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Five Things You May Have Missed in the Premier League This Weekend
Blogs

Five Things You May Have Missed in the Premier League This Weekend

02/12/24 10:54

This weekend's Premier League matchday marked the beginning of the notoriously hectic festive period; a chaotic, momentum-stalling, injury-causing, month-long period of football that fans love but players hate.

Domestic sides playing in Europe have it tougher than any other sides in the EFL, and some will play as many as nine games this month, with a maximum of four days rest between fixtures.

However, given that the ‘Christmas Crunch’ only started this weekend, most teams can still boast a healthy squad and at least some will feel fairly positive looking at the fixtures in the lead up to Christmas.

For others though, the weekend provided a final opportunity to pick up valuable points before their fixtures difficulty begins to ramp up. With every side looking to gain an upper hand in one way or another, there was once again a feast of Premier League action this weekend, and so here we take a closer look at five things you may have missed over the course of the weekend.

5. Bournemouth’s Record-Breaking Hat-Tricks

Bournemouth have been silently ticking along under the radar this season; everyone sat up and took notice of them for their wins against Man City and Arsenal, but outside of those two shock results, it has been a solid but unspectacular opening third of the campaign for the Cherries.

Having not won since the surprise victory against City, they travelled to a Wolves side who were just starting to find their groove after an appallingly difficult opening run of league fixtures. One loss in the last five meant that Gary O’Neil’s side was quietly confident heading into this game, which he would have seen as an excellent chance to close the gap to the south coast side.

However, the home side made the worst start possible, as just two minutes in, Toti Gomes’ mistimed slide-tackle on Evanilson handed Bournemouth a penalty, the first of three throughout the game. Justin Kluivert confidently stepped forwards and planted the ball down the middle to give his side an early lead.

Despite the early set-back, Wolves responded just two minutes later, as Jorgen Strand Larsen latched onto a Bellegarde cross from the right to head home the equaliser. And the early action didn’t stop here. In the eight minute, Bournemouth wrestled back the lead, as a slick passing move around the box found its way to the feet of Milos Kerkez on the left, arguably Bournemouth’s player of the season so far.

His beautifully struck effort found the top corner, giving Jose Sa in goal absolutely no chance, and Bournemouth led 2-1 after less than 10 minutes.

Wolves would shoot themselves in the foot once again before the 20th minute rolled around, as Sa, with the ball at his feet, looked to play the ball to Ait-Nouri, not noticing Evanilson sprinting towards him.

The Brazilian got his toe to the ball just ahead of the goalkeeper, and received a kick to the back of the leg and a penalty for his efforts. Kluivert confidently dispatched it from the spot once more, to give his side a two goal cushion.

After half time, Strand Larsen dragged Wolves back into the game with another goal, this time after good work from substitute Goncalo Guedes, who played the Norwegian striker through on goal. It was a subtly deflected effort, but Wolves didn’t care - they were back in the game.

And oh boy did they waste the opportunity. Evanilson, who worked tirelessly in the press all day and had won two penalties from doing so thus far, reaped rewards once again in the 77th minute, as a misplaced back pass towards Sa instead found the feet of the Brazilian.

With one touch, he was past the stranded Portuguese keeper. Tripping over the on-rushing striker, Sa conceded his second penalty, and his side's third, in a game littered with poor decision making.

Kluivert, who never looked likely to miss, completed his hat-trick, once again tucking the ball out of reach, as Bournemouth sauntered to a 4-2 away win. In the process, the Premier League saw two first time occurrences. Never before had the same player won three penalties in a game, until Evanlison found himself grounded on a hat-trick of occasions in the Wolves box.

And no-one in the Premier League era had scored a hat-trick of spot kicks, until Justin Kuivert unerringly found the target with all three. He is also the first man to achieve this feat in English football since Man City’s Ken Barnes in 1957.

4. Studio Commentary kicks off Chelsea vs Aston Villa

This is surely one of the more unusual starts to a Premier League game this season. Bill Leslie and Alan Smith will have been licking their lips at the prospect of commentating the game between high-flying Chelsea and out-of-form Aston Villa, but if they said anything of their excitement, Sky Sports viewers will have missed it.

Less than 10 seconds after kick-off, the commentators' audio cut out with a series of clicks, pops and crackles, followed by one of the sound crew saying “no audio”.

Thinking quickly, the studio team of lead presenter Dave Jones, and pundits Daniel Sturridge, Micah Richards and Roy Keane, promptly took over commentary duties with an impromptu chat about the opening stages of the game.

Viewers could tell the studio team were caught totally unprepared for this outcome, and while the four of them have excellent chemistry when it comes to breaking down and analyzing a game, listeners could hear they had never commentated a day in their lives!

What followed was around three minutes of stilted conversation, mostly led by Richards, as they all made efforts to steer clear of the action on the pitch, instead choosing to discuss the context around the game.

Fortunately, nothing of note happened in those three minutes, although many were curious about how their favourite pundits would react should the ball find the back of the net. Eventually, audio was restored at Stamford Bridge, with Leslie and Smith thankfully once again taking over verbal duties.

Viewers were in luck that the issue was addressed quickly, as just three minutes after commentary returned, Chelsea opened the scoring through a clever Nicolas Jackson volley. It’s probably for the best that the real commentators had returned by then.

Chelsea vs Aston Villa was an action-packed game, and I could honestly have filled this whole list with flashpoints from the game. Emi Martinez looked far from his best, making a number of significant errors which almost resulted in a goals, including fortuitously picking up a backpass in his own area, granting Chelsea an indirect free-kick inside Villa’s box.

Enzo Fernandez’ post-divorce spike in form continued, as he scored a classy goal to double Chelsea’s lead, before Cole Palmer ended his run of three games without a goal involvement with an assist for Fernandez and a stunning, curling effort in the second half to wrap up the three points for the Blues.

However, in a game full of bizarre moments, particularly in the first half, the three minute lack of commentary just about tops the list for me, simply because I doubt we will ever hear Micah Richards on commentary ever again!

3. Wissa gives the Bee’s a Sting in their Tail

After lingering dangerously close to the relegation zone for much of the back end of last season, Brentford have recovered superbly this season, a feat made even more impressive by the absence of star striker Ivan Toney.

In his place, former second-string striker Yoane Wissa has taken up the title of chief goal scorer, and has so far done an admirable job. The Democratic Republic of Congo striker has scored in every home game in which he has started this season, and he has played a big part in Brentford’s close to perfect home record so far.

Converting another well-taken opportunity against an out-of-sorts Leicester City, Wissa took his tally to eight league goals for the season, with just one of those coming away from the G-Tech Community Stadium, in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad.

With his tally now at eight, he has already outperformed his numbers from the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, in which he scored seven league goals both times, while he is only four away from last season's total of 12.

More impressively, his seven home goals have come in just five games, as he was out of the team with an injury for the home fixtures against Wolves and West Ham.

Thanks to Wissa’s quality, Brentford have by far and away the best home record in the top flight. While they are tied with Liverpool’s win-loss record of six victories and one defeat, their goal difference carries them clear of their pursuers. They have so far scored 22 goals in seven home games, with Spurs sitting second in that list with a comparatively measly 17.

While the Bee’s sit 19th in the away form standings, picking up just one point from 18 so far, that will not concern Thomas Frank. For any side, making their home ground a fortress is crucial to forming the foundations for a successful season, and as long as Wissa and Brentford’s spectacular home form continues, there is no reason why they can’t finish in the top half.

On a separate note, Kevin Schade was outstanding on Saturday, netting a hat-trick as Brentford waltzed to victory. He was so good that he managed to double his career goal tally for the club, having scored just three goals in his 46 previous appearances under Frank.

2. Guardiola Reminds Anfield who’s Boss

Pep’s Man City may be looking short of ideas at the moment, but the man himself appears to be as sharp as ever.

As the struggling champions travelled to Anfield, much was made in the buildup of the history this fixture had when Jurgen Klopp was in charge of Liverpool. There was always a little bit of extra tension and bite when Klopp and Guardiola went head to head, often resulting in spectacular games.

However, the result in this edition was easy to predict from minute one. Arne Slot’s newly styled Reds team immediately suffocated Man City, and after forcing a host of errors throughout City’s backline, they eventually took the lead, after a stunning Mo Salah cross was neatly tucked away by Cody Gakpo.

In previous years, many would have expected City to respond ferociously, pinning their opposition into their own half and sending them away dizzy through their dazzling creativity and quick passing.

Instead, City looked lethargic, static, and at times forlorn, as their pursuit of an equaliser turned into more Liverpool pressure, a pattern which continued into the second half. Salah squandered a golden one on one opportunity to double the lead, but as is customary, he got on the scoresheet eventually.

After another amateur mistake on the ball, by Ruben Dias of all people, Luis Diaz sprinted into another one on one situation with Stefan Ortega, who was standing in for the rested Ederson. Taking the ball around the keeper, the Colombian winger was inadvertently wiped out by the German keeper, as the referee pointed to the spot, although he did refrain from showing a card.

Salah neatly placed the spot kick into the bottom corner to give Liverpool the cushion they had been pursuing, and the Anfield crowd now felt comfortable enough to break into song. And it appeared that one song caught the attention of Guardiola more than any other.

For most manager’s failing to win in seven games would be enough to initiate discussions around their future. If Guardiola had suffered poor form such as this as Chelsea manager, he would have been out of the door with no questions asked.

However, with his extraordinary record of six Premier League titles in seven seasons, the Spaniard has earned himself a little bit of leeway from the City higher-ups, with the likelihood of him being sacked roughly equivalent to the chances of me becoming a Premier League footballer.

However, the Liverpool fans still saw an opening to poke fun at their nemesis, as they began chanting “your sacked in the morning, sacked in the moooooorning”. Despite his typically absorbed demeanour towards the game on the pitch, the chants were loud enough to penetrate Guardiola’s train of thought, and he responded in typically cheeky manner.

Looking over to the famous Kop, he held up his hands with six fingers showing, a demonstration of the dominance his side have shown in the league since his arrival in Manchester, and a clear message that they shouldn’t forget the past pain and anguish he had caused them on so many occasions.

He would do the same at full time as the singing continued, and while success this season may be the furthest thing from his mind right now, he certainly has more than enough ammunition to respond to his loudest critics.

It is not the first time Guardiola has had a run-in with the Kop either. There have been multiple occasions where he has gestured to them in animated fashion, once flourishing his hands in an attempt to amplify the noisy criticism coming from the animated home crowd.

In one of the most one-sided editions of Liverpool vs Man City in recent times, at least the game provided another entertaining instalment of Pep Guardiola vs rival fans.

1. Amorim announces himself at Old Trafford

If there were questions over the appointment of Amorim after a shaky first two games, Manchester United’s 4-0 battering of Everton has surely dispelled most of them.

The Portuguese coach made it known this week that he has quite the on his hands if he is to guide the Red Devils back to the top of the English game, but with a result such as this against a plucky Everton side, the signs are certainly looking positive.

Manchester United have always had a very talented side, and even when they have been at their lowest points, their squad on paper has had more than enough quality to challenge for European football season upon season. The issue on the red side of Manchester has been finding a manager who can squeeze another level of these players.

Moyes, Van Gaal, Solskjaer, Rangnick, Ten Haag, and to a lesser extent Mourinho have all failed to deliver on the obvious quality their respective sides possessed, and some United fans had resorted to approaching games with no expectations, not wanting to be disappointed.

Under Amorim though, they appear to already be on the right track. His first game, an away match against Ipswich, was always going to be a challenge, as he had barely been working with the team for a week. While their attacking patterns showed all the signs of planning and good coaching, they were still unfamiliar, resulting in frequently wasted opportunities.

The nervous 3-2 win over Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League was also a tedious affair, although the United faithful were provided with more of excitement in that game than they had been offered by any previous permanent manager in years.

However, the win against Everton could well be marked in history as the true arrival of Ruben Amorim in English football. A high intensity, well managed, quality performance from his side, United deserve every bit of credit the scoreline suggests they deserve, and they could easily have bagged another couple of goals.

Amorim’s system also displayed the best of summer signing Joshua Zirkzee, who had struggled more often than not since his summer arrival from Bologna. Having not scored since the opening day of the season, the Dutch forward bagged two well taken goals, while a rejuvenated Marcus Rashford converting a brace of his own.

United fans will be especially pleased with the recent upturn in form their strikers have undergone since the new coach's arrival. Amorim certainly knows how to get the best out of his chief goal scorers, evidenced by the world class form of former Coventry City striker Victor Gyokeres during their time together at Sporting Lisbon.

With Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund netting a crucial brace against Bodo/Glimt in midweek, and Zirkzee doing the same against Everton, the centre forwards seem to be quickly taking to the ways of their new coach, and given the form of Gyokeres in Portugal, one or both of United’s goal scorers could quickly become world beaters if Amorim’s instruction is followed closely.

Winger Amad Diallo also deserves his own fair share of praise. Benched for much of the opening phase of the season by Ten Haag, and limited to cameo's off the bench, the Ivorian showed exactly why United spent £18 million on him three years ago. A constant thorn in the left side of Everton's defense, Diallo's tireless running and tricky feet helped create two of United's four goals.

In his first Premier League home game for his new side, the Portuguese made quite the impression, and showed exactly why he found such success in Portugal. If he can guide United through the busy upcoming Christmas schedule with a respectable run of results, the Red Devils could well find themselves in with a shout of Champions League football next season.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Harry Pascoe

Lead Writer

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