Liverpool Beat Arsenal To Maintain Commanding Start
By Tanko Bauka
As the international break looms, Liverpool FC has laid down a marker and a strong statement towards reclaiming the English Barclays Premier League title with a 1-0 win against Arsenal FC, which many believe is their closest rival for the league crown.
The league is barely three weeks old and Liverpool FC has so far demonstrated that it has what it takes to go all the way to reclaim the title once again.
Arsenal have been runner-up for the past three seasons, and Mikel Arteta, in his quest to change the narrative, stormed the transfer market, bringing in top-class players to fortify the club side, and the attention of the football world was temporarily shifted to Anfield Stadium, the home ground of Liverpool FC, for the clash of the week encounter.
Taking to the pitch, the two teams tried to cancel each other out through caution and that gave Arsenal the edge to dominate proceedings in the first 45 minutes, even when the Gunners lost William Saliba to injury and was replaced by Christian Mosquera, with the first half ending goalless.
On resumption, Liverpool FC improved significantly with pockets of attacks and dangerous incursions in Arsenal’s eighteen yards box but were always repelled but the moment all the Liverpool diehard fans jam-packed in the stadium were waiting for came in the 83rd minutes with a well strike volley by DominiK Szoboszlai which condemned Arsenal to her first defeat of the season with Liverpool FC pocketing the three points.
Manchester City again failed to click against Brighton Albion and Hove as they were beaten 2-1 even after taking the lead through Haaland goal but Brighton rally round with two quick goals to compound the woes of Manchester City Pep Guardiola who also lost to Tottenham Hotspurs in week two encounter at the Etihad Stadium but things look brighter for his opposites on the other side of Manchester as Ruben Amorim could finally smile as Manchester United laboured so hard to beat newly promoted Burnley United 3-2 to shift the burden on Ruben Amorim.
Chelsea, on the other hand, controversially beat Fulham 2-0 at the Stamford Bridge stadium, where the centre referee denied Fulham when they thought they had taken the lead and again awarded Chelsea a controversial penalty even when Chelsea’s Jaoa Pedro was adjudged to have handled the ball before it struck the hand of a Fulham player.
Tottenham Hotspur’s impressive start to the league was halted by AFC Bournemouth with a painful 1-0 defeat while Aston Villa’s woe continued as they were spanked 3-0 by Crystal Palace at Villa Park Stadium as West Ham United hammered Nottingham Forest 3-0 with Everton snatching all the three points against Wolves beating their host 3-2 in the process.
In the Spanish La Liga, FC Barcelona dropped their first point of the Season as they were held to a one-all draw by Rayo Vallacano, while Real Madrid dispatched the early threat of Mallorca as they came from behind to win 2-1.
Atletico Madrid’s poor form continue as they play out a one-all draw with Deportivo Alaves, while Girona lost 2-1 to Sevilla.
Newly promoted Real Oviedo pipped Real Sociedad 1-0 as Athletic Bilbao beat Real Betis 2-1, while Levante lost to Elche 2-0, with Valencia pocketing the three points against Getafe.
In the Italian Serie A, Napoli scored a late solitary goal to beat Cagliari 1-0, while Inter Milan lost to Udinese 2-1, with AC Milan winning 2-0 at Lacce.
Atalanta could only manage a one-all draw with Parma, while Juventus beat Patrick Veira Genoa 1-0, and Lazio put four goals past Hellas Verona, with AS Roma beating Pisa SC 1-0, as Torino and Fiorentina’s match ended goalless.
In the German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich continue to dictate the pace with a 3-2 win against FC Augsburg, as Hoffenheim lost 3-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt, and Borussia Dortmund beat Union Berlin 3-0.
Newly promoted Koln beat SC Freiburg while Stuttgart won 1-0 against Bayern Monchenglabach as Bayer Leverkusen were held to a three-all draw by Werder Bremen.
Results across Europe
English Barclays Premier League
Chelsea 2- Fulham 0
Wolves 2- Everton 3
Sunderland 2- Brentford 1
Tottenham 0- Bournamount 1
Manchester United 3- Burnley 2
Leed 0- Newcastle United 0
Nothingham 0- West Ham 3
Brighton 2- Manchester City 1
Liverpool FC 1- Arsenal 0
Aston Villa 0- Crystal Palace 3
Spanish La Liga
Elche 2- Lavante 0
Valencia 3- Gatafe 0
Celta Vigo 1- Villarreal 1
Real Betis 1- Athletic Bilbao 2
Espanyol 1- Osasuna 0
Rayo Vallacano 1- FC Barcelona 1
Deportivo 1- Atletico Madrid 1
Real Oviedo 1- Real Sociedad 0
Girona 0- Sevilla 2
Real Madrid 2- Mallorca 1
Italian Serie A
Cremonese 3- Sassuolo 2
Lacce 0- AC Milan 2
Parma 1- Atalanta 1
Bologna 1- Como 0
Pisa SC 0- AS Roma 1
Napoli 1- Cagliari 0
Torino 0- Fiorentina 0
Genoa 0- Juventus 1
Lazio 4- Hellas Verona 0
Inter Milan 1- Udenese 2
German Bundesliga
Hamburger 0- FC St Pauli 2
Hoffenheim 1- Frankfurt 3
Stuttgart 1- B.Monchenglabach 0
Werder Bremen 3- Leverkusen 3
RB Leipzig 2- Hendenheim 0
FC Augsburg 2- Bayern Munich 3
Wolfsburg 1- Mainz 05 1
Dortmund 3- Union Berlin 0
Koln 4- SC Freiburg 1
The leagues will proceed on international break to resume in two weeks.
