Almanac Soccer: English Premier League Matchweek 31 Highlights

 

English Premier League Matchweek 31 Highlights 24/25

 

Matchweek 31 of the Premier League saw rivals clash, with some exciting draws and big upsets.

 

 

Crystal Palace v Brighton Hove & Albion

 

The second game of Matchweek 31 saw Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace host Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton at Selhurst Park in what has become one of the most underrated rivalries in the recent Premier League era. Palace made an electric start to the fixture when Jean-Philippe Mateta scored his 13th of the campaign inside three minutes. Eberechi Eze played a brilliant direct pass into the feet of Mateta where the Frenchman took one touch before thrashing the ball into the top right corner to give the Eagles the lead in spectacular fashion. This was a major wake up call for Brighton who fired up after the opener. In the 14th minute, Palace keeper Dean Henderson was forced into a huge double save to keep the score at 1-0. Finally in the 31st minute, the Seagulls tied the game when Danny Welbeck scored his 8th of the season. Yankuba Minteh whipped in a cross from the right wing where Welbeck lunged in to poke the ball past Henderson and into the bottom left corner. The score at the interval stood at 1-1 with the full time result unpredictable.

 

The Eagles made another quick start to the half, scoring inside 10 minutes of the restart. Eze made a stellar run down the left wing before cutting into a more central position. Eze then rolled the ball off to his right where Daniel Munoz cracked a shot first time from outside the penalty area, watching as his effort flew into the bottom left corner. Twenty minutes after the Eagles had restored their advantage, they were reduced to 10 men. Substitute Eddie Nketiah, who had already been booked, was shown a 2nd yellow card for a shockingly high foot challenge on the head of Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke. Palace then went down to nine in the 90th minute after skipper Marc Guehi was shown a 2nd yellow for a challenge, much like Nketiah, on Brajan Gruda. A 3rd red card of the evening was then produced by referee Anthony Taylor in the 3rd minute of stoppage time after Van Hecke clearly fouled Daichi Kamada who was through on goal. With just seconds to play, Henderson produced one last match winning save, brilliantly parrying Yasin Ayari’s volley away from danger with his knee to heroically win the game for Palace. The full time score finished 2-1, with Palace picking up a huge 3 points against their biggest rivals to do the double over them. The Eagles jump into 11th on the table while Brighton remain 8th, only 4 points higher than Palace.

 

 

West Ham United v AFC Bournemouth

 

The following fixture of Matchweek 31 saw Graham Potter’s West Ham United host Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth at the London Stadium. Bournemouth made a far superior start to the game, coming close to scoring inside a minute after Evanilson headed Dango Ouattara’s cross narrowly wide of the post. The Cherries eventually found a deserved opener just before the interval when winger Antoine Semenyo drilled a shot at the West Ham goal. Keeper Alphonse Areola spilled the shot where Evanilson was quick to pounce on the Frenchman’s error, smashing the rebound in. Bournemouth went into half-time with a 0-1 advantage, West Ham so fortunate that it was not two when Cherries’ centre half Illia Zabarnyi rattled the crossbar with a header in the 43rd minute.

 

Only a quarter of an hour into the 2nd period, West Ham equalised thanks to super substitute, Niclas Fullkrug. The German striker, who has been having injury troubles all season, jumped up powerfully to head James Ward-Prowse’s corner forcefully past Bournemouth keeper Kepa. Seven minutes later, West Ham flipped the game on its head when captain Jarrod Bowen netted his 8th of the season. Mohammed Kudus chipped the ball into the penalty area where Bowen brilliantly out jumped all four Bournemouth defenders to head the ball into the far right of Kepa’s goal. Just as it looked like the Hammers were holding out for a much needed win, Bournemouth levelled the game yet again after David Brooks crossed the ball over into the West Ham penalty area. Young Spanish centre half, Dean Huijsen headed the ball right across the 6-yard box and over Areola for Evanilson who smashed the ball into the back of the net from a metre out. The full time score finished 2-2, with the result helping neither side although it was a very entertaining Premier League encounter. West Ham remain 16th in the table on 35 points while Bournemouth remain 10th on 45 points.

 

 

Fulham v Liverpool

 

The following game of Matchweek 31 saw Marco Silva’s Fulham host Arne Slot’s Liverpool at Craven Cottage. After a shaky start from Liverpool, they eventually found the lead in the 14th minute thanks to a brilliant strike from Alexis Mac Allister. The Argentine picked the ball up on the halfway line before motoring through the Fulham half showing great strength. Mac Allister then rifled the ball into the top left corner scoring his 4th of the season. Less than 10 minutes later, Fulham equalised thanks to Ryan Sessegnon. Andreas Pereira crossed the ball in from the right wing where his cross wasn’t properly cleared by Curtis Jones, allowing Sessegnon to smash the ball into the bottom right corner. Just after the half hour mark, Liverpool left back Andy Robertson had a series of errors which saw Fulham take a shock lead. He first played a terrible pass across his backline which saw Alex Iwobi intercept it. Iwobi’s initial shot was then blocked by Ryan Gravenberch, only for Robertson to head the ball back to the Nigerian. Iwobi’s 2nd shot then caught a deflection off the hand of Robertson which saw it divert into the back of the net, an ugly goal to concede for the travelling side. To the shock of the away end, Fulham took a two goal lead just before the interval after Iwobi leant back when attempting a volley from outside the penalty area This resulted in his shot causing much aerial confusion outside the Liverpool penalty area allowing Rodrigo Muniz to brilliantly control the ball down despite the presence of star defender, Virgil van Dijk. Muniz then took a few more touches before firing the ball through the legs of Liverpool keeper Coaimhin Kelleher. The score at half time was 3-1, the first time ever in the Premier League Liverpool had scored first in the opening 45 minutes but then went into the break 3-1 down.

 

Liverpool were looking much sharper in the 2nd half and almost scored inside three minutes of the restart after Diogo Jota’s shot from close range was spectacularly saved over the bar by Bernd Leno. The Reds then halved the deficit in the 72nd minute after Conor Bradley slipped the ball through to Luis Diaz inside the penalty area. Diaz took a touch before poking the ball into the bottom left corner, a brilliant double substitution made by Slot to get his side back into the game. With just 10 minutes to play, Liverpool came so close after Harvey Elliot saw his shot from inside the penalty area rattle the crossbar and fire away from danger. Fulham defended the dying moments strongly and held out for a superb win against the team top of the league. Fulham move into 8th on the table with 48 points while Liverpool’s 27-game Premier League unbeaten run comes to an end as they lose just their 2nd league game of the season. Slot’s side still sit comfortably in 1st, with Arsenal 11 points away. 

 

Written by Ollie Wade – Read the rest of Matchweek 31 at Premier League Matchweek 31 24/25 – Kickoff chronicles

 

 

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