Premier League Matchday 12 review: Best Prem game of all time?

Jonathan Victoria • 13 Nov 2023 Features

It definitely is up there at the very least.

Wow. Just, wow. 

What really can be said when the last game of the weekend went the way it did? The weekend as a whole was filled with great football, but it was all topped off at Stamford Bridge.

We’re going to be taking a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from Matchday 12, but spoiler alert, there is no ugly and hardly any bad. 

What a great weekend to leave off before the slug of the International break.

The Good

The best good that came from that result on Sunday which we will talk about earlier is that it brings the league even closer. Three points now separate first to fifth, so it still is anyone’s title to take - although we are a long way from the end.

Wolves were a big catalyst in this as they beat Tottenham in a surprise result that also helped themselves out, seeing them rise from 15th to 12th - a good jump to help them stay clear of the drop zone for now.

Bournemouth also helped their chances of survival with their own surprise result, beating Newcastle 2-0. It moves them above Luton and out of the drop zone by three points, leaving the three promoted sides in there now.

The goalkeeping should also be highlighted for both sides in the game. Despite conceding twice, Nick Pope made some superb quick-reaction saves throughout, as did Cherries keeper Neto.

The Bad

Spurs were very spursy this weekend. After a fantastic record-breaking start to the season, they’ve only gone and followed it up with two consecutive losses, this weekend in typical fashion, conceding two injury-time goals to lose the game.

Granted, they are suffering from injuries at the moment, with key players James Maddison and Micky van de Ven not looking likely to return until the New Year.

But this is a problem that many teams have, and Tottenham were always susceptible to dropping off if it did happen as their depth doesn’t have a whole lot of quality. They’re now going to have to struggle through the next month and a bit until Maddison is back.

Manchester United also continued their form of juuuust scraping by. This time it was Victor Lindelof who got them the win, but a goal a game and just about getting the result is doing nothing to convince anyone that United can be a threat going forward.

The Ugly

No ugly this week. I genuinely can’t bring myself to put anything in this category, not even the referees or VAR (although that’s not to say there weren’t any dodgy decisions made).

Biggest winners

We, the fans, are the biggest winners because holy mother of all things great, Chelsea vs Manchester City is without a doubt one of the greatest games of Premier League football that has ever been played. 

Maybe even just one of the best games period, up there with the 2022 World Cup Final and Southampton’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy triumph in 2010 (just let me have this, please).

It was an end-to-end game, fast-paced, great football from either side, and come the final whistle it felt like nobody wanted it to end, not even the players or managers!

Neither side could really get the better of the other, so a draw was definitely the right result. It also helps Chelsea to look even more like the threat that everyone has been dreading for the last year and a half, so maybe they can be the biggest winners too.

Star Players

It was a tale of braces this week's star players, and while Erling Haaland did also get a brace, he was not included as I would then feel compelled to put every player who played in that game in for the stellar showing they provided.

Mo Salah

Another two for one of the best the league has ever seen. The brace also saw Salah net his 200th goal in English football. 

Dominic Solanke

Solanke scored both Bournemouth goals in their win over Newcastle. The second wasn’t the smartest goal ever but the first was a good finish in a tough position.