding on for a draw, Everton charged forward. In stoppage time, after some lovely interchange in midfield, Alcaraz slipped the ball down the right for Ndiaye to chase. From the byline, he clipped a ball to the middle, where Beto powered a header at goal. Henderson saved brilliantly with his feet, with the ball falling to Muñoz. His attempted clearance hit the foot of Jack Grealish, who was closing him down, with the ball ricocheting into the net for his first Everton goal.
For the first time in 173 days, Crystal Palace lost.
Premier League MD 7 Results
( ) = Premier League position
- (4) Bournemouth 3 – 1 Fulham (14)
- (15) Leeds United 1 – 2 Spurs (3)
- (1) Arsenal 2 – 0 West Ham (19)
- (10) Manchester United 2 – 0 Sunderland (9)
- (7) Chelsea 2 – 1 Liverpool (2)
- (13) Aston Villa 2 – 1 Burnley (18)
- (8) Everton 2 – 1 Crystal Palace (6)
- (11) Newcastle 2 – 0 Nottingham Forest (17)
- (20) Wolves 1 – 1 Brighton (12)
- (16) Brentford 0 – 1 Manchester City (5)
