Premier League Gameweek 2 wrap

Gameweek 2 of the Premier League season provided another set of memorable fixtures as new Spurs boss Ange Postecoglu sent Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United home empty handed while... Read more
Premier League Gameweek 2 wrap

Gameweek 2 of the Premier League season provided another set of memorable fixtures as new Spurs boss Ange Postecoglu sent Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United home empty handed while Brighton’s convincing win over Wolves took them to the top of the table.

 

Nottingham Forest kicked off proceedings when they hosted the newly promoted Sheffield United.  Forest went ahead early thanks to Nigerian striker Taiwo Awoniyi.  Forest took the lead into the second half but could not keep out Sheffield who equalized in the 48th minute thanks to a sensational curved effort from Gustavo Harmer.  Both sides could not break through and the points looked set to be shared until Chris Wood stepped up in the 89th minute to seal the three points for the home side.  Forest won 2-1.

The MoneyMan, Oliver Keohane and Dylan Johnson all correctly predicted a Nottingham Forrest victory.  Dylan got the correct score line while The MoneyMan and Ollie predicted 3-1 and 1-0.

 

Saturday saw five fixtures kickoff throughout the afternoon and evening.  Brentford travelled to London where they would face-off against Fulham at Craven Cottage.   Brentford’s dangerous attacking duo Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo continued where they left off last week with a dominant offensive display.  Wissa scored the opener before Mbeumo secured a brace.  Fulham defender Tim Ream was sent off, adding to the Cottagers woes.  Brentford won 3-0.

Dylan managed to predict the correct result but was just off with his 2-0 scoreline while The MoneyMan and Oliver missed out with prediction of a 1-1 result.

 

Liverpool looked to secure their first win of the season after a tense 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge with Bournemouth travelling to Merseyside.  Bournemouth went ahead after just three minutes when Anotione Semenyo fired a shot between Virgil Van Dijk’s legs and into the bottom left corner of Liverpool’s goal.  Luis Diaz scored the leveller in the 28th minute but the Reds could not take control of the game.  Neto saved a Mohamed Salah penalty in the 36th minute but could not stop the Egyptian from scoring the rebound.  Diogo Jota scored Liverpool’s third soon after going down to 10 men, with Alexis Mac Allister facing a three game suspension for his straight red card.  Liverpool won 3-1.

The MoneyMan, Oliver and Dylan all predicted a Liverpool win with their scorelines of 3-1 also proving to be accurate

 

Wolves were aiming to bounce back after their controversial loss to Manchester United last Monday when they hosted Brighton at the Molineux.  Roberto De Zerbi’s side were dominant from the kickoff and went ahead in the 15th minute  thanks to a Kaoru Mitoma wonder goal.  Ecuadorian fullback Pervis Estupinan scored the second before a Solly March brace ended Wolves hopes of a comeback.  Hwang Hee-chan scored a consolation goal in 61st minute but the damage had been done.  Brighton won 4-1.

The MoneyMan, Oliver and Dylan all correctly predicted a Brighton win but were slightly off in their 2-1 scoreline.

 

Manchester United journeyed South where they encountered a relatively unknown  Harry Kaneless Tottenham Hotspur.  United had the better chances in the first half but could not capitalize.  The second half saw Spurs take control of the game with Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr dominating in the middle of the park.  Sarr scored the opener inthe 49th minute and United could not get back into the game.  A late Lisandro Martinez own goal sealed The Red Devils disasterous performance. Spurs won 2-0.

The MoneyMan, Oliver and Dylan all failed to see this result coming.  Their 2-2 prediction showed more faith to Erik Ten Hag’s side than they ultimately deserved.

The game of the weekend was Manchester City vs Newcastle United.  Eddie Howe’s side are looking to send a message this season and any sort of result at the Etihad would’ve been a huge signal of intent from the Magpies.  City struggled to take control for large portions of the 90 minutes with Newcastle’s fighting spirit and aggression putting their passing game under pressure.  Julian Alvarez’s spectacular goal in the first half proved to be the difference despite Newcastle’s best efforts.  Phil Foden stepped up in Kevin De Bruyne’s absence, hopefully the midfielder can get some consistent minutes this season.  Manchester City won 1-0.

Oliver and Dylan predicted the correct result.  The MoneyMan’s 2-2 call was incorrect but in all fairness few could have foreseen such a low scoring game between two of the most exciting teams in the league.

Aston Villa had nothing but redemption on their mind when they faced off against Everton at Villa Park.  Everton were poor and Villa were not, it quite simply came down to that.  John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Leon Bailey and Jhon Duran all got on the scoresheet.  They have struggled for goals since last season and with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s latest injury, Everton fans will be worried at what lies ahead this campaign.  Aston Villa won 4-0.

The MoneyMan, Oliver and Dylan all called this result correctly.  There were more goals than they anticipated but Everton are clearly worse than they believed.

West Ham pulled off the biggest shock of the weekend when they took all three points from Todd Boehly’s billion pound blues.  West Ham went ahead thanks to Nayef Aguerd before Carney Chukweumeka scored the equalizer.  Chelsea were in control after going level and had an opportunity to go ahead with a penalty.  Alphonse Areola dove to his right, saving Enzo Fernandez’s attempt.  West Ham took the lead once again when Michail Antonio bodied Chelsea’s defense and buried his strike into the bottom left corner.  Chelsea could not break through despite going a man-up and ended up conceding a penalty which was calmly converted by Lucas Paqueta.  West Ham won 3-1.

The MoneyMan, Oliver and Dylan did not give West Ham a chance.  Oliver and Dylan thought Chelsea would steal a win while The MoneyMan predicted a draw.

 

The final fixture of Gameweek 2 was a nailbiter.  Arsenal and Crystal Palace kicked off the second London derby of the gameweek with both the Gunners and the Eagles looking to get their second win of the season.  After a goalless first half where both teams threatened, the second started in a similar end-to-end fashion.  Martin Odegaard put the Gunners ahead after he converted a 53rd minute penalty.  Palace were not out of the game yet and continued to put pressure on the Arsenal midfield and defense.  Takehiro Tomiyasu was sent off  in the 67th minute after recieiving a second yellow card.  Mikel Arteta will be pleased with how his side dug deep and kept the Palace barrage out.  Arsenal won 1-0.

The MoneyMan, Oliver and Dylan all predicted an Arsenal win.  All three thought Arsenal would have more goals in their performance.  The quality Crystal Palace showed in this match should be taken into consideration for future predictions.

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