Almanac Soccer: English Premier League Matchweek 30 Highlights 24/25

 

Premier League Matchweek 30 Highlights 24/25

 

AFC Bournemouth v Ipswich Town

 

The first game played on Wednesday night in Matchweek 30 saw Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth host Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town at the Vitality Stadium. Bournemouth had a huge chance right on the half hour mark when Alex Scott received the ball inside the Ipswich penalty area with keeper Alex Palmer left vulnerable. Scott then drilled the ball across the turf, watching as defender Dara O’Shea cleared the ball off the line to keep the game at 0-0. Only moments after the Cherries had come so close to scoring, Ipswich silenced the Vitality Stadium when scoring in the 34th minute. Brighton loanee, Julio Enciso, made a driving run through the Bournemouth midfield before slipping the ball into the path of Nathan Broadhead who was located in the right side of the penalty area. Broadhead was given time to compose himself as Enciso had drawn many players towards him, which he used perfectly, cutting back across Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen before slotting the ball through Kepa’s legs in goal. The half time score finished 0-1, with Ipswich scoring a huge goal as they hope to make one last ditch attempt to stay in the Premier League.

 

After a positive start to the half for Bournemouth, Ipswich then further tightened their grip on the fixture when scoring in the 60th minute to make it 0-2. Liam Delap managed to get on the end of a long ball from inside his own half which saw him progress towards the Cherries’ penalty area. Delap then slipped the ball to his left where Conor Townsend drilled the ball back across the 18-yard box with his first touch. Delap had made an intelligent run into space, allowing him to smash the ball into the far right of Kepa’s net to score a priceless goal for the Tractor Boys. Only 7 minutes later, Bournemouth halved the deficit to get themselves back into the tie. David Brooks’ deflected cross fell into the path of Lewis Cook who fired a shot at Palmer. Palmer saved Cook’s initial effort but was unable to keep out Evanilson’s strike on the rebound who was present to make it 1-2. Unfortunately for the hosts, Ipswich heroically defended the final 25 minutes and for once they were able to see out the late stages of the game without conceding. The full time score finished 1-2, with Ipswich picking up a huge 3 points to keep the relegation battle alive. They sit 18th in the league, still 9 points behind 17th placed Wolves. Bournemouth miss out on a huge chance to jump into the top 8 as they sit 10th on 44 points.

 

 

Liverpool v Everton

 

The final game on Wednesday night in Matchweek 30 saw Arne Slot’s Liverpool host David Moyes’ Everton in the Premier League latest Merseyside derby at Anfield. Everton got very lucky in the early stages, with Jarrad Branthwaite blocking a goal bound shot from Diogo Jota before fellow Everton centre half James Tarkowski made a horrible challenge on Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister. Tarkowski got the ball, but the follow through was horrendous and high on the Argentine, with Mac Allister very fortunate his leg was not snapped in two. Tarkowski was somehow not sent off by referee Samuel Barrot and only awarded a yellow card. Everton striker Beto thought he’d scored his 7th of the season just 10 minutes later after he controlled down a long ball into the penalty area, held off Virgil van Dijk with brilliant strength, before he slotted the ball through the legs of Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher only for the linesman’s to raise his flag for offside. Beto was clearly getting the better of arguably the best centre half in the league, Van Dijk, in the first half, dribbling past him in the 33rd minute again leaving him one-on-one with Kelleher. Beto was so unlucky with his effort, watching as it agonisingly struck the post and bounced out of the danger area. The first half finished 0-0, with Liverpool lucky to still be on level pegging.

 

Liverpool took the lead early on in the 2nd period, but it was in a very controversial manner. Ibrahima Konate fired the ball into the feet of Luis Diaz who was clearly offside and left the pass, but while he didn’t directly interfere with play, he influenced Tarkowski’s decision to intercept the ball not knowing the Colombian was offside. Jota then picked up the ball from Tarkowski before he chopped and changed through the remaining Everton defenders before smashing the ball into the bottom left corner. After their controversial goal, Liverpool decided to sit back and frustrate Everton as they held out at 1-0 for a 29th Merseyside Derby win in the Premier League era. Liverpool remain top of the table on 73 points, a whopping 12 points clear of Arsenal. Everton’s 9-game unbeaten run under Moyes comes to an end in disappointing fashion as they remain 15th on the table on 34 points.

 

 

Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur

 

The final fixture of Matchweek 30 played on Thursday night saw Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea host Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge. This was the most anticipated tie of the week, known for many classic matches in the past. The game got off to a very frantic start, with Chelsea hitting the post inside two minutes. Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah played a long ball over the Tottenham defence into the path of Nicholas Jackson who was then in a race with Spurs defender Micky van de Ven. Van de Ven won the race, but as he attempted to clear the ball, he smashed it into the shin of Jackson which saw the ball fizz into the post and fly out of the danger zone. The rest of the half was end-to-end involving a number of turnarounds in the midfield with Chelsea having one last big chance before the interval. Pedro Neto crossed a ball in from the right wing where it travelled all the way to opposite winger Jadon Sancho at the back post. Sancho took a touch before volleying the ball hard at Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario. The Italian keeper then threw himself to his left and somehow flung a wrist at the powerful effort to keep it scoreless at halftime.

 

Chelsea made an ideal start to the 2nd period when scoring inside five minutes of the restart. Cole Palmer finally put an end to his poor run of form, crossing the ball in from the left wing for captain Enzo Fernandez to head into the top left corner with ease to bag his 5th of the season. Only six minutes later, Chelsea had the ball in the back of the Spurs net again after a wicked volley from Moises Caicedo. Fernandez whipped in Chelsea’s latest free kick where Levi Colwill headed the ball backwards to Caicedo on the edge of the penalty area. The Colombian then struck the ball perfectly into the bottom right corner, only for VAR to disallow his wonder goal as Colwill was in fact offside when Fernandez crossed the ball in. With the score back to 1-0, Spurs thought they’d equalised in the 68th minute after Pape Sarr dispossessed Caideco in the middle of the pitch. Sarr then motored with the ball for 15 yards before unleashing a strike, watching as his effort flew through the palm of Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez and into the back of the net. It was a wonderful goal, but once again VAR ruled the goal out, this time they said it was because Sarr allegedly fouled Caicedo. Despite VAR reasoning the foul was clear and obvious, it took them over six minutes to make a decision. Spurs had a few chances late on but failed to convert as the full time score finished 1-0. The fixture certainly lived up to all the hype, with 10 yellow cards brandished along with Tottenham’s controversial disallowed goal. Chelsea pick up a big 3 points against their rivals as they move into 4th on 52 points. Tottenham remain 14th on 34 points.

 

Written by Ollie Wade – Read the rest of Matchweek 30 at Premier League Matchweek 30 24/25 – Kickoff chronicles

 

 

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