Matchday 11 of the Premier League saw 2,000 fans return to tier two stadiums across the country as football welcomed back spectators for the first time in over ten months. There was plenty of entertainment for those lucky enough with a ticket to feast upon with 28 goals scored across the nine fixtures this weekend with Aston Villa and Newcastle United’s fixture failing to be played due to a coronavirus outbreak at the Newcastle training ground. Here is a look at the best and worst of the weekends action.
TOO GOOD
CRYSTAL PALACE
Crystal Palace welcomed back Wilfred Zaha to the side in exceptional circumstances as their rampant second half display tore West Brom apart in the 5-1 demolition. Zaha netted his sixth and seventh goal of the season in just nine games as he proved his importance to the Eagles front line. Darnell Furlong’s own goal put the visitors in front after just eight minutes before Conor Gallagher levelled for the Baggies. However, it was just after the half hour mark the game started to change when Matheus Pereira was sent off for violent conduct after a VAR review. Palace took full advantage of the dismissal and added four goals in the second half, the first time they’ve scored five goals away from home in the top-flight in their 404th away game. A Perfect afternoon all round for Roy Hodgson with Eberechi Eze catching the eye again and Christian Benteke adding the fourth and fifth, his first multiple goal game since April 2017.
Embed from Getty ImagesTOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Spurs yet again had their world class double act up top to thank as they returned to the top of the league, beating Arsenal two-nil to win only their third consecutive North London derby in the Premier League. Heung-Min Son opened the scoring for the Lilywhites with only seven minutes on the clock with an unsavable curling shot from 25 yards with Harry Kane registering his 10th assist of season. The roles reversed at the other end of the half with Son setting up Kane for his 250th senior goal following another classic Spurs counter-attack. The 11th time this season the pair have combined, they have now contributed for 31 goals and sit second in Premier League, only to Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard. It was another performance synonymous with Spurs and Mourinho with it being the 11th time a Mourinho side had 35% possession of lower.
Embed from Getty ImagesTOO BAD
SHEFFIELD UNITED
Sheffield United can’t catch a break at the minute and were dealt another blow when boyhood Sheffield Wednesday fan, Jamie Vardy slotted past Aaron Ramsdale in added time to take all three points for the Foxes and leaving Sheffield United with just the solitary point after 11 games. Leicester took the lead through Ayoze Perez either side of Jamie Vardy and James Maddison striking the post. The Blades equalised only a couple minutes after falling behind with Oli McBurnie scoring his first of the season. The Blades thought they’d earned only their second point of the season but with John Fleck robbed in midfield, Maddison played through Vardy who was too quick for the United defence and finished brilliantly to steal the win at the end to lift the Foxes back into the Champions League places. Chris Wilder admitted he and his players share the same worry as the fans with their season still failing to get going.
Embed from Getty ImagesWEST HAM UNITED
The Hammers were left to rue what could’ve been after Manchester United pulled off yet another away comeback to win 3-1 at The London Stadium. It was the fourth time in the Premier League that West Ham have faced United while being above them in the league and have failed to win one. It should’ve been so different for the hosts with United on the ropes throughout the first half, Pablo Fornals hit the post and Sebastien Haller slipped with the goal at his mercy either side of Tomas Soucek’s goal. United introduced Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes at half time with the pair changing the game completely. United blew West Ham away in the second half with goals from Paul Pogba, Mason Greenwood and Rashford temporarily sending United two points off the top of the table. The Irons have dropped the most amount of points in 2020 from winning positions (19), while United have won the most amount of points (22), making it even harder for West Ham to take.
Embed from Getty ImagesSub-Edited by Samuel Brady
