Steven Gerrard’s return to Anfield remained the major talking point on a day when all the major teams in picture had won their games courtesy of some crucial penalties. Six penalties were scored on Saturday, which is the most on a single game day in nearly a decade. Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea managed to register wins, whilst Manchester United just about got three points against Norwich City.
Aston Villa made life difficult for Liverpool at Anfield, and their defensive rigidity got them past the first half without conceding a goal. Villa had their half-chances throughout the game but lacked the clinical touch to get them ahead. Eventually, the game was decided on the penalty conceded by Tyrone Mings, who brought down Mohamed Salah recklessly.
The Liverpool number 11 stepped in to slot it home from the spot, as Jurgen Klopp managed to seal a 1-0 win against the most revered man in the red half of Merseyside, who has now suffered their second defeat in three games.
Chelsea needed two penalties to get the better of Leeds United at Stamford Bridge in one of the most frantic games of the season. Raphinha opened the scoring with a penalty Leeds received around the half-hour mark, and soon Mason Mount equalized with his 12th goal under Thomas Tuchel, the most by any player since the German manager took over.
Having scored the opening goal for Leeds, Raphinha conceded a penalty in the second half, and Jorginho stepped up to steer it past the keeper easily. With Chelsea seemingly ready to take away a close-fought win, 19-year-old Joe Gelhardt produced a sensational equalizer for Leeds in the 83rd minute.
But that wasn’t to be the final piece of the action as late into stoppage time, Mateusz Klich made a silly challenge on Antonio Rudiger in the box, who smartly won a penalty with three minutes left to play. Jorginho stepped up once again, and he sent Meslier the wrong way once again to establish a decisive 3-2 lead for the Blues. Despite getting the three points, Tuchel will be worried by the fact that his side conceded 10 goals in their last five games.
Manchester City had a pretty challenging fixture against Bruno Lage’s Wolves. The men in orange defended with a lot of bodies and made life difficult for City going forward. But right towards the end of the first half, Raul Jiminez was sent off after two quick yellow cards, which crippled the visiting team.
City kept over 90% possession of the ball in the first 20 minutes of the second half and managed to get a controversial penalty, Joao Moutinho tried to intercept a cross, and the ball hit him right under his arm, but the referee called it a penalty, and the pictures for VAR were not conclusive enough to turn it down. Raheem Sterling converted the penalty, which brought up his 100th goal in the Premier League.
Wolves had one decent opportunity very late into the game, but Ederson stood tall to deny Moutinho in stoppage time, as City registered yet another crucial win to keep them on top of the table.
Manchester United produced an underwhelming performance at Carrow Road, with Dean Smith’s Norwich going toe-to-toe against Ralf Rangnick’s men. Norwich had the better opportunities but struggled to find that cutting edge. Even the Red Devils needed a penalty to take them home, which came through Maxi Aarons bundling down Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese goal-scoring machine smashed it to the keeper’s right with conviction. David de Gea was brought into action to make plenty of crucial saves, and his contribution was eventually quite fruitful to earn them all three points.
Whilst three German managers got positive results on Saturday in the Premier League, Ralph Hassenhuttl and his Southampton side suffered a 3-0 defeat at the Emirates. Arsenal produced a stunning team goal with sensational one-touch passing in the build-up, as Bukayo Saka laid it in the path of Alexandre Lacazzatte, who thundered it past Alex McCarthy.
Martin Odegaard continued his fine goal-scoring run and headed home a close range-cross from Kieran Tierney with precision. Arsenal managed to get a third from Gabriel Magalhaes, as the Gunners managed to keep up the pressure on the top four, having lost their previous fixture to Everton at Goodison.
