Fulham (1) 1 v 1 (0) West Ham United
26 Jimenez, assist Smith Rowe 90+5 Ings, assist Bowen
Yellows: Nelson, Lukic Soler, Alvarez, Rodriguez
Played Saturday 14 September at Craven Cottage, attendance 26,528.
This hard-fought Premier London Derbies (PLDs) match produced one goal for each side which were scored in similar ways. In the first half Fulham’s new signing Emile Smith Rowe from across London went the extra yards to skilfully keep alive an otherwise lost cause pulling the ball back for Raul Jimenez to score. Then right at the death of the game West Ham United’s Captain Jarrod Bowen did the same for his side cutting the ball back to much travelled Danny Ings to shoot home a sort of deserved equalizer.
Tottenham Hotspur (0) 0 v 1 (0) Arsenal
64 Gabriel Magalhaes
Yellows: Udogie, Bentancur, Vicario, Van de Ven, Kulusevski Saliba, Timber, Jorginho
Played Sunday 15 September at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, attendance 61,645.
This was an ill-tempered, high speed (at least for the first hour) North London Derby with the inevitable result. Spurs dominated the first 20 minutes, had 63.7% possession, and 15 shots but only 5 were on target. There was a nasty incident between Arsenal’s Timber and Lilywhites full-back Pedro Porro which spread to others with 8 bookings by Referee Jarrod Gillett. Even the ballboys got to pushing and shoving pre-kick-off! The winner was from a Bukayo Saka corner headed home by Gabriel who made sure he was unmarked. Spurs are already off the PL pace, and Achilles heal strikes again.
On Saturday 21 September it’s West Ham United v Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur v Brentford. The home sides both need to get their seasons going but their opponents have more points and are playing more consistently. Two more draws possible.
Until next time “Keep Safe” and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.