Another Premier league weekend is behind us and, as always,
there are plenty of talking points and incidents to look back on.
There was a surprise result at Anfield as Paul Clement recorded
his first victory as Swansea manager with a 3-2 win over Liverpool. Fernando Llorente
scored twice to give Swansea a 2-0 lead before a brace from Roberto Firminho
brought the reds level. The momentum seemed to be with Liverpool but Gylfi Sigurdsson
scored with fifteen minutes remaining to give Swansea a huge win which took
them out of the relegation places and left Jurgen Klopp bemoaning his side’s defensive
frailties.
Chelsea continued their title pursuit with a relatively
comfortable 2-0 win over Hull city at Stamford Bridge. Diego Costa opened the
scoring, having been recalled following reports of him being unsettled by an
approach from a Chinese Super League club. Hull gave a good account of
themselves but failed to genuinely threaten the Chelsea goal and the game was
settled when Gary Cahill grabbed a second for the blues. There were
particularly worrying scenes for Hull after Ryan Mason picked up a serious
injury in a clash of heads with Gary Cahill which stopped the game for around
ten minutes. Mason was later found to have fractured his skull and required an
operation. News that he was talking and taking visitors in hospital following the
operation will have come as a huge relief to all concerned.
Arsenal moved up to second in the table with a controversial
2-1 win over Burnley at the Emirates. The gunners led through an unlikely source
as Shkodran Mustafi’s header put them in front. The task was made more
difficult for Arsenal when Granit Xhaka was sent off for the second time this
season following a rash two-footed lunge on Steven Defour. Burnley looked to
have grabbed a late point when Andre Gray converted a penalty in the ninety
third minute but Arsenal had the last say as Ben Mee was penalised for a high
foot on Laurent Koscielny and Alexis sanchez coolly chipped in the penalty to
seal a vital three points. Burnley manager Sean Dyche was left fuming as
Koscielny appeared to be in an offside position for the incident that led to
Arsenal’s penalty but his protests went unheeded.
It was another frustrating weekend for Pep Guardiola as his
Manchester City side let a two goal lead slip as they were held to a 2-2 draw
with Tottenham. City started strongly but had to wait until early in the second
half as the usually reliable Hugo Lloris made two uncharacteristic errors. Firstly
heading the ball straight at Leroy Sane who couldn’t believe his luck before slotting
home. Lloris then dropped an easy catch directly at the feet of Kevin De Bruyne
who tapped in for 2-0. Dele Alli headed in to reduce the deficit and then came
the moment which so incensed Guardiola. Raheem Sterling went through on goal
and appeared to be pushed by Kyle walker in the penalty area just as he was
about to shoot at goal but neither the referee nor his assistants spotted an
infringement. Guardiola’s misery was complete when, shortly after, Son Heung-Min
equalised for Spurs meaning City have just one win in their last four
league games.
Crystal Palace slipped into the relegation zone following a
1-0 defeat at home to Everton, a result which leaves Sam Allardyce without a
win so far as Palace manager. Seamus Coleman scored with just three minutes
remaining to seal a fourth win in five for Ronald Koeman’s resurgent side and
condemn Palace to a fourth straight league defeat.
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