Premier League Round-up: game week two

Adamo Marinelli

August 16, 2022

The first two weeks of the 2022-23 Premier League season have come and gone and to say there have been many crazy storylines is a severe understatement. There have been teams that have exceeded expectations so far and have gotten off to surging starts and there have also been teams who have played well below their expectations and struggled to start the season on the right foot.

Aston Villa’s late goal in the 86th minute by Emi Buendia gave Everton their second loss of the season and cemented their position in the relegation zone despite Frank Lampard’s best efforts to keep them up. A late own goal by Lucas Digne in the 87th minute gave Everton life, but they couldn’t equalize. A quiet summer transfer window didn’t help set up Everton for much success this year and Lampard may be on the hot seat.

Leeds United started the game well with two goals early in the second half from Rodrigo Moreno in the 46th and 60th minutes. After controlling the first half and dominating the start of the second half, they couldn’t hold on for back-to-back wins as late goals from substitute Joe Aribo and Kyle Walker-Peters in the 72nd and 81st minute, respectively tied the game for Southampton. Despite the draw, Leeds sit 6th in the league and Southampton sit 17th. 

Gabriel Jesus proved why he’s arguably the best summer transfer with two goals and two assists in a 4-2 home win over Leicester City. Jesus was on fire in the first half, scoring two spectacular goals. In the second half, he assisted Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli’s goals and had several chances for his hattrick which he couldn’t convert. Arsenal conceded their first two goals of the campaign, one of which was William Saliba's own goal, but they responded with their own goal less than two minutes later on each occasion. 

Manchester City controlled the entire game against newly promoted Bournemouth, cruising to a 4-0 victory to sit atop the EPL table, ahead of Arsenal, the only other team who has won both their games this year, on goal difference. City won possession 67-33 percent and outshot Bournemouth 19-3 (7-1). Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin DeBruyne, and Phil Foden were the first-half goal scorers and an own goal by Jefferson Lerman made it 4-0. Manchester City has not conceded a goal yet this year.

Brighton Hove and Albion and Newcastle United played to a 0-0 draw despite many chances for the Seagulls. Brighton controlled the game from start to finish, slightly out possessing Newcastle 55-45 percent and outshooting their opponents 13-4 (7-1). Newcastle’s keeper Nick Pope played very well, making seven saves to secure the draw and the clean sheet. Eddie Howe and Graham Potter are two of the best English managers and they have their teams sitting 5th and 8th in the league, respectively. 

The Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham also played to a 0-0 draw in a close, back and forth defensive game that was controlled in the midfield. Wolves were outshot 9-7 and 3-1 on target but they controlled the possession battle 60-40 percent and controlled the midfield with their short accurate passes and their counter attacks. It was a conservative game from both sides, but in 13th place, Fulham looks good so far, drawing Liverpool in their first match and keeping another clean sheet against 14th place Wolves.

This next matchup was the game of the week, but for all the wrong reasons for Manchester United, who were battered 4-0 by Brentford. Brentford scored four goals inside 35 minutes and they capitalized on several mistakes from Manchester United’s defense and their goalkeeper David DeGea. United won the possession battle 67-33 percent and outshot Brentford 15-13, but had only four shots on target vs Brentford’s seven. After being up 4-0 at the half, Brentford just sat back and defended. It was utter domination in the midfield and upfront from Brentford, who sit third in the league after the win. United sit 20th and play Liverpool next week. Eric Ten Hag’s men are in a load of trouble.

Speaking of Liverpool, they drew 1-1 against Crystal Palace in a game that which saw Palace strike first with a wonderful counter-attack and Darwin Nunez get sent off. Liverpool now have drawn their first two games of the season and sits 12th in the league. Wilfried Zaha gave Palace an early lead in the 32nd minute with a wonderful finish into the bottom corner after a stellar, accurate long pass from midfielder Eberechi Eze. Four minutes after Nunez was sent off, a phenomenal strike from Luis Diaz tied the game for Liverpool. This is still a disappointing result considering they outshot Palace 24-7 (4-3) and had 73 percent possession. 

Newly promoted Nottingham Forest also came away with a 1-0 win against a pretty solid West Ham side. West Ham had a lot of chances to score, including a penalty that was saved by Forest’s goalkeeper Dean Henderson, and out-chanced Forest 19-13 while handily winning possession 57-43 percent. West Ham also controlled the midfield, making considerably more passes more accurately than Forest. Ultimately, a Taiwo Awoniyi goal in first-half stoppage time and several West Ham missed chances sealed the game.

The real game of the week and the one with the most controversy was a 2-2 draw between Chelsea and Tottenham. Chelsea dominated the first half in terms of chances created, shots on target, and possession. Kalidou Koulibaly got Chelsea on the board first with a phenomenal strike. The Spurs turned it on in the second half and took control of the game offensively. Jorginho lost the ball in his own box to Ben Davies, who passed it to Pierre-Emile Hogberg who slotted it in to equalize for Spurs in the 68th minute immediately after an alleged foul against a Spurs player for badly tackling Kai Havertz. Less than 10 minutes later, some great passing from Raheem Sterling who found Reece James wide open in the box, led to James tucking it away to retake the lead. The Spurs kept pushing and Harry Kane equalized off a corner in the 96th minute after referee Anthony Taylor failed to notice an obvious foul when Cristian Romero pulled Marc Cucarella’s hair. Both managers were shown red cards for another argument after the whistle and were feuding with each other all match long. Taylor and VAR official Mike Dean is facing serious criticism from fans. The Spurs sit 4th in the league with a +3 goal difference, and Chelsea sits 7th with +1 GD.

It was a great week of football and next week promises to be just as exciting. There are many interesting matches with a lot of interesting storylines, the biggest game, however, is Liverpool traveling to Old Trafford to play Manchester United. Liverpool beat United 9-0 on aggregate last year, and while both these teams have regressed from last year, this game will be very important for both teams who desperately need a win to keep their title hopes alive. They may have to do it in front of an empty stadium due to the hashtag #EmptyOldTrafford to stand up against the Glazer's poor ownership.