It was a redemption of the bottom table teams on this matchday. Burnley had a convincing win over struggling Brighton putting them two points away from relegation. Watford was also victorious this week winning their match against another struggling squad in Aston Villa.
West Ham (1) vs. Newcastle (1)
Newcastle is continuing their climb up the table and away from the relegation zone. They got a positive result during this afternoon’s match towards that goal. Craig Dawson opened the scoring for the Hammers with roughly 15 minutes left in the half. But, Newcastle scored an even later goal in extra time after 45 minutes to keep the match a draw. The goal scorer Joseph Willock almost made it took the match for Newcastle narrowly curling his strike wide of the goal.
Arsenal (2) vs. Brentford (1)
Arsenal has a second positive result after their embarrassing draw to the basement-dwelling Burnley. Both the young and up-and-coming talents for Arsenal put their stamp all over this match. Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka both scored putting the Gunners ahead by two goals. A last-minute goal by Christian Norgaard in extra time brought the deficit down to one.
Aston Villa (0) vs. Watford (1)
Aston Villa takes their second defeat in consecutive matches by lower table teams. Last week’s match was to a high-flying Newcastle squad. This week Villa faced a team in Watford that has not won a match since November 20th. Villa was statistically superior to Watford in possession and shots but in the most important stat line, Watford put more shots on target than Villa. Watford had four shots on target to Villa’s one. It only took one of those four chances to go in for Watford to claim the victory.
Brighton (0) vs. Burnley (3)
Brighton conceded their second defeat in as many weeks. They’ve also given up two clean sheets to the opposing keepers. But, it seemed as though the teams in the relegation were coming out swinging. Wout Weghorst contributed to both goals for Burnley in the first half. He scored the first one off a brilliant strike from the edge of the area. He also provided the assist on Josh Brownhill’s goal just before the half. Aaron Lennon put his name on the sheet midway through the second half.
Crystal Palace (0) vs. Chelsea (1)
Chelsea squeaked past Crystal Palace with a goal in the final two minutes of regulation in their first league match after winning the FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi. An entertaining first half for the two teams almost lead to a lead by Chelsea when both Antonio Rudiger and N’Golo KantΓ© came close. Wilfrid Zaha had his own chance for Palace to take the lead but it wasn’t until Hakim Ziyech scored the only goal of the match in the 89th minute.
Liverpool (3) vs. Norwich City (1)
A big afternoon for the offensive trio for Liverpool led to a victory over the lowly Canaries. Mo Salah scored his 150th goal in a Reds uniform. While, new acquisition, Luiz Diaz scored his first goal for Liverpool since his transfer in January. Sadio ManΓ© also added his name to the score sheet by opening the scoring.
Southampton (2) vs. Everton (0)
The high-flying Saints took advantage of an up-and-down Everton squad. They have gone undefeated in four matches in all competitions. Jordan Pickford had his work cut out for him in the first half keeping to match a draw but he could not maintain this level of performance. Southampton’s pressure in the second half finally led to success when both Stuart Armstrong and Shane Long both beat Pickford and gave the Saints a two-goal lead that Everton could not surmount.
Manchester City (2) vs. Tottenham (3)
In a shocking turn of events in the last minute of extra time in the dying moments of the match, Harry Kane scored the match-winning goal. New January transfer acquisition Dejan Kulusevski opened the scoring for the Spur in the fourth minute. City found their equalizer before halftime when Ilkay Gundogan took advantage of a misplay by Hugo Lloris. It was all City in the second half controlling possession but it was the Spurs’ Harry Kane that found the back of the net off a Son cross. In extra time is when things got interesting, Riyad Mahrez tied the match at the 90 +2′ mark putting City in a comfortable position to get a point. But, it was the man that Man City coveted in the summer transfer window that put the dagger in their backs. Kane scored his goal at 90+5′.
Leeds United (2) vs. Manchester United (4)
In torrential rain, Manchester United needed their substitutes to win a match that seemed to have gotten away from them. Harry Mcguire and Bruno Fernandes put the Red Devils up by two goals before the half. But, Leeds found their equalizers one minute apart in the 53rd and 54th minute. A 67th-minute substitution of both Fred and Anthony Elanga made all the difference in the match when they both scored a goal to regain the two-goal lead and the much-needed victory. Man United holds their spot in fourth place but the teams behind them hold games in hand.
Wolves (2) vs. Leicester City (1)
An early goal by RΓΊben Neves put the Wolves out front in a critical match that keeps them in the race for the fourth spot in the league. Ademola Lookman scored in the 41st minute to keep the match a draw. In the second half, Daniel Podence scores the winner for Wolves. Their back-to-back victory puts the Wolves in seventh place six points behind Man United with one game in hand.
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