Champions Liverpool are five points clear at the top of the Premier League after a 7-0 away hammering of Crystal Palace while Arsenal’s troubles continued with a 2-1 defeat at second-placed Everton on Saturday.
Manchester City got back to winning ways with a 1-0 victory at in-form Southampton while Newcastle United were held to a 1-1 draw at home to struggling Fulham.
Liverpool have 31 points from 14 games with Everton five points behind and Tottenham Hotspur, who host Leicester City on Sunday, a further point back.
Juergen Klopp’s side had not won away from home in the league since September but broke that dry spell in spectacular fashion, recording their biggest-ever top flight away win with Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah each scoring twice.
Japan’s Takumi Minamino rewarded Juergen Klopp’s decision to start him ahead of Salah by scoring after just over two minutes and Sadio Mane then made it two when he twisted and fired home form the edge of the box in the 35th.
Firmino added a third just before the break, flicking home to finish off a superb Liverpool counter-attack that swept the length of the field, and Jordan Henderson added a fourth seven minutes into the second half as Palace, managed by former Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson, collapsed.
Firmino got his second with a brilliant chipped effort in the 68th and Salah came on to score with a header before brilliantly curling a shot into the top corner five minutes from the end.
“Everything is pleasing; everything is good about this game,” said Klopp.
“It was really difficult to play against us today, I would say. And then they obviously all wore their finishing boots and when you have that it is really tricky,” added the German.
Arsenal’s worst start to a season in 46 years shows no sign of ending after another poor result for their under-pressure manager Mikel Arteta.
Colombian Yerry Mina grabbed the winner with a header from a corner on the stroke of halftime after a Nicolas Pepe penalty had brought the Gunners level following Everton’s opener from a Rob Holding own goal.
“It’s not good enough, it’s not good enough for the standards of this football club and this is the challenge,” said Arteta.
Everton, with three straight wins, look back to their excellent early season form after a shaky spell.
“I think we’re doing really well this season. We are in a good position in the table,” said manager Carlo Ancelotti.
“We have shown in the past three games a lot of consistency and a lot of spirit, so you have to be pleased with what we are doing now,” he said.
Raheem Sterling got the decisive goal for Manchester City in the 16th minute, converting a low cross from Kevin De Bruyne while Southampton’s injury-prone striker Danny Ings went off before the break with a hamstring problem.
City, who had been held at home by lowly West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday, again struggled in front of goal but continue to look solid at the back.
“Defensively we were excellent. Last season we struggled a lot. Ruben (Dias) has helped us a lot. John (Stones) in the last few games has been exceptional,” said manager Pep Guardiola.
A Callum Wilson penalty for Newcastle cancelled out Matt Ritchie’s own goal which had put Fulham ahead at St James’ Park.
The result lifted Fulham out of the relegation zone as they moved one place up to 17th on 10 points from 14 games with a superior goal difference to 18th-placed Burnley who have two games in hand.
Manchester United crushed Leeds United 6-2 while Leicester City handed Tottenham Hotspur a second straight defeat in the Premier League on Sunday.
United’s win, with two goals each for midfielders Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes, sent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side up to third on 26 points, above fourth-placed Everton on goal difference.
Jamie Vardy’s penalty and a Toby Alderweireld own goal gave Leicester victory in North London and left the Foxes in second place, five points behind leaders Liverpool who had won 7-0 at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Sam Allardyce’s debut in charge of struggling West Bromwich Albion ended in a 3-0 home defeat by West Midlands rivals Aston Villa with Anwar El Ghazi on target twice.
Bottom club Sheffield United ended their eight match losing streak, picking up just their second point of the campaign with a 1-1 draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Promoted Leeds have won admirers for their attacking approach under Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa but the 30 goals they have conceded this season is the worst defensive record in the league and they have slipped to 14th in the table.
The Yorkshire club were 2-0 down inside three minutes after McTominay scored two early goals, the first a stunning strike from distance, before Fernandes made it 3-0 in the 20th minute.
Victor Lindelof added a fourth before a Liam Cooper header, four minutes before the interval, gave the visitors some encouragement for the second half.
But McTominay set up Dan James for United’s fifth before a Fernandes penalty made it 6-1.
Even then, with Bielsa yelling from the touchline, Leeds continued to push forward and Stuart Dallas gave them some reward for their efforts with a beautiful curling shot from distance.
While there were some outstanding individual displays in the United side, none more than from McTominay in midfield, Solskjaer also got his tactical approach spot on.
“Of course, we’ve shown them videos and analysed (Leeds) and they were wide-eyed, the boys, when they saw the clips we showed them. The spaces that can appear, or not appear if we don’t do the work. They did the work, spot on,” he said.
After their defeat by Liverpool on Wednesday, Jose Mourinho’s Spurs dropped out of the bottom two after the loss to Leicester.
The opening half produced little excitement until just before the break when the Foxes were awarded a penalty following a VAR check which found Serge Aurier had fouled Wesley Fofana — Vardy blasted the spot kick down the middle.
The second goal came in the 59th minute when Vardy got on the end of Marc Albrighton’s cross from the right and his header at the far post cannoned off Alderweireld into the back of the net.
The experienced Allardyce replaced the sacked Crotian Slaven Bilic at West Brom in midweek but after five minutes Villa took the lead when El-Ghazi deftly steered home Traore’s cross to the far post.
West Brom had captain Jake Livermore sent off following a VAR review for a reckless tackle on Jack Grealish and Allardyce’s new charges barely threatened after that, managing a single shot in the whole game.
Traore added a second six minutes from time and El Ghazi slotted home a late penalty to secure a win that lifts Villa to ninth spot on 22 points after 12 games, while West Brom remain second from bottom with seven points from 14 games.
Ten-man Sheffield United were denied a first win of the season when Brighton’s Danny Welbeck struck late to cancel out Premier League debutant Jayden Bogle’s goal in a 1-1 draw at the Amex Arena.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men when John Lundstram was sent off for upending Joel Veltman in a reckless challenge in the first half, with the referee changing his decision from a yellow card to a red following a VAR review.
Barnes, who last scored in November 2019, put the Clarets ahead 10 minutes before the break, heading in at the back post after Charlie Taylor burst to the byline and floated in a high cross.
Josh Brownhill went close for the home side after the break with a well-struck effort from outside the box which crashed against the bar.
But moments later Burnley had their second when Ben Mee rose to head a free-kick across the face of goal and, with Barnes causing havoc in the Wolves defence, the ball fell to New Zealander Wood who fired home.
Wood almost had another when he smartly collected an Ashley Westwood ball and turned his marker but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Rui Patricio’s outstretched left leg.
Burnley looked more determined with Westwood and Brownhill relentless in midfield but, having failed to take their chances to kill off the game, were forced to sweat in the final minutes after an 89th minute Fabio Silva penalty gave Wolves hope.
Burnley brought on young midfielder Josh Benson and, before the subsitute had even touched the ball, he brought down Silva in the box and the 18-year-old club-record signing converted.
But the Clarets, who now have just one defeat in their last seven, held on for three vital points in what looks set to be a tight battle at the bottom end of the table.
Barnes, who has had injury problems during his barren spell, justified his recall with a typically active and aggressive performance and was delighted to have got on the scoresheet.
Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham scored a late opportunist double to secure a 3-0 home win for Chelsea over West Ham United in the Premier League on Monday after Brazilian defender Thiago Silva had fired them in front with an early header.-
The result lifted Chelsea to fifth on 25 points from 14 games, a point behind fourth-placed Everton, while West Ham stayed 10th on 21 points after failing to rack up a third successive away win.
It was a welcome victory for Chelsea after two successive defeats and Abraham acknowledged there was a rallying cry in the dressing room before the kick off.
“The boys said we needed a performance and that’s what we did today,” the 23-year-old told Sky Sports.
