Key events
Full-time: Everton 2-1 Crystal Palace
Massive win for Everton, their first of the season. It looked grim when Guehi gave Palace the lead early on but, in a reversal of recent fortunes, it was their turn to come from behind. A second-half brace from Dwight McNeill and Everton have their first win of the season.
90 min: Brentford 1-1 West Ham Vociferous appeals from the hosts for a penalty but nothing doing.
89 min: Arsenal 2-2 Leicester Danish goalkeeper Mads Hermansen is performing heroics in the Foxes goal as Arsenal hurl everything at him. Havertz heads over in the Gunners’ latest attempt to snatch a winner.
Krishnamoorthy v makes this claim: “I can’t believe this is actually Chelsea. They have not been this emphatic since 2006 probably.”
If results stay the same, Chelsea are heading up to second place, for the time being.
85 min: Everton 2-1 Crystal Palace This is where Everton fans start having kittens but, so far, they’re holding firm as they bid to hold out for their first Premier League win of the campaign.
GOAL! Watford 2-1 Sunderland
Sunderland suddenly aren’t going top of the Championship as they fall behind at Watford.
A total of 16 goals in these five 3pm kick-offs. Surely more to come though.
80 min: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Fulham The hosts creating very little as they attempt to preserve their unbeaten record. Their xG is 0.58.
79 min: Brentford 1-1 West Ham Time ticking on and Paqueta strolls off looking unhappy after being hooked. Lopetegui not happy with the Brazilian’s effort today.
68 min: Chelsea 4-2 Brighton Marc Cucurella has the ball in the next against his former team following a swipe from a corner but it’s ruled out for offside.
Up in Scotland, James Humphries is keeping an eye out. “Mighty ‘Well up 2-1 against St Mirren, and I’ll bet at least 50p there’s more goals in this. Keep yer Cole Palmer, Lennon Miller’s where it’s at (but don’t tell anyone, we want him to stay).”
A missed penalty and two red cards in that Motherwell game by the way.
Andy (not that one) Flintoff notes: “Am I alone in thinking it’s a bit remiss of Man City to *not* have a direct replacement for Rodri already within their squad of full internationals?”
Kári Tulinius writes: “Every time I watch Leicester this season, they scrape goals even if they otherwise look out of their depth. It’s early to talk about survival chances, but being able to find the back of the net by hook or crook is invaluable when fighting for safety.”
It sure is.
Euro round-up
An early look at matters in Europe, with Inter winning by the odd goal in five at Udinese in a 2pm kick-off.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-2 Leicester (Justin 63)
Remarkable! James Justin doubles his career Premier League goal tally with a brilliant second to haul Leicester from looking down and out to level at 2-2. Ndidi’s cross finds Justin, who times his volley superbly to silence the Emirates. Two goals for Justin in a Leicester second-half fightback wasn’t on the bingo card.
Wolves v Liverpool team news
Starting XIs for the 5.30pm kick-off in the Premier League. Alisson is back in goal for Liverpool while Diogo Jota returns to start against his former club.
54 min: Chelsea 4-2 Brighton Almost a fifth for Cole Palmer. More dodgy defending from Brighton but this time the long-shinned Englisman can’t convert.
Goals in the Championship
Wilson Isidor has given Sunderland an equaliser at Watford while Leeds have doubled their lead at home to Coventry thanks to Jayden Bogle. Sunderland are set to go top while Leeds are up to fifth in the live table, just two points off top spot.
Some analysis from Jonathan Wilson of Newcastle’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City in today’s early Premier League kick-off.
GOAL! Everton 2-1 Crystal Palace (McNeill 54)
What a turnaround at Goodison as McNeill scores for the second time in seven minutes to put Everton 2-1 up after they’d trailed at the break. Not as spectacular as his first but it’s a fine goal nonetheless as takes down Harrison’s pass and shoots low past Henderson.
GOAL! Brentford 1-1 West Ham (Soucek 54)
We’re all square in the London derby as Soucek is the Tommy on the spot to give West Ham fans something to cheer after a trying week.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 0-1 Fulham (Jimenez pen 51)
The deadlock is broken and are Forest looking at their first defeat of the season?
GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Leicester (Justin 47)
Well, well, well. Leicester looked down and out but they’ve made the ideal start to the second half and wrecked Arsenal’s clean sheet if nothing else. It’s a messy one as James Justin’s header deflects off Havertz and leaves Raya wrong footed.
GOAL! Everton 1-1 Crystal Palace (McNeill 47)
Great start to the second half for the Toffees as McNeill fires in what seems a trademark goal even though he doesn’t score that many. The Everton man drives at the Palace defence and thumps home from outside the box to make it 1-1. It’s Everton’s first shot on target.
We’re into the second half of most of our games although not yet at Arsenal and Chelsea.
And, on a day of Premier League records needing to be updated, let’s not forget this one from 3.01pm.
3 – Brentford have become the first team in Premier League history to score in the opening minute in three consecutive games. Lightning. #BREWHU
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 28, 2024
Some Cole Palmer stats to impress your friends with…
3 – Cole Palmer has now scored three Premier League hat-tricks, the joint-most of any Chelsea player in the competition’s history (level with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard). Rabbit. #CHEBHA pic.twitter.com/u5iz7QcGLN
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 28, 2024
Kevin Dardis emails: “Hi David. Having read Jeremy Boyce’s mail, I was reminded about something I recently read about the Bundesliga. Or rather, about the 2. Bundesliga. Of the 18 teams in the second flight this season, nine of them were in the top flight when the Bundesliga – and professional football here in Germany – was launched in 1963 (Cologne, Hamburg, Schalke, Nuremberg, Braunschweig, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruher, Hertha Berlin, Preußen Münster). Only four teams in the current top flight (Dortmund, Stuttgart, Bremen and Eintracht Frankfurt) can claim the same. Footballing landscapes certainly shift drastically. This is perhaps the wrong MBM for such statistics but there you go.
“Greetings from a Fürth season ticket holder (another team in the 2. Bundesliga – German champions in 1914, 1926 & 1929).”
Steven Grundy writes: “Hey David, It is very hard to take your eyes off this game.
“Chelsea are probably the most exciting team in the world at the moment. Just like with the Wolves game – they might win this 9-2 or lose 4-5. Unbelievable. Sanchez was at fault for 2 of Brighton’s goals. Is he really the best out of the 8 goalkeepers that Chelsea have on their books? Also, Palmer is on fire. Unstoppable during the first 45 minutes.
“Finally, just a thought. Man Utd should consider buying Chelsea’s left winger, who is wreaking absolute havoc. Do you think ten Hag might put in a bid for him?”
Some half-time reading for you while you check if you have Cole Palmer in your fantasy teams…
Half-time scores
Scores in our our featured games, all 3pm kick-offs unless stated.
Premier League
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Newcastle 1-1 Man City (12.30pm)
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Arsenal 2-0 Leicester
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Brentford 1-0 West Ham
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Chelsea 4-2 Brighton
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Everton 0-1 Crystal Palace
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Nottingham Forest 0-0 Fulham
Championship
Scottish Premiership
Serie A
Reaction to the Cole Palmer goal-fest at Stamford Bridge
Glenn in Canada: “At 3-1 I was going to say the scoreline doesn’t do justice to Chelsea’s performance, the ball has been in the back of Brighton’s net 5 times already and the Gulls could easily be down to 10 men. But holy moly, what a game.”
Mark Turner adds: “4 in 41 minutes – a nice regular rhythm. Am I the only one who’ll feel slightly disappointed if he doesn’t finish with nine today?”
He’s on track to do so Mark.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Leicester (Trossard 45)
A simple finish for Trossard as he’s set up by Martinelli. Leicester gave the ball away again and there’s some finger pointing going on in the Foxes’ ranks. Oh dear. A reminder that Arsenal will go top if they win by four clear goals. Every chance.
GOAL! Chelsea 4-2 Brighton (Palmer 42)
This is crazy, apeshot bonkers stuff from Cole Palmer, who now has four to his name. Move over Erling Haaland. The latest comes after he’s set up by Sancho, who has a second assist of the game.
40 min: Nottingham Forest 0-0 Fulham Not an awful lot to report from the City Ground as Forest bid to keep their unbeaten start going. Anyway, back to the Bridge…
38 min: Brentford 1-0 West Ham The Hammers have certainly steadied the ship since the concession of that first-minute goal although they haven’t created much.
37 min: Everton 0-1 Crystal Palace The Toffees are pushing for an equaliser with Calvert-Lewin and McNeill both having chances. But Palace remain a threat on the break and from set-pieces so the mood could still sink further at Goodison.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-2 Brighton (Baleba 34)
It’s raining goals at Stamford Bridge and now we have five. This one is down to a howler from Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez who seems to forget that he’s no longer a Brighton player. He gifts the ball away and Carlos Baleba cuts Chelsea’s lead to 3-2.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-1 Brighton (Palmer 31)
Good grief! Cole Palmer is going mad here. Not satisfied with his quickfire brace he curls home a brilliant 30-yard free-kick to give himself a first-half hat-trick and Chelsea a 3-1 lead. What a player!
GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Brighton (Palmer 27)
Chelsea have turned it around and it’s a quickfire double for that man (imagine Bryon Butler voice) Cole Palmer. This one comes from the spot after Jadon Sancho jinks into the box and is brought down.
Simon McMahon with Fitba news. “Afternoon David. A minute’s applause before the start of Dundee v Aberdeen today in memory of former Dee Fabian Caballero who has sadly died at the age of 46. No goals in any of the games in the Scottish Premier so far, with managerless Hearts, as predicted on last week’s clockwatch, at Ross County, Motherwell v St. Mirren and Kilmarnock v Dundee United.”
“Plenty goals now, though. Dundee 0-1 Aberdeen, Motherwell 1-1 St. Mirren, Kilmarnock 0-1 Dundee United.”
A timely Championship-themed email from Jeremy Boyce. “Yeah, never mind all you fancy dan so-called “big” teams all trying to find a way of grabbing a slice of the ever-expanding Big Cup/League pie, or alternatively avoid becoming the next “big” team to find themselves back down one step in what is officially the hardest League to get promoted from in the universe, THE CHAMPIONSHIP! And yes, today’s Championship table is crammed with former/fallen Premiership “big” teams hoping to restore their former glories. All but 3 of the bottom half of the table have enjoyed (?) time upstairs since the Premier League was founded. At the top end, where it’s hard as nails, It’s already looking like a white knuckle-ride for automatic promotion from now to April, with no stand-out, runaway Leicester or Burnley showing just yet. And with Baggies losing at Sheff Wed earlier, the door is open to the chasing group, 3 of who (Sunderland, Burnley, Sheff U) have tricky away days today, while NastyLeeds will fancy making up ground at home to Coventry. Don’t worry lads, only another 40 games to go (excluding play-offs).”
Championship early games round-up
A review of those three early 12.30pm kick-offs in the Championship that featured wins for Blackburn, Norwich and Sheffield Wednesday.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Brighton (Palmer 21)
A terrible mistake at the back from Adam Webster allows Nicolas Jackson to run free and set up Cole Palmer to level for Chelsea with a cool finish. Two avoidable goals.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Leicester (Martinelli 20)
Martinelli makes amend as he turns home Timber’s cut back to put the Gunners in front. It had been coming. Poor marking from Leicester.
Goal in the Championship. Wilfried Gnonto slots home from around 16 yards to put Leeds 1-0 up on Coventry at Elland Road. That’s the first goal in the Championship’s 3pm games although Cardiff have now just gone 1-0 up at Hull.
