It was full of drama, VAR controversy, big goals and the tragic incident of a horror injury. Matchweek 11 had everything in the store.
The action kicked off on lunchtime Saturday at the South-Coast under the sunshine at Vitality Stadium where Bournemouth stunned Manchester United. In the 4 pm kick-offs, league leaders, Liverpool survived a scare as they came from behind by scoring twice in the last five minutes to earn the three points at Villa Park.
Title rivals, Manchester City also scored late in their win over Southampton to stay in touch with Liverpool.
In other games, West Ham bad form continued as they suffered defeat at home to Newcastle, while Brighton secured a 2-0 win over Norwich. Sheffield United impressive campaign continued with a 3-0 win over Burnley, while Arsenal played out a 1-1 draw against Wolves at the Emirates.
In Saturday’s final game, Chelsea saw off the challenge of Watford at Vicarage Road. Leicester beat Crystal Palace at the Selhurst Park on Sunday, while the week’s final game saw Everton and Spurs played out a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.
Having taken a look at the results, Soccernet.ng takes a look at some of the talking points of match week 11.
Title Challengers Involved In Late Drama: Unless Leicester or Chelsea pull off something miraculous, either Liverpool or Man City will end up as champions. However, both did not have it their way last weekend as they had to come from behind to secure the three points.
For the third successive game, Liverpool came back from a goal, but this time they left it late as it was in the final five minutes they scored twice to secure the win over Villa.
Man City did not have it their way either against the league’s worst defence, as it took an 83rd-minute strike from Kyle Walker for them to secure the win over Southampton who had taken a shock lead through James Ward Prowse.
Nevertheless, the two sides dug deep to show why they are a class above the rest. With the two set to go head to head next weekend at Anfield, the title race is set to get more interesting.
VAR Controversy: It’s hard to for any weekend go by without a VAR controversy. Last weekend was no different as there was more controversy. In Liverpool’s game against Villa, Roberto Firmino had a goal wrongly disallowed by VAR official Martin Atkinson.
This Atkinson’s fifth major gaffe in three consecutive weeks and that raises a question that has been repeated over time. Is VAR the issue or English referees? After all the technology is being used in other major leagues, and there’s no drama like we are witnessing in England.
Time’s Up For Emery?: He was brought in to stop the decline Wenger created in his latter years at the Emirates, but Emery has only accelerated the decline judging from his results.
Although his first season was considered decent given the resources at his disposal, a lot was expected from the Spaniard in his second season after he was backed heavily in the transfer market.
However, 11 games into the Premier League season 14 points behind Liverpool and five points behind Chelsea in fourth place. Emery has come in for criticism over his tactics and players selection.
For the second week running, Arsenal relinquished their lead at the Emirates to play a 1-1 draw against Wolves. Emery has also failed to solve the defensive problems which have been an underlying issue at Arsenal since the time of Wenger.
According to Skysports, the Gunners conceded 25 shots against Wolves, the most that any Premier League team has faced in front of their fans this season or last.
With Arsenal’s Head of football, Raul Sanllehi reportedly having dinner with Mourinho, Emery’s days at the Emirates dugout may be numbered unless he turns it around quickly.
United Back To Reality: When they won three games, it appeared United have turned the corner. But a loss to Bournemouth brought the team back to earth. United are now 10 points behind the top four places and 18 points behind Liverpool.
The point gap means United’s league season is probably over after just 11 games. The Red Devils are in this predicament because they lack quality in their squad, something Solskajaer admitted to.
The team have struggled for creativity while the goals have been scarce. Solskjaer’s team have scored just 13 goals in the league this season. Only Everton, Newcastle, Watford, Norwich and Southampton have scored less which says a lot about United’s current state.
With United struggling for goals, the decision to allow Lukaku and Sanchez leave without a proper replacement gets more ridiculous each day.
Prayers For Gomes: Matchweek 11 ended on a sad note after Andre Gomes suffered a career threatening injury in Everton’s draw with Spurs. The Portugal international suffered a nasty leg break following a challenge from Heu-Min-Son and Serge Aurier.
The injury was so bad that it left Son in tears while Serge Aurier was seen praying. Gomes is likely not to play again this season, but hopefully, he will come back stronger from it.
On the match itself, pressure increased on Silva as it was only Cenk Tosun’s late header that prevented Everton from suffering defeat again.
