PL MATCHDAY 4 REVIEW: Hudson-Odoi’s winner mutes Anfield, Chelsea survive yellow card giveaway

By Esosa Osa

International break rustiness, jet lags and a yellow card giveaway at the Vitality Stadium characterised the weekend encounters. 

Manchester United’s palpable desperation for a win led them to Saint Mary’s Stadium to take on fellow strugglers Southampton. The Saints shone straight from the get-go with Academy graduate Tyler Dibling forcing a fine save from Andre Onana. The hosts continued to control proceedings and at the half-hour mark, Dibling who was having a fantastic game drew a foul from Diogo Dalot just inside the box. Cameron Archer stepped up but failed to rise to the occasion as Onana saved his poorly taken penalty. The momentum shifted immediately and United took the lead through Matthijs De Ligt from a resulting corner and Marcus Rashford bent one in from outside the box six minutes later. In the second half, it was all United especially after Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th minute. Alejandro Garnacho’s late goal cast an ominous cloud over Russell Martin’s job with four defeats in four.

Anfield was silenced as Nottingham Forest claimed a 1-0 with a solitary goal by Callum Hudson-Odoi. The host struggled to break the Forest defence in a match not blessed with chances. Luis Diaz hit the post 17 minutes in and Diogo Jota failed to beat Matz Sels from close range. Liverpool’s biggest opportunity of the first half came from a moment of madness by the Forest Goalkeeper as the ball slipped from his hands and almost made its way in. The second half played out similarly as The Reds failed to make a headway. In the 72nd minute, they were made to pay as Hudson-Odoi chopped inside to curl his effort into the bottom corner, sealing Forest’s first win at Anfield in 55 years.

Manchester City were quickly caught off guard in their encounter with Brentford. Less than a minute in, the visitors took the lead through Yoane Wissa after a poor clearance by John Stones. The West London side continued to exert dominance but failed to convert two great chances that fell to Bryan Mbeumo and Nathan Collins. They were made to rue those chances when Haaland’s deflected effort inevitably found the back of the net. After the half-hour mark, Ederson’s sublime pass set Haaland through on goal and that was all he needed to hand his team the lead and become the first player to score nine goals in the first four league games. City should have added to their tally after the break with Grealish and Haaland coming close but the Champions settled for a 2-1 win.

Brighton were held to a goalless draw at home against newly promoted Ipswich Town. Jean-Philippe Mateta’s brace denied Leicester their first league win after Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi goals set things in motion. Fulham had a nightmare ending to their game against West Ham as Danny Ings last minute strike cancelled out Raul Jimenez’s opener. For the second gameweek running, Everton lost despite a two-goal lead, this time against Aston Villa.

Dwight McNeil got things rolling with a fine finish from outside the box. He turned provider for Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s header less than 10 minutes after, through a free kick. Lucas Digne set up Ollie Watkins header for his first goal of the season to ignite a comeback. The Englishman got his second in the 58th minute after Jack Harrison’s poor clearance created a clear path. A thrilling game deserves a thriller winner and Jhon Duran delivered a memorable stunner from 30 yards out to win 3-2.

In a game that produced 14 yellow cards, eight for Chelsea and six for Bournemouth, the highest in Premier League history, Chelsea narrowly escaped with a 1-0 over Bournemouth, thanks to Christopher Nkunku’s late winner. The Blues displayed a disjointed first-half performance with just two decent chances in the first half. The Cherries were on top of things and hit the bar from a Marcus Tavernier belter early in the game. They pressed on and were handed a golden opportunity with a penalty after Wesley Fofana’s poor pass led to Robert Sanchez bringing down Bournemouth record signing, Evanilson. The Brazilian’s glee was cut short as Sanchez denied him of his first goal in Bournemouth colours from 12 yards. The visitors looked brighter in the second half largely thanks to debutant Jadon Sancho who sparked a revival. In the 86th minute, he turned provider for Nkunku to score his fourth Premier League goal, all as an away substitute.

In the weekend’s headliner, Arsenal made a 4-mile trip on Sunday afternoon to take on fierce North London rivals, Tottenham. The men in white started brightly and earned the first effort on target through Dejan Kulusevski. A few half-chances came their way but to no avail. The visitors best chance of the half fell to Gabriel Martinelli but his lacklustre shot failed to test Vicario. The second half was a tightly contested affair with both sides struggling to penetrate but Set-piece FC struck again when Gabriel rose high to thunder in Saka’s corner and clinch the win. The weekend’s affairs rounded up at Molineux Stadium in a clash between Wolves and Newcastle. Mario Lemina opened the scoring after brilliant work down the right channel by Jørgen Strand Larsen but two cracking second-half strikes by Fabian Schar and Harvey Barnes sealed the win for Eddie Howe.