Stoke 1 Chelsea 0
How much longer can Jose Mourinho last at Chelsea after a seventh league defeat of the season? He once described Stoke’s goal scorer Marko Arnautovic as a “ fantastic person but has the attitude of a child “ when they worked together at Inter Milan. The champions are 16th, three points above the relegation zone and can’t score goals. Diego Costa has scored just two league goals this season and he seems to be more interested in personal battles against opposition defenders, with Ryan Shawcross this weeks target. Chelsea didn’t play badly and should have been awarded a penalty but Loic Remy jumped over the leg of Jack Butland and then shot wide. There was no contact but Remy was clearly impeded as he tried to evade the tackle so he paid the price for being too honest. Mourinho watched from the team hotel due to a stadium ban but when will Roman Abramovich decide he's seen enough.
Man Utd 2 West Brom 0
United have been criticised for their style or lack of under Louis van Gaal but they’re only two points off top spot after 12 games. West Brom are not the easiest side to break down so United were always going to have to be patient and the breakthrough came in the second half when Jesse Lingard scored his first goal for the club. It was a great finish and Van Gaal took the credit after revealing he told Lingard to take a touch in training earlier in the week when a similar chance came his way. Most league winning teams have a strong defence so that would suggest United are real title contenders because they’ve gone 555 minutes in all competitions without conceding. However Saido Berahino should have equalised for West Brom but the less said about his headed effort the better and Juan Mata wrapped things up late on from the penalty spot.
Arsenal 1 Tottenham 1
Arsenal lost 5-1 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League so when Harry Kane put Spurs ahead I’m sure the doubters thought here we go again with the Gunners. It was a composed finish from Kane who let the ball beat him before he shot past Petr Cech for a seventh goal of the season. Questions have been asked about the quality of Olivier Giroud and the French striker missed three great chances with his head. Kieran Gibbs was the unlikely hero for Arsenal with the equaliser when he turned in a Mesut Ozil cross. The German doesn’t convince everyone but he covered more ground than any other Arsenal player and for the sixth game in a row he came up with an assist. It was a good point for Arsenal after a sluggish start and they lost no ground on leaders Manchester City.
Aston Villa 0 Man City 0
A missed opportunity for City but a much needed point for Villa to stop the rot in Remi Garde’s first game in charge. Villa had to ride their luck but that’s to be expected against the league leaders who lost Wilfried Bony in the first half through injury. Raheem Sterling must wonder how he missed from six yards out although Brad Guzan didn’t know too much about it. City were unhappy with Rudy Gestede but he tried to throw the ball out of play only for Joe Hart to concede a corner with a poor touch. Gestede almost scored from the resulting corner which I’m sure would have gone down well with the City players. Villa are five points from safety but a point against City is the best Garde could have hoped for.
Liverpool 1 Crystal Palace 2
A first defeat for Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager and not for the first time this season the Reds paid the price for some poor defending. Alberto Moreno and Emre Can were poor for the first Palace goal from Yannick Bolasie while Scott Dann’s winner was the fifth goal the home side have conceded from a set piece this season. Take nothing away from Palace though who have won 10 of 14 away games in the league under Alan Pardew with two of those coming at Anfield. Klopp was unhappy that some Liverpool fans left early but it’s often the case at any ground these days which I can never understand. The German can take stock of his first few weeks at Liverpool over the international break but then his side go to league leaders Manchester City.
Leicester 2 Watford 1
Jamie Vardy scored for the ninth league game in a row to become the first player to do so in the same season. The record of ten successive games set by Ruud van Nistelrooy was done between March and August of 2003. It almost didn’t happen for Vardy after he won a penalty with a great first touch but Riyad Mahrez gave him the ball to take the spot kick. The Premier League’s top scorer smashed the ball past Heurelho Gomes who had an afternoon to forget. The Watford keeper has been superb all season but he gifted Leicester their first with a howler similar to a few during his time at Spurs. Leicester are third, one point behind City and Arsenal but the danger is once the goals dry up for Vardy, the points could be harder to come by for Claudio Ranieri’s side.
West Ham 1 Everton 1
Romelu Lukaku probably wishes he could play against West Ham every week after scoring his seventh goal in seven games against the Hammers. It was a superb pass from Gerard Deulofeu to find Lukaku who finished it with supreme confidence. West Ham have been so impressive when they’ve gone ahead in games this season so Slaven Billic will be disappointed they couldn’t get all three points after Manuel Lanzini’s opener.
Sunderland 0 Southampton 1
Southampton were the better team and deserved the win but Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce was left with his head in his hands after his side conceded a second half penalty. Ryan Bertrand was going nowhere when he was taken down by Yann M’Vila so you can understand Allardyce’s frustration when Dusan Tadic punished them from the penalty spot. Sunderland still have the worst defence in the league and Jermain Defoe was left on the bench.
Bournemouth 0 Newcastle 1
Newcastle are out of the relegation zone thanks mainly to the performance of Republic of Ireland international Rob Elliot. He was in great form as he frustrated the home side with a string of fine saves. Newcastle had one shot on target and that led to a goal from Ayoze Perez which Adam Federici should have done better with. Eddie Howe’s side had 20 attempts on goal but without the injured Callum Wilson they’re finding it tough in their first ever season in the top flight.
Norwich 1 Swansea 0
Norwich got their first win in seven and for the first time this season Alex Neil’s side kept a clean sheet. The Norwich boss was quite happy for his team to give a major share of the possession to Swansea and it paid off when Jonny Howson scored 20 minutes from time. Garry Monk is under pressure at Swansea after a fifth defeat in eight league games which is the worst run of his tenure so he could do with Bafetimbi Gomis finding the net again.
