Barclay’s Premier League Review.

A round up of all the Barclay’s Premier League action, Manchester City suffer a shock set back at the hands of West Ham, Chelsea discover their winning form in a controversial match at the Bridge while Liverpool are held at home again.

Manchester City 1-2 West Ham.

West Ham travelled to the Etihad on the back of their impressive away form hoping to cause another upset. West Ham couldn’t have asked for a better start either, opening up the scoring in the sixth minute thanks to a good clean strike from Victor Moses. City had a chance to get back into the game quickly but Sergio Aguero could only fire wide with the keeper off his line and out of sight. Diafra Sakho doubled the Hammers lead in the 36^th minute when City failed to clear their lines from a goal mouth scramble, a simple tap in for the centre forward. The following minutes prior to half time were all Manchester City, Adrian kept them at bay well, that was until Kevin De Bruyne picked up the ball from the edge of the box and fired a low drilled shot past the West Ham stopper, 1-2 and all to play for going into the second half. Yaya Toure had a few chances after the break to level things, Adrian kept one out while Yaya fired just wide with his second attempt. Nicolas Otamendi had a great chance late into the game but the impressive Adrian kept him out and assured the visitors would be leaving with all three points.

Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal.

In the first London derby of the weekend Chelsea hosted Arsenal in what turned out to be a very controversial match that saw Arsenal lose two men. Goals from Kurt Zouma and Eden Hazard was enough to see Chelsea get their first home win of the season. Santi Cazorla got booked half way through the first half for a tactical foul on fellow countryman, Cesc Fabregas. On the stroke of half time the match came to life, but for all the wrong reasons. Diego Costa had a confrontation with Laurent Koscielny, striking the Frenchman twice in the face which he should have seen red for, moments later and Costa used force to push Gabriel Paulista to the floor, the clash saw both players booked and that should have been the end of it. But this wouldn’t be a London derby without more controversy, Gabriel appeared to kick out at Costa which provoked the Spanish international to flock referee Mike Dean and show Gabriel his marching orders. Unfortunately for the spirit of the game, Dean obliged and brandished a straight red to Gabriel which ended his London derby earlier than expected. Eight minutes into the second half and the match had its first goal. Aaron Ramsey committed a silly foul on Fabregas, Cesc, himself, stepped up and delivered the ball into the box, Zouma managed to beat his marker and head past Cech to open the scoring. Alexis Sanchez should have levelled things up when he had a chance from close range, the Chilean could only miscue his shot and fire wide. Cazorla was then shown his second yellow for another foul on Fabregas, nothing malicious about the tackle, Fabregas just beat him to it first. Costa, himself, should have been sent off in the second half, running straight into Alex OxLade-Chamberlain when the ball was released, Jose Mourinho sensibly bringing the striker off moments after. Hazard secured the points for the hosts when his deflected shot wrong footed Cech and put Chelsea 2-0 up.

Aston Villa 0-1 West Brom.

This Midlands derby lacked a lot of action, a goal from Saido Berahino was enough to give West Brom a win and impose more pressure on Tim Sherwood. Brad Guzan kept Darren Fletcher out early on, the Scotsman saw his fantastic long range effort well stopped by the American. In the 39^th minute West Brom took the lead, Berahino put his foot out from a James Morrison shot and managed to wrong foot the Villa stopper and open up his account for the season. Micah Richards had the ball in the net for the home team but his header was flagged offside, correctly too.

Swansea City 0-0 Everton.

Everton travelled to Wales to take on an attacking Swansea team, despite the game staying goalless both sides had chances to win the game, with Kevin Mirallas seeing red late on. Bafetimbi Gomis  had two chances within one minute to open the scoring, the first an arctobatic effort that was easily saved by Tim Howard, the second he could only pull his shot wide of the target. Federico Fernandez committed a silly foul on the edge of the Swansea box to offer Everton a good chance to open the scoring, last week’s hero, Steven Naismith, whipped in the ball which should have been dealt by Swansea, the ball finally fell to Romelu Lukaku who had to force out a fantastic stop by Michel Vorm. Naismith once again could have had himself on the score sheet, getting within inches of an impressive Gerard Deulofeu cross that would have opened the scoring. With only a few minutes left in the match, Mirallas went in on Modou Barrow, an over the top of the ball foul that saw Mirallas plant his studs into Barrow’s ankle. A straight red was produced to Mirallas who had to leave the pitch, Mirallas was only on the pitch for two minutes and sixteen seconds.

Southampton 2-3 Manchester United.

United travelled to the South coast looking for revenge after the Saints away win last season. A double from Anthony Martial and a goal from Mata was enough to see the Red Devils edge a confident Southampton team. James Ward Prowse’s clinical ball into Mane was met by an excellent save from David De Gea, unfortunately, for the Spaniard, Graziano Pelle was the first to the ball and slotted home to give the home side an early lead. Pelle could have had two midway through the first half when his shot rebounded off the post and out of play. In the 34^th minute United were level. Mata’s flick back for Martial to convert had got them back on level terms, however, replays show that the Spaniard was offside and the goal should not have counted. De Gea kept United level after a strong header from Saints skipper, Fonte. Five minutes into the second half and Martial had put the visitors in the lead, a poor pass back from Maya Yoshida was met by the Frenchman who kept his head and calmly slotted past the Southampton keeper. Manchester United enjoyed a spell of 42 passes that finally led to a goal. Good passing play, keeping their composure, before finally Memphis Depay had a go, hit the post which fell straight into the feet of Juan Mata who converted into an open net. It should have been plain sailing from there but United let their guard down and allowed Southampton back into the game thanks to another Pelle goal, a good strong header that left De Gea with no chance.