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By Osayande Ero
The weekend’s fixtures started with Wolves hosting Crystal Palace at the Molineux. It started out a cagey affair until teenager Rayan Ait Nouri, opened the scoring for the Home side in the 18th minute with a lovely strike. Wolves continued to mount pressure on their opponents and in the 27th minute they doubled their lead with Daniel Podence slotting in after good work from Pedro Neto. The match continued with Wolves controlling the tempo of the game and coasting to a routine home win to kick off the weekend’s fixtures.
Saturday’s early kick-off saw Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side see off the challenge of a struggling Sheffield United by a lone goal scored by former Sheffield academy graduate, Kyle Walker. In other fixtures, Chelsea won away at Burnley running out 3-0 winners with goals from Hakim Ziyech, Kurt Zouma, and Timo Werner respectively. Liverpool saw off a spirited West Ham team 2-1 at Ainfield. Pablo Fornals had given West Ham an early lead but goals from Mo Sallah and Diogo Jota made sure Klopp’s men went away with three points.
Sunday’s fixtures kicked off with Aston Villa hosting Southampton at Villa park. The saints came out firing and were deservedly three up at halftime with goals from Jannik Vestergaard and a brace from James Ward-Prowse. The saints made it 4-0 in the 58th minute with Danny Ings on the score sheet. Villa tried mounting a comeback but being down four goals left them with too much work to do. They however made it a more respectable score line with goals from Tyrone Mings, Ollie Watkins and Jack Grealish with the saints coming away with a 4-3 victory. Newcastle United hosted Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton side at St James Park. Everton were missing several key players with Seamus Coleman and James Rodriguez sidelined through injury; also Lucas Digne and Richarlison missing due to suspensions from red card offences.
The match didn’t come alive until the second-half when the home side were awarded a penalty in the 54th minute and it was expertly dispatched by Callum Wilson. Wilson would bag his brace in the 84th minute after fine work on the left flank by substitute, Ryan Fraser. Dominic Calvert-Lewin pulled a goal back for Everton in the 91st minute but the home side was able to hold out to secure all three points.
In what was the standout fixture of the weekend, Manchester United played host to Arsenal at Old Trafford. The game was a milestone moment for United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, marking his 100th game in charge of the Red devils. But the gunners came determined to spoil Ole’s landmark moment and were the better team from the kick-off. It stayed goalless until the 69th minute when Paul Pogba brought down Arsenal right back, Hector Bellerin in the box giving away a penalty. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang converted the spot kick to give Arsenal a deserved lead. United was not able to mount a reasonable comeback as the gunners got their first win at Old trafford in the premier league since 2006. The late kick-off on Sunday saw Jose Mourinho’s Spurs team host Brighton. Spurs were awarded a 12th minute penalty after Adam Lallana fouled Harry Kane. Kane stepped up to dispatch the penalty to give his side an early lead.
Brighton got their equalizer in the 56th minute with Tariq Lamptey finishing off a free -flowing attack. The goal was subject to a lengthy VAR check for a foul on Spurs midfielder, Pierre -Emile Hojbjerg in the build-up to the Brighton goal. It looked like an obvious foul but referee Graham Scott, after watching the replay on the pitch side monitor, decided against canceling the goal. But spurs would not be denied as substitute Gareth Bale put his team back in front in the 73rd minute with a lovely header. This is his first goal since his return to the club after spending seven years at Real Madrid. Spurs would see out the victory and claim three vital points.
The first of the two Monday fixtures was between two of the promoted sides, Fulham hosting West Brom at Craven Cottage; both sides struggling for points after very poor starts to the season. It was Fulham which came out on top with goals from Bobby Reid and Ola Aina in the 26th and 30th minute with both goals assisted by Aleksandar Mitrovic. The last match of the game-week saw Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds side host Leicester City at Elland Road; Brendan Rodgers side ran out the blocks and were 2-0 up at halftime with goals from Harvey Barnes and Youri Telemans in the 3rd and 21st minute. Leeds pulled one back early in the second-half through Stuart Dallas, but goals from Jamie Vardy in the 76th minute, and a second from Telemans in the 90th minute, saw Leicester run away 4-1 winners in what was a truly impressive outing.
So we end round seven of the season with Liverpool sitting tops with 16pts after seven games. Leicester, Spurs, and Everton, round up the top four with 15, 14, and 13 points respectively after seven games. Manchester United is down in 15th position with seven points from six games with the reds having a game in hand. Burnley sit bottom of the table with one point from their opening six games. Sheffield United and West Brom occupy the last two relegation spots with one and three points from their opening seven games.