THE RETURN OF THE MAJOR LEAGUES- THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
The English Premier League competition made an emphatic return to competitive football a couple of weeks ago. However, in the week gone by, the first tier of the English professional football structure made a rigorous argument to its contention of being perhaps the most competitive football league in Europe. The matches were played with extreme competitiveness by all the twenty sides involved, and there were more than a few upsets which went our way and made sure that it was not always the favourites who ended up bagging the three points required. I have illustrated in this article, how this particular week in the English Premier League competition reinstated my faith in its authenticity.
The tenth round of the English Premier League competition began late on Friday night when Newcastle United, managed by cricket fanatic Steve Bruce edged out the home team Crystal Palace, managed by veteran Roy Hodgson 2–0 at the Selhurst Park Stadium in London. However, a bigger shock was about to follow in the first fixture of Saturday when Brighton and Hove Albion pulled off a stunner to equalise against league leaders Liverpool at the American Express Community Stadium in Brighton. Neil Maupay had earlier missed a penalty in the 20th minute, sending Liverpool’s Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker the wrong way, but missing the target altogether.
Brighton and Hove Albion must have felt lucky when a little later, a superb Mohamed Salah strike was ruled out as offside and the score was still 0–0. New signing Diogo Jota, who made his way to Melwood and Anfield in the preseason from Wolverhampton Wanderers, continued his superb run at the top of the attack with a nice strike in the 60th minute thanks to a Salah assist, and it was deemed to be enough for Jurgen Klopp’s men to see the game through. However, there was a lot of drama still left in the game. Andrew Robertson kicked former Manchester United and Arsenal FC centre forward Danny Welbeck’s boot in the dying minutes of the game and after a referral with the Video Assistant Referee, a penalty was given.
There is not a lot to be said after this except the fact that the penalty was converted by the trustworthy Pascal Gross and Liverpool’s hopes of taking home three points from the south coast of England was shattered due to a minor technicality. Goalkeeper Alisson was cautioned for delaying the taking of the penalty, but it was not enough and the Reds from the North West of England had to suffer the humiliation of sharing points with a side they had been dipped to beat by two goals or more. The fact that Klopp did not have his regular defenders did not aid his cause, although it must be said that young centre back Nathaniel Phillips was on top of his game throughout the match.
Manchester City thumped a hapless Burnley by 5 goals later on thanks to a Riyad Mahrez hat trick. The Cityzens were completely on top of their game at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester and Sean Dyche’s Burnley, who have disintegrated a lot from what they were in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 English Premier League competitions, were the unfortunate souls to be on the receiving end of such a tirade. Apart from the Algerian Mahrez, French fullback Benjamin Mendy and new signing from Spain Ferran Torres were on target for Pep Guardiola’s side. Guardiola, who signed a contract extension at the Etihad Stadium earlier in the week, was made happier still when centre forward Gabriel Jesus bagged a goal, but his happiness was turned into stoicism by the Video Assistant Referee, who ruled it out for offside.
One of the biggest upsets of the night came in the next fixture of the English Premier League when unfancied Leeds United, managed by the tactical genuis Marcelo Bielsa, handed a shock 1–0 defeat to the much fancied Everton FC at the Goodison Park Stadium in Liverpool. It was a pity that Everton FC, now playing almost at full strength, could not prevent a defeat in which they were extremely off colour. The home team played the ball a lot of times to the likes of James Rodriguez and Dominic Calvert Lewin but there was no joy from either of these stalwarts. Leeds United, on the other hand, found a way to break the stalemate when a Jack Harrison ball found Raphinha in the 79th minute. There was no coming back for Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton FC after that.
Perhaps the most exciting and interesting game in the tenth round of the English Premier League competition came in the first match of Sunday in which Southampton took on Manchester United at the St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton. The visiting side Manchester United dominated the game right from the offing in passing and possession of the ball, but found themselves strangely behind when an innocuous looking corner from captain James Ward Prowse was turned past David de Gea by Southampton’s Polish centre back Jan Bednarek. Sometime later, James Ward Prowse produced a moment of pure magic when he converted a free kick and sent it to the top left corner way beyond the diving (and despairing) de Gea.
Manchester United went into the break down by a two goals to nil and one of the two changes manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made was by replacing Mason Greenwood with veteran striker Edinson Cavani. Greenwood had been handed a goal on a platter earlier on in the game when Southampton’s goalkeeper Alex McCarthy made a terrible error but the young Mancunian had failed to convert it into something substantial. To shield him more than anything, Solskjaer did the right thing by bringing on Cavani. Goalkeeper de Gea, who had been injured while trying to save Southampton’s second goal was also replaced by the club’s academy star Dean Henderson, who made his Premier League debut for the Red Devils this way.
Manchester United’s comeback did not begin immediately into the second half, but once it did, there was no stopping the men from Old Trafford. Star centre forward Cavani had an almost immediate impact after stepping into the pitch as he assisted Bruno Fernandes for his goal in the 59th minute. The Red Devils were feeling that they were in the game right now and Southampton looked a little wary of conceding again.
Fifteen minutes of riveting football followed and it was broken when Edinson Cavani, finding himself with a lot of space inside the box, headed a ball away from goalkeeper McCarthy and suddenly the game was equalised. It seemed to remain that way until the very end but a special lob ball from Marcus Rashford found Cavani again and the Uruguyan made no mistake with heading another one past McCarthy in the 93rd minute. Out of nowhere, Manchester United had staged a comeback and snatched three points from underneath Southampton’s noses.
An interesting but otherwise dull game between London rivals Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur took place later on, in which the two sides shook hands after a goalless stalemate. Tottenham Hotspur’s manager Jose Mourinho returned to his former hunting ground Stamford Bridge and although he promised to treat this game ‘just as any other one,’ one could sense the tension, anticipation and nerves building up inside the Portuguese maestro. Chelsea FC were extremely good on the night, as were their opponents Tottenham Hotspur, but it was a real shame that neither of the two sides could actually go on to win the game and pocket the three points on offer.
Arsenal FC were defeated by Wolverhampton Wanderers later still but that game did not have the makings to be marked as a really good one. Goals from Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence took Wolverhampton Wanderers forward either side of a goal from Arsenal FC’s new Brazilian centre back Gabriel. The one thing that stood out in this game was the incredible manner in which Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Mexican centre forward Raul Jimenez clashed with his head with Arsenal FC’s centre back David Luiz during a set piece routine. The Mexican had to be carried off the pitch in a stretcher and was later diagnosed to have a skull fracture.
The penultimate game of this round of the English Premier League competition was played between home team Leicester City and the visiting side Fulham at the King Power Stadium in Leicester. This game turned out to be another shocker as the home team, who finished in the fifth place of the English Premier League table in the 2019/20 season and are managed by Brendan Rodgers, were defeated by the visitors by a comfortable scoreline. Goals from Ademola Lookman and Ivan Cavaleiro were enough to send Scott Parker’s men in front in the first half itself, and a late strike from Harvey Barnes thanks to a Jamie Vardy assist could not prevent a defeat for the Foxes.
At the moment, Tottenham Hotspur are ranked on top of the league table with 21 points to their name while the defending champions Liverpool trail them in the second position with the same number of points.