Monday Cannon Fodder: Premier League MD2 Recap
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Good morning, TSFers. Arsenal wrap up the MD2 action in the Premier League with a trip to Aston Villa to face our old “pal” Unai Emery and his new-look side. I don’t care for this Monday match nonsense. The feeling of knowing how every other club did and knowing who Arsenal will lose ground to should they not win is not an enjoyable one. Folks, everyone (apart from Liverpool) that you’d care about how they’ve done won this weekend.
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Crystal Palace 1 – Manchester City 4
Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki both scored braces. A Donnarumma own goal briefly made the match 2-1. It was quickly 3-1 though, with a late goal to make it 4-1. Crystal Palace look as if they’re going to be in a relegation battle this season, particularly if they lose Ismaila Sarr to Liverpool.
Coventry City 0 – Hull City 1
Just as we all predicted, the mighty Hull City Tigers, statistically one of the worst promoted teams in more than a decade, have started the season with 2 wins from 2. Coventry had nearly 70% possession, but an 82nd minute goal by Hull’s Liam Millar claimed the points.
Bournemouth 1 – Everton 1
A 91st-minute James Tarkowski goal cancelled out Alex Scott’s first half marker to split the points in what looks as if it will be Iliman Ndiaye’s last match in an Everton shirt. He’s heading to Spurs with Richarlison heading back to Everton in a totally distinct and separate transaction. The Toffees are going to hang onto coveted 19-year-old Harrison Armstrong, who’ll be sold either this summer or next for an extremely large amount.
Spurs 0 – Newcastle 2
Second half goals from Anthony Elanga, who did the Thierry Henry slide after scoring and said as much, and Yoane Wissa sent Spurs to the bottom of the table with 0 goals scored and 5 conceded through two matches. Roberto de Zerbi complained after the match that you can’t buy mentality on the transfer market. It’s always someone else’s fault with him.
Chelsea 4 – Brighton 3
A wild and weird match. Chelsea had 25% possession, completed fewer than 150 passes, generated 3.83 xG and scored 4 goals. Brighton probably should have considered showing up for the first half. They’d probably have been alright if they hadn’t gone into halftime 3-1 down. Chelsea’s attack looks potent, although I’d like to see how they manage both against better sides and against ones that will really commit to defending against them. Their defense looks suspect.
Leeds 1 – Brentford 1
Arsenal-linked Kevin Schade gave Brentford the lead before halftime, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored in the 79th minute to earn a draw for Leeds. Brentford will challenge for a Conference League place this season. Leeds should have enough to stay mostly out of the relegation battle.
Sunderland 1 – Fulham 0
The Black Cats got things back on track (for now) with a home win over the Cottagers courtesy of a 75th-minute Wilson Isidor goal. Sunderland are still on notice, particularly once the European matches start. The alarm bells are going off about Fulham.
Manchester United 5 – Ipswich Town 2
The scoreline flatters United, who went behind 1-0 in the 29th minute. Bruno Fernandes pulled one back before halftime. But the critical moment in the match came in the 56th minute with the scoreline at 1-1, when Harry Maguire clearly handled the ball before shooting and scoring. His shot took a heavy deflection off an unsuspecting Ipswich defender and went in. The goal stood because Maguire’s shot was deemed to be off-target and so the unintentional deflection was ruled an own goal.
There’s a fair bit to unpack here. First, the handball was ruled accidental, which is important. If Maguire had scored directly after an accidental handball, it wouldn’t have stood. It’s my understanding that if Maguire’s shot had been on-target but had also taken a deflection, i.e. hadn’t been ruled an own goal, it wouldn’t have stood, either. But because the shot was off-target and it took an intervening deflection to make it an own goal, it stands.
What an asinine rule. Correctly applied by the letter of the Law. Incredibly dumb and counterintuitive. United ran away with things from there. Bruno scored a penalty in the 61st minute then completed the hat trick in the 68th. Bryan Mbeumo scored in the 82nd. Chuba Akpom scored a meaningless goal for Ipswich in the 91st.