Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend: Lucky Arsenal, in-form Jordan Pickford, Fulham test Shahid Khan’s patience, Roy Hodgson’s gripes and Tottenham earn a breather
There have been many occasions during Arsenal’s rollercoaster 16-game unbeaten streak when it seemed like the run was about to end and the 1-1 draw with Wolves on Sunday was certainly one of them.
The match had every one of the hallmarks of Unai Emery’s short reign: a slow, ponderous first half, an improvement after the break, and ultimately a breakthrough moment.
Wolves defended manfully but were undone by Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s cross finding the net and the Gunners’ good fortune continued into the last minute as Morgan Gibbs-White’s shot struck the bar and bounced down the right side of the line.
They may be frustrating, but Emery’s Arsenal have developed a happy knack of avoiding defeat.
Pickford shines to shut out Chelsea
Everton on Sunday became the first club since January to prevent Chelsea from scoring at Stamford Bridge and their clean sheet owed much to a nimble display from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
The England No1 adjusted his position to tip over an Eden Hazard shot that took a deflection and threatened to loop into the net and kept out a close-range effort by Alvaro Morata from Chelsea’s first attack of the second half.
The best save of all came from Marcos Alonso, however, a full-length dive across goal to divert the wing-back’s ferocious first-time volley from a floated free-kick.
It would have been a goal of the season contender; instead, it was further evidence of Pickford’s improvement.
Fulham run tests Khan's patience
Slavisa Jokanovic won’t need reminding how rare it is that all 20 Premier League clubs make it to mid-November without sacking a manager.
The Fulham boss is the bookmakers’ odds-on favourite to be the first to go after the Cottagers slipped to a 2-0 reverse at Liverpool, leaving them marooned at the bottom of the table with just five points from 12 games.
Shahid Khan, the club’s owner, laughed off suggestions that Jokanovic’s job was under threat two weeks ago, pointing to his track record of getting the team to “hit our stride” by Christmas.
With defeats now feeling inevitable and trips to Chelsea and Manchester United looming, it looks uncertain whether he will make it to the festive season.
Hodgson gripes hark back to England woes
“It’s becoming a Groundhog Day situation,” mused Roy Hodgson after Crystal Palace’s relegation worries deepened with a 1-0 loss to Tottenham on Saturday. Defeat – the Eagles’ fifth in a row in the Premier League – wasn’t the only familiar element to the match.
Once again, they proved unable to break a losing streak when Wilfried Zaha is unavailable that now runs to 13 games. Also ringing a bell was Hodgson’s insistence that Palace really hadn’t deserved that scoreline.
The former England manager had a habit of ruing bad luck with the national team when other observers took less generous views. Harking back to that ill-fated stint isn’t the best omen for Palace or Hodgson.
Efficient Spurs have earned breather
It hasn’t been the easiest first three months of the season for Tottenham, with stadium delays and, by their own high-energy standards, some anaemic performances making for a deflating 2018-19.
But for all that the usual swagger may be missing, Spurs have continued to churn out results and head into the international break buoyed by a sequence of four wins in just 11 days.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men will need to hit the ground running on their resumption, though: another daunting set of fixtures awaits, with the visit of Chelsea on the Saturday, a must-win Champions League clash with Inter Milan on the Wednesday and rounded off with a north London derby at Arsenal on the Sunday.