Arsenal and Manchester City pulled further clear of the pack at the summit of the Premier League with solid wins in differing circumstances.
Manchester United tasted defeat at Villa Park in what was Unai Emery’s first game in charge of Aston Villa, but Liverpool got themselves back in the race for a Champions League spot with an impressive 2-1 win over Tottenham.
Without further ado, let us take a look at the talking points from Premier League matchweek 15.
#Unai Emery starts life at Aston Villa with big win
Aston Villa’s Unai Emery era was off and running on Sunday with a 3-1 victory over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Emery has talked about his desire to win a trophy and reintroduce Aston Villa to European competitions as his primary aims, and the way his boys dismantled Man United ensured a superb start to life at Villa Park.
The Villans raced to a two-goal lead inside 11 minutes thanks to Leon Bailey and Lucas Digne before Jacob Ramsey sealed the deal four minutes into the second half, quickly extinguishing United’s hopes of a comeback after Luke Shaw’s shot took a hugely accidental deflection off Ramsey and went in goal at the stroke of half-time.
It was Villa’s first win over United in the league since 1995, one which the supporters heartily enjoyed watching at Villa Park. The start Emery has enjoyed at the weekend suggests Villa are in for bigger and better things under the experienced Spaniard.
#Arsenal show real character at Stamford Bridge
Arsenal enjoyed a statement 1-0 victory over Chelsea in west London to retain their top spot in the Premier League table.
At the rain-soaked Stamford Bridge, Gabriel Magalhaes’ close-range finish in the second half gave Arsenal a precious lead and the players then defended it very well. The Gunners were the better team in most parts of the game, playing some lovely stuff that Chelsea had no answers to.
As Chelsea’s desperation for an equaliser increased in the last 10 minutes, Mikel Arteta’s side showed real grit and determination to defend and kept their opposition out to further polish their title credentials.
#Miguel Almiron’s purple patch continues
Miguel Almiron scored yet another goal as Newcastle United thrashed Southampton 4-1 at St. Mary’s Stadium.
The Paraguayan international, 28, has been one of the most improved players under Eddie Howe this term and continued his scoring touch at the weekend. 10 minutes before half-time, he gave Newcastle the lead after evading a challenge from Maitland-Niles and sidefooting past Gavin Bazunu into the bottom-left corner.
It was Almiron’s eighth goal of the season—the forward’s best tally ever in the Premier League. He just continues to get better and better under Howe, and his latest goal helped the Toon Army climb above Tottenham into third place in the table.
