Wednesday, 2 December 2020

London calling

 

After ten weeks Tottenham and Chelsea make up the top 3 in the Premier League with champions Liverpool sandwiched in between behind Spurs on goal difference.

 

Week 1 - After a short break the Premier League began with Arsenal netting 3 times at Fulham without reply while a single goal gave Crystal Palace a win over their visitors from Southampton and Newcastle were 2-0 winners at West Ham. In the most eagerly anticipated match of the week, Mo Salah converted 2 spot kicks to complete his hat-trick at Liverpool in a thrilling 4-3 win over newly promoted Leeds United. On Sunday, Jamie Vardy scored 2 penalties to help Leicester City to a 3-0 win at West Brom and Tottenham lost 1-0 at home to Everton while on Monday evening 2 early goals settled the match in Wolves’ favour at Sheffield United and Chelsea returned from Brighton with a 3-1 victory. Manchester City v Aston Villa and Burnley v Manchester United were postponed due to the Manchester clubs’ relatively recent involvement in European competitions.

Week 2 – In a high-scoring week, Heung-min Son scored 4 times for Tottenham as they came from a goal down to win 5-2 at Southampton for whom Danny Ings scored both goals and Everton came from a goal down at home to 10-man West Brom to win 5-2 with a hat-trick from Dominic Calvert-Lewin while Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice for Fulham who lost 4-3 at Leeds United with Helder Costa netting a double for the hosts. Wilfried Zaha bagged a brace as Manchester United started their campaign with a 3-1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace and Sadio Mane scored both goals of the match in Liverpool’s win at Chelsea while Neal Maupay scored twice for Brighton, who finished the match with 10 men, as they enjoyed a 3-0 victory at Newcastle. Burnley took the lead but lost 4-2 at Leicester and West Ham lost 2-1 at Arsenal while on Monday a single goal gave Aston Villa a home win against 10-man Sheffield United who had a penalty saved and Manchester City began their season with a 3-1 win at Wolves.  

Week 3 – Manchester United were pegged back to 2-2 in stoppage time at Brighton but converted a winning penalty awarded by VAR after the final whistle while Chelsea, who were 3 down at half time thanks to a brace from Callum Robinson, scored a last-minute equaliser at West Brom for the Premier League’s first draw of the season. An early goal gave Southampton all 3 points at Burnley and Leeds United enjoyed the same result with a late goal at Sheffield United while Crystal Palace lost 2-1 at home to Everton. Leicester City converted 3 spot kicks, 2 by Jamie Vardy who claimed a hat-trick, as Manchester City took an early lead but were pummelled 5-2 on their own patch while Wolves were hammered 4-0 at West Ham for whom Jarrod Bowen stuck twice and a controversial last-minute penalty gave Newcastle a 1-1 draw at Tottenham. On Monday Aston Villa were 3-0 winners at Fulham while Arsenal took the lead at Liverpool but ended the night 3-1 losers.  

Week 4 – In a weekend of freak results, Mo Salah scored twice for Liverpool at Aston Villa who took the champions apart 7-2 with a hat-trick from Ollie Watkins and a double from Jack Grealish while Manchester United, who were later reduced to 10 men, converted a first-minute penalty but were trashed 6-1 by Tottenham for whom Heung-min Son and Harry Kane scored 2 apiece at Old Trafford. Leicester City lost 3-0 at home to West Ham United while Crystal Palace were beaten 4-0 at Chelsea with Jorginho succeeding twice from the penalty spot and Manchester City drew 1-1 at Leeds United. James Rodriguez netted a brace for Everton who stay at the top of table with a 4-2 home win over Brighton while Arsenal defeated Sheffield United 2-1 at the Emirates and 2 goals from Callum Wilson helped Newcastle to a 3-1 win at home to Burnley. West Brom lost 2-0 at Southampton and Fulham fell 1-0 at Wolves.

Week 5 – Everton, who finished the match with ten men, dropped their first points of the season in a 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool while Chelsea took a 3 goal lead with the help of a double from Timo Werner, but were pegged back to 3-3 by their visitors from Southampton and Arsenal lost 1-0 at Manchester City. Manchester United came from an early own-goal down to win 4-1 at Newcastle United with 3 goals in the last minutes of the match while a Harry Kane brace helped Tottenham to an early 3-0 lead against West Ham who began their comeback with 8 minutes remaining and earned a 3-3 draw with the last kick of the match with a bullet into the top corner. Fulham drew 1-1 at Sheffield United as did Brighton, who finished with 10 men, with a last-minute penalty at Crystal Palace while Aston Villa broke the deadlock with a stoppage-time goal at Leicester. On Monday evening Leeds were beaten 1-0 at home to Wolves and Burnley played a goalless match at West Brom.

Week 6 – Aston Villa’s perfect run was ended abruptly at home to Leeds united on Friday evening with a hat-trick from Patrick Bamford. On Saturday, Manchester City drew 1-1 at West Ham while Manchester United and Chelsea drew blanks at Old Trafford and there were 2-1 wins for Crystal Palace at Fulham who ended the match with 10 players and for Liverpool who came from behind at home to Sheffield United. On Sunday, 10-man Everton lost 2-0 at Southampton while Arsenal, who had a goal controversially disallowed, lost 1-0 at home to Leicester and Newcastle drew 1-1 at Wolves. In the Monday matches, West Brom drew 1-1 at Brighton and Tottenham were 1-0 winners at Burnley.

Week 7 – On Friday evening, Crystal Palace ended the match with 10 players having lost 2-0 at Wolves while on Saturday a single goal gave Manchester City a win at Sheffield United, Chelsea scored 3 times without reply at Burnley and Liverpool came from behind to beat West Ham 2-1 at Anfield. On Sunday, Aston Villa mounted a comeback with 3 goals but lost 4-3 to Southampton with James Ward-Prowse having netted a double for the visitors while Arsenal were 1-0 winners at Manchester United and a brace from Callum Wilson gave Newcastle a 2-1 home win over Everton while Brighton lost 2-1 at Tottenham. On Monday evening, West Brom lost 2-0 at Fulham and Leeds suffered a crushing 4-1 defeat at home to Leicester for whom Youri Tielemans scored twice.

Week 8 – The fixtures began on Friday with a goalless draw between Brighton and Burnley followed by a 2-0 win for Southampton at home to Newcastle. On Saturday, Bruno Fernandes scored twice as Manchester United came from a goal down to win 3-1 at Everton while Leeds United were pummelled 4-1 at Crystal Palace and Chelsea bounced back from an early setback at the Bridge to defeat Sheffield United 4-1 while Fulham failed to level from the spot after hosts West Ham United had broken the deadlock in stoppage time. On Sunday, Liverpool drew 1-1 at Manchester City while Arsenal were embarrassed 3-0 at home to Aston Villa, for whom Ollie Watkins netted twice, and there were 1-0 wins for Tottenham with a late goal at West Brom and for Leicester at home to Wolves.  

Week 9 – Tottenham defeated Manchester City 2-0 in London against the run of play to end the week top on goal difference ahead of Liverpool who were 3-0 winners at home to Leicester while Chelsea won 2-0  at Newcastle and Aston Villa lost 2-1 at home to Brighton who ended the match with 10 men. A single goal from a retaken penalty gave Manchester United all 3 points at home to West Brom and Arsenal’s failure to score continued as their ten men drew 0-0 at Leeds while West Ham scored a single goal to win at Sheffield United. Dominic Calvert-Lewin netted a brace in Everton’s 3-2 win at Fulham while on Monday evening Crystal Palace lost to an early goal at Burnley and Southampton drew 1-1 at Wolverhampton wanderers.

Week 10 – Two goals in the last 2 minutes on Friday evening gave Newcastle a win at Crystal Palace while on Saturday, having missed a penalty, Brighton converted a stoppage-time spot kick to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool. Riyad Mahrez claimed a hat-trick as Manchester City battered Burnley 5-0 at the Etihad while there were 1-0 wins for Leeds United at Everton and West Brom at home to Sheffield United. On Sunday, Edinson Cavani completed his double with the winner in stoppage time as Manchester United came from 2 down at half time to win 3-2 at Southampton while Tottenham drew 0-0 at Chelsea and Arsenal were beaten 2-1 at home to Wolves. On Monday, Fulham celebrated a 2-1 victory at Leicester and West Ham enjoyed the same result at home to Aston Villa.