{Photo courtesy of SN}
By Dennis Mungai
Round three of the English Premier League ended yesterday with the fixture between Liverpool and Newcastle United closing out what has been an interesting weekend. Defending champions Manchester City had to scrap and settle for a 2-1 win over newly promoted Sheffield United. Last season’s top scorer Erling Haaland missed a penalty but still scored with a header for his third goal this season.
Arsenal blew a 2-1 lead to concede late in the match and end with a 2-2 draw against Fulham at the Emirates Stadium. Bukayo Saka scored a penalty and Eddie Nketiah tapped in the second goal. But Joah Palhinha poked in a late equalizer to spoil Arteta’s perfect start to the season. Liverpool needed Darwin Nunez’s last minute heroics to beat Newcastle 2-1 as he came off the bench to score both the equalizer and winner for the Reds. Anthony Gordon had put Newcastle ahead but Virgil Van Dijk was sent off some minutes later for denying Isak a goal scoring opportunity.
Brentford drew 1-1 with Crystal Palace and Everton ended the third straight weekend without a goal or a point as they lost 1-0 to Wolves. James Maddison continued his hot form for Spurs with another goal as they beat Bournemouth 2-0. Elsewhere, Brighton’s fine start to the season was ended by a 3-1 home defeat to West Ham, inspired by new signing James Ward-Prowse stellar perfomance.
At Old Trafford, Manchester United had to come back from an early surprise by Nottingham Forest. The Red Devils were 2-0 down after just four minutes thanks to goals by Taiwo Awoniyi and Willy Boly. Goals by Christian Eriksen and Casemiro restored some calm for Ten Hag’s men before Bruno Fernandes scored the winning goal via a penalty in the second half to secure all three points. Chelsea got their first win under new manager Pochettino by beating Luton Town 3-0 on Friday. Raheem Sterling scored twice, with new signing Nicolas Jackson getting his name on the scoresheet as well.