Manchester City 2-2 Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace scored late to snatch a point away from home against Manchester City. Dean Henderson pulled out a good save early on to push Julian Alvarez’s headed effort out before Rodri’s deflected effort off Marc Guehi went just wide of the post. In the 24th minute, Man City took the lead as Jack Grealish scored with a simple finish. Less than 10 minutes into the Second Half and City doubled their lead as Rico Lewis got on the scoresheet. Dean Henderson then made another good save to keep Bernardo Silva’s effort out before Crystal Palace got one back in the 76th minute through Jean-Philippe Mateta. And then, in additional time at the end of the game, Palace were awarded a penalty after Phil Foden kicked Mateta. Michael Olise then stepped up and scored to snatch a point for the visitors in the 95th minute. In the end, this is a terrible result for Manchester City. City stay 4th in the league and their next game is against Urawa Red Diamonds in the Club World Cup tomorrow. As for Crystal Palace, this is the kind of result they’ve really needed. The Eagles stay 15th in the table and they host Brighton next time out (on Thursday).
Newcastle 3-0 Fulham
Newcastle United got back to winning ways in convincing fashion at home to 10-man Fulham. Raul Jimenez, who’s been in really good form recently, was shown a straight Red card (by VAR) after a pretty terrible challenge on Sean Longstaff and I honestly have no idea what Jimenez was thinking. Anthony Gordon then smashed the bar for Newcastle before Alex Iwobi could only guide his effort straight into the hands of Martin Dubravka. Iwobi should’ve done better here, but I will give some credit to Dan Burn as he did a good job of putting the Fulham man off. In the Second Half, Bernd Leno pulled out a really good stop to deny Anthony Gordon before Lewis Miley finally put Newcastle in front in the 57th minute. Bruno Guimaraes did really well here. Miguel Almiron then made it 2-0 to Newcastle after a defensive mix-up by Fulham before Dan Burn secured the victory for the hosts by bundling the ball into the back of the net in the 82nd minute. Callum Wilson also had a chance to make it 4-0, but his effort could only come back off the post. Overall, this was a good win for Newcastle United. The Magpies rise to 6th in the league and they go to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup tomorrow before they play away to Luton on Saturday. As for Fulham, it’s back down to earth for them. The Cottagers drop to 11th in the table and they play away to Everton in the Cup tomorrow before they host Burnley in the league on Saturday.
West Ham 3-0 Wolves
West Ham found themselves in front in the 22nd minute through a great strike from Mohammed Kudus before West Ham’s lead doubled just 10 minutes later as Kudus scored again! Jarrod Bowen then smashed the post for the hosts before Vladimir Coufal caught Jean-Ricner Bellegarde right in the face. All I’ll say about this is I’ve seen these types of challenges result in players being sent off in the past. In the Second Half, Wolves thought they’d got one back when Pablo Sarabia put the ball into the back of the net, but it was ruled out for offside and I really don’t understand why Sarabia didn’t just hold his run. In the 74th minute, Jarrod Bowen scored yet again to secure all 3 points for West Ham. Overall, West Ham United can be really happy with their performance in this one. The Hammers move up to 8th in the league and after an away game at Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, they host Manchester United on Saturday. As for Wolverhampton Wanderers, this simply wasn’t good enough from their point of view. Wolves stay 13th in the table and they host Chelsea next time out on Christmas Eve!
Brentford 1-2 Aston Villa
Aston Villa came from behind to pick up a great victory away at Brentford. On the brink of Halftime, Brentford took the lead as Keane Lewis-Potter scored after some questionable defending by Alex Moreno. In the 71st minute, Brentford were down a man as Ben Mee was shown a straight Red card after a VAR check. Mee can’t really have any complaints and I don’t really understand why he even attempted the challenge in the first place. Just 6 minutes later and Aston Villa made them pay as Alex Moreno headed home from close range. Why no one was marking Moreno I’ll never know! In the 85th minute, Villa took the lead as Ollie Watkins scored against his old club before a bit of a “fight” broke out (it was really unnecessary). Neal Maupay then just ran into Emiliano Martinez in a moment that made both guys look a bit stupid before Martinez gave it back to Maupay! I have no idea what either guy was thinking, and it ultimately resulted with Boubacar Kamara getting sent off! What a farce! In the end, it’s yet another defeat for Brentford. The Bees drop to 12th in the table and their next game is at home to Wolves on the 27th. As for Aston Villa, this is a good win for them. Villa stay third in the league and they host Sheffield United next time out (on Friday).
Arsenal 2-0 Brighton
Arsenal finally beat Brighton and Hove Albion at the Emirates to move back to the Top of the Premier League Table. Martin Odegaard had a decent chance which he failed to take early on before Gabriel Martinelli had a really good opportunity which he blasted over the bar. In the Second Half, Jan Paul van Hecke bailed his Goalie out with a good bit of defending, but it didn’t really matter for much as Gabriel Jesus headed home from the resulting corner to finally give Arsenal the lead after 53 minutes. Bart Verbruggen didn’t make himself look particularly good here either. Lewis Dunk then managed to head the ball off the line in a terrific bit of defending to deny Ben White a goal before Verbruggen made a good save to keep out Odegaard’s effort. Pascal Gross then had a golden chance to equalise for Brighton, but he somehow put the ball into the side netting before Arsenal sealed their victory in the 87th minute as Kai Havertz got himself a goal. Overall, it’s another good win for Arsenal. The Gunners return to Top spot and they go to Liverpool for a huge Saturday Night Football clash next time out. As for Brighton and Hove Albion, they would’ve wanted to have done more in this game. The Seagulls drop to 9th in the table and their next game is away to Crystal Palace on Thursday.
Nottingham Forest 0-2 Tottenham
Heung-Min Son should’ve put Tottenham in front almost instantly, but his effort was saved well by Matt Turner before Turner made another decent save to deny Brennan Johnson. In additional time at the end of the First Half, Tottenham did have their lead as Richarlison headed home after a terrific cross from Dejan Kulusevski. In the Second Half, Willy Boly had a decent chance which he completely made a mess of before Tottenham doubled their lead through Dejan Kulusevski. Whilst the goalkeeping by Matt Turner was pretty poor, Kulusevski’s still struck the ball really well. Tottenham were then down to 10 men in the 70th minute as Yves Bissouma was sent off after a VAR check before Guglielmo Vicario somehow kept out Harry Toffolo’s headed effort. Neco Williams also came close to getting one back for Forest late on, but his effort came back out of the post. In the end, it’s yet another defeat for Nottingham Forest. Forest drop to 17th in the table and they host Bournemouth in a must-win game next time out. As for Tottenham Hotspur, they did really well to keep a Clean Sheet in this one. Spurs remain 5th in the league and their next game is an exciting one at home to Everton (on Saturday).
Burnley 0-2 Everton
Everton continued their amazing run as they won for the fourth straight game without conceding a goal! Dwight McNeil had a good chance to score early on which he failed to take before James Trafford made a great save to deny Dominic Calvert-Lewin. However, in the 19th minute, Everton did take the lead as Amadou Onana headed home from close range. Trafford probably should’ve done better here. 6 minutes later and Everton doubled their lead as Michael Keane scored after a little bit of Burnley misfortune. Ben Godfrey then pulled out a brilliant bit of defending to stop Burnley from scoring before Michael Keane hit the post in the Second Half. In the end, it’s another defeat for Burnley. The Clarets remain inside the Relegation Zone (in 19th) and they go to Fulham next time out. As for Everton, they’re on a roll right now. The Toffees move up to 16th in the table and after a home game against Fulham in the Carabao Cup tomorrow, they go to Tottenham for an exciting league fixture.
Chelsea 2-0 Sheffield United
After not much action in the First Half, Chelsea found their way in front in the 54th minute through Cole Palmer. This was a nicely worked goal and Raheem Sterling’s pass across was particularly good. 7 minutes later and Chelsea’s lead doubled as Nicolas Jackson tapped home from close range after the Sheffield United defenders just stopped. Also, Wesley Foderingham made an absolute mess of trying to keep hold of the football. Armando Broja then had a golden opportunity to make it 3-0 to the hosts, but he somehow blasted the ball well over the bar. Overall, this was a decent result for Chelsea and they’ll be happy with a Clean Sheet. The Blues rise back up into 10th spot and they host Newcastle in the Carabao Cup tomorrow before they go to Wolves on Christmas Eve. As for Sheffield United, they barely did anything in this game. The Blades remain bottom of the league and they go to Aston Villa next time out.
Liverpool 0-0 Manchester United
Nothing was quite able to separate Liverpool and Manchester United in a Super Sunday clash at Anfield. Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah both had decent opportunities for Liverpool (early on) which they failed to take before Trent Alexander Arnold came super close to breaking the deadlock in the Second Half. Rasmus Hojlund then had a good opportunity for Manchester United which he guided straight at Alisson before Andre Onana pulled out a decent stop to keep out Mo Salah’s effort. In the 94th minute, Diogo Dalot was shown two quick Yellow cards in a very odd incident, but it didn’t really amount to anything. In the end, Liverpool will be disappointed with themselves for not winning this game. The Reds drop to second in the league and they host West Ham in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday before they face Arsenal in a huge Saturday Night Football clash. As for Manchester United, they’ll be happy with a point from this game. United drop to 7th in the table and they go to West Ham next time out.
Premier League Table at the End of Gameweek 17
Arsenal: 39pts (+20)
Liverpool: 38pts (+21)
Aston Villa: 38pts (+16)
Manchester City: 34pts (+20)
Tottenham: 33pts (+12)
Newcastle: 29pts (+15)
Manchester United: 28pts (-3)
West Ham: 27pts (-1)
Brighton: 26pts (+3)
Chelsea: 22pts (+2)
Fulham: 21pts (-3)
Brentford: 19pts (0)
Wolves: 19pts (-8)
Bournemouth: 19pts (-9)
Crystal Palace: 17pts (-8)
Everton: 16pts (+2)
Nottingham Forest: 14pts (-13)
Luton: 9pts (-15)
Burnley: 8pts (-20)
Sheffield United: 8pts (-31)
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