It is becoming the norm now, isn’t it? The Premier League just delivers goals and drama. There’s not much time to stew on what happened across matchday 22 with matchday 23 just around the corner, but here’s a look at some of the biggest talking points across the mid-week fixtures.
By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert
The Gabriel Jesus show
Arsenal kept the pressure on both Manchester City and Liverpool with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Tuesday evening. The Gunners huffed and puffed in the first half but couldn’t find a way past former goalkeeper Matt Turner despite having 81% possession and nine shots.
The visitors ramped things up in the second half and scored two goals in the space of seven minutes just after the hour mark to essentially take the game away from the hosts. Gabriel Jesus scored the opener from a difficult angle, it was one of his six efforts on the night. He also assisted Bukayo Saka as Arsenal doubled their lead.
Jesus was at his brilliant best for Mikel Arteta’s side, creating two chances in total, having 14 touches in the opposition’s box and completing three of his five attempted dribbles. He also won seven of his 13 duels to round off an eye-catching display.
Taiwo Awoniyi made it an interesting final few minutes when he capitalised on a rare William Saliba error to halve the deficit but Arsenal held on for an important three points.
Luton run riot
Heading into their game against Luton, Brighton had been blowing hot and cold for weeks. A draw with Crystal Palace was followed up with a 4-2 win over Tottenham. They drew 0-0 with West Ham before trouncing Stoke City 4-2 in the FA Cup. They then put another draw, this time with Wolves, behind them to dismantle Sheffield United 5-2 in the FA Cup.
Roberto De Zerbi would’ve viewed a trip to Kenilworth Road as a chance to build momentum. If he did, he was proven emphatically wrong with Luton running out 4-0 winners in one of the shock results of the season.
The Hatters had a 2-0 lead within three minutes and the Seagulls just couldn’t recover. Elijah Adebayo finished the game with a hat-trick as the hosts peppered the Brighton goal, outshooting their opponents 18-9. Rob Edwards’ men racked up an Expected Goals total of over 3.2 while limiting Brighton to just 0.94.
They truly deserved all three points in what was one of the most dominant showings of the campaign. The win lifted Luton out of the relegation zone and into 17th. They are now a point ahead of Everton with a game in hand.
Fortress Villa Park falls
Aston Villa were on a 17-match unbeaten run at Villa Park. The Villans had the best home record in the Premier League this term having taken 28 points from 30 matches. They hosted an inconsistent Newcastle United side on Wednesday evening. Eddie Howe’s men haven’t travelled well at all this season yet they found themselves 2-0 up at the break courtesy of a Fabian Schär double.
Alex Moreno then scored an own goal just after half-time and though Ollie Watkins got one back for the hosts, they weren’t able to use that as a platform for what would’ve been a remarkable comeback.
This wasn’t a smash-and-grab, though the Magpies did rely on set pieces. The away side finished the game with a considerably higher Expected Goals total (2.63 to 1.46) and carved out more big chances (five to three).
Villa have now won just one of their last five in the Premier League. This form has seen them drop to fifth in the table. The win for Newcastle lifts them into eighth.
Rampant Reds
For the third successive Premier League match, Liverpool scored four goals. This time, in a 4-1 win over Chelsea. On another day, the Reds could’ve found the back of the net on six or seven occasions on Wednesday evening.
Darwin Núñez hit the woodwork on four occasions while Đorđe Petrović made a number of fine saves to keep the scoreline down. Jürgen Klopp’s men were under pressure following Arsenal’s win over Nottingham Forest yet they played as a team without fear, suffocating the away side with the highest of high presses.
Conor Bradley was once again the star of the show, assisting twice and scoring his first goal for the Merseyside club. Luis Díaz rounded off the rout but not before Christopher Nkunku, off the bench for Chelsea, finally got off the mark for the Blues.
Madness at Molineux
Bedlam. That is probably the best way to describe the game between Manchester United and Wolves on Thursday evening.
Marcus Rashford scored after just five minutes and Rasmus Højlund doubled the lead before we even had 30 minutes on the clock. A controversial penalty decision in the 70th minute allowed Pablo Sarabia to get back into the game only for the inevitable Scott McTominay to restore United’s two-goal advantage.
Wolves pushed on and skipper Max Kilman got them back into the game in the 85th minute before Pedro Neto grabbed an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Wolves had done the unthinkable, only for United to steal it moments later. Kobbie Mainoo showed great composure to curl the ball past José Sá in the 97th minute.
United probably deserved the win if we’re being honest, but Wolves showed great resolve to get back into the game.
(Images from IMAGO)
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