Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Premier League Match Week 7 Results: Chelsea Tops Table; Anfield Draw; Everton Grabs Point at Old Trafford; Brighton and Arsenal in South Coast Slog; Hammers Fall To Bees; Eagles Chase Down Foxes; Spurs Stop Slide; Watford Changes Managers

A red card to Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse opened the door to two second half goals by Chelsea as the Blues moved to the top of the Premier League table with a 3-1 win over the Saints. Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel rotated his deep Chelsea squad and was rewarded early on as Trevoh Chalobah scored the opening goal off an assist from the sparingly used Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Ward-Prowse knotted matters for the Saints with a second half penalty strike before the veteran set piece expert was dismissed in the 77th minute, opening the door to the two late Chelsea goals. Ben Chilwell, making his first league start of the season, scored Chelsea’s second goal seven minutes after the Saints went down a man and Timo Werner removed all doubt of the outcome with his 89th minute goal. Winless Southampton are one place and a slender point outside the relegation places as only Norwich has notched fewer goals.

Liverpool is second in the table after a 2-2 draw with Manchester City at Anfield. The league’s last two champions entertained both groups of supporters, and neutrals worldwide, in a back-and-forth match which saw City come back twice on goals by Phil Foden and Keven De Bruyne to share points with their hosts. Liverpool star Mohamed Salah scored his joint league leading sixth goal of the season and assisted on line-mate Sadio Mane’s opening score of the match as Liverpool remains the sole undefeated club in the league despite a one-point deficit in the table to league leader Chelsea. Manchester City are third in the table after impressively defeating Chelsea last week and grabbing the point Sunday at Anfield.

A 1-1 draw with Everton at Old Trafford means Manchester United have won only one of their last five outings across all competitions, losing three of those matches as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is feeling increased heat. Overcoming the absence of star forwards Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison, Andres Townsend’s second half goal grabbed the point for the Toffees after a rare score by Anthony Martial had given Solskjaer’s men the early lead. Townsend clumsily attempted to replicate Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal celebration after his tying goal while Ronaldo himself stormed from the field after the frustrating performance left United level on points with fifth place Everton.

Brighton took a point at home in a rain-soaked goalless draw with Arsenal. The Seagulls launched 21 shots in the downpour but were unable to put one past Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale who has conceded but one goal in his four starts between the sticks for the Gunners. The result ended a three-match winning run for Arsenal as the Gunners failed to score for a fourth time in their seven matches this season. The sixth place Seagulls are just two points behind league leading Chelsea in the congested early table as Brighton’s only loss this season has been to Everton in Week 3.

Brentford stunned West Ham deep into stoppage time to score a 2-1 victory over the Hammers at London Stadium. Yoane Wissa scored the winner for the Bees just a week after the forward scored a late equalizer versus Liverpool. Newly promoted Brentford are seventh in the table with two victories and the draw to Liverpool in its last three matches. West Ham fell to ninth in the table after a second loss in three matches as the Hammers may be showing some effect from a demanding schedule which includes Europa League matches this season.

Tottenham Hotspur defeated Aston Villa 2-1 to snap a three-match losing run for Spurs. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, with just two goals in 38 league appearances last year, was the unlikely scorer of the first goal on Sunday to give Spurs a lead which was later negated by a score from Villa’s Ollie Watkins. An own goal by Aston Villa’s Matt Targett then decided the match.

Son Heung-min was influential for Spurs, assisting on the first goal and having his pass deflected by Targett for the own goal winner. The victory lifted Spurs to eighth in the table, two points outside the top four despite the continuing goal drought of striker Harry Kane. Villa enter the international break 10th in the table after the disappointing loss which snapped a two-match winning run.

Hwang Hee-Chan scored twice to deliver a 2-1 victory for Wolves over struggling Newcastle. Both of Hee-Chan’s goals were assisted by Raul Jimenez as the two forward players are developing a chemistry which bodes well for a Wolves side which was sheepish in failing to score in four of its first five matches. Twelfth place Wolves have won three of their last four matches. Newcastle, meanwhile, tumbled into the relegation places at 19th in the table as the Magpies remain searching for their first win.

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira is enjoying success with his substitution strategies. His Eagles were down two goals to Leicester before the Eagles came screaming back on goals by substitutes Michael Olise and Jeffrey Schlupp to capture a point in a 2-2 final at Selhurst Park. Schlupp’s goal, 48 seconds after his arrival on the pitch, was the second fastest score by a substitute in the Premier League season, bettered only by teammate Odsonne Edouard’s goal 29 seconds into his appearance versus Spurs. Vieira became the first Crystal Palace manager to be unbeaten in his first four home matches in the Premier League while Olise became the first teenager to score a Premier League goal for Crystal Palace this century. Thirteenth place Leicester, a point above Palace in the table, failed to win for a fourth consecutive league match, again exhibiting holes in the Fox defense. Jamie Vardy scored a joint league best sixth goal of the season in the match.

Leeds posted their first victory of the season on defender Diego Llorente’s first half goal in a 1-0 defeat of Watford at Elland Road. Watford manager Xisco Munoz was fired after the match, ending a 10-month run during which he guided the club’s promotion to the Premier League where the Hornets have won two and drawn one of their first seven matches. Watford have replaced their manager each of the last eleven seasons, making multiple replacements in three of those years, and have now asked former Leicester title winner Claudio Ranieri to take the helm. Leeds escaped the relegation zone with the win, ironically still a point below 15th place Watford.

Winless Burnley and Norwich put their futility on display as both clubs failed to score or make a statement in their relegation battle. The silver lining of the goalless draw for Norwich was the end of a 16-match losing run in the league. Unfortunately, the Canaries were unable to add to the paltry two goals they have accumulated this season. Burnley, meanwhile, have failed to win a home match since January 27th after the damning loss at Turf Moor to cellar-dwelling Norwich.

 

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