Premier League Matchweek 18 Highlights
Matchweek 18 on Boxing Day saw more intriguing Premier League fixtures, with Manchester City failing to win yet again, Chelsea surprisingly dropping points at home and Newcastle running riot at St. James’.
Manchester City vs Everton
The opening fixture of the Boxing Day Matchweek 18 saw Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City host Sean Dyche’s Everton at the Etihad Stadium. In search of a win after a woeful run of games, Pep’s men looked up to the task, with Josko Gvardiol hitting the woodwork after just 3 minutes of play. City then found a deserved opener in the 14th minute when Jeremny Doku played an intelligent ball into the path of Bernardo Silva who had made a great run into the Toffee’s penalty area. Silva slid in first time to strike the ball, watching as his effort deflected off Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite and over keeper Jordan Pickford, finding the far right corner. After a dominant spell of City chances and possession, Everton equalised in the 34th minute totally against the run of play. Abdoulaye Doucoure crossed the ball in from the right wing in search of striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The ball was just out of reach for Calvert-Lewin and instead fell into the feet of Iliman Ndiaye. Nidaye didn’t have long to get a shot away, taking a sharp touch before brilliantly poking the ball into the top right corner. The first half finished 1-1 with Everton hoping to cause another upset for a title contending team.
The hosts made an ideal start to the 2nd half when Savinho, City’s most exciting player so far, won a penalty after he was chopped down by Everton wing-back Vitalii Mykolenko inside the penalty area. Erling Haaland stepped up to take the spot kick and never really looked too confident, passing the ball easily into the grasp of Jordan Pickford on the English keeper’s right side. Pickford was unable to hold onto the ball, as Gvardiol headed the ball back to Haaland who cushioned the ball into the bottom corner but everyone inside the Etihad knew he was miles offside. City struggled to break down Everton’s experienced backline for the remaining 90 minutes as the full time score finished 1-1. City’s terrible run continues as Pep’s men have just won just 1 game in 13. They sit 7th in the table, level on points with 8th and 9th and only ahead on goal difference. Everton stayed 15th on the table, only 3 points away from the drop zone despite arguably being the best defensive side in the league this season.
Chelsea vs Fulham
The following game played on Boxing Day saw Enzo Maresca’s high flying Chelsea host Marco Silva’s free flowing Fulham at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea opened the scoring inside 16 minutes when their starboy, “Cold” Palmer, made it double figures for goals this Premier League campaign. Palmer received the ball from Levi Colwill in the Fulham half where he immediately turned before brushing off the challenges made by the Fulham midfielders and advancing into the penalty area. Palmer then cut the ball onto his left foot before he passed the ball through the legs of centre half, Issa Diop, and into the bottom left corner. Chelsea came so close to making it 2-0 before the break, with Fulham keeper Bernd Leno brilliantly getting low to deny Marc Cucurella consecutive goals at Stamford bridge after a powerful header. The score at half time stood at 1-0 with Fulham causing Chelsea no problems at all so far.
After Chelsea had pushed to find an all important next goal for most of the 2nd period, Fulham flipped the script completely when Harry Wilson scored yet again from the bench in the 82nd minute. Antonee Robinson chipped the ball over to the back post with a perfect ball from inside the Chelsea half. Timothy Castagne then headed the ball across the face of goal, with Wilson present to tap the ball into the far corner to level the game late on. Fulham once again flexed their squad depth muscle, with Wilson coming off the bench to equalise and Rodrigo Muniz coming on to score their late winner in added time. They hit the hosts on the break, who were in search of a winner themselves. Wilson played a brilliant trivela ball to Sasa Lukic down the right wing where Lukic squared the ball to Muniz who was unmarked in the penalty area. Muniz composed himself before drilling the ball into the bottom right corner, winning the game for the Cottagers in spectacular style. The full time score finished 1-2 with Chelsea unexpectedly dropping 3 points. Maresca’s side remained 2nd in the table, but Arsenal are left with a game in hand. Fulham jumped to 8th on the table, level on points with Manchester City in 7th.
Newcastle United vs Aston Villa
The next game of Matchweek 18 saw Eddie Howe’s Newcastle host Unai Emery’s Aston Villa at St. James’ Park. The Magpies made a stellar start to the tie when Anthony Gordon netted the opener inside 2 minutes. Gordon received the ball from Joelinton in the left corner of the penalty area where he immediately looked to shoot, perfectly curling the ball into the far top corner, bagging his 4th of the season. After an evenly contested next half an hour, Villa managed to make it worse for themselves as they were reduced to 10 men. Striker Jhon Duran was chasing a loose ball which Fabian Schar had already intercepted, sliding in and kicking the ball out for a Villa throw-in. Duran then slipped but dug his studs into the back and head of Schar, resulting in an obvious red card decision for referee Anthony Taylor. Newcastle pushed for a 2-goal advantage for the rest of the half, with only the outstretched hands of Emiliano Martinez halting them from doing so. The half time score stood at 1-0 with it only a matter of time before Newcastle ran away with the fixture.
The Magpies all but sealed the 3 points when Alexander Isak bagged his 11th of the season to make it 2-0. Skipper Bruno Guimaraes played a superb ball into Jacob Murphy in the right side of the Villa penalty area. Murphy squared the ball to Isak who was left with the easy task of tapping the ball into an uncontested net. The scoreline was not representative of the way the game was going. Newcastle were running riot at St. James, hitting the crossbar with Isak also having a goal chalked off for an offside and Guimaraes having his disallowed for a slight handball. Finally, in the 1st minute of stoppage time, Newcastle found their deserved 3rd goal. Joelinton jumped on yet another terrible error in the Villa half, intercepting a woeful Amadou Onana pass from inside his own penalty area. Joelinton progressed into the penalty area before beautifully whipping the ball into the top right corner with his wand of a right foot. The full time score finished 3-0 with Newcastle starting to hit their best form. The Magpies rose to 5th in the table. Villa missed out on the chance to climb into the top 5 themselves as they sit 9th.
Written by Ollie Wade – Read the rest of Matchweek 18 at Premier League Matchweek 18 24/25 – Kickoff chronicles
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