Liverpool overcame a valiant Newcastle United fightback to clinch a 3-2 victory at St James’ Park in a thrilling finale to the Premier League matchweek on Monday night.
Two days prior, Manchester City unexpectedly fell to a clinical Tottenham Hotspur performance 2-0 at the Etihad, further enhancing Thomas Frank’s status as the new Spurs boss.
Elsewhere, Chelsea and Arsenal thrashed West Ham and Leeds 5-1 and 5-0 respectively, while Burnley triumphed over a confident Sunderland 2-0.
Jack Grealish shone for Everton in his first start for the Toffees in their 2-0 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion.
Young star shines for Liverpool
Vibrant youngster Rio Ngumoha came on late to score a dramatic 100th-minute winner to halt Newcastle’s comeback after they had been down a man due to a Anthony Gordon red card late in the first half.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot spoke flippantly of the encounter, telling Sky Sports: “I’m not too sure if I saw a football match. It was set-piece after set-piece, long throw.
“It didn’t have a lot to do with tactics, but I liked a lot how we stood strong.
“I don’t think there was so much open play to be played. In a set-piece, a long throw-in, a long ball from the goalkeeper, you don’t need an extra man.
“Maybe it wasn’t the best game in terms of tactics or in terms of playing football, but I think every fan everywhere around the world enjoyed watching this game of football, also because their fans were amazing in terms of the help they gave the home team.”
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Frank growing in stature with Spurs
Courtesy of a Brennan Johnson finish and a James Trafford mistake resulting in Joao Palhinha’s opportunistic strike, Spurs continued their successful start to the season with two wins on the bounce.
Spurs boss Frank struck a pleased disposition in the aftermath of the win over Pep Guardiola’s hosts, saying he was “very delighted.”
“Extremely proud of the players’ performance, it was exceptionally good,” he said.
“The first 35 minutes were fairly even, but with Man City top. There was a big mentality shift in terms of staying in the game, and then we scored a great goal.
“Second half we were very good. We were very aggressive in the high pressure, very front-footed, with the mindset to go for the 3-0.
“The clean sheet makes me very happy. It’s a big thing we have been working on, the defensive side of the game. You need a top mentality to win games like this.”
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Reaction from around the league
Chelsea’s star forward Joao Pedro claimed a goal and two assists on a night where the Blues piled further pressure on West Ham manager Graham Potter’s shoulders.
The Blues did lose Cole Palmer in the warm-up, though, with boss Enzo Maresca rejecting claims that his side’s success is solely centred around the attacking midfielder.
He said: “For sure, with Cole, we are a much, much, much better team. But I think we already showed last year, in two, three months, where Cole, unfortunately for us, was not 100 per cent, we achieved top four, that no one expected.”
Fifteen-year-old Max Dowman was the brightest light in Arsenal’s demolition job over Leeds, with manager Mikel Arteta touting his maturity and hunger to do well a core reason for his youthful success.
“I think there is a kid with a level of maturity, stability and hunger that is very difficult to see,” said Arteta.
“And obviously to the academy, all the coaches and everybody that has been involved in that journey, because there is a kid here that has zero hesitation.”
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Elsewhere, Grealish provided the assists for both goals in the Toffees’ victory over Brighton, establishing himself as a starter for David Moyes’ side going forward.
“He’s done lots of good things. I don’t know if he gave the ball away today, I don’t know what the stats would say but if he did it was very rare,” Moyes said.
“He also got involved with a couple of important goals for us as well. We’ve been looking for different attacking options and he gave us something a little bit different.”
Matchweek three of the Premier League kicks off on Saturday, August 30 when Chelsea take on Fulham in a London derby at Stamford Bridge.
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SportJustSport writers