PL MATCHDAY 12 REVIEW: Guardiola humbled as Ødegaard resurrects Arsenal’s attack

By Esosa Osa

This matchday was headlined by humility as Pep Guardiola suffered his highest home league defeat at the hands of Tottenham, Fulham were torn to pieces by Wolves and newly appointed Manchester United boss, Ruben Amorim, was held away by relegation contenders, Ipswich Town.

The matchday kicked-off with Enzo Maresca squaring up against his former team Leicester City, with a warm reception from the fans at the King Power Stadium. It proved to be a good return for the Italian as Nicolas Jackson’s instinctive finish and Enzo Fernandez’s rebound secured the three points despite a late penalty by Jordan Ayew.

Fulham could not believe their eyes as they were blown away by struggling Wolverhampton. The Cottagers got things rolling thanks to Alex Iwobi’s curled left-footed finish. The visitors equalised through Matheus Cunha and the scores remained level till the break. Wolves emphatically sealed the game in the second half with Cunha getting his brace and goals from Joao Gomes and Goncalo Guedes made it 4-1. Everton and Brentford played out an underwhelming goalless draw with the away side a man down from the 41st minute after Christian Nørgaard saw red.

Brighton backed up their upset against Man City with a 2-1 win against Bournemouth at the Vitality stadium. Joao Pedro pounced onto a loose ball to give his side the lead and turned provider with a delightful through ball for Kaoru Mitoma’s second goal of the campaign. Bournemouth fought hard and were the better side in the second-half. David Brooks handed the home side a lifeline in stoppage time but Antoine Semenyo’s last-ditch effort hit the crossbar.

Aston Villa were held to a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace at home. The visitors beat Villa’s highline and took the lead through Ismaila Sarr. Villa responded through Talisman, Ollie Watkins but missed a chance to go 2-1 up after Dean Henderson saved Youri Tieleman’s penalty. Palace youngster, Justin Devenny earned his side the lead before the break with his first goal for the club. Villa showed more intent in the second half but could only produce an equaliser through Ross Barkley.

Arsenal breathed new life with the return of Skipper and connector, Martin Ødegaard. The Norwegian proved to be crucial as the attack looked rebranded and Mikel Arteta got his flow back as Ødegaard pulled the strings. Bukayo Saka opened the scoring with a thunderous effort past Matz Sels 15 minutes in.

Thereafter, the Gunners took full control but could not find the back of the net again by the break. Thomas Partey fired his effort home from outside the area for 2-0 and 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri closed the scoring in the 86th minute with his first league goal.

In this season’s biggest surprise so far, Tottenham Hotspur manhandled Champions Manchester City, beating them 4-0 at the Etihad. With Spurs missing their starting Centre-Backs in Micky van de Ven and Cristain Romero, it looked like a day for a Norwegian dinner. The game started as expected with City producing the early chances but Haaland looked anything but hungry and his side were made to pay early as James Maddison scored a birthday brace in seven minutes. The first from a perfect cross by the fantastic Dejan Kulusevski.

Tottenham quickly buried any idea of a City comeback early in the second-half with a counter-attack finished off by Pedro Porro. City continued to push but Haaland continued to lack appetite. And in stoppage time, the coffin was laid to rest with a tap-in by Brennan Johnson to equal Guardiola’s heaviest managerial defeat.

Liverpool survived a scare away at last-placed Southampton on Sunday afternoon. Dominik Szoboszlai took advantage of a mistake at the back for 1-0 inside 30 minutes. Andy Robertson conceded a penalty after falling victim to the tricky Tyler Dibling. Adam Armstrong missed the penalty but scored the rebound to equalise.

Not long after the break, Mateus Fernandes took the lead after a lovely counter-attack for a possible shocker. But two mistakes by the Cherries handed Mo Salah a brace, one from the spot to extend the gap at the top to eight points.

After two weeks of media duties, newly appointed Manchester United coach, Ruben Amorim took charge of his first game. It was a dream start for the Portuguese as his side took the lead inside 2 minutes. Marcus Rashford, getting on the end of Amad Diallo’s cross. But after the first 15 minutes, Ipswich controlled proceedings, created more chances, and gave United a tough time. And just before half-time, Omari Hutchinson curled in a superb effort for his first Premier League goal.

The second-half saw more control from United but they wasted their counter-attacking opportunities, and it was the host who conjured up the best chance with Andre Onana denying Liam Delap for the second time. All was equal at the final whistle to kickstart the Amorim era. The matchday closed out on Monday night with West Ham beating Newscastle at home with goals from Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.