Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Match Week 14 Results: Arsenal Bombards Forest; Back To Drawing Board for Klopp and Liverpool; Disaster for Chelsea in Potter’s Return To Brighton; Spurs Survive Scare at Bournemouth; Wolves Score !

Arsenal overwhelmed Nottingham Forest in a dominant 5-0 performance at the Emirates. The Gunners needed to go to their bench when Bukayo Saka was injured, and substitute Reiss Nelson delivered two goals in three minutes. Nelson’s goals were his first for the club in almost two years. England Manager Gareth Southgate now anxiously awaits to see if Saka will be fit for his nation’s World Cup run.

The Gunners’ dominance was a stark contrast to Liverpool’s loss to this same Forest team the previous week. Liverpool lost a second consecutive match to a club sitting in the relegation places when the Reds’ 29 match unbeaten string at home ended in a 2-1 loss to Leeds. An 89th minute goal by Crysensio Summerville dramatically raised Leeds out of the drop zone and potentially provided a reprieve for embattled Manager Jesse Marsch. Liverpool, meanwhile, is ninth in the Premier League table with its title hopes all but extinguished and even European qualification now becoming a question. While the club has been impacted by injuries, there can be little excuse for losses to some of the league’s poorest clubs and the type of miscues such as the errant back pass from center back Joe Gomez to out of position goalkeeper Allison that led to Leeds’s first goal on Saturday.

Manchester City remained two points behind Arsenal after a surprisingly difficult 1-0 victory at Leicester. With Erling Haaland missing from the City lineup, City struggled to penetrate Leicester’s defensive shell. World class midfielder Kevin De Bruyne saved the day for the Citizens with his perfectly placed free kick which delivered City’s goal and its ninth win of the season to keep the pressure on Arsenal.

Graham Potter experienced a difficult afternoon Saturday when he was rudely welcomed back to Brighton in a 4-1 to his former club as chants of “Judas” rang out from the Brighton supporters. Potter had ended his successful reign at the south coast club when London called during the current league season. Chelsea’s embarrassing performance on Saturday included two own goals in what was Potter’s first defeat as manager of the Blues. Chelsea fell to sixth in the table after the defeat, three points behind Newcastle for Champions League qualification. Eighth place Brighton’s milestone win was not just new manager Roberto De Zerbi’s first Premier League conquest but also the Seagulls’ first Premier League win over Chelsea in 15 attempts.

Tottenham Hotspur ended a two-match losing run in the league with a 3-2 come from behind win at Bournemouth. Rodrigo Bentancur’s stoppage time goal completed the comeback from what had been an early two goal deficit for Manager Antonio Conte’s side.

Conte will hope the dramatic win provides momentum as his club heads into its critical Champions League match with Marseilles Tuesday needing a result to advance in the competition. Bournemouth, meanwhile, falls to within two points of the relegation zone after the Cherries’ third straight loss.

Newcastle won for a fifth time in six matches as the Magpies remain a top four club after a 4-0 defeat of Aston Villa. Newcastle striker Callum Wilson scored twice as he makes his case for a place on England’s World Cup squad. Wilson’s six goals trail only Harry Kane and Ivan Toney for goals by Englishmen in the league this season. Villa failed to score a goal for a sixth time this season as new manager Unai Emery will be assuming the reins of a club which hovers a perilous single point above the drop zone.

Marcus Rashford scored his 100th goal in a Manchester United jersey to give the Red Devils a 1-0 win at Old Trafford over West Ham. Rashford has scored in successive matches for a first time since January as he attempts to revive his own flickering World Cup hopes. Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea, recently ruled out of Spain’s World Cup roster, responded to the disappointment with three magnificent saves for his Premier League club. Michail Antonio, Kurt Zouma and Declan Rice all had clear chances which were denied by De Gea’s brilliance. De Gea’s heroics ensured a clean sheet in center back Harry Maguire’s first start for the Red Devils since his benching for poor performance in August. Manchester United’s unbeaten run is now extended to eight matches across all competitions as the Red Devils lurk just a single point behind fourth place Newcastle in the league table. The 13th place Hammers, meanwhile, failed to win for a 15th consecutive time at Old Trafford.

Crystal Palace nudged into the top half of the table with a 1-0 win over Southampton, the Eagles third consecutive home victory. The match teased of the potential for a creative Crystal Palace side should they identify a productive striker. Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Wilfried Zaha are more than capable of creating chances, but the club has had a long dry spell when it comes to strikers taking those chances. Despite just the one score on Saturday, Eagle striker Odsonne Edouard hinted at more when he missed a Zaha pass in front of the net by tantalizing inches and had a converted chance called off due an Olise offside before ultimately cashing in the winner. Edouard once scored 88 goals in four seasons for Celtic and a consistent scoring threat, other than Zaha, for the Eagles would be a gamechanger.

Crystal Palace, of course, is an offensive powerhouse compared to the woeful attack of Wolverhampton. Wolverhampton rocked the world on Saturday by scoring a goal to capture a point in a 1-1 draw at Brentford. Ruben Neves scored what was only the sixth goal in 13 matches for Wolves. Allowing a goal versus the impotent Wolves attack was not surprising for Brentford as only three clubs have conceded more often than the Bees this season. Wolverhampton’s Diego Costa brought back memories of his Chelsea days not with a goal but a senseless headbutt which cost the temperamental striker a red card and will sideline him for Wolves until after the World Cup break.


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