Premier League Matchweek 12 Highlights 24/25
After two weeks of no domestic league action, the Premier League returns with a bang starring a weekend filled with upsets, goals, and drama.
Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace
The 4th game of Matchweek 12 saw Unai Emery’s Aston Villa host Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace in what looked an interesting matchup at Villa Park. The Eagles secured a shock 1-0 lead inside 4 minutes when they hit Villa on the counter. A brilliant pass through the guts of the pitch from Marc Guehi found the feet of Jean-Philippe Mateta who immediately played through Ismalia Sarr. Punishing Villa for their high line of defence, Sarr was through on goal with just the goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, to prevent him. The Senegalese international held off the challenge from the Villa defenders before burying the ball into the bottom right corner. The hosts then equalised half an hour later due to poor defending from Palace. John McGinn was easily able to find Ollie Watkins outside the penalty area where the striker was given way too much time and space to dribble around Palace keeper Dean Henderson and slot the ball away to make it 1-1. The Villains were then gifted the perfect opportunity to take the lead just before the interval when referee Tim Robinson pointed to the spot after Will Hughes made a rash challenge on Leon Bailey inside the penalty area. Youri Tielemans stepped up to take the spot kick but his effort was brilliantly denied by English keeper Henderson, who dived to his right and kept the ball out with a strong left wrist. Minutes after Henderson had saved the penalty, Palace hit the hosts on the break yet again, this time through Sarr. Sarr ate up the Villa Park turf, running almost the whole length of the pitch before playing the ball across the penalty area. Mateta stretched out but couldn’t make any contact with the ball but the young Justin Devenny was unmarked behind him and free to curl the ball around Martinez and into the bottom right corner. At half-time the score stood at 1-2 with Palace the surprise of the matchweek so far.
After a far superior 2nd period, Villa equalised for the 2nd time in the afternoon after Ross Barkley brilliantly headed the ball into the top right corner from a Tielemens corner. It was a deserved goal for the hosts in the 77th minute. Moments later Palace were only inches away from restoring their lead again after Jeffrey Schlupp’s volley from inside the penalty area was superbly saved onto the woodwork by Martinez in goal. At the fulltime whistle, the game finished all square at 2-2 which seemed a fair result for both sides. Despite picking up a point at Villa Park, Palace dropped into 19th with only 8 points after a slow start to the season for Glasner’s side. Villa also dropped down to 8th in the league on 19 points, although Emery’s side are only 3 points away from the top 4.
Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur
The final game played on Saturday was the blockbuster of the Matchweek with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City (on a 4 game losing streak) hosting Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs (who contributed to one of those losses in the Carabao Cup) at the Etihad Stadium. After quite a dominant opening 10 minutes from Manchester City, it was Tottenham Hotspur who found a shock lead in the 13th minute. Dejan Kulusevski’s cracking cross from the right wing was met by the first time volley from James Maddison who cushioned the ball past Ederson into the City net. Birthday boy Maddison then doubled up for the day when he made it 2 in 7 minutes. Maddison was yet again the orchestrator, punishing another poor error from Josko Gvardiol, intercepting his pass and playing the ball into his skipper, Son Heung-Min, who was outside the penalty area. Son then shaped to shoot before playing a lovely reverse pass to the left of him where Maddison had intelligently continued his run. The Englishman then took a touch before dinking the ball over Ederson brilliantly. At half-time, it was a classic example of smash and grab x2, with City undeservedly down by 2 but it was all due to Ange and his brilliant tactics.
Just 7 minutes into the 2nd period, Tottenham fans were sent into yet another state of disbelief when their side made it 0-3 against the reigning champions. The Swede, Kulusevski, played a brilliant ball across the City penalty area where Dominic Solanke controlled it on the goal line. Solanke then cut the ball back to ex-City player, Pedro Porro, who fired the ball into the top left corner of his former club’s goal, with Spurs well and truly dismantling Pep’s side. City dominated the next half an hour of play but, unfortunately, it was not their day, with Erling Haaland failing to hit the target consistently and only troubling Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario on a few occasions. However, Vicario was forced into some major saves by the rest of the City attack and credit was also due to the two centre-halves for the away side, Ben Davies (who hadn’t played many minutes this season and was also playing out of position as a natural left back) and Radu Dragusin (who had received a lot of stick from his own fans after poor performances). Normal centre-back pairing, Micky van de Ven and Christian Romero, were both out injured, replaced by Dragusin and Davies. Spurs completed what was City’s heaviest defeat in the Guardiola era at City when the 2 subs, Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson, combined to score the 4th. Werner used his electric pace to out-muscle and run past Kyle Walker before playing a teasing ball across the penalty area for Johnson to slide in and tap home. The fulltime score finished 0-4, with this arguably being Pep’s worst ever result as a manager and Postecoglou’s best. Tottenham jumped into 6th on the table after their best result of the season but fans are still crying out for some consistency with this result a perfect example of how topsy turvy their performances have been, losing to Ipswich Town 2 weeks ago. City lost their 5th in a row in all competitions as they stayed in 2nd, with Liverpool left with the opportunity to go 8 points clear and Chelsea, Arsenal, and Brighton all just 1 point shy of the Champions.
Southampton vs Liverpool
The first game on Sunday afternoon saw Russell Martin’s 20th placed Southampton host Arne Slot’s 1st place Liverpool at St. Mary’s Stadium. Southampton went down 0-1 early yet again in the Premier League having not learnt from their multiple mistakes, giving the ball away attempting to play out from the back. After a few scrappy passes by the Saints players, Flynn Downes tried to clear the ball from the goal line of his own area. His clearance was weak and it fell kindly to Dominik Szoboszlai who took a touch before beautifully curling the ball into the top left of Alex McCarthy’s goal. Tyler Dibbling, arguably Southampton’s brightest prospect and talent, then scraped the Saints back into the game when he won a penalty after being brought down by Andy Robertson on the edge of the area. Adam Armstrong’s initial effort from the 12-yard spot was kept out by Caoimhín Kelleher but the Irish shot stopper was unable to stop Armstrong’s 2nd effort from flying underneath him. At half-time the score stood all square at 1 a piece, with Southampton hoping to cause one of the upsets of the season.
The Saint’s then found themselves in a very promising 2-1 position just 11 minutes into the 2nd period when Dibbling played a perfect ball into the feet of Armstrong. After already scoring his goal for the afternoon, the veteran held the ball up before playing in Matues Fernandes who passed the ball into the bottom left corner. Only 9 minutes later, Liverpool levelled it up at 2-2 through their Egyptian king, Mohamed Salah. It was a very smart goal, with Ryan Gravenberch playing a lofted ball over the Saints defence where Salah just stuck out a leg, with McCarthy left to watch the ball roll over the line after he had made the risky decision to come and claim the lobbed pass. Liverpool then completed their own comeback in the 82nd minute after referee Samuel Barrott awarded his 2nd penalty of the afternoon, this time to the travelling side after defender Yukinari Sugawara unintentionally handballed Salah’s cross which was travelling into the path of Robertson at the back post. Salah dispatched the penalty perfectly, smashing the ball into the top left corner and all but winning the game for the Reds. Slot’s slide held out for a nervy 2-3 win away from home which saw them go 8 points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table. Southampton stayed in 20th with a measly 4 points but there were some positives to take away after they gave 1st place a real run for their money. This also proved just how close the Premier League is with bottom of the table Southampton coming so close to getting a result vs league leaders Liverpool.
Written by Ollie Wade – Read the rest of Matchweek 12 at Premier League Matchweek 12 24/25 – Kickoff chronicles
To read more from Ollie Wade click HERE.
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