By Cameron Winstanley
Matchday seven of the Premier League saw a familiar face in Liverpool return to the top of the league and winless Sheffield United and Burnley begin to see a gap appear above them as Fulham and West Brom faced off at Craven Cottage. Here is a recap of this weekend’s best and worst performers.
TOO GOOD
FULHAM
The first game on Monday night saw Fulham pick up their first win of the season against West Brom. A revitalised Fulham side boosted by Joachim Andersen’s much anticipated debut gave the hosts a solid presence at the back, something they’ve been longing for all season. Bobby Decordova-Reid, on his 50th appearance for Fulham, opened the scoring midway through the first half when he found himself in the right place to turn Aleksandar Mitrovic’s header goalwards. Fulham doubled their lead only a couple minutes later when Ola Aina’s left foot thunderbolt found the postage stamp from 20 yards out. Fulham could’ve added more in the second half when Tom Cairney and Decordova-Reid saw their efforts cleared off the line. This was Fulham’s tenth league game in a row against The Baggies where they’ve avoided defeat, a record stretching back to October 2010. The timely 2-0 win sees Fulham leapfrog West Brom out the relegation zone and move within touching distance of Brighton.
Embed from Getty ImagesLECIESTER CITY
The other Monday night game saw Leicester climb to second as they put four past Leeds United at Elland Road. The Foxes played with high intensity throughout and after just two minutes in they opened the scoring with Jamie Vardy capitalising on a poor pass back and squaring to Harvey Barnes who tapped into an open net. Midfielder Youri Tielemans added Leicester’s second with a simple rebound. Leeds found a way back into the game when Stuart Dallas’ cross ghosted through everyone and ended up in the far corner. However, it wasn’t to be for Leeds as Vardy added number three before Tielemans put away the fourth, and his second from the spot. The win sees Leicester’s best start to a top-flight season since the turn of the Millennium. It’s also seen The Foxes win their first four away games at the start of a season for the first time in the club’s history.
Embed from Getty ImagesTOO BAD
MANCHESTER UNITED
Manchester United’s terrible home form continued as they lost 1-0 to Arsenal on a frustrating day at Old Trafford. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ended a run of five games without a goal as he scored from the penalty spot following Paul Pogba’s tired and clumsy challenge on Hector Bellerin with 20 minutes left to play. This condemned United to a fourth winless league home game in a row, the first time since 1972. Not the records Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would want to be making on his 100th game as manager. The closest United came to equalising was a deflected Donny van de Beek cross that hit Bernd Leno’s face before rebounding off the post. United were poor throughout, as Arsenal won their first league game at Old Trafford since 2006 and a first win away against a ‘top six’ side since 2015.
Embed from Getty ImagesEVERTON
Everton missed out on the chance to go top as they saw their great start to the season collapse as they failed to win their third game in a row and fell to a second defeat in two games. Carlo Ancelotti was forced to make significant changes to his Everton side as he lost consecutive league matches for the first time since September 2014. The Toffees key absentee list included Lucas Digne and Richarlison through suspension along with James Rodrigues and Seamus Coleman to injury. The Toffees lack of depth showed as they looked a shadow of the side from before the international break. Callum Wilson fired a second half double past on loan goalkeeper Robin Olsen, who started ahead of the dropped Jordan Pickford. It could’ve been more for Newcastle if it wasn’t for some impressive saves by the debutant. Everton will look to bounce back against Manchester United in their next game, with both sides in the ‘too bad’ section this week facing off at Goodison Park.
Embed from Getty ImagesSub Edited by Samuel Brady
