Manchester City players celebrate after a goal against Watford at Vicarage Road
Manchester City players celebrate after a goal against Watford at Vicarage Road

Premier League round-up: Man City go five points clear, Lucas Perez ends goal drought & ten-man Brighton beat Palace


Man City survived a late Watford onslaught to go five points clear, while ten-man Brighton beat rivals Palace and Bournemouth beat Huddersfield to go sixth.

Premier League results

Premier League table


City see off late Watford flurry

Pep Guardiola endured a few nervy minutes at the end of a game Manchester City otherwise dominated as they stretched their lead at the top of the table to five points.

Leroy Sane chested in the opener five minutes before the break but Troy Deeney was left ruing a missed golden chance in a rare Watford attack.

Riyad Mahrez looked to have sealed the game after 51 minutes but Abdoulaye Doucoure's goal five minutes from time set off a case of the colly wobbles for the champions who then had to withstand waves of desperate attacks from the hosts to eanr their three points the hard way.


Ten-man Brighton win Palace derby thriller

Florin Andone celebrates his goal for Brighton against Crystal Palace
Florin Andone celebrates his goal for Brighton against Crystal Palace

A remarkable derby game had everything down at the Amex, with Glenn Murray scoring a penalty before Shane Duffy was sent off just before the half hour mark.

Substitute Leon Balogun then hammered in a second with his first touch just 25 seconds after coming off the bench, and fellow replacement Florin Andone incredibly made it 3-0 by half time.

The ten man held out reasonably comfortably in the second half with Luka Milivojevic's late penalty not being enough as the Seagulls took all three points to move to the lofty heights of tenth.


Lucas Perez ends long goal drought

Lucas Perez of West Ham celebrates after scoring a goal
Lucas Perez of West Ham celebrates ending his long scoring drought for West Ham

Lucas Perez waited 700 days for a Premier League goal, and then like proverbial London buses two came at once as the Hammers ran out comfortable 3-1 winners against Cardiff at the London Stadium.

Lukasz Fabianski saved Joe Ralls' poor first half penalty and that proved decisive as Perez came off the bench to score twice in five second half minutes, before Michail Antonio added a third just after the hour mark.

Josh Murphy scored deep into injury time for the Bluebirds but it was just a consolation as the Hammers earned a a fifth win of the campaign.


Bournemouth cling on to go sixth

Callum Wilson scores a header for Bournemouth against Huddersfield
Callum Wilson scores a header for Bournemouth against Huddersfield

Callum Wilson gave the Cherries a flying start at the Vitalty Stadium with a goal inside five minutes, and Ryan Fraser doubled their advantage after 22 minutes to put the hosts in control.

Huddersfield took hold of the game though and enjoyed by the vast majority of possession throughout the game and Terence Kongolo got them back into it seven minutes before half time.

The Terriers could not find an equaliser though despite being on the front foot and Eddie Howe's side collected the three points that vaulted them into sixth place.


Premier League Opta stats

Bournemouth 2-1 Huddersfield

  • Bournemouth are unbeaten in seven home matches against Huddersfield Town in all competitions (W4 D3) since losing 0-1 in League One in August 2007.
  • Bournemouth have ended a run of four consecutive Premier League defeats, winning their first game in the competition since a 3-0 victory against Fulham in October.
  • Since the start of last season, only Brighton (17) and Watford (16) have lost more away Premier League games than Huddersfield (15).
  • Huddersfield have won just two of their last 19 Premier League games (D6 L11).
  • Terence Kongolo’s goal for Huddersfield was their fourth headed goal in the Premier League this season (4/10) – only Burnley (46%) and Newcastle United (55%) have scored a higher percentage of headed goals than Huddersfield (40%) in the competition this season.
  • Ryan Fraser has provided seven Premier League assists for Bournemouth so far this season – more than any other player has provided for the Cherries in a single Premier League campaign.
  • Callum Wilson has scored eight Premier League goals in 15 appearances for Bournemouth this season - as many as his managed in 28 games last season.
  • Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson has both scored and assisted in three different Premier League games this season (level with Raheem Sterling) - no player has done this on more occasions this season.

Brighton 3-1 Crystal Palace

  • Brighton’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace is their first ever victory in a midweek Premier League match (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), drawing three and losing three of the previous six.
  • Crystal Palace have picked up just one point from their last five Premier League away games (D1 L4), scoring three goals and conceding 10.
  • Brighton have lost just one of their last 10 Premier League games at the Amex Stadium (W5 D4), winning three of their last four (D1).
  • Brighton striker Glenn Murray has scored the opening goal in five different Premier League games this season - only Mohamed Salah (6) has done so in more.
  • Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha has won more penalties (7) and Luka Milivojevic has scored more penalties (10) than any other player in the Premier League since last season.
  • Florin Andone is the first Romanian player to score in consecutive Premier League appearances since Ionel Ganea in February 2004 - scoring v Arsenal and Leeds for Wolves.
  • Brighton’s Shane Duffy received his first red in league competition since August 2016 when playing for Blackburn against Cardiff.
  • Leon Balogun scored just 25 seconds after coming on as a substitute for Brighton with what was his first touch - the second quickest goal by a substitute in the Premier League this season after Daniel Sturridge vs West Ham (24 secs).

West Ham 3-0 Cardiff City

  • West Ham have won consecutive Premier League games for the first time since January 2017.
  • Cardiff scored just their third away goal in the Premier League this season, with what was their only shot on target in the second half.
  • Lucas Perez scored his first Premier League goals since January 2017 and became the first West Ham player to score twice as a substitute in a Premier League match since Paulo Wanchope vs Newcastle in April 2000.
  • West Ham’s Lukasz Fabianski has saved each of the last three penalties he’s faced in the Premier League, having saved just two of his previous 19 in the competition.
  • West Ham’s Robert Snodgrass provided two Premier League assists in a game for the first time since December 2012 (for Norwich vs Swansea).
  • 62% of West Ham’s Michail Antonio’s Premier League goals have been headers (13/21). Of players to have scored at least 20 in the competition, only Sami Hyypia (77%), Sol Campbell (75%) and John Terry (66%) have scored a higher ratio with their head.

Watford 1-2 Manchester City

  • Man City’s goal difference of +38 is the is the best recorded by an English top-flight team after the first 15 games of a season since Sunderland in 1892-93 (+39).
  • Manchester City have scored at least twice in their last nine games against Watford in all competitions, winning all nine by an aggregate score of 29-5.
  • Watford have lost three in a row in the Premier League for the first time since December 2017 under Marco Silva (4 games).
  • Manchester City have now gone unbeaten in each of their last 21 games in the Premier League (W18 D3), since a 2-3 defeat against Manchester United in April.
  • Man City’s Leroy Sane has scored five goals in his last five Premier League starts.
  • Man City’s Riyad Mahrez has scored more Premier League goals versus Watford than against any other team (6).
  • Against no Premier League side has Man City’s Riyad Mahrez had a hand in more goals than versus Watford (6 goals, 1 assist).
  • Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure has scored his first Premier League goal in 30 appearances since netting versus Southampton in January.
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