PL MATCHDAY 5 REVIEW: Nicolas Jackson thrills the Chelsea Faithful, Arsenal showcase their bravery and tenacity

By Esosa Osa

A weekend of dance moves, breathtaking records and last-minute drama put us on the edge of our seats during matchday 5 of the Premier League.

In a thrilling showcase featuring dance moves from the King of Pop, Jackson led Chelsea to a 3-0 win against West Ham by bagging a brace in the weekend’s opening encounter. The visitors were caught sleeping four minutes into the match after a quick free-kick exposed the right side of defence. With no one able to chase him, Jackson slotted it in between Alphonse Areola’s legs.

In the 18th minute, the Senegalese striker doubled the lead with a trivela finish after been set through on goal by Moises Caicedo. West Ham got accustomed to affairs, having more possession but failed to create any big chance.

However, they were denied a penalty when Fofana brought down Summerville. Two minutes after the break, the game was done and dusted after Cole Palmer sent a rocket past Areola. The Chelsea midfield was in fine form with Caicedo bossing things, winning 10 of 13 contested ground duels and Cucurella expertly providing support.

In the second London derby of the day, Spurs welcomed Brentford who were unlucky to leave Etihad without a point last week. They started similarly, scoring inside 30 seconds through Bryan Mbeumo. Spurs wasted little time and responded in the eighth minute through Dominic Solanke for his first goal for the club, the move starting with a misplaced pass by Ethan Pinnock. They doubled the lead through Brennan Johnson when the Welsh placed one into the bottom left corner.

Chances continue to come for the hosts with Brentford clumsy at the back. Brentford conjured up great chances of their own, the best coming from Kevin Schade’s header but Vicario was on hand to deny him. James Maddison’s chipped finish in the 85th minute wrapped things up.

Bournemouth travelled to Liverpool hoping for a repeat of their last visit to Merseyside and started brightly. Antoine Semenyo’s goal in the 5th minute was ruled offside but suggested a possible upset.

Bournemouth provided more scares but couldn’t take advantage. Two goals in two minutes by Luis Diaz restored calm to Anfield and an end to the visitor’s hopes. Surprisingly, the goal of the game came from Darwin Nunez after curling his left-footed effort past Kepa.

The South American continues the habit of making the difficult look easy and the easy, difficult. Bournemouth struck the bar in the second half but could not prevent Liverpool’s efficient start to the season. Villa were in comeback mode once again. This time, coming from a goal down to beat Wolves 3-1 in the Midlands derby. Matheus Cunha took advantage of sloppiness at the back to hand his team the lead 25 minutes in and held on till the break.

Villa looked reborn after the interval, mounting enormous pressure on their opponents. They dug deep and responded through talisman, Ollie Watkins whose effort deflected off Craig Dawson to set Villa Park ablaze. Youri Tielemans perfect cross was well met by Ezri Konsa deep into the game to make it 2-1.

Any hope of a Wolves equaliser was crushed by Jhon Duran’s tap-in in stoppage time. The Colombian’s 4 league goals have all come as a substitute. To the surprise of many, Fulham ran out as surprise 3-1 winners against Newcastle with goals from Raul Jimenez, Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson which erased the last-minute heartbreak against West Ham, last time out.

There was heartbreak elsewhere as Ipswich Captain Sam Morsy equalised in added time to stop Southampton from registering their first win after Tyler Dibling handed them the lead five minutes in. Everton saw another lead slip away at King Power Stadium. Stephy Mavididi cancelled Iliman Ndiaye’s opener which leaves the Toffees with one point on the board. The clash between Crystal Palace and Manchester United proved to be a goalkeeping Masterclass with Dean Henderson and Andre Onana pulling off fabulous saves to keep the score 0-0.

Brighton were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Nottingham Forest. The away side got on the front foot and were awarded a penalty after Carlos Baleba brought down Callum Hudson-Odoi. Chris Wood sent Verbruggen the wrong way for 1-0. Jack Hinshelwood replied with a header even Cristiano Ronaldo would be proud of, to level proceedings.

Danny Welbeck scored a magnificent free-kick just before the break for the lead. Brighton showed far more promise in the second half but consistently lacked the final pass. Roman Sosa levelled things in the 70th minute, a goal instigated by a Morgan Gibbs-White defence-splitting pass. The former was later sent off in the latter stages of the game but it proved insignificant as the score remained unchanged at the final whistle.

In the weekend’s most anticipated fixture, Manchester City squared up against fierce rivals Arsenal. The top two of the last two campaigns, with mutuals hoping for a cracking game this time as opposed to their last few underwhelming meetings. And it did not disappoint. City got off to a flying start when Erling Haaland put his effort past David Raya in what looked like a rolled trivela finish for his 100th goal for the club. Making him the joint-fastest player to reach 100 goals for a top-five European side in the 21st Century, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

This record-setting achievement was done in 105 appearances, manifestations of a cyborg. City were disappointed to lose the returning Rodri and felt it immediately after a quickly taken free-kick was superbly finished by Riccardo Calafiori for his first Arsenal goal. A beauty that rendered Ederson powerless.

In added time of the first half, Gabriel launched high to head in his second goal in two massive games from a corner. Further showcasing Arsenal’s ridiculous expertise in set-pieces. The first half ended with more drama when Leandro Trossard was sent off, after receiving a second yellow card for kicking the ball and delaying a restart.

The Gunners were down to 10 men and it looked like it could only go City’s way. Arteta’s side came out with the heart of a legion of soldiers, defending with their lives. David Raya, leader of them all. City with all their possession which racked up to 78 percent could not find a goal until the final seconds of the game when John Stones sent a dagger through Arsenal hearts. A brilliantly worked corner kick by Jack Grealish saw the City captain in a promising position after a rebound and he fired it home to ignite a fresh title Challenge.