In this article we talk briefly about all four Premier League matches on Saturday 20 June. Because of Covid-19 fans aren’t allowed into the stadium, so the Premier League decided to give every match it’s own time, so fans can watch all matches on the television.
Saturday 20 June: Black Lives Matters in the Premier League
Before we talk about the matches, first things first. The Black Lives Matters movement is growing and the Premier League replaced names on the back of the shirt with Black Lives Matters. On the same shirts players have the NHS logo. All matches in the English Premier League started with a statement. The players, staff and refs kneeled down to show their support after the killing of George Floyd. I’m a big advocate of these gestures, but I hope it’s not an empty gesture. I see it too much that they make a statement and forget things a week later. This can’t happen here. From now on they need to punish anyone in the world of football who’s doing anything racist.
Watford versus Leicester City
Leicester City looked a bit rusty for big parts of this match. It was Watford with the biggest chances to open the score. But Doucoure and Deeney failed to put the ball in the back of the net. In the latter stages of the second half, Albrighton and Maddison were close to score for Leicester City. When the match was heading towards a goalless draw, Ben Chilwell scored with a beautiful strike to give Leicester City the lead. A few moments later, deep in extra time, Watford got a corner and Craig Dawson scored a beautiful equaliser.
Brighton & Hove Albion versus Arsenal
The second match on Saturday 20 June was another one that needed a lot of time to get loose. Bernd Leno left the pitch injured in the first half after a collision with Maupay. We waited until the 68th minute to see a goal. Saka, who’s Arsenal’s best player on the pitch, played the ball to Pepe. The Ivorian played a stinker of a match, but he scored a beautiful goal. Arsenal took the lead, but in typical Arsenal fashion they gave it away too easy a few minutes later. A scramble in the penalty box gave Lewis Dunk the perfect opportunity to score the equaliser.
It got even worse for the Gunners when Maupay scored the winning goal in the dying seconds. Personally I can’t agree with Arteta’s substitutions. He had Ozil and Martinelli on the bench, but brought Tierney, Willock, Nelson and Nketiah on the pitch. I expect him to bring players like Martinelli and Ozil, because they can create things.
West Ham United versus Wolverhampton Wanderers
The third match of the day, the third time the first half was pretty boring. Nothing exciting happened in the first 45 minutes. It’s no surprise that the first goal of this match is scored halfway the second half. It’s Raul Jimenez who headed, a perfectly placed cross by Adama Traore, in the back of the net. A few minutes later it’s Neto with a wonder strike to double the lead for the Wolves. Nuno Espirito Santo showed what Arteta couldn’t. The art of bringing the right subs.
Bournemouth versus Crystal Palace
Palace took an early lead by a Milivojevic free-kick. A few minutes later, Ayew scored the 0-2 for Crystal Palace. It looks like this day only allows goals with a space of 20 minutes. Where the first three matches scored only late goals, these teams stopped scoring after the early 0-2 was on the board.