Liverpool extended its lead in the Premier League title chase to five points over Manchester City. The Reds defeated Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield for their ninth league win of the season while the Citizens lost a second consecutive league match, making its four straight defeats across all competitions for the defending Premier League champions.
Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah had the goals for Liverpool in the first and second halves respectively, both tallies coming from Liverpool counter attacks. Salah was in the clear with only one defender to beat in the 20th minute of the first half when he was taken down by Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey. Curiously, there was no foul called but Nunez alertly pounced on the ball and slotted it past goalkeeper Emi Martinez. Salah would later break free on another counterattack in the 84th minute and, free from obstruction, beat Martinez for Liverpool’s insurance goal. The non-call on Bailey’s first half takedown of Salah became more interesting after the match. Replays clearly showed Referee David Coote waved off appeals for a rather clear foul after initial reactions presumed he had ruled advantage to Liverpool resulting in Nunez’s strike. On Monday, Coote was suspended by the PGMOL after a video circulated of the referee spewing anti-Liverpool sentiments. The video, filmed some years ago, includes some salty adjectives applied to former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool fans, critical of Coote’s work in seasons past, may take some smug satisfaction in Coote’s current dilemma but are far more interested in their club’s success under their new manager Arne Slot. The Reds lead both the Premier League table and the new Champions League table in that competition’s revised new format, winning 15 of 17 matches across all competitions under Slot, the best start ever for a manager of a Premier League club.
Meanwhile, the man often thought of as rivaling Alex Ferguson as the greatest Premier League manager ever is having a rough time of it. Pep Guardiola saw his Manchester City team lose a fourth consecutive match in a 2-1 defeat at Brighton. The losing streak is the longest in Guardiola’s tenure in Manchester and has at least temporarily derailed the march toward a fifth consecutive Premier League title. Things began brightly for Guardiola when Erling Haaland banged in his 12th goal of the season to give Manchester City the lead in the 23rd minute of play versus Brighton. Neither side could capitalize on their chances from that point until deep into the second half when Brighton’s Joao Pedro scored in the 78th minute on a poacher’s goal amid a goalmouth scramble. Five minutes later, former Celtic player Matt O’Riley scored in his Premier League debut for Brighton as the Seagulls disposed of the defending league champions. Brighton is now one of four teams (Chelsea, Arsenal, and Nottingham Forest being the others) sitting on 19 points, four back of Manchester City and nine points behind Liverpool’s scintillating pace.
Chelsea’s Pedro Neto drilled an equalizer in the 70th minute to salvage a point versus Arsenal in a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge. Both clubs fell further behind league leading Liverpool with the Gunners failing to win for a fourth consecutive time in league play. Arsenal will be encouraged, however, by the return of Martin Odegaard who assisted Gabriel Martinelli’s 60th minute goal which provided the Gunners with their short-lived lead. Odegaard, a source of much of Arsenal’s creativity in attack, had been sidelined for two months before taking the pitch on Sunday. Chelsea sits third in the table over the fourth place Gunners on goal differential in an impressive start to Manager Enzo Maresca’s reign at the club.
Nottingham Forest is fifth after the Tricky Tress relinquished a halftime lead to concede three second half goals and lose 3-1 at the City Ground to Newcastle. Forest has now lost as many games as they have won at the City Ground while the Jekyll and Hyde club has garnered the second most away points in the league this season. Resurgent Newcastle has now won back-to-back matches against clubs then residing in the top three.
Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, continued a frustrating run of alternating wins and losses over its last six matches. Spurs had an opportunity to go third in the table on goal differential this past weekend. Instead, Manager Ange Postecoglou’s club were upset at home by Ipswich Town to fall all the way to 10th in the table. Ipswich Town’s 2-1 victory was the first Premier League win for the club in 22 years. Sam Szmodic’s spectacular bicycle kick gave the Tractor Boys the lead in the 31st minute. It became 2-0 at half time after rising young star Liam Delap scored his sixth goal of the season for Ipswich Town. A second half goal by Rodrigo Bentancur proved too little, too late for Spurs.
On repeat. 🔄🚲#TOTIPS pic.twitter.com/bMUXUVNOQe
— IPSWICH TOWN (@IpswichTown) November 10, 2024
Ipswich Town moved out of the relegation with their victory, leapfrogging a losing Crystal Palace side which could soon be under new management. The Eagles lost 2-0 at home to Fulham in a London derby at Selhurst Park. Manager Oliver Glasner’s side has lost its last ten league matches when conceding the first goal as the Eagles simply do not have the firepower to recover from an early blow. Glasner may be a victim of his own success last season as his underwhelming squad may be finding its true level this season.
Seventh place Fulham, meanwhile, is teasing supporters with possible European qualification after a second straight win which leaves the Cottagers just a point behind third place Chelsea.
Southampton’s jubilation over the Saints’ first win of the season last week was short lived as the Saints fell back to the bottom of the table with a 2-0 loss at previously winless Wolverhampton. Every team in the Premier League has now won at least once with Wolves beginning to show signs of relegation reluctance with two consecutive draws preceding Saturday’s win.
Manchester United completed its four-match unbeaten run under interim manger Rudd van Nistelrooy with a 3-0 over Leicester. It was the second victory over the Foxes in the past two weeks while van Nistelrooy also presided over a Europa Cup win over PAOK and a league draw with Chelsea. Ruben Amorim takes over as Manchester United Manager following the international break. The management change at Manchester United came after the Red Devils lost at struggling West Ham.
The Hammers have reverted back to terrible form since that match, failing to score in Saturday’s goalless drudge match with Everton which followed on an ugly 3-0 negative result at Nottingham Forest. Things are not yet at crisis stage with West Ham still five points clear of the drop line, but Manger Julen Lopetegui has delivered nothing to excite Hammer fans since following the boring, yet ultimately successful run of former manager David Moyes. Everton, meanwhile, are not free of relegation worries despite having lost but once in their last seven matches. The Toffees are three points clear of the drop line after drawing for the fourth time in that run.
Brentford and Bournemouth, meanwhile, are in that mid-table gray zone with no fear of relegation and yet scant hope for a European place. The Bees defeated the Cherries 3-2 on Saturday to move one point ahead of Bournemouth into 11th position in the table. Yoane Wissa scored twice for the Bees, his sixth and seventh goals of the season placing him joint third in Premier Leaguer goal production this season.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment: