A fantastic opening day of action kicked off the second ePremier League (ePL) Invitational Tournament as Jofra Archer, Ryan Sessegnon and Charlie Taylor all booked wins to progress to the Last 16.
Spencer Owen (West Ham United) 1-3 Ryan Sessegnon (Tottenham Hotspur)
An entertaining clash between two London teams saw Ryan Sessegnon play 90 minutes for the first time in a long while. The match itself was an early frontrunner for the most exciting derby of the tournament, as two Harry Kane goals eventually helped a slightly fortunate Sessegnon progress at the expense of Owen, who was a much-fancied player before the event began.
YouTuber Owen posted a tweet after the event with a screenshot of the statistics in the game, which did favour his team but only served to prove how profligate he had been. Sessegnon himself was happy to admit he’d got lucky to progress.
Cheers mate👍🏿, very very good fifa player. Battered me the whole game 😰but I took my chances🤝 #progression https://t.co/p1SdP5doGT
— Ryan Sessegnon (@RyanSessegnon) May 5, 2020
“Part of me wants him to win the whole thing because it means I lost to the winner,” Owen said after the game. “But if he does then I’ll feel like I should have won the whole thing.”
Did Sessegnon’s win owe more to luck than judgement or was it a case of the deadlier finisher finding a way to get the job done? See for yourself.
Charlie Taylor (Burnley) 2-1 Micheal Ward (Arsenal)
Burnley went all the way to the semi-finals in the first ePL Invitational event in April, when Dwight McNeil lost to eventual winner Diogo Jota. The Turf Moor outfit are on their way to another deep run in the second inception of the eSports event after Charlie Taylor beat Arsenal fan and Top Boy actor Micheal Ward in the 1st Round.
“I’m representing Arsenal, this is a dream come true,” eulogized Ward in the pre-amble. “Come on boys!”
In-game, however, Taylor got the win as Chris Wood – put to deadly use by McNeil last time round – opened the scoring. Arsenal equalized through Alexandre Lacazette on the stroke of half-time and it looked to be a close second half. The game was settled by a Jay Rodriguez winner, putting Taylor on a collision course with current bookies favourite Phil Foden of Manchester City in the Last 16.
“I feel like I’ve let down the whole of the Arsenal community,” Ward said following the game. “I don’t even want to look at my phone right now!”
Check out how Taylor taught Arsenal’s Top Boy a lesson right here:
Rolando Aarons (Newcastle) 1-4 Jofra Archer (Manchester United)
Jofra Archer stunned many pundits as he thrashed Newcastle United’s Rolando Aarons 4-1 in the 1st Round to see Manchester United line up against Sheffield United in the Last 16.
It was Archer’s breakaway strike with Anthony Martial that opened the scoring, but when Dwight Gayle levelled for Newcastle just before the break, it was nothing less than what the Toon Army deserved. If anything, Archer was fortunate to lead after 45 virtual minutes.
In the second half, however, Archer put in a fantastic attacking display to see the Red Devils safely through, a rare Nemanja Matic strike being added to by goals from both Marcus Rashford and Martial again to cement an easy win in the end.
“I wouldn’t say I was nervy,” Archer said after his against-the-odds victory. “I could tell he likes to stand back when he has the [ball] and I’m a really attacking player so I fancied myself to win.”
On Twitter, Archer reached out to his many fans with the following concise yet ominous celebration.
“On to round 2”.
Today sees
Day 1 results in full:
Spencer Owen (West Ham United) 1-3 Ryan Sessegnon (Tottenham Hotspur)
Charlie Taylor (Burnley) 2-1 Micheal Ward (Arsenal
Rolando Aarons (Newcastle) 1-4 Jofra Archer (Manchester United)
Today’s fixtures:
Day 2 (All last 16 ties except where indicated)
1st Round / 2pm GMT: James Maddison (Leicester City) 8/13 vs. Callum Wilson (Bournemouth) 11/5
Our tip: Maddison to Win
3pm GMT: Jose Enrique (Liverpool) 6/4 vs. Keinan Davis (Aston Villa) 10/11
Our tip: Davis to Win
4pm GMT: Morgan Gibbs-White (Wolves) 4/6 vs. Aaron Connolly (Brighton) 23/10
Our tip: Connolly to Win
5pm GMT: Tony Bellew (Everton) 5/2 vs. Michael Obafemi (Southampton) 4/7
Our tip: Obafemi to Win
6pm: Billy Gilmour (Chelsea) 4/5 vs. Andre Gray (Watford) 15/8
Our tip: Gilmour to Win
