Premier League Weekend: Man Utd overpower Arsenal; Chelsea edge past Brighton; Man City battles back against Yokohama; Newcastle & Aston Villa share spoils in six-goal clash
Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City with his teammate Erling Haaland Credit: Brendan Moran - Sportsfile/UEFA via Getty Images
A number of Premier League teams featured in friendlies over the weekend. Here is a breakdown of how their fared.
Results
July 22
Man Utd 2-0 Arsenal
Genk 2-0 Burnley
Crystal Palace 2-1 Watford
Levante 1-2 Nottm Forest
Dagenham and Redbridge 2-2 West Ham
July 23
Fulham 3-2 Brentford
Chelsea 4-3 Brighton
Yokohama F Marinos 3-5 Man City
Leicester P-P Tottenham (Waterlogged pitch)
Newcastle United 3-3 Aston Villa
How it happened:
Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal
The MetLife Stadium witnessed the first-ever meeting of Arsenal and Manchester United on American soil. The fixture started positively with Gabriel Martinelli of Arsenal testing the waters early on. Despite a good start, Arsenal could not maintain momentum as Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes' long-range strike, followed by Jadon Sancho's powerful finish, put United in a commanding position by halftime. Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah had chances to reduce the deficit in the second half, but his efforts proved fruitless. After a goalless second half, Manchester United emerged victorious in a penalty shootout, winning 5-3. Both teams are due to continue their pre-season preparations with Arsenal facing Barcelona next and Manchester United taking on Wrexham.
Arsenal: Ramsdale; Timber (White 58), Saliba (Jorginho 72), Gabriel, Tomiyasu (Tierney 46); Odegaard, Rice (Partey 58), Havertz (Vieira 72); Saka (Trossard 72), Nketiah (Smith-Rowe 72), Martinelli (Jesus 58).
Subs not used: Runarsson, Kiwior, Holding, Balogun, Marquinhos, Hein, Trusty, Cozier-Duberry.
Man United: Heaton; Wan-Bissaka (Dalot HT), Varane (Lindelof HT), Martinez (Maguire HT), Shaw (Williams HT); Mainoo (Casemiro HT), Mount (Eriksen HT); Antony (Amad HT, Pellistri 59), Fernandes (McTominay HT) Garnacho (Rashford HT); Sancho (Forson HT).
Subs not used: Bishop, Vitek, Fernandez, Gore, Hannibal, Van de Beek.
Chelsea 4-3 Brighton and Hove Albion
In their first pre-season match in the Premier League Summer Series, Brighton faced Chelsea at the Lincoln Financial Field Stadium. A bright start saw Danny Welbeck put Albion ahead only 13 minutes into the match. However, an equalizer by Christopher Nkunku and subsequent goals from Mykhailo Mudryk, Conor Gallagher, and Nicolas Jackson placed Chelsea firmly in the lead. Despite a late rally from Albion with goals from Joao Pedro and Deniz Undav, Chelsea managed to hold on to their lead, winning the game 4-3.
Chelsea: Kepa; Gusto (Humphreys, 70), Silva (Chalobah, HT), Colwill (Hall, 80), Chilwell (Cucurella, HT); Santos (Fernandez, 62), Gallagher; Sterling (Angelo, 62), Chukwuemeka (Casadei, HT), Maatsen (Mudryk, HT); Nkunku (Jackson, 62)
Unused subs: Cumming, Bergstrom, Gilchrist, Moreira, Burstow
Brighton: Steele (Verbruggen 46), Hinshelwood (Samuels 66), van Hecke, Webster (Alzate 53), Gross (Weir 66), March (Adingra 46), Dahoud (Veltman 46), Gilmour (Ayari 53), Mitoma (Enciso 53), Lallana (Undav 46), Welbeck (Pedro 53).
Unused subs: Ferguson, Peupion, Baker-Boaitey
KRC Genk 2-0 Burnley
Burnley suffered their first pre-season defeat at the Cegeka Arena against Belgian side KRC Genk. The hosts took an early lead with a goal from Yira Sor and maintained control throughout the match. Despite some attempts by Burnley to equalize, including Josh Brownhill's denied effort, they could not break through Genk's defense.
Burnley: Trafford, Roberts, Al-Dakhil, Beyer, Taylor, Cullen, Brownhill, Twine (Amdouni 76), Vitinho (Trialist 60), Zaroury Foster (Weghorst 79)
Crystal Palace 2-1 Watford
The pre-season match between Crystal Palace and Watford saw a rather scrappy first half, with few clear opportunities from either side. Odsonne Edouard changed the game after his half-time introduction, scoring twice to secure a 2-1 win for Palace. Despite a well-worked equalizer from Watford's Edo Kayembe, Palace managed to regain their lead, marking a second win in their pre-season games.
Palace: Johnstone (GK) (Matthews, 45), Clyne (Ward, 76), Tomkins (O’Brien, 80), Andersen (Richards, 60), Mitchell, Doucouré (Hughes, 76), Lerma (Schlupp, 60), Ahamada (Rïedewald, 80), Ayew (Rak-Sakyi, 76), Mateta (Edouard, 45), Eze (Gordon, 87)
Manchester City 5-3 Yokohama F. Marinos
Manchester City began their pre-season with a high scoring match against Yokohama F. Marinos. Despite an early two-goal advantage by the J1 League champions, City bounced back with John Stones and Julian Alvarez equalizing before half-time. In the second half, Erling Haaland scored twice and Rodrigo netted another to achieve a comeback victory. A late goal by Kenta Inoue for Yokohama didn't disrupt City's momentum.
Man City: Ortega Moreno, Walker (C) (Cancelo 45), Stones (Dias 45), Akanji (Laporte 45), Ake (Lewis 45), Phillips (Rodrigo 45), Kovacic (Foden 45), McAtee (Bernardo 45 - Perrone 75), Palmer (Bobb 45), Grealish (Gomez 45), Alvarez (Haaland 45)
Unused Subs: Ederson, Carson, De Bruyne
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Levante
Nottingham Forest ended their Spanish pre-season tour with a 2-1 victory over Levante. Goals by Ryan Yates and Danilo secured the win in the first half, despite Levante's Alejandro Cantero pulling one back shortly after. Forest showed solid defensive work in the second half to protect their lead, earning a second pre-season win.
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Leicester City - Match Cancelled
Tottenham Hotspur's friendly against Leicester City was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch and adverse weather conditions in Bangkok. The event organizers, on the recommendation of match officials, declared the pitch unplayable and unsafe after heavy rainfall.
Dagenham & Redbridge 2-2 West Ham United
West Ham United were held to a 2-2 draw in their pre-season friendly against Dagenham & Redbridge. Maxwel Cornet and Divin Mubama's goals twice gave West Ham the lead, but Dagenham persistently pulled back, with goals by Inih Effiong and a late penalty by Sydney Ibie ensuring a tie. Despite the draw, this match saw the return of several West Ham players from international duty, and continued opportunities for their Academy's up-and-coming stars.
West Ham United: Areola, Coufal (Casey 46), Aguerd (Luizão 63), Kehrer (Laing 56), Scarles (Clayton 46), Swyer (Earthy 71), Souček © (Forson 63), Orford (Potts 46), Benrahma (Kodua 63), Cornet (Chesters 63), Marshall (Mubama 46)
Unused Subs: Anang (GK)
Fulham 3-2 Brentford
Fulham came out on top in an exciting pre-season friendly against Brentford, edging their opponents 3-2 in a game packed with goals. It was Harry Wilson who set the tone for the match just three minutes in, his left-footed strike from outside the box finding the top left corner, assisted by Harrison Reed.
Brentford levelled the game at 17 minutes with a close-range right-footed shot from Yoane Wissa, following a corner that was flicked on by Keane Lewis-Potter. However, Fulham regained the lead before the break, Bobby De Cordova-Reid sending a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner at 36 minutes, assisted again by Reed.
In a exciting start to the second half, Carlos Vinicius extended Fulham's lead to 3-1 with a left-footed shot from the center of the box, only for Brentford's Kristoffer Ajer to respond immediately with a right-footed shot from the right side of the box. Despite Brentford's best efforts, Fulham held on to secure the victory.
Newcastle United 3-3 Aston Villa
In a livley Premier League Summer Series fixture in Philadelphia, Newcastle United and Aston Villa shared the spoils in a six-goal thriller. Villa took an early two-goal lead with strikes from Ollie Watkins and Emi Buendía. But Newcastle rallied before half-time, with goals from Elliot Anderson and Alexander Isak drawing them level.
The scoring continued after the break as Buendía added his second to regain the lead for Villa. But it wasn't long before Newcastle's Callum Wilson equalized, ensuring a 3-3 draw.
Newcastle Debutant Harvey Barnes, a fresh signing from Leicester City, nearly stole the show in the dying minutes, but his curling shot was well held, preserving the stalemate.
Newcastle United: Martin Dúbravka; Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schär (Jamaal Lascelles 46), Paul Dummett (Sven Botman 46), Matt Targett (Harvey Barnes 70); Bruno Guimarães (Matt Ritchie 46), Sandro Tonali (Joelinton 46), Elliot Anderson (Dan Burn 46); Miguel Almirón (Anthony Gordon 46), Alexander Isak (Callum Wilson 46), Jacob Murphy (Lewis Miley 46).
Unused Subs: Loris Karius, Karl Darlow, Harrison Ashby, Jay Turner-Cooke, Ben Parkinson.
Aston Villa: Martínez (Olsen 46), Cash, Konsa (Carlos 46), Mings (Torres 46), Digne (Revan 62), Kamara (Tielemans 62), Luiz (Chambers 71), Philogene (Young 71), McGinn (Kellyman 46), Buendía (A Ramsey 62), Watkins (Archer 62).
Unused Subs: Marschall.
