Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Match Week 6 Results: Manchester United Surges Past Arsenal; Villa Holds Haaland To Single Goal In Draw; VAR Decisions Cost West Ham and Newcastle; Kane Climbs Scoring Ladder; Seagulls Blast Foxes; Scoreless in Merseyside; Wolves Score ! ; Forest Not Out Of The Woods

Manchester United defeated league leading Arsenal 3-1 for the Red Devils’ fourth consecutive victory. Newly signed Antony opened the scoring at Old Trafford with his first Premier League goal just 35 minutes into his Manchester United career.

Marcus Rashford’s two goals then secured victory for the Red Devils after Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka had tied the match in the 60th minute. Oft criticized Rashford, who also assisted on Antony’s opening goal, delivered a brace for the first time since December 2020. Manchester United draws within three points of league leading Arsenal as the Red Devils have remade themselves after a disastrous start to the season. Arsenal failed to win for a first time following five consecutive victories and, after failing their first major test against a top half club, the Gunners saw their lead at the top of the table reduced to a single point over Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.

Erling Haaland scored “only” one goal, after back-to-back hat tricks in his prior two matches, as Manchester City was held to a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa. The Norwegian striker’s 10th goal of the season makes him the quickest to achieve double digit production in Premier League history. Haaland’s 50th minute goal gave the Citizens a lead, but Leon Bailey smashed home a 74th minute equalizer to prevent Manchester City from overtaking Arsenal in the league table. Aston Villa crept out of the relegation zone as they ended a run of three consecutive losses and at least temporarily reduced the volume of catcalls directed at embattled manager Steven Gerrard. Undefeated Manchester City dropped points for a second time this season.

Richarlison made his first start for Tottenham Hotspur and assisted on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s opening goal in Spurs’ 2-1 defeat of Fulham. Harry Kane’s 75th minute goal proved the winner as Spurs survived a late goal by the Cottagers’ Aleksandar Mitrovic to take all three points. Kane now trails only Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer in career Premier League goals with the England captain 20 goals behind Rooney and 72 goals short of former Newcastle striker and Premier League scoring champion Shearer. Third place Spurs are undefeated in their last 12 league contests and have lost only once in their last 16 Premier League matches. Fulham’s Mitrovic scored his sixth goal of the campaign as Fulham lost for only a second time this season.

Brighton rounds out the league’s top four after the Seagulls soared to a 5-2 win over Leicester. Leicester was fortunate to be tied at two goals apiece at the half time break after a questionable VAR decision disallowed a potential third first half goal for the Seagulls. The decision deprived Alexis MacAllister of a wonder goal but the Argentinian midfielder responded with two of Brighton’s three second half scores to finish off the fading Foxes. Leicester sits bottom of the table after a fifth straight defeat.

Chelsea was fortunate to emerge with a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge over West Ham when a tying goal by the Hammers was controversially disallowed on VAR review. Maxwel Cornet’s 90th minute equalizer was chalked off based on a determination that Jarrod Bowen had fouled Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy moments before Cornet’s strike. Bowen attempted to avoid a sliding Mendy by vaulting over the prone goalkeeper and barely clipped him with his well intended effort to avoid contact. A goal by substitute Kai Havertz thus held up for a Chelsea win that featured a goal and assist from Ben Chilwell. West Ham lost for a fourth time this season as Michail Antonio’s first goal of the season for the Hammers went for naught.

An entertaining Merseyside derby saw Everton and Liverpool share the points in a goalless Merseyside derby. Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was the star of a hotly contested match which saw Liverpool frustrated on numerous occasions by the England keeper. Both sides also rattled the woodwork in the highly entertaining but ultimately scoreless battle. Everton scrambled from the relegation zone with a fourth consecutive draw as the Toffees’ rebuilt defense and star keeper have yielded no more than a goal in any of those four matches. Liverpool, meanwhile, drew for a third time this season as the Reds have accumulated the fewest points after six league matches since Jurgen Klopp’s arrival.

Brentford scored five goals in a topflight match for the first time since 1938 as Ivan Toney’s hat trick keyed a 5-2 win over Leeds. Excitable Leeds Manager Jesse Marsch perpetrated some touchline histrionics in his frustration with some VAR decisions and was tossed for his troubles. Brentford leapfrogged Leeds to eighth in the table with the victory.

Crystal Palace escaped with a point at Newcastle behind desperate defending, good goaltending and a friendly VAR verdict.

Newcastle was the aggressor throughout the match but was frustrated by Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vincente Guaita and center back Joachim Andersons’s 17 clearances, the highest number of clearances by a defender in the Premier League this season. Anderson’s one gaffe, a first half giveaway to Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, proved non-lethal when Isak was unable to successfully lift the ball over Guaita. An own goal by the Eagle’s Tyrick Mitchell was later taken off the board as VAR called foul on Newcastle’s Joe Willock for barreling into Guaita. Incensed Newcastle supporters will dispute the call as it appeared Mitchell himself shoved the Newcastle man into the Eagle keeper.

Wolverhampton scored a goal in a 1-0 victory over Southampton. The scoring strike by Daniel Podence increased the club’s season long goal production by 50%. The victory, Wolverhampton’s first in the league since April, allowed Wolves to claw out of the relegation zone. Supporters should not necessarily become accustomed to a newly turbocharged Wolves attack, however. Long time striker Raul Jimenz was injured in warmups and newly acquired striker Sasa Kalajdzic, inserted to start in Jimenez’s place, was injured during the match. Southampton missed out on a point when the Saints’ leading goal scorer, Che Adams, was correctly adjudged to have used his arm in scoring a disallowed goal. Adams also missed out when his later header rattled the crossbar.

Nottingham Forest Manager Steve Cooper is gaining ground in the latest manager sack race. A 3-2 loss to Bournemouth marked the fourth loss this season by Cooper’s squad. Unlike Bournemouth, which has already sacked its season opening manager in Scott Parker, Nottingham Forest has tried to upgrade its roster, establishing a Premier League record with 21 signings in the recent window. With Forest falling to 19th in table after a third consecutive defeat, Steve Cooper could be in trouble if improvement doesn’t start to show. Bournemouth, meanwhile, has registered four points in two matches played since parting ways with Manager Scott Parker.


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