Another round-up from the greatest league in the world including a shock win for Huddersfield at home to Man Utd, Ronald Koeman odds-on to get the boot after another humiliating defeat for Everton, and a brace for Kane means Spurs win at Wembley again.
Huddersfield 2 v 1 Man Utd
When Sir Alex Ferguson marshalled things at United, losing to the weakest teams was something that happened once in a blue moon. When he left, United made a habit of unpicking records that United had set throughout their dominant years. Jose Mourinho arrived, sensibility returned, and then United visited The John Smith Stadium.
Huddersfield hadn’t beaten United in 65-years.
United arrived on the back of 12 matches unbeate
n.
The Terriers hadn’t won a game in six.
Boom! 28 minutes in, Juan Mata loses the ball to Aaron Mooy in midfield, the bald beast sent Tom Ince through on goal, David De Gea saved, but the rebound fell to the assured feet of Mooy, and a few seconds later it was in the back of the net.
Boom! Five minutes later, a colossal clearance from the Huddersfield keeper bounced over the head of Victor Lindelof, Laurent Depoitre reacted quickest, rounded De Gea, and slid the ball into an empty net.
“I don’t even remember a friendly match when our attitude was so poor,” said Mourinho after the game.
United pulled a goal back with 12-minutes remaining. Marcus Rashford came off the bench to get on the end of a Romelu Lukaku cross to head home at the far post. It was Rashford’s 15th United goal as a teenager; only Wayne Rooney has scored more (18).
Despite United having 78% of the possession, Huddersfield held on for the unlikeliest of wins and celebrated as if they had won the Champions League. For all of their dominance, United only registered nine shots on goal, and just three of them were on target.
“The best team won,” said Mourinho.
United entertain Spurs on Saturday in what will be a crucial tie for Mourinho and his men.
Man City 3 v 0 Burnley
United’s shock loss allowed City to extend their lead at the top to five points after a 3-0 win at home to in-form Burnley.
Burnley kept City at bay until the 30th minute when referee Roger East pointed to the spot after the City keeper had brought Bernardo Silva down in the box.
“Had I kicked one of my kids they wouldn’t have gone down like that,” Sean Dyche moaned after the game.
23 days after injuring his ribs in a car crash in Amsterdam, up stepped Sergio Aguero to score from the spot, his 177th City goal, levelling the club record set by Eric Brook.
Burnley came into this tie on the back of six unbeaten and had already beaten the likes of Chelsea and Everton this season, but nobody is beating City these days. Pep Guardiola’s side secured the three points after goals from Nicolas Otamendi and Leroy Sane setting a club record 11 victories on the spin in both the Premier League and Champions League.
Spurs 4 v 1 Liverpool
It wasn’t only Man City who prospered because of the United loss, Spurs also benefited by moving level on points with the Red Devils after beating Liverpool for the first time in ten attempts in the Premier League.
Ballon d’Or hopeful Harry Kane was once again the main man. The 24-year old scored the opener in the first five minutes. Keiron Trippier chipped a ball over the head of Dejan Lovren, and Kane latched onto to it before rounding the onrushing Simon Mignolet and putting the ball away.
Kane then turned provider when he got on the end of a long throw from Hugo Lloris before putting Son Heung-min in the clear to score Spurs second goal with only 12-minutes on the clock.
Mohamed Salah got one back for Liverpool in the 24th minute, but a Dele Alli volley in first-half injury time sent the Spurs players down the tunnel with a two-goal lead.
80,827 saw the game, a Premier League record, and it was all over within ten minutes of the restart when Harry Kane found space in the box to squeeze in the rebound after Mignolet had squirmed a Jan Vertonghen shot.
Kane has scored 45 for club and country this year.
Everton 2 v 5 Arsenal
When Ronald Koeman left Southampton for Everton, a few eyebrows were raised. Everton wasn’t Juventus, Man Utd, or Real Madrid, and people were touting Koeman as the next big thing in management.
Then this summer, the sale of Romelu Lukaku for £75m allowed Koeman to spend over £90m, and the thing started to make sense. Everton was a club that meant business. Southampton was a club that sold their best players and lost managers with the same frequency of Crystal Palace.
So it’s not without a sense of irony that Everton finds themselves in the bottom three without a win in five games, whereas Southampton sits healthily in tenth.
The game began brightly for Everton.
Wayne Rooney smashed home a stunner in the 12th minute to give the home side the lead. Then Nacho Monreal reacted quickest in the box to pick up a rebound to level the tie at half-time.
Mesut Ozil headed Arsenal into the lead within eight minutes of the restart, and then disaster struck as Everton lost Idrissa Gueye, sent off in the 68th minute for his second bookable offence.
After that, the floodgates opened with Alexandre Lacazette and Aaron Ramsey making it 4-1. Oumar Niasse pulled one back in injury time, but the final word would be from Arsenal after a beautiful solo effort from Alexis Sanchez finished the game off.
Koeman is 1/3 to be the next manager to lose their job.
Here are the rest of the weekend’s results:
Premier League Week 9 Results
West Ham 0 v 3 Brighton
Chelsea 4 v 2 Watford
Man City 3 v 0 Burnley
Swansea 1 v 2 Leicester
Huddersfield 2 v 1 Man Utd
Newcastle 1 v 0 Crystal Palace
Stoke 1 v 2 Bournemouth
Southampton 1 v 0 West Brom
Everton 2 v 5 Arsenal
Spurs 4 v 1 Liverpool
Premier League Table (Week 9)
1. Man City – 25 pts
2. Man Utd – 20
3. Spurs – 20
4. Chelsea – 16
5. Arsenal – 16
6. Watford – 15
7. Newcastle – 14
8. Burnley – 13
9. Liverpool – 13
10. Southampton – 12
11. Huddersfield – 12
12. Brighton – 11
13. West Brom – 10
14. Leicester – 9
15. Swansea – 8
16. West Ham – 8
17. Stoke – 8
18. Everton – 8
19. Bournemouth – 7
20. Crystal Palace – 3
Premier League Title Winning Odds (Courtesy of Bodog)
Man City – 550
Spurs +800
Man Utd +1200
Chelsea +2000
Arsenal +5000
Liverpool +6600
