Premier League — Matchweek 2 Recap (Day 1)

Aston Villa (2) vs. Everton (1)

While the score and possession percentage (Aston Villa with 58% possession) might suggest that Villa had won this match pretty handily, Everton’s late-game offensive scramble offers a silver lining for an otherwise mediocre outing from the Toffees. Ollie Watkins was lethal with his facilitation, setting up two goals on an 83% passing success rate, allowing Danny Ings to poach through balls. Emilio Buendia also managed a goal after subbing in at the 60th minute. With no real striking power, Everton actually managed various scoring opportunities, but no one was clinical enough to finish. Although Amadou Onana subbed in towards the conclusion of the match, he contributed in pressuring the own-goal that was conceded. Onana’s activity surely elicited panic from Villa, but they were eventually able to hold off the Toffees in Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard’s first managerial competition.

Brighton & Hove Albion (0) vs. Newcastle United (0)

It is surprising that this match ended in a scoreless draw, as Brighton dominated Newcastle offensively at 13 shots to Newcastle’s 4. Pascal Groß had a solid game for Brighton with 4 key passes and a single shot, alongside Alexis Mac Allister who made use of his aggression for 7 total tackles. Regardless of Brighton’s offensive prowess though, goalkeeper Nick Pope and wing-back Kieran Trippier held down the fort. Pope made 5 saves and Trippier was named Man of the Match for his consistent defense, in addition to the various through balls he attempted in an effort to reinvigorate the squad. Unfortunately, Newcastle was caught offside often and could not convert any of Trippier’s contributions.

Manchester City (4) vs. A.F.C. Bournemouth (0)

The final result is quite telling, but Manchester City did indeed thrash Bournemouth at home. City spent an absurd 49% in Bournemouth’s third of the pitch, establishing the dominance that the home side held throughout the game. Although Erling Haaland did not score in regular season home debut, City’s 20 shots translated to great finishes by Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden. Bournemouth played considerably passive in a 3-back that transitioned into a 5-back, restricting the Cherries to settling for long-shots without additional support.

Southampton (2) vs. Leeds (2)

Southampton managed a clutch late-game comeback after being down 2 as a result of a freshly subbed-on Joe Aribo, as well as Kyle Walker-Peters. It is unfortunate that Rodrigo’s brace for Leeds was squandered, as it is incredibly exciting for the club to see the Spaniard having a possible return to form. Southampton’s wing-backs were incredibly active, as Walker-Peters and Moussa Djenepo had a combined 8 completed dribbles. Pascal Strujik’s performance was aligned with the theme of leveraging the flanks, except the Leeds left-back was much more defensively-minded with 6 completed tackles and 7 aerial victories.

Wolves (0) vs. Fulham (0)

Fulham probably should have come away from this game with 3 points, as a late Aleksandar Mitrovic penalty was saved and wingers Neeskens Kebano and Bobby De Cordova-Reid had 2 shots each. Considering how stagnant Wolves’ offense was, I am sure that new £27.5m signing Goncalo Guedes will be included in future starting XIs. Hwang Hee-Chan tried his best to push Wolves past the steadfast Fulham defense, but Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream made up the stalwart back-four that prevented it from happening.

Arsenal (4) vs. Leicester City (2)

Gabriel Jesus got Arsenal off to an electric start by scoring twice, and eventually assisting twice as well. Hope was regained when William Saliba was credited with an own-goal, but Granit Xhaka answered swiftly. Again, there was a flash of glory with Leicester’s James Maddison scoring at the 74th minute, just for a rebuttal to be made a minute later by Gabriel Martinelli. Arsenal took advantage of their quantity of set-pieces throughout the match, but also capitalized on their efficiency in open-play, as Gabriel Martinelli battled a frustrated Wesley Fofana repetitively. Leicester’s lack of transfer business has left them short-handed of any fresh creativity, alongside Kasper Schmeichel’s replacement in Danny Ward, who has not met the standard of consistency exhibited by his predecessor. This includes the fatal error that led to Xhaka’s demoralizing goal.

Brentford (4) vs. Manchester United (0)

Manchester United are in a shambolic state of affairs currently. After handily losing their season premiere against Brighton, as well as having to deal with the controversy surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo, they have now lost 4–0 to a side that was in the Championship 2 years ago. All the credit to Brentford though, as they had shown last year, and now, that they could be here to stay in the English top flight. After David De Gea pathetically let in a routine long-shot, Christian Eriksen was responsible for an error that resulted in a second goal by the Bees. United lacked complete defensive composure with their 4 yellow cards in comparison to Brentford’s 0; this coincided with the utter barrage that Brentford unleashed upon left-back Luke Shaw, which he clearly could not handle. Ultimately, this was a game of extreme error for the Red Devils and Brentford capitalized upon it to the fullest degree.