Here’s what happened this weekend in the Premier League, in case you missed it…
READ ALL ABOUT IT
• Saturday: Liverpool beats Spurs, Hazard shines & more
• Sunday: Burnley’s troubles & Hammers collect 1st points
WATCH MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Newcastle 1, Arsenal 2 || Tottenham 1, Liverpool 2 || Bournemouth 4, Leicester City 2 || Chelsea 4, Cardiff City 1 || Huddersfield 0, Crystal Palace 1 || Manchester City 3, Fulham 0 || Watford 1, Manchester United 2 || Wolves 1, Burnley 0 || Everton 1, West Ham United 3
WHAT STOOD OUT
Chelsea, Liverpool still perfect
James Sharman and Craig Forrest discuss Liverpool and Chelsea, and their identical 5-0 starts to the Premier League season:
Man United getting back on track
After suffering a 3-0 humbling at the hands of Tottenham a few weeks ago, the Red Devils have rebounded with two consecutive wins, including Saturday’s 2-1 decision away to Watford.
The win ended the Hornets’ perfect start to the campaign, and gave Jose Mourinho’s side some much-needed momentum ahead of a mid-week game in the UEFA Champions League.
Fourth-place Watford is still ahead of Manchester United, but the gap between the sides has been reduced to three points, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Red Devils can build upon their back-to-back wins with what should be a tricky home fixture against Wolves next week.
Reason to worry for Spurs?
James Sharman and Craig Forrest discuss Tottenham losing back-to-back games, and if the club should start to worry about falling out of the title race:
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BEST GOAL
Watch as Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka scores on this gorgeous free kick to open the scoring against Newcastle United:
BEST MOMENT
Watch how quickly Willian gets the ball out of his feet before scoring on this great strike against Cardiff City:
BEST QUOTE
“When I arrived I thought that Eden Hazard was one of the best players in Europe. Now I have changed my mind. Maybe he is the best. But I also think he can still improve more.” – Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri
BEST TWEET
THE GAME WITHIN THE GAME
How did Manchester City manage to overwhelm Fulham? A fervent passing game allowed the Blues to dictate the pace 0f the game and dominate possession.
THE BIG QUESTION
Every week, Sportsnet’s soccer panel will debate The Big Question:
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SIX PACK OF STATS
• Liverpool has won its opening five games of a top-flight season for the third time in club history (also 1990-91 and 1978-79).
• Romelu Lukaku has scored 20 goals in 39 Premier League appearances for Manchester United. Only three players have reached 20 Premier League goals for the Red Devils in fewer games: Ruud van Nistelrooy (26), Robin van Persie (32) and Dwight Yorke (34).
• Eden Hazard is the fourth player to score more than one Premier League hat trick for Chelsea. Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink are the others.
• All four of Granit Xhaka’s Premier League goals for Arsenal have come from outside the 18-yard box.
• At 33 years and 244 days, Cardiff City’s Sol Bamba is the oldest player to score his first Premier League goal since Zlatan Ibrahimovic (34 years and 316 days) in August 2016.
• Andriy Yarmolenko is just the fourth West Ham United player to score a brace on his first Premier League start for the club, and the first since Demba Ba against West Brom in February 2011.
Stats courtesy of Opta
THREE STARS
1) Eden Hazard, Chelsea: Scored a hat trick and was the focal point of a blistering Chelsea attack than ran roughshod over Cardiff City.
2) Ryan Fraser, Bournemouth: Bagged a brace and collected an assist in the Cherries’ demolition of Leicester City.
3) Andriy Yarmolenko, West Ham United: Scored the opening two goals at Goodison Park to help the Hammers earn their first points of the season.
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