Yesterday’s PL Fixtures Were for the Birds | OneFootball

Leicester City 0 – 2 Crystal Palace

Palace’s day started off with the news that Trevor Chalobah, on loan from Chelsea, had his recall clause activated. So with a hearty handshake and a “thanks for all the good times” the Eagles walked him to Selhurst Station for his return trip on the Southern Railway north to Stamford Bridge. Or maybe Chelsea’s PSR balance sheet is good enough they could send an Uber. Who knows.

The first half certainly looked like a scrap between bottom table teams. The game was wide open and a little sloppy, with both sides squandering opportunities.  Although Leicester pressured with 11 first half shots Palace seemed content to absorb whatever the Foxes could throw at them. Palace found a higher gear in the waning minutes, but Leicester’s defense were able to hold them off.

Palace emerged from the dressing room at full throttle. Sarr delivered a peach of a pass to Mateta, who sidestepped the keeper for an easy tap-in. Leicester responded with 15 minutes of intensity, pushing the Eagles backwards. But Marc Guehi took an Eberechi Eze lob off the dead ball, cushioning it on his left foot and into the top corner. Lovely. Hey Chelsea, you want Guehi? You already took Chalobah back like a petulant child. Try and take Marc you posh bastards and we’ll show you a proper South London reply.

In the end it was the Eagles soaring, while Leicester sank deeper into the fog of the relegation zone.

Newcastle United 3 – 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Two teams coming in on hot form prefaced a spicy fixture. I just didn’t think it would be one-sided.

From the opening whistle, the partnership between Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon looked dangerous; as the game progressed it became clear that Wolves didn’t really have a solution for it. When the electrifying Swede hit the lower left corner in the 36th minute, it wasn’t courtesy of a teammate, but rather his own ability to tip-toe through the Wolves defense. The final 15 minutes of the opening half saw the Magpies transform into harriers, dominating with 80% possession.

It all looked so EASY for Newcastle, particularly after Isak struck a second goal (that’s his 8th consecutive game with a score, by the way) and fed Anthony Gordon for the third. In fairness, Wolves weren’t entirely toothless and deserve some credit. They did manage 7 shots on target but Martin Dúbravka saved 5 of them and the others were blocked. Even Isak got into the defensive swing, placing an expertly timed challenge on Cuhna as he threatened in the box.

Wolves are entering a rough stretch of schedule, with fixtures away at Chelsea and home ties against Arsenal and Villa. Wolves manager Vitor Pereira has to keep spirits high and hope they can snatch points where possible.

As for Newcastle, with 9 consecutive wins in all comps, and a +23 goal differential in doing so, they are flying in the stratosphere.

See the Hooligan take on yesterday’s controversial North London derby.