When Andy Carroll resigned for Newcastle United on a free transfer last August, the local hero was handed a heavily incentivized contract that largely depended on the 31-year-old’s notoriously fickle bill of health.
LONDON — Adama Traore came off the bench to inspire Wolverhampton Wanderers to a 2-0 win at West Ham United on Saturday — a significant result at both ends of the Premier League table.
The quicksilver Spanish winger was perhaps surprisingly left on the bench for 64 minutes but his introduction enlivened an otherwise humdrum encounter at an empty London Stadium.
Traore's surging run and sublime cross was perfect for Raul Jimenez to head powerfully home in the 73rd minute.
Wolves break through!
Arsenal is in a world of shit right now.
The Gunners looked to be turning things around with three straight Premier League wins before the novel coronavirus pandemic forced the league to shut down. Upon return, Arsenal has looked worse than ever in the Mikel Arteta era. Adding to the shitstorm, Arteta is losing players to injury faster than my partner left the room after I started playing The Last of Us Part II.
WATFORD, England — Watford's Craig Dawson grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser with an overhead kick to earn his side a 1-1 draw with Leicester City on Saturday and a vital point in their battle for Premier League survival.
England full back Ben Chilwell had put third-placed Leicester ahead in the 90th minute with a thunderous shot, before Dawson's acrobatic finish lifted Watford provisionally a point clear of the relegation zone.
CHILWELL!
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuettl spent the COVID-19 lockdown period putting the finishing touches to a masterpiece he hopes will turbo-charge the pipeline from the Premier League club's vaunted youth academy to the first team.
The flow of talent from the academy is noteworthy. Saints have unearthed and developed stars including Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and their new skipper James Ward-Prowse.
But the supply has slowed in recent years, and Hasenhuettl is banking on his “SFC Playbook” reversing that trend.
Amazon announced that it will air the rest of its Premier League matches for free on Amazon Prime while live streaming them on Twitch. No membership will be required to watch the four matches shown by Amazon.
One of the four matches has yet to be announced, but the other three include Crystal Palace vs. Burnley on June 29, Everton vs. Southampton on July 6 and Watford vs. Newcastle on July 11.
Tottenham striker Harry Kane will start in Friday's Premier League clash at home to Manchester United after a six-month absence, according to manager Jose Mourinho.
Son Heung-min and Moussa Sissoko, who like Kane were ruled out by serious injuries when the Premier League was suspended three months ago, are also set to face United.
The news is a big boost to Tottenham as they try to revive their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, having slipped to eighth in the standings, four points behind fifth-placed United and seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
The Premier League returned Wednesday after a 100-day hiatus like it had just left its keys, wallet and cell phone. Nothing has changed: Aston Villa vs. Sheffield United featured a heinously controversial abuse of technology, and Manchester City vs. Arsenal continued the ballad of David Luiz.
If it was sporting controversy you missed, the Premier League restarted Wednesday in a big way. Relegation-threatened Aston Villa hosted European-hopeful Sheffield United at an empty Villa Park, and things descended into chaos shortly before halftime.
Sheffield should’ve opened the scoring in the 42nd minute with a free kick that ended up in the back of Villa’s net, but that’s apparently not the definition of a goal anymore in our new normal.
Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has said he will ensure 3,000 trees are planted for every victory by his team over the rest of the season to highlight the need to tackle climate change.
"For every game we win this season I will plant 3,000 trees to help combat the carbon emissions issues we have," the Spain international said on Twitter.