Arsenal secured a hard-fought victory against Bournemouth. While Aston Villa bounced back from a defeat with a convincing victory against Nottingham Forest.
Wolves secured a surprise victory against fellow strugglers West Ham. Brighton, on the other hand, was too much for Burnley in what was an eventful round of Premier League fixtures. Here’s a recap of the outcomes.
Aston Villa 3-1 Nottingham Forest
A John McGinn brace and sensational goal from Ollie Watkins saw Aston Villa march on to a convincing 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest to close the gap on league leaders Arsenal. Watkins, who has been at the peak of his powers, put Villa ahead in first-half stoppage time.
Unai Emery’s men began the second stanza as they ended the first and subsequently got their reward through McGinn, who extended their advantage just four minutes after the restart.
There was an enormous shift in paradigms when Forest pulled one back through Morgan Gibbs-White’s finish in the 61st minute.
However, that goal would ultimately be a mere consolation as Villa restored their two-goal advantage when McGinn made no mistake following a pass from Youri Tielemans capitalising on a catastrophic error from goalkeeper John Victor in the 73rd minute.
Aston Villa are now second on the table as they await the outcome of tomorrow’s blockbuster encounter between Manchester City and Chelsea.
Brighton 2-0 Burnley
Brighton returned to winning ways with a victory against newly promoted side Burnley. The home side maximized home advantage in a game that would have easily gone either way.
After playing six Premier League matches without a win, goals courtesy of Georginio Rutter and Yasin Ayari against Burnley ensured that the Seagulls began their year with a much-needed victory.
One of the biggest moments in the game came when James Milner came on as a substitute to become the first player in the history of the Premier League to play in 25 successive calendar years (since 2002).
Wolves 3-0 West Ham
Wolves ended their long wait for their first three points of the campaign with a resounding victory against the Hammers.
Jhon Arias put Wolves ahead in the fourth-minute. Hwang Hee-Chan provider of Wolves the first goal, turned goal scorer as Wolves doubled their lead in the 31st-minute with a brilliantly executed penalty.
Matheus Mane scored their third before half time to put the game beyond reach. The loss has put West Ham coach Nuno Espirito Santo under pressure in what has been a series of lackluster results.
Bournemouth 2-3 Arsenal
Could this be Arsenal’s season? Perhaps that should be the question most football fanatics will be asking themselves, as the Gunners extended their position at the top of table to six points.
While the game may have looked easy on paper, Mikel Arteta’s men had to dig deep to salvage all three points.
It was a nervy start to the game when Gabriel’s misplaced pass to Evanilson saw the Bournemouth forward make no mistake from close range to the put the home side in the lead 10 minutes in.
Arsenal responded six minutes later when Gabriel redeemed himself with a finish to level matters. With the scoreline locked at 1-1 at half time, their was plenty to play for in second half.
Arsenal got into the lead for the first time in the game when Martin Odegaard teed up Declan Rice in 54th minute. Rice would eventually grab his brace when Bayako Saka set him up shortly after coming on.
Eli Junior Kroupi’s spectacular effort was a mere consolation as Arsenal held on to win their 5th consecutive game. Mikel Arteta can only hope his men have the steam needed to keep going.
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