Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri became the Premier League’s youngest player at 15 years and 181 days as the Gunners beat Brentford to return top of the table.
Here, the PA news agency picks out five things we learned from this weekend’s Premier League action.
Rodgers pushed back into a corner by a leaky defense
22 – Leicester’s 22 goals conceded are the most after seven games in a Premier League season, and the most in the top flight since 1965-66 (West Ham, also 22). Difficulty. #TOTLEIpic.twitter.com/Vbvp6NaKlq— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 17, 2022
Leicester’s Brendan Rodgers is set to be the next Premier League manager to be sacked following his side’s 6-2 loss at Tottenham, where Son Heung-min came off the bench to score a 13-minute hat-trick. The Foxes are bottom of the table with just one point from their first seven games, a point which came when they squandered a 2-0 home lead against Brentford on Matchday 1. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Leicester have conceded 19 goals from corners and already have a minus 12 goal difference this season.
Form is temporary, class is permanent
A frustrated Son Heung-min was sent to the bench after failing to score in his first eight appearances in all competitions this season, but last season’s co-top scorer in the Premier League responded in ideal fashion with his hat-trick against Leicester. After watching Harry Kane, Eric Dier and Rodrigo Bentancur net for the first 47 minutes, Son was lucky enough to get in on the act and produced two stunning strikes – one with either foot – before finishing his hat trick with a shot that goaltender Danny Ward will think he should have saved.
O’Neil pleads for permanent role at Bournemouth
Bournemouth may not have played any of the biggest sides since Scott Parker was sacked after the 9-0 hammering away at Liverpool, but caretaker boss Gary O’Neil has enjoyed an impressive spell in charge nonetheless. A 0-0 home draw with Wolves hours after Parker’s sacking stabilized the ship and was followed by a spirited 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest after trailing 2-0. O’Neil insisted after Saturday’s 1-1 draw at big-spending Newcastle that he still had ‘no idea’ of the permanent job, and that might be wise if club ownership changed hands. hands, but more good results after the international break would strengthen. his case.
Arsenal set records as they continue to impress
Victories for Manchester City and Tottenham on Saturday meant Arsenal had fallen to third place in the table ahead of Sunday’s game with Brentford, but Mikel Arteta’s side returned to the top of the table with a 3-0 victory thanks to the goals from William Saliba, Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Viera. Vieira was replaced in the final moments by Nwaneri, who became the Premier League’s youngest player at 15 years and 181 days. Nwaneri broke the previous record held by Harvey Elliott, who was 16 years and 30 days old when he played for Fulham in 2019, but Northern Irish schoolboy Christopher Atherton holds the record for the UK’s youngest senior footballer after his recent appearance for Glenavon aged 13 years and 329 days.
Precious time for Forest
Forest have revamped their squad for the Premier League with 22 summer signings, including big transfer fees for Morgan Gibbs-White, Emmanuel Dennis and Neco Williams and bringing in Jesse Lingard for free. But, as they discovered, new blood does not guarantee success and for the second game in a row they squandered a half-time lead to lose 3-2 to Fulham. Forest boss Steve Cooper has hinted at his squad’s lack of cohesion but knows they can’t let games go by trying to establish it. Sitting at the second bottom of the board, the main objective now is to find a way to get points on the board.
