A review of Saturday's action in the Premier League, where Liverpool stayed top with a comfortable 3-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Results
Liverpool 3-0 Crystal Palace
- Infogol xG: Liverpool 3.46 - 0.74 Crystal Palace
Sadio Mane pulled level with Kevin Keegan on 100 Liverpool goals as Jurgen Klopp’s men sunk Crystal Palace 3-0 to move to the top of the Premier League for the first time since January.
Mane reached his milestone two minutes before the break when he turned the ball home from close range but the hosts had been forced to withstand some early pressure at Anfield.
Mane also became the first player in Premier League history to score against the same opponent in nine consecutive matches, beating Robin van Persie’s eight in a row against Stoke
Patrick Vieira’s Eagles took the game to their opponents and hit the post early through Christian Benteke before Liverpool finally got a grip.
In a sustained spell of pressure from the home side, Diogo Jota spurned a glorious opportunity to open the scoring, while Jordan Henderson also came close.
Despite Mane’s opener, Palace continued to offer a threat and substitute Odsonne Edouard missed a chance to equalise midway through the second period.
A delicious half-volley from Mohamed Salah effectively sealed the points on 78 minutes before an equally fine finish from Naby Keita completed the scoring two minutes from time.
Norwich 1-3 Watford
- Infogol xG: Norwich 0.73 - 2.73 Watford
Ismaila Sarr struck twice as Norwich’s losing start to the Premier League season extended to five games following a 3-1 defeat to Watford at Carrow Road.
The Hornets’ record signing, who had not scored since the opening-day win over Aston Villa, proved too good for the Norwich defence with his brace putting the game beyond the hosts.
The visitors had taken an early lead, which was the first sign of any cracks in the Norwich defence, as Emmanuel Dennis headed past Tim Krul after being marked poorly in the 17th minute.
Teemu Pukki struck his, and Norwich’s, second Premier League goal of the season to level the contest when he beat the offside trap before sending the ball over Ben Foster 10 minutes before half-time.
However, in the second half, Watford took a decisive lead in the 63rd minute with Sarr beating Grant Hanley to the ball before flicking it into the net and then being first to a parried shot from Josh King to tap home for his second 10 minutes from time.
The Canaries had swept to a second Sky Bet Championship title under German manager Daniel Farke last season but so far have again come up short on their return to the top flight.
Norwich had the toughest of starts – against Liverpool, Manchester City, Leicester and Arsenal – but again struggled against their fellow promoted side and have now lost five successive matches against the Hornets.
Manchester City 0-0 Southampton
- Infogol xG: Manchester City 1.47 - 0.43 Southampton
A near-capacity crowd failed to inspire Manchester City as the champions were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Southampton at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s side might even have felt relieved to claim a point after referee Jon Moss overturned decisions to award Southampton a penalty and send Kyle Walker off in the second half.
Statistically City dominated but lacked their normal cutting edge, perhaps underling Guardiola’s point in midweek that his players would go into the Saturday encounter tired after their Champions League exertions.
Raheem Sterling thought he had snatched victory with a last-gasp strike but the flag was raised for offside and VAR confirmed the decision.
Guardiola had issued a rallying cry to fans after Wednesday’s remarkable 6-3 victory over Leipzig, which took their goal tally in their last three home games to 16, and the supporters responded by producing a vibrant atmosphere.
Yet it was not enough for the champions, despite the hosts controlling most of the possession and creating the better chances.
Aston Villa 3-0 Everton
- Infogol xG: Aston Villa 0.99 - 0.97 Everton
Aston Villa’s second-half blitz downed Everton as the hosts ran riot to clinch an impressive 3-0 win.
They scored three times in nine minutes with Matty Cash, Lucas Digne’s own goal and Leon Bailey easing them to victory at Villa Park.
The hosts could even afford the luxury of keeping record buy Emi Buendia on the bench after he arrived back from Croatia, where he had been training to avoid quarantining following international duty with Argentina, just hours before.
It helped highlight the lack of depth at Everton, who could only name eight substitutes, as they crashed to a first defeat under Rafa Benitez.
The Toffees remain fifth, with Villa climbing to 10th, in the early Premier League table.
Benitez was already without the sidelined Dominic Calvert-Lewin and a shoulder injury also robbed him of Jordan Pickford while Richarlison was out after suffering an ankle injury against Burnley.
Burnley 0-1 Arsenal
- Infogol xG: Burnley 1.11 - 0.97 Arsenal
Martin Odegaard’s first-half free-kick clinched Arsenal a 1-0 win at Burnley, whose winless home Premier League run was extended to 13 matches.
Norway international Odegaard curled home the only goal in the 30th minute to further ease the pressure on Gunners boss Mikel Arteta.
Arteta’s side clinched a second successive top-flight victory, but they were indebted to a controversial VAR intervention, which Burnley felt robbed them of a second-half penalty.
Referee Anthony Taylor initially pointed to the spot when Burnley substitute Matej Vydra went down under Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale’s challenge, only to change his mind after watching the replay.
Burnley edged the opening 20 minutes in terms of half-chances, with two efforts from striker Ashely Barnes sandwiching James Tarkowski’s header.
Arsenal lacked the pace or creative spark to threaten Burnley’s well-drilled 4-4-2 system during the opening 25 minutes, but that all changed after Barnes tripped Bukayo Saka in a central position 25 yards from goal.
Barnes was shown a yellow card by referee Taylor and Odegaard brilliantly curled the resulting free-kick beyond Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope.
It was a moment of Premier League quality that the game had been crying out for and former Real Madrid midfielder Odegaard delivered, left-footed, for his first goal of the season and third in total for the Gunners.
Wolves 0-2 Brentford
- Infogol xG: Wolves 1.19 - 2.10 Brentford
Ivan Toney inspired Brentford to their first away win in the top flight for 74 years with a 2-0 victory at Wolves.
Toney almost moved to Molineux from Northampton as a teenager in 2014, the move collapsing when he failed a medical, so it was perhaps inevitable he would star as Wolves slumped to a fourth straight home Premier League defeat.
The 25-year-old had a goal, an assist and two disallowed in the first half alone as a clinical Brentford side picked up all three points, with Bryan Mbeumo also on target.
A second-half red card for Shandon Baptiste threatened to spoil Brentford’s afternoon, but, even though Wolves finished on top, they failed to score for a fourth league match out of five this season.
When Brighton’s Leandro Trossard netted a 90th-minute winner last week it ended a 15-game unbeaten league run for Thomas Frank’s side, but there was no apparent loss of momentum in the way Brentford attacked the first half.
Toney had the ball in the net with only nine minutes gone, although there was no need for a VAR check to see that Mbeumo had strayed offside before playing the ball in.
Instead the visitors punished defensive mistakes from Wolves to take a commanding lead before the break.
