Missed the first lot of mid-week Premier League games? Don’t worry, here’s what you need to know about Tuesday’s action:
Bournemouth 2-1 Huddersfield
The combination of England’s Callum Wilson and Scotland’s Ryan Fraser proved lethal again for Huddersfield. Wilson, who scored a hat-trick in this fixture last year, nodded in from a Fraser free-kick early on. The pair then reversed roles after 22 minutes, as Wilson played in Fraser to put the Cherries two ahead.
Bournemouth’s potent attacking this season is largely down to those two. Wilson now has eight league goals for the season, the same as fellow countrymen Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Glenn Murray. Only Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has more. As for Fraser, he sits alone on top of the league’s assist table with seven.
Despite this quality, it was actually Huddersfield who dominated the game. Their only goal came from Terence Kongolo after 38 minutes, but the Terriers had 67% possession and nearly four times as many shots as the Cherries, 23. Based on that, it’s no surprise David Wagner’s side are the league’s lowest scorers, although Kongolo’s goal put them into double-figures for this campaign.
Brighton 3-1 Crystal Palace
It was a heated affair at the Amex Stadium with less than 40 miles separating the teams. Glenn Murray converted a penalty after 24 minutes to take his tally to eight in the league this year, but Brighton were a player down just four minutes later, Shane Duffy sent off for a headbutt on Patrick van Aanholt. The more defensive minded Leon Balogun replaced Pascal Gross for 10 man Brighton, and scored a tidy goal with his first touch, minutes after the red card.
The Seagulls were three up before the break. Florin Andone travelled half the length of the pitch and finished neatly for the depleted side. Brighton defended very well, absorbing 69% possession and 18 shots throughout a match for which they were mostly a player light. Wilfried Zaha won a league-high seventh penalty (since last season) for Palace, and Luka Milivojevic converted a league-high tenth for the same period, but Brighton’s otherwise strong display was enough to earn them all three points.
West Ham 3-1 Cardiff City
Back-to-back wins for the Hammers and back-to-back games in which they’ve scored three. However, things could have been different if Lukasz Fabianski didn’t pull of an early penalty save from Cardiff’s Joe Ralls. It was a tame effort, and the offender, Marko Arnautovic, was subbed due to injury after 40 minutes. Lucas Perez replaced the Austrian and was impressive, even though he had only played 27 minutes of league football since joining from Arsenal.
It was 0-0 at the break, but five minutes into the second half, Perez put the Hammers ahead. Five minutes later he scored again and celebrated with Javier Hernandez, who grabbed a brace in West Ham’s last game. It was a comfortable evening from this point onwards, and a West Ham third came from a Michail Antonio header just after an hour in.
A goalmouth scramble presented Josh Murphy with a Cardiff consolation, the last kick of the game. But the game belonged to the Hammers, and Arnautovic’s injury blow will be softened by this scoring form.
Watford 1-2 Manchester City
“You can never relax in the Premier League” was the quote from Pep Guardiola. It will likely echo what most people thought after seeing the score of a game expected to be another City rollover. The truth is that the game was quite comfortable, but for a late scare from Watford.
Leroy Sane scored before the end of the first half and the German was again involved at the start of the second half, when Riyad Mahrez put City 2-0 up. Guardiola’s guys enjoyed 70% possession but he conceded after the game that Watford were the better team for five minutes, annoyed at his team for not making it 3-0 and ‘killing the game.’
Those five minutes in question were the last five of the game. Abdoulaye Doucoure pulled one back for Watford and forced Guardiola to react with the late introduction of defender Aymeric Laporte in place of forward Gabriel Jesus. There was no comeback for the Hornets, and no points, but scaring City is no easy task.
Want a preview of tonight’s games? Stay tuned to The Doughnut this afternoon!
