We should have known something was up when Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney scored on the same day.
The seventh round of Premier League games took place last weekend, starting with Tottenham’s highly anticipated encounter with Manchester City on Saturday morning at White Hart Lane. The teams shared two goals in the first half before Tottenham’s season-long goal-scoring problems and Manchester City’s defense eased dramatically in the second.
Tottenham scored three times against the then-league leader en route to a 4-1 win. Kane finally opened his 2015-16 account — nine games (in all competitions) into the campaign.
748 – Harry Kane has ended a run of 748 minutes (12 hours, 28 mins) without a goal in all competitions for Spurs. Relief.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 26, 2015
Tottenham’s win was just the beginning of Saturday’s goal-fest. Arsenal and Liverpool exploded in victories over Leicester City and Aston Villa, respectively. At the same time, Manchester United strolled past Sunderland with the help of Rooney, who also scored his first league goal of the season.
1 – Wayne Rooney's goal ends a personal 11-game run in the Premier League without a goal for the Manchester United forward. Over.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 26, 2015
Credit stars returning to form for last weekend’s Premier League’s goal-fest. Alexis Sanchez hadn’t scored all season for Arsenal before notching a hat trick against Leicester City. Daniel Sturridge scored twice for Liverpool just two games into his long-awaited comeback.
The Premier League’s Golden Boot race (for top goal scorer) has some unexpected names at the front. We expect that to change and the top flight’s big guns to begin firing more regularly.
TOP #BPL GOALSCORERS
6 – Vardy
5 – Mahrez, Wilson
4 – Ighalo, Pelle, Gomis pic.twitter.com/yG2gdsbJKk— Premier League (@premierleague) September 26, 2015
We don’t, however, expect to see another goal-fest like the one we enjoyed Saturday.
35 – There were 35 goals scored in the Premier League today – only seven days have witnessed more. Rowdy. pic.twitter.com/EZe9oJSWlm
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 26, 2015
Premier League Round 7 results and reaction (home team listed first):
Saturday, Sept. 26
Manchester City 1 – 4 Tottenham
Manchester City lost the game, the top spot in the standings and all the momentum it garnered from five games of perfection to start the season. Tottenham jumped into the UEFA Champions League reckoning with the emphatic and famous win.
1962 – Tottenham scored 4+ goals in a league game against Manchester City for the first time since September 1962 (4-2). Shock.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 26, 2015
1-4 – This was Man City’s heaviest Premier League defeat (three goal margin) since a 0-3 defeat to Liverpool in April 2011. Bump.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 26, 2015
Leicester City 2 – 5 Arsenal
The Premier League’s comeback kings couldn’t overturn the deficit Sanchez and Co. created. Arsenal played great, borderline irresistible, soccer, and Leicester could do little to stop the high-flying Gunners.
Liverpool 3 – 2 Aston Villa
The Reds are scoring again. Read what transpired at Anfield in our wrap and what the Reds’ win means in our verdict.
Stoke City 2 – 1 Bournemouth
The Potters won for the first time this season. Bournemouth lost Callum Wilson, its leading scorer, to a serious knee injury. Stoke and Bournemouth are close in the standings — 17th and 16th, respectively — but we expect their campaigns to start heading in different directions.
West Ham 2 – 2 Norwich City
The Hammers still are having trouble winning at home. The draw means West Ham has taken just four points from four home games so far in its last season at the Boleyn Ground.
Manchester United 3 – 0 Sunderland
Manchester United profited from Manchester City’s loss by easily dispatching Sunderland and assuming the top spot in the standings for the first time since August 2013.
Southampton 3 – 1 Swansea City
Newcastle 2 – 2 Chelsea
Chelsea climbed back from a two-goal deficit and could have won the game in the dying minutes, but the draw keeps the defending champion stuck in the lower half of the standings. So much for that revival.
Sunday, Sept. 27
Watford 0 – 1 Crystal Palace
Monday, Sept. 28
West Brom 2 – 3 Everton
The round started with a five-goal game and ended with another. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
It was a thrilling weekend in the Barclays Premier League – get all the reaction at http://t.co/MpvmiGtqlK pic.twitter.com/ZQ3cYMXcvh
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 28, 2015
TABLE The latest #BPL standings look like this: pic.twitter.com/MC8Jf0GyqC
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 28, 2015
Thumbnail photo via Matt Dunham/Associated Press
