Around the Premier League: Matchweek 16
With an international break starting next week, the Premier League played their final matchweek before their stars travel to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
Brentford upsets Manchester City, Tottenham tops Leeds United in a high-scoring affair and the Premier League announces its 2023-24 schedule.
Let’s dive into these top storylines from soccer's top league.
Brentford upsets Manchester City.
Brentford has had a disappointing start to their 2022-23 campaign, winning only three of their first 15 matches. As they headed into Etihad Stadium Saturday, most expected the season's win total to stay at three.
But the Bees came out buzzing. Brentford had a couple of good scoring chances before a header from Ivan Toney in the 16th minute gave them a 1-0 lead.
In the 45th minute, Phil Foden answered for Manchester City. Manuel Akanji sent a corner that trickled through the box right to Foden’s left foot. Foden sent a screamer into the top right corner to tie the game right before the half.
Nobody scored in the second half, and as added time was coming to a close, it appeared both sides would be walking away with a point.
Then, as extra time was drawing to a close, Josh Dasilva sent a pass into the box that found Toney’s foot, and he tapped it past Ederson for his second of the game.
This big win will send Brentford into the break on a high note, while Manchester City will wonder what went wrong.
Tottenham tops Leeds United in a high-scoring affair.
Tottenham and Leeds United met on Saturday in a high-scoring contest that felt like whoever shot last would win.
Leeds came out strong. In the 10th minute, Crysencio Summerville struck a shot past Hugo Lloris to give Leeds the early lead.
Harry Kane answered for Tottenham. In the 25th minute, Illan Meslier parried away a shot from a corner, and Kane slotted in the rebound for his 12th goal of the season.
Leeds capitalized off a poor clearance attempt by the Hotspurs in the 43rd minute to regain the lead. Liam Cooper headed the turnover to Rasmus Kristensen, who headed it into the box, and Rodrigo struck a volley that skipped past Lloris.
Tottenham came out of the break strong and were rewarded as a Ben Davies shot trickled over the line to equalize the game in the 51st minute.
Leeds retook the lead in the 76th minute as Marc Roca sent a through ball to Rodrigo that curled past the outstretched arms of Lloris for his second of the game.
Just five minutes later, Tottenham responded. Rodrigo Bentancur sent a shot from the center of the box that snuck through Luke Ayling’s legs and caused Meslier to freeze on his line.
Two minutes later, Bentancur struck again. Dejan Kulusevski dribbled into the box and slid a pass right to Bentancur’s left foot, who put it in the wide-open net.
Leed’s looked to mount a comeback, but Tyler Adams’ second yellow card of the match resulted in him getting sent off and extinguished all hopes of salvaging a point.
The Premier League announces its 2023-24 schedule.
On Tuesday, the Premier League revealed its 2023-24 schedule. The season will begin on Aug. 12, 76 days after the 2022-23 season concludes. It will consist of 34-weekend slates, three midweek matches and one-holiday match round.
There will also be a player break from Jan 13 to Jan 20.
The season will conclude on May 19, with all games will kick off simultaneously. This conclusion date will allow players to rest up before international play in the summer.
Ben Palillo is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email bgp5079@psu.edu.
