Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 5:54 PM• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 18:15

Steven Gerrard started his Aston Villa era with a win. The Birmingham club was 2-0 too strong for Brighton & Hove Albion in the coach’s debut on Saturday and that was a welcome three-pointer after no fewer than five defeats in a row in the Premier League. Rise through the win the Villans to fifteenth place in the English league. Number three West Ham United suffered a 1-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers at the same time, after a string of four consecutive wins.

Aston Villa – Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0
The devil in the first half was in the last fifteen minutes, as the first half hour of playing time was anything but memorable. Aston Villa, where Anwar El Ghazi played for the last seven minutes, barely managed to impress and got no further than a header from Matty Cash from close range. At Brighton, with Jürgen Locadia, Joël Veltman and Kjell Scherpen all on the bench, confidence grew in the last fifteen minutes of the first half. Thanks in part to a good performance by Emiliano Martínez, Aston Villa was spared a deficit.

Aston Villa started the second half better and were close to 1-0 via Tyrone Mings. His header from a corner didn’t end up against the ropes thanks to a good save by Jason Steele. The Gerrard and Graham Potter teams apparently lacked confidence to win the game, but the decision was made five minutes before the end. Ollie Watkins received the ball, got rid of Shane Duffy and Yves Bissouma and aimed the ball beautifully into the top corner: 1-0. Just before time, Mings took advantage of a scrimmage in the Brighton penalty area and shot the ball hard: 2-0.

Wolverhampton Wanderers – West Ham United 1-0
West Ham United were able to secure second place in the Premier League for at least one day with a win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, but David Moyes’s side failed to do so. After a fairly boring first half with few things worth mentioning, the home team struck ten minutes after the break. Daniel Podence’s cross from the right side of the field was excellent, then Raúl Jiménez controlled the ball from the edge of the penalty area into the left corner: 1-0. Jarrod Bowen had the best opportunity to give the visitors a point, but his shot twenty minutes before the end went over the bar a few centimeters.

Newcastle United v Brentford 3-3
In a wonderful first half, both teams took the lead, only to give it away again. A minute after a header by Jamaal Lascelles, Ivan Toney scored the 1-1 and then Rico Henry was also accurate with a header: 1-2. Joelinton was responsible for the 2-2 a few minutes before the break. After just over an hour of play, Newcastle, where new-fangled manager Eddie Howe was missing due to the corona virus, took the lead somewhat fortunately: a bet by Frank Onyeka seemed to go wide, but still went into the goal via Lascelles. An excellent volley from Allan Saint-Maximin fifteen minutes before the end meant the final score: 3-3.

Norwich City – Southampton 2-1
Already in the fourth minute, Tim Krul had to concede a goal. Ché Adams managed to free himself in the crowded penalty area and placed the ball very calmly in the corner: 0-1. Norwich came back in three minutes thanks to Teemu Pukki, who headed in a cross from Max Aarons: 1-1. Southampton then had the better of the game and had a good chance just before half-time when Norwich defender Grant Hanley lost the ball. Krul prevented Adams from curling the ball into the bottom left corner with a good save. After the break, Norwich gained a little more possession and Southampton was held further from its own goal. The Canaries 11 minutes before time even took the win thanks to Hanley, who went over the defense of . on a corner kick the Saints towering: 2-1. Krul was booked in injury time for stretching time.