PL MATCHDAY 27 REVIEW: Liverpool in dreamland, Chelsea back to winning ways
By Esosa Osa
The midweek fixtures presented a chance for redemption for those disappointed by their weekend outings but some remain caged.
Crystal Palace dispatched Aston Villa, 4-1 under the lights on Tuesday at Selhurst Park. Birthday Boy Ismaila Sarr got things rolling before the half-hour mark, firing into an empty net. The visitors equalised seven minutes after the break with a fine goal by Morgan Rogers.
Palace continued to create the better chances and were superbly rewarded with three second-half goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta, Sarr for his brace and a first Palace league goal for Eddie Nketiah. Accumulating an impressive xG of 4.31 throughout the match.
Brighton triumphed in their highly anticipated clash against Bournemouth. The Cherries started brilliantly but had their joy cut short when Joao Pedro won and converted his penalty 12 minutes in.
The second-half lit up after Justin Kluivert sent a rocket past Bart Verbruggen for his 12th league goal and 10th away goal, making him the first Bournemouth player to achieve this feat.
Brighton looked brighter and deservedly took the lead through Danny Welbeck in the 75th minute in what proved to be the winning goal. Fulham dented Wolves spirit with a 2-1 win at Molineux. Two early goals in both halves from Ryan Sessegnon and Rodrigo Muniz leave Fulham two points from a guaranteed European spot.
Chelsea returned to winning ways against bottom-side Southampton. Amid an injury crisis, Enzo Maresca opted for Pedro Neto as his starting striker, which saw the Portuguese winger switch positions with Cole Palmer and Christopher Nkunku during the game. It paid off as Nkunku and Neto scored the first two goals.
Levi Colwill’s header made it three and Marc Cucurella ended the scoring, gifting his manager some breathing space after poor results. Arsenal’s visit to the City Ground to take on Nottingham Forest spelt more frustration in their title race. Both teams settled for a 0-0 draw after failing to create enough chances. It leaves Arsenal 13 points from the summit and a mountain to climb.
Brentford played out a 1-1 draw against Everton in a tightly contested game at the Gtech Community Stadium. Jake O’Brien’s late goal cancelled out Yoane Wissa’s first-half header. Manchester United earned a hard-fought 3-2 home win against Ipswich. Patrick Dorgu’s error gifted Jaden Philogene-Bidace the opener. United responded well with two goals in four minutes. An own goal by Ipswich Skipper, Sam Morsy and Matthijs de Ligt rebound.
United went down to 10 men after Dorgu was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Omari Hutchinson. Philogene equalised for the visitors in added time of first-half but shortly after the break, Harry Maguire headed home the consequential goal of the game.
Manchester City secured three vital points in a 1-0 away win against Tottenham. The returning Erling Haaland scored his 20th goal of the season, becoming the second player to score 20 or more goals in his first three Premier League campaigns, after Ruud van Nistelrooy. City processed to miss four big chances and were close to ruing them with the last meaningful kick of the game when Pape Matar Sarr missed a glorious chance.
Liverpool extended their lead at the top to 13 points with a sweatless 2-0 home win against Newcastle who were without Star man, Alexander Isak due to a groin injury. Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister were among the goals. West Ham closed out the Matchday on Thursday night with a 2-0 victory thanks to Tomas Soucek and Jannik Vestergaard’s own goal.
