A look back on all of the weekend’s Premier League action, including Arsenal, Tottenham, Newcastle United, and Manchester City.
There are two theories; either Bukayo Saka is gently teasing his Engand team-mate James Maddison or he’s secretly a huge fan of Jim Bowen. That said, the Arsenal winger’s opening goal in Sunday’s north London derby – an effort that was ultimately ruled an own goal by Cristian Romero – was unlikely to be the target. It’s like hitting three after hitting Tony Green in the forehead with an arrow.
To some extent, this is the first real test of Ange Postecoglou’s mate revolution. (It turns out that beating Manchester United at the time of writing says as much about a club’s true prestige as folding a paper airplane says about an individual’s ability to fly it. space shuttle.) And to be fair to the Australian, his team was successful. in their bet. arrive at the Emirates with enough courage to show they can be serious contenders, away from home, this season.
Shortly after Romero’s unfortunate intervention and Saka’s first stint at the oche (there would be another to come), the aforementioned Maddison – evidently a touch miffed to be missing out an opportunity to dominate his weekly Sunday roast – turned the Gunner’s talismanic star boy inside out and laid on a sublime assist for Son Heung-min to equalise.
After the interval, this pattern would repeat; Saka struck from the penalty spot and threw an imaginary dart, only to see it veer off course and deflate his hubris as Son pegged the hosts back once again.
In truth, it was a draw that in the fullness of time both teams may come to appreciate more than they rue, but the warning signs are plain to see for Arsenal, and indeed the rest of the top six writ large; the tide in North London may not have done a complete ‘ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTYYYYY!!!’ just yet, but it might be starting to turn ever so slightly.
Elsewhere, conspiracy theorists turned out in droves as the dark forces of the Big Vidiprinter stepped in to ensure Newcastle United’s beating of Sheffield United remained firmly in the single digits. What will happen if and when a Premier League team achieves that elusive and sacred 10th goal? Honestly, who can say? It’s like the year 2000 for graphic design interns.
Pixelated groups aside, Magpies are as unbelievably cruel as Blades are dull. Maybe they should consider changing their nickname to Butter Knives. This is bullying at such a serious level that we can expect to hear a press conference from Rishi Sunak condemning it before the end of the week. Eddie Howe’s side not only beat the home team by eight, but did so with eight different scorers – a feat never achieved before in the Premier League era. By the time the fourth referee panel met to discuss the brutal wait, just eight Sheffield United fans remained inside Bramall Lane.
And finally, Manchester City literally took the Premier League to new heights against Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon. Apparently no longer content with simply sucking the life out of every team stupid enough to stumble in their path, it seems the champions have also gotten into the habit of sucking the air out of their throats. competitor.
It was Morgan Gibbs-White who felt the sweaty palms of unbridled rage as Rodri was briefly possessed by The Undertaker’s spirit during a wanton wandering in the mist The red color is rarely seen by Opel Corsa drivers. It’s almost ironic that it was Forest Man who took the field (admittedly some six to eight weeks of work later) while the mild-mannered Spaniard was the one to host Falling Down’s reboot only me.
Not that it made a great deal of difference to City’s fortunes on the day, of course. Despite playing nearly half the match at a numerical disadvantage, Pep Guardiola’s sky blue juggernaut still strolled to a 2-0 win, and it really does beg the question as to just how many players they can afford to lose over the course of a match before they begin to suffer any kind of notable adverse effects. Would anybody, for instance, bet against an elite rogue splinter cell of Ederson, Kevin De Bruyne, and Erling Haaland – Pep’s Angels, if you will – finishing in the top four? I think not.
