The final weekend before the international break was full of drama in England and Spain. Arsenal’s perfect start ended, Manchester City survived an eight-goal thriller, Tottenham’s dreadful start got worse, and Manchester United needed a late deflection to escape Craven Cottage. In Spain, Atlético Madrid won the derby against ten-man Real Madrid, and Barcelona kept their perfect record thanks to a Raphinha hat-trick.
Premier League
Brighton 3-0 Arsenal: Gunners’ perfect run ends at the Amex
Arsenal’s perfect start to the season came to an abrupt end as Brighton dominated the champions. Captain Pascal Groß opened the scoring in the 31st minute, and Charalampos Kostoulas doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time. Both first-half goals were struck from outside the box.
Chema Andrés headed in Groß’s corner in the 57th minute to make it three. Havertz wasted Arsenal’s best chance, and although the visitors edged the expected-goals count, the better team clearly won. Arteta said the defeat could prove a big lesson and admitted Brighton deserved the win, which lifted them to third.
Man City 5-3 Sunderland: Chaos at the Etihad
Brian Brobbey scored a hat-trick in a losing cause as City kept their 100% start. Fernández put City ahead in the 9th minute and Brobbey levelled in the 12th. Cherki restored the lead in the 29th, Brobbey equalised again in the 33rd, and Semenyo made it 3-2 in the 43rd.
Semenyo’s second came in the 57th minute, and Brobbey completed his hat-trick in the 59th. Haaland then struck in the 81st minute to settle it. City go into the break three points clear at the top. Sunderland’s expected-goals figure of 4.25 from 17 shots shows how close they came to more.
Tottenham 2-3 Aston Villa: Spurs sink to a record-low start
Johan Manzambi put Villa ahead on the stroke of half-time. Nicolas Jackson doubled the lead and Emi Buendia added a third in the 79th minute. Tottenham thought Kudus had equalised around the hour, but Robertson was ruled offside in the build-up.
Conor Gallagher scored Spurs’ first goal of the season late on, followed by a Jan Paul van Hecke header, but it was too little, too late. Their scoring drought of 485 minutes is the second longest in Premier League history. It is Spurs’ worst-ever start to a Premier League campaign, with two points from five games and a goal difference of -6. The win was Villa’s first of the season.
Fulham 1-1 Man United: Cunha rescues a point
A first half with a record 26 shots ended goalless, with Bruno Fernandes hitting the post. Fulham took the lead when Calvin Bassey’s shot was pushed by Lammens into the path of Lisandro Martínez, who turned it into his own net.
Matheus Cunha equalised on the cusp of full-time with a shot that deflected off Affengruber. It was a muted display from United, who have now gone three league games without a win. Fulham are still waiting for a first win under Alvaro Arbeloa, though they move off the bottom.
La Liga
Atlético Madrid 2-1 Real Madrid: Huijsen’s red card decides the derby
The derby only came alive after the break at the Metropolitano. Dean Huijsen dragged back Giuliano Simeone, and after a VAR check the referee upgraded his yellow card to a straight red. Alejandro Grimaldo scored the penalty in the 53rd minute and Atlético went 2-0 up six minutes later.
Antonio Rüdiger headed one back in the 89th minute, but Atlético held on. Atlético move up to second, five points behind Barcelona, while Madrid slip to third after their second defeat of the season. It also ended José Mourinho’s record of dominating Diego Simeone’s side.
Sevilla 1-3 Barcelona: Raphinha’s hat-trick keeps Barça perfect
Youssouf Fofana headed Sevilla in front. The lead lasted barely two minutes before Raphinha levelled. Seven minutes into the second half, he headed Barça in front after Lamine Yamal chipped the ball into the box.
Raphinha hit the post, then completed his hat-trick five minutes later after Rodri found Yamal, who slipped him through. It was his second hat-trick in four days. Barcelona now have 21 points from seven games. They lead Real Madrid by six points ahead of the break.
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