29/04 - 12:00
29/04 - 20:00
29/04 - 20:00
29/04 - 12:00
The only certainty in England's top flight this season so far is uncertainty - and wins for Bournemouth, Newcastle and Stoke ensured the trend continued this weekend.
The Potters have struggled for goals this term, but put in the performance of the weekend to play Manuel Pellegrini's Man City all-stars off the park during a 2-0 win. Stoke manager Mark Hughes opted for a four-man attack of Xherdan Shaqiri, Bojan, Ibrahim Afellay and Marko Arnautovic, which tormented the life out of a Man City side again without captain Vincent Kompany.
Odion Ighalo, meanwhile, lost his place in the Premier League's top three goalscorers despite a goal in Watford's comfortable 2-0 win over Norwich City. Ighalo's strike partnership with Troy Deeney has arguably been the best in the division so far this campaign, possibly only outshone by Leicester City's Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez. Mahrez knocked Ighalo off his perch in the race for the Golden Boot, the Algerian bagging a hat-trick against out-of-form Swansea City to make it ten goals for the season.
Bournemouth may have lost striker Callum Wilson to injury, but his replacement Glenn Murray has stepped up to the plate. Murray scored the Cherries' winner at Chelsea, in what manager Eddie Howe described as the 'biggest result' in the South Coast club's history. Despite Chelsea having chances of their own, Bournemouth were good value for a win that heaped pressure back onto Blue's boss Jose Mourinho.
Olivier Giroud was involved at both ends in Arsenal's hard-fought 3-1 win over Sunderland. Giroud's own goal past Petr Cech brought the Mackems back into the game at 1-1 before the French international made amends with a flying header from an Aaron Ramsay cross. Ramsay then scored another to keep Arsenal in the mix at the top of the table.
Not surprisingly the big defensive performances of the day also came from the likes of Stoke and Bournemouth: the Potters' Ryan Shawcross and Cherries' captain Steve Francis two of those who turned in outstanding displays. Honourable mention should also go to the Newcastle United backline - with ever-present Chancel Mbemba to the fore - that kept in-form Liverpool at bay. Steve McClaren's side cheered the Toon Army no end with a fantastic 2-0 win that came courtesy of a Martin Skrtel own goal and a Georginio Wijnaldum strike.
Will the next installment of Premier League fun throw up similar surprises? Check out the full fixtures along with the goalscoring and assist charts and make your predictions!
| TV | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D15 | 06/12 | 2-0 | 90' Gini Wijnaldum; 69' (p.b.) Martin Skrtel | |||
| D15 | 05/12 | 0-1 | 82' Glenn Murray | |||
| D15 | 05/12 | 3-1 | 33' Joel Campbell, 45' (p.b.)63' Olivier Giroud, 90' Aaron Ramsey | |||
| D15 | 05/12 | 0-0 | ||||
| D15 | 05/12 | 1-1 | 73' Oriol Romeu; 44' Joleon Lescott | |||
| D15 | 05/12 | 0-3 | 5' 22' 67' Riyad Mahrez | |||
| D15 | 05/12 | 2-0 | 30' (g.p.) Troy Deeney, 90' Odion Ighalo | |||
| D15 | 05/12 | 1-1 | 39' James McClean; 15' Dele Alli | |||
| D15 | 05/12 | 2-0 | 7' 15' Marko Arnautovic |
2-0 | ||
Marko Arnautovic 7' 15' |
