The penultimate month of the English Premier League is upon us now. Indeed, in the midst of the drama of the recent international break and a heatedly debated World Cup draw, the return of the Premier League has crept in this time around, leading to what must be a fantastic last few weeks.
There are no prizes to speculate on this week’s tour performance as Brentford netted a truly stunning 4-1 win at home to London neighbors Chelsea, echoing Chelsea’s stunning 5-2 collapse at West Bromwich Albion almost a year ago. Elsewhere, Tottenham beat Newcastle, and Arsenal’s top-four hopes were dashed by a devastating defeat to Crystal Palace. Here are five stars from the latest round of events.
The tide of gloom and darkness eased slightly in favor of last-placed Norwich City on Saturday, as the Canary Islands secured a solid point on the road with a goalless draw with Brighton.
The result, while encouraging, was mainly due to the terrifying finishing touch by the hosts, including a missed penalty, but Norwich goalkeeper Tim Kroll also played his part in the difficult equalizer. The Dutchman made four saves in 90 minutes, including a superb reaction from his compatriot Joel Veltman, and was able to save the few that Brighton had already managed to steer towards goal.
It wasn’t the most impressive goalkeeper performance of the season, but it was a fine showing to help add another point to the board.
An explosive first weekend in the Premier League in April aptly concluded on Monday night, as sharpened Crystal Palace beat in-form Arsenal 3-0, dazzling Arsenal’s top four hopes.
While Palace’s attacking players did business up front, it was Joachim Andersen at the heart of the defense who made a surprisingly big impact on the match. The Dane assisted both goals that came in the first 24 minutes, first with a header from a group that seemed luckier than accuracy and second from an exceptional defense that slashed across the ball played near the halfway line. After these moments of attacking inspiration, the defender stood steady at the back for the remainder of the match, keeping a clean sheet.
Another scalp for Palace in an impressive season for them.
Who saw that coming? In what was likely the shocking outcome of the entire season, Brentford tore up his London neighbors Chelsea in their own backyard, claiming a win that virtually eliminates any fears of landing bees.
Such an outcome is usually bolstered by one player in particular, in this case Brentford’s central midfielder General Vitaly Janelt who led the way. Right after Antonio Rudiger put Chelsea ahead with a long-range shot, Yanlett tied the score with a superb shot of his own. The tide turned from that point on, and Janette later snatched his second goal by a minute’s end to make it 3-1 and effectively finish off the blues.
A year after his shock home defeat by West Bromwich Albion, Janet has given Chelsea another humiliation here.
They are a force for Spurs at the moment, and their confidence under Antonio Conte increased every week and led to another assured win on Sunday, tearing Newcastle apart with a superb 5-1 victory.
Inevitably, you know that one of Son Heung-min, Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevsky will rule Tottenham, and this time it was the first who opened up the Newcastle defence. With Spurs trailing 1-0, Son made a sinister cross pass that was nodded by Ben Davies, and after the break he ended up cutting Kulusevski before slashing the ball home to put his side ahead 3-1.
Son and Spurs are absolutely flying at the moment, and in the context of his current form, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better player in the Premier League at the moment.
And as easy as it is for any Premier League fan to point out the weekend’s result, it’s also easy to spotlight the star of the week, which is of course Brentford’s Thomas Frank in this case. Although a good month for Brentford ended in a narrow defeat just before the international break, there were no signs of losing momentum here, pushing Frank’s side Chelsea to the limit from kick-off and giving their illustrious hosts several warning signs early on. .
Even after receiving their opening match, Brentford played like the home side in the Premier League, tearing up the Blues in a memorable ten-minute period of three goals, setting the team on course for their biggest win in the Premier League. season.
From suffering criticism amid a string of poor performances just a few weeks ago, Thomas Frank has turned things around wonderfully and now appears to have hit his Premier League survival goal.
Manchester City and England fan. Opinion and feature writer on everything related to the Premier League and beyond.
