Premier League Review.

A review of all this weekend’s Premier League action, another loss for Chelsea puts Jose Mourinho on thin ice while Jürgen Klopp was denied late on of his first Liverpool win.

West Ham 2-1 Chelsea.

The Hammers inflicted more sorrow on last year’s champions. Goals from Andy Carroll and Mauro Zarate saw off the visitors. Asmir Begovic was called into action early on to keep out Dimitri Payet from range via a free kick. The following corner was where the game saw its first goal, the ball falling to Zarate from the edge of the box to fire home. Chelsea were almost level twenty minutes later when Kurt Zouma’s powerful header was cleared off the line and an inch from crossing. Nemanja Matic picked up two yellow cards in the first half, first one for abruptly bringing an end to a West Ham counter attack and the second for pulling down Zarate on the touchline. During the half time interval Mourinho was sent to the stands, just as it seemed Chelsea were down and out Gary Cahill popped up with a tidy finish to level the encounter. Chelsea are still far away from their best and it showed, missing that final ball on several occasions, those missed opportunities would come back to haunt them though, Carroll rose well in the air and headed home the winner with thirteen minutes left to play.

Arsenal 2-1 Everton.

Arsenal topped the league for a brief moment this weekend thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny despite Ross Barkley’s deflected effort beating Petr Cech. Arsenal took control of the game early on and had some early chances but the goa itself did not come until the 36^th minute, Giroud heading past Tim Howard via an excellent Mesut Ozil cross. The second goal came two minutes later when Koscielny headed home from a Santi Cazorla free kick, Everton halved the deficit just prioer to half time though, Barkley’s shot took a deflection from Gabriel and wrong footed the Arsenal stopper. Howard kept out Giroud early into the first half and Gareth Barry picked up a yellow for grabbing Ozil’s shirt and preventing the break. Giroud then had an outstanding curling effort hit the bar and bounce back into play, down the other end Romelu Lukaku saw his headed effort graze the top of the bar and go out for a goal kick. Ozil then joined the woodwork party and hit the post with a strike from range that Howard did not have covered, the match’s drama was finished when Barry picked up a second yellow for a needless trip on Kieran Gibbs.

Aston Villa 1-2 Swansea.

Goals from Gylfi Sigurosson and Andre Ayew saw off the hosts and effectively cost Tim Sherwood his managerial post at Aston Villa. Federico Fernandez should have put the Welsh team ahead early on, his volley from six yards out went sky high and well over the bar. Gabriel Agbonlahor saw his effort wide of the goal, Andre Ayew had his first attempt just after the break, Brad Guzan sensing the danger and coming out quick to produce a fantastic body save to deny the Swans the opening goal. Jordan Ayew opened the scoring for Villa though in the 62^nd minute, a diving header from close range to erupt Villa Park. The face on Sherwood was pure relief, that relived face lasted only six minutes though, Sigurosson’s superb free kick beating Guzan from range to level the encounter. Villa couldn’t hold on for a point, as Andre Ayew pinched all three points in the 87^th minute, a delicious ball from Kyle Naughton.

Stoke City 0-2 Watford.

Watford travelled to Stoke and outplayed them massively, goals from Troy Deeney and Almen Abdi. Marko Arnautovic headed over the bar early on, looking back on the moment he would have asked for that again as that should have opened up the scoring. Deeney and Odion Ighalo then hit the bar within seconds of each other but Deeney found the back of the net in the 43^rd minute (First goal this season) with a side footed effort that beat Jack Butland comfortably. Abdi then scored half way through the second half Ighalo fighting hard to win the ball back, his pass too Abdi was enough to see him go on and score past Butland. Johnathan Walters had a chance late on to get Stoke back into the game but his shot went comfortably wide of the Watford goalmouth.

Norwich City 0-1 West Brom.

Norwich have appeared to hit a bump in the road of late, their woes continued this week when a powerful header from Rondon was enough to see the Baggies leave with all three points. Chris Brunt asked the question of John Ruddy early on but the Englishman kept the ball out of his net for the time being well. At the other end Boaz Myhill kept out Nathan Redmond. Rondon missed a good chance to open the scoring late into the first half, his header sailing over the bar. It only took him one minute into the second half though to get his name on the scoresheet, his powerful header beating Ruddy to open the scoring.

Leicester City 1-0 Crystal Palace.

Jamie Vardy. Indeed, it was Jamie Vardy yet again who delivered the goods for the home side. Marc Albrighton hit the post early on catching the Palace keeper well off guard. Yohan Cabaye saw his long range effort comfortably gathered by Kasper Schmeichel. Vardy then had a moment of magic, chipping the ball over the Palace keeper and blasting home to open the scoring, gathering his tenth goal of the campaign and score in his seventh consecutive Premier League match, impressive stuff. Bakary Sako then saw his effort well saved by Schmeichel and late on in the game, Wilfred Zaha was in the book for simulation even though it was a clear penalty, tough day for Palace to say the least.

Manchester United 0-0 Manchester City.

One of the Manchester derbies that one stay in the memory too long. Not a lot of attacking play but both teams kept each other in check, defensive wise. Raheem Sterling saw his shot early on get a deflection and go out for a corner. Yaya Toure came the closest in the first half, his header just inches wide of the goal. Chris Smalling saw his header in the second half wide of the goal too. The only moment when a goal was a possibility came late on into the second half, Anthony Martial’s delightful ball to Jesse Lingard almost saw him open the scoring, rattling the bar instead. Joe Hart had to produce a good save to stop Smalling late on and both teams left Old Trafford with a point each.

Sunderland 3-0 Newcastle United.

Costel Pantilimon kept out Fabricio Coloccini early into the match. Alexsander Mitrovic headed wide as the match was all Newcastle in the first half hour. Then came the turning point, a decision that was made that affected the match greatly. Coloccini was sent off for what seemed to be a friendly barge, unfortunately for the competiveness of the match the ref deemed it as denying a goal scoring opportunity and sent off the Argentine. Adam Johnson then took the penalty and scored, his fourth against Newcastle while wearing a Sunderland top. Billy Jones doubled the lead in the 65^th minute with a poke on the line. Johnson then hit the bar with a superb effort from range and Steven Fletcher completed the scoring in the 86^th minute thanks to an incredible ball from Younes Kaboul.

Bournemouth 1-5 Tottenham Hotspur.

Bournemouth’s woes continued as they had another thrashing, this time at the hands of Spurs. A much needed Harry Kane hat trick helped the visitors head back to London with all three points. Ironically, Matt Ritchie opened the scoring in the first minute of the match, a powerful low strike that beat Hugo Lloris at his near post. Artur Boruc then brought down Kane and conceded a penalty. Kane himself took it, and the game was back at level terms. Mousa Dembele then took Spurs into the lead, his neatly finished side footed effort finding its path to goal. Boruc was once again at fault, his spill let Erik Lamela slot home to give the visitors a two goal advantage. Kane got his second in the 56^th minute, a delicate flick from Christian Eriksen’s cross was enough to send it into the net. The scoring was complete when Kane got his hat trick, first to react to a once again Boruc mistake.

Liverpool 1-1 Southampton.

Sadio Mane spoiled the party at Anfield and prevented Klopp his first win as Liverpool manager. Emre Can saw his volley just wide of the post early on, Milner also coming close with a long range effort. Simon Mignolet keeping out Virgil Van Djik’s header midway through the first period. Christian Benteke opened the scoring in the 77^th minute with an absolute bullet header that appeared to be handing Klopp his first win. Mane fumbled the ball over the line though in the 86^th minute to level the encounter, although apparently scoring was not enough for the Senegalese international, he managed to pick up two yellows within three minutes and was sent his marching orders.