Brentford (0) 1 v 1 (0) Crystal Palace
90+6 Vitaly Janelt, assist Bryan Mbuemo 69 Eberechi Eze, assist Michel Olise
Yellows: Norgaard Andersen, Ayew
Ref. Paul Tierney
Played Saturday 18 February 2023 at Brentford Community Stadium, attendance 17,122.
A very late goal by Brentford earned them a point and kept their unbeaten run going to 11 Premier League (PL) matches in this latest Premier London Derbies (PLDs) fixture. For their part Crystal Palace will rue not adding to their single goal on 69 minutes, but in truth the first half had been pretty aimless, and the second not much more for either side.
Tottenham Hotspur (0) 2 v 0 (0) West Ham United
56 Emerson Royal, assist Ben Davies
72 Son Heung-min, assist Harry Kane
Yellows: Skipp, Perisic Antonio
Played Sunday 19 February 2023 at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, attendance 61,725.
This match was altogether a brisker affair, with a first half in which Spurs and The Hammers went toe-to-toe, and the visitors had the better early chances. The Lilywhites’ breakthrough came early in the second half when Ben Davies picked up a through ball out of deep midfield from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and moved it on to fellow wing-back Emerson Royal who finished cooly. After that it was the old one-two of Harry Kane releasing Son Heung-min for the South Korean to score his 140th Spurs goal and 98th for them in the PL, one more than Teddy Sheringham’s 97, but a lot less than Harry Kane’s 200!
Neither match was influenced by controversial VAR decisions. We are told that Lee Mason, the VAR Official, who in the words of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) organisation made ‘a human error’ in the Arsenal v Brentford PLDs match on 11 February has left the PGMOL ‘by mutual consent’. The Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is quoted as saying ‘That wasn’t a human error. That was not conceiving and understanding your job.’ As long as there are human beings interacting with fellow human beings in professional roles there will be human errors.
The next PLDs match brings together the old foes Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea on Sunday 26 February 2023. There have been 4 away and 2 home wins in the last 6 seasons of this often feisty fixture. May there be more than 3 points at stake? What if neither head coach Graham Potter nor Antonio Conte were here next season for whatever reasons? Who would get Mauricio Pochettino?
Finally, Football lost one of its finest and fairest commentators on Thursday 23 February 2023 with the death of John Motson. He had seen and described it all. Remember him.
Until next time, ‘Remember Ukraine’, and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.