THERE were goals galore from the English Premier League’s (EPL) weekend fixtures played thus far, with champions Manchester City, again, looking imperious and the team to beat. There were also three hat-trick heroes among the games last night. Here’s a roundup of the games played on Saturday (Sept 2).
Luton Town 1 v West Ham United 2
Kenilworth Road hosted its first ever Premiership game decades after being relegated from the top flight but the vociferous home support could not prevent the Hammers from claiming all three points. Jared Bowen maintained his fine start to the campaign with another well-taken goal and is making a strong case for England manager Gareth Southgate to make him a regular starter.
Luton did threaten on the counter but if they are to survive the drop, they will need to be more incisive with their chances. Kurt Zouma sealed all three points for West Ham with a late goal.
Manchester City 5 v Fulham 1
The score line suggests a one-sided affair but for one half the Cottagers more than held their own until a hugely controversial goal was allowed to stand. Nathan Ake’s header deep into first-half stoppage time was deemed legal despite teammate Manuel Akanji being in an offside position and clearly obstructing the Fulham goalkeeper’s sight line.
Fulham manager Marco Silva was livid that video assistant referee (VAR) failed to chalk it off and even City striker Erling Haaland, who smacked in a second-half hat-trick, agreed it was offside. Such VAR controversies are threatening to ruin many a contest, as they clearly did here.
Burnley 2 v Tottenham Hotspurs 5
Vincent Kompany declared that Burnley’s opening day defeat to his old club Manchester City would be the worst that his side would play this season. Alas, that has not been the case as the Spurs sliced them open far too easily with Son Hueng-min bagging a hat-trick.
With James Maddison again pulling the strings, Spurs seem to have found the solution to that Harry Kane-sized void. Ange Postecoglou could not have dreamed of a better start to life as Spurs coach and he has supporters dreaming of an unlikely title tilt.
Brighton 3 v Newcastle 1
Newcastle were looking to bounce back from a morale-sapping home defeat to ten-men Liverpool last week but came up against Brighton’s latest young gem Evan Ferguson. The 18-year-old Republic of Ireland international struck his first ever senior hat-trick for the Seagulls to become the fourth youngest player to do so in the Premiership era, just behind Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Chris Bart-Williams.
It would seem the scouts at Brighton have unearthed another 100 million-pound footballer and this superlative performance would have put all the major European (and Saudi?) clubs on high alert. Eddie Howe will be pondering what he needs to do to pick up his troops after another damaging defeat that will have critics again questioning his ability to coach at the very highest level.
Chelsea 0 v Nottingham Forest 1
Mauricio Pochettino has a vast squad to choose from but once again, a fully fit and functioning striker does not seem to be among them. It was thought that Chelsea had finally found a forward who could lead the line in the shape of Nicolas Jackson but despite managing 20 shots on goal, Chelsea failed to convert and allowed Forest to leave Stamford Bridge with maximum points.
After squandering a two-goal lead to eventually lose the game at Old Trafford last weekend, Forest were determined to hold on to a much slender lead and this time succeeded, seeing them secure a famous victory over the hugely spending Londoners. – Sept 3, 2023
Main photo credit: The Guardian
