The Premier League Round-Up- Sunday’s round of matches of game-week three brought a bag full of surprises. To be honest, the entire weekend was inflicted with chaos and dramas. All the favourites and powerhouses of each fixture shrug their heads in dismay. That’s why the league is termed ‘the best league in the world’
On Saturday, Brighton and Manchester United played a five-goal thriller at Amex and West Brom restricted Chelsea to a 3-3 draw. The craziness continued the next day. Leeds got the better of Sheffield United through a late goal while there was VAR controversy at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium. Leicester City absolutely smashed Manchester City 5-2 at Etihad Stadium before West Ham earned their first point of the season with a stunning 4-0 victory over Wolves.
In an action-packed Sunday, we pick out some interesting talking points of all of these fixtures played.
Patrick Bamford proving doubters wrong
In the first Yorkshire derby in the Premier League after 16 years, Patrick Bamford headed in for Leeds in the 88th minute to wrap a crucial victory over rivals, Sheffield United. The striker has now shown that he is Premier league proven by taking the top flight league by storm. Bamford has now scored in three successive opening game of the season and in the time of asking for Marcelo Bielsa’s men. In the first game against Liverpool, Bamford scored a crucial equalizer and also mark the fourth goal for his side against Fulham. Bamford is giving Leeds not only a hope to stay up but also make it a royal outing in the top-flight.
Chris Wilder’s side in deep trouble
Sheffield United seem to have carried their off form towards the end of the last campaign to the new one. Chris Wilder’s side had failed to register any points on the chart and also failed to score a single goal in the opening three fixtures. Strangely, the team that looked so robust defensively had conceded four goals. Against Wolves, they squandered chances in 2-0 defeat and also got outplayed by Aston Villa. The Yorkshire derby was more of an even affair. This time the Blades faced Illian Mieslier’s goal-saving gloves time and time again. Ramsdale also did a similar job at the other end but couldn’t resist Bamford from scoring. Sheffield faces Arsenal next in a stern test to overturn their distasteful start to the 2020-21 campaign.
The handball rule denied Spurs the victory
VAR came into question hugely at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium as Newcastle United nicked a late point in a game they did absolutely nothing. Eric Dier was adjudged to hand the ball according to a new set of rules when Andy Carroll leapt to head it. There was nothing the former Sporting CP player could have done with the arm coming in place only because of momentum. But the referee pointed to the spot after looking at the VAR screen. After some good decisions made the previous day, this was a bit of a controversial one. Callum Wilson put away the penalty as the last piece of the action with Jose Mourinho refusing to comment about the incident as usual. Tottenham was clearly the better side of the clash by creating a huge number of chances. Most of them were put out by the brilliance showing of goalkeeper Karl Darlow in between the sticks. Lucas Moura scored inside the 30th minute and the score-line remained 1-0 until the late penalty.
Leicester and Manchester both “City” having contrasting starts to the Premier League campaign
Pep Guardiola’s men were thwarted by Leicester in the Etihad as their shaggy defending cost them once again in the crucial stage. They were also fortunate in the first game as Wolves didn’t take their chances. In this fixture, Manchester City gave away three stupid penalties to make the day for the Foxes. The pair of Eric Garcia and Nathan Ake flopped badly in the defence. Injured Aymeric Laporte watched from stands. The team is nothing without him. Also, Benjamin Mendy was shambolic in his duties. The continued Guardiola’s preference for him on the left flank is questionable. Kyle Walker also conceded a penalty along with the other two defensive mates. They lose the lead of the game to concede five. That how bad the team was in the day.
For Leicester, Jamie Vardy became the talisman for them. The golden boot winner of the campaign struck a superb hat trick with his magnificent efficiency from the spot. Maddison scored a screamer to announce his return from injury with Youri Tielemann getting on the scoresheet as well as putting a decent shift in place of Wilfred Ndidi. Brendan Rodgers is desperate to overturn their Champions League football qualification failure last campaign to do something huge this time out. They have won every single game in the new campaign so far, admirably passing the challenges of West Brom and Burnley. It is early but a repeat of their 2016 fairy tale can be on the cards.
West Ham’s superb performance against Wolves in the Premier League
Nobody saw this coming. West Ham absolutely destroyed Wolves in London Stadium 4-0 in a surprise win. David Moyes perfectly constricted Nuno Espirito side’s rifling football through their unstoppable counter attacks. Mikel Antonio was in heart of things. It was Jarod Bowen who struck twice on either side of the halves. Wolves were left without any answer with Jimenez netting in the wrong net with Soucek lurking before Sebastian Haller”s header completed the rout. Wolves were outplayed in every sector and the Portuguese boss will be hoping to turn things quickly. They have now suffered consecutive defeats. For Hammers, they hammered their latest opposition magnificently after successive defeats to Newcastle and Arsenal. But in both of the games, they looked alive and gunning for goals. Moyes will be hoping to keep this momentum against high flying Leicester next weekend.
