Chelsea, Man U win, Arsenal stun Man City… EPL week 8 highlights

Manchester United returned to winning ways this past weekend, as Everton won one again, Chelsea improved under Pochettino, Newcastle and Liverpool fell short, and Arsenal astounded Manchester City.

Arsenal 1 vs Manchester City 0
The only goal of the game, which got the Gunners the ahead of Pep Guardiola’s team on Sunday, was scored by substitute Martinelli, who was making his first appearance since the middle of September.

The talented Brazilian winger, who had missed the previous five games due to injury, gave Arsenal a boost when he entered the game at halftime and then scored a thrilling winner with just four minutes remaining in the game. It was ofcourse an ideal time for him to score his first league goal since April’s match against Southampton.
Arsenal had a shaky start and could have fallen behind inside just five minutes, but a shot from Josko Gvardiol was blocked and Ake missed the target.

Arsenal has defeated Manchester City in the Premier League for the first time since December 2015, snapping a run of 15 games without a victory in this matchup (D2 L13), losing each of the last 12 straight. This result may prove vital at the end of the season. Since December 2018 (against Crystal Palace and Leicester City), Manchester City has not dropped two straight Premier League games until the game against Arsenal.

With this win, Arsenal has also defeated the league’s reigning champions in the Premier League for the first time since April 2017 against Leicester, and they have yet to lose a Premier League game this season (W6 D2). The last time they started a season with a longer unbeaten streak was in 2007–08 (15 games).

Manchester United 2 vs Brentford 1
The Red Devils suffered a difficult 3-2 loss at home to Galatasaray in the Champions League, marking the start of their European campaign with two straight losses. Losing seemed virtually inconceivable for Erik ten Hag and his team as they entered the Brentford game after four losses in their previous five home games this season.

The first goal was scored by Brentford as a result of several United errors condensed into a terrible 15-second span. Casemiro attempted a straightforward pass that was unsuccessful, Yoane Wissa was left unchecked, Victor Lindelof kicked a clearance directly at the Brentford striker, and Andre Onana got a hand on Jensen’s effort but was unable to block it.

It should come as no surprise that United’s defense was somewhat in disarray. With the exception of two back-up left-backs, including Sergio Reguilon, who was only hired on an emergency loan to replace injured players, their starting back four choices were all absent. For the first time since they each spent four years playing for Leicester City, Maguire and Jonny Evans began together in a league game.

As the United defense failed to clear, Mathias Jensen’s shot past Andre Onana gave the traveling Bees the lead early in the match.

However, Manchester United pulled off an incredible comeback to defeat Brentford 2-, with super substitute Scot Mctominey scoring two late goals for the Old Trafford side.

Burnley 1 vs Chelsea 4
Looking to end a run of four successive home defeats on their return to the top flight this season, promoted Burnley raced into a 15th-minute lead, Wilson Odobert scoring his first goal in English Premier league to stun the visitors
Chelsea struggled mightily in the first half, generally lacking tempo and imagination and producing little danger. Although they weren’t much better, Burnley did make the most of their first shot on goal.

However, Chelsea was the superior team in the second half as they overcame a 1-0 deficit to beat Burnley 4-1 achieving their first back-to-back wins in the Premier League since March.

Brighton 2 vs Liverpool 2
Liverpool and Brighton played to a fun 2-2 draw on Sunday at the Amex after both teams experienced emotionally taxing defeats the previous weekend.

After Mohamed Salah scored twice in a matter of six minutes, Liverpool was in a position to effectively end the game. Once again, Dominik Szoboszlai had a significant impact, directing 4 shots on goal and drawing the penalty that led to Salah’s second goal.

Trent Alexander-Arnold did a great job of keeping the dangerous Kaoru Mitoma quiet with some smart tackles and interceptions despite not being quite as involved in the attacking end as football fans are accustomed to. In a 1v1 situation in the second half, Alisson once more made a tremendous save and was actively involved with in the game.

Luton 0 vs Tottenham hotspur 1
Yves Bissouma got himself sent off in first-half stoppage time for diving, his second yellow card in barely 10 minutes.
Tottenham, despite being down a man, quickly took the lead early in the second half as James Maddison set up Van De Ven with the aid of a quick corner.

Despite having numerous chances to tie the game, Luton failed to score.
Tottenham, though, resisted and continued their eight-game winning streak to take the lead.

Spurs ended the first half with 10men, the visitors ought to have been ahead by at least one goal.

In the first four minutes, Richarlison missed two excellent opportunities, while Pedro Porro also missed a shot in the seventh.

Chimezie Amos