Game week 3 came with a few surprises, as some teams that are expected to easily beat their opponents struggled, while a few others cruised to victory. There were also VAR controversies and late referee decisions that changed the outcome of some games.
Saturday began with the early kick-off match between Chelsea vs. Fulham at the Stamford bridge. Two teams that have shared the same home before faced each other in an interesting match. With Chelsea trying to prove a point that they are back to the top of the food chain, Fulham tried to show Chelsea that they could still rival Chelsea, no matter how good the transfer market has been to Chelsea.
It didn't take long before the game started becoming interesting, as Fulham's youngster, King scored what he thought was his first goal for the senior team, only to see it chopped off by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). The reason is that King's teammate, Muniz, stomped the foot of Chelsea's Chalobah in the build-up to King's goal. A lot of persons criticized VAR's decision here, as they believe that despite the foul on Chalobah, the goal should have stood because it took away the youngster's opportunity to celebrate his first goal for Fulham.
Fulham's issues didn't end there, as Chelsea took the lead from a setpiece - Enzo Fernandez crossed a corner kick to the head of J. Pedro, who was able to direct the ball into the back of the net.
Chelsea later extended their lead as a cross into Fulham's penalty and struck the arm of a Fulham player. Enzo took the PK for Chelsea in Palmer's absence and scored by placing it at the middle of the post while Leno dove to his right, getting a slight touch of the ball with his feet.
The game ended, Chelsea 2-0 Fulham, with Chelsea sitting pretty at the top of the English Premier League table for now.
Other games were Tottenham 0-1 Bournemouth, Man Utd 3-2 Burnley, Sunderland 2-1 Brentford, Wolves 2-3 Everton, and Leeds 0-0 Newcastle.
It would have been a good start to FPL for me, but my gameweek was plagued with further injuries to my captain, Cunha, who scored just 2pts for me in total as my captain, and then Gudmundsson (my Cole Palmer's sub replacement) going off injured, after a scintillating performance and 9 pts. Evanilson scored the only goal against Tottenhan and gave me 8pts, while Petrovic kept a clean sheet but scored 5pts due to a yellow card. Cucurella scored 6pts, Van der ven scored 1 pt, and then Semenyo scored 2 pts.
For the Sunday fixtures, it was an opportunity for Mancity to get back to winning ways, and for Haaland to extend his goal tally but Brighton had other ideas. Mancity were expecting to come out victorious when Haaland scored the first goal from a Marmoush assist, taking Haaland to the top of the goal scoreres table with 3 goals in 3 games. Brighton's James Milner then equalized from the spot kick, making it 1-1. Mancity were expecting to get back to winning ways but it was Brighton that got their first victory of the new EPL season when Gruda dribbled, turned John Stones inside out, and put the ball into the back of the net, from a Mitoma assist. The game ended 2-1 in favour of Brighton. Mancity have now lost twice from 3 matches.
Nuno Espirito Santo has been in the news recently, but for unfavourable reasons. The owners of Nottingham Forest believe that his comments in the press lately are pointing towards disloyalty with the club. Their game against West ham did not make it any better, as West Ham piped Nottingham Forest 0-3, making it a first win for the hammers. Graham Potter has just bought himself some time, as Westham had been woeful prior to this match against Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool vs. Arsenal was a tight affair with both teams finishing 1st and 2nd last season. Both teams were technically and tactically sound. However, the home team eventually won the match with a spectacular Szobozlai free kick goal. Arsenal then tried to fetch a draw by bringing in Ebeerechi Eze, Odegaard, and Dowman but Liverpool were able to hold in to their lead.
Finally, the late kick-off: Aston Villa vs. Crystal Palace was another shocking affair because Villa hadn't won a game this season. The situation didn't get better for Villa, as it went from bad to worse. Crystal Palace beat Villa 0-3. For now, despite playing 3 Premier League games, Villa are yet to register a goal.
For my FPL team, things started getting sour immediately Cunha, my captain got injured in the first half and didn't register a goal or an assist. Watkins hasn't returned at all yet, and Villa couldn't keep a clean sheet. Probably it was due ti the absence of Emiliano Martinez. Maybe it's the beginning of the end for Villa.
I ended up scoring less than my predicted points. I scored 40 points and lost in my paid mini-league.
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