(Football news) Reigning champions of England Manchester City avenged their Champions League final defeat against Chelsea with a dominant display at Stamford Bridge which saw a single goal by Gabriel Jesus win all three points for the blue half of Manchester. It was the first time in four and a half years that Pep Guardiola’s team went into a fixture as the underdogs as Chelsea had won the previous three matches against City. However, a 1-0 scoreline could have easily been more as the home side was under tremendous pressure for the majority of the game while City’s goalkeeper Ederson didn’t have to make a save all match.
Man City have had a hit and miss season so far, averaging five and a half goals but defeat against Tottenham and draw against Southampton mean that they currently occupy second place, one point behind league leaders Liverpool and level on points with Chelsea, Manchester United and Everton. The time has come for Pep Guardiola and City to prove their ambitions for this season as they will face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League mid-week and Liverpool at Anfield next weekend.
At the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal seem to have put their early season woes behind them with a dominant victory over arch rivals Tottenham. An impressive first half display by the Gunners saw goals from Emile Smith Rowe, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka and maintained their record of Spurs not defeating Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium since 2010. Harry Kane continued his poor form at Tottenham, having wanted to leave the London based side in the summer and displayed a dispirited performance. However, Heung-min Son managed to get a consolation goal in the 79th minute to deny Arsenal a clean sheet. With this result, the Gunners have consecutively won their last three matches while Spurs have lost their last three fixtures.
Newly promoted Brentford held Premier League leaders Liverpool to a 3-3 draw at the Brentford Community Stadium. Jurgen Klopp’s men squandered the lead twice and missed the opportunity to go three points ahead of Chelsea and Manchester United who lost their games. Mo Salah became the fastest player in the history of Liverpool FC to score 100 top-flight goals as the Egyptian found the back of the net in the 54th minute. Brentford would be happy with life in the Premier League, having already defeated Arsenal in their opening game and becoming the first team since Leicester in February to score three goals against Liverpool and denying them three points. Head coach Thomas Frank will be proud of his side’s performances so far as Brentford currently occupy the ninth position on the Premier League table.
Meanwhile, Manchester United endured another disappointing loss, this time to Aston Villa at Old Trafford. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men were looking for a reaction, having been eliminated from the Carabao Cup in the midweek by West Ham but looked disjointed and tactically all over the place against a determined Aston Villa side. With just two minutes left, Kortney Hause’s header was all it took to clinch three points for Aston Villa in a famous and rare victory at Old Trafford, the first one since 2009. The match had its fair share of drama as Manchester United were awarded a penalty in injury time to level the scoring but Bruno Fernandes blazed his shot over the target. To make matters worse, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire were substituted due to injuries and look doubtful against Villarreal in the Champions League this midweek while Aaron Wan Bissaka is already suspended, having received a straight red card against Young Boys. The pressure is piling up on Solskjaer, who has lost three games in four matches as Manchester United slip to fourth in the Premier League table.
