Penalties aplenty as Man City and Liverpool close in on records – the Premier League weekend’s quirky facts

Lewis
Hamilton
will
not
be
the
only
one
left
feeling
harshly
penalised
after
events
over
the
last
few
days,
after
eight
spot-kicks
were
awarded
across
the
latest
round
of
top-flight
fixtures.

Chelsea
were
a
major
benefactor,
as
their
win
over
Leeds
United
saw
them
keep
pace
with
title
rivals
Manchester
City
and
Liverpool.

Ralf
Rangnick’s
Manchester
United
also
scored
from
the
spot
in
a
win
over
Norwich
City,
while
Conor
Gallagher
inspired
Crystal
Palace
to
a
victory
over
Rafael
Benitez’s
Everton.

Benitez’s
former
club
Newcastle
United,
meanwhile,
suffered
another
damaging
defeat
in
their
quest
to
make
it
to
the
January
transfer
window
with
a
fighting
chance
of
staying
up.

With
all
that
and
more,
here
are
some
of
the
weekend’s
quirky
stats
from
the
Premier
League…

Penalties
galore

The
season
of
giving
is
approaching
and
it
seems
Premier
League
referees
were
more
than
willing
to
hand
out
goalscoring
gifts.

Brentford
beat
Watford
thanks
to
a
last-gasp
penalty
on
Friday,
when
the
fun
started.
Bryan
Mbeumo’s
resultant
strike
saw
the
Bees
become
the
first
team
in
Premier
League
history
to
have
each
of
their
first
10
home
goals
in
the
competition
scored
by
different
players.

Champions
City
then
needed
a
spot-kick
to
defeat
10-man
Wolves,
with
Raul
Jimenez
receiving
his
marching
orders
for
blocking
a
free-kick
from
being
taken,
just
31
seconds
after
he
had
received
his
first
booking.
Raheem
Sterling
put
it
away,
scoring
his
100th
goal
in
the
Premier
League.
He
is
the
32nd
player
to
reach
that
landmark
in
the
top
flight.

Chelsea’s
clash
with
Leeds
really
boosted
the
penalty
numbers,
with
three
awarded
at
Stamford
Bridge.
Antonio
Rudiger
became
only
the
second
Chelsea
player
to
win
two
penalties
in
a
single
Premier
League
match,
after
Yuri
Zhirkov
against
Aston
Villa
in
March
2010.
Jorginho
put
away
both
penalties
to
secure
a
3-2
win,
with
Raphinha
having
put
Leeds
ahead
from
12
yards.

90+
–
Jorginho’s
winner
(93:11)
was
Chelsea’s
latest
winning
goal
in
a
Premier
League
game
since
Florent
Malouda’s
strike
against
Stoke
in
September
2009
(93:36).
Gasp.

—
OptaJoe
(@OptaJoe)

December
11,
2021

Cristiano
Ronaldo
made
no
mistake
at
Carrow
Road
and
Youri
Tielemans
was
also
on
target
for
Leicester
City
in
their
demolition
of
Newcastle.
Mohamed
Salah
converted
a
penalty
he
won
in
order
for
Liverpool
to
see
off
Aston
Villa
and
club
legend
Steven
Gerrard
at
Anfield.

Each
penalty
at
Stamford
Bridge
resulted
in
a
side
taking
the
lead,
a
Premier
League
first,
while
Saturday
was
the
first
matchday
to
have
three
1-0
wins
all
settled
by
spot-kicks.

Seven
penalties
awarded
eitiher
on
Saturday
and
Sunday
ranks
second
in
Premier
League
history
across
a
single
weekend,
after
September
13-14
in
2003
(eight).
Last
season
saw
125
spot-kicks
given,
the
most
ever
in
the
competition,
at
a
rate
of
0.33
per
game.
The
count
for
2021-22
so
far
stands
at
41.

14
–
Mohamed
Salah
has
now
either
scored
or
assisted
a
goal
in
14
consecutive
Premier
League
appearances,
just
one
off
Jamie
Vardy’s
record
of
15
between
August
and
December
2015.
Remarkable.

pic.twitter.com/r3Q1TBeU8r

—
OptaJoe
(@OptaJoe)

December
11,
2021

Records
set
to
go

Sterling’s
goal
for
City
was
the
499th
scored
in
the
Premier
League
under
Pep
Guardiola,
in
what
was
his
206th
top-flight
match
in
charge.

Guardiola
is
set
be
the
Premier
League
manager
to
have
seen
his
side
score
500
goals
in
the
fewest
games,
with
Liverpool’s
Jurgen
Klopp
the
current
record-holder
on
234.

Staying
with
City,
they
have
already
won
32
league
games
in
2021,
one
shy
of
Liverpool’s
top-tier
record
for
a
calendar
year,
set
back
in
1982.
With
four
games
remaining
before
the
turn
of
the
year,
that
is
surely
another
record
the
champions
are
set
to
take.

Meanwhile,
Liverpool
are
now
on
1,999
top-flight
victories,
and
will
become
the
first
team
to
reach
the
2,000
milestone
with
their
next
success.

Benitez
on
thin
ice?

It
was
always
going
to
be
a
difficult
task
for
Benitez
to
win
over
the
Everton
faithful.
Given
the
chants
directed
his
way
by
the
travelling
support
at
Palace
on
Sunday,
he
is
as
far
away
as
he
ever
was
from
achieving
that.
A
3-1
defeat
at
Selhurst
Park
means
Everton
are
on
a
run
of
one
win
in
10
league
matches.

The
wonderful
Gallagher
was
their
downfall,
scoring
twice
either
side
of
James
Tomkins
bundling
home
from
a
corner.
The
on-loan
midfielder
has
now
scored
six
goals
and
laid
on
three
assists,
contributing
to
nine
of
Palace’s
22
league
goals
this
season
(41
per
cent).

That
ranks
him
eighth
in
the
league
when
it
comes
to
goal
contributions
for
a
side,
and
top
among
English
players
in
the
competition,
and
first
for
players
aged
21
or
under.

Everton
have
come
from
behind
to
claim
10
points
this
season,
which
already
marks
their
best
total
since
2017-18
(14)
and
is
the
most
in
the
competition
this
season,
but
based
on
the
frustration
directed
Benitez’s
way,
the
former
Liverpool
boss
might
be
in
need
of
a
Christmas
miracle.

Howe’s
that
defence
staying
up?

One
place
Benitez
would
certainly
feel
the
love
is
St
James’ Park.
Newcastle
finally
claimed
their
first
win
of
the
season
by
beating
Burnley,
but
they
were
on
the
end
of
a
4-0
pasting
at
Leicester.

Newcastle’s
defence
is
the
primary
course
for
concern.
They
have
already
conceded
34
goals,
the
worst
in
the
league.
After
16
top-flight
matches,
they
have
conceded
as
many
goals
on
eight
other
occasions,
the
last
being
in
1977-78.

Newcastle
went
down
in
that
season,
as
they
did
in
the
1960-61
campaign,
but
Eddie
Howe
might
at
least
take
some
solace
from
the
fact
that
the
Magpies
survived
on
the
other
six
occasions.