On Wednesday, Manchester United inflicted a blow to Tottenham’s Premier League title hopes with a 2-0 victory at Old Trafford, while Liverpool’s turnaround continued with a 1-0 win against West Ham.
The 0-0 draw against Brentford ended Chelsea’s winning streak, allowing Newcastle to move within two points of the top four with a 1-0 victory over Everton.
After their most impressive performance under Erik ten Hag, United are currently only one point away from the Champions League and might pass Chelsea when the teams meet at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
“We had some other excellent performances, such as against Liverpool and Arsenal, but this was the one game in which we were outstanding from start to finish,” stated Ten Hag. I told the team that it was quite entertaining to observe.
The Red Devils attempted 28 shots on goal against a Tottenham side that had only been defeated once in their first 10 league games.
Since losing their first two games of the season, United’s signs of improvement have been limited by a lack of killer instinct up front.
Two minutes into the second half, Fred’s deflected shot reached the bottom right corner in front of a jubilant crowd.
United’s lead was subsequently extended when Bruno Fernandes scored his first club goal since August.
Tottenham might have pulled within one point of leaders Arsenal with a victory, but their performance has Antonio Conte questioning whether they can contend for the championship.
“I believe we need more time,” the Italian stated. “In barely 10 or 11 months, you cannot move from ninth place to a title candidate the following year. Especially after you finished 20 points behind the English beasts last season.”
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Darwin delivers
Darwin Nunez has had a rocky start to life at Liverpool, but the Uruguayan scored the game-winning goal as Jurgen Klopp’s squad moved up to seventh.
At 22 minutes, Nunez scored the game’s only goal by directing Kostas Tsimikas’ cross into the far post.
“He was terrific,” remarked Klopp. He possesses a tremendous amount of talent, and we are quite thrilled about him.
Alisson Becker, however, stopped Jarrod Bowen’s penalty kick in first-half stoppage time to preserve the victory for Liverpool.
Alisson was had to deny Tomas Soucek from point-blank range as Liverpool maintained their lead.
Brentford prevented Chelsea from closing to within five points of the league’s top team, as the league’s hottest team was defeated by the Bees.
Graham Potter is yet to experience a loss as Chelsea manager, and he has goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to thank for that.
The Spaniard is finally living up to his reputation as the world’s most expensive goalkeeper after a £72 million transfer from Athletic Bilbao in 2018 as he twice prevented Brentford’s Ivan Toney from scoring the game-winning goal.
Kepa stated, “Every player requires confidence and drive.” For goalkeepers, this is much more crucial.
Miguel Almiron’s sensational goal at St. James’s Park was enough for Newcastle to defeat Everton and maintain their good run of form.
The Toffees are only one point above the relegation zone after suffering a third successive loss.
Bournemouth’s six-game unbeaten streak under interim manager Gary O’Neil ended when Che Adams scored in the seventh minute to give under-pressure Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl a much-needed 1-0 victory.
The Saints’ first victory in six puts them in fourteenth place, although they are only two points above the bottom three.