Well, what a game. Liverpool and Arsenal played out a ten-goal thriller at Anfield and managed to take advantage of Dani Ceballos’ missed spot-kick to won 5-4 on penalties. Liverpool took the lead with Mustafi putting one into hos own net before Lucas Torreira and Gabriel Martinelli allowed Arsenal to lead 1-3. James Milner scored from a penalty but Liverpool were trailing 2-3 at half-time. Arsenal then came out again, with Maitland-Niles scoring to make is 2-4 in Arsenal’s favour. A wonder goal from Chamberlain gave a bitter taste in Arsenal fans as he scored a screamer from distance against his former club. Origi made a wonderful turn to make it 4-4. However, Joe Willock did what Chamberlain did, making it 4-5 to the Gunners. However, in stoppage-time, Origi scored a scissor kick to make it 5-5. Curtis Jones scored the decisive penalty to help Liverpool progress to the quarter-finals.
Chelsea 1-2Manchester United
Chelsea were looking for revenge against United after their 4-0 drubbing at Old Trafford. However, United emerged winners again. A foul on Daniel James in the 12 yard box allowed Rashford, who missed at Norwich, to score the resulting penalty kick. Batshuayi, the late hero for Chelsea at Ajax, managed to score a solo goal for Chelsea to equalise with United. Rashford, who has been constantly critiqued by pundits this season for not playing well as a striker, scored a thunderous free-kick from 43 yards (40 metres, yikes!) to seal the win for United. United are slowly grasping their way back to their dominant form.
Other Results
Burton 1-3 Leicester
Oxford United 1(4)-1(2) Sunderland
Everton 2-0 Watford
Crawley Town 1-3 Colchester (Yes, they are a League 2 side who won Spurs)
Xhaka loses it while being subbed off against Crystal Palace.
Granit Xhaka has always divided opinion among Arsenal fans. Some love him, but most hate him. Yesterday (or Sunday I should say), he insulted the fans while getting subbed off. The fans booed him when leaving the pitch, causing this provocative behaviour from the Swiss International. Many fans, however, do not know/underrate the impact he has made on the pitch.
Interceptions
Xhaka doesn’t have the highest interceptions in the EPL under Emery- but is close. He has intercepted 40 balls- behind Shkodran Mustafi (58).
Chances created
Xhaka wins this accolade, with 47 chances created under Emery so far in the Premier League. Surprisingly following him is Mesut Ozil, with 46. He has created 26 of them in 2019 alone.
Just because he is your captain, you can’t put all the blame on him. Yes he may be inconsistent, but he is in reality a rather vital midfielder (defensively) for Arsenal. Imagine how many goal arsenal would have concede without Xhaka. So relax, mates.
Captain America scored a perfect hat-trick away at Burnley as Chelsea ran riot an would eventually win 4-2. Pulisic is the first player since Didier Drogba in 2010 to score a perfect hat-trick for Chelsea in the EPL. A sensational 7 consecutive wins for Chelsea in all competitions, as Lampard is constantly improving his youthful Chelsea side.
Leicester
Leicester had 15 shots on target- 9 went in. The Foxes equalled the Premier League record for its biggest marginal win in its history (Man Utd 9-0 Ipswich Town). They have also broken the EPL record for the biggest away win (Before that it was Nottingham 1-8 Man Utd, Solksjear scoring 4). Vardy and Perez scored hat-tricks as Chilwell, Maddison (sensational free-kick), and Tielemans also found themselves on the scoresheets.
Liverpool/Tottenham
Liverpool recorded a nervy win over Tottenham. Although the scoreline was unconvincing, their football and mentality were. After Son’s deflected shot hit the bar, Harry Kane, as always, managed to nod in the rebound just 48 seconds after kick-off. Sissoko was involved in the goal as he switched roles from zero (UCL final) to hero. However, Liverpool kept pressing, and found the breakthrough after Henderson slotted his half-volley into the net. It was a huge relief for Liverpool as all their shots were practically saved by Gazzaniga. Mane won a penalty and Salah unsurprisingly converted fron 12 yards. A good yet tough win for Liverpool.
Man City
City won Villa 3-0 after a rather frustrating first half with Sterling, David Silva, and Gundogan scored. Ederson was ruthless in goal as he didn’t let any Villa shot go in- even when the win was already in the bag for City. Sterling scored just 20 seconds after the second-half kicked off and David Silva got a subtle touch on De Bruyne’s cross. The EPL at first gave the goal to De Bruyne, but De Bruyne was then changed to the provider as David Silva claimed the goal. Gundogan hit a rebound from Bernado Silva’s shot to secure the win for City. City aren’t over yet- Liverpool need to be wary as they travel to Anfield on 11 November.
Man Utd
Man Utd won 3-1 away at Norwich. Last week, Man Utd were showing a horrible statistic- recording their last away win 7 months ago. However, they have won two away matches in the space of 3 days. Tim Krul saved 2 Penalties from Rashford and Martial although the pair found themselves on the scoresheets. McTominay scored United’s 2000th EPL Goal in the eventful first half. Norwich managed to grab a consolation thanks to a sleepy Man Utd defence. That was also 1 reason why Liverpool equalised against the Red Devils last week.
Arsenal
Oh, Arsenal. Really? Another set of bottling. Arsenal lost grip of a two-goal lead to draw Crystal Palace 2-2 in which Xhaka stole the spotlight. As the was going off the pitch while being subbed off, the rather toxic fans booed him off. This proved Xhaka as he then decided the cup his hands over his ears and told the crowd to ‘ f*** off.’ He then threw his captain’s armband on the floor and took off his jersey. Arsenal fans please be more respectful and less toxic. You are telling a club legend to leave the club, after he won the EPL with the Invincibles? Now you do this. I know Xhaka played badly, but remove that Toxicity. If a player does not play well in other clubs, they are bound to be encouraged/not be given a toxic reaction. However, Xhaka, as a captain should not react in such an annoyed way.
Leicester City absolutely dismantled a helpless Southampton side 0-9, yes- at St. Mary’s. Jamie Vardy and Summer signing Ayoze Perez scored hat-tricks. Everyone was stunned (at least I bet) with the result, although we all knew Leicester can break through the top four this season. Stunning Friday night football from Leicester
Records this developing club has broke/equaled
Recorded the biggest ever victory by an away side in an English top-flight league match in the 131-year history of the Football League
Inflicted Southampton’s biggest ever defeat as an English league side in all competitions in their history
Became only the second team in Premier League history to establish a five-goal lead in the first half of an away game in the competition, after Manchester City against Burnley in April 2010 (also 5-0)
became only the second side in Premier League history to have two players score a hat-trick in the same game (Perez and Vardy), after after Arsenal in May 2003 – also against Southampton (Pennant and Pires)
Above: Daniel James celebrates his debut goal against Chelsea.
Manchester United started the Premier League sweetly, thrashing Frank Lampard’s Chelsea 4-0.
Chelsea stated off dangerously as Tammy Abraham hit the bar four minutes after Kick-off. However, Marcus Rashford slotted home a penalty kick for United to narrowly take the lead.
United were a different animal, though in the second half, scoring three goals in 16 minutes. Rashford’s and Martial’s goals were just 90 seconds away from each other, and Chelsea were left helpless.
While it is a day to forget for Frank Lampard, United, after an eternity, looked clinical. New signings Harry Maguire and Aaron-Wan Bissaka proved worthy of being in the starting XI, making vital clearances (including one which led to the second goal). Paul Pogba looked surprisingly different (no, not his hair) by assisting twice in the game, proving he can be a dangerous midfielder to play against when it it his day.
It was no different for Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s Men cruised past West Ham 5-0 at the London stadium, with Raheem Sterling bagging a deserved hat-trick. Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero also found themselves on the scoresheet, with Aguero scoring from the 12-yard box.
The talking point of the game
VAR 100%.When Raheem Sterling’s goal somewhere in the 60th minute was disallowed by VAR. It made it’s Premier League debut in the game, and already it caused controversy. His shoulder was A FEW MILLIMETRES offside.
Then, it helped City as although Aguero’s penalty was saved, it was to be re-taken as the goalkeeper was off his line. It (The rules) states that the goalkeeper should have at least one of his feet on the line in order for the kick to be taken.
So the kick was re-taken, and this time Aguero made no mistake in putting it away.
City’s title rivals Liverpool had a 4-1 win over Norwich soured after Alisson’s injury in the 39th minute.
Four first-half goals put The Reds in front, but it was not good news for them. Alisson, thier star goalkeeper, slipped while taking a goal-kick, thinking that something had hit him. Klopp said the Injury was worrying and indeed it was. Alisson left Anfield in a wheelchair and is ruled out for the next 4 weeks (Missing matches against Chelsea, Arsenal, Southampton and Burnley.)
They’d better be careful.
Brighton stunned Watford away, winning 0-3.
Graham Potter’s men kept a clean sheet and scored 3 away, which is impressive for their 17th-placed finish last season, escaping relegation by 2 points. But with their new manager, it was not looking like last season. Potter said that it was a dream to score three and keep a clean sheet away to a 11th placed Watford (last season). He praised Brighton’s performance and encouraged them to continue to do the same.
Other Matches Include…
Tottenham 3-1 Aston Villa- 3 goals in 17 minutes secured the win for Spurs
Leicester 0-0 Wolves- Wolves goal rightly disallowed by VAR for offside
Crystal Palace 0-0 Everton- Morgan Schneiderlin gets first Premier League Red Card this season
Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal- Aubameyang scores only goal at St. James’ Park
Burnley 3-0 Southampton- Saints go down as Burnley slot 3 past them
AFC Bournemouth 1-1 Sheffield United- Substitute Billy Sharp scores late equalizer for newly-promoted Sheffield (United)
Tottenham looked like taking a 1-0 advantage into half-time only for Arsenal to level in injury time.
Arsenal then netted another 2 past them, finidng themselves 3-1 up.
Tottenham hit back for 3-2, only for Arsenal to score. They then got back, the score at 4-3. Arsenal scored once again and a late strike for Tottenham did not prove worthy as they went on to lose 4-5 at home.
Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool (Agg. 7-5)- UEFA Champions League Quarter-final
Date: 14 April 2009, 2008/09 Season
Chelsea stunned Champions League favourites Liverpool at Anfield as the Reds went to lose 1-3 at home. The reverse fixture, however, would prove to be an 8-goal thriller.
Torres missed a chance in the early stages for the visitors, shooting the ball over the bar.
Then, Lampard procceded to get his free-kick saved by legendary ‘keeper Pepe Reina.
The first goal out of the eight was an improvised free-kick by Fabio Aurelio, which caused the ball to bounce but left Petr Cech on his line, stunned.
In the next 17 minutes, the visitors would lead 0-2 thanks to a Xabi Alonso penalty.
Kuyt would then head the ball only for Cech to save his header.
In the second-half, all hell broke lose. A counter-attach by Chelsea allowed Anelka to pass the ball to Drogba, who squeezed it into the net. Chelsea were leading 4-3 on aggregate.
However, the wanted to euqalise even though they were already up on aggregate. A sublime free-kick from Alex six minutes later allowed the Blues to equalise and lead 5-3 on aggregate.
Then Frank Lampard converted a Drogba pass to allow Chelsea to lead Liverpool 3-2, but it wasn’t over yet.
The determined visitors equalised through Lucas Leiva’s strike with 9 minutes to go.
In the space of 2 minutes, Liverpool would once again take the lead by a header by Kuyt. (Arghhh why did you score? At least 1 last goal to talk about.)
1 minute to go. Another assist for Anelka and a goal by Frank Lampard. It’s 4-4, Chelsea leading 7-5 on aggregate.
Reading 5-7 Arsenal
League Cup, 2012/13 Season, 4th Round
Date: 30 October 2012
12 goals so I’ll just provide a summary.
Reading were up 4-0 after 35 minutes, and Arsenal fans left, not at all expecting a comeback. Reading led 4-1 at half-time thanks to a goal by Theo Walcott for Arsenal.
He would proceed to score a scintillating hattrick.
Deep in injury time, Arsenal scored. Mission accomplished, it’s 4-4.
Arsenal would then lead 5-4, before a volley for Reading to make the scores 5-all. Arsenal would then score 2 goals in injury time at the end of extra time, including a chip by Chanmakh from 35 yards.
5-7 Arsenal.
Other scores include…
Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal (Newcastle 4-0 down at half-time)
Tottenham 5-4 Leicester (A classic, Tottenham were 3-1 down after 60 minutes)
Liverpool 3-3 Crystal Palace (Were set to win the league after they were up 3:0- then conceded 3 to lose to Man City) (Also Gerrard’s slip against Chelsea before that)
Man Utd 4-3 Real ( not all-english but a Brazillain Ronaldo hattrick )
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