Grubby Balls Premier League Review: Matchweek 7/8

It was a slightly less packed weekend of Premier League action this past match week, but fans will have relished the action nonetheless after a week off.

We began on Friday evening with two important matches for some underperforming sides. After an underwhelming start, Steven Gerrard and Aston Villa needed to pick up a win at home to Southampton, which they did thanks to a Jacob Ramsay goal—scored after the ball bounced off the crossbar three times before falling to the Birmingham native. The game was cagey overall, with neither side offering too much in attack, though Villa had the better chances. Instead, the defences were the stars of the show, with Villa's back four all putting in a solid shift, as did Captain John McGinn, who looked the best he has all season. Southampton didn't necessarily play poorly but couldn't break down the Villa defence, which looked solid building off their performance against Manchester City. Armel Bella-Kotchap put in a good performance ahead of his call-up to the German National team, where he will come up against Captain James Ward-Prowse. It was a scrappy game that Villa needed more and deservedly got the result, but Southampton fans won't be too upset about the outcome.

Also, Nottingham Forest hosted Fulham on Friday evening at the City Ground. The home side started the match well, with striker Taiwo Awoniyi notching the opener in the 11th minute when the ball fell to him at the back post from a Gibbs-White corner. Despite both sides having some decent chances, the home side were able to contain Fulham and went into the break with the lead. Fulham got their equalizer in the 53rd minute, showing off their threat from set pieces when Adarabioyo headed in from a Willian corner. Palhinha made it two, not three minutes later, when he hammered in a first-time shot from distance, scoring his second screamer of the season. Things went from bad to worse for the home side, as Harrison Reed volleyed in the third after a brilliant counter-attack down the left. Fulham's attacking prowess was on full display, scoring three goals in less than ten minutes to completely change the storyline. Awoniyi missed an opportunity to get one back for Forest a few minutes later, but he fluffed his lines. Forest were able to get one back courtesy of substitute Lewis O'Brian in the 76th minute, but it was too little too late. Fulham again showed why they've scored so many goals this season and now sit in an impressive sixth place going into the international break. While Forests struggled again, as they lost their fourth game in a row, again from a winning position at home, and sit in a lowly 19th place.

The first of the Saturday matches finished relatively predictably as Manchester City defeated Wolves 0-3 at the Molineux. Jack Grealish opened the scoring for City and his account for the season in only 55 seconds, stabbing in a goal from an inch-perfect cross from Kevin De Bruyne. Wolves then enjoyed a better spell of possession before Erling Haaland quickly stopped that momentum with a right-footed strike from outside the box that bobbled into the bottom right corner, making it eleven in seven for the Norwegian. If there was any doubt about how the match would finish, Nathan Collins stopped that as he Karate kicked Jack Grealish in the 35th minute and was rightfully shown a straight red card. Phil Foden put the nail in the coffin in the second half after he brilliantly flicked in a De Bruyne cross to finish off a brilliant City move. Wolves had a couple of decent efforts, none that troubled Ederson, while City were just too sharp for Wolves in attack.

We then moved to the Northeast, where Eddie Howe hosted his former team Bournemouth at St James' Park. Newcastle were favourites despite having not won a game since the first match of the season, though they had been dealt some tough fixtures in the early going. Newcastle were the better side in the first half, though Bournemouth created some decent chances on the break. Newcastle struck the post twice, the first from a nearly inch-perfect Trippier free-kick before Joelinton struck the post twice in the 42nd minute. Bournemouth took first blood despite Newcastle's control when Phillip Billing clipped one past Nick Pope from a Jordan Zemura cross. Newcastle managed to equalize not long after from an Aleksander Isak penalty, but their inability to capitalize on their first-half chances ultimately cost them. For Bournemouth, that's now three matches unbeaten since their 9-0 defeat to Liverpool, with a win and a draw away from home, a terrific run of points that should prove valuable in the long run. However, Newcastle will be disappointed they didn't get a result. With such high expectations for this squad, home fixtures against newly promoted sides like Bournemouth (no offence to Bournemouth, who are a tricky counter-attacking side) are the matches they need to win if they hope to achieve their goals.

In the final match of Saturday, Antonio Conte's Tottenham hosted the vastly underperforming Leicester City. The pre-match chatter centred around Heung Min Son, who was dropped to the bench after a goalless start to the season. The match began in an eventful fashion as Hugo Lloris initially saved Youri Tielemans' penalty before being ruled off his line, and the Belgian converted on the second attempt. Leicester have now opened the scoring in four of their seven matches this season and have still failed to win a game. Harry Kane levelled the score not 4 minutes later as he headed in from a perfect Kulusevski cross to make it 1-1. Eric Dier made it 2-1 from a well-worked corner in the 21st minute. James Maddison levelled the scoreline before halftime with a brilliant effort (though not enough to earn him a place in the England squad). Spurs took the lead two minutes into the second half when Bentancur won the ball off Ndidi in the final third and slotted it in. Thus began the tale Leicester fans have seen time after time only seven games into this season, a second-half capitulation. To be fair to the Foxes, they had a few decent chances on the break to level the scores before it got away from them, but their defence is far too easy to break down, and it's beginning to look a bit like Brendan Rodgers has lost this dressing room. However, none of the criticisms of Leicester City's defence should take away from Heung Min Son's unbelievable cameo to silence the critics. Three goals of the highest class to complete a hat trick in under 20 minutes. Alarm bells are ringing for Leicester City, and the international break couldn't come at a better time. While for Tottenham, this match showed just how dangerous they can be with all their assets firing, the title race may not be over after all.

Sunday morning began with a matchup much more one-sided than I predicted (I know, even Grubby Balls is human), as Brentford hosted Arsenal in the mid-day matchup. To be fair to Brentford, they didn't play badly; Arsenal just played very well. It was the perfect response to the bump in the road that was Manchester United away. Arsenal's one and two-touch passing let them move around the Brighton defenders relatively easily. They capitalized on some early chances when William Saliba headed in from a corner for his second of the season. Jesus made it two in the 27th minute with another header, this time from a brilliant ball played by Granit Xhaka, who was left in too much space by the Brentford defenders. Summer signing Fabio Viera got off the mark for the Gunners on his full debut, scoring a beautiful goal from a distance that clattered in from the inside of the right post early in the second half. The other headline of the match was the appearance of 15-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, who became the youngest player ever to play in the Premier League when he came on in the final few minutes of the game. It was a straightforward win for Arsenal, and with Tottenham's equally good performance in mind, we should have a cracker on our hands when the two sides meet in the North London Derby in the first match after the international break.

The weekend's final match was between Everton and West Ham, as David Moyes travelled to Goodison Park to take on his former club. Everton came in searching for their first win of the season, though they had been consistently improving over their past few matches, in which they were unbeaten in four. Everton had the better of the open play in the first half, but West Ham offered a threat from set pieces. Everton certainly look improved with Neil Maupay up front, who had an excellent game and worked well in the high press. He got his reward with a goal, a nice finish on the half volley in the 52nd minute that gave Everton the lead. Alex Iwobi got the assist, another indicator of his resurgence in form under Frank Lampard and in his newfound central midfield role. While it was another disappointing result for West Ham, they didn't play poorly and just lacked those few moments of quality that their star men were offering last season. Everton deserved their win, though West Ham could have nicked an equalizer on another day.

Thanks for reading this article from Grubby Balls, stay tuned for more weekly articles on the Premier League.

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