Match day 2 in the Epl sure served us some of the usual excitement and recorded lots of goals, red cards and some teams getting their 1st wins and some their 1st loss already and some teams still struggling to get their 1st win or point as the case maybe.
DOMINIC CALVERT-LEWIN GETS HAT-TRICK FOR EVERTON’S 5-2 WIN OVER WEST BROM
Carlo Anceloti’s Everton has continued with their impressive match day 1 form which saw them come back with all 3 points from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London where they took a slim lone goal win over Jose Mourinho’s Spurs. They got the job done over newly promoted West Brom handling them their second loss in as many games.
Calvert Lewin hit a hat-trick in a slightly dramatic game which saw two red cards shown. It was West Brom who got up and running with the 1st goal of the match in the10th minute when Grady Diangana found the back of the net after a beautiful solo run effort putting the ball beyond Jordan Pickford in goal for Everton. Everton dominated from there on and they landed an equaliser. Calvert-Lewin got a reply to the West Brom openers some 21 minutes later in the 31st minute when he slotted in a nice back heel goal after reacting quickly to a blocked Richalison header to put his team back level.
Everton’s new boy James Rodriguez opened his Everton and Premier league account on the 45th minute as he got his team ahead courtesy of an assist from Richarlison and shortly afterwards, an off the ball incident saw Referee Mike Dean show West Brom Defender Kierien Gibbs a red card for a foul play on the Columbian, James Rodriguez. It didn’t stop at that as West Brom manager Slaven Bilic also got sent to the stands after getting red carded for excessive protest of the red card making him the first manager to be sent into the stands this season.
West Brom didn’t looked shakened despite being a player and a manager down at the beginning of the second half as they got an equaliser through a free kick which was well taken by Matheus Pereira but Michael Keane restored the Everton lead in the 54th minutes reacting first to a Richalison header which was initially saved by West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
Calvert Lewin completed his hat-trick in the space of 4 minutes adding two more goals to his 1st half opener in the 62nd and 66th minutes, to put the game to bed for Everton’s second win.
MANCHESTER UNITED FLOORED 1-3 AT HOME BY CRYSTAL PALACE
Manchester United were handed their very 1st opening day defeat in the season in 6 years by Crystal Palace as they fell to a 1-3 defeat at home, at the Old Trafford. It was a former United player, Wilfred Zaha who starred for Palace and came back to Old Trafford to haunt his former employers and leave them with more questions than answers on their credentials and readiness for the league season.
Andre Townsend sent Palace into a very early lead as early as the 7th minute firing in from close range courtesy of a Jeffrey Schlupp assist. Palace relied majorly on the counter attacks as David De Gea was called into action as he denied Jordan Ayew a chance to add to Palace’s lead on two occasions despite united bossing in terms of possession but not creating much as the likes of Paul Pogba despite having some touches in key areas have found it difficult to impose their self on the game as they only managed 2 shots on goal throughout a very drab 1st second half from a United point of view.
Second 45th minute was similar to the 1st as United still maintained the bulk of the possession but not doing much with it as Palace relied more on the counter and looked threatening any time they came forward with the ball.
Palace would eventually be awarded a penalty after the ball struck Victor Lindelof ‘s arm within the area and VAR was consulted by referee Martin Atkinson before the penalty decision was taken. Andre Ayew stepped up to take the spot kick and the ball was saved by De Gea but replays showed that the United stopper had left his line while the penalty was taken and it had to be retaken. Zaha stepped up to retake and he made no mistake finding the back of the net to extend Palace’s lead.
United’s new boy, Donny van de Beek who was making a substitute appearance after coming on for Paul Pogba reduced the United deficit after pouncing on a Joe Ward poor clearance to keep the game at 1-2. The goal sure woke up something in a large lackluster united team as some sense of urgency was noted in United’s play after the DVB goal but in the 85th minute, it was palace who got the important 3rd goal to kill any form of a United’s attempt at possible come-back after Victor Linderlof failed to clear properly an Eberechi Eze ball into the United box properly and Zaha was on hands to lash on to the pieces as he fired in a low shot into De Gea’s near post to make it 3-1 and it ended that way for Palace second win in as many matches.
ARSENAL PREVAILED 2-1 OVER WEST HAM AT THE LONDON LOCAL DERBY.
The gunners prevailed at the local derby against West Ham at their 1st home game to land all 3 points and keep up the somewhat impressive run and the feel-good vibe around the team as the Mikel Arteta project continues. Although the win was not pretty and they got really lucky on the night but they got their desired goal as a typical Arsenal side would have probably fallen to all of the West Ham pressure which was very evident in the second half of the match.
Arsenal got their noses in front in the 25th minute of the game after French Striker Alexandre Laccazette got the opener after he headed powerfully home from an Aubameyang cross, his second of the season. Arsenal bossed the possession for the better part of the half as expected but did not create much as West Ham having nice spells on the ball as well, and they were rewarded on a stroke of half time when Michail Antonio tucked in a Ryan Fredericks ”squared ball” into Leno’s goal to send the David Moyes side level heading into the half.
The second 45 was predominantly West Ham pilling all the pressure as the gunners were majorly on the back foot containing all the hammer’s pressure for the majority of the half and they really got let off the hook on like two occasions. Michail Antonio got close after directing a cross from Arthur Masuaku to the cross bar and again Leno was called into action to quickly get off his line to deny Anthonio from having a chance to get to the ball.
Arsenal finally took charge of the possession again and they grew back into game as they took advantage of a moment of brilliance from substitute Bukayo Saka who gave a defence splitting pass to Dani Ceballos who squared the ball for another substitute, Young striker Eddie Nkethia to tap in calmly for Arsenal’s winner of the night to seal a very important win.
CHAMPIONS LIVERPOOL BEATS CHELSEA 2-NIL
The main match of the weekend was a super Sunday matchup between Champions Liverpool and a “new look” Frank Lampard’s Chelsea with all the new additions in the summer. It was a very keenly contested and cagey first half as both teams were limited to half chances for the majority of the 1st half which was an end to end affair as both teams were careful not to give out the first goal.
Andreas Christensen saw red for a professional foul play on Sadio Mane as he was the last man and he bundled him down which obviously was a cynical foul and prevented Mane from a goal bound move. VAR was consulted and an initial yellow card was withdrawn and a red card was handed to Christensen on the stroke of the half time.
Liverpool brought on its new acquisition from Bayern Munich, Thiago Alcantara who replaced club captain Jordan Henderson at the restart and they pilled the pressure on the “one man down” Chelsea side in the second half and the pressure paid off as Saido Mane headed home from a Firmino cross his 1st goal of the season to put the Anfield side ahead in the 50th minute. Four minutes later Mane got his second goal of the game to extend the Liverpool lead to 2-nil after pouncing on Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga blunder.
Thiago gave a penalty away for an opportunity for Chelsea to come back into the game but Jorginho could not convert the resulting penalty as Liverpool keeper Alisson Becker made a good save crucially to keep the game at 2 nil and but ended that way in favor of the Champions for their second win in as many games as the title defense is on.
In other Premier league match ups, Leeds United got their season up and running getting their 1st 3points after falling to Liverpool on match day 1. They edged Fulham 4-3 at home at the Elland Road stadium.
Leicester City are top of the log after match day 2 after coming out tops over Burnley at home at the King Power Stadium. It ended 4-2 in a very keenly contested encounter to earn them back to back victories in the premier league.
”Soldier boy” Son Heung-Min hit 4 past Southampton at their St. Mary’s Stadium home in a 2-5 win as Spurs bounced back to winning ways after falling to Everton at home on the opening day of the season. Remarkably, Harry Kane with the assist for all Son’s goal and he was in the goals as well opening his account with his 1st goal of the season.
Southampton’s last season’s “22 goals striker” Danny Ings also opened his goal scoring account for the season after netting a brace in the 2-5 defeat as well.
Newcastle were handed their 1st loss at home at St James’s Park after a humbling 0-3 home loss to Brighton and Hove Albion.
There would be Monday night football tonight in the Premier league as Aston Villa would be hosting Sheffield United at the Villa Park and Manchester City would be getting their season up and running away to Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium.
