When it is time to celebrate bonfire night in the United Kingdom, fireworks will be heard for what seems like weeks at times as many look to make the most out of the occasion that remembers Guy Fawkes plot to blow up the House of Lords in Parliament. Indeed, some will know the poem “Remember, Remember the fifth of November”, however the weekend of that date in 2021 might just leave some football fans of Premier League clubs wishing it is something that they do not remember.
Only one match was played on the 5th November, however it was an unhappy one for Dean Smith as it would turn out to be his final match for Aston Villa as their manager as he was dismissed before the weekend was out. Anwar El Ghazi’s performance was the main shocker of the night (along with the referee) as it seemed that he tried to do everything he could to be sent off in the first half once Adam Armstrong struck home early with a sublime effort and delight bettors who used Unibet AZ to place a wager on Southampton winning.
Saturday provided an encore of fireworks for many Premier League fans and there was certainly no finer way to start the newest show than with the Manchester derby, or at least many would have assumed it would have been great. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side was as flat as a firework performance during the daytime would be as they were nowhere to be seen whilst Manchester City waltzed all over them in a training match at Old Trafford.
There were only a couple of 3 o’clock kick-offs to happen on Saturday, but they provided a few shocks that some would have liked to have seen from the firework displays they would have visited in the evening. Burnley stealing a point from Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was perhaps the show-stopper, whilst Norwich City’s victory over Brentford provided the biggest bang as Daniel Farke was told he was no longer needed at Carrow Road despite picking up the Canaries first win of the season.
Crystal Palace continued to perform rather well under Patrick Vieira, with Connor Gallagher continuing to show how instrumental he can be for the Eagles as he continued his excellent form against Wolverhampton Wanderers and caused them havoc.
Some would have said the firework display had been toned down a bit in Brighton as the Seagulls took on Newcastle, but Leandro Trossard and Issac Hayden did their best to try and bring some excitement to proceedings before Robert Sanchez gave the game an exciting finale that actually turned out to be rather anti-climatic. We wonder how Eddie Howe viewed it?
Sunday saw a number of games take place, where Arsenal may have “cheated” to grab their win – despite having the golden opportunity to score from the spot – as they took advantage of some sportsman play from Watford whilst the referee also appeared to miss a foul in the build-up.
Antonio Conte’s Spurs had a 0-0 goalless affair with Everton which lacked any sparkle, whilst Leeds and Leicester managed to put on some entertainment at Elland Road. The real firework display, though, was at the London Stadium as Liverpool found themselves exploding in front of West Ham and causing themselves problems.
With the final international break of 2021 set to commence this weekend, we certainly could not complain about the firework display the Premier League put on for fans this weekend, even if we wanted to complain that it was cold sitting in the stands…
