GAME WEEK 7 - WEEKLY ROUND UP

Welcome back to INMR Weekly Round Up's, it's game week 7 and what a weekend it was, once again full of goals, shock results and controversy. VAR stole the show this weekend but there were lots of other great moments this weekend that you may have missed Keep reading to find out about all the action.

Also on INMR this week: Check out the INMR Podcast on YouTube for more football content, the most recent video previews Brighton and Hove Albion's Europa League fixture against Marseille. Click the link to check it out! https://youtu.be/aHHecUALlOA?si=u0fyz6PqR5oUnHG9

Watkins and co humiliate the Seagulls (Aston Villa 6-1 Brighton)

Aston Villa and Brighton has been a close contest in recent years, today was anything but that. Three goals in 26 minutes for the home side was enough to stun the Albion and ensure they wouldn't find any way back. Ollie Watkins got affairs under way as he turned Matty Cash's cross past Jason Steele, minutes later he punished Brighton again, this time he had a bit more to do but there was still the same result. Watkins ran onto Moussa Diaby's through ball, wriggled away from Lewis Dunk and Joel Veltman before driving the strike into the bottom corner. The final goal of the half was a real blow for De Zerbi's side, Aston Villa had burst into their penalty area again but their initial efforts were denied by Steele, Diaby's final efforts was going wide but Pervis Estupinan couldn't get his feet sorted out which caused a big deflection to put away Villa's third of the afternoon.

Ansu Fati gave Brighton fans hope as he got a consolation goal five minutes after the break, however, the chance of a come back was totally gone as Watkins claimed his hat-trick 15 minutes later. A humiliating afternoon for Brighton that continued to get worse right until the final whistle; Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz got their names on the score sheet in the final 10 minutes to make for a horrific day for an awful Brighton side. Aston Villa were unstoppable in the first half and repeated that dominance in the second half. A great day for Ollie Watkins as he became the first Villa player to score two hat-tricks in a single season across all competitions since Andy Gray in 1976/77.

Arsenal overcome Bournemouth emphatically (Bournemouth 0-4 Arsenal)

Arsenal travelled down to the south coast in hopes of continuing their fine run of form in the league, their much-loved 'Starboy' Bukayo Saka broke the deadlock early on, finishing a clever move started by Martin Odegaard. The Norwegian received the ball in the middle of the park and spotted the run of Gabriel Jesus at the back post, he lofted a brilliant ball into him which he headed back across goal, the nod down hit the post but fortunately fell to Saka who headed home. The clever captain doubled Arsenal's lead right at the end of the half from the spot. Eddie Nketiah and Oleksandr Zinchenko interchanged passes nicely on the left flank, Nketiah drove into the box and was brought down by Max Aarons, winning a penalty for Odegaard to coolly roll past Neto. Arsenal were in complete control at the break.

The Gunners picked up where they left off and so did Bournemouth, just not in the way they would have wanted. Arsenal were awarded another penalty when Christie brought down Odegaard rashly, this time Kai Havertz was the taker, he made no mistake, putting the ball in the same place Odegaard did in the first half. The final goal of the match saw an unlikely goalscorer in Ben White, he finished off Odegaard's cross with a good header to finish off Arsenal's dominant performance, Bournemouth on the other hand now find themselves in the relegation zone.

Luton secure their first Prem victory (Everton 1-2 Luton)

A big day for Hatters and their fans as they secured their first ever Premier League victory, a day that many thought might never come. Captain Tom Lockyer and top goalscorer Carlton Morris scored in quick succession to shock Everton, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin pulled one back before half time to halve the deficit.

Everton pushed desperately in the second half to get back into the game but couldn't find a way through, they had all the chances but ultimately Luton took theirs when they came. A poor start to the season for Everton and it's just got worse, suffering defeat to a side who are expected by many to finish rock bottom this season.

Anderson worldie stuns United (Manchester United 0-1 Crystal Palace)

Manchester United seemed a few gears behind in the first half, they had a good chance thanks to Rasmus Hojlund but other than that, nothing to be happy about. Crystal Palace on the other hand were very patient and clinical in front of goal when they needed to be. Joachim Anderson scored a spectacular goal to put the Eagles in front, Eberechi Eze whipped his free kick into the box, with nobody getting on the end of it. Poor defending by the home side led to the ball going all the way through the box and finding Anderson at the back post who hammered the ball past Onana on the half-volley.

Crystal Palace remained disciplined in the second half in order to hold onto their narrow advantage. United lacked rhythm and belief which lead to them to defeat, they just couldn't get going from the first whistle. Erik Ten Hag's side have now suffered four defeats in their last six games.

Newcastle's solid display sees off the Clarets (Newcastle 2-0 Burnley)

Newcastle had a shaky start to the game, Dan Burn's slip almost caused them to go 1-0 down very early on however Nick Pope prevented that from happening. The home side responded perfectly from that point onwards, Miguel Almiron was a key part of that with his exquisite finish into the top corner, the Paraguayan found half a yard on the edge of the box and fired the ball into the top left corner. That was the only goal of the half and a deserved one at that, Newcastle had been the better side but Burnley were still in it.

Alexander Isak put the game beyond reach for Burnley from the penalty spot, the Magpies showed a solid display to earn three points and saw the game out easily against Vincent Kompany's struggled Burnley squad. Newcastle are now unbeaten in their last five games.

Sheffield United remain bottom after West Ham defeat (West Ham 2-0 Sheffield United)

Two goals in 13 minutes did the trick in London, Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek helped West Ham to victory with their goals, Jarrod Bowen finished a Hammers beautiful move, tucking the ball away past Foderingham. West Ham fans were shouting for a penalty as Michail Antonio was being held back in the box but quickly moved on a Bowen gave West Ham the lead. Soucek got the second and it was all Sheffield United own doing. Emerson picked up a stray pass and punished the Blades for their sloppiness. Antonio received the ball on the edge of the box and slotted through Soucek who did the rest. 2-0 West Ham at the break.

Sheffield United put in a lot of effort in the second half to get something out of the game but lacked quality in the final third to apply the finishing touch and get a goal, meaning they remain bottom of the Premier League. Sheffield United have another tough test against Fulham next week, West Ham take on high flying Newcastle at home.

Wolves shocked City to destroy their perfect record (Wolves 2-1 Manchester City)

Seeing Manchester City lose a game is a rare sight, to lose to a team who have only beaten Everton this season is almost unheard of. Nonetheless Wolves did just that, Ruben Dias put his teams perfect record under threat straight away as he conceded an own goal. He slid in to stop Pedro Neto's explosive run into the box and as a result turn the ball into his own net.

Man City got back on level terms in the second half as Julian Alvarez scored from a free kick, beating Jose Sa at his near post. Man City were then expected to get a foothold of the game and do what City do best: win games. However Hwang Hee-Chan, best known by Pep Guardiola as "the Korean guy" put Wolves back in front, sending the Moleniux ballistic. Wolves held on for the win against a dominant City side to see out the win.

Spurs come out on top in controversy filled game (Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool)

Tottenham vs Liverpool is always a great game and today was no different, filled with goals, red cards and plenty of controversy, an action packed affair that most love, but Liverpool fans today will certainly hate. Curtis Jones was sent off inside 25 minutes for his challenge on Yves Bissouma, shortly after Luis Diaz was ruled wrongly offside by VAR, meaning his goal was ruled out. Heung Min-Son put Spurs ahead, he finished off a good move, James Maddison carved open the Liverpool defence to find Richarlison, he cut the ball back to Son who doesnt miss those from close range. The score was all square at half time though, Cody Gakpo equalise for the Reds in the final action of the half.

Liverpool went down to nine men in the second half and had to send 20 minutes with every man behind the ball to try and hold on for a point. They did really well to defend the point for all that time and heartbreakingly conceded in the final moment of the game. Joel Matip scored an own goal in the sixth minute of additional time to gift Spurs all three points. This was Tottenham's first win against Liverpool since their 4-1 win in October 2017.

Stalemate at the City Ground (Nottingham Forest 1-1 Brentford)

Sunday's one and only game took place at the City Ground as Nottingham Forest took on Brentford. The home side started the brightest, Brentford on the other hand took time to get going but slowly played their way into the game. Overall it was goalless at half time.

Nottingham Forest's start to the second half was much worse as Moussa Niakhate was sent off for a reckless challenge on Yoane Wissa. Shortly after his dismissal Brentford took the lead via Norgaard. He met Jensen's delivery right on time and guided his header into the bottom corner. Nicolas Dominguez saved the home side from defeat with a brilliant looping header over Flekken who really should have done better in terms of jumping to tip the header over the bar. It was a dull first half but picked up massively in the second. Brentford will be happy with a point as it means they have avoided three consecutive defeats.

Mudryk and Broja get first Chelsea goals in comfortable win (Fulham 0-2 Chelsea)

Final game of the weekend saw two Chelsea players get their first goals for the club. Mykhailo Mudryk and Armando Broja scored 20 seconds between each other. Mudryk chested the ball down and slotted it under the opposing goalkeeper's legs, then second later Broja capitalised on a Fulham mistake to get his first goal for the club too. Long awaited goals for both players but they'll be happy to finally get off the mark. Fulham, however, were way off the pace.

Chelsea saw out the victory comfortably, very poor performance from Fulham who never really got going. Back to back blows from Chelsea were enough to beat their London rivals and return home with their second win of the season.

Written by Isabelle Newnham