New Delhi: The latest round of Premier League fixtures saw a lot of action following the International break as the fourth matchday of the season comes to an end. There were a lot of things that we learned after the latest fixtures concluded as some teams came away with historic wins while some are still searching for their first win of the season.
Erling Haaland continued his blistering start to the season as he added yet another record to his CV during Manchester City’s win over Brentford. Liverpool, the only other team that headed into the weekend with a 100% record, failed to keep that run alive leaving the defending champions as the only side with a perfect record. Arsenal came out on top in the North London derby once again leaving Tottenham reeling in the middle of the table.
Six teams in the league are yet to register their first win of the season while the bottom two are still searching for their first points of the season. There was a lot happening over the weekend that is there to unravel so let’s dive in to find out the major learnings that we can take away from the results of the fourth matchday of the season.
5) Promoted teams’ search for first win continues
Brighton and Hove Albion’s Kaoru Mitoma and Ipswich Town’s Sammie Szmodics battle for the ball during the Premier League match at the American Express Stadium, Brighton. Picture date: Saturday September 14, 2024. (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)
The season hasn’t gone off to the best of starts for all the promoted teams. Leicester City, Ipswich Town, and Southampton all gained promotion from the Championship to the Premier League but it hasn’t been the easiest of homecomings for either of them. After the first four games of the season, all three sides sit 15th, 17th and 19th in the Premier League table respectively. Things seemed to be going in favour of them when the matchday began but it all fizzled out.
Southampton began their game against Manchester United in dominant fashion and looked much the better side for the first 30 minutes and even won a penalty in the first half. However, they proceeded to miss the penalty and that brought about their downfall and the Saints lost their game. Ipswich Town managed to hold Brighton to a goalless draw, showing great resilience and Leicester City were seconds away from a victory but were pegged back on level terms in second half injury time via a penalty. None of the promoted teams have won a game yet and they will have to recoup and rally back in search of it again next week.
4) Penalty Heroics Propel Teams to Victory
Robert Sanchez and Andre Onana both made a crucial penalty save this weekend (Photo by Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
There were a few penalties that were given over the weekend but not all of them were able to find the back of the net. We saw two separate instances were a penalty save was crucial to their team’s performance. The first of which happened in the Southampton game when Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot brought down Tyler Dibling in the box. Cameron Archer stepped up to take the penalty but Andre Onana dove the right way and managed to parry the ball out. The ball fell to Archer but the rebound was easily saved as well.
That penalty saved revived United’s game and gave them a platform to go ahead and beat the Saints 3-0. The second such instance occurred during the Chelsea-Bournemouth game when Robert Sanchez brought Evanilson down in the box. The Brazilian striker took the penalty himself but a decent penalty was met with a strong palm from the Chelsea goalkeeper to deny him his first goal for the club. This save gave Sanchez the confidence to put in an amazing performance on the night and provided just enough of a platform for his side to snatch away a late 1-0 win.
3) Julen Lopetegui’s Hammers need more time
Danny Ings celebrates with Jarrod Bowen, after scoring a late equalising goal during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and West Ham United FC at Craven Cottage on September 14, 2024. (Photo by West Ham United FC/West Ham United FC via Getty Images)
There were too many incomings going on at the London Stadium during the off season as West Ham bought as many as nine new players in the transfer window. The club even brought in a new manager in Julen Lopetegui but they haven’t had the best of starts to their season. The Spaniard has brought in some quality players like Niklas Fullkrug, Crysencio Summerville, Carlos Soler, and Jean Claire Todibo to the club but has been very reluctant to use his new signings.
Only Max Kilman and Guido Rodriguez are the new arrivals who have featured regularly for the manager. He took a strange decision of playing Tomas Soucek as the number 10 and what transpired on the pitch was a route-one style of play which wasn’t what anyone expected from the Hammers. It’s clear that Lopetegui is trying to get his signings to gel well together and is giving them enough time so that they perform well whenever introduced. Patience is the key for him it seems because the day these signings click, it’ll be difficult to stop this hammering juggernaut.
2) Historic night at Anfield
Callum Hudson-Odoi celebrates after scoring their opening goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest FC at Anfield on September 14, 2024 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)
This past Saturday was a historic night at Anfield for the Reds, not for the ones that call Anfield their home but for the Reds that travelled to stadium. Liverpool welcomed Nottingham Forest in a Battle of the Reds and it seemed like another easy, routine win for new Liverpool manager Arne Slot but Forest had other plans. After frustrating the hosts for the majority of the first half, the visitors would’ve been happy to leave with a point but that was not to be.
Nuno Santo got his tactics spot on against Liverpool as he flooded his midfield to create problems for the hosts before bringing on his wingers who scored a perfect counter attacking goal to seal Nottingham Forest’s first win at Anfield in over 55 years. While the Forest wingers shone brightest, Liverpool’s wingers were kept in check by both Ola Aina and Alex Moreno which led to the hosts not being able to reply the goal and succumbed to their first defeat of the season.
1) Jadon Sancho shines on debut
Christopher Nkunku (left) with team-mate Jadon Sancho (right) celebrates scoring the opening goal during the match against AFC Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium on September 14, 2024. (Photo by David Horton – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Chelsea were struggling for much of the first half against Bournemouth and had it not been for an excellent performance from Robert Sanchez, the London side would’ve lost the game by multiple goals. However, this improved in the second half when manager Enzo Maresca brought on Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho for his Chelsea debut at half time. That substitution worked wonders for the team as this Sancho performance seemed nothing like what we’ve seen from him at Old Trafford.
Sancho was extremely lively in his second half appearance, linking up well with Cole Palmer, Marc Cucurella, Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku, whom he assisted for the winner five minutes from normal time. He completed all of his dribbles, created a couple of chances for his side including a big chance that he created and completed 100% of his long balls. In just 48 minutes on the pitch, Sancho was adjudged the man of the match, signaling a bright start to his Chelsea career.
The first weekend back after the International break had lots to unpack. Dive in to find out what all we learned from the latest round of Premier League action! Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
