F365’s 3pm Blackout: Liverpool plodding even with Nunez chaos as Haaland is inevitable
Liverpool had as many yellow cards as shots in the 18 minutes plus stoppage-time when trailing to Nottingham Forest; oh how they need an Erling Haaland.
Liverpool 0-1 Nottingham Forest: Plodding Reds deserved nothing
It had long since felt like a Darwin Nunez game, one which required his particular brand of chaos and the sort of individual brilliance which can only exist outside of modern football’s intricate and obsessively-drilled coaching systems to settle.
How unfortunate for Liverpool that it turned out to be exactly the case.
Liverpool started the season with three clean sheet victories but Arne Slot’s substitutions have created the most headlines. His triple change after a frustratingly goalless hour at home to Nottingham Forest introduced Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Conor Bradley in place of Diogo Jota, Alexis MacAllister and Luis Diaz.
But it was Nuno Espirito Santo who made the most telling alterations. Anthony Elanga replaced Elliot Anderson around seven minutes after Callum Hudson-Odoi came on for Nicolas Dominguez; both substitutes combined soon after to earn Forest their first Anfield win in more than half a century.
The threat they pose on the counter is obvious and omnipresent – indeed the better chances after the goal went to the visitors – but Forest’s defence was unwavering. Nikola Milenkovic has been a phenomenal addition alongside the wonderful Murillo and it was the new centre-half stepping out to muscle Nunez off the ball on the edge of the area, extinguish another attack and play it forward which precipitated a goal Hudson-Odoi has built his career highlight reel on: cutting inside from the left and curling a well-placed shot past the keeper.
If Liverpool supporters were alarmed how little they created before conceding, the absolute lack of invention and imagination when losing at home to a team which battled relegation last season will have been unnerving.
The hosts had as many yellow cards as shots in the 18 minutes plus stoppage-time when trailing and their plodding approach and carelessness on the ball was a stark contrast to those flowing moves and patterns of play which dismantled Manchester United so effortlessly before the international break.
This moment always was going to come and that post-Klopp boom in results and performances was never going to be sustainable over a full season. But few will have expected the first on-pitch setback of the Slot era to come in such a disappointing manner. It was a timely reminder that while Liverpool belong in the same conversation as Manchester City and Arsenal, they are largely just nodding along and laughing nervously at in-jokes about a title race which will come too soon.
Manchester City 2-1 Brentford: Haaland is inevitable
“There’s no central defender, not even with a gun, to stop him,” Pep Guardiola said of Erling Haaland after the Norwegian’s latest hat-trick. Against Brentford they shot themselves squarely in the foot and needed the striker to talk them out of inflicting any further damage.
It took Brentford, as close to a bogey team as this City side get, 22 seconds to open the scoring at the Etihad. A mix-up between John Stones and Ederson left Yoane Wissa unmarked to head the fastest goal ever conceded by a reigning Premier League champion.
For the second straight home game, City were stunned by an opponent having the temerity to burst out of the blocks. For the second straight home game, Haaland limited any period of actual panic to about half an hour with his increasing levels of ridiculousness.
The equaliser was daft enough, letting a loose ball run across him in the area before beating Mark Flekken with a first-time finish. But what turned out to be the winning goal was the result of some ludicrously intelligent play. The perception of Haaland as an all-conquering cyborg is only natural but it downplays his astonishing understanding of the centre-forward role.
A long ball from Ederson could have resulted in little more than another headed Brentford clearance, yet Haaland used his body brilliantly to run ahead of Ethan Pinnock and let the defender bounce off him before racing through, taking two touches with his left foot and dinking the ball gently into the corner.
The angle which shows Pinnock jogging back, keeping his eyes on the ball and largely doing absolutely nothing wrong, but still being embarrassed by Haaland as the Norwegian thinks a few steps ahead and doesn’t even glance behind to see where the ball is once he figures out its trajectory, is a breath-taking showcase of a stupidly good footballer who, not for the first time, solved a problem his team helped to create for themselves.
Brighton 0-0 Ipswich: Rutterly frustrating
Fabian Hürzeler was named Premier League Manager of the Month so of course Brighton struggled to reach their flee-flowing best self against Ipswich, with Arijanet Muric proving to be a particularly stubborn opponent.
Of course Brighton dominated possession and of course they won the game on xG, but this was like peak Graham Potter Brighton: massively frustrating to fans who would probably like to know why the club spent quite so much money on Georginio Rutter.
The Frenchman was hauled off after 67 minutes and was replaced by Julio Enciso, who was the first of four substitutes as the Seagulls prodded and probed for a winner, with Evan Ferguson coming closest late in the game.
Brighton fans will be very happy indeed to see Joao Pedro return after a niggling injury next week, but might cheer up when they realise that they are still unbeaten in the Premier League. Champions League, here they come. Ish.
Crystal Palace 2-2 Leicester City: Yes Ndidi as Palace patience is tested
Remember when Wilfred Ndidi was the tough-tackling midfielder who was cited as a) the natural successor to N’Golo Kante at Leicester and b) a possible long-term solution for Manchester United’s soft centre?
Well now he is apparently a gloriously visionary No. 10 who has picked up three Premier League assists in his last two games, with a brace coming in a ding-dong battle at Selhurst Park as he created goals for both Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.
Meanwhile, there is some real fan frustration at Crystal Palace as they face a season without Joachim Andersen and Michael Olise; Maxence Lacroix looked a little vulnerable in the centre of defence while there was definitely a lack of magic going forward.
The fans booed off the team at half-time and it all felt a long, long time since Oliver Glasner was managing one of the most in-form teams in the Premier League. Keeping Marc Guehi was a boost but losing two other key players will inevitably stunt improvement.
But Glasner did make attacking change after attacking change until it felt inevitable that the equaliser would come, with Ismaila Sarr forcing fellow substitute Conor Coady into a clumsy challenge before Jean-Philippe Mateta scored his second of the day from the spot.
Those fans booing Mateta’s continued involvement at half-time were making slightly different noises by the final whistle.
Fulham 1-1 West Ham: Target practice required
If you’re going to take 21 shots – and Fulham did as West Ham floundered in proper dour David Moyes style – then you really must hit the target more than five times.
Andreas Pereira, Adama Traore and Emile Smith Rowe were all wasteful as the Cottagers really should have added to their early Raul Jimenez strike, which owed a great deal to the persistence of No.10 Smith Rowe, who looked rather more dynamic than Tomas Soucek in that role; hid stodginess prompted the Hammers fans to start singing the name of Lucas Paqueta before half-time.
The Brazilian soon entered the fray but West Ham still struggled for creativity until Jarrod Bowen – by then playing through the middle after it became obvious that Michail Antonio really should not be starting Premier League games in 2024 – pulled the goal back for the much-maligned Danny Ings to finish, saving Julen Lopetegui from more boos at full-time.
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