Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend | OneFootball

Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend, featuring Nottingham Forest’s European ambitions, last-gasp drama, and Manchester United’s goalscoring woes.

Last-gasp goals prove Premier League a punishing place

It was a weekend of late, late drama in the Premier League.

In total there were eight goals scored after the 85th minute across the Premier League weekend, with stoppage-time goals rescuing results for Brentford, Bournemouth, Everton, West Ham, and Wolves.

For those on the wrong side of those comebacks it was agony. Manchester United missed a glut of chances (Yes, Diogo Dalot we’re looking at you) to lose at West Ham, Aston Villa did likewise against a Mark Travers-inspired Bournemouth, and Ipswich equalised late before blowing things against Brentford.

The worst of all, however, came at Brighton. The Seagulls were two ahead with two minutes of normal time to go but imploded at the Amex. Brighton blew a four-on-one breakaway as Mats Wieffer’s poor pass was intercepted, allowing Wolves to race up the other end and score a last-gasp equaliser. The Premier League can be a cruel place.

Nottingham Forest should aim high

Among the pre-season favourites for the drop, Nottingham Forest have made a mockery of those predictions so far this season. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are riding high in ninth, have lost just once this season, and have earned results away at Liverpool and Chelsea.

The Portuguese coach’s pragmatism is not always popular but Forest boast the Premier League’s second-best defensive record, with summer signing Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo forming a centre-back partnership that would not look out of place at a top side.

With Chris Wood banging in the goals, Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliott Anderson offering spark, and Callum Hudson-Odoi enjoying a renaissance, Forest have the tools to continue their strong start. Nuno has insisted he won’t be getting carried away – but the return of European football to the City Ground would be some story.

Vicario comments should ring alarm bells at Spurs

Ange Postecoglou was predictably prickly following Tottenham’s 1-0 loss at Crystal Palace, a poor performance that ended a strong run of form for the North Londoners. Just weeks on from a second-half collapse at Brighton, it has again raised question marks over the mentality of Postecoglou’s team.

Spurs were outfought and outworked at Selhurst Park, by a Crystal Palace team without a win in the Premier League before this weekend. Jean-Philippe Mateta manhandled the Spurs centre-back duo of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, while vulnerabilities in midfield were again exposed.

Perhaps the biggest concern will be the post-game comments from Guglielmo Vicario, who questioned whether Spurs have the ‘fight’ to match their attractive football. They would not be the first Spurs side to be accused of such.

“They fight and I think we lacked that today,” Vicario said. “We are disappointed because we have to fight. We play good football but maybe sometimes we lack the desire to fight. They (Crystal Palace) showed a real desire to fight for something.”

Manchester United must shoulder blame despite VAR controversy

The stoppage-time spot kick awarded to West Ham has dominated the narrative of Manchester United’s latest defeat and the Red Devils are right to be aggrieved. A poor decision proved costly for Erik ten Hag and his team, though in truth the game should have been out of sight.

In a recurring theme of their season, Manchester United missed chance after chance at the London Stadium to affirm their status as the most wasteful side in the Premier League. The Red Devils managed just four shots on target from 18 efforts on goal and have the biggest xG underperformance in the Premier League this season.

Ten Hag’s team have scored just eight goals this season, only Southampton and Crystal Palace have managed fewer. For context,  Brentford winger Bryan Mbeumo has eight goals alone.

Arsenal can not afford to fall further behind Manchester City machine

The headline fixture of the weekend saw Arsenal and Liverpool share the spoils at the Emirates, as the would-be title contenders came out even after an early-season spar.

Arsenal will feel the more disappointed with the draw, having twice led in North London, while a five-point gap has now opened up between the Gunners and Manchester City. With difficult fixtures against Newcastle (A) and Chelsea (H) next up for Mikel Arteta’s men, Arsenal can not afford further dropped points in the coming weeks.

Arsenal have missed out on the title by the narrowest of margins in each of the last two seasons and will be aware every point counts in their battle to topple the division’s dominant force. Chasing down the Citizens after Christmas is not a position Arteta will want to be in.

Read – Premier League Awards: VAR drama and peerless Palmer

See more – Premier League Team of the Week – Palmer, Cunha, Wood

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