Over the last 11 months, since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over for Jose Mourinho in the dug- out at Old Trafford, Manchester United fans have been chanting, “Ole’s at the wheel!” It would be surprising if Ole remains at the wheel for much longer, as United crashed to a 1-0 defeat to Bour- nemouth in the early game on this past Saturday.
Going into this game, Bour- nemouth were not playing well – they had not won in five games, and it has been over a month since their last victory, a 3-1 win over Southampton. Their for- wards, Callum Wilson and Josh King, had not registered a goal in their last three games. This was surprising for usually such a pro- lific pair, with 26 Premier League goals between them last season.
Their attack fired at the right time. In a low-key game, with few chances for either side, it was Bournemouth’s King who con- demned Manchester United to defeat. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has cost United $64 million, was bamboozled by a neat turn from King, who has cost Bournemouth 64 times less than Wan-Bissaka has Manchester United. The Norwegian striker finished past David de Gea, and Bournemouth held on to record an unexpected victory over the much wealthier Manchester United.
Even though we are only three months into the season, it looks to be a two-horse race for the title already. Both Manchester City and Liverpool left it late in their games on Saturday. Southampton, reeling after a 9-0 defeat at home to Leicester last week, rebounded with a solid defensive performance for most of the game against Manchester City. However, two goals in the last twenty minutes from Sergio Aguero and Kyle Walker gave Southampton another defeat.
Liverpool’s comeback came even later. The goal-scoring ex- ploits of Liverpool’s Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah have been well-publicised over the last few years, but it was Aston Villa’s own Egyptian, Trezeguet, who scored against Liverpool to give Villa the lead. It took until the 87th minute before Andy Robertson levelled for Liverpool, and the three points were secured just a minute before the end of the game when Sadio Mane nodded in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner kick.
On Sunday, two teams who have endured poor seasons to this point, Everton and Spurs, faced off at Everton’s Goodison Park. It was a scrappy game, short on quality and fluency from either side. Dele Alli took the lead for Spurs in the 63rd minute, but the game was overshadowed by Everton’s Portuguese midfielder Andre Gomes suffering a broken ankle. It was such a horrific injury that broadcasters decided not to show replays of Son Heung-min’s tackle that led to it.
Following a long interruption during which Gomes was stretchered off, the game resumed and Cenk Tosun netted the equaliser for Everton in the 97th minute. This late goal felt like Everton avenging Gomes, and they were happy to snatch a point right at the end. There was more good news for Everton after the game, as Gomes had successful surgery on his ankle injury – while he will not be playing for a long time, he is expected to make his recovery very quickly.