Another round-up of the action from the greatest footballing league in the world, including Crystal Palace upsetting the champions, Man City hammering Stoke, and Arsene Wenger whinging again this time at Watford.
Man City 7 v 2 Stoke City
Opposing managers must feel their intestines drain at the thought of stopping Kevin De Bruyne. If the Premier League were handing out the Player of the Year (POY) trophy eight games in, the Belgian would win it with his eyes closed.
Stoke boss, Mark Hughes, called De Bruyne the best player in the Premier League ‘by a country mile,’ after Man City mauled his side by seven goals to two at the Etihad Stadium, opening up a two-point gap at the top after Man Utd only managed a goalless draw with Liverpool.
The Blues controlled 83.5% possession in the first half and converted three unique goals from Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, and David Silva with De Bruyne threading balls through eyes of man needles.
Despite one of the most one-sided first 45-minutes you will ever witness, Stoke scored two goals either side of the break to make a fist of things. Mame Biram Diouf scoring a deflected goal in the first half, and Kyle Walker put the ball into his own net at the start of the second. City reacted by smashing four more past a hapless Jack Butland.
De Bruyne has now made 32 goals since Sep 2015. But the most pleasing thing for Pep Guardiola and one of the primary reasons they are the favourites to win the Premier League is how well they do without Sergio Aguero.
Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus have netted six times apiece, and Leroy Sané has also struck the net on four occasions, to add to the seven that Aguero managed before his rib injury. The Argentinean sat on the bench for this one, and will likely start against Napoli in midweek.
If I were a Stoke fan, I would start worrying.
The Potters have lost four of their opening eight games, conceding 18 times, only scoring nine, and will move into the bottom three if Leicester can beat West Brom tomorrow night.
Crystal Palace 2 v 1 Chelsea
One of the reasons the English Premier League (EPL) is the most thrilling league in the world, is a team who has lost seven consecutive games without scoring a goal, can beat the champions.
Crystal Palace ended a drought that stretched back over 731 minutes of football when Cesar Azpilicueta put the ball into his own net in the 11th minute. Chelsea reacted well when Tiemoue Bakayoko equalised from a corner seven minutes later, but Palace went into the half time break in the lead after a wonderful goal from Wilfried Zaha.
Zaha was Palace’s player of the year last season but has been absent after suffering a knee injury on opening day. He answered Roy Hodgson’s mayday call with a man of the match performance. Chelsea has now lost two games on the spin; only the second time they have done so under Antonio Conte.
The Italian was quick to point out that his Chelsea side had to line up without N’Golo Kante and Alvaro Morata, but Chelsea fans will point to his frigid transfer activity in the summer as the real problem behind his inability to fill the gaps. Either way, the champions should be beating a team like Palace, with or without those two brilliant players.
Spurs 1 v 0 Bournemouth
Spurs are nicely nestled in third place, two points behind Man Utd after beating Bournemouth by a goal to nil at Wembley. It was Spurs first Premier League win at their temporary home, but there are much more to come.
Bournemouth began brightly and could have taken the lead when Eric Dier nearly put the ball into his own net from a corner, only for the brilliant reactions of Hugo Lloris to keep the game goalless. Much is said of the brilliance of Harry Kane, but you won’t win a title without a decent shot stopper, and the Frenchman is one of the best.
The breakthrough came shortly after half time. Christian Eriksen, who was brilliant all afternoon, getting a little bit of luck with a rebound in the penalty area allowing him to slot the ball calmly home.
Bournemouth has now lost six of their opening eight ties but played well in this one. Jermaine Defoe nearly grabbed an equaliser late in the second half, but it was Lloris again to the rescue with a neat save with his feet at the foot of the post.
Watford 2 v 1 Arsenal
It’s the same old Arsenal.
They lose against an unfancied side, and Arsene Wenger comes out and blames the referee. When will the board do the right thing and get rid of this man? He’s not the only one. Most of the Premier League managers behave in the same way, but his consistency is incredible.
Arsenal began well, Per Mertesacker scoring from a corner in the 39th minute. It was the German’s first Premier League goal since Dec 2013. Arsenal could have and should have made it two before Watford even had a sniff, but Heurelho Gomes was in outstanding form.
Then came the great comeback.
Watford boss, Marco Silva chucked Troy Deeney up front, and it was the Watford captain who finished from the spot after Hector Bellerin brought down Richarlison in the incident that got Wenger’s tongue wagging. Deeney would later react to Wenger’s comments by suggesting the reason Arsenal lose is that they are too lightweight.
The winner came in injury time, the third consecutive game that Watford has scored so late showing their resilience – Tom Cleverley hoofing the ball into the net from close range after a spell of penalty pinball.
Watford climb into a Champions League position sitting fourth.
“Our only goal is to remain a Premier League team next season,” said a humble Marco Silva.
Here are the rest of the weekend’s results:
Premier League Week 8 Results
Liverpool 0 v 0 Man Utd
Burnley 1 v 1 West Ham
Man City 7 v 2 Stoke
Crystal Palace 2 v 1 Chelsea
Spurs 1 v 0 Bournemouth
Swansea 2 v 0 Huddersfield
Watford 2 v 1 Arsenal
Brighton 1 v 1 Everton
Southampton 2 v 2 Newcastle
Premier League Table (Week 8)
1. Man City – 22 pts
2. Man Utd – 20
3. Spurs – 17
4. Watford – 15
5. Chelsea – 13
6. Arsenal – 13
7. Burnley – 13
8. Liverpool – 13
9. Newcastle – 11
10. Southampton – 9
11. West Brom – 9
12. Huddersfield – 9
13. Swansea – 8
14. Brighton – 8
15. West Ham – 8
16. Everton – 8
17. Stoke – 8
18. Leicester – 5
19. Bournemouth – 4
20. Crystal Palace – 3
Premier League Title Winning Odds (Courtesy of Oddsshark)
Man City – 2/5
Man Utd 4/1
Chelsea – 14/1
Spurs – 14/1
