Premier League fans got an early Christmas gift as the first round of midweek fixtures were played over the past few days. Matchweek 15 was a week dominated by forwards, as every team scored at least one goal in their match this week. This is the first time since November 2010 that all 20 teams have scored in the same matchweek.
Manchester City made it seven Premier League wins on the bounce, although it was anything but comfortable at Vicarage road. Watford have struggled against City at home in the past couple of seasons, losing 5-0 and 6-0 the past two years. The trend continued as City dominated the first half, but struggled to score because of an inspired performance from Hornet's goalkeeper Ben Foster. A Leroy Sane goal just before halftime and a Riyad Mahrez strike just after halftime seemed to kill the game off. However, Watford found a new gear in the final minutes of the match, when midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure bundled past Ederson to make it 2-1 in the 85'. The final five minutes plus stoppage time were about as nervous as City have looked all season, having to repel multiple corners and apply some desperate defending. In the end it was enough to get over the line with all three points.
Liverpool also faced adversity as they tried to keep pace with City. Jurgen Klopp put out a side without any of the "big three" attacking players in the starting XI, as Sadio Mane missed out due to a knock and both Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah started on the bench. The Reds traveled to Turf Moor where the struggling Clarets did all they could to frustrate the visiting side. Burnley was successful during the first half, and actually scored the game's first goal early in the second half off of a scramble in the box. The Reds responded brilliant as James Milner found the bottom corner to equalize, and then substitute Firmino scored the go-ahead goal with his first touch. This victory marks four in a row for Liverpool and keeps them only two points behind holders Manchester City.
Spurs put together an impressive performance to climb into 3rd, above both Chelsea and Arsenal. Harry Kane, Lucas Moura, and Heung-Min Son scored for Mauricio Pochettino's side as they handled Southampton 3-1. It was a complete performance for Spurs, as goalkeeper Hugo Lloris came up with some big saves, including a brilliant tip onto the post of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's first-half strike and a brilliant double save in the second half. Southampton showed fight under interim manager Kelvin Davis, but it will be an uphill tasks for new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl, who was announced directly following the match. The Austrian was at the helm of German side RB Leipzig, for the past two and a half seasons, famously leading them to a 2nd place Bundesliga finish and a Champions League qualification in the season directly after promotion from the German second tier.
In what was probably the match of the round, Arsenal extended their unbeaten run to 20 with a 2-2 draw against Manchester United. Visiting Arsenal went ahead twice, but United managed to peg them back twice and earn a share of the spoils. The performance left more questions than answers surrounding United, as usually-reliable David De Gea fumbled the ball into his own net to gift Arsenal their first goal and defender Marcus Rojo tackled the ball into his own goal for Arsenal's second goal. Jose Mourinho praised his side's resilience but said he is tired of persistent mistakes.
Eddie Howe's Bournemouth broke a streak of four straight loses with an impressive 2-1 home victory against Huddersfield Town. The Cherries wasted no time going on the front foot. Callum Wilson netted his 8th goal of the season after just 5' off a beautiful set piece courtesy of Ryan Fraser, who currently leads the PL in assists with seven. Wilson returned the favor in the 22', when he found Fraser streaking down the left channel on a beautiful counter-attack. Fraser finished beautifully through Jonas Lossl's legs and thus sent Bournemouth up to an impressive 7th in the table.
Everton missed an opportunity at home when they shared the spoils against Newcastle United. Solomon Rondon scored first for the Magpies, but it was the Brazilian Richarlison who netted his 7th goal of the campaign off of a corner kick for the Toffies. A huge save from Martin Dubravka just seconds into the second half was enough to protect the point for Newcastle, who move up to 14th.
Brighton moved into the top half of the table after dispatching Crystal Palace in the always-testy M23 derby. The Seagulls were gifted a penalty which appeared to be wrongly given by referee Kevin Friend, and 35-year-old Glenn Murray dispatched the penalty for his 8th goal of the season. Then, after another penalty shout that was not given, tempers flared and Brighton center-back Shane Duffy was sent off for a headbutt to a Crystal Palace player. Everything continued to go right for the Seagulls despite the sending off, as substitute Leon Balogun scored with his first touch and then fellow first-half substitute Florin Andone scored his second goal in as many games on a beautiful solo run just before halftime. Despite a second-half goal, Palace fell 3-1 and drop to 15th in the table.
The most shocking result of the weekend was produced by Wolves. Nuno Espírito Santo's side shocked Chelsea at home thanks to goals from Raul Jimenez and Diego Jota. Raul Jimenez has been vital to the promoted side's success this season, as he has been involved in 57% of the team's goals on the season (4 goals, 4 assists). It was also an impressive performance from youngster Morgan Gibbs-White, who provided the assist on Jimenez's goal. This was only Chelsea's second lose of the season, dropping them to 4th in the table.
West Ham United scored three goals and won for the second straight week, but it could have been oh-so different for Cardiff City. The Bluebirds were awarded a penalty in the first half, but after an apparent debate about who would take the spotkick, Joe Ralls stepped up and had his shot saved by goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. Early in the second half, substitute Lucas Perez scored not once, but twice for the Hammers to put them firmly in the driver's seat. Michail Antonio added a third for the home side, who might feel hard-done by as their shutout was undone with the last touch of the ball, when Cardiff bundled the ball over the line in the 90+5'.
Fulham got an important point at home against Leicester, but it could have been more for the London club. Aboubakar Kamara scored on his return to the side off of a cheeky backheel assist from Aleksandar Mitrovic, but Claudio Ranieri's side were unable to hold the lead. The Italian's former side hit back in the second half through James Maddison, who has now scored two in as many matches. Denise Odoi had a massive opportunity for Fulham in the last minute of stoppage time but was unable to finish, and Fulham were condemned to finish the round at the foot of the table.
The table is beginning to take shape. Manchester City and Liverpool appear to be distancing themselves from the pack, as they have opened up a small gap between themselves and the chasing pack. Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal round out the top five, with a gap of eight points separating 5th and 6th. Sixth through 13th are only separated by five points. Manchester United are currently in 8th, despite recent sentiments from manager Jose Mourinho that the side will surely still finish in the top four. A small gap of five points has opened up between 13th and 14th, but 14th through 20th are only separated by four points. The relegation zone remains the tightest of any in the table, which promises to create massive drama as the season progresses.
Usually, it is after the busy Christmas period that people look at the table and really start to say that the teams in the relegation zone are in trouble. With that said, no team wants to be in or even near that area at any time of the season. The teams that find themselves near the bottom will make it a point to look to try to catch form and gather some points during this busy run of matches in December and early January.
Interesting Stat:
—Fulham have conceded 36 goals through 15 PL matches. Only Barnsley in 1997-1998 have ever conceded more through the same amount of matches (40).
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