The ninth week of the 2015/16 Premier League campaign kicked off with Liverpool’s visit to White Hart Lane to face Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur. The visit of the Reds gained special prominence because of the managerial change at the Merseyside outfit. The club has brought in former Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp at the helm, and the dynamic German finally made his English league debut after about a week-long wait. The match turned out to be a cagey affair and ended up in a stalemate, but the performance of the Merseyside outfit suggested better things to come in the stewardship of their German manager.
Chelsea arrested their alarming slide with a 2-0 win over Tim Sherwood’s Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge and rose from 16th spot in the league standings to 11th and manager Jose Mourinho will hope that it is a harbinger of better things to come as they prepare to face Dynamo Kiev in a Champions League clash in midweek.
West Ham United continued their away heroics as they downed Alan Pardew’s high-flying Crystal Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park. The Hammers had already registered impressive wins at the Etihad Stadium, the Emirates Stadium and Anfield and added another impressive away win under the stewardship of Slaven Bilic. The east Londoners are now fourth in the league standings while the Eagles lie sixth.
A goal each from Morgan Schneiderlin, Ander Herrera and Wayne Rooney saw Manchester United register an emphatic win over Everton at Goodison Park that brought to an end their three-season losing streak at the vaunted house of the Toffees. The win moved Manchester United to third in the table. Meanwhile, Everton are now ninth.
Manchester City continued their heroics in the league as they shellacked Bournemouth 5-1. Raheem Sterling, who moved to the Etihad Stadium outfit in the summer from Liverpool for an eye-watering transfer fee, scored his first hat-trick for the Sky Blues and Wilfried Bony, who got a rare start in the absence of Sergio Aguero, grabbed a brace. Manuel Pellegrini’s men remain two points clear of the Gunners at the top of the standings.
Ronald Koeman’s Southampton blew away a two-goal lead at St. Mary’s only to get a draw against Leicester City as Jamie Vardy grabbed a brace and became the leading goalscorer in the Premier League. The Saints are now eighth while the Foxes lie fifth.
West Bromwich Albion inflicted a 1-0 defeat on Sunderland courtesy of a Saido Berahino strike as new Black Cats boss Sam Allardyce got off to an inauspicious start to life at the Stadium of Light.
Arsenal carried on from where they left before the international break as they continued from their 3-0 defeat of Manchester United with another 3-0 win, this time against newly-promoted Watford. The Londoners were in great form and were helped by goals from Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey.
Bottom dwellers Newcastle United grabbed their first win of the season in style as they hammered Norwich City 6-2. Giorginio Wijnaldum scored four goals for the Magpies to cap off a brilliant night at St. James’ Park.