New Delhi: 2025 keeps on delivering as yet another exciting game week of Premier League begins with some unbelievable results that involved late drama, controversies and big sides dropping points. Tonight’s fixtures involved Brentford welcoming the Champions Manchester City at home, who were looking to add to their win from their opening day thrashing of West Ham who were also in action against London rivals Fulham.
Two more big games saw Chelsea battle Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge and Liverpool travel to Nottingham Forest, hopint to extend the gap at the top of the table. However, here’s how these fixtures ended after a night full of nerve-racking clashes.
Brentford 2-2 Manchester City
In the Premier League it’s never over until it’s over.@BrentfordFC score two late goals to earn a draw against @ManCity!#BREMCI pic.twitter.com/POJYEICnSO
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 14, 2025
It did take the game to take off, but it certainly didn’t disappoint as Manchester City threw away a two-goal advantage to let the two points slip out of their hands. In the first half, both teams squandered numerous opportunities, with Wissa and Haaland being the primary offenders on either end. Savinho struck the post as Manchester City wasted more energy in the first half, but Foden, who likes to score against Brentford, met a beautiful cross from De Bruyne to put City ahead in the 66th minute. He quickly converted another one from close range, and it appeared as though City was chasing after it.
However, Brentford had more left in them and scored two goals in ten minutes through Norgaard and Wissa, with the second goal coming in stoppage time, as they frequently do at home. Then, in what was essentially the game’s last play, Mbeumo came very close to winning it, but Ake was there to block his shot off the line—the second time he done it tonight. City scored for the ninth consecutive league game, but they were once again let down by their late-game defense. Brentford, who currently join the top 10, will host Liverpool next, while City, who remain in sixth place, will travel to play Ipswich Town.
Chelsea 2-2 Bournemouth
Reece James rescues a stoppage time point for @ChelseaFC! #CHEBOU pic.twitter.com/ff2rC3wR6V
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 14, 2025
Yet another last minute save in the Premier League came at Stamford Bridge as it was Reece James who ultimately proved to be Chelsea’s savior. Thanks in large part to Antoine Semenyo, Bournemouth rallied from Cole Palmer’s composed finish early into the game, to reverse the deficit. Moises Caicedo fouled the Ghana international, who was then given the penalty that Justin Kluivert took and converted without hesitation. Semenyo was causing trouble once more when he found himself facing Josh Acheampong, a rookie player, one-on-one. He skipped past him and blasted it past Robert Sanchez to give Bournemouth the lead in the 68th minute.
David Brooks struck Marc Cucurella’s face, and Rob Jones merely displayed yellow even though he was advised to go to the screen. However, the drama didn’t end there as Chelsea eventually took advantage of a lucky break late into the game and it was Reece James who scored a fantastic free kick to secure a point for the Blues at home. Chelsea will be up against Wolves next while Bournemouth face in form Newcastle United away.
West Ham 3-2 Fulham
Graham Potter claims three points at the first time of asking for West Ham! ⚒#WHUFUL pic.twitter.com/4ooRGuFmGj
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 14, 2025
West Ham defeated Fulham 3-2 in a thrilling five-goal match at the London Stadium, earning them a vital three points. Harry Wilson’s short-range attempt bounced off the crossbar and should have given the visitors the lead. After that, Soler took advantage of a careless ball from Pereira to put West Ham ahead. Two minutes after being the first to respond to Wan-Bissaka’s low-driven cross, Soucek increased the Hammers’ lead. When Jimenez grabbed onto Wilson’s chipped cross, he should have scored, but his attempt, like Wilson’s, crashed off the woodwork. Iwobi gave the visitors a response when Jimenez dummied his chipped ball into the area, causing Fabianski to be wrong-footed.
But after Leno made a mistake that let Paqueta grab the ball just outside the area and shoot into an empty net, West Ham was able to increase their lead. Iwobi’s chipped cross into Wilson eluded the Welshman but managed to fly past Fabianski to give him his second of the night, re-creating his first goal. Even though Fulham won all three points, they were the ones who generated more chances for goals. When his team hosts Crystal Palace at London Stadium on Saturday, Graham Potter won’t have much time to celebrate that win. When Fulham travels to Leicester this weekend, they will have the chance to recover from their first loss in nine league games.
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Liverpool
After an action-packed 90 minutes, it’s a point each for @NFFC and @LFC 🤝#NFOLIV pic.twitter.com/eUQDXDaUsT
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 14, 2025
Unfortunately, Nottingham Forest’s six-game winning streak ends when they share the spoils with Liverpool at the City Ground! There were two halves to the match, with Forest easily winning the first. After a fast counterattack just eight minutes into the game, with Elanga providing a great through ball to put him up, Wood scored the first goal for the home team, his ninth of the season. With a deep, tight defense, Nuno’s team continued to dominate the first half and led by a clean one goal at the interval. As they have so frequently done this season, Slot’s substitutes in the 66th minute proved to be crucial as Liverpool came alive in the second half.
Twenty-two seconds after Tsimikas and Jota entered the game, Liverpool equalized. Jota was unmarked in the area as he nodded it into the side netting after Tsimikas whipped in a fantastic corner. Sels had to make five vital saves in the second half as Liverpool kept applying pressure. In the final 20 minutes, the Belgian produced a game-changing performance, denying outstanding efforts from Salah, Szoboszlai, and Gakpo. With this result, the Reds now lead the standings by seven points, while Forest advances to second place, one point ahead of Arsenal, who play Tottenham tomorrow. In the league, Liverpool will play Brentford next, while Forest will play Southampton.
Here’s a look at how the mid week fixtures of Premier League matchday 21 went as some of the top tier clubs managed to drop crucial points while the underdogs produced major scares. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
