Premier League

Premier League GW3 Round Up: Terrible refereeing, Arsenal’s misery and Ronaldo’s return

1 September 20212 September 2021By
Premier League GW3 Round Up: Terrible refereeing, Arsenal’s misery and Ronaldo’s return

It’s week three of the Premier League and Carrot is back with your weekly updates! Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United in dramatic fashion but nothing changed at Arsenal, who are at rock bottom. VAR rules have become better this season but referees haven’t. Read the review of the gameweek as we head into the international break.

Final Score lines:

Man City 5-0 Arsenal
Aston Villa 1-1 Brentford
Brighton 0-2 Everton
Newcastle 2-2 Southampton
Norwich 1-2 Leicester
West Ham 2-2 Crystal Palace
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
Burnley 1-1 Leeds
Tottenham 1-0 Watford
Wolves 0-1 Man United

Summary:

Man City crushed Arsenal with a 5-0 win:

Arsenal are so hard to describe right now. A team with so much inexperience, poor planning and hot-headed players with a manager who can do nothing but bury his face in his hands during the games of the Premier League. Manchester City is the worst team to face when you are at a low point and it was no surprise that the hosts had a field day out. Goals from İlkay Gündoğan, Gabriel Jesus, Rodri and a brace from Ferran Torres sealed Arsenal’s fate. Granit Xhaka was unsurprisingly sent off for a reckless challenge on Joao Cancelo. Mikel Arteta has a lot to sort out and he could be facing the axe soon.


Villa and Brentford share a point:

Brentford continued their impressive run in the Premier League after securing a draw at Villa Park. Ivan Toney fired past Emiliano Martínez after a neat flick from Pontus Jansson inside the penalty area. Just six minutes later, Emiliano Buendía scored a brilliant equaliser for Villa. David Raya kept out a close-range strike from Danny Ings while Rico Henry missed the goal by mere inches at the other end. The Bees are now unbeaten in the first three games.

Toffies win comfortably over Brighton:

Rafa Benitez’s Everton continued their good form with a 2-0 win over Brighton. Demarai Gray scored the opener with a fine individual effort. Seamus Coleman won the visitors a penalty in the second half. After some disagreement between Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the latter dispatched the penalty to score on his 150th Premier League appearance. Jordan Pickford made a couple of good saves to preserve the clean sheet.

Late penalty drama at St. James’ Park:

Newcastle threw away their lead twice as they drew at home to Southampton. Jacob Murphy’s header across goal was dispatched by Callum Wilson early in the second half but Mohamed Elyounoussi grabbed the equaliser in an unconventional fashion, to say the least. The Magpies thought they had won it with 90 minutes on the clock but a late penalty from Saints captain James Ward-Prowse was the last action of the game after a poor tackle from Jamaal Lascelles.

Foxes get back to their winning ways at Carrow Road:

Leicester bounced back from their 4-1 defeat at West Ham on Monday to secure all three points against Norwich City. Ricardo Pereira burst down the right-wing to deliver a simple ball to an unmarked Jamie Vardy who scored inevitably. Çağlar Söyüncü’s nightmares continued as some terrible decision making led to a Norwich penalty that was scored by Teemu Pukki. However, his blemishes were spared by Marc Albrighton’s goal which was set up by Jamie Vardy. Norwich celebrated a second equaliser late in the game but Kenny McLean was adjudged offside.

Gallagher brace saves Crystal Palace:

Conor Gallagher scored twice to earn the Eagles a point at the London Stadium. Pablo Fornals finished off a smooth team move from the Hammers five minutes before halftime. Gallagher scored his first goal for the club and the club’s first goal of the season with about an hour gone from close range. Michail Antonio restored the Hammers’ lead after a defensive mishap from Joachim Andersen but Gallagher, the Chelsea loanee, scored a sensational second to draw Palace level again.

Ten-man Chelsea frustrate Liverpool:

A first-half red card for Reece James meant that the Blues had to hold on for the rest of the game with ten men. After a pulsating start to the game, Kai Havertz broke the deadlock with an unbelievable header from James’ corner. A goal-line clearance from the Chelsea right-back was adjudged a foul by Anthony Taylor in one of the worst decisions since the inception of VAR. Mohamed Salah scored the resultant penalty as the half ended in a frantic manner. A second-half defensive masterclass from the European Champions frustrated the Reds at Anfield. Both teams are now level on points and goal difference with West Ham.

Burnley get off the mark:

The Clarets picked up their first point of the season at home against Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United with a 1-1 draw. Chris Wood scored at the hour mark in the most typical fashion. Leeds failed to clear multiple crosses from the Clarets and Wood got the faintest of touches on a Matthew Lowton shot to throw Illan Meslier off guard, who should have done better. The goal was the 30,000th one scored in the Premier League. With four minutes left on the clock, Patrick Bamford scored against his former club after a deflected shot from Jamie Shackleton fell to him.

Spurs go top after narrow win:

Tottenham Hotspur go to the top of the Premier League after a 1-0 win over Watford. Harry Kane returned to the starting eleven after putting an end to the transfer saga a couple of days earlier. A penalty shout for a foul on Kane in the opening thirty seconds was denied by the referee Andre Marriner. The only goal of the game was scored unintentionally by Son Heung-Min just before half-time when his set-piece delivery evaded everyone on the pitch including the Watford goalkeeper to end up in the back of the net. The hosts could have had more but some wayward finishing and last-ditch defending from the Hornets prevented it.

United set new record in a controversial manner:

Manchester United have set a record for the longest unbeaten away matches (28) superseding Arsenal. Wolves dominated the game for most parts and United were caught off guard multiple times throughout the game but Mason Greenwood’s 80th-minute goal gave the visitors the win. It was, however, in controversial fashion as Paul Pogba fouled Ruben Neves in the buildup to the goal, only for referee Mike Dean and VAR to completely ignore it. Just eleven minutes before the goal, David De Gea produced two quickfire saves from Romain Saiss in close range. Wolves are now pointless in their first three games alongside Norwich and Arsenal.

What the Table looks like:

 

 

 

Games to keep an eye on:

The Premier League breaks for international duty and returns to action on September 11 when Crystal Palace host Spurs. Cristiano Ronaldo could make his second home debut for United when they play Newcastle. Leeds against Liverpool should bring a lot of goals and attacking displays.

Predictions:

Crystal Palace 1-2 Tottenham

Arsenal 2-0 Norwich

Brentford 1-1 Brighton

Leicester 0-2 Man City

Man United 3-1 Newcastle

Southampton 2-2 West Ham

Watford 0-1 Wolves

Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa

Leeds 2-3 Liverpool

Everton 2-1 Burnley

News:

Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United. A very simple sentence but nothing about the transfer was simple. Reports of Ronaldo joining rivals City triggered a massive backlash from former Man United players and fans. However, a late hijack by United resulted in the Portuguese superstar returning to his former stomping ground. Kurt Zouma moved across London to join West Ham from Chelsea. Crystal Palace signed Will Hughes from Watford.

Deadline Day Updates: Daniel James moved to Leeds, Spurs sign Barcelona right-back Emerson Royal while the Foxes signed Ademola Lookman on loan. West Ham secured the signature of Nikola Vlasic amongst a flurry of other last-minute deals.

FPL Updates:

Bring Ronaldo in. As simple as it gets. Cristiano Ronaldo is a must-have for FPL teams and he could be prompting a lot of managers to replace Bruno Fernandes with him. There is no clarity about the price of the Portuguese talisman but he could be one of the highest-priced players. Pablo Fornals had a fantastic start and he will be expected to continue this form. The return of Andy Robertson means Konstantinos Tsimikas could drop to the bench but it can only be beneficial to have him as a substitute.

Finally, it’s the international break. A lot of things can happen. So wait until the last few days to make your transfers and decisions.

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