Champions Manchester City and Liverpool were both held to draws in the Premier League on Saturday leaving Arsenal on top of the table ahead of their game at Manchester United on Sunday.
Liverpool were frustrated by Frank Lampard’s determined Everton in a goalless Merseyside derby while City were held to a 1-1 draw at Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa.
Tottenham Hotspur maintained their fast start to the Premier League season with Harry Kane sealing a 2-1 victory over Fulham and Chelsea left it late as they came back from a goal down to beat West Ham United 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool had 23 goal attempts but could find no way through at Goodison Park where both sides hit the woodwork and Everton were denied a winner by a VAR decision.
Juergen Klopp’s side have nine points from a possible 18 and find themselves six points behind leaders Arsenal and five behind City and Spurs.
“Rule number one: if you cannot win the derby, don’t lose it. We could have won it today but we could have lost it in a few moments as well,” Klopp said.
Erling Haaland continued his electric start to his City career notching his 10th goal in his sixth game as he put Pep Guardiola’s side ahead after the break, guiding in a superb deep cross from Kevin De Bruyne.
But Villa stuck at their task and were rewarded when Jamaican winger Lion Bailey fired past Ederson with a sweet first-time shot after excellent work from Jacob Ramsey.
Substitute Philippe Coutinho had the ball in the net but he had already been flagged for offside, meaning their could be no VAR review — and to Gerrard’s annoyance the replays showed the Brazilian had been onside.
Chelsea hit back to beat West Ham United 2-1 with goals from substitutes Ben Chilwell and Kai Havertz cancelling out Michail Antonio’s opener.
But West Ham were left seething when an equaliser by Maxwel Cornet in the dying moments was ruled out after a VAR check ruled that Jarrod Bowen had fouled Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy.
Newcastle United also felt aggrieved as they had a goal chalked off following a VAR decision in a 0-0 home stalemate with Crystal Palace, their fourth draw in six games.
Ivan Toney scored a stunning hat-trick for Brentford in a 5-2 mauling of Leeds United.
Wolverhampton Wanderers claimed their first win of the season as they beat Southampton 1-0 with Daniel Podence on target just before halftime.
Nottingham Forest, who signed 21 new players in the transfer window for a combined 145 million pounds ($167 million), including several on deadline day, squandered a 2-0 lead at home to Bournemouth to eventually lose 3-2 and fall into the bottom three.
CRACKING DERBY
After consecutive home wins, Liverpool’s season appeared to be back on track and they welcomed back new signing Darwin Nunez on Saturday after his three-game ban.
Nunez was denied by the woodwork in the second half as was Luiz Diaz although Everton’s Tom Davies also struck an upright in the opening half of a derby that somehow remained goalless.
Everton keeper Jordan Pickford made several fine saves to frustrate Liverpool but the hosts thought they had grabbed the lead when Conor Coady tapped in at the far post.
With pandemonium ensuing at Goodison, the goal was ruled out for offside after a long VAR review. A cracking derby then ended with Mohamed Salah firing against the post in stoppage time.
Everton’s 12-year wait for a win over Liverpool at Goodison goes on but manager Frank Lampard took plenty of positives from the draw. “I thought we were brilliant. It’s one of the best 0-0s you’re likely to see,” said the former England midfielder.
Tottenham are enjoying their joint-best start to a Premier League campaign and maintained the pace at home to Fulham.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg gave Tottenham a 40th-minute lead after a wave of attacks from the hosts in which Son Heung-min was denied his first goal of the season by the crossbar.
Kane doubled Tottenham’s lead in the 75th minute with a tap-in from Ryan Sessegnon’s pass — his 188th Premier League goal taking him past Andy Cole into third place on the all-time scoring list in the competition.
Aleksandar Mitrovic curled a superb reply for Fulham — his sixth goal of the season — after Richarlison was denied his first for Tottenham by the inside of a post.
“We are going to score many goals with these strikers,” Tottenham manager Antonio Conte, who started with Richarlison, Kane and Son combined for the first time, said.
Manchester United’s £82m new boy Antony scored on his debut and Marcus Rashford got two as Erik ten Hag’s men ended Arsenal’s 100% start to the season at Old Trafford.
The Brazilian opened the scoring 10 minutes before half-time in the pulsating duel, sweeping a shot into the far corner.
Rashford claimed the assist for that and then, after Bukayo Saka had levelled on the hour, the England striker profited from two clinical United counter-attacks.
Bruno Fernandes was at the heart of both, splitting the Arsenal defence for Rashford’s first, then sending Christian Eriksen clear as the Dane provided the striker with a tap-in.
It was Rashford’s first Premier League double since December 2020, helping lift them to fifth in the table.
Arsenal remain top. However, after their excellent start to the season, manager Mikel Arteta will be concerned at how easily his side were opened up, although the Gunners did have a first-half Gabriel Martinelli goal ruled out by VAR.
Brighton fought back from conceding a first-minute goal to beat struggling Leicester City in a seven-goal thriller at the Amex.
Leicester, bottom of the Premier League, scored after only 51 seconds when Kelechi Iheanacho finished from Patson Daka’s pull-back from the left.
However, the lead only lasted eight minutes before Solly March’s header deflected into the net off Leicester defender Luke Thomas.
Brighton went ahead in the 15th minute, capitalising on a loose pass from James Maddison with Moises Caicedo scoring after being set up by Enock Mwepu.
But in a frantic first half, Leicester scored again after 32 minutes. Youri Tielemans, deep inside his own half, played a ball over the top of the Brighton defence, Daka held off Lewis Dunk’s challenge and slotted the ball past Robert Sanchez for 2-2.
Alexis Mac Allister thought he had restored the Seagulls’ lead with a spectacular strike from 30 yards but, after a video assistant referee check that lasted more than four minutes, the goal was eventually ruled out for offside.
It did not prove to be crucial as Leandro Trossard scored Brighton’s third from Pascal Gross’ pass, with Trossard then winning a penalty, which Mac Allister converted for the fourth.
Fittingly, the last say went to Argentina midfielder Mac Allister who curled in an excellent 25-yard free-kick in injury time for his second goal and Brighton’s fifth.
The result maintains Brighton’s excellent start to the season and they are fourth in the Premier League, while Leicester, with just one point from six matches, are three points adrift at the foot of the table.