#PLStories September 30th 2023 – VAR robs Liverpool, Champions finally defeated and Erik Ten Haag gets booed at home

In an unfortunate turn of events for Liverpool, they experienced VAR injustice when they were defeated by a resurgent Tottenham Hotspur in late stoppage time, with the winning goal being an own goal by Joel Matip. This Premier League encounter was filled with controversy and drama, as Liverpool found themselves reduced to nine men due to two controversial red cards. The first red card was shown to Curtis Jones after a VAR intervention, while Diogo Jota followed him off the pitch after picking up two quick bookings. In a game where Liverpool felt a strong sense of injustice, they had a goal by Luis Diaz ruled out due to another controversial VAR decision, with officials quickly deeming the Colombian offside without displaying the customary offside line graphics. The PGMOL later acknowledged a “significant human error” and called the decision to disallow Diaz’s goal a “clear and obvious factual error.” Despite being down to nine men, Liverpool organized themselves in a 5-3-0 formation, relying on goalkeeper Alisson as their last line of defense to keep Spurs at bay.

Meanwhile, Manchester City’s unbeaten Premier League record came to an end at the hands of Wolves, who secured a shock victory with Hwang Hee-chan scoring the winning goal in the second half.

West Ham celebrated David Moyes’ 900th league game as a manager by defeating struggling Sheffield United. Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek were among the goal-scorers, securing a victory for West Ham and leaving Sheffield United at the bottom of the table.

Newcastle secured a comfortable win against Burnley, with Miguel Almiron scoring a brilliant long-range strike and Alexander Isak adding another goal from the penalty spot.

Crystal Palace delivered an unexpected defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, extending Roy Hodgson’s unbeaten run at the stadium to five successive games. Manchester United dominated possession but failed to secure three points, while Palace defended well and capitalized on their chances.

Luton Town secured their historic first Premier League victory by defeating Everton at Goodison Park. Despite Everton’s early dominance, Luton held out and scored two fortuitous goals, leaving Everton and their prospective new owners disappointed.

Arsenal comfortably beat winless Bournemouth, with Kai Havertz scoring his first goal for the Gunners from the penalty spot. Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard also found the net in a comprehensive victory.

Aston Villa displayed a dominant performance, thrashing high-flying Brighton with Ollie Watkins scoring a hat-trick. Villa’s counter-attacks exposed Brighton’s vulnerabilities, with Watkins delivering a standout performance in front of England manager Gareth Southgate.

Brighton had a challenging afternoon, conceding six goals in a single top-flight game for the first time, leaving manager Roberto de Zerbi with much to ponder.

This week’s Premier League matches provided a mix of excitement, controversy, and surprises, making it another thrilling chapter in the ongoing football season.

VAR Injustice to Liverpool as 9 man Liverpool get defeated by Resurgent Spurs in late stoppage time through Matip own goal

Joel Matip’s own goal deep into stoppage time gave Tottenham Hotspur victory over nine-man Liverpool in an eventful and contentious Premier League encounter. The Reds were compromised by two controversial red cards, the first given to Curtis Jones for a foul on Yves Bissouma after just 26 minutes following a VAR intervention, before half-time substitute Diogo Jota followed him down the tunnel with more than 20 minutes remaining after picking up a quickfire double booking. In a game in which the Reds were clearly nursing a sense of injustice, they had an opening goal by Luis Diaz ruled out by another controversial VAR decision, as the officials quickly ruled the Colombian offside without showing the customary offside line graphics. PGMOL has since issued a statement admitting that a “significant human error” took place, calling the decision to rule out Diaz’s goal “a clear and obvious factual error”. Liverpool sense of injustice will have felt even more acute given the manner in which they organized themselves in a 5-3-0 formation, with a world-class last line of defence in keeper Alisson, to keep Spurs at arm’s length once they were down to nine men.

Manchester City’s 100% Premier League record came to an end at Molineux as Hwang Hee-chan scored a second-half winner to give Wolves a shock victory against the champions.

City manager Pep Guardiola, forced to watch from the stands as he served a one-match touchline ban, was unable to intervene as his side failed to take control in their usual manner and free-scoring striker Erling Haaland was limited to a single chance. Still, it did seem as though the visitors were on course to emerge victorious after Julian Alvarez curled home a brilliant free-kick to level Ruben Dias’ early own goal. But, just as Pedro Neto had gone on a right-wing raid before the opener, Nelson Semedo’s forward surge inspired a second for Wolves, who ended a run of six straight defeats against City. City have now gone behind four times in their last five matches and have now lost successive games for the first time since January following their midweek defeat to Newcastle in the EFL Cup.

West Ham marked David Moyes’ 900th league game as a manager by heaping more pain on struggling Sheffield United.

Jarrod Bowen swept home his fifth goal in seven Premier League games this season to put the Hammers ahead before Tomas Soucek squeezed home their second despite heavy pressure.Victory gets the Hammers back on track after successive defeats by Manchester City and Liverpool as they stay seventh, while the Blades remain bottom with just one point from seven games.Soucek side-footed over a golden early chance, while Blades keeper Wes Foderingham saved a Bowen header and Nayef Aguerd’s follow-up was cleared off the line, while Michail Antonio also curled just wide. Oli McBurnie scuffed wide for the visitors just after the Hammers’ second and although the Blades improved after the break, Alphonse Areola only had one save of note to make from Anel Ahmedhodzic’s close-range header.Hammers boss Moyes passed 25 years in management back in January, having made his debut in the dugout with Preston in 1998. The scars from the Magpies mauling will fade in time – and this was a step towards that – but they remain without a clean sheet since promotion and face a hugely important trip to Fulham in a week’s time given Manchester United and Arsenal are their subsequent two opponents.

Newcastle comfortably beat a Burnley side who remain in search of their first Premier League win of the season.

The Clarets had started the game strongly with an early chance for Zeki Amdouni, but Almiron’s strike took the wind out of their sails and Vincent Kompany’s men rarely threatened Nick Pope’s goal after.Miguel Almiron put Eddie Howe’s side ahead against the run of play on 14 minutes with a brilliant long-range strike into the top corner. The Magpies grew into the game and dominated throughout both halves, with Elliot Anderson, Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak all coming close. The hosts eventually doubled their lead 15 minutes from time when Isak found the bottom-right corner from the penalty spot after Gordon was brought down by Ameen Al-Dakhil. One negative from the afternoon for Howe will be the withdrawal of Joelinton, who was taken off just four minutes after his second-half introduction on his return from a knee injury after pulling his hamstring when chasing a ball over the top of the Burnley defence.With Harvey Barnes out for three months with a foot injury, first-team regulars Callum Wilson and Sven Botman were also missing for the visit of Burnley. The Clarets have failed to score in three of their six games since their top-flight return, with only Everton failing to score in more this campaign. The problems in front of goal were not helped by the absence of joint top scorer Lyle Foster, who completed his three-match ban. Kompany will be boosted by his return for Tuesday’s huge game at the foot of the table against Luton.

Erik ten Hag concerned by worst Premier League start for Manchester United as Crystal Palace defeats United in their backyard

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has found a way to get results at Old Trafford, with this win extending his unbeaten run there to five successive games. Manchester United did not do enough to deserve the three points, despite dominating possession. The defeat was all the more frustrating for Manchester United after recent results had suggested they were heading in the right direction. They beat Burnley in the Premier League last weekend and then followed that up with a comfortable win against Palace in the Carabao Cup at Old Trafford on Tuesday. But Palace were a different proposition on Saturday, helped by the return of several first-team players who were rested midweek. They defended superbly and made the most of their few chances. In contrast, Manchester United were wasteful in the final third and became increasingly frustrated against their well-organised opponents.

Luton Town claimed a historic first Premier League victory by shocking forlorn Everton at Goodison Park.

Luton were promoted via the Championship play-offs last season and had collected a single point from their opening five top-flight games but resisted an Everton fightback to take home all three points. They showed signs that they may be far more than also-rans this term. There were joyous scenes at full-time as the Luton players and staff went over to the travelling supporters in their corner of the stadium, where they were serenaded by chants lauding manager Rob Edwards and their prospects of remaining in the division. The hosts were the better side early on, and winger Dwight McNeil fired a volley narrowly wide before each of James Garner, Idrissa Gueye and Amadou Onana failed to hit the target from promising positions. Luton held out before taking a shock lead in fortuitous circumstances when Carlton Morris’ header rattled the crossbar and, as Ashley Young looked to clear, the ball cannoned off captain Tom Lockyer and into the net. The Hatters were in dreamland when they doubled their lead as Morris kept his composure to side-foot in a volley from Alfie Doughty’s free-kick having been left unmarked at the back post. Everton had prospective new owners 777 Partners watching on from the stands, as the Miami-based investment firm looks to complete a deal to take over the club from current owner Farhad Moshiri. But co-founders Josh Wander and Steven Pasko, as well as manager Sean Dyche and his players, will have left Goodison Park wondering how they have lost a game they largely dominated.

Kai Havertz scored his first goal for Arsenal with a penalty as they comfortably beat winless Bournemouth in the Premier League at Vitality Stadium.

Havertz, who has struggled since arriving from Chelsea in the summer, converted the second of two Gunners penalties to ensure their third consecutive away victory. Bukayo Saka opened the scoring, heading in the rebound from Gabriel Jesus’ effort and Martin Odegaard scored a penalty to give Mikel Arteta’s side a comfortable lead at the break. The Gunners’ dominance continued into the second half, and after Havertz scored, Ben White headed home from Odegaard’s free-kick in added time to add gloss to a comprehensive victory. Bournemouth drop into the bottom three, with no wins from their first seven league matches under new manager Andoni Iraola.Bournemouth’s chances were few and far between in a mainly one-sided contest. Dominic Solanke was through on goal but William Saliba made a vital interception to stop the shot. Ryan Christie had an effort just before the break but it was comfortably gathered by David Raya, who now has three cleans sheets in four games.Bournemouth have scored just once in their four home league games this season – and that came in their season opener against West Ham in August. The hosts did not present much of a challenge as Arsenal recorded a routine away win.

Ollie Watkins scored his second hat-trick of the season as Aston Villa delivered a ruthless display to thrash high-flying Brighton at Villa Park.

Both teams were knocked out of the Carabao Cup in midweek, Villa losing at 2-1 home to Everton and Brighton going down 1-0 at Chelsea. That was Villa’s first home defeat since February, but Emery’s team delivered the perfect response as they repeatedly tore into the Seagulls, ruthlessly exposing the visitors’ vulnerability on the counter-attack. Watkins, who had scored just once in his past 12 league outings prior to last weekend’s winner at Chelsea, was a constant threat and could have had a hat-trick in the first half – but sent a fierce effort agonisingly wide of the far post with the score still 1-0. There was an element of fortune about the forward’s third of the match, which struck Webster and looped high into the Brighton net, but it was no more than the former Brentford man deserved after a scintillating performance in front of watching England manager Gareth Southgate. The 27-year-old has now scored in each of his past four Premier League appearances against Brighton – only Sergio Aguero, Jamie Vardy and Phil Foden had previously found the net in four successive top-flight appearances against the Seagulls. Ramsey added a fifth with a curling, right-footed shot from the corner of the penalty area, before Douglas Luiz pounced on a rebound from Watkins’ saved effort to complete the rout deep into added time. This was Villa’s 10th home league win in a row – their best run since registering 13 home league victories in succession 40 years ago. Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi was linked with the Real Madrid manager’s job in midweek but this was a sobering afternoon for his side, who could have taken an early lead through Estupinan but were second best from the moment Watkins broke the deadlock after 14 minutes. Brighton may feel aggrieved by Villa’s second and third goals. Nicolo Zaniolo was in an offside position when the ball left Watkins’ boot for 2-0, but the video assistant referee ruled the winger was not obstructing Steele’s line of vision and the goal was given. The home side’s third was also allowed to stand after Solly March had been caught by the falling Douglas Luiz in the build-up, but the half-time scoreline did not flatter Emery’s team in the slightest. De Zerbi’s half-time introduction of Fati, Joao Pedro and Tariq Lamptey paid immediate dividends as the Barcelona loanee bundled home his first goal for the club, but the effort failed to spark a second half revival as Villa went on to rub further salt into the visitors’ wounds. This was the first time Brighton conceded six goals in a single top-flight game – and the first time in any league match since a 6-0 defeat by West Ham in the Championship in April 2012.