Premier League Round IV Review: City destroy Pool and United saturate at Stoke

Khel Now takes a look at the Premier League Game-Week IV and there were a lot of interesting pointers to talk about.

Almost every football club fan hates the International break. These are the momentum killers, the jeopardizing agents or the Doom holidays. They certainly change the journey of any club in a matter of a week. The Premier League came back with a lot of thrashing and a lot of form-breaking events.

The 4th match day is now officially over with a first win of the season for West Ham United. Huddersfield had remained the only team yet to concede a goal but the Hammers made sure of ruining it. Slaven Bilić might see some light at the end of the tunnel after a disappointing start of the season. 

Arsenal were thrashed 4-0 in the last game week at the hands of a free-flowing Klopped-Liverpool but they came back to winning ways with a 3-0 over Bournemouth. The most anticipated and highlighted match was definitely Liverpool’s visit to Etihad Stadium. They were pulled down to reality after a 5-0 thrashing to the hosts. Even at 1-0 down and down to 10 men, the Reds could've got something out of the game but threw it away with erred tactics. The defense let them down and Gabriel Jesus capitalized, scoring twice. It was shocking to see Jesus left completely unmarked inside the box at several instances. If not for the wasted chances, the score line would easily be more than 7 goals to nil.

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Often termed as mid-table teams, Watford and Burnley are becoming steady in upsetting greater teams. Their triumphs over Southampton and Crystal Palace are a testament to their growing strength. Watford’s counter-attacking football proved lethal against The Saints, who are in a revamping stage. Elsewhere, an identical situation produced the goods for Burnley. Chris Wood scored in a span of 3 mins from kickoff. The Hornets and Clarets defeated their opposition 2-0 and 1-0 respectively.

The Giants from London were on fire. Arsenal displayed a dominating play, a possible retrospection after the previous defeat. After 2 defeats in a row, The Gooners got off to a great start with Welbeck scoring in just 6 minutes, later setting up Lacazette. Welbeck, by the end, had stuck another to become the star of the fixture.

Harry Kane’s 100th goal got Spurs through the August curse of the goal drought. The striker claimed his first of the season when the clock struck 28 and he later added another a minute into the second half. The upfield commotions were dominated by Everton but all that matters is who scores the most goals. Spurs steamrolled the Merseyside Blues 3-0 with Eriksen adding a third. 

Chelsea visited old foes to Leicester, a club who took their trophy the season prior to last. Watching Morata, it is safe to say that there are not many players in Europe who could use their heads with that perfection in scoring or setting up goals. The winner was scored by Kante against his former club, only to make the home fans sour and disheartened.

Newcastle United are showcasing their mettle of why Premier League is their home. Benitez once again demonstrated why his team made it to the league with his trademark counter attacking football producing another victory. Newcastle players were defensively sound and attackingly smart in creating chances and taking shots when most lethal. Another newly promoted team, Brighton, upset West Brom Albion at home 3-1. The under rated transfer policy has worked wonders for Brighton.

Last but not the least, Manchester United’s visit to Stoke has always been tricky. The late night Saturday fixture produced 4 goals and ended in an exciting draw. United is surely revisiting last season’s road, which brought all the doom on Mourinho. Stoke got one up in later stages of the first half, only to be equalized a minute later. United’s lead lasted longer than Stoke’s but after the Potters’ goal at 63, the game ended with both teams sharing the spoils.

Talking of the positions, United sit atop on goal difference with Manchester City waiting for The Red Devils to stumble upon and take their place. Chelsea is getting back on the race after the shocking defeat of the opening match. The table does not really matter until a quarter of 100 games are played.

Team of the week

Tom Heaton, between the posts, made as many as 4 saves. Fabianski, Butland and Mignolet made more, yet failed to keep a clean sheet. Heaton, when compared to them, had more influence in the defense, with his error-free passing and composed style. 

James Lascelles, the youngest captain in the Premier League was the match-winner for Newcastle at the Liberty Stadium as he rose above his opponents, albeit unmarked, to place a header in the net late in the second half. Tarkowski may have completed just 33% of his passes, but it didn’t matter. He made it count in his defensive contribution to shackle Christian Benteke and wrestle Palace’s attack into submission, making an incredible 23 defensive actions – the most by any player in the Premier League this game week. Kiko Femenia from Watford had a cracking time against Southampton. Playing on the defensive right, he had an astonishing game, annulling counter attacks and winning aerial duals with ease, in the end assisting a goal as well.

Leroy Sane came on for Gabriel Jesus, who had scored a couple already, near the hour mark. The German did not disappoint and maintained a 100% shot-to-goal ratio with 2 to his credit. Ben Davies, on the other flank, is thriving in place of Danny Rose and is showing that he has more to his game than many had assumed. Everton simply couldn’t cope with his runs from deep. A goal and an assist rounded up a profitable day out on Merseyside for the Welshman.

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Centrally, Chelsea's away display was dominated by N'Golo Kante, who stuck a goal against his ex-employers. Kante proved to be sound and was rewarded as the Player of the Match. The scorer of Brighton & Hove Albion’s first-ever Premier League goal followed up his landmark strike with a second, and Pascal Gross deserved to make the cut. Signed as the top creator in the Bundesliga last season, the German is already proving to be a major coup for Chris Hughton’s side in the near future. Against Liverpool, even after being deployed in a much deeper role, De Bruyne made sure of doing what he does best, provide assists and make forward runs to open defenses through the lines. 

Kane's triumph to get past his 'August curse' was a feat in itself. He became the dominating factor against Everton, striking a couple and providing another. His gameplay to drift wide produced several chances. A similar display from another English International, Danny Welbeck, helped Arsenal get past the 4-0 haunting at Liverpool with a 3-0 victory at Bournemouth. The Gunners defeated them 3-0, with Welbeck scoring twice and assisting another.