Arsenal opened a Premier League campaign with three successive wins for the first time in 18 years after Martin Odegaard’s brace fired them to a classy 3-0 win at Bournemouth on Saturday.
North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur had earlier moved top as Harry Kane’s 250th goal for the club sealed a gritty 1-0 home win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
But Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, with the same starting eleven for the third successive match, were far too good for newly-promoted Bournemouth on the south coast and they could have won by more.
Wilfried Zaha scored twice as Crystal Palace recovered from conceding an early goal to beat Aston Villa 3-1 at Selhurst Park for their first win of the season.
Leicester City’s dismal start continued, however, as they slumped to a 2-1 home defeat by Southampton.
James Maddison gave Leicester the lead with a 54th minute free kick but the visitors snatched victory with substitute Che Adams scoring twice at the King Power Stadium.
Young French defender William Saliba, back at Arsenal after loan spells away, rounded off Arsenal’s win with a superb curling effort after Odegaard struck twice in the opening 11 minutes to put the visitors in cruise control.
“I’m proud, it’s not easy to come here and win 3-0 but there are still things to prove,” Arteta said.
“We started the game really well. We were dominant, precise. The two goals gave us a lot of confidence. Jesus was involved in the goals. His contribution to the team was outstanding.”
Fulham maintained their impressive start to the campaign as they beat Brentford 3-2 in an exciting west London derby to move into fourth place in the standings — Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring the winner after Brentford had recovered a two-goal deficit.
Everton picked up their first point of the season thanks to a late equaliser by Demarai Gray in a 1-1 home draw with Nottingham Forest who had led through Brennan Johnson.
English champions Manchester City produced a brilliant fightback as they came from 3-1 down to draw at Newcastle in a pulsating match featuring six goals and an overturned red card.
Newcastle were two goals ahead after 54 minutes but Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva scored within four minutes of each other to preserve City’s unbeaten start to their Premier League title defence.
City took a fifth-minute lead as Ilkay Gundogan was left unmarked from Silva’s pass and was able to take a touch before slotting past Nick Pope.
The England goalkeeper made a number of saves before the hosts equalised with Miguel Almiron sliding in to meet Allan Saint-Maximin’s cross, with the goal given after a video assistant review overruled an original offside decision.
The excellent Saint-Maximin ran at the City defence before finding Callum Wilson, who took a touch to create space and shot Newcastle into the lead.
The visitors had a chance to equalise but Pope pushed Haaland’s effort on to the post and Kieran Trippier, sold by City in 2012 after coming through their academy, grabbed a brilliant third with a stunning 25-yard free-kick.
Haaland pulled one back, finishing from inside the six-yard box after Rodri’s pass, before Silva equalised following Kevin de Bruyne’s superb through ball.
Newcastle thought they had gone down to 10 men with Trippier shown a red card for a knee-high trip on De Bruyne. But referee Jarred Gillett downgraded it to a yellow after watching the incident again on a pitchside monitor – and both teams finished with a point.
Leeds continued their unbeaten start to the season as they secured a famous win over Chelsea’s new-look team with a display which will cause Thomas Tuchel nightmares.
Chelsea, who spent more than £170m on players over the summer, were the architects of their own downfall in the first half.
Edouard Mendy gifted Leeds the opener by miscontrolling a backpass, allowing Brenden Aaronson to pounce.
Four minutes later Raheem Sterling gave away a free-kick on the edge of the box, from which Rodrigo scored his fourth of the season after Jack Harrison’s delivery.
But Leeds also out-fought their opponents, particularly in midfield, in echoes of the famous historical battles between the two rivals.
And they sealed a first Premier League win over Chelsea in seven attempts, dating back to 2002, when Harrison scored after Daniel James’ cross was touched to him by Rodrigo.
An already raucous Elland Road was in disbelief at that moment; the home fans taunted their Chelsea counterparts and manager Jesse Marsch punched the air in wild joy.
There were chances for the visitors. Sterling curled wide in the first minute and had a goal disallowed, while Marc Cucurella, signed for £62m, was also off-target twice.
But when Kalidou Koulibaly was sent off six minutes from time for a second booking, it summed up Chelsea’s afternoon, allowing Leeds fans to wallow in the elation of a superb start to the season as their team moved into second place in the table.
Brighton scored two goals from two shots on target to maintain their unbeaten start to the season with victory at West Ham, who remain without a league goal or a point.
Alexis Mac Allister scored the opener from the penalty spot after West Ham summer signing Thilo Kehrer brought down Danny Welbeck just inside the area on his Premier League debut.
The Hammers started the second half brightly but were undone when Leandro Trossard latched on to Pascal Gross’s flick to inflict a third straight league defeat on the hosts.
Afterwards, Hammers boss David Moyes said he was “concerned” by his side’s start to the campaign.
“We’ve not quite got everything in place,” he said. “Hopefully our quality will show through in the coming weeks.”
English champions Manchester City produced a brilliant fightback as they came from 3-1 down to draw at Newcastle in a pulsating match featuring six goals and an overturned red card.
Newcastle were two goals ahead after 54 minutes but Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva scored within four minutes of each other to preserve City’s unbeaten start to their Premier League title defence.
City took a fifth-minute lead as Ilkay Gundogan was left unmarked from Silva’s pass and was able to take a touch before slotting past Nick Pope.
The England goalkeeper made a number of saves before the hosts equalised with Miguel Almiron sliding in to meet Allan Saint-Maximin’s cross, with the goal given after a video assistant review overruled an original offside decision.
The excellent Saint-Maximin ran at the City defence before finding Callum Wilson, who took a touch to create space and shot Newcastle into the lead.
The visitors had a chance to equalise but Pope pushed Haaland’s effort on to the post and Kieran Trippier, sold by City in 2012 after coming through their academy, grabbed a brilliant third with a stunning 25-yard free-kick.
Haaland pulled one back, finishing from inside the six-yard box after Rodri’s pass, before Silva equalised following Kevin de Bruyne’s superb through ball.
Newcastle thought they had gone down to 10 men with Trippier shown a red card for a knee-high trip on De Bruyne. But referee Jarred Gillett downgraded it to a yellow after watching the incident again on a pitchside monitor – and both teams finished with a point.
Manchester United produced an utterly unexpected 2-1 victory over old rivals Liverpool in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Monday to turn fan protests against the club’s owners into a rare night of celebration.
United’s vastly improved performance for their first points of the campaign, thanks to goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, left Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool without a victory from their opening three games and with just two points.It was the first win for United’s Dutch manager Erik ten Hag who was rewarded for his decision to leave Cristiano Ronaldo and club captain Harry Maguire on the bench.
“I am happy with the performance but we have to bring it every game,” said Ten Hag. “Don’t just bring it against Liverpool. Every Premier League game is difficult. We need to bring it to every game. It starts, once again, with the spirit.”In the aftermath of last week’s humiliating 4-0 loss at Brentford, it has been a week of major question marks over the club’s owners, the Florida-based Glazer family, and some fans marched to the ground in protest ahead of the kick-off calling for them to sell the club.
United’s transfer failings have also been criticised but before the match started their new arrival from Real Madrid, Casemiro, was unveiled to the fans, although the welcoming applause threatened to be drowned out by anti-Glazer chants.That strange juxtaposition of support and protest remained throughout the game but United’s display, their best in over a year, defined the night.
SANCHO STRIKE
Sancho put the hosts ahead in the 16th minute, showing great composure as he collected a pull-back from Anthony Elanga, left James Milner on his backside and then slotted the ball into the bottom cornerChristian Eriksen was denied a second for Ten Hag’s side with a curling free-kick which Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker touched away from the top corner but United extended their lead after the breakThere was plenty for Ten Hag to be encouraged by, particularly Rashford’s return to scoring and form, but he will surely be delighted with the positive performances of two of his new signings.
Lisandro Martinez was outstanding in the centre of defence alongside the recalled Raphael Varane while Tyrell Malacia, picked ahead of Luke Shaw at left back, was tenacious throughout.
“We can talk about tactical but it is all about attitude. There was communication and a fighting spirit,” said Ten Hag.I wanted a different approach and a different attitude and that is what they brought on the pitch. It is only a start. We can play with much more composure and much more danger. Be a team, and have a good spirit and that is what we saw today.”
There were some late nerves for the home side after Liverpool scored but they held firm and the United fans, who had begun the night chanting against their owners, the Glazer family, went home in celebratory mood.