Friday, Oct. 25
Leicester City 1-3 Nottingham Forest
They should call them Nottingham Wood. Wink wink. Chris Wood’s 7 goals (including today’s brace) are second only to Erling Haaland in the league. Honestly, Leicester never looked in control despite having 64% possession.
Saturday, Oct. 26
The story of the day: last gasp drama. I’ve never seen so many games on a single matchday go down the wire as I did today. It left me gobsmacked, jaw-on-the-floor reeling from the sheer insanity of it all.
Aston Villa 1-1 Bournemouth
Last Gasp Hero: Francisco Evanilson at ‘90+6 off literally the last kick of the game. But kudos to Mark Travers, the Cherries’ backup goalkeeper whose seven (!) saves kept his team in the hunt until that final whistle.
Brighton 2-2 Wolverhampton
The Danny Welbeck Comeback Tour continued to roll on, and when young Evan Ferguson returned to the scoresheet after a lengthy absence in the 85th minute, Brighton’s victory looked solid. Enter the Wolves’ Last Gasp Heroes: Rayan Ait Nouri (‘88) Matheus Cuhna (‘90+3).
Brentford 4-3 Ipswich
Absolutely gutted. Wrecked. Poor, poor Ipswich. They might not be a good team, but don’t ever, ever, call their matches boring! Last Gasp Hero: Bryan Mbeumo at ‘90+3… his cross just floated in the no-mans-land, until it skipped off the turf, under the unwitting keeper, and into the net.
Manchester City 1-0 Southampton
Oh Cameron Archer. That miss in the first half stoppage will haunt you. On the positive side, I now have my Halloween costume: Crushing Regret. That will be much easier than dressing as Erling Haaland in Matrix-mode.
Everton 1-1 Fulham
Last Gasp Hero: Norberto Beto at ‘90+4 with a thumping header. Ashley Young also deserves praise for such a gorgeous cross. Everton did not deserve the point; but got it nonetheless. It’s gonna be a long coach ride back to London for the Cottagers.
Sunday, Oct. 27
Plenty of drama was still on hand; though fewer last minute ring-a-dings.
Crystal Palace 1-0 Tottenham
All it took was a lil’ Spursiness (and a cheeky back-heel pass from Eberechi Eze to Jean-Philippe Mateta) to give the Eagles their first win of the season. Given that this week was filled-to-the-brim with last minute drama, it was a wonder Tottenham didn’t get a stoppage time equalizer. Oh, right, Spurs. Maybe not so surprising.
Chelsea 2-1 Newcastle
Cole Palmer FC wins! His lashed left-foot pass from deep inside his territory to Pedro Neto set up the first Nicholas Jackson goal, and that trademark low inside-post screamer gave him one of his own early in the second half. Alexander Isak, though notching one for the Magpies, will surely rue his tunnel vision for failing to pick up an open teammate for a simple tap-in.
West Ham 2-1 Manchester United
Last Gasp Hero: VAR. I didn’t see whatever infraction may or may not have occurred between Matthijs de Ligt and Danny Ings (Fabrizio has the statement below) but the resulting PK converted by Jarred Bowen at ‘90+2 surely sunk more that Man U spirits. You almost hear the chorus of the new single “VAR Killed the Manager” climbing the Pop Charts: “Na na. Na na na na. Hey hey hey… GOODBYE!”
Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool
It wasn’t quite the stoppage time shock, but Mohamed Salah earns Last Gasp Hero for Liverpool as his 81st minute strike leveled the score. Arsenal’s first half looked sharp (particularly Bukayo Saka), but the Gunners couldn’t keep that form for the full 90. FWIW, I thought this was a good match, but not the best of the season.
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