Football writer Ben Bloom analyses the incredible action of Matchweek 15.
There were goals galore in a thrilling weekend of Premier League action that featured just one clean sheet and a host of late strikes.
After bad weather forced the postponement of the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, Chelsea closed the gap to league leaders Liverpool to four points with a dramatic comeback win at Tottenham Hotspur, while Arsenal and Manchester City could only draw their respective matches.
AFC Bournemouth and Leicester City scored two late goals apiece to salvage points, and Nottingham Forest won at Old Trafford for the first time in 30 years.
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It had been a long time coming, but Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran capitalised on his first Premier League start of the season, and 50th appearance in the competition, by scoring the only goal to sink Southampton.
So often a "super-sub", the Colombian was given a rare chance to impress from the outset in place of Ollie Watkins and finished neatly in the 24th minute for his ninth goal of the season, six of which have been winners.
Duran's goal v Southampton
Jhon marked his 50th PL appearance with this fine finish 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/H50nUx1omA
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 7, 2024
Since the start of last season, only Man City’s Phil Foden (eight) has scored more than Duran’s six goals from outside the box.
His cause was aided by Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ failure to deal with a speculative ball, repeating a problem that is costing Southampton dear.
Russell Martin’s side have conceded 10 goals directly caused by their own errors – three more than any other club in Europe’s top five leagues.
Saints also failed to register a shot on target for the second time this campaign and are in danger of being cut adrift at the bottom of the table.
They now sit eight points from safety and are one of only four teams ever to have five points or fewer after 15 matches of a Premier League season.
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The Gtech Community Stadium continued to be the place for entertainment, with Brentford maintaining the Premier League’s best home record with a thrilling win against Newcastle United.
A league-high 40 goals have been scored in just eight matches at Brentford’s home ground, where the hosts have dropped just two points (while, bizarrely, claiming only one point from their seven away trips).
The familiar pairing of Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa scored Brentford’s opening two goals – the 15th time they have both netted in a Premier League match since the start of 2021/22. No other duo can match that tally.
They also possess the two best conversion rates in the Premier League this season.
Yet Brentford’s frailties have regularly been exposed, and they gave away both leads within four minutes of those goals, before Nathan Collins and Kevin Schade added to the scoreline in the second half.
Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken has had to make more saves than any other Premier League goalkeeper this season, but it is now five successive home league wins for his side – the first time Brentford have managed such a run in the top flight since 1936.
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Liverpool not playing meant this draw moved Man City one point closer to the top of the table, but it also left the reigning champions winless in their last four away matches in the Premier League.
When Daniel Munoz scored in the fourth minute, it was the seventh goal Pep Guardiola’s side have conceded in the opening 15 minutes of a league clash this season – the joint most in the division (level with West Ham United).
Man City twice found themselves behind, but goals from Erling Haaland and Rico Lewis – who was sent off in the closing stages for a second bookable offence – ensured a share of the spoils.
City have recovered more points (14) from losing positions in the Premier League this season than any other side.
Since Munoz made his Premier League debut in February, only Wolves' Rayan Ait-Nouri and Man City's Josko Gvardiol have more goal involvements among defenders than the Colombian’s seven.
Munoz has also scored in his last two matches at Selhurst Park.
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The scale of Ruben Amorim’s task was laid bare as Forest won at Old Trafford for the first time since 1994, and the new Manchester United head coach suffered back-to-back defeats for only the second time in his managerial career.
The loss leaves United 13th in the table, with just 19 points from 15 matches – their lowest tally at this stage of a season since 1986/87, when Alex Ferguson replaced Ron Atkinson as manager in early November.
By contrast, Forest are up to fifth place after yet another goal from birthday boy Chris Wood.
The New Zealander, who turned 33 on Saturday, now has 10 league goals for the season and a total of 25 in the Premier League for the club, taking him above Bryan Roy as Forest’s record scorer in the competition.
His header was Forest’s third goal after earlier efforts from Nikola Milenkovic and Morgan Gibbs-White. Rasmus Hojlund and Bruno Fernandes found the net for United.
Amorim was not aided by defensive and goalkeeping errors, with Milenkovic’s opener being the seventh goal United have conceded from corners in the Premier League this season - the joint-most of any side.
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Arsenal’s away troubles flared again at Craven Cottage, with a lack of potency in open play leaving Mikel Arteta’s side with just one win in their last six league matches on the road.
Despite dominating for almost the entire second half, Arsenal scored only once, when William Saliba converted Kai Havertz’s knockdown from a well-worked corner routine.
The match highlighted the Gunners' growing reliance on set-pieces after scoring twice from corners to beat Man Utd earlier in the week.
Indeed, it is now two successive matches in which 75 per cent of Arsenal's Expected Goals (xG) have come from corner kicks.
Saliba’s goal was Arsenal’s 23rd from a corner since the start of the 2023/24 season – more than any club in Europe during that time.
The only Premier League defender with more goals from set-pieces than Saliba’s six since the start of the 2022/23 season is his regular centre-back partner Gabriel, who has scored 10. Gabriel missed both the Man Utd and Fulham matches through injury.
Raul Jimenez had given Fulham the lead with their first shot in the 11th minute but they managed just one more shot during the game. Only against Man City in May have they had fewer shots in a Premier League home match on record (since 2003/04).
Arsenal thought Bukayo Saka had provided a late winner, but it was ruled out for offside in the build-up.
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Ipswich Town’s wait for a first Premier League win in front of their home fans since 2002 goes on after Bournemouth inflicted late heartbreak.
The hosts had taken a first-half lead through a first Premier League goal for Conor Chaplin, who has now scored in all of England’s top four tiers.
Hopes that Chaplin's goal would prove to be the winner were dashed when Enes Unal found Bournemouth’s equaliser on 87 minutes, before his fellow substitute Dango Ouattara made it 2-1 to the visitors in the fifth minute of added time.
It was not the first time Andoni Iraola’s team have pulled off such a feat this campaign.
Having also come back to sink Everton in August, Bournemouth are now the first side in Premier League history to be trailing as late as the 87th minute in two different away matches they went on to win in the same season.
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Bournemouth were not the only Premier League side to strike late on Sunday, with Leicester City maintaining new manager Ruud van Nistelrooy’s unbeaten start courtesy of two late goals.
The visitors were good value for their lead, which came through Tariq Lamptey and Yankuba Minteh.
That should have been enough for victory, with nine of Brighton’s 10 starting outfielders either registering a shot or creating a chance (Georginio Rutter the sole player not to).
But a Jamie Vardy-inspired comeback secured a point for the Foxes.
Vardy scored his sixth league goal of the season in the 86th minute and then passed for substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid to convert in stoppage time.
Aged 37 years and 332 days, Vardy is the second-oldest player (after Ryan Giggs) in Premier League history to both score and assist a goal in a single match.
Brighton have now lost 14 points from winning positions this season – more than any other Premier League side.
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In one of the best Premier League matches of the season so far, Chelsea reduced the gap on league leaders Liverpool to just four points after a thrilling comeback victory.
No team can match Chelsea’s firepower this season, with 35 league goals to their name, but they found themselves 2-0 down by the 11th minute when Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski capitalised on two Marc Cucurella slips.
The Chelsea full-back then changed his boots and the visitors grew into the match as Spurs struggled to exert control.
Jadon Sancho and Enzo Fernandez scored, while Cole Palmer converted two penalties to pass former Man City midfielder Yaya Toure in setting a new record of 12 Premier League spot-kicks taken without ever missing.
Palmer now has 50 goal involvements (33 goals, 17 assists) in 48 Premier League matches for Chelsea.
Only Haaland for Man City (39), Andy Cole for Newcastle (43), and Mohamed Salah for Liverpool (46) have ever reached that total in fewer appearances for one club.
Defeat marked the 11th time Spurs have lost a Premier League match after being 2+ goals ahead – they have suffered at least four more defeats in that manner than any other side in the competition’s history.
West Ham host Wolves at 20:00 BST tonight (Monday) in the final fixture of Matchweek 15.
