Manchester City’s unbeaten start to the Premier League season ended at Villa Park on Friday night, Nicolas Jackson scoring both goals in a 2-1 Aston Villa win that leaves Enzo Maresca’s side level on points at the top with Arsenal.
It was the opening act of a weekend that also brought Bournemouth their first ever win at Old Trafford, a Tottenham victory at Stamford Bridge they had managed only once in 35 previous attempts, and a first home league win of the season for Liverpool.
Jackson Punishes City’s Mistakes
City arrived in Birmingham having won all seven of their league games under Maresca. They left having been undone by two errors, Marc Guehi and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma both culpable as Jackson took his chances.
Unai Emery’s side had lost three of their previous four, which made the result harder still for a City team that had looked the most settled in the division. They remain top on 21 points but no longer alone, Arsenal having matched them with a 2-0 home win over Everton on Saturday.
Carrick Drops Fernandes and Watches United Collapse
Michael Carrick made the boldest selection call of the weekend and saw it backfire completely. Bruno Fernandes was left on the bench at Old Trafford, days after publicly questioning United’s tactics following a 4-1 defeat at Como in midweek.
Carrick made four changes in all, with Leny Yoro, Heaven, Baleba and Amad coming in, and named a side built around Mbeumo in attack. Bournemouth were ahead by the 38th minute through Rayan, added a second through Marcus Tavernier five minutes later, and Evanilson completed a 3-0 win after the break.
Bournemouth had never won at Old Trafford before. United, now with one league win in eight, have not solved anything by changing the shape of the team, and the decision to remove their captain from the starting XI will be the question Carrick is asked repeatedly.
Spurs End a 40-Year Wait at Stamford Bridge
Tottenham’s 2-0 win at Chelsea was built on a goalkeeping error and a dismissal. Mateus Fernandes delivered a corner in the 77th minute and Chelsea keeper Mike Penders punched it backwards over his own glove and into the net.
Cole Palmer, already booked and fortunate not to have been sent off earlier after crashing into Fernandes in an incident that sparked a melee and a flurry of cards, was dismissed for a second yellow following a late challenge in which he planted his boot on Fernandes’s ankle. Mathys Tel added the second late on against ten men.
The numbers behind it are remarkable. It was only Tottenham’s second away league win at Chelsea in 35 Premier League attempts, and their first clean-sheet victory there since December 1986. James Maddison went off injured in the 51st minute, and Fernandes was named man of the match.
“They deserve this win,” said Roberto De Zerbi, whose side move to nine points but remain in the bottom half.
Isak Settles Anfield Nerves
Liverpool finally won a league game at Anfield, Alexander Isak among the scorers in a 2-0 defeat of Brighton that lifted them up the table and ended a run that had become a genuine talking point.
Newcastle won 2-0 at Crystal Palace on Sunday, and Fulham took a narrow 1-0 win at newly promoted Coventry City on Saturday.
The Rest of the Round
Hull City and Brentford drew 1-1, Sunderland and Leeds played out a goalless draw at the Stadium of Light, and Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest shared a 1-1 draw on Friday night.
With eight matches played, City and Arsenal are clear of the chasing group, Brighton sit third despite the Anfield defeat, and the gap between fourth and the relegation places remains tight enough that a single weekend continues to reshape the table.
