New Delhi: Matchday 22 of the Premier League 2024/25 season continued today as the race to the top four intensifies with some of the top sides in contention. Meanwhile, some of the relegation threatened sides were also in action in tonight’s action-packed matchday. Liverpool, who are sitting top of the league with a sizeable points gap were up against Brentford while Ruud Van Nistelroy was hoping for a positive response from his Leicester side against Fulham.
Graham Potter surely did feel the wave of confidence before heading into the game against West Ham’s London rivals, Crystal Palace after their recent 3-2 win against another London side Fulham. Earlier, Newcastle suffered a shock home defeat against a very confident Bournemouth side, thanks to a fantastic hat-trick from Justin Kluivert. However, let’s have a look at how things shaped in those fixtures.
Brentford 0-2 Liverpool
After an intense 90 minutes pushing for a goal, Darwin Nunez stepped up to score two in added time ⏱️#BRELIV pic.twitter.com/z52VcDwfKC
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 18, 2025
An important fixture where Liverpool needed to get a positive result to extend the lead at the top. At the half, Brentford and Premier League leaders Liverpool were still tied at half time despite a flurry of shots throughout an open first half. Flekken had to make a number of stops after Szoboszlai hit the Bees’ crossbar, but probably Damsgaard’s early attempt was the finest chance for either team to break the tie. Liverpool came very close to scoring just after a dangerous Brentford break spearheaded by Mbeumo.
Cody Gakpo’s unimpressive finish, under pressure from Flekken, went just inches wide of the right-hand post after Salah slipped him through on the left side of the area right before the second half. Liverpool had 19 shots on target while the hosts only managed five. Shortly after kickoff, Brentford breaks swiftly and earns a corner at the other end after Szoboszlai flicks a cross shot wide of the goal. However, Tsmikas’ header clears Liverpool’s lines, making the set-piece disappointing.
The final minutes of the game saw Liverpool completely stealing the three points from a heart broken Brentford side as Darwin Nunez stepped-up for the travelling Reds as he was there at the right time to finish off the first one from inside the Brentford box in the first added minute. The second one came almost in no time as Nunez balsted a shot after a quick counter aatack from the Reds to seal the game that ended 2-0.
Leicester City 0-2 Fulham
Fulham return to winning ways ⭐️#LEIFUL pic.twitter.com/1FmN8V1XCE
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 18, 2025
Yet another game where there was a lack of creativity in the first half and none of the sides managed to take the advantage. However, within two minutes, Ayew took a shot off a corner to give Leicester their first significant opportunity of the game. Leno was there to intervene and stopped the Ghanaian. The Foxes had a fantastic opportunity to take the lead early in the game. Leicester did dominate the opening ten minutes of the game but the first half barely produced any sort of excitement as it remained deadlocked.
The second half kicke-off with a bang, as Wilson flicked the ball into the area, doing a good job of keeping it in while Smith Rowe received Lukic’s header before beating Stolarczyk with a diving header to put his team ahead. The former Arsenal player put his side in front in the 48th minute of the game. 20 minutes later, Adama Traore put Fulham 2-0 up as it waa a beautiful finish from the Spaniard. Stolarczyk could do nothing to stop his superb shot as it was already looking like a done deal for Leicester. The score remained that way as there were barely any further attempts by either of the sides as Fulham continued their good form and Leicester edged a step closer to relegation.
West Ham 0-2 Crystal Palace
Mateta’s brace gives Crystal Palace the three points 💫#WHUCRY pic.twitter.com/ldnucm7OdZ
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 18, 2025
West Ham United welcomed Crystal Palace at London Stadium, fresh-off from a 3-2 win against Fulham but the plan didn’t quite go the way Graham Potter wanted it to in his second league game for the Hammers. The game kicked off with Ebrechi Eze seeing his long range effort go above the cross-bar. Soon after, Mateta saw his attempt saved by Fabianski who kept it deadlocked. The first half came to an end as the score remained deadlocked.
As soon as the second half began, Jean-Phillip Mateta put the Eagles in front after being played through by Eze, before taking his shot from the edge of the box to beat Fabianski and make it 1-0 for Palace. There was drama in the 80th minute of the game when Konstantinos Mavropanos of West Ham was sent off after his second yellow card that was issued by referee Thomas Bramall. However, barely any chances were created until the very final minute of the game when West Ham keeper commited a foul on Eddie Nketiah inside his own box to give Palace a late penalty which was converted by Mateta again.
It was a poor penalty but the keeper really should have saved it as it slipped under his body. Here’s where the game ended and the ten-man West Ham certainly have some self searching to do, while Palace enjoyed a good night in London.
An interesting set of battles took place in the matchday 22 of the Premier League on Saturday, with Liverpool, Brentford, Fulham and other sides in action. Let’s have alook at how things went. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
