
Results:
Watford 1 Leicester City 1
Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Arsenal 1
West Ham United 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2
AFC Bournemouth 0 Crystal Palace 2
Round-up:
After 14 consecutive Saturdays, the Premier League finally returned on a Saturday and began with Watford hosting Leicester City. In what was a tight and cagey game, which has been a trend of the Premier League matches so far since resumption, in part due to a lack of match fitness, Ben Chilwell scored a screamer in the 90th minute and it seemed as though Leicester City would take all three points. However, Watford defender Craig Dawson had ideas as he scored a brilliant 93rd minute equaliser to rescue them a point which could be significant in their battle to avoid relegation.
The next game which took place saw Brighton & Hove Albion host Arsenal. Arsenal, who were hammered 3-0 away at Manchester City in a match where they suffered two injuries, suffered another massive injury blow today as goalkeeper Bernd Leno went off injured after an inadvertently late challenge by Brighton striker Neal Maupay, which caused much anger amongst some Arsenal players - most notably Matteo Guendouzi. After a goalless first half, Arsenal took the lead in the 68th minute thanks to a brilliant strike from Nicolas Pepe. However, their lead lasted than ten minutes as Brighton equalised thanks to a goal from Lewis Dunk as he bundled the ball over the line, and this time the goal-line technology functioned correctly and awarded the goal to Brighton. It seemed as though the sides would have to take a share of the spoils, until of all people Neal Maupay (who caused much anger amongst Arsenal players following his challenge on Leno) scored a 90th minute winner for Brighton, their first win in 2020 (and of the decade) and a much needed one in their battle to beat relegation - particularly with other results going their way.
The third game which took place today saw struggling West Ham United host Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wolves dominated the match overall, although they struggled to break down their hosts until manager Nuno Espirito Santo brought on Adama Traoré and Pedro Neto to great effect. Traore put in a brilliant cross which was brilliantly headed by striker Raul Jimenez to give Wolves the lead in the 73rd minute. Pedro Neto then wrapped up the win for Wolves six minutes from time after hitting a brilliant volley following a cross from Matt Doherty, in a result which brings Wolves level on points with Manchester United in the battle for Europe. On the other hand, for West Ham, the result emphasises the fact that it will be a long battle until the end of the season for them to avoid relegation - and it is fair to say that, in today's match, they hardly ever looked like scoring.
The final match played today saw AFC Bournemouth host Crystal Palace. After Watford drew and West Ham had lost earlier on today, the hosts had a massive opportunity to get out of the relegation zone (they would have done so even with a draw), however, they performed extremely poorly and Palace recorded a deserved 2-0 triumph thanks to two first half goals, firstly via a freekick from Luka Milivojevic before a composed finish from Jordan Ayew which sealed a comfortable victory - as AFC Bournemouth hardly provided any sort of threat to the Crystal Palace defence, and, to add insult to injury, key attacking player Joshua King went off injured.
Comments