A Brilliant Brentford Debut While Champions City Defeated

The longest hiatus of any of my blogs comes to an end with the re-boot of this one starting with the 2021-22 Premier League opening weekend. 

Bees Sting The Gunners 

The season opener saw newly promoted Brentford stun Arsenal with a 2-0 win at the Brentford Community Stadium on Friday night. The Bees made history with their first ever Premier League goal coming from Sergi Canos on 22 minutes.

Their joy increased with a second strike on 73 minutes from Christian Norgaard and they held on to celebrate a first top flight win for 4 years. 

Manchester Win the Battle of the United's

Saturday's action began with a comfortable 5-1 opening victory for Manchester United against Leeds United at Old Trafford. A quiet first half saw the hosts take the lead with a Bruno Fernandes strike on the half hour. 

Leeds levelled four minutes after the interval through Luke Ayling before a eight minute spree from Man Utd saw Mason Greenwood score for 2-1 and Fernandes complete his hat-trick on the hour for 4-1. The win was wrapped up on 68 minutes as Fred made it 5-1 to send his side top of the table. 

Seagulls Fly High at Burnley

Brighton & Hove Albion opened with a win as they came from behind to win 2-1 against Burnley at Turf Moor. James Tarkowski gave the hosts the lead inside two minutes and they looked to be on the way to an opening win as the game entered the final 20 minutes. 

However, they were stunned by two goals in five minutes as Neal Maupay and Alexis Mac Allister both struck to complete the comeback and seal a 2-1 win. 

Chelsea Cruise Clips Eagles' Hopes 

Chelsea made a perfect start to the season with a comfortable 3-0 win against Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge. The Blues opened the scoring through Marcos Alonso on 27 minutes before Christian Pulisic doubled the advantage to 2-0 five minutes before half time. The win and the three points were sealed before the hour mark as Trevor Chalobah struck for 3-0. 

Toffees Stick It To Saints 

Everton came from behind to win 3-1 over Southampton at Goodison Park. The Saints struck an opener on 22 minutes through Adam Armstrong and held the narrow lead into half-time. 

The hosts pegged them back with a Richarlison strike two minutes after the restart before an Abdoulaye Doucoure effort put them ahead on 76 minutes. The Toffees' comeback was completed nine minutes from the end as Dominic Calvert-Lewin sealed a 3-1 win. 

Wolves Undone By Foxes

The new era at Wolverhampton Wanderers began with a 1-0 loss to Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. The crucial goal came four minutes before half-time as Jamie Vardy continued his good form from last season with the winning goal. 

Hornets Edge Villa In Thriller

Watford sealed a winning return to the league as they edged a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa at Vicarage Road. The hosts opened the scoring through Emmanuel Dennis inside ten minutes before Ismaila Sarr doubled the lead just before half-time. 

Cucho Hernandez Suarez put the hosts 3-0 up on 68 minutes but their lead soon became 3-1 as John McGinn got Villa off the mark and they set up a frantic finish with a Danny Ings penalty in added time but Watford held on for the victory. 

Rampant Reds Cruise Past Canaries

Norwich City failed to make it a perfect start for the promoted sides as they lost 3-0 to Liverpool at Carrow Road. The Reds struck an opener on 26 minutes through Diogo Jota before Roberto Firmino doubled the lead after the hour mark. The win and a piece of history were sealed on 74 minutes with Mohamed Salah's strike making it 3-0 and ensuring he scored in the opening game for five consecutive seasons. 

Magpies Halted By Hammers

West Ham United came from behind twice to seal a 4-2 opening win against Newcastle United at St James' Park. The hosts led inside five minutes courtesy of Callum Wilson's strike before Aaron Cresswell levelled on 18 minutes. 

Newcastle regained the lead just before half-time with Jacob Murphy's effort for 2-1 but were pegged back by Said Benrahma's equaliser for 2-2 before Tomas Soucek and Michail Antonio struck to complete the turnaround and seal the 4-2 win. 

Champions City Stunned By Spurs 

Manchester City's title defence suffered an early blow as they lost 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, The crucial goal came on 54 minutes as Son Heung-Min continued his good form to strike the winner for a 1-0 success. 

Further results from the early part of the season before work and offline life became a priority.

2019 Europa League/Champions League Final Reviews

The final games of the season saw two all-English finals beginning with the Europa League last Wednesday.

Chelsea eased to a second title in six seasons with a 4-1 win over fierce rivals Arsenal. The sides were level into half-time before ex-Gunners forward Olivier Giroud put the Blues 1-0 ahead on 49 minutes.

Pedro doubled the lead on the hour mark before an Eden Hazard penalty five minutes later look to have sealed the win at 3-0. Arsenal hit back with an effort from Alex Iwobi but it was sheer consolation as Hazard struck his second and Chelsea's fourth on 72 minutes to confirm the title would be heading to Stamford Bridge.

Saturday evening saw the Champions League final in which Liverpool claimed a 2-0 win to secure a sixth title over debuting finalists Tottenham Hotspur.

A perfect start for the Reds saw Mohamed Salan slotting them 1-0 ahead with a penalty inside just two minutes. The narrow lead remained into half-time and past the hour mark as the sides cancelled each other out in terms of attack.

Spurs hopes of forcing extra time were ended three minutes from the end as semi-final hero Divock Origi slotted into the bottom corner to confirm the title for Liverpool and seal a 2-0 victory, avenging their loss in last season's final.

2019 FA Cup Final Review

After Carabao Cup and Premier League success, Manchester City added the FA Cup to their trophy haul for the season with a record-equalling 6-0 win over Watford.

City led 2-0 at half-time after an opener from David Silva on 26 minutes was followed by a Gabriel Jesus strike eight minutes before the interval.

Watford's hopes were all but dashed by the hour as Kevin De Bruyne made it 3-0 and just seven minutes later its was a case of when rather then if City struck again with Jesus firing in for 4-0.

The rout was completed by a late brace from Raheem Sterling as he struck in the 81st and 87th minutes for 6-0, a scoreline that equals Bury's record of 1903. 

2019 Champions League/Europa League Semi Final Second Leg Reviews

After mixed results in the opening legs, it was two stunning second legs that set-up an all-English final in the Champions League.

Liverpool needed a miracle after a 3-0 loss in Barcelona and did just that with a superb 4-0 win to secure a trip to Madrid, winning 4-3 on aggregate.

Divock Origi fired the Reds 1-0 up (1-3 agg) inside seven minutes before two goals in as many minutes from half-time sub Georginio Wijnaldum made it 3-0 and levelled the tie at 3-3 on aggregate. Barcelona's miserable night at Anfield only got worse as quick thinking saw Origi slot in his second for 4-0 and complete the turnaround for a 4-3 aggregate win.

Wednesday night saw Tottenham Hotspur overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit to Ajax Amsterdam with a 3-2 win that ensured they advanced on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate. Ajax extended their overall lead with first half strikes from Matthijs De Ligt and Hakim Ziyech putting them 2-0 up and 3-0 ahead on aggregate. Tottenham fought back superbly as Lucas Moura struck twice in three minutes to level on the night at 2-2 (3-2 agg) before a last-gasp strike to complete his hat-trick stunned Ajax and sent Spurrs into the final on away goals.

For the first time ever, both European competitions will have a quarter of teams from the same country as the Europa League will also feature an all-English final.

Chelsea secured their spot in the final after a 1-1 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt saw the sides level at 2-2 on aggregate and resulted in the Blues winning 4-3 on pens. Ruben Loftus-Cheek made it 1-0 (2-1 agg) to Chelsea on 28 minutes before Luka Jovic levelled four minutes after half-time. The tie went into extra time but had then to be settled in a shootout with Chelsea winning 4-3.

Arsenal set-up an all-English final against their city rivals after claiming a 4-2 win over Valencia which saw them advance 7-3 on aggregate. The La Liga side opened the scoring through Kevin Gameiro on 11 minutes for 2-3 on agg but a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leveller six minutes later made it 1-1 and 2-4 on agg. Alexandre Lacazette put the Gunners 2-1 upon the night as they led 2-5 on agg but Gameiro struck again ti cut the gap before the hour. Valencia's hopes were ended by two further efforts from Aubameyang who completed his hat-trick late on for 4-2 and a huge 7-3 aggregate victory. 

2019 Champions League/Europa League Semi Final First Leg Reviews

The possibility of two all-English finals in European competition looks unlikely after mixed results in the first legs of the Champions League semi finals.

Tottenham Hotspur's hopes suffered a blow as they lost 1-0 to Ajax Amsterdam. The crucial strike came after just 15 minutes as Donny Van de Beek fired in to give Ajax what could be a valuable away goal.

Liverpool also will need to overturn a first leg loss as they went down 3-0 at Barcelona. Ex-Reds striker Luis Suarez put the hosts ahead on 26 minutes before two stunning strikes in seven minutes from Lionel Messi confirmed a 3-0 win with efforts coming on 75 and 82 minutes.

The English duo in the Europa League semi finals fared better in the first legs starting with Arsenal claiming a 3-1 win at home to La Liga side Valencia.

The Gunners suffered an early blow as Mouctar Diakhaby put the visitors ahead in the 11th minute but they fought back as Alexandre Lacazette struck an eight minute brace to level and put Arsenal 2-1 up before Pierre Aubameyang wrapped up the win late on.

Chelsea drew 1-1 away to Eintracht Frankfurt and will hold the advantage of an away goal into the second leg. Frankfurt opened the scoring through Luka Jovic on 23 minutes but the Blues hit back just before the interval as Pedto struck for 1-1 with what could be a vital away goal. 

2019 Europa League Quarter Final Second Leg Review

The Europa League quarter final second legs began with a seven goal thriller at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea edged out a 4-3 win over Slavia Prague to advance 5-3 on aggregate.

A rapid start from the Blues saw Pedro and Olivier Giroud strike either side of an unfortunate own goal for Simon Deli for a 3-0 lead and huge 4-0 aggregate advantage. Slavia cut the gap through Tomas Soucek before Pedro's second goal on 27 minutes looked to have wrapped up the tie at 4-1 (5-1 agg). The visitors had other ideas as a rapid brace from Petr Sevcik made it 4-3 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate but to no avail as Chelsea held on to advance.

Eintracht Frankfurt overturned a 4-2 first leg deficit with a 2-0 win over Benfica which saw the Germans advance on away goals after drawing 4-4 on aggregate. Filip Kostic made it 1-0 (3-4 agg) on 36 minutes before Sebastian Rode doubled the lead and levelled on aggregate in the 67th minute. Late drama saw Benfica denied a potential winner by Frankfurt 'keeper Kevin Trapp who's save ensured the Germans advanced on away goals.

Arsenal kept up the chances of an all English final as they reached the last four after a 1-0 win and 3-0 aggregate victory over Napoli.

The Gunners extended their 2-0 first leg advantage with Alexander Lacazette's 36th minute effort which proved to be enough to secure the win and a place in the last four.

They will meet Valencia who eased through 5-1 on aggregate after a 2-0 win over fellow La Liga side Villarreal.

'Toni Lato' put the hosts ahead on 13 minutes to make it 1-0 (3-1 agg)) before the win and advancement were secured by Daniel Parejo's 54th minute strike for 2-0 (5-1 agg) as they setup a tie with Arsenal in the last four.

2019 Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg Reviews

Manchester United's hopes of reaching the last four ended with a 3-0 loss at Barcelona with the Catalans advancing 4-0 on aggregate.

A brace from Lionel Messi in the 16th and 20th minutes left United with a huge task at 2-0 (3-0 agg) and their slim hopes were dashed on the hour as Philippe Coutinho wrapped up the tie at 3-0 (4-0 agg).

Ajax upset the odds with a famous 3-2 aggregate win over Juventus after a 2-1 victory in Turin.

Cristiano Ronaldo put Juve 1-0 up (2-1 agg) before Donny Van de Beek levelled the game and the tie on 34 minutes. Matthijs de Ligt put Ajax ahead with a 67th minute strike and the 2-1 (3-2 agg) lead proved to be enough to send them into the last four.
                                                                                   

Liverpool eased into the last four with a 4-1 win at FC Porto to advance 6-1 on aggregate.

Sadio Mane opened the scoring on the night on 26 minutes before Mo Salah doubled the lead on 65 minutes to open up a huge 4-0 lead on aggregate. Porto replied through Eder Militao three minutes later for 2-1 (4-1) before strikes from Roberto Firmino and Virgil Van Dijk wrapped up a comfortable advance into the semis.

An epic seven goal thriller saw Manchester City claim a 4-3 win over Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium. The victory proved not enough to prevent Spurs from advancing on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate.

The sides set a new CL record with five goals inside the first 21 minutes, Raheem Sterling's brace and Bernardo Silva's strike sandwiching a Son Heung-Min brace as City led 3-2 (3-3 agg). Sergio Aguero struck on the hour for 4-2 also giving City a 4-3 aggregate advantage. City's joy was soon dented on 73 minutes by Fernando Llorente's effort which cut the gap to 4-3 but regained Spurs' aggregate advantage on away goals at 4-4. Late drama saw City look to have sealed a place in the last four as Sterling completed his hat-trick but a VAR decision saw the goal ruled out due to offside sending Spurs through on away goals.