The third gameweek of the Premier League season offered some great games to watch, with some very surprising results along the way. The gameweek also offered an abundance of red cards, with there being a total of four in the ten matches played.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Manchester City
Wolves managed to hold on to a very good point against last season's champions, even after a flurry of pressure from City. Both teams had plenty of chances, yet Manchester City had the best of them all, hitting the frame of the goal on two occasions, as Aguero and Sterling were both denied by the woodwork. The breakthrough did eventually come, yet it came from Wolves, as a cross was whipped in by Joao Moutinho and Willy Boly connected with the ball with his arm, yet the goal stood. However, just a few minutes after, Gundogan delivered a wonderful ball from a freekick which Aymeric Laporte latched onto with his head to give City a point from the contest.
AFC Bournemouth 2-2 Everton
Bournemouth and Everton had to finish the game off with ten men each, as a very heated contest between them resulted with two red cards. Everton went down by a man the first, as Richarlison was sent off for an attempted headbutt towards a Bournemouth player. The sending-off did not trouble Everton that much at first, as they still continued to attack, and managed to get the opening goal through Theo Walcott, as he finished brilliantly into the back of the net. Things got worse for Bournemouth, as they went down to ten men just a few minutes after the goal, as Adam Smith brought down Walcott, and due to him being the final man, the referee had no option but to award a red card. To make matter even worse, Everton got a second goal just a few moments after, as a cross from Gylfi Sigurdsson was met by Michael Keane, who rose to head the ball between the goalkeeper's legs. As usual, Bournemouth did not lie down and they continued to press the Everton defence, and eventually, they scored their goal as Joshua King slotted in a penalty that was awarded to them after Leighton Baines handled a Bournemouth player. Afterwards, Bournemouth found a sense of rhythm and Nathan Ake popped in the opposition box from a set-piece, to head it in beyond the reach of Jordan Pickford, levelling the game up.
Arsenal 3-1 West Ham United
Arsenal dispatched West Ham in order to get their first three points of the Premier League season. West Ham started very brightly, as their captain for the match, Marko Arnautovic opened up the scoring with a crisp shot from the edge of the box. The lead did not last long, as a cross from Hector Bellerin was palmed away by Lukasz Fabianski, yet the ball fell for Nacho Monreal, who made no mistake in finishing the ball into the net. Fabianski was continuously put into action throughout the whole match, saving West Ham from all sorts of trouble. He was eventually beaten again, however by one of his own teammates, as a shot deflected off of Issa Diop. Late on in the game, Danny Welbeck received a well-place ball from Hector Bellerin, and the Englishman made no mistake in finishing into the net, handing Arsenal the win.
Huddersfield Town 0-0 Cardiff City
Cardiff got back-to-back nil-nil draws in the league, after another resolute performance, this time against Huddersfield. The game was filled with reckless challenges and clashes, with an early one leading to Huddersfield's Ben Hamer being taken off after being hit in the chest. The goalkeepers all had a job on their hands as they repeatedly kept their respective sides in the match. Huddersfield ended the game with ten men, as Jonathan Hogg lost his head and knocked Harry Arter over, with there being a clash between the two players, yet it had no affect on the scoreline, as it ended in a goalless draw.
Southampton 1-2 Leicester City
Leicester rescued a win in the dying embers of the game, as they beat Southampton after coming back from behind. Both sides threatened early on, yet it had to be Ryan Bertrand to score the opening goal, after he whacked the ball from outside the box and into the top corner, beating Kasper Schmeichel completely. However, the equaliser came just a few minutes after, with Demarai Gray skipping past a defender and slotting the ball as cool as ever past the goalkeeper. Pierre Hojbjerg managed to get himself sent-off after a ridiculous dive in order to win a penalty only earned him a second yellow card. This had an effect on the eventual outcome of the match, as Harry Maguire blasted the ball with his weaker right foot in the final stages of the match, with the ball beating the goalkeeper, sending the defender in jubilation.
Liverpool 1-0 Brighton and Hove Albion
Liverpool cruised to the top of the table with a solid display against Brighton on Saturday. Brighton and Mathew Ryan kept Liverpool at bay, as the Australian made plenty of saves to deny the Reds a breakthrough goal, with the bar even coming to the assistance of the goalkeeper on one occasion, as a freekick from Trent Alexander-Arnold rattled the bar. Eventually, Mohamed Salah found the breakthrough as he was slipped in space in the box, and he finished the ball into the net as calmly as ever. Brighton did muster a handful of chances that troubled Alisson, namely one from Pascal Gross, who saw a brilliant header saved by the Brazilian, as the game ended in favour of Liverpool.
Watford 2-1 Crystal Palace
Watford have emerged as a surprise team in the top four, after beating a very impressive Crystal Palace team by two goals to one. Ben Foster kept Watford in the game early on, as the experienced goalkeeper was forced to make several brilliant saves from Christian Benteke and James McArthur. However, Watford managed to find a way through the Crystal Palace defence in the second half, and Roberto Pereyra curled a wonderful ball past Wayne Hennessey and into the net, handing Watford the lead. Jose Holebas quickly doubled the lead, with an over-hit cross dipping past Hennessey, even leaving Holebas surprised that it went in. Wilfried Zaha gave Palace some hope late on, as a well-worked move between him and Max Meyer left him free to finish between Ben Foster's legs. Crystal Palace squandered a very late opportunity to grab a point from the match, as a delightful ball from Luka Milivojevic found Joel Ward completely unmarked, yet he somehow headed the ball wide of the goal.
Fulham 4-2 Burnley
Fulham got their first points of the season as they thrashed an out of form Burnley side. Fulham started strongly, as Jean Michael Seri bagged his first goal with the Cottagers, as he blasted the ball into the net from outside the box and into the top corner. The lead did not last very long, as Jeff Hendrick found some space in the box, and he managed to score on the second attempt in order to level things up for Burnley momentarily. Aleksandar Mitrovic had other plans though, as he scored two headed goals in quick succession in order to grant Fulham their lead back and even a two-goal margin. Burnley reduced the margin by a goal later on in the match, as Ben Mee headed the ball towards James Tarkowski, who made no mistake in finishing the ball into the net. Andre Schurrle did restore the two-goal margin back for Fulham, as Aleksandar Mitrovic hit the post and the resulting rebound ended up in front of the German, who tucked the ball away into the bottom corner to score his first goal for Fulham, and secure a well-deserved three points for the London club.
Newcastle United 1-2 Chelsea
Chelsea dominated a very weakened and defensive Newcastle side in order to bag themselves another set of three points to give them maximum points in the first three games of the season. Chelsea had all of the possession throughout the match, yet not even the brilliance of Eden Hazard could find a way to penetrate the resolute defence. Chelsea's first real sight of goal came from an unlikely source, as Antonio Rudiger hit a long-range effort that struck the bar, leaving the German with his head in his hands. However, Hazard found a way into the Newcastle defence, and he eventually freed Marcos Alonso, who was tripped by Fabian Schar and was hence given a very debatable penalty. Eden Hazard stepped up to take the resulting penalty, as he blasted it past Dubravka's reach. However, Newcastle were quick to respond to the goal, as DeAndre Yedlin controversially elbowed Olivier Giroud and whipped in a brilliant cross which Joselu excellently met with his head in order to level things up. Yet karma hit in the final few minutes, as a shot from Marcos Alonso was deflected by Yedlin into his own net, as Chelsea emerged victorious in what was a very dominant display.
Manchester United 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester United slumped to another defeat, making this their worst start to a Premier League season since the inaugural one in 1992. United were brilliant in the first half, and missed plenty of clear-cut chances that on another day, would have been easily dispatched, most notably two from Fred and an open-goal miss from Romelu Lukaku. United continued in the same manner in the second half, yet they were hit by a surprising goal from Harry Kane, as he headed in for a brilliant goal from a Kieran Trippier corner. After that, Lucas Moura surprised United with another crisp goal, as the leaky defence was opened up once again. United committed more men forward later on in the half in order to grab a goal, yet they were left even more open at the back, as Lucas skipped past Chris Smalling and finished the ball into the net. The score did not have a fair reflection of the match, as Manchester United played very well throughout, yet some costly mistakes at the back gave Spurs the chance to take the lead and continue pressing forward. At the end of the game, Jose Mourinho and the players were met with plenty of applause for their attacking display and how they managed to keep the intensity high throughout the match, yet it was all in vain as Tottenham came out having the maximum amount of points available.
Which was your highlight of the gameweek?
