Premier League Matchweek 27 Highlights 24/25
The midweek Premier League action of Matchweek 27 saw some unexpected results as the race for European football is really heating up. Here are my highlighted games.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
The following fixture of Matchweek 27 saw Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace host Unai Emery’s Aston Villa at Selhurst Park. After an expected close start to the tie, Villa thought they’d snatched the lead in the 26th minute after Jacob Ramsey thrashed the ball through the legs of Dean Henderson. He then glanced over to his right and was met by the assistant’s flag as he was well and truly offside when Ollie Watkins played the ball through. The Eagles then found the opener 3 minutes later when Ismaila Sarr netted his 5th of the season. Adam Wharton recycled a cleared cross when whipping the ball over to the back post. American centre-half Chris Richards then made a solid connection with the ball, heading it powerfully at Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez. The Argentine was only able to parry it into the feet of Sarr who was left with the easy take of tapping the ball over the line from a yard out. Just before the break, Villa progressed to score yet another illegal goal, Watkins chasing a long ball down before squaring it to Morgan Rogers who scored, only for Watkins to be quite clearly in front of the last Palace defender. The score at the interval stood at 1-0 with Emery fuming his side had not registered anything meaningful on the score sheet as yet.
Seven minutes into the 2nd period, Villa finally found a deserved goal, with Watkins combining with Rogers again. The travelling side went back to a more traditional method of ‘route 1 football’ with substitute goalkeeper Robin Olsen playing a long ball from his own penalty area into the Palace danger zone. Watkins made first contact with the goal kick, flicking the ball onto Rogers who was in on goal. Rogers brushed off the challenge from Richards before expertly smashing the ball into the bottom right corner on the spin. This was a real wake up call for the hosts as they went on to restore their lead just 7 minutes later. Wharton was yet again involved, playing a brilliant killer pass into the penalty area to find Ebereci Eze. Eze was most certainly fouled by Axel Disasi but it didn’t matter as Jean-Philippe Mateta was able to pick up the ball inside the penalty area before thrashing it into the left of Olsen’s net, a classic Mateta goal as he went onto bag his 12th of the season. The Eagles then all but wrapped up the 3 points 12 minutes later when Sarr was able to complete his brace. Daniel Munoz crossed the ball in from the right wing where his delivery was met by a technically beautiful volley from Sarr, perfectly guiding the ball past Olsen and into the bottom left corner. The icing was applied to the cake in the 1st minute of stoppage time for Palace, with substitute Eddie Nketiah finally bagging his first goal for the Eagles after 17 plus hours of Premier League football (October 2023). The energetic Palace fullback, Tyrick Mitchell, made a tireless run down the left wing before drilling the ball across the 6-yard area. Nketiah then tapped the ball home from a yard out, a simple but much needed goal to hopefully kick start the young man’s Palace career. The full time score finished 4-1, with Palace picking up a huge 3 points which saw them tighten their gap on the top half of the table (12th on 36 points). Villa take a big hit to their goal difference as they drop to 10th on the table on 42 points, although they are only 2 points away from the top 4, proving how close it will be in the race for Champions League football in 25/26.
Manchester United vs Ipswich Town
The following game of Matchweek 27 saw Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United host Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town at Old Trafford. The opening 4 minutes of the tie pretty much summed up Manchester United’s season as they conceded to a horror error early on. Jacob Greaves launched the ball over the United defence hoping to find the run of Jaden Philogene down the right wing but United’s new signing, Patrick Dorgu, had a big head start. Dorgu and goalkeeper Andre Onana then made a terrible communication mistake, with Onana wanting Dorgu to leave the ball so he could claim in but Dorgu rolling the ball under the keeper. Philogene was then able to run past them both and tap the ball into an empty net. In the 22nd minute, United were able to level the game thanks to a very fortunate goal. Bruno Fernandes whipped the ball in from the left wing with their latest free kick where Ipswich captain Sam Morsey was unlucky in heading the ball past his own keeper, Alex Palmer. The Red Devils then completely flipped the game on its head, scoring just 4 minutes later to restore their lead. It was yet another scrappy goal from a set piece, Fernandes crossing the ball in from a corner where the ball was not properly cleared by Ipswich. Diogo Dalot then fired a shot at Palmer which the English keeper was able to parry across the goal line but unable to keep United centre half Matthijs de Ligt from smashing the ball in from a yard out. After making such a positive comeback from Dorgu’s early error, the Danish full back then made it even harder for his team to hold onto their delicate lead after he was sent off for a horrific tackle on Ipswich’s Omari Hutchinson. Down to 10 men with seconds to play in the 1st half, United conceded again. Fresh off scoring his first Premier League goal just 40 minutes ago, Philogene crossed the ball into the penalty area, hoping to find the feet of star striker Liam Delap. In the end, the ball didn’t even need a touch from Delap as the low and hard driven cross curled all the way into the bottom left corner. The score at the break stood at 2-2 with Ipswich left with a very valuable one man advantage.
Manchester United got off to the best possible start in the 2nd period, scoring in the opening 2 minutes from a 3rd set piece. Fernandes whipped the ball in from the right flag this time where Harry Maguire was able to head the ball past Palmer. Ipswich dominated the ball in the 2nd half but to the frustration of the away end, they were unable to create any real chances. The full time score finished 3-2, with Amorim’s 10 man United putting in a real shift to gain a crucial 3 points. United jump up to 14th on the table while Ipswich remain 18th, 5 points away from safety with time running out if they want to stay in England’s top flight.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City
The following game of Matchweek 27 saw Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur host Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in what has been the most entertaining fixture over the recent years. After a tough loss at home to Liverpool last week, with Erling Haaland out injured for that game, the Citizens took the lead inside 12 minutes. Jeremy Doku, who is so often criticised for his final pass, made a brilliant run down the left wing before brilliantly slicing the Tottenham defence open when finding the feet of the returning Haaland. The big striker was then left with the easy task of passing the ball into the bottom left corner to score his 20th goal of the season. City dominated the rest of the half, with Doku the standout performer, coming so close to scoring a wonder effort himself in the 20th minute after his long range effort was tipped wide by Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario. Doku then created another huge chance for City, making his trademark run down the left wing before he crossed the ball over to the back post where his fellow winger, Savinho, was unmarked. The Brazilian then blew the chance to give City a two goal cushion, smashing the ball over the upright. The score at the interval stood at 0-1, with Tottenham offering up nothing to their share of the 60,000 plus fans in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs came out the blocks much better for the 2nd period, with Wilson Odobert blasting his effort over the bar from just a couple of yards out. Later on, Son Heung-Min then had his shot destined for the bottom right corner brilliantly palmed away by City keeper Ederson. As it so often does, the ending of the tie was filled with drama after City thought they’d won the game in the 3rd minute of stoppage time. Haaland received the ball inside the penalty area from Phil Foden where he controlled it down before placing the ball past Vicario and into the bottom left corner. VAR then took a long while to rule the goal out, although they made the correct decision as Haaland clearly controlled the ball with the aid of his hand. With just seconds to play in the fixture, Tottenham created one last big chance. Pedro Porro received the ball down the right wing from Dejan Kulusevski where he whipped it into the penalty area. Son made the first contact with the cross, heading the ball over to the back post where Pape Sarr was unmarked. Maybe the young midfielder wasn’t expecting the header from Son but his effort was woeful, blasting the ball over the crossbar with a horrible header. That was the final action of the game as City came out 0-1 victors to see them climb back into the top 4 after Chelsea had overtaken them after their win versus Southampton. Tottenham will feel they were unlucky not to get a point as they remain 13th on the table with 33 points.
Written by Ollie Wade – Read the rest of Matchweek 27 at Premier League Matchweek 27 24/25 – Kickoff chronicles
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