It’s been another week of high-stakes action in the Premier League, and matchday nine delivered plenty of talking points as the table begins to take shape.
As is often the case in the Premier League, matchday nine was punctuated by a number of mind-boggling results.
Out of the traditional ‘big six’, only defending champions Manchester City and Chelsea claimed maximum points over the weekend.
Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United fell to shocking defeats against Crystal Palace and West Ham United, respectively, while Arsenal and Liverpool shared the spoils in last weekend’s headline event.
Palace’s win against Spurs has given the fans something to cheer about, and they’ll flock to Seatsnet.com to buy Crystal Palace tickets, hoping for more of the same in subsequent games.
There’s plenty to unpack from an entertaining weekend of Premier League football, but here are some of the key highlights from matchday nine.
Aston Villa 1-1 Bournemouth
Villa welcomed Bournemouth to Villa Park, looking to make it three wins on the spin in all competitions.
Unai Emery’s troops haven’t tasted defeat since falling to a 2-0 defeat against Arsenal at the tail end of August, going ten games unbeaten across all competitions.
They went into Saturday’s contest as favourites, and for the majority of the game, they looked primed to take all three points, with Ross Barkley firing the Villans into the lead in the 76th minute.
With the finish line in sight, Emery’s side were agonisingly close to solidifying their place in the top four.
However, they were dealt a hammer blow as summer signing Evanilson popped up with a last-minute strike to help the Cherries snatch a point.
The 1-1 draw was enough to keep the Villans in the Champions League places, level on points with Arsenal (18 each) and one ahead of fifth-placed Chelsea.
Villa will now turn their attention to the EFL Cup, where they’ll take on a struggling Palace side in the fourth round before heading to north London for a Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur next weekend.
Manchester City 1-0 Southampton
Man City are the only Premier League team yet to taste defeat this season, so they were overwhelming favourites to come away from their weekend clash against Southampton with maximum points.
The reigning champions looked to lay down an early marker as Premier League top scorer Erling Braut Haaland rifled home his 11th league goal of the season inside the opening five minutes.
The Norwegian’s strike appeared to set the tone for the rest of the game, but surprisingly, Man City failed to breach Southampton’s goal for a second time.
Man City created four big chances and accumulated an expected goal (xG) tally of nearly three goals, but none of their 21 shots found the back of the net, with former Arsenal goalie Aaron Ramsdale putting up an outstanding performance.
The Cityzens were nearly made to rue their wastefulness in the final third as Cameron Archer crashed a glorious chance off the crossbar.
Ultimately, Haaland’s five-minute strike was the difference between both sides as Man City reclaimed their place at the Premier League summit, leaving Southampton rotting at the bottom of the pile.
Chelsea 2-1 Newcastle United
Chelsea hosted Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge, looking to extend their remarkable record against the Magpies on home turf.
The Blues had lost just one of their previous 30 Premier League games against Newcastle at the Bridge, and they didn’t take long to reassert their dominance over the Magpies in west London.
Nicolas Jackson gave Enzo Maresca’s side an early lead, latching on to a cutback from Pedro Neto to side-foot the Blues into the lead.
The goal was made possible by a picture-perfect pass from Chelsea talisman Cole Palmer, who also extended his remarkable goalscoring record at the Bridge.
Chelsea’s lead only lasted 14 minutes as Alexander Isak drew the Magpies level just after the half-hour mark, bundling home a cross from former Chelsea academy star Lewis Hall.
However, Palmer had the final say in the match, smashing home a low effort past the outstretched Nick Pope to seal all three points and make it back-to-back wins for Chelsea.
The Blues will renew hostilities with Newcastle in the EFL Cup on Wednesday evening before taking on Manchester United at Old Trafford at the weekend.
Crystal Palace 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
One of the most mind-boggling results came at Selhurst Park as a beleaguered Palace side claimed their first win of the season at Tottenham’s expense.
Both sides went into the London derby in contrasting form. Palace were desperate to halt a three-match losing streak while Spurs were riding the highs of back-to-back wins against West Ham United and AZ Alkmaar.
Needless to say, Spurs were overwhelming favourites before the ball was kicked, but an entirely different story ensued in south London, with Ange Postecoglou’s side suffering the mother of all capitulation.
A horrendous attempt at playing out from the back allowed Palace to win possession high up the pitch, and the ball was in the back of the net within seconds as Jean-Philippe Mateta latched on to Eberechi Eze’s balletic assist to rifle the Eagles into the lead.
Given Palace had only managed one clean sheet all season, Spurs, who have only failed to score against Arsenal this season, fancied their chances of mounting a comeback.
However, the north Londoners struggled to find any rhythm in the final third, resulting in their fourth defeat of the season. They sit eighth in the table, five points off the Champions League places.
West Ham United 2-1 Manchester United
Over in East London, West Ham were pulling off a miracle of their own, putting a wasteful Man United to the sword at the London Stadium.
Both Julen Lopetegui and Erik ten Hag were among the favourites to get an early sack heading into the game, with both managers facing immense pressure at their respective clubs.
However, the game was perfectly set up for the Red Devils to destroy a massively underwhelming West Ham side, but they blew away chance after chance, converting just one of their five big chances created.
The writing was on the wall for Man United after a wasteful first half, and West Ham seized the opportunity to snatch three points from the claws of the Devils.
Crysencio Summerville came off the bench to give the Hammers the lead in the 74th minute, but Man United wasted no time restoring parity through a Casemiro header.
Man United’s day went from worse to awful in the final minutes as West Ham were awarded a hugely controversial penalty, which was smashed home by Jarrod Bowen, sending a dagger straight through the hearts of the United faithful.
Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool
Billed as an early-season title showdown in the build-up to the game, Arsenal and Liverpool delivered a thrilling spectacle at the Emirates Stadium, with both sides settling for a share of the spoils.
Arsenal needed to bounce back from a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Bournemouth, but their 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League was far from convincing.
Meanwhile, Liverpool rocked up to the Emirates sporting an eight-game winning streak and were looking to add Arsenal to their list of casualties, having previously swatted aside Man United and Chelsea.
The stage was set for a thrilling contest, and it duly delivered with Bukayo Saka rifling Arsenal into the lead inside the opening ten minutes.
Virgil van Dijk responded with a header in the 18th minute, but Mikel Merino restored Arsenal’s lead with a header of his own on the stroke of half time.
With the Gunners edging towards a crucial win, Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah popped up with a late goal to level matters.
The draw saw Liverpool relinquish their spot at the Premier League summit, but they’re just one point behind Man City, while Arsenal sit five points behind the champions in third.
