fbpx
Connect with us

Arsenal

Match of the Day running order revealed

The Match of the Day running order has been revealed ahead of the programme, and didn’t the opening weekend produce some surprises.

You can see the highlights of all of those played so far along with all the talking points, replays and analysis from 10:20pm on BBC One.

Presenter Gary Lineker will as always be joined by pundits Alan Shearer and Ian Wright who’ll no doubt will have a lot to rant about. If you miss the show, you can view it over on the BBC iPlayer at any time on most devices.

1) FULHAM v LIVERPOOL

Liverpool twice come from behind to secure point with newly-promoted Fulham at Craven Cottage; Aleksandar Mitrovic scores both goals for hosts as Darwin Nunez opens his Premier League account as second-half substitute

Player ratings:

Fulham: Rodak (7), Tete (7), Adarabioyo (6), Ream (7), Robinson (7), Reed (7), Joao Palhinha (8), Reid (6), Andreas Pereira (8), Kebano (7), Mitrovic (9).

Subs: Solomon (6), Duffy (n/a), Cairney (n/a).

Liverpool: Alisson (6), Alexander-Arnold (5), Matip (6), van Dijk (6), Robertson (7), Henderson (6), Fabinho (6), Thiago (5), Salah (7), Firmino (5), Diaz (7).

Subs: Milner (6), Elliott (6), Nunez (8), Carvalho (6).

Man of the match: Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Fulham boss Marco Silva told BT Sport: “We have to respect Liverpool but of course do our job and trust ourselves, we did a great first half, almost perfect the way we controlled and blocked. Second half we matched them every time.

“I know the quality Mitrovic has and I’m here to take the best from my players, Mitrovic is not just goals, he puts on the constant pressure and the overall job he did is fantastic.”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp: “We started in exactly the opposite way that we wanted. We had to break lines but we played into their hands. We didn’t find a way into the game and then we were overplaying.

“We are used to more dominance but we couldn’t get that as we weren’t quick or precise enough. The best thing about this game is the result so I’m fine with the point.

“I’m happy for the punishment we got. We could’ve lost three points but in the end, we lost two.

“The performance was a defeat, the result wasn’t. We have to learn from what happened today, but I don’t want to take anything away from Fulham. They did really well. The truth is we played a really bad game and got a point.

“It’s my responsibility to find out why we played a really good game against City and then we play seven days later a game which is completely upside down. It’s up to me to find out why.”

On Thiago’s injury: “It’s clear we said we don’t need a midfielder as we have enough. Now we have been punished for something which is not our responsibility. There’s nothing we could do about this. Naby [Keita] is ill and maybe he’ll be back next week. With Thiago, it’s not good but we will see. A transfer must make sense, now and in the long-term.

“We still have eight midfielders, just some of them are injured at the moment. It’s not a good decision at all, but we won’t panic.”


2) TOTTENHAM v SOUTHAMPTON

Spurs begin the new Premier League season with a comfortable 4-1 home win over Southampton; James Ward-Prowse had given Saints the lead but Spurs responded with goals from Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier, Dejan Kulusevski and a Mohammed Salisu own goal

Perisic, Bissouma and Lenglet were brought on in the second half, but when questioned why he did not start the new signings, Conte explained: “I’m not surprised because I think I used common sense.

“In this moment we are starting the new season and the old players reached a big achievement last season to get a place in the Champions League. In the last 10 games, I think we played really well and we had fantastic results.

“My message was very clear. I trust a lot in the old players and in this moment they are more reliable than the new players because they need to continue to work with us and to implement their football knowledge.

“With the old players, I am a step forward than the new players. For this reason, I prefer to count on the old players. I think that it was right after this game and the final result.

“But I am really happy because we have new signings who will go into our process and they will help us to improve but at the same time they have to know that they have to fight and give me the possibility to rotate.

“Now we are going to play one game in a week, but in September we start to play every three days and for sure I have to rotate. It’s important for a club like Tottenham to not drop the level or drop the quality when rotating.

“I think it was the first target and I was very clear with the club and the club totally agreed with me.”


3) NEWCASTLE v NOTT’M FOREST

Newcastle get off the mark with a convincing 2-0 win against Nottingham Forest; Fabian Schar’s stunning strike saw the Magpies ahead; Callum Wilson’s clever finish added a second; Forest had no shots on target at St James’ Park

Player ratings

Newcastle: Pope (6), Trippier (7), Targett (7), Schar (7), Burn (7), Guimaraes (8), Willock (7), Almiron (7), Saint-Maximin (7), Wilson (7), Joelinton (8).

Subs used: Longstaff (n/a), Fraser (n/a), Murphy (n/a), Wood (n/a), Botman (n/a).

Nottingham Forest: Henderson (7), Williams (6), Niakhate (7), McKenna (6), Worrall (6), Toffolo (5), O’Brien (5), Colback (6), Lingard (5), Johnson (5), Surridge (5).

Subs: Awoniyi (5), Mangala (5), Mighten (n/a).

Man of the match: Bruno Guimaraes.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe: “I’m feeling very positive after watching that. The players were excellent, we delivered what we wanted to. Full credit to them physically for the effort it took to win that match. It was a huge shift from the player. It was a performance of real promise from us today.

“I know we need to be better. I’m always going to push the players for more and I said that at half-time. We delivered a very good display up until the last action. The good thing was we had created chances, some great moves and great moments. There were really positive signs for what can be this season.

“But we need to be more ruthless because we know how difficult this league is and how a game can swing in a moment. We got there in the end today and the scoreline is great for us today, but it was quite tight.

“The performance was missing the icing on the cake and Fabian bought that with the strike. When he was lining up to hit it, I was questioning his decision and then I saw it hit the net and I was delighted he made that call. He’s capable of the unexpected, he’s an unconventional centre-half, he’s technically so good. It was a great strike.

“What a finish from Callum. I’ve only seen it once live, I don’t know how he managed to get the spin on the ball and the angle to take it in. but that’s what he’s capable of. He lives for scoring goals, he was very good during pre-season and he’s taken that form into this game today.”

Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper: “We were second best, there’s no doubt about that. Newcastle looked like a good team today. At times, we coped with it OK in terms of the possession they had and the territory, but we didn’t play well enough with the ball. You could see that with the two goals.

“In the end, we turned the ball over a little cheaply, not completely believing in how we want to play. That’s given them even more momentum than they already had.

“There were some good bits of our defensive play, certainly in and around the box. They had loads of the ball and got into some really good areas, but we stayed compact, progressive in our defending, going up to the ball and showing them into areas.

“But what wasn’t at the level today was when we won the ball, there were too many turnovers and we didn’t play quick enough and didn’t give ourselves a chance to get any momentum in the game.

“That was the striking thing today. Many will ask what was the difference with playing our first Premier League game and for me, it was the intensity of the press from Newcastle and how we need to move the ball quicker. They’re the things we have to learn from today.

“We haven’t played great today with the ball, but I believe in these players and the way we play. We’ve won a lot of games, admittedly in a different league last year, but we need to believe in it and take it into these games. Nothing has been decided today.

“Of course, we need to make more additions and keep growing the team and believing in what we do. But we’re not looking too far ahead. we’ve felt our first game in the Premier League, we need to reflect and learn from it quickly, but we stick to the plan. We’ll get back to the training ground and look forward to the next game.”


4) BOURNEMOUTH v ASTON VILLA

Jefferson Lerma fired home Bournemouth’s opener in the second minute; Kieffer Moore scored his first Premier League goal to round off the scoring in the second half; Steven Gerrard criticised Aston Villa for a “lack of quality”

Player ratings

Bournemouth: Travers (7), A.Smith (6), Lerma (8), Mepham (8), Kelly (9), Zemura (7), Pearson (8), Billing (7), Tavernier (9), Moore (9), Solanke (9).

Subs: L.Cook (6), Christie (n/a), Stanislas (n/a)

Aston Villa: Martinez (6), Digne (5), Carlos (5), Konsa (5), Cash (6), Ramsey (6), Kamara (6), McGinn (6), Coutinho (6), Ings (5), Bailey (5).

Subs: Buendia (5), Watkins (6), Archer (n/a), Luiz (n/a)

Man of the match: Marcus Tavernier

“We can’t have any complaints,” Gerrard said. “Two goals conceded from set-plays. We had a lot of possession, but we’ve suffered from a lack of quality. I thought Bournemouth defended extremely well but we allowed them to be in a low block early on.

“Our quality was off. We never crossed the ball well enough, we never showed enough invention. We put all our attacking quality on the pitch but we couldn’t find the answers. Small changes might be the difference, we’ll look at that. We tried to put more invention onto the pitch. After the break it felt like it was improving but then we conceded the sucker punch and the game is over.

Assessing Moore’s goal to kill the tie, he added: “They get the first contact in the area, it’s a free header in the middle of our goal. Across the 90 minutes we never had enough quality in the final third. It’s not fine margins, that’s disrespectful to Bournemouth and an easy out for me. We need to improve. The obvious thing to take away is that we need better quality in the final third.

“We ran hard, we gave a lot today. I don’t feel we need another game to get up to speed, it was a lack of quality today. It’s glaringly obvious where we went wrong. Our performance from box to box was okay, but we weren’t creative enough. We were way off.

“We shot ourselves in the foot by conceding a sloppy second goal. We had the talent on the pitch but our quality was just off today.”

When quizzed about Bournemouth’s position as one of the favourites to be relegated at the end of the season, manager Scott Parker replied with a hopeful message.

“We’re going to do our best to change that narrative,” the 41-year-old commented, following a confidence-boosting return to the first tier of English football.

“Firstly, the result was good,” he began. “It wasn’t key for me today. They key thing was performance and us understanding what we need to bring to every game in the Premier League.

“Us taking our chance and showing a real passion and a desire and commitment. I was very proud of the team in that sense. A long hard road to get to this point. We need to take that fight and spirit we showed today into every game. We worked hard on our set plays in pre-season, so it was pleasing we executed that well.

“They’ve taken every bit of detail and information; crisis defending at times, we needed some bodies on the line. Then a real intelligence, we were clever and managed the game well. We managed to be progressive. It’s still really early stages but overall I’m pleased.

“This is a young side. The message I keep saying to this group is we have to take this chance. We’re a newly promoted team, we’re going into the hardest most financed league in the world. We know the challenge. We need to show our physicality, we need to be horrible to play against. I want people to know that when they come here they are in for a tough afternoon. If they take points away they have to earn them. Coming here needs to be uncomfortable. Teams need to know that they’ve been in a game.

“We’re trying to change the narrative. It’s down to us to change it over the course of time. I don’t pay much attention to what is being written but I understand it. We’re going to do our best to change that narrative.”


5) LEEDS v WOLVES

Leeds come from behind to beat Wolves 2-1 on the opening weekend of the Premier League season; Rodrigo levelled for Leeds after Daniel Podence’s early opener; Rayan Ait-Nouri’s own goal completed Leeds’ turnaround at Elland Road.

Player ratings:

Leeds: Meslier (7), Kristensen (8), Koch (7), Llorente (6), Struijk (6), Roca (7), Adams (7), Aaronson (8), Rodrigo (7), Harrison (7), Bamford (7).

Subs: Klich (6), Greenwood (6), Gelhardt (N/A), Summerville (N/A)

Wolves: Sa (4), Jonny (6), Collins (6), Kilman (7), Ait-Nouri (6), Dendoncker (7), Neves (7), Neto (7), Gibbs-White (6) Podence (7) Hwang (7).

Subs: Campbell (N/A)

Man of the match: Aaronson

Leeds head coach Jesse Marsch: It was easier than some of our matches last season when we had to wait until the last seconds of the match. It was a good football match, it was a high speed of play from both sides.

“We did quite well with and against the ball. First half, I was really pleased with our performance, and [we were] a little bit unlucky not to come in at half-time with more.

“Wolves pushed the game in a big way at the start of the second half, and we had to hang on and fight. One thing I was really pleased with was the performances of the guys off the bench, and helped us get the three points in the match.

“The work has been really good in pre-season, and we are adapting more to the way that I would like to see us play the game, and in moments like this, you need validation. If you play a good match, but you don’t get the points it can be an important learning moment, but it’s not as positive feedback as when you get the win.

“We didn’t win a lot of games here at Elland Road last season, so to start on the right foot with a good performance and an important three points will help us.”

Wolves head coach Bruno Lage: “I’m happy with the performance and disappointed with the result. We came here with big confidence because the pre-season was good, we have confidence to play in this system,” said Lage.

“We did well, scored and conceded a strange goal, and had three or four good chances to score in the first half. The second half was our best period, we had 20 or 30 minutes where we dominated. We didn’t score, and Leeds scored. We are confident that we are playing in the right way, and confident that my team can play in two systems.

“They played in the way we wanted to play, so I am proud of them.”

Asked if the formation change helped Wolves to dominate the game, he added: “It’s not about the system, it’s about the way we want to play. We want to play with the ball, and there are plenty of games in the previous season that we don’t dominate the game in the same way.

“That’s the culture we need to have, no matter what the system, we need to dominate the game with the ball. It’s not just about the ball, it is about being aggressive in the final third to find chances.”


6) EVERTON v CHELSEA

Jorginho converts penalty after Abdoulaye Doucoure foul on Ben Chilwell to give Chelsea 1-0 win over Everton, for the first victory at Goodison Park since 2017; Demarai Gray, Doucoure go closest for hosts

Everton manager Frank Lampard, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: “I thought we played well against a tough opponent. I thought the penalty was the only difference between the teams. One tiny lack of focus and they got their goal. I felt a draw would be a fair result.

“We’ve got no number nine so we had to be constantly mobile. That’s a big ask on the first day of the season. I thought we did it OK today against a team of Chelsea’s level. I thought we created them a lot of problems. I don’t want to criticise the team too much because the mobility was good.

“We want to have a couple more options. We’re all moving in that direction. Dominic [Calvert-Lewin]’s not going to be out forever. We’ve lost Richarlison. One player is being finalised as we speak. I don’t want to stand here and say it’s done, but we’re very close.”

On Ben Godfrey’s injury: “It feels like it’s a small facture, lower down. We’re assessing it. It looks like he’s going to be out for a while. We had a bit of that last season unfortunately. We’ll have to get through that.”

On Everton’s debutants: “[Nathan Patterson] was confident and positive in his play. He’s going to get a lot better. Tarky was great – calm and confident on the ball and he stood out like he did in pre-season.”

7) CRYSTAL PALACE v ARSENAL

 Arsenal deliver on their pre-season promise at Selhurst Park; Gabriel Martinelli and a Marc Guehi own goal was enough for the points against Crystal Palace in Premier League opener

Player ratings

Palace: Guaita (6), Clyne (7), Andersen (7), Guehi (6), Mitchell (6), Doucoure (6), Schlupp (6), Eze (5), Ayew (7), Zaha (7), Edouard (6)

Subs: Mateta (6), Milivojovic (6), Hughes (6)

Arsenal: Ramsdale (8), White (6), Saliba (8), Gabriel (8), Zinchenko (7), Partey (7), Xhaka (7), Saka (8), Odegaard (7), Martinelli (7), Jesus (8)

Subs: Tierney (7), Nketiah (6), Lokonga (6)

Man of the Match: William Saliba

Arsenal boss MIkel Arteta said: “I’m really pleased with winning, getting the three points and a clean sheet against a really difficult opponent in a tough place where they really got their people going. As we expected we were going to have tough periods during the match, but we showed great resilience to get through them.

“You need the right balance because if you come short in terms of physicality in this game, you’re going to be exposed. To have players at the back of the right size is really important in these kinds of matches. That’s the resilience we need to win football matches and see them through. Aaron Ramsdale did incredibly well from the one-on-one and won the game for us.”

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira to Sky Sports: “We created two really good chances to score and we didn’t take them. In this game, you get punished really hard. Of course I’m disappointed because we could have scored, even if we didn’t create much.

“Football is about trying to score goals and we played against a good side. It’s really difficult to control the game against teams that have really good players. We had the ball, we had situations but we didn’t create very much. In the key moments, we didn’t score to lift the crowd and build momentum. That is something we have to work on.”

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in Arsenal