MY ACCOUNT
Premier League leaders Manchester City dropped points for the first time in 13 matches on Saturday, while rivals Manchester United celebrated a win that was secured deep into ‘Fergie Time’.
Saturday’s action may not have been overflowing with goals, but there was no shortage of narratives and talking points.
Steven Gerrard was back on Merseyside to face Everton, while David Moyes saw his disappointing record against United continue.
Without any further ado, here is a look at the standout Opta facts from some of the key matches…
Southampton 1-1 Manchester City: Leaders’ winning streak comes to an end
Man City’s 12-match winning run in the Premier League was ended by Southampton at St Mary’s.
The draw means Saints have avoided defeat in both league meetings with City in a single season for the first time since 2002-03.
Things may have been even better for Southampton as well, as they actually scored first – their inability to win took them to 77 points dropped from winning positions in the league under Ralph Hasenhuttl, 14 more than any other team over the same period.
Aymeric Laporte rescued the draw for City, heading in Kevin De Bruyne’s inviting free-kick delivery.
That was De Bruyne’s fifth assist away to Saints in the Premier League, a figure not bettered by any away player at St Mary’s.
Leeds United 0-1 Newcastle United: Magpies’ troubling run on the road consigned to history
Newcastle secured their first away win of the season on Saturday as they beat Leeds 1-0.
It came in their 10th match on the road this term, making it the furthest into a season that Newcastle have gone before getting an away win since 2012-13, when it took them 12 attempts.
Jonjo Shelvey got the winner with a clever free-kick – 61 per cent of his Premier League goals have been from outside the box, a figure only David Ginola (67 per cent) and Laurent Robert (65 per cent) can better among players with at least 20 strikes to their name.
That effort consigned Leeds to their first Premier League defeat to a side starting the day in the bottom three since December 2003.
But if any side was going to do so, history suggested Newcastle had a great chance. After all, this was their seventh win at Elland Road in the Premier League, a record they now share with Liverpool.
Manchester United 1-0 West Ham: Moyes still yet to beat former employers
Marcus Rashford was Man Utd’s hero here, coming up trumps right at the death as David Moyes’ Old Trafford woes continued.
Rashford’s winner was his fourth match-winning goal to come in or after the 90th minute of a match in the Premier League, which is the most of anyone in the competition’s history and at least double that of any other Man Utd player.
As such, former United boss Moyes suffered his 11th Premier League defeat away to the Red Devils, prolonging his record of never winning as a visiting manager at Old Trafford in 15 attempts.
Only Harry Redknapp (also 15) has managed as many away games at Old Trafford without winning in the Premier League era, while West Ham remain without a success there in 14 visits, a run that stretches back to May 2007.
Everton 0-1 Aston Villa: Gerrard victorious on Merseyside return
Everton were not just managerless against Aston Villa, they were also rudderless under interim boss Duncan Ferguson following Rafael Benitez’s sacking.
This was the first time since at least 2003-04 that Everton failed to record even a single shot in the first half of a match at Goodison Park in what was their 352nd home game in that span.
Gerrard enjoyed his return to Merseyside, as did Lucas Digne. The left-back only joined Villa for Everton this month and he became the first player to get a Premier League assist against the Toffees at Goodison Park having previously played for them since Nikica Jelavic in December 2014.
The defeat leaves Everton with just 19 points from 20 games this season, their lowest total at this stage of a campaign since 1997-98 (17), when they went on to record their joint-lowest ever Premier League finish of 17th.
There is a much less gloomy outlook for Villa at the moment, however, with this being Emiliano Martinez’s 21st clean sheet since the start of 2020-21 – only Ederson (31) and Edouard Mendy (24) have kept more in that time.
