The inevitable Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool victory in the second half on Saturday.
AFP
Liverpool went to Wolverhampton (2-1) for first place in a spectacular Premier League on Saturday, taking advantage of Manchester City’s upset trip to Newcastle (1-1).
The sixth day offered strong emotions between Arsenal’s epic success against Leicester (4-2) and Cole Palmer’s quadruple with Chelsea (4-2) against Brighton.
In the standings, Liverpool takes the lead with one point more than Manchester City (2nd, 14 pts) and Arsenal (3rd, 16 pts). Chelsea (13 pts) complete the Top 4 while awaiting the trip of Aston Villa (5th, 12 pts) on Sunday to Ipswich Town.
The loser of the weekend is already known and his name is City. Pep Guardiola’s team suffered another setback in Newcastle, a week after struggling to get a point against Arsenal (2-2).
At St’James Park, the absence of leader Kevin De Bruyne, who was withdrawn, and defensive midfielder Rodri, who suffered a serious knee injury last Sunday and whose season is over, was felt.
Erling Haaland remained silent for the first time this season in the Premier League and it was defender Josko Gvardiol who took over with a sequence worthy of an attacker (35th, 0-1).
Newcastle got back on track with a penalty obtained and converted by Anthony Gordon (58th, 1-1), then resisted with a superb save from Nick Pope in front of Bernardo Silva in added time.
At the start of the evening, Liverpool was able to grab the ball, despite a difficult encounter at bottom Wolverhampton (2-1).
The “Reds” led thanks to Ibrahima Konaté (45th + 2, 1-0), were joined after an error of judgment by the French defender (56th, 1-1), but won on a penalty of Mohamed Salah (61st, 2-1).
The Mersey club is off to a flying start in the new era of Arne Slot. The successor to the much-loved Jürgen Klopp has five wins in six matches, with twelve goals scored and only two conceded.
Arsenal achieved the same spoils offensively by inflicting two goals in added time on promoted Leicester (4-2), a painful victory which brought joy to Mikel Arteta three days before the arrival of Paris SG.
“Things got bad, it became difficult”, but “it’s the Premier League”, reacted the Spanish coach, “even happier with the way we managed this situation afterwards”.
The “Gunners” led 2-0 at half-time, were caught at 2-2 after the hour mark but managed to escape the clutches of the “Foxes” and their heroic goalkeeper, Mads Hermansen, thanks to to Leandro Trossard (90th+4) then Kai Havertz (90th+9).
The other sensation of the day came from Chelsea and their 22-year-old striker, Cole Palmer, who became the first player to score a quadruple in the first half of a Premier League match. He did it against Brighton in less than twenty minutes.
“The goals, the assists, the title of best player in the Premier League, all that changes nothing about his personality. He’s a simple guy, a humble guy and that is, for him, for me, the most important thing,” applauded his trainer Enzo Maresca.
The Italian secured his fourth victory in the last five league matches, and the first at Stamford Bridge.
His Brighton counterpart, the German Fabian Hürzeler, on the other hand tasted defeat for the first time since his arrival this summer. The “Seagulls” are eighth with nine points, the same total as Nottingham Forest (9th), whose invincibility fell on Saturday against Fulham (1-0).
Conversely, Everton obtained their first victory by overthrowing Crystal Palace (2-1) with a double from Dwight McNeil in the second half.
Among the “firsts”, there was also Brentford’s opening score against West Ham (1-1) in the first minute. This is the third match in a row where the “Bees” sting after less than 60 seconds, unheard of in England.
(AFP)
