Gameweek 9 would start on Friday night as Brighton travelled North to face West Ham United at the London Stadium. Saturday’s early kick-off saw Chelsea looking to bounce back from defeats by Crystal Palace and Manchester City in their previous league matches. Huddersfield Town would host Manchester United as they looked to cause an upset against Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten side. Manchester City would also start strong favourites as they faced Burnley at Eastlands. Crystal Palace would hope to follow on from their first win of the season as they faced Newcastle United at St. James’ Park. Sunday saw a couple of big games, as Arsenal travelled to Everton, while Spurs faced Liverpool at Wembley. Anyway, here’s the Gameweek 9 FPL Review…
Goalkeeper
Rob Elliott – Newcastle United moved into the top six briefly as they recorded a victory as they faced Crystal Palace at St. James’ Park on Saturday afternoon. Palace, who picked up their first points of the season when they beat Chelsea at Selhurst Park last week, were looking good for a point until Mikel Merino struck a late winner to sink the Eagles. Palace remain five points from safety in the Premier League, however new boss Roy Hodgson remains optimistic ahead of matches against West Ham and Spurs.
Defenders
Nicolas Otamendi – Manchester City continued their brilliant goal-scoring form at home as they comfortably recorded a 3-0 win against Burnley at Eastlands. However, the main talking point from the match was Sergio Aguero’s goal, which saw him draw level with Eric Brook as City’s top goal-scorer in club history. After the Argentine opened the scoring from the spot, Nicolas Otamendi doubled their tally, before Leroy Sane completed the scoring just two minutes later. The result sees City go five points clear at the top of the league with a goal difference ten better than Spurs.
Virgil van Dijk – Southampton scored late on to secure a precious three points in what was, in truth, a poor match at St. Mary’s on Saturday evening. West Brom set up to defend, with the away side only managing two shots on target in the whole match. With both sides offering very little going forward, it would take a goal of the season contender from Sofiane Boufal to win it for Saints. The Moroccan picked up the ball deep inside his own half, before turning and driving at the defence. Having beaten several men, the winger cut inside and curled into the bottom corner past Ben Foster.
DeAndre Yedlin – Newcastle United have been one of the surprise packages of this season as they were victorious against Crystal Palace at St. James’ Park on Saturday afternoon. One strong performer in recent weeks has been USA international full-back DeAndre Yedlin. Yedlin, who signed from Spurs after a loan spell with North-East Rivals Sunderland, was a part of the Magpies side that secured promotion back to the Premier League from the Championship last season. He has now played ninety minutes in each of Newcastle’s last five league matches.
Midfielders
Junior Stanislas – Bournemouth secured just their second win of the season, and their first away from home as they beat Stoke City 2-1 at the Bet365 stadium on Saturday. Two goals in as many minutes would prove decisive for the Cherries, as Andrew Surman first put them in front. He finished after some good work from Adam Smith down the right side. They doubled their lead almost instantly when Ryan Shawcross brought down Benik Afobe. Junior Stanislas stepped up and converted to double the advantage. Stoke were unable to get back into the game, despite a consolation goal from Mame Diouf.
Mesut Ozil & Aaron Ramey – Arsenal ran riot at Goodison Park as their 5-2 win piled on yet more pressure onto Everton boss Ronald Koeman. Everton took the lead when Wayne Rooney curled home from 20 yards. Nacho Monreal levelled on the rebound from Granit Xhaka’s shot. Mesut Ozil then completed the turnaround before Idrissa Gueye was dismissed for a second yellow card. Goals from Lacazette and Ramsey put the game beyond doubt. Oumar Niasse pulled another back, but seconds from time Alexis Sanchez finished proceedings with a wonderful goal.
Pedro – Chelsea bounced back from two consecutive league losses to record a late victory as they faced Watford at Stamford Bridge. They opened the scoring when Pedro picked up the ball 25 yards from goal, before turning and curling an effort beyond Heurelho Gomes brilliantly, in off the right-hand post. Abdoulaye Doucoure then equalised for the visitors, before just after half-time Roberto Pereyra stunned the home crowd by putting the away side in front. Brazilian Richarlison then missed two glorious chances to put the match to bed, which his side would regret…
Forwards
Harry Kane – Spurs and Liverpool played out an entertaining contest at Wembley on Sunday afternoon, which would see questions asked of Jurgen Klopp’s defence. Harry Kane gave Spurs the lead after just four minutes when Harry Kane rounded Mignolet before finishing. Son Heung-Min would double the lead after just twelve minutes when he side-footed home from Kane’s cross. Mo Salah pulled a goal back, before Dele Alli volleyed home to restore the two-goal lead. Kane doubled his own tally after an hour to complete the 4-1 victory for Spurs.
Glenn Murray – Brighton and Hove Albion stunned the West Ham crowd inside the London Stadium on Friday night as they recorded a superb 3-0 victory. They opened the scoring when Glenn Murray headed home expertly from Pascal Gross’ left-wing delivery. The Brighton fans could hardly believe what was going on when Jose Izquierdo curled in past Joe Hart from range. As fans began to exit the stadium, a mass exodus was sparked when Glenn Murray converted from the spot to add gloss to the score line.
Michy Batshuayi – It was always likely that Watford would go on to regret their missed chances and their worst fears were realised when substitute Michy Batshuayi levelled for the Blues after seventy minutes. With the match in the balance it would be an unlikely hero that put Antonio Conte’s side in front, as Cesar Azpilicueta headed them in front with just three minutes remaining. However, they weren’t done there. Michy Batshuayi added a fourth for the Blues to seal the victory when he finished deep into injury time.
Written by Ryan Nevin (@RNevin7)
