Archives May 2024

With an impetus on noise and atmosphere, it will come as a comfort that the next three of the final six Premier League matches take place in Bedfordshire.

Luton’s victory is the first time that they have won a Premier League match after conceding first.

Bournemouth remain without a league double over Luton since 2007/08. Today’s late defeat also ended their five-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.

Clark’s equaliser for Luton was his first Premier League goal in what was his 18th appearance in the competition and his first league goal since netting against Middlesbrough in the Championship in December 2022.

Kluivert’s assist was his first in the Premier League in his 25th appearance. He’s been involved in three Premier League goals (scoring twice, assisting one) in his last five matches. That’s as many as in his first 20 matches in the competition (scoring three goals).

Palace threatened an upset when Jean-Philippe Mateta gave them a third-minute lead, but De Bruyne’s stunning strike had City level 10 minutes later.

And Man City, who now only trail Liverpool on goal difference ahead of the Reds’ clash with Manchester United on Sunday, took the game away from their hosts after the break – Rico Lewis putting them ahead before De Bruyne took centre stage, teeing up Erling Haaland for a tap-in before rifling in his second of the game, bringing up his 100th goal for the club in the process.

Another goal for City would have sent them, temporarily at least, top of the table, although Odsonne Edouard ensured Palace – who remain 14th on 30 points – had the final say.

Bournemouth shook the woodwork twice in the opening 45 minutes, first doing so when Barkley’s foul on Ryan Christie enabled Tavernier to rattle the crossbar with his left-footed free-kick.

The winger then fired wide after cutting in from the right, before Justin Kluivert joined him in striking the goalframe. He dragged a low effort across the box but could only watch as it bounced off the base of the left post.

Thomas Kaminski was forced into a great stop in the 25th minute, slapping away a right-sided corner that had been deflected goalwards by the unwitting Daiki Hashioka.

Luton started the second half with far more intent as Morris forced two fine stops from Neto, but it was Bournemouth who took the lead in the 52nd minute, Tavernier taking in Kluivert’s pass before drilling into the bottom-left corner.

Alfie Doughty was on the end of a sweet Luton passing move in the 66th minute, but rolled his effort tamely at Neto. Clark spared the wingback’s blushes seven minutes later, swivelling on a loose ball to find the bottom-right corner.

It set the stage for fan favourite Morris to be the hero, tucking home from Woodrow’s centre to claim a potentially pivotal win.

Morris’ dramatic winner now means that Luton have scored 17 goals in the last 15 minutes of the second half.

Only Liverpool, with 26 goals, have scored more in the Premier League this season. Bournemouth, meanwhile, have let a huge chance to further their push for European qualification in Andoni Iraola’s debut season slip through their grasp.

This was the 28th time Brentford have trailed by 2+ goals in a Premier League game, but just the second time they’ve avoided defeat from such a position (also 2-2 vs Leicester in August 2022). Indeed, their three second half goals today came in a 10-minute spell between the 59th and 68th.

Aston Villa have never lost a home league game in any division against Brentford (P9 W3 D6), which is the most they’ve faced a side on home soil in their league history without ever tasting defeat. Meanwhile, Brentford have only faced Stoke (14) and Halifax Town (11) away from home more often in their league history without claiming a single victory.

Ollie Watkins’ 28 goal involvements in 2023-24 (18 goals, 10 assists) is the outright most by an Aston Villa player in a single Premier League campaign, while only Christian Benteke (19 in 2012-13) has scored more goals in a season for Villa in the competition.

Carlton Morris scored in the 90th minute as Luton Town mounted a thrilling comeback to beat AFC Bournemouth 2-1 and reignite their hopes of Premier League safety.

Having fallen behind to Marcus Tavernier’s goal seven minutes into the second half, the Hatters snatched victory thanks to Jordan Clark’s equaliser and Morris’ last-gasp close-range finish.

With Clark’s swivelling leveller paving way for a grandstand finale, Morris side-footed home from an excellent Cauley Woodrow cross to send the Kenilworth Road crowd into raptures.

Luton are now level on points with 17th-place Nottingham Forest, while Bournemouth’s talk of Europe has been muted as they drop down to 12th place.

Luton made a confident start in front of a raucous home crowd, but they struggled to carve out clear-cut chances as Ross Barkley and Tahith Chong both fired over the top.

Villa’s frustrating afternoon was compounded in the final minutes of the match when Douglas Luiz was issued a yellow card. his 10th of the season means he is now suspended for Villa’s next two matches against Arsenal and AFC Bournemouth.

Watkins Improves England Chances with Brace
Watkins is now outright second in the Premier League scoring charts with 18 goals. In front of the watching England manager Gareth Southgate, Watkins started and scored a double while his international team-mate Ivan Toney sat on the bench for Brentford.

Bees boss Frank explained prior to the game that Toney’s exclusion was due to a “small” muscle injury, and Watkins took advantage of his own pitch time with two headers, including a vital equaliser just when it seemed Villa had thrown everything away as an intense pursuit of a UEFA Champions League spot continues.

Mbeumo “M-presses”
It was an insipid performance from Brentford for the first 59 minutes, though Mbeumo had been doing his best to drag them up the pitch and he was at the centre of most of what the Bees did well.

The Cameroon international volleyed Brentford level with a superb effort on his weaker right foot, and generally caused Emery’s side all sorts of headaches, even prior to the rest of his team-mates matching his levels.

Mbeumo has scored five and been involved in six more away goals in the Premier League this season than any other Brentford player, despite playing in just nine of their matches on the road.

Aston Villa failed to win a Premier League home game in which they led by 2+ goals for the first time since February 2022 (3-3 vs Leeds), having won each of their previous 19 such matches before today.