Haaland inevitable, Villa forced to scrap, Brentford ridiculous and Wieffer whiffs – 3pm Blackout
A ludicrous round of Saturday 3pm kick-offs featured some transformative late goals, a mistake which keeps Arsenal fourth and more Erling Haaland brilliance.
Aston Villa 1-1 Bournemouth: Battle of Basque ends in yellow fever
Unai Emery and Enzo Maresca might soon consider sharing notes on facing Bournemouth, the apparent masters of extracting disciplinary ding-dongs from their opponents.
After helping set a new benchmark for the most yellow cards in a Premier League game (14) against Chelsea in September, the Cherries and Aston Villa fell narrowly short with 13. But they equalled the record for first-half bookings with seven.
Andoni Iraola’s side hold up their end of these bargains – they accounted for six of the cautions against Chelsea and Villa – and there seems a particular relish with how they turn games into such physical, combative, tempestuous tests, especially by focusing on those one-on-one battles across the pitch.
Villa handled the test admirably but one lapse of concentration was all Evanilson needed to cancel out Ross Barkley’s opener and secure the draw. How fitting that it came from a free-kick after Barkley was booked for clattering Marcus Tavernier.
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Brentford 4-3 Ipswich: A really quite silly game of football
In the future Manchester United manager audition derby the only real winner was Erik ten Hag – who might have taken a perverse pleasure in watching such a ludicrously chaotic game.
Both teams led, Ipswich at one stage by two goals. Kieran McKenna’s two biggest starting line-up gambles paid off handsomely and backfired hilariously. George Hirst became the first player to score and assist in a single Premier League game for the Tractor Boys since Marcus Bent in January 2002, yet Harry Clarke scored an own goal, conceded a penalty and was sent off.
Brentford came from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 before conceding at home to ten men in the 86th minute, only to win and also nearly still draw when goalscorer Liam Delap hit the post in a stunning 15-minute cameo.
It was defensively bereft all around. Aro Muric might fear for his place, Ipswich desperately need at least one of Axel Tuanzebe or Jacob Greaves back from injury and Brentford should be thankful that the excellence of Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo continues to cancel out their inherent need to drop points from winning positions more often than not.
But ultimately it was just a daft match with an appropriate scoreline and end. It was a game which had, aside from general competence, everything.
Brighton 2-2 Wolves: Wieffer whiffer could inspire O’Neil’s side
At this stage simply being able to focus on analysing an actual game rather than being swept up in the intricacies of modern officiating must feel like a bonus for Wolves. A routine 2-0 defeat to Brighton might even have been welcomed in a weird way.
That was the result most supporters had resigned themselves to when Evan Ferguson scored with five minutes remaining, adding to Danny Welbeck’s customary strike on the stroke of half-time.
But while Gary O’Neil might believe VAR to be working against him, his players are fighting by his side. Except for maybe Jose Sa and his kicking.
The keeper would have been defenceless had Brighton’s four-on-one attack in stoppage time been carried out properly. Rayan Ait-Nouri’s goal seemed sure to be a consolation when Mats Wieffer advanced with Yasin Ayari, Ferguson and Julio Enciso in counter-attacking support. Tommy Doyle resembled Jon Snow preparing to face an entire army in an unwinnable battle.
Yet he emerged with the ball, intercepting a lazy pass to take on Ayari and play the ball out wide to Matheus Cunha. The Brazilian ambled forward, no Brighton defender closed him down and his shot deflected in past Bart Verbruggen.
It might not do too much for O’Neil’s long-term prospects – he has still won one of his last 19 Premier League games – but it was the sort of moment which can shift seasons. If Wolves can turn things around then they will have Wieffer to thank for it.
Manchester City 1-0 Southampton: Champions churn out more points
After five minutes it seemed likely that Aaron Ramsdale would soon be seeking the comfort of Alex McCarthy and Angus Gunn. Having featured in both of Southampton’s 9-0 Premier League defeats in recent years, Jan Bednarek was bullied by Erling Haaland to put the hosts ahead at the Etihad; the only question then was how much they would win by.
Almost no-one watching would have presumed that was that. Manchester City scored from their second shot but the closest effort of the next 26 was Cameron Archer hitting the crossbar on the stroke of half-time.
This remains a deeply unconvincing iteration of Pep Guardiola’s team, yet still the only side which remains unbeaten and able to absorb injury issues to such an extent that it can name only seven substitutes in successive games and still rely on the suddenly impactful Matheus Nunes to make the difference.
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