An action-packed Wednesday night in the Premier League saw wins for Liverpool, Manchester and Arsenal but in very different circumstances.
Liverpool 2-1 Newcastle
Liverpool struck a dramatic winner in the eighth minute of time added on, with Fabio Carvalho rifling the ball in to end a scramble following a corner – sparking a brief melee between the benches.
Earlier Alexander Isak marked his debut with a goal in the 38th minute as Newcastle’s intent was rewarded with the first goal. Sean Longstaff slipped the ball through and Isak found space between two defenders before firing into the top left-hand corner.
Nick Pope did not make a save until the 60th minute, getting down low to keep out a shot from Harvey Elliott. But the England goalkeeper was beaten seconds later when Mo Salah teed up Roberto Firmino for a crisp finish.
And it had looked like the Reds would have to settle for a point, only for substitute Carvalho to fire home on his 20th birthday.
Man City 6-0 Nottingham Forest
Erling Haaland continued his assault on the Premier League with a second successive hat-trick for Manchester City in the 6-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
The 22-year-old bagged a 26-minute first-half treble to put Forest to the sword, just four days after doing the same to Crystal Palace.
He is now the first player in the Premier League era to score nine goals in his first five games and surely Andy Cole and Alan Shearer’s record high of 34 goals in a season will get shattered this term.
This was also a story about another new City striker as Julian Alvarez marked his first Premier League start with a brace after the break, with Joao Cancelo also scoring.
The hammering took City’s goals-for column up to 19 in five games and highlighted just how hard they are going to be to stop this season.
Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa
Arsenal edged to a fifth successive Premier League victory of the season as Gabriel Martinelli hit the winner against Aston Villa on a night of questionable goalkeeping at the Emirates Stadium.
A deserved 2-1 win meant the Gunners remained top of the table with a perfect record, with Martinelli settling the game after Douglas Luiz had levelled direct from a corner.
Ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez had earlier gifted Gabriel Jesus the opener as Steven Gerrard’s side slipped to a fourth defeat, heaping the pressure on the former England captain.
For the second home game in a row, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal showed their guile to seal the three points after they had come from behind to beat Fulham four days earlier.
Bournemouth 0-0 Wolves
Bournemouth began life without Scott Parker with a battling point as Wolves’ lengthy Premier League winless streak was extended by a goalless draw at Vitality Stadium.
The managerless Cherries, led by interim boss Gary O’Neil, produced a resolute response to a tumultuous few days which saw Parker sacked on Monday in the aftermath of a record-equalling 9-0 humiliation away to Liverpool.
Wolves dominated possession on the south coast but were unable to make a breakthrough as their wait for a top-flight victory stretched to 12 games, dating back to April 2.
Big-money summer signing Matheus Nunes hit the crossbar early on, while Raul Jimenez wasted a golden second-half chance before Daniel Podence had a diving header cleared off the line by Bournemouth captain Lloyd Kelly.
Yet Bruno Lage’s visitors lacked thrust in attacking areas for much of the evening as they failed to find the net for the third time in four games, much to the frustration of the sold-out away end, who jeered at the final whistle.
West Ham 1-1 Tottenham
Tomas Soucek secured West Ham’s first home point of the season as they battled to a 1-1 draw with London rivals Tottenham.
But the Hammers could have snatched all three after handing a debut to club-record signing Lucas Paqueta.
Boss David Moyes claimed before kick-off that Paqueta had not so much as passed a ball to his new team-mates after only completing his £52million switch from Lyon on Monday.
And it showed when, with four minutes remaining, Vladimir Coufal pulled the ball back, only for Paqueta and fellow new signing Emerson Palmieri to leave the ball to each other, 10 yards from goal.
Moyes fell to his knees on the touchline after the Brazil international passed up the chance to make himself an instant Hammers hero.
The Scot will be pleased enough with a point, however, after an own goal from Thilo Kehrer had given unbeaten Spurs the initiative.
