Article body analysed
Football writer Adrian Kajumba looks at the standout players and moments from Matchweek 15. After rounding Mark Flekken and having just Ethan Pinnock on the goalline to beat, Newcastle United's Alexander Isak looked all set to score his second of the afternoon against Brentford. What he did not account for was Flekken’s incredible powers of recovery. After seemingly being taken out of the game by Isak, Flekken suddenly reappeared to brilliantly swipe the ball off the Swedish striker’s toes. "Great recovery save from Mark Flekken! "Simply superb goalkeeping from our No. 1 ? ?? pic. twitter. com/e Gz Bx74L4Y Flekken’s first-half intervention was pivotal. It denied Newcastle the chance to take a confidence-boosting 2-1 lead. Instead they were left always chasing the match and ended up losing 4-2 in yet another goal fest at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium. A by-product of Brentford’s free-scoring approach is how busy Flekken has been this season. His 71 saves are not just the highest in the Premier League but also Europe’s top five leagues. Against Newcastle, Flekken could also take satisfaction from his contribution to Brentford’s tally of 31 goals, the joint-second highest in the Premier League. Flekken’s clearance set up Nathan Collins’ goal to make it 3-2. Having also claimed an assist last season too, that made Flekken just the ninth goalkeeper in Premier League history to set up more than one goal. Nottingham Forest kicked off seventh in the table and hosts Manchester United were 13th when they met in Matchweek 15. But, despite their respective league positions suggesting the final outcome should not really raise eyebrows, this was still a huge and surprise win for Forest, especially due to the history made. Forest had not won at Old Trafford for 30 years before Saturday’s 3-2 success. In fact, the victory came just 10 days short of exactly 30 years since Forest’s previous success at Man Utd on Saturday 17 December 1994. Forest are making a happy habit of securing statement away wins this season, another indication of their impressive progress under head coach Nuno Espirito Santo. Their Matchweek 4 victory at Liverpool was their first at Anfield since 1969. “It means a lot for us as a club. Forest is a huge club that hasn’t had special moments like this for a long time, ” Nuno said after their win at United. “We should celebrate and be proud of this. ” Five of the weekend’s eight matches saw teams stage recoveries to earn points and two of those ended in turnaround wins. But few teams do dramatic comebacks better than Bournemouth. Their hosts Ipswich Town were winless at home and have now dropped a joint Premier League high 15 points from winning positions, but the Cherries fight back was no fluke. For the second time this season they went into the 87th minute of a match trailing but still managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. After doing so at Everton earlier this season, with three goals in eight minutes to earn a 3-2 win, Bournemouth repeated the trick at Portman Road. Super-subs Enes Unal and Dango Ouattara scored in the 87th and 95th minutes to overturn a one-goal deficit. The video we've all been waiting for ? ?? pic. twitter. com/hiu Aw4Ix RP Bournemouth subsequently became the first team in Premier League history to be behind as late as the 87th minute in two different away matches in the same season but go on to win. Those results also followed Bournemouth winning the 2022/23 and 2023/24 Oracle Most Improbable Comeback award. Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola said: “When you have the precedent, even from past seasons you’ve done it before, you continue believing. ” A special mention should also be given to Leicester City, who too produced a sensational comeback this weekend. Trailing by two goals to Brighton & Hove Albion in the 86th minute, the Foxes netted twice to rescue a point at the King Power Stadium, with Jamie Vardy at the heart of their recovery having scored the first and made the equaliser. Tariq Lamptey was back on the Premier League scoresheet in style against Leicester in the latest evidence of his attacking revival under Fabian Hurzeler. Brighton right-back Lamptey last scored in the Premier League in November 2020 in a 2-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur. So few would have expected what came next when Pervis Estupinan’s left-wing cross drifted over to him. The situation looked harmless and Lamptey would have been considered an unlikely scorer. But he cut inside Jordan Ayew onto his weaker left foot and bent a brilliant effort over Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen and into the top corner. What a goal from Tariq. .. ? @Monster Energy ⚡️ pic. twitter. com/2v WWXmy Swx The goal and spectacular nature of it may have surprised but it was a continuation of Lamptey’s increased contributions in the final third for Brighton. This was his third goal involvement (one goal and two assists) in four matches under Brighton head coach Hurzeler. That was as many as he managed in his 34 league appearances under previous head coach Roberto De Zerbi. The one shame for Lamptey was that his goal, which was worthy of winning a match, only earned Brighton a point after they blew a two-goal lead late on at the King Power Stadium. Trust the permanently-unfazed Cole Palmer to have the composure to pull off a Panenka penalty amid the chaos of a crazy London derby. Chelsea were 3-2 up at Spurs and Palmer had the chance to either kill the game or hand the hosts a late lifeline if he missed. Pressure? What pressure. ? ?#CFC | #TOTCHE pic. twitter. com/4Wh2HVav JP “When I stepped back I looked at the clock and thought the game is a bit frantic, all over the place, ” Palmer explained. “I thought the keeper was ready to dive so if I chipped it, it would go in and it did. ” Fellow scorer Jadon Sancho, laughed while rewatching the standout moment of another virtuoso Palmer performance, and his second successful spot-kick in Chelsea’s eventual 4-3 win. “He always does these types of things in training so I’m not surprised, ” Sancho said. Palmer has now moved ahead of Yaya Toure and has the best 100 per cent record from Premier League penalties having scored all 12 he has taken. He also became the fourth-quickest player to 50 Premier League goal involvements for a club, reaching his half century in just 48 Chelsea matches. His head coach Enzo Maresca said: “Cole belongs to those kind of players that are not normal players. They are top players. And top players do things that normal players or us would say ‘how can he do that? ’" “I thought it was impossible for this season’s game to be better than last season’s game, ” former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said during the first half. But Spurs against Chelsea was a London derby that did not disappoint once again. The bar was high after last season’s five-goal thriller at Spurs which Chelsea won 4-1, featured a late Nicolas Jackson hat-trick, two Spurs red cards and Ange Postecoglou’s unforgettable high line. The dramatic Stamford Bridge draw in 2022/23 that ended with a full-time clash between managers Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte was another standout from recent years in this fixture. And there are many others in the folklore of this fixture the further back you go through the Premier League era. Sunday’s latest meeting was another to add to the list of classics between the two clubs. Seven goals, including three in the first 17 minutes, and an impressive Chelsea comeback win following a largely frantic derby. Some brilliant individual performances, moments of inspiration at both ends but also near misses and questionable defending which added to the spectacle. There were contentious decisions while Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella’s boot change incident after slipping twice before Spurs’ first two goals will live long in the memory too. This match had almost everything. Roll on the return next April. Jadon Sancho speaks about Cole Palmer's panenka penalty and Chelsea's title hopes after their 4-3 win at Spurs Or enter your details Incorrect email or password Your details have been submitted successfully. You have already entered this competition. Please check your email for further information. Your details have been submitted successfully.