🔬 The Debrief as Man City reign supreme and Arsenal stumble | OneFootball

Premier League action was back in force across a full day of drama in the English top flight, with five matches to sink our teeth into.

Here is how it all went down around the grounds from north to south.

What happened? 📝

We kick things off at the Etihad with Manchester City dispatching a reminder of what they are capable of during a 5-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace.

Despite the Eagles going 2-0 up in the opening 20 minutes, Pep Guardiola's troops battled back to pull level by halftime before heading out of sight in the second stanza.

Aston Villa would eventually come out ahead during their south coast away day with a comfortable 3-0 win at Southampton. Despite a pair of missed penalties from Marco Asensio, Unai Emery's men earned a result they truly deserved.

Everton fans will be elated after the Toffees stole a late win at European-motivated Nottingham Forest, with a stoppage winner from Abdoulaye Doucouré proving decisive.

In the third afternoon kick-off, Brighton were held in a shock 2-2 draw against Leicester City, with a first Premier League goal from Caleb Okoli securing a point on their travels to further delay a likely drop to the Championship.

To close out the day in the capital, Arsenal were held in a spirited capital derby against visiting Brentford in a 1-1 draw, with Yoane Wissa finding an equaliser to cancel out Thomas Partey's second-half opener.

Player of the Day 🔥

It's hard to look past Man City icon Kevin De Bruyne here, with the veteran Belgian creator-in-chief carrying the club standard during their big comeback win over Palace.

This type of magic is exactly what makes him, for many, one of the best midfielders in Premier League history

Stat of the Day 📊

There was so much like about Manchester City's comeback win against Crystal Palace, but one stat emerged that is both impressive as well as damning.

Star shot-stopper Ederson bagged a brace of assists on the day, taking him to four in the league across the 2024/25 season.

A brilliant return for a goalkeeper, but a frustrating realisation when he has registered more than both Phil Foden and Jack Grealish combined.

What this means 🤔

Both Manchester City (4th) and Aston Villa (5th) climb into the Champions League places after big wins on the day, while Arsenal and Nottingham Forest both suffered setbacks that keep them rooted in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Everton are temporarily up to 14th after their narrow win, and Brentford continue to close on the top half of the table.

Leicester remain on course to drop down to the Championship and Brighton still sit 9th, while Palace are comfortably positioned in 12th.

What they said 🗣

Pep Guardiola was in a spirited mood in the wake of City's big when, claiming "If you see the chances we had, we could've scored eight or nine easily. The work ethic and the way we played was really good!"

On club icon Kevin De Bruyne, Guardiola stated "The performance of Kevin De Bruyne is what he has done for many, many years, in many, many games. Unfortunately, lately, he could not do it for the problems that he has in injuries for one year, a long year, surgery, and so on. But he played fantastic."

After Forest suffered a setback in their push for Champions League qualification, Nuno Espírito Santo still believes they control their destiny.

“We didn’t anticipate it,” the Portuguese said. “Credit to Everton, they were physical and didn’t allow us too much time on the ball.

“But we should do much better. We are disappointed in the end with the way we conceded. If you cannot win because we didn’t play well, at least keep what you have."

Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler could only bemoan the Seagulls' result on the day, stating "(We were) too naive, not mature enough, don’t react well on setbacks during the game, didn’t stick together, especially in the final part of the game, therefore we didn’t deserve to win.”

What's next? 👀

Premier League action continues tomorrow with four games on tap.

Chelsea welcome Ipswitch to Stamford Bridge, Liverpool play host to West Ham, and Tottenham travel to Wolves.

To bookend Sunday's fixtures, Newcastle and Manchester United lock horns at St. James' Park.

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