The Wrap: What happened in Matchweek 13

A weekend of goals galore and comeback wins concluded with a fiercely-fought London derby that could not split leaders Arsenal and one of their main pursuers Chelsea.

That result saw Manchester City leapfrog Enzo Maresca’s side into second place after they secured a last-gasp victory over Leeds United, while Aston Villa saw off Wolves to stay fourth.

Liverpool, without the benched Mohamed Salah, earned a much-needed win at West Ham, Sunderland came from two goals down to beat AFC Bournemouth and Manchester United also fought back to defeat Crystal Palace.

Losses for all occupants of the bottom five allowed a five-point gap to open up between them and the rest, with the next round of midweek fixtures starting on Tuesday. Before then, here is all you need to know about Matchweek 13.

Brentford have benefited from the firepower of some wonderful forwards during their time in the Premier League, notably Ivan Toney, Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo. But with two goals against Burnley on Saturday, Igor Thiago reached double figures in the top flight quicker than any of them.

Making his 13th appearance of the Premier League season, the Brazilian struck from the penalty spot for his 10th league goal of the campaign, before then adding another from close range to take his tally to 11. Only Erling Haaland, with 14, has more. “He has been magnificent,” said Keith Andrews.

Thiago’s double capped a dramatic end to a match that took a long time to catch fire. Goalless until the 81st minute, his penalty sparked a flurry of late goals, with Zian Flemming replying for Burnley, before Thiago struck again and Dango Ouattara sealed the victory in stoppage time.

Hoping to play his way into a maiden call-up to the Brazil squad in time for next summer’s Fifa World Cup, Thiago has now scored nine goals in his last eight matches for the Bees.

It was, said Manchester City’s matchwinner Phil Foden, “up there as one of the wildest games” he has played in.

Foden had taken just 59 seconds to put the hosts ahead, with Josko Gvardiol doubling their advantage in a first half of total dominance. Yet a double half-time substitution and shift in formation from Daniel Farke kicked Leeds United into gear and prompted a thrilling spectacle after the break.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored almost instantly off the bench, before Lukas Nmecha added an equaliser for his third goal in three Premier League appearances. However, Foden struck again in stoppage time to give Pep Guardiola’s side an important three points as they look to mount a title challenge.

“Heartbreaking for my lads,” said Farke. “We’re disappointed because we deserved something but my boys should be proud of how they reacted to the worst possible start. They should take lots of confidence out of this. We didn’t reach the Premier League in a lottery. We fully deserve to play in this league. I’d have preferred points but I’m very happy with the performance.”

The biggest surprise for City was Haaland’s continued wait for his 100th Premier League goal. The Norwegian had just one shot, which did not come until the 88th minute.

Two goals down within 15 minutes, it looked highly likely that Sunderland would lose at home for the first time since returning to the Premier League this season. But there is something about Regis Le Bris’ side that refuses to give up, and they were rewarded with a brilliant comeback win – the first time in 188 occasions they had come back from two or more goals down in the Premier League to triumph.

“Resilience is crucial in this league and we had the right connections in the team to recover,” said Le Bris. “Many teams would have given up, but it shows my players have strong character. They are never beaten and want to fight.”

Bournemouth had gone ahead through Amine Adli and a wonderful Tyler Adams chip from inside the centre circle. However, goals from Enzo Le Fee, Bertrand Traore and Brian Brobbey completed the turnaround.

The repercussions of an often heated game are not over for Bournemouth, who lost Lewis Cook to a red card in stoppage time for an elbow on Noah Sadiki. Cook will now face a suspension, as will Marcos Senesi and David Brooks, who both picked up their fifth yellow cards of the season.

A performance like this must make Eddie Howe wonder why it took so long to appear. In scoring four goals, Newcastle United exceeded the total they had managed in their previous seven away games combined. Finally, following a 236-day wait, they had a first Premier League win on the road since early April.

“It was a massive win for us,” said Howe. “We have been chasing that win, and it was elusive so far but that was a big moment today. I’m so pleased that the players won, so I didn’t have to talk about the away form.”

The match was effectively wrapped up before half-time. Malick Thiaw put the visitors ahead after just 55 seconds – the quickest Premier League goal this season – before Lewis Miley and Nick Woltemade also scored in the first half. Thiaw then added another, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s goal counting for little for the hosts.

“We were beaten by a far better team,” said David Moyes. “We go again, you move on but Newcastle were much better than us. You can see the experience they are gaining from playing in European games. They were just much more powerful than us all night.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s inability to win at home continues. This defeat – entirely inflicted in the first six minutes of the match – was their 10th home Premier League loss of 2025, matching their worst ever calendar year in the club’s history (alongside 1994 and 2003).

Concerningly, they so rarely look like scoring. Their season averages of 9.5 shots and 3.2 shots on target per game are their worst in the Premier League since records began (in 2003/04). Only Burnley (nine times) have posted an Expected Goals (xG) total lower than one in more Premier League games than Spurs’ eight this campaign. It was 0.86 here.

In fact, Fulham’s was just 0.42 but they took their chances early. Kenny Tete’s first goal in almost two years came after four minutes, courtesy of a fortunate deflection. Harry Wilson then curled in another from 35 yards two minutes later after an error from Guglielmo Vicario.

Spurs did improve after the break, and pulled a goal back through Mohammed Kudus but were unable to find an equaliser and were again booed off by their fans at full-time.

“We are in a tough spell right now and for my players it is about being as calm as possible and doing everything we can to work through it,” said Thomas Frank.

Staring at defeat after a distinctly poor first half after which they found themselves behind, Manchester United were indebted to an unlikely hero for a comeback victory to end their three-match losing streak.

Starved of opportunities this season, Joshua Zirkzee failed to impress when handed a starting spot last time out against Everton and was ineffective for the opening 45 minutes on Sunday. But the Dutchman produced a fine drive soon after half-time for his first Premier League goal in almost exactly a year. Mason Mount then gave the visitors a lead they never relinquished.

Both goals were provided by Bruno Fernandes, who now has 56 Premier League assists for United, moving him past Paul Scholes (55, and with only Ryan Giggs (162), Wayne Rooney (93) and David Beckham (80) ahead of him.

Defeat brought an end to Crystal Palace’s 12-match unbeaten Premier League run at Selhurst Park dating back to February.

The hosts had deservedly gone ahead through Jean-Philippe Mateta’s retaken penalty but could not find a crucial second goal in a dominant first half. Mateta has scored all seven of his penalties in the Premier League.

Palace lost Ismaila Sarr early in the match due to injury, with Oliver Glasner later suggesting he did not expect the Senegal star to play before the Africa Cup of Nations, which starts later this month.

Consider this, Aston Villa’s xG for this season is just 0.02 higher than Wolves. But while Rob Edwards’ side occupy a remote bottom spot in the table, with just two points from 13 games, Villa are fourth, one point off second.

Much of that is down to how Unai Emery’s team are scoring, with Boubacar Kamara’s long-range goal on Sunday the ninth of the 16 they have scored in the league this season to come from outside the box. No team has scored more this season and Villa are currently the only side in Premier League history to score more than half of their goals from more than 18 yards in a single campaign.

The victory means Villa have won five successive games in all competition, as well as 20 of their 25 home matches in 2025; no side in English football’s top four tiers have won more at home this calendar year.

Wolves’ two-point tally is the second lowest at this stage of a top-flight campaign in history, ahead of only Sheffield United in 2020/21.

“I try not to look at it,” said Edwards of the league table. “That bit hurts. Whenever I do catch a sight of it, I try and quickly turn the channel or whatever. We’ve just got to fight and continue to try and do the right things.”

Last season, Brighton & Hove Albion departed the City Ground humiliated after suffering a crushing 7-0 defeat. This 2-0 reverse was some semblance of revenge.

“There was something in the air we needed to clear, not only for us but the supporters,” said Fabian Hurzeler.

The visitors burst out of the traps when attempting nine shots in the opening 20 minutes – not only was that their most ever in that period of a Premier League match but it was the highest number any team had attempted in the competition away from home since Man City against Fulham in March 2019.

Despite weathering that pressure, Forest were unable to prevent Maxim De Cuyper earning Brighton a lead in first-half stoppage time, before 19-year-old Stefanos Tzimas came off the bench to secure victory with a second late on.

Defeat brought an end to Forest’s five-game unbeaten run.

For the first time under his Liverpool leadership, Arne Slot did not start Salah in a Premier League game. In fact, it was the first time since April 2024 – a run of 53 successive matches – that the Egyptian did not start a league match for which he was available.

A gamble, indeed and quite the statement from Slot. But one that was proved correct by this 2-0 win, with Salah remaining on the bench throughout.

“Mo has had an unbelievable career and will have a very good future at this club because he’s such a special player,” insisted Slot. “But when you have four games in 10 days then you have to decide once in a while on a certain line-up.”

Leading the line instead of Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool since his record British move in the summer. Cody Gakpo then added the second goal their superiority deserved in second-half stoppage time.

The win halted Liverpool’s run of four consecutive defeats across all competitions and marked a first away league victory since September.

West Ham’s hopes of taking anything from the game were dashed six minutes from time when Lucas Paqueta was shown two yellow cards for dissent in quick succession.

Honours were shared after a feisty, bruising affair at Stamford Bridge that left neither team unable to land a title-challenge blow.

Chelsea supporters would certainly have departed relieved having seen their side play the majority of the match with 10 men, thanks to Moises Caicedo’s red card on 38 minutes for a nasty studs-up tackle into Mikel Merino’s shin. It was Chelsea’s sixth red of the season; seven if you include Enzo Maresca’s sending off against Liverpool.

Yet it was the depleted hosts who took the lead early in the second half, Trevoh Chalobah’s flicked header looping over David Raya.

Arsenal’s usual defensive surety was dealt a blow when William Saliba injured himself in training the day before the match, leaving the visitors without either him or fellow centre-back Gabriel for only the second time in a Premier League game since the start of the 2022/23 season.

Arsenal did manage to equalise through Merino. But they finished with only eight shots – their fewest in a Premier League game for more than a year.

Maresca insisted his side were the “better team” when playing numbers were equal, while Mikel Arteta admitted he was “disappointed” not to win after Caicedo’s sending off.