🔬 The Debrief on Saturday’s stunning Premier League action

Five games took place on a truncated day of Premier League football on Saturday.

Here’s what we made of the action.

What happened? 📝

Manchester City dropped yet more points as they came from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

📸 Ryan Pierse – 2024 Getty Images

There were no such problems for Aston Villa, who edged past Southampton 1-0 thanks to a goal from Jhon Duran, while Brentford beat Newcastle in a six-goal thriller at the G-Tech Arena.

Then, Nottingham Forest pulled off a shock as they beat Manchester United at Old Trafford for the first time in 30 years, holding on to a 3-2 win against Amorim’s side.

Meanwhile, the Merseyside derby was postponed due to Storm Darragh.

Player of the Day 🔥

Will Hughes will not have been on many people’s list of players to watch this weekend, but the Crystal Palace midfielder enjoyed a fantastic afternoon against Manchester City.

Faced with Bernardo Silva, Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan, it was the Palace veteran who came out on top, providing assists for both of his side’s goals.

He hadn’t even managed one this season before he faced Guardiola’s side!

Stat of the Day 📊

Look away now, Manchester City fans….

What this means 🤔

📸 Mike Hewitt – 2024 Getty Images

Manchester City have cut Liverpool’s gap at the top of the table by a point, but the Reds now boast a game in hand.

Brentford have leapfrogged several sides with their win over Newcastle, sitting just behind sixth place Aston Villa in seventh. Meanwhile it’s Nottingham Forest who are fifth after their win against Manchester United, who themselves drop to 13th.

Further down, Crystal Palace drew another point clear of the relegation zone, but Southampton still remain rooted to the bottom, eight points away from safety and threatening to be cut adrift.

What they said 🗣

📸 Ryan Pierse – 2024 Getty Images

Pep Guardiola was keen to take the positive from his side’s draw with Crystal Palace: “We have a lot of problems within the squad. We fought incredible, we gave everything, we take the point. Long balls, second balls, they are stronger than us. We started the second-half a little bit sloppy, and after 2-1 we reacted well, we scored the second, but we couldn’t win with 10 at the end. We didn’t attack the ball properly but sometimes this happens.”

Unai Emery, meanwhile, wanted his side to be more clinical against Southampton, saying “Over the 90 minutes we had chances to score more goals but sometimes they were dominating possession. Today we managed the game plan more or less to try and find the way to win.”

And Eddie Howe had plenty to say after Newcastle conceded four on the road:

“Really frustrating, we are really disappointed with the manner of goals we conceded. It”s not even individual mistakes, there’s two or three actions I’m not happy with for each goal. We have to do better in those situations.

“We had control of the game in the first half, then it got away from us after the third goal. We looked like a good attacking unit, but we have to put it all together and it has led to inconsistent results.”

📸 OLI SCARFF – AFP or licensors

Under-pressure Russell Martin continued to back his playstyle despite another defeat, saying “[We] played some good football, twice through on goal and it comes to nothing. The guys are trying, giving everything. That’s all we can ask for. Lack of conviction and quality of decision making in the final third is not quite there.”

And Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim bemoaned his side’s lack of creativity. “At half-time, we were ready to go for the win, but started really badly with two goals. We didn’t have many situations to score, but we have to continue the job. They managed to score again, and it’s hard because of the job that you’ve got.”

But Chris Wood cut a very different figure after becoming Nottingham Forest’s record Premier League goalscorer. “It’s just finding an area that causes confusion with my drop-in. It’s fantastic, it’s nice that I can keep doing well for the team and get as many goals as possible,” he said.

What’s next? 👀

Weather permitting, the Premier League continues on Sunday with Arsenal in action against Fulham before Chelsea take on Tottenham in the later game.

Then, on Monday, Julen Lopetegui and Gary O’Neil lock horns with both under pressure managers desperate for three points.

📸 OLI SCARFF – AFP or licensors