Crystal Palace (2) 3 v 1 (1) Brentford
14 Olise, assist Ayew 2 Lewis-Potter, assist Roerslev
39 Eze, assist Mitchell
59 Olise, assist Guehi
Yellows: No one Ghoddos Referee: R Jones
Played Saturday 30 December 2023 at Selhurst Park, attendance 25,472.
Crystal Palace’s win was their first in 9 matches at the expense of Brentford for whom this was a 5th defeat in a row. The Bees were very quick off the blocks with a goal after 2 minutes, but the skills of The Eagles’ Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze, the natural heirs to Wilfried Zaha, won this Premier London Derby (PLDs) match. Credit to all players, Managers Roy Hodgson and Thomas Frank, and Referee R Jones that there was only one booking and no Red Card in this game with so much at stake. May it be so in 2024 for all Clubs.
Fulham (1) 2 v 1 (1) Arsenal
29 Jimenez, assist Cairney 5 Saka
59 Decordova-Reid
Yellows: Cairney, Bassey, Leno, Jimenez Saliba Referee: J Smith
Fulham completed a “topsy-turvey” run of games in which they scored 5 twice but then lost 3 in a row with a good PLDs win over Arsenal. The Gunners scored early when Bukayo Saka picked up a rebound close to goal, but then did not win a corner-kick until the 78th minute. In between Fulham scored twice, the winner coming from a corner-kick which was not cleared. The Cottagers ran harder and were always more competitive, perhaps reflected in their 4 bookings compared to the visitors’ one. Arsenal ended the year 2023 in 4th place, 5 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool whom they meet in the FA Cup 3rd Round at The Emirates on Sunday 7 January 2024! That is all for PLDs matches until Saturday 13 January 2024 when it is Chelsea v Fulham.
Until then “Keep Safe” and Happy New Year 2024, Andrew at PLDs.