Premier League Round 22 – Saturday review

    This weekend, clubs from the Premier League continued with their league campaigns, with matches on both Saturday and Sunday. In some of the match-ups, Nigerian players and those of Nigerian descent took part, while some even got on the score sheet.

    In the first game of the round, West Ham hosted Arsenal at the London Stadium. Alex Iwobi was once again in the starting eleven for Unai Emery, playing in attack, alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and just behind Alexandre Lacazette.

    Nothing of much note happened in the first half, but just a couple of minutes after the restart, West Ham took the lead through a Declan Rice goal. That goal turned out to be a decider, as Arsenal couldn’t find the way through before the match ended. With this important win, the Hammers have moved up to the top half of the table, sharing 8th place with Leicester City.

    Brighton welcomes Liverpool to the Amex Stadium hoping to get a good result after the northern team suffered their first loss of the season against Manchester City at the start of 2019. Liverpool did struggle but, in the end, it took a penalty which Salah converted to secure the three points for the Reds. Brighton and Nigeria centre back Leon Balogun sat out the whole match on the bench.

    Huddersfield Town travelled to Wales, to play Cardiff City at the Cardiff City Stadium. It was a nervous match from both sides, and the Terriers almost had a great chance to score but the referee retracted his decision to award a penalty in the second half after he spoke to his assistant.

    Philip Billing - Player of Huddersfield Town - YouTube/OfficialHTAFC

    Philip Billing – Player of Huddersfield Town – YouTube/OfficialHTAFC

    The match ended goalless but at least Huddersfield stopped their eight-game losing streak with a point away from home. Philip Billing was once again in midfield for the Terriers, playing for the full 90 minutes.

    At Selhurst Park, visiting Watford beat the hosts Crystal Palace, winning after three games without a triumph. It was Palace who went one nil up in the 38th minute, after a Craig Cathcart own goal until the same player equalized in the 67th minute, making up for his mistake in the first half.

    The Hornets got their wined just six minutes after levelling the game, with Tom Cleverley scoring the goal, only minutes after he came onto the pitch. Isaac Success Ajayi was on the bench for Watford but didn’t get to play for the first time this season.

    Leicester City welcomed Southampton at the King Power Stadium but lost the match even though the Saints were a man down for the whole of the second half. Southampton scored early through a penalty converted by James Ward-Prowse and then again in the stoppage time of the first half. Shane Long was the scorer this time. Wilfred Ndidi, who was again in the starting line-up for the Foxes, scored in the 58th minute to give his team hope but it was to no avail. Southampton won the match.