Premier League Matchweek 21 Highlights 24/25
Premier League Matchweek 21 saw yet more thrilling encounters. Some of the week’s highlights saw Chelsea host an inform Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge, Graham Potter take charge of his first Premier League game with West Ham and a Man.City team in need of a win to travel to Thomas Frank’s Brentford.
Chelsea v AFC Bournemouth
The opening fixture of Matchweek 21 saw Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea host Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night. After an evenly contested opening 10 minutes, Chelsea found the lead on the 13 minute mark when Cole Palmer netted his 14th of the season. Enzo Fernandez played the ball into the path of Nicholas Jackson who showed great skill to squeeze his way through the Bournemouth midfielders before progressing with the ball into the Cherries’ half. Jackson then spotted the run across the penalty area by Palmer where the Senegalese striker threaded it through to him. Palmer faked a shot, tricking keeper Mark Travers, before slotting the ball into the bottom left corner. The remaining minutes of the first half could have gone either way, with both Justin Kluivert and Jackson striking the woodwork for their respective clubs. The score at the interval stood at 1-0 with Bournemouth still in the tie.
The travelling side found a golden opportunity to go level just 3 minutes into the 2nd period when Moises Caicedo gave away a penalty for a cheap foul on Antoine Semenyo inside the Chelsea penalty area. Kluivert stepped up from the spot and dispatched the penalty perfectly, smashing the ball into the roof of the net to claim his 7th of the campaign. Just 18 minutes later, the Cherries completed the turnaround when Semenyo scored in the 68th minute. Ryan Christie played the ball into the left side of the Chelsea penalty area to Semenyo where the angle looked too tight. Semenyo then shocked the home crowd when he rifled the ball into the top left corner, pulling off the seemingly impossible. With 8 minutes of stoppage time added, Chelsea always fancied themselves to tie the game late on. The equaliser came from a free kick with their injury prone captain, Reece James, the man to perfectly curl the ball around the wall and into the bottom right corner, putting an end to a Premier League thriller. The score finished 2-2 with Chelsea fans starting to worry now as their side sit 4th on 37 points, winless in their last 5 Premier League games. The Cherries remain 7th in the table, with James’ late leveller preventing them from rising to 5th in the league.
West Ham United v Fulham
The following game of Matchweek 21 saw Graham Potter take charge of his first Premier League game since 2023 under new employer’s West Ham United after Julen Lopetegui was sacked due to a woeful run of form. Potter’s first opponents as Hammer’s manager at the London Stadium was Marco Silva’s Fulham who have been in a solid run of form this season. After a dominant start by the new-look Hammers side, they found a deserved opener in the 31st minute. Fulham midfielder Andreas Pereira received the ball inside his own penalty area from keeper Bernd Leno. Pereira carelessly drilled the ball across the box, not checking his surroundings and watching in pain as Carlos Soler pounced on the poor pass and beautifully placed the ball into the bottom right corner with Leno out of position. West Ham then made it 2 goals in as many minutes when Tomas Soucek netted his 5th of the season. Soler received the ball in the right side of the Fulham area in West Ham’s latest counter attack. Soler crossed the ball over to the right where Aaron Wan-Bissaka controlled the ball down. The wing-back then played it across the box where Soucek professionally chipped the ball into the top right corner. The first half finished 2-0 with West Ham making the dream start under Potter.
After a very sluggish first half from the Cottagers, they made an ideal start to the 2nd when they halved the deficit in the 51st minute. Antonee Robinson made a driving run down the left wing before poking the ball backwards to Alex Iwobi. The Nigerian then whipped the ball in from the left side where Raul Jimenez looked to have flicked the ball past Lukasz Fabianski and into the back of the net. The Premier League officials later went and reviewed the goal and credited it to Iwobi as there were no touches on his cross. After conceding so early into the 2nd period, West Ham conjured up the perfect response in the 67th minute to restore their 2 goal cushion. It was yet again another disastrous Fulham error, with Danny Ings applying too much pressure on goalkeeper Leno resulting in him taking a poor touch. Lucas Paqueta pounced on his mistake, curling the ball brilliantly into an empty net. With only a quarter of an hour left to play, the Cottagers refused to give up, reducing the gap yet again. Robinson found Iwobi down the right wing where the Nigerian chipped the ball into the penalty area. Much like the first, the Robinson to Iwobi cross combination down the left wing looked to have caught a touch off the head of Harry Wilson on its way but it was later found that it was actually Iwobi’s 2nd of the tie. Fulham dominated the rest of the thrilling Premier League tie, coming so close to scoring if not for a brilliant goal line clearance by West Ham academy product Ollie Scarles. The full time score finished 3-2 with West Ham making a dream start under Potter given their current injury crisis. The Hammers jump into 12th in the table, above Tottenham and Manchester United. Fulham still remain 9th in the league, but will be disappointed with their defensive showings and errors against a weakened West Ham side.
Brentford v Manchester City
The next game of Matchweek 21 played on Tuesday night saw Thomas Frank’s Brentford host Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at the Gtech Stadium. The first half of the game was a closely fought contest, with Brentford dominating the opening 20 minutes and Manchester City the remaining minutes. The first half finished 0-0 with a goal surely to come after the solid chances these sides had created.
Moments after Savinho had rattled the woodwork for City, the away side found a deserved lead when Phil Foden bagged his 3rd of the season. Kevin de Bruyne whipped the ball into the penalty area from the right wing to claim his 116th Premier League assist as Foden deftly touched the ball into the bottom left corner. Manchester City then thought they’d wrapped the game up in the 78th minute when they made it 0-2, hoping to win their 3rd win on the bounce. Savinho dribbled in from the left wing and drilled a shot at Bees’ keeper Mark Flekken. Flekken parried the ball away from goal but only as far as ‘the sniper’ Foden, who smashed the ball into the back of the net. Five minutes later Brentford scored a fully deserved goal when Yoanne Wissa bagged his 11th of the season. Mikkel Damsgaard crossed the ball in from the left wing over to the back post where Mads Roerslev cushioned the ball across the box. Wissa was left with way too much time and space in the 6-yard area and composedly smashed the ball past City keeper Stefan Ortega. With only minutes of stoppage time to play, Pep Guardiola’s men fully imploded when Christian Norgaard scored to level the game at 2-2. Keane Lewis-Potter whipped in the ball from the right wing where Bees’ skipper Norgaard brilliantly rose to head the ball at goal. Ortega would’ve felt that he needed to keep out the Dane’s effort, getting his hands to it but unfortunately watched as he could only parry the ball further into the goal. The full time score finished 2-2 with Pep seen to be furious with his players after the full time whistle. Just as things were moving in a positive direction for the Citizens, they blew a 2 goal lead against Brentford to draw 2-2. City stay 6th in the table. Brentford jumped into the top half of the table (10th) with a brilliant comeback staged by Thomas Frank’s men, a much needed one after they were kicked out of the FA Cup by Plymouth Argyle just days prior.
Written by Ollie Wade – Read the rest of Matchweek 21 at Premier League Matchweek 21 24/25 – Kickoff chronicles
To read more by Ollie Wade click HERE.
To return to our Footy Almanac home page click HERE.
Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.
Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help things keep ticking over please consider making your own contribution.
Become an Almanac (annual) member – click HERE.
Leave a Comment