Another Premier League gameweek flew past us during the last weekend, and it presented us with plenty of contrasting scorelines. Nil-nil draws, tight wins and also the uttering thrashing of certain teams, were all on show during the weekend.
Fulham 1-1 Watford
Fulham managed to hold Watford back from getting another set of three points, even after Watford took the lead very early on. Watford managed to get a goal after a scramble in the box led to Will Hughes passing the ball to Andre Gray in space, who tucked the ball away past the goalkeeper. Ben Foster was quickly called to action down the other end, as Luciano Vietto was running through on goal, yet his shot was saved by the veteran goalkeeper. Aleksandar Mitrovic did manage to level things up in the second half, after Vietto crossed the ball into the box, with the Serbian striker having to only poke it past Foster, which he did brilliantly, taking his tally to five goals in the Premier League this season. Mitrovic could have given Fulham the lead, as a corner was whipped in, which he met excellently with his head, only to see his effort hit the bar.
Burnley 4-0 AFC Bournemouth
Burnley and Bournemouth had very contrasting starts to their respective seasons, yet that had no effect on the match that was played last Saturday, as the Clarets thumped Bournemouth by four goals. Bournemouth were the better side early on and they were almost rewarded with a goal as well, with a shot from Nathan Ake taking a wicked deflection, that could only hit the the top of the bar. After that chance, Burnley became ruthless at the other end of the pitch. Burnley caused lots of confusion in the Bournemouth box, with the ball falling to Matej Vydra, who made no mistake in smashing it past Asmir Begovic. Burnley very quickly doubled their lead, as an excellent cross from Johann Gudmundsson found Aaron Lennon, who managed to toe-poke it past Begovic. After the second goal, the game started to even-out again, yet the introduction of Ashley Barnes late on completely destroyed the Cherries, with the Austrain scoring two goals in the final ten minutes of the match.
Cardiff City 0-5 Manchester City
Manchester City continued their wonderful start to the Premier League season by hammering Cardiff by five goals to nil. Man City got themselves off to a brilliant start in the first half, scoring three goals in the first half alone. The first of which came from Sergio Aguero, after a great pass from Bernardo Silva. The second goal was scored by the Portuguese himself, after he flicked a cross from Leroy Sane into the far post. The final goal of the half came from Ilkay Gundogan, who curled in a delicious shot into the top corner from the edge of the box. In the second half, Riyad Mahrez got himself his first two goals for Manchester City, the first an easy tap-in after a great ball from Gundogan, whilst the second was one of his more iconic goals, as he cut inside from the right and curled the ball past Neil Etheridge.
Crystal Palace 0-0 Newcastle United
Palace and Newcastle were forced to share the spoils in what was a very tight goalless draw between the two sides. Both of the teams had a fair share of attacks, yet the home side were clearly the better of the two, troubling Dubravka multiple times, whilst also hitting the woodwork on one instance. Mamadou Sakho had the best chance of the lot, as he missed an open goal with a free header on the far post.
Leicester City 3-1 Huddersfield Town
Leicester managed to fight back against Huddersfield in order to get themselves all three points, in a very dominant display from the Foxes. However, Huddersfield took a very early lead through Mathias Jorgensen, who poked the ball past Kasper Schmeichel after Laurent Depoitre passed the ball to him. Leicester did manage to level things up just a few minutes after the goal, as Jamie Vardy sent Kelechi Iheanacho through on goal, who made no mistake in burying it in the bottom corner. After some great chances from both sides, Leicester took the lead for the first time in the match, as James Maddison whipped a free-kick past the goalkeeper and into the top corner. Vardy quickly doubled their lead on the counter, as he chipped the onrushing goalkeeper to completely seal the win.
Liverpool 3-0 Southampton
Liverpool maintained their perfect record in the league with a wonderful win against Southampton. The league leaders got themselves off to a great start with a shot from Xherdan Shaqiri being wickedly deflected twice, with the final touch coming off of Wesley Hoedt, who could only see the ball go into his own net. Liverpool quickly doubled their lead through Joel Matip, who headed the ball past Alex McCarthy from a corner by Trent Alexander-Arnold. Liverpool scored the final goal in the match on the brink of half-time, as Shaqiri blasted a wonderful free-kick, yet could only hit the woodwork, but an onrushing Mohamed Salah quickly went in for the rebound, and he made no mistake in scoring the goal. Salah had a goal disallowed late on in the second half, after the ball almost crossed the line, yet he was still in an offside position.
Manchester United 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Manchester United continued to struggle for points early on in the season, as they were held to a draw at home against Wolves. Despite having the home advantage, Wolves started out the brightest of the two, constantly troubling David De Gea, with the main chances coming from Raul Jimenez and Willy Boly. Yet after those chances, United managed to muster up a wonderful goal, as Paul Pogba passed the ball to Fred with a cool touch, and the Brazilian blasted the ball into the net with his weaker right foot, scoring his first goal for Manchester United. Fred troubled Rui Patricio once more later on, as he hit a free-kick perfectly into the top corner, yet this time Patricio was up to the task and produced a spectacular save. Wolves managed to claw their way back into the match in the second half, as the ball fell to Joao Moutinho, with the veteran curling the ball right into the top corner from the edge of the box, leaving De Gea with no chance. Marouane Fellaini had a late chance to give United the win, yet his header was met excellently by Patricio, keeping the scores level.
Brighton and Hove Albion 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham had to fight to get themselves back to winning ways against Brighton. They had an early chance presented to them as Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen could not find the net from a corner. Tottenham did manage to take the lead soon after, as a free-kick from Kieran Trippier hit one of the Brighton players on the arm, presenting Spurs with a penalty, which Harry Kane buried brilliantly. Brighton started to attack more and more in the second half, as Anthony Knockaert went past the Tottenham defence, yet his effort was saved by Paulo Gazzaniga. Erik Lamela quickly doubled Tottenham's lead as Danny Rose crossed the ball in from the left wing, which Erik Lamela connected with excellently to tuck the ball away in the net. However, Knockaert did manage to get his goal late on, as he cut inside from the right wing and smashed it past Gazzaniga, giving Brighton a very late consolation goal.
West Ham United 0-0 Chelsea FC
West Ham held Chelsea to a goalless draw, ruining the Blues' perfect start to the Premier League season in the process. Despite the very different starts to their respective seasons, West Ham were the ones that created the most chances, yet their efforts were constantly being saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga, who made no mistakes in the Chelsea goal. Chelsea did start to create more and more chances as the game wore on, but the ever-reliable Lukasz Fabianski was always up to the task to keep the clean sheet.
Arsenal 2-0 Everton
As Arsenal's striking partnership has found the link that was needed, their form has strongly improved. After a very underwhelming first half, the Gunners got off to a thrilling start in the second half against Everton, as Alexandre Lacazette was found in the box by Aaron Ramsey, and the Frenchman curled the ball beautifully in the top right-hand corner of the goal. Lacazette's strike partner, Aubameyang quickly doubled their lead, as Mesut Ozil passed the ball to Ramsey, who looked to have made a mess of it, yet he managed to back-heel it to the Gabon international, who placed the ball into the net, securing an important win for the Gunners.
