Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa won again, Tottenham are up to fifth in the Premier League table, Leeds denied Brentford in stoppage time and Ralf Rangnick made a winning start at Manchester United.
Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester (Infogol xG: 1.97-1.06)
Aston Villa continued their revival under Steven Gerrard as they held on for a 2-1 win over Leicester at Villa Park.
Foxes winger Harvey Barnes had opened the scoring after 14 minutes when he rolled into the corner following good work from Patson Daka.
But Ezri Konsa levelled three minutes later when he got the final touch on an Emi Buendia header after Leicester failed to clear Douglas Luiz’s free-kick.
Jacob Ramsey thought he had turned the game around on the stroke of half-time when he smashed in from close range but it was disallowed after he was adjudged to have fouled goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
But Konsa grabbed his second when he headed in John McGinn’s far-post corner nine minutes after the break before Villa held out for a third win in four games under their new manager.
It lifts them to 10th in the Premier League table, above Leicester who are now a place below them.
Full-time:
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) December 5, 2021
‣ Aston Villa - 2 (1.97 xG)
‣ Leicester - 1 (1.06 xG)
Three wins from four under Steven Gerrard and their best Expected Goals total since his arrival. pic.twitter.com/Yel4Eztvd1
Tottenham 3-0 Norwich (Infogol xG: 2.05-1.25)
Tottenham moved up to fifth in the table with a comfortable 3-0 win over Norwich, who remain bottom of the league on goal difference.
Antonio Conte’s side went ahead in the 10th minute as Lucas Moura played a one-two with Son Heung-min, turned his marker and then thundered an unstoppable drive into the top corner from 20 yards.
Davinson Sanchez doubled the lead midway through the second half when he smashed home a loose ball from a corner and Son made absolutely certain of the points as he fired into the bottom corner following good work from Ben Davies and Oliver Skipp.
Tottenham never created more than 2 Expected Goals under Nuno Espirito Santo.
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) December 5, 2021
‣ (2.48 xG) Spurs 2-1 Leeds (1.45 xG)
‣ (2.43 xG) Spurs 2-0 Brentford (0.39 xG)
‣ (2.05 xG) Spurs 3-0 Norwich (1.25 xG)
They have now achieved it in three successive home games under Antonio Conte. pic.twitter.com/GeywQGYQLF
Leeds 2-2 Brentford (Infogol xG: 1.45-1.02)
Patrick Bamford scored a stoppage-time equaliser on his return from injury as Leeds snatched a 2-2 draw with Brentford at Elland Road.
Tyler Roberts had given Leeds a 26th-minute lead when he slid on to Raphinha’s cross from the left to stab the ball home, but the visitors equalised through Shandon Baptiste in the 54th minute and Sergi Canos fired them ahead just seven minutes later.
That looked like being enough for Thomas Frank’s side to claim a fifth win of the season until Luke Ayling – also back from injury – flicked on a corner for Bamford to score from close range.
Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace (Infogol xG: 0.90-0.69)
Interim manager Ralf Rangnick enjoyed a winning start to his tenure at Old Trafford as Manchester United claimed a hard-fought 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Brazil midfielder Fred scored the only goal of the game in the 78th minute, curling a superb 20-yard shot beyond Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita in front of the Stretford End.
The visitors were left to rue a glaring miss from Jordan Ayew just two minutes before Fred’s goal, the Ghanaian side-footing wide from just two yards out after the ball fell to him from a corner.
Palace's 0.69 xG is the least a team has created against Man Utd since Newcastle on 11 September.
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) December 5, 2021
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United could only restrict their opponents to <1 xG twice in 16 matches this season.
Ralf Rangnick and Michael Carrick did so in their first games in charge. pic.twitter.com/Ffi9cJfbQz
