PREMIER LEAGUE REVIEW
ANDROS Townsend’s 25thminute header was enough to lift Luton to an emotional 1-0 victory over Newcastle in their first match since captain Tom Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest in last weekend’s abandoned Bournemouth encounter.
Luton’s opener came against the run of play when the former Magpie and the excellent-once-more Ross Barkley combined at a corner as Barkley nodded on and Townsend stole in unmarked to head home, holding aloft the shirt of his absent skipper in tribute.
Earlier, Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus consigned makeshift Manchester United to another defeat as West Ham snatched a 2-0 victory at the London Stadium.
England hopeful Bowen scored his 12th goal of the season and Ghana winger Kudus his seventh in 12 appearances as United were sent spinning to a 20th loss of 2023, their worst tally in 34 years.
Richarlison scored for a third consecutive match to haunt old club Everton and ensure Tottenham would be in the Premier League’s top four at Christmas after a hard-fought 2-1 home win.
Sean Dyche’s visitors created the better of the chances in the capital and crucially had a Dominic Calvert-Lewin effort ruled out by VAR in the 51st minute which could have changed the complexion of the match.
REBECCA Welch made history by becoming the first female referee to officiate in the Premier League when she took charge of Burnley’s 2-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Welch, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, had previously refereed an FA Cup fixture in 2022 and an EFL match in 2021 ahead of yesterday’s game.
Key decisions
A timid start in west London offered little for Welch to act on before her decision to not award a Vitinho handball was met by frustration from the Fulham players.
Welch refused to let on-field reactions affect her judgement and she was happy to play advantages in favour of both sides, allowing the game to flow.
Calvin Bassey was awarded a yellow card after 25 minutes for striking Josh Brownhill. The Fulham defender refused to walk towards Welch when signalled by her on three occasions but eventually
Missed chances cost the away side and helped Ange Postecoglou’s team make it three wins in a row after first-half goals by Richarlison and Son Heung-min, with Andre Gomes’ late effort a mere consolation.
Burnley walked away with three vital points in their relegation battle following a deserved 2-0 victory over hosts Fulham as Rebecca Welch became the first female referee to oversee a Premier League contest.
Wilson Odobert opened the scoring from distance when he produced a wonderful curved strike into the right-hand corner of Bernd Leno’s goal two minutes into the second half and Sander Berge doubled the visitors’ advantage in the 66th minute to give Burnley their first win since December 2.
Dominic Solanke completed a last-gasp hat-trick to earn Bournemouth a 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest and ruin Nuno Espirito Santo’s first game in charge at the City Ground.
Forest had looked like overcoming the controversial first-half red card of Willy Boly to earn a worthy point after Chris Wood had headed them level in the 74th minute.
But Solanke, who had earlier scored twice in seven minutes to overturn Anthony Elanga’s opener for Forest, broke their hearts when he headed home in the fifth minute of stoppage time. approached the referee and gained a caution.
Crowd reaction
Welch’s name was welcomed by cheers when read out by the announcer ahead of kick off.
But the home supporters’ frustrations grew when her first few decisions went in favour of Burnley and they offered sarcastic cheers when their side were awarded a foul in midfield.
The debutante got every decision right up to that point but she was met with whistles and “don’t know what you are doing” chants after she waved off Harry Wilson’s appeals just inside the visitors’ half.
Overall performance Welch impressed in her opening game. The 40-year-old asserted her authority and did not let the occasion get the better of her in a tense match.
Welch’s willingness to play advantage was a major positive and something supporters should expect from her in the future.