The Football Faithful
·11. November 2024
The Football Faithful
·11. November 2024
Matt O’Riley picked up an ankle injury less than 10 minutes into his Brighton debut in August, forcing him to have surgery. It was a nightmare start for the summer signing from Celtic, but the comeback was certainly greater than the setback for the 23-year-old.
Introduced off the bench with Brighton trailing to Manchester City, O’Riley helped the Seagulls turn the game around to take the scalp of the champions. The Dane’s winning goal was a sweet moment for O’Riley, who will hope to make up for lost time in the Premier League.
It’s a goal that could also have implications on the title race, condemning the Citizens to back-to-back league defeats and four in a row in all competitions.
The mood at Manchester United is on the up with Ruud van Nistelrooy’s interim spell having lifted the atmosphere at Old Trafford. Bruno Fernandes has been reinvigorated in recent weeks and celebrated his 250th appearance for the club in style this weekend.
Fernandes was the architect of the 3-0 win over Leicester City as he opened the scoring, forced an own goal from Victor Kristiansen, and assisted Alejandro Garnacho. His performance saw him become just the second Portuguese player, after Cristiano Ronaldo, to reach 100 goal involvements in the Premier League.
The 30-year-old created a huge seven chances against the Foxes, just the 10th time a Manchester United player has created 7+ chances in a Premier League game since 2020. On every single one of those occasions, the player has been Fernandes. He’ll have a huge role to play as the Ruben Amorim era gets underway.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again.
Ipswich Town are up and running after claiming their first win of the Premier League season. The Tractor Boys upset Tottenham Hotspur in North London to climb out of the relegation places, as goals from Sammie Szmodics and Liam Delap sealed a famous win.
For Kieran McKenna, it will have been a fitting venue to celebrate his first three points in the top flight. Forced to retire from playing while on the books at Spurs aged 22, he began his path in coaching in the capital, spending time as the club’s head of academy performance analysis and as Under-18s coach.
He’s just upset the odds to seal Ipswich’s first Premier League win since 2002.
Wolves are another side off the mark after beating Southampton 2-0 in a six-pointer at Molineux.
Matheus Cunha’s cracker sealed a vital three points for the home side, as the Brazilian blasted in from distance to double Wolves’ lead. He can be a difference-maker in the club’s battle to beat the drop this season.
Caoimhín Kelleher has been so good for Liverpool in recent weeks that Alisson’s absence has barely been mentioned.
Two big stops in this weekend’s win over Aston Villa were the latest to add to the Irishman’s highlight reel.
Maybe it’s time to switch up that warm-up routine, Ange?
Even all the all-conquering Manchester City have been sucked into the nineties nostalgia.