Brentford (1) 3 v 2 (2) West Ham United
11 Maupay, assist Onyeka 19 Kudus, assist Antonio
55 Mavropanos (o.g.) 26 Bowen
69 Collins, assist Jensen
Referee Thomas Bramall Yellows: Ajer Emerson, Soucek, Fornals, Moyes (Manager)
Played Saturday 4 November 2023 at Gtech Community Stadium, attendance 17,103.
This match was entertainment from beginning to end. There was even slapstick comedy as West Ham United Manager David Moyes – booked himself – described their defending. Brentford took the lead. The Hammers equalized through Mohammed Kudus’ spectacular strike and then took the lead as Jarrod Bowen became the first Premier League (PL) player to score in each of the first 6 away matches of a season. An own goal early in the second half levelled things before Bees defender Nathan Collins scored his first ever Brentford goal for the win. That’s 14 Premier London Derbies (PLDs) matches unbeaten.
Tottenham Hotspur (1) 1 v 4 (1) Chelsea
6 Kulusevski, assist Sarr 35 Palmer (pen)
75 Jackson, assist Sterling
90+4 Jackson, assist Gallagher
90+7 Jackson, assist Ugochukwu
Yellows: Udogie x2=Red; Romero Red Colwill, Jackson, Gusto, Mudryk, Ugochukwu
Played Monday 6 November 2023, attendance 61,726, Referee Michael Oliver.
With an opening goal to Tottenham Hotspur after 6 minutes who would have thought this incident packed PLDs match would last 111? The first half was 55 minutes with all the VAR checks, but little was needed for the dangerous foul play tackle by Cristian Romero on compatriot Enzo Fernandes which led to his straight Red and Chelsea’s equalizing penalty. Spurs made things worse for themselves when defender Destiny Udogie’s second Yellow reduced them to 9 men on 55 minutes. They held out to the 75 -minute when The Blues Nicholas Jackson scored the first of his hat-trick completed in 90+7.
So Spurs disgraced themselves and slipped off the top-spot but there were no cries of “it’s a disgrace” nor demands to replay the match because the result wasn’t right. Manager Arne Postecoglou was booked but said that VAR was in danger of undermining the authority of the on-field officials whose decisions he respected.
The next PLDs match on 25 November 2023 is Brentford v Arsenal, so until then “Keep Safe” and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.