Newcastle United and Leeds United fought out a 1-1 draw in an entertaining Premier League clash at St James’ Park on Friday and the result did neither side any favours as it stretched their winless starts to five games.

The result left Newcastle 18th on two points and piled more pressure on manager Steve Bruce while Leeds are 16th on three points after they missed a string of chances in an action-packed first half.

Leeds dominated possession and missed a string of chances after Raphinha fired them ahead in the 13th minute before Allan Saint-Maximin levelled with a fine individual effort on the stroke of halftime.

Saint-Maximin was not happy with the outcome.

“We are really disappointed tonight because the team gave everything to win this game,” he told Sky Sports. “We knew we needed a win to start the season, so we just have to keep going and work hard.”

Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa rued his team’s lack of killer instinct in front of goal and conceded he was concerned with their poor start.

“Yes, of course (going five games without a win) worries me,” the Argentine said.

“We had sufficient chances to go in at the break with a bigger margin but we didn’t score in proportion to the amount of chances we created.

“We were missing some efficiency and capitalising on the chances that we had. We had a lot of possession, perhaps we could have created even more danger especially in the second half.”

Raphinha fired Leeds ahead when his cross from the left beat Karl Darlow at the far post after Rodrigo’s clever dummy left the goalkeeper stranded, with the Brazilian winger tormenting his markers throughout the first half.

He forced a save from Darlow in the 20th minute and the visitors came close to doubling their lead several times before Matt Ritchie hit the post and keeper Illan Meslier denied Joelinton at the other end.

There was nothing Meslier could do about the equaliser, though, as Saint-Maximin found space on the edge of the penalty area by side-stepping three markers before he drilled a crisp low shot into the far corner.

Darlow spared Jamaal Laseclelles the blushes of scoring an own goal in the 52nd minute before Meslier twice denied Saint-Maximin as the Newcastle forward continued to be a threat.

The pace dropped in the closing stages with both teams cautious not to concede a late goal, with Leeds having the upper hand but unable to find a way through

Liverpool went top of the Premier League with a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, while champions Manchester City were held to a goalless draw at home to Southampton.

Arsenal picked up their second straight win with a 1-0 victory at Burnley, while promoted Brentford posted an impressive 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Everton’s unbeaten start to the season came to an abrupt end as they crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa.

With Chelsea and Manchester United not in action until Sunday, Juergen Klopp’s side moved to 13 points from five matches after goals from Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Naby Keita at Anfield.

Liverpool had been well on top against Patrick Vieira’s Palace but struggled to turn their dominance into goals until Mane turned the ball in from close range just before halftime for his 100th goal for the club.

His strike followed a shocking miss by Portugal international Diogo Jota, who blazed over the bar from two yards out.

Salah added a second to kill off the contest on 78 minutes as Virgil van Dijk flicked on a corner and the forward supplied a neat finish.

But there was still time for Keita to add a magnificent third when he volleyed into the net from the edge of the box as the clock ticked into injury-time.

“When you win, usually you are really good or brilliant. Today we were not brilliant but we were good,” said Klopp.

“We accepted the battle Crystal Palace was here for and that’s why I am really happy about the result, really happy about the performance,” he said.

City were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Southampton at the Etihad Stadium.

After an uneventful first half where City were well below par, Southampton thought they had been handed a golden chance to go in front just after the interval when they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Adam Armstrong. To make matters worse for City, Kyle Walker was sent off for the foul.

But referee Jon Moss, following a VAR intervention, overturned both the red card and the awarding of the spot kick.

Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden were both summoned from the bench as City pressed for a winner, which they thought they had grabbed at the death through Raheem Sterling, but his effort was ruled out for offside.

The result means City fall three points behind Liverpool, on 10 points.

Everton are fifth on 10 points although Rafa Benitez’s side were given a reality check as they conceded three times in 10 minutes after the break at Villa Park.

Matty Cash thumped in the opener in the 66th minute — his first goal for the club — before Lucas Digne’s own goal from a corner and substitute Leon Bailey’s fierce drive.

Martin Odegaard’s 30th-minute curling free kick earned Arsenal back-to-back wins although they also had some help from VAR as they hung on for the three points at Turf Moor.

The Norwegian midfielder curled the ball beautifully into the top corner of Nick Pope’s goal in the 30th minute, helping take Mikel Arteta’s side on to six points

Burnley thought they had a chance of an equaliser when Matej Vydra went down under a challenge from Arsenal keeper Aaron Ramsdale and referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot.

But when VAR intervened, Taylor went to the pitchside monitor and overturned his decision after seeing footage showing Ramsdale playing the ball.

Brentford claimed their first away victory in the Premier League with a 2-0 win at Wolves, despite going down to 10 men midway through the second half.

Ivan Toney scored and grabbed an assist in a busy first half in which he also had two goals disallowed. But the visitors were forced to defend for the last half hour when Shandon Baptiste was sent off for a second yellow card.

Brentford are ninth in the standings while Wolves, still seeking their first home win under Bruno Lage, slipped to 16th.

Aston Villa ended Everton’s unbeaten start to the Premier League season with three unanswered goals in nine second-half minutes at Villa Park on Saturday.

The game had been drifting towards a goalless draw until the 66th minute, when Matty Cash fired Villa ahead with his first goal for the club, before an own goal by Lucas Digne made it 2-0.

As Everton buckled, Leon Bailey made it 3-0 with a powerful drive after coming on as a substitute, although his cameo performance was curtailed by a thigh injury soon after.

The closest an injury-hit Everton came to scoring was moments before Cash’s opener when in-form Demarai Gray curled a shot just wide, although they managed only one shot on target.

Everton have 10 points from five games in fifth spot, with Villa moving up into the top half of the table with seven points from their opening five games.

The visitors were without injured strikers Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison and were also missing keeper Jordan Pickford and right back Seamus Coleman.

Rafa Benitez’s side were content to sit deep and play on the break, and they had been enjoying a degree of control until they were blown away by a stunning Villa burst.

Cash, who had never scored for the Midlands club before, was played in down the right before cutting in on his left foot and sending a rising drive past Asmir Begovic.

Everton were rattled and fell further behind when Bailey’s inswinging corner glanced off Digne and into the net.

Bailey, whose pace was electrifying, then latched on to a bouncing ball down the left and lashed a ferocious shot into the back of the net with Begovic beaten for pace.

“I thought we were the better team in the first half but didn’t create as many clear-cut chances as we’d like. I felt five minutes before our goal, they were on top,” Villa manager Dean Smith said.

He reserved special praise for Bailey.

“Leon put the corner in for the goal and scored the third. The first goal was great build-up and Matt (Cash) has put it in the top bin,” Smith said.

“I thought Leon would lift us a bit. He’s really special. He’s a really good player. That’s why we got him here.”
Chelsea’s dominant second-half performance was rewarded with goals for Thiago Silva, N’Golo Kante and Antonio Rudiger in a comfortable 3-0 victory at London rivals Tottenham Hotspur that sent them joint top of the Premier League on Sunday.

The emphatic scoreline did not look likely in the first half as the home side’s energetic display allowed them to more than match Chelsea. But Spurs simply had no answer when the Blues found another couple of gears after the break.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel’s decision to replace Mason Mount with Kante at halftime proved a masterstroke as the French midfielder helped the visitors seize control and ease to a victory that sent out an ominous warning in the title race.

Thiago’s header gave Chelsea the lead in the 49th minute and when Kante’s deflected shot crept past Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris shortly after there was no way back for the deflated hosts.

Rudiger’s late strike was enough to give Chelsea an identical record to Liverpool with the two sides on 13 points from five games, both having scored 12 goals and conceded one.

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Spurs faded badly after the interval and their abysmal Premier League record against Chelsea now reads: played 59, won seven, drawn 20, lost 32.

After winning their first three Premier League games of the season 1-0 to lead the table, Totenham have now suffered back-to-back 3-0 reverses and have slipped to seventh.

“I was absolutely not happy with the first 45 minutes,” Tuchel said. “There were individual performances which were great in the first half from (keeper) Kepa and Thiago Silva.

“In general we lacked intent, energy and relentlessness in duels and 50-50 balls. We spoke about it at halftime. In the second half it was a very good performance and a deserved win.”

ENERGETIC FOOTBALL

Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo handed a first league appearance of the season to powerful midfielder Tanguy Ndombele and he impressed in a first half in which the hosts’ energetic football kept Chelsea on the back foot.

Spurs had a series of half chances and wasted a great opportunity when Son Heung-min’s pass released Sergio Reguilon down the left but the Spanish full back could not pick out either of two team mates who were waiting in the area.

Son also had a fleeting chance when picked out by Giovani Lo Celso, yet despite Tottenham’s impressive play there was always the sense that Chelsea had much more in the tank.

And so it proved.

Straight after the restart, Marcos Alonso’s stretching volley forced Lloris into his first save of the match and a couple of minutes later Alonso swung over a corner that Thiago met with a powerful downward header that gave Lloris no chance.

All the belief Spurs had shown suddenly evaporated and they found themselves with a mountain to climb in the 57th minute as Kante’s shot took a cruel deflection off Eric Dier’s foot and dribbled into the corner off the post with Lloris wrong-footed.

Chelsea looked hungry for more goals and they got their third when Timo Werner picked out central defender Rudiger and he dispatched a low shot into the bottom corner.

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