Almanac Soccer: English Premier League – Matchweek 23 Highlights

 

Premier League Matchweek 23 Highlights 24/25

 

Premier League Matchweek 23 saw an expected dose of goals and drama with some big upsets to cap it all off. Bournemouth hosted Nottingham Forest with both sides in a rich run of form, Manchester City hosted Chelsea in what was an end-to-end exciting game and Tottenham played Leicester with both sides in dire need of 3 points.

 

 

AFC Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest

 

The opening game of Matchweek 23 saw two of the most in form teams in England face off at the Vitality stadium in Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth and Nuno Espirito’s Nottingham Forest. With both sides hoping to win a match which could prove crucial for their own respective European aspirations, Bournemouth made the ideal start when scoring inside 10 minutes. Fresh of scoring a hat-trick at Newcastle last week, Justin Kluivert picked up the ball inside his own half and motored up the pitch with the Forest defenders backing off of him. Kluivert ate up the space awarded to him before smashing the ball into the bottom left corner, punishing a poor defensive error from Nuno’s men. Forest seemed to put their slow start behind them though with skipper Ryan Yates coming inches away from scoring a wonder volley just minutes later. The half time score stood at 1-0 with Bournemouth hoping to make it 12 games in all competitions unbeaten.

 

Despite Forest attacking the Cherries early on in the 2nd period, Bournemouth flipped the game on its head when Dango Outtara scored to double their advantage. Kluivert chipped the ball up into a dangerous area where Ouattara jumped brilliantly to head the ball over Forest keeper Matz Sels. Only minutes after Kluivert and Ouattara were denied a wonderful 2-man tiki-taka goal, Ouattara secured his brace in the 61st minute to put the game to bed. The Burkina Faso representative received the ball from Tyler Adams in the left side of the Forest 18 yard box. Ouattara squeezed his way through the 2 centre halves before drilling the ball into the far bottom corner. Ouattara then made it 3 after Marcus Tavernier cracked a shot from 25 yards out. Sels was able to parry his initial effort away but only cleared it as far as Ouattara who had made an unmarked run and was free to tap the ball in for 4-0. Number 5 came in stoppage time after Tavernier played the ball into the left side of the penalty area where Antoine Semenyo was waiting. Semenyo faced off with Nikola Milenkovic before very accurately passing the ball into the bottom right corner The full time score finished 5-0 with absolutely nobody expecting such a heavy scoreline. Forest were proving very difficult to beat this season so for Iraola’s men to pick them apart in such fashion was a huge accomplishment. Bournemouth remain 7th, but are just 3 points away from Forest in 3rd, with this season’s battle for European places really heating up.

 

 

Manchester City v Chelsea 

 

The final game played on Saturday in Matchweek 23 was the most anticipated of the week, with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City hosting Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea in what looked a brilliant fixture at the Etihad Stadium. City’s latest wonderkid, who had only signed for the club a matter of days ago (the first Uzbekistanian to ever play in the Premier League), Abdukodir Khusanov, made the worst possible start to his life in Manchester. The young centre half attempted to play a fairly routine headed pass back to his goal keeper, but his pass back was weak allowing Nicholas Jackson to intercept. Jackson played the ball across the penalty area for Noni Madueke to tap into an uncontested net, with Chelsea showing the young Uzbekistan international the reality of playing in the most competitive league in the world. After a slow start to the game, Manchester City eventually found their feet, with fellow new signing Omar Marmoush thinking he’d levelled things in the 33rd minute after he was quick to tap in the rebound from Ikay Gundogan’s long effort, only to turn around and see the assistant’s flag raised. City then finally found an equaliser that stood just before the interval when Gundogan played a ball over the Chelsea defence into the path of Mathues Nunes who was through on goal. Marc Cucurella was able to track back and actually tackled the Portuguese international. Unfortunately for Cucurella, after he tackled Nunes, the ball fired off his own keeper Robert Sanchez and into the path of Josko Gvardiol who was unmarked and had an empty net to tap the ball into. The half time score finished all square at 1-1 with the full time score unpredictable.

 

After a positive start to the 2nd period, City flipped the game on its head after scoring in the 68th minute. City keeper Ederson wrote his name in the history books, providing the pass to Erling Haaland with a long ball into the Chelsea half. Haaland beat Chelsea keeper Sanchez to the ball and from just outside the penalty area, Haaland curled the ball around the Spanish keeper and into the near corner. It was also Ederson’s 5th assist in the Premier League, making him the goalkeeper with the most assists in the Premier League. City wrapped up the 3 points in the 87th minute when Phil Foden continued his recent run of good form, making it 7 goals in as many games. Yet again, Ederson was involved, clearing the ball out to Kevin De Bruyne. De Bruyne flicked the ball onto Haaland who showed great strength on the half way line to hold up the ball before prodding it through the Chelsea backline and into the path of Foden who was through on goal. Foden progressed into the area before slotting the ball through the legs of Sanchez to cap off a brilliant display by the Citizens. The full time score finished 3-1, with the Champions climbing back into the top 4 with a much needed win, especially after they threw a 2 goal lead in Paris away just days ago. Chelsea continue to drop points, as they now sit in 6th, a huge fall given they were 2nd in December.

 

 

Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City

 

The following fixture of Matchweek 23 was a huge game in terms of the relegation zone, with Ange Postecoglou’s 15th placed Tottenham Hotspur hosting Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 19th placed Leicester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Tottenham’s injury filled side made an electric start to the tie and forced some acrobatic saves from Leicester keeper Jakub Stolarczyk early on. After a dominant half an hour from Spurs, they found a deserved opener in the 33rd minute after Richarlison marked his first start of the season with a goal. Pedro Porro whipped in the ball from the right wing where Richarlison put his body on the line, diving in to head the ball past Stolarczyk but clattering into the post afterwards. The score at the interval stood at 1-0 with Ange hoping that his side could pick up a much needed 3 points which would see them go 10 points away from the drop zone.

 

Tottenham made a polar opposite start to the 2nd half compared to the 1st when Jamie Vardy scored inside a minute of the restart. Bobby De Cordova-Reid received the ball down the left wing before he drilled it across the 6 yard box. Vardy then managed to scrap the ball across the line, reminding Spurs of his Premier League trophy tally as he wheeled away in celebration. Leicester then flipped the game on its head when completing a 4 minute turn around. De Cordova-Reid was involved again, playing the ball to Bilal El Khannouss who had space to run into outside the Spurs penalty area. The Moroccan ate up the space awarded to him before brilliantly curling the ball into the bottom right corner, making for a superb Leicester 2nd. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium atmosphere then turned very toxic, with Spurs missing every chance they got in the final 3rd. The decision making from Ange’s men inside the penalty area was also very poor, opting to shoot on a number of occasions when a pass would be a much better option. The full time score finished 1-2 with Tottenham losing yet another game against a team in a rotten run of form. Spurs remain 15th in the table while Leicester jump out of the relegation zone by a point and into 17th after a brilliant performance away from home.

 

 

Written by Ollie Wade – Read the rest of Matchweek 23 at Premier League Matchweek 23 24/25 – Kickoff chronicles

 

 

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