Here’s what happened in the Premier this weekend, in case you missed it…
READ ALL ABOUT IT
• Saturday’s roundup: Terry salvages late draw for Chelsea
• Sunday’s roundup: Rooney makes history in Man United win
WATCH MATCH HIGHLIGHTS::
Tottenham 4, Sunderland 1 || Chelsea 3, Everton 3 || Bournemouth 3, Norwich City 0 || Southampton 3, West Bromwich Albion 0 || Newcastle United 2, West Ham United 1 || Manchester City 4, Crystal Palace 0 || Aston Villa 1, Leicester City 1 || Liverpool 0, Manchester United 1 || Stoke City 0, Arsenal 0
WHAT STOOD OUT
Leicester lets it slip away from Villa
Was Everton robbed of three points?
It’s difficult not to feel sorry for Roberto Martinez and Everton. Having squandered a two-goal lead at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, the Toffees let Chelsea back into the game by conceding twice in the span of two minutes early in the second half. Then Ramiro Funes Mori made it 3-2 in the 90th minute, and Everton was on the cusp of what would have been a famous win. But John Terry managed to net the equalizer deep into injury time, ensuring Everton would have split the points.
Martinez was angry after the match, pointing out that Terry’s equalizer came in the eighth minute of injury time (after seven minutes was originally added) and that the Chelsea defender was offside when he scored. Feeling aggrieved, Martinez bemoaned his luck and stated that the referees got it wrong, and that Terry’s offside goal was plain to see.
But was it? Terry was offside, but only marginally. What’s more, the ball was headed twice after it was swung into the penalty area before landing to Terry who slotted it home. It was a mad scramble inside the box, and you could hardly blame the linesman for not spotting it in real time. Video replays showed that the goal should not have stood, but the linesman doesn’t have the advantage of using technology. Plain to see? No, it wasn’t, Mr. Martinez.
As for the extra minute, after Ramiro Funes Mori scored, he celebrated with Everton fans behind the Chelsea goal, eating up a good minute of time, and he was duly yellow carded. So the referee was well within his right to add another minute of injury time on top of the original seven minutes he added. The final result was a bitter pill to swallow for Everton, who were brilliant on the afternoon, and on the balance of play they were the better side. But perhaps if Ramiro Funes Mori had not carried on the way he did the Toffees would have collected three points.
Rooney may not be back, but feeling confident
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BEST GAME
After an opening 45 minutes at Stamford Bridge that saw both goalkeepers stand out with fabulous saves, the second half erupted with Chelsea and Everton combining for six goals, and plenty of twists and turns
BEST GOAL
BEST MOMENT
It came on Sunday when Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney scored his 176th goal for the Red Devils by smashing a shot against Liverpool to break Thierry Henry’s record for most Premier League goals with one club. To watch a video of the goal, CLICK HERE
BEST SAVE
BEST QUOTE
“(On) Wednesday we played very well against Manchester City, but only got one point. We played very well against Chelsea, only one point. I prefer next week to play not very well against Swansea and to win the game.” – Everton’s Kevin Mirallas
BEST TWEET
SIX PACK OF STATS
• Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta is the sixth South American player to appear in 200 Premier League games.
• Norwich City is the only Premier League side yet to keep a clean sheet away from home this season.
• James Ward-Prowse scored more goals on Saturday (two) than he had in his previous 92 Premier League appearances for Southampton.
• John Terry is the third player to score for his own team and net an own goal in the same match this season.
• All nine of Georginio Wijnaldum’s Premier League goals this season have come at St James’ Park.
• Leicester City will now be top of the Premier League for 33 days in 2015-16, the same number that Tottenham have been top in total since 1992.
Stats courtesy of Opta
BURNING QUESTION
THREE STARS
1) Christian Eriksen: The Danish masterfully pulled the creative strings in Tottenham’s trashing of Sunderland, and scored a pair of goals himself..
2) Sergio Aguero: The Argentine bagged a brace for Manchester City as the Blues ran rampant over Crystal Palace at home in a 4-0 win..
3) Jack Butland: Once again the young English goalkeeper was fantastic, making a number of important saves to help Stoke earn a valuable draw at home to Arsenal.
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