3 Premier League games kicked off on Sunday and a big game on Monday. 7 goals were added to the goal tally of 16 this weekend, taking the weekend total to 23 goals. Two games ended in a goal-less draw which means this weekend has seen the most scoreless draws this season, so far.
West Bromwich Albion 2 – 3 Chelsea
Venue – The Hawthorns.
According to the Chelsea fans, this was a must win game for them. According to Jose Mourinho, it wasn’t. He said it was just the beginning and there’s still time. Chelsea came into this one without a win. They drew the season opener against Swansea at home and then lost at Manchester City last weekend. West Brom themselves were going through some trouble as they had the same record as Chelsea with one draw and one loss. But they hadn’t scored a single goal so far.
New signing Pedro Rodriguez was included in the starting line-up straight away as Willian was shifted into a central attacking position. Thibaut Courtois returned to the starting lineup after serving his suspension.
13 minutes into the game, James Morrison got the opportunity to score West Brom’s first Premier League goal of the season, but he saw his penalty saved by Courtois. Right from that moment The Baggies’ knew that they missed a great opportunity, and they were punished just 6 minutes later as new signing Pedro scored with the help of a deflection to put Chelsea in the lead. The Spaniard then set up Diego Costa, who scored his first goal of the season and doubled the lead 10 minutes later. 5 minutes later, James Morrison made up for the penalty he missed and pulled one back for West Brom in the 35th minute. The 2 goal deficit was reinstated just after the 40th minute mark as Cesar Azpilicueta scored his first ever goal in the Premier League as Chelsea went into half-time with a comfortable 3-1 lead.
Just as Chelsea thought this would be easy now, the game changed just 9 minutes after the break after John Terry was sent off. 5 minutes after the dismissal of their skipper, Chelsea’s lead was brought down to just 1 goal after James Morrison bagged his second of the day.
Plenty of chances fell to both sides, but West Brom couldn’t snatch a point away from Chelsea, as the defending champions held on to win the game 3-2 with 10 men.
Watford 0 – 0 Southampton
Venue – Vicarage Road.
Both teams came into this game, eyeing their first win of the season. Southampton had drawn their opener and then lost to Everton last weekend. Watford had gone to Everton and came away with a point, but failed to win at home as the game against West Brom ended 0-0.
This was Watford’s second successive game at home and the fans wanted to see their team’s Premier League campaign up and running, following a decent form. Southampton on the other hand wanted to prove that even after selling most of their star players, they could manage to survive successfully in the Premier League.
No goals were scored as both teams were disappointed with the outcome and both remain without a win, for now. The hosts failed to put a single attempt on target, while Southampton saw their 5 attempts, on target, blocked and saved.
Watford have now drawn 3 consecutive games and they’ve failed to score a single goal in two games, in their own stadium. Southampton have their own worries now, finishing round 3 with just 2 points in the bag out of a possible 9.
Everton 0 – 2 Manchester City
Venue – Goodison Park.
Manchester City came to Goodison Park hoping to maintain their 100% record in the Premier League. Everton, who got their first away win of the season last weekend, were hoping to bag their first home win of the season.
Amidst speculation that a move away from Goodison Park was imminent for him, John Stones was included in the starting line-up as Everton were unchanged after their victory over Southampton last weekend. Manuel Pellegrini also decided that no changes were necessary as his City side were also unchanged after beating Chelsea last weekend.
A well balanced and entertaining game was played between two strong sides, who both wanted nothing less than a victory. It was goal-less at half time. The opener finally came as City went into the lead on the hour mark thanks to Aleksandar Kolarov’s finish at the near post from an acute angle. Everton kept trying even after going a goal down, but City’s defence stood strong. Substitute Samir Nasri sealed the 3 points for Manchester City in the 88th minute after he dinked the ball over Tim Howard and into the net to make it 2-0.
Manchester City continue to dominate the Premier League and now they are the only team with a 100% record in the league and are yet to concede a goal. Everton look sharp this season, but they are yet to win on their home ground.
Arsenal 0 – 0 Liverpool
Venue – The Emirates.
Arsenal lost their opening game of the season at The Emirates at the hands of West Ham. They did bounce back after getting an away win over Crystal Palace last weekend. Now, back on home territory, Arsene Wenger faced a tough challenge and losing two successive games at home wasn’t an option for him. Liverpool, on the other hand, had a perfect record as they came to Arsenal with six points out of six. They also managed to keep a clean sheet in both games and so the stage was set for an entertaining and challenging game for both sides.
Arsenal were without both their first choice centre backs, as Gabriel Paulista and Callum Chambers started together for the first time. Roberto Firminio was given his first start as Jordon Ibe dropped to the bench.
There was no shortage of entertainment in the match as both sides gave it their all. Aaron Ramsey managed to find a gap in Liverpool’s defence and calmly slotted the ball past Simon Mignolet only to see the goal ruled out for offside. The replay showed that Ramsey was onside. Philippe Coutinho struck the woodwork twice. One of which was beautifully saved by Petr Cech. The Czech goalkeeper also denied Christian Benteke from a very close range.
It was all about defending the counters and both the teams did well. The second half saw Simon Mignolet making two important and amazing saves to deny Arsenal their first goal at The Emirates. The game ended in a 0-0 draw, but it did not get boring or slow at any point. Thorough entertainment and typical Premier League football brought out a fair result between these two strong sides.
Liverpool are still unbeaten and are yet to concede a goal in the Premier League this season, meanwhile Arsenal fail to score at The Emirates for a second successive time.
