Two games into the new Premier League season, champions Manchester City raised the bar even higher when they crushed promoted Bournemouth 4-0 on Saturday to maintain their fast start.
A few hours later, however, neighbours Manchester United plumbed new depths when they suffered a 4-0 drubbing at Brentford to sit at the bottom of the table for the first time since 1992.
United conceded four times in the opening 35 minutes and new manager Erik ten Hag afterwards apologised to the fans.
Arsenal joined City on six points as former City striker Gabriel Jesus struck twice in a 4-2 win over Leicester City.
Leeds United looked on course for a second successive win but squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Southampton — one of three draws on a sultry Saturday afternoon.
City, bidding for a fifth Premier League title in six seasons, cruised to an opening win at West Ham United and were equally dominant against Bournemouth.
They wasted no time getting into their stride in the sunshine as Norway striker Erling Haaland marked his home debut with an assist for Ilkay Gundogan’s opener after 19 minutes.
City cut loose and scored a sumptuous second goal 12 minutes later when Kevin De Bruyne curled a fine strike into the net with the outside of his foot.
Phil Foden added another before halftime from De Bruyne’s assist and it was just a matter of how many more the hosts would help themselves to. In the end they managed only one more courtesy of Jefferson Lerma’s own goal but they spent most of the second half on cruise control.
United were shambolic in the day’s late kickoff in west London — going behind after 10 minutes when David De Gea allowed a weak shot by Josh Dasilva to slip past him.
Things got worse for United eight minutes later when De Gea played the ball out to former Brentford player Christian Eriksen who was caught in possession and Mathias Jensen slotted home.
United’s defence then failed to deal with a corner and Ben Mee glanced in a close-range header before Bryan Mbeumo scored number four after a superb counter-attack.
Ten Hag made three substitutions at halftime, with Raphael Varane, Tyrell Malacia and Scott McTominay coming on, but despite a slight improvement United offered little fight.
“It was a really poor performance,” a stunned ten Hag told MUTV. “For Man United it’s not possible to concede four goals in 35 minutes. I feel very sorry for the fans. We have to demand higher standards.”
The arrival of Jesus has created quite a buzz at Arsenal and the Brazilian marked his home debut with a virtuoso display with two goals and two assists against Leicester.
A delightful chip gave his side the lead in the 23rd minute and he made it 2-0 with a header at the far post.
Leicester had a penalty reversed by referee Darren England after a VAR check in the first half after Jamie Vardy tumbled in the area under pressure from Aaron Ramsdale.
But they did get a lifeline shortly after the break when Saliba diverted the ball into his own net trying to intercept a James Justin header from a Jonny Evans pass.
No sooner had the visitors scored, however, than they shot themselves in the foot with keeper Ward fumbling a cross to Jesus who teed up Xhaka to slot home.
Leicester midfielder Maddison, reported to be a transfer drilled a shot through Ramsdale’s legs to make it 3-2 but again Arsenal’s response was immediate with Jesus passing to fellow Brazilian Martinelli who fired a shot just inside the post.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke of Gabriel Jesus’s positive impact on the rest of the squad after the Brazilian marked his home debut with two goals in a 4-2 win over Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday.The 25-year-old could have bagged a hat-trick and was applauded off when substituted late on.
“We know what Gabi can do. He scored two and got two assists and is still disappointed because he thinks he should have scored four,” said Arteta, who worked with Jesus during his time as assistant manager at Manchester City.
“That’s the standard, that’s the mentality. You need to go to a different level.”
Leeds looked set for an away win at Southampton with Rodrigo’s brace putting them in control by the hour mark.
But goals by Kyle Walker-Peters and Joe Aribo earned Southampton their first point of the campaign.
Everton suffered a second successive defeat as they went down 2-1 at Aston Villa, for whom Danny Ings and substitute Emiliano Buendia were both on target.
Fulham, who drew with Liverpool in their first game back in the top flight, missed the chance to earn their first win when Aleksander Mitrovic had a second-half penalty saved by Jose Sa in a 0-0 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Brighton & Hove Albion against Newcastle United also ended scoreless
Harry Kane headed in a last-gasp equaliser to earn Tottenham Hotspur a barely-deserved 2-2 draw in a feisty Premier League derby at Chelsea that ended with both managers being shown red cards after the final whistle on Sunday.
Kane glanced home Ivan Perisic’s corner in the sixth minute of stoppage time to salvage a point for the visitors who have now won only once in their last 38 visits to Stamford Bridge.
“There’s no hard feelings — I feel like it was a fair tackle from him and a fair tackle from me,” Tuchel said.
“We did not insult each other, we did not hit each other, we were fighting for our teams.”
Reece James seemed to have sealed the points for the dominant hosts with a 77th-minute strike after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg had equalised for Tottenham in the 68th minute.
Chelsea wasted several chances to increase their lead with Raheem Sterling blazing one chance over and it was easy to understand Tuchel’s frustration when Hojbjerg levelled.
Tuchel raged at the referee, insisting Kai Havertz had been fouled in the build-up and that Richarlison had been standing in an offside position. He also clashed with Conte, earning both of them yellow cards.
Tuchel’s mood darkened though as Kane snatched a draw with his 42nd goal in London derbies — one behind the record of former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry.
Tuchel and Conte lost their heads after an aggressive handshake and had to separated by their coaching staff.
Chelsea and Tottenham, who finished third and fourth respectively last season, both have four points from two games.
“I thought when we shake hands you looked in each others’ eyes; he had a different opinion. It was not necessary but a lot of things were not necessary,” Tuchel said.
“We dominated for 90 minutes. We were sharp, we were hungry, it was a top performance. I’m sorry for all my players that we didn’t get the result we deserved.”
Tottenham arrived full of confidence but were second-best for most of the game after allowing Koulibaly the freedom of the penalty area to volley superbly past Lloris.
Conte’s side could not make inroads and Chelsea were faster and sharper, with Mason Mount close to scoring and Ruben Loftus-Cheek inches away from putting in a header before halftime.
It was a similar story after the break with Loftus-Cheek looking poised to score after a storming run into the area, seconds before Sterling missed a sitter.
Kane wasted Tottenham’s best opportunity on a rare counter-attack but Tottenham levelled when Chelsea’s Jorginho lost the ball in the area and Hojbjerg drilled a shot inside the post.
It seemed Tuchel would have the last laugh when Chelsea cut through Tottenham’s defence for James to beat Lloris but it was Tottenham who went home happier thanks to Kane.
“Stamford Bridge hasn’t been our best place over the years so to come away with a point especially at the end was a good feeling,” Kane said.
“It’s disappointing to see the red cards. Obviously it was an emotional game, London derby, the passion from both sides, both teams wanted to win.”
Nottingham Forest secured a famous win as Taiwo Awoniyi scored the only goal to beat West Ham as Premier League football returned to the City Ground after a 23-year absence.
Awoniyi, Forest’s £17m record signing this summer, applied the first-time finish after Jesse Lingard’s effort had been deflected into his path off Hammers defender Ben Johnson.
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson was Forest’s other hero, denying Declan Rice with a second-half penalty save.
The Hammers could also reflect on two strikes from distance that hit the crossbar and another excellent Henderson save from Tomas Soucek as they started the season with successive defeats.
However, for Forest and their boss Steve Cooper, it was another unforgettable day for a club who were bottom of the Championship less than 12 months ago.
Spurred on by a frenzied home crowd, Forest started on the front foot and had enough to keep West Ham at bay even after their energetic early efforts started to slow.
Luis Diaz rescued a point for Liverpool against Crystal Palace after new summer signing Darwin Nunez was sent off in his first Premier League game at Anfield.
Liverpool dominated possession in the first half but Palace went ahead through Wilfried Zaha’s clinical finish from Eberechi Eze’s superb pass.
Expensive striker Nunez had been desperate to make an impact in front of the Kop, but was deservedly shown a red card by referee Paul Tierney after 57 minutes when he reacted to a shove from Joachim Andersen with a headbutt that floored the Palace defender.
Liverpool responded in defiant fashion with a brilliant equaliser from Diaz four minutes later, cutting in from the flank before flashing a right-foot finish past Vicente Guaita.
The inevitable siege ensued, with Mo Salah and substitute Fabio Carvalho just off target. But Palace had a golden chance of their own when Zaha struck the far post when he should have scored, as Liverpool remain without a win from their first two games.